DEATH OF A DON

David's POV

AGAIN!

AGAIN!!

AGAIN!!!

The man continued to yell while i swung my hammer performing complex techniques no 7 year old should know, he didnt care all he knew was that his son was a prodigy in magical science and was competent in blade arts so he sought to make him what he could never accomplish after 35 years of trying, to manifest an Arcanum

"if i can't sit atop the world my son will and i will sit atop of him"

he spoke proudly, as if there was anything to proud of in that statement he admitted his inadequacies but rather than trying to correct them he sought to use me to cover them up, yep this shameless display was my father the one that took away my childhood just so he could enjoy life in the long run, but these were thoughts that only came after his death but for now iwould worship his words, revear them as if they were gospels and not the makinations of a manipulative old man disgruntled with his lot in life.

I was 14 when it happened, he dragged me to the forest of draimud, a dangerous place where various tribes of monsters lived but weren't hunted as they tend to keep to themselves most of the time, mercenaries only go on expeditions to clear out any monsters found at the edges but my caring father took me to the center of that hellish place and left me with nothing but a rusty knife and told me i must be back home in a fortnight on his way out he got into a fight with some ogers, he lost his leg and for the first time since i started training i had a break, but as soon as he got the hang of walking with crutches we were back to work, a year later he lost an eye while taking me out hunting for stymphilian birds, when i was 17 a water moss crushed his left arm.

Every day i saw him run himself ragged trying to get me to achieve what he could never, every day he'd continue to spar with me in order to train me but before long i could beat him as easily as i were fighting a child and when that became common place he'd take me to bandit infested areas and have me spar with whole groups while he watched giving instructions, he even encouraged me to beat him bloody all in the name of teaching me discipline the same discipline he lacked

HA!

HAHA!

HAHAHAHA!

i was laughing, i was in a fight with a powerful Arcanum user, the wounds on my body were getting worse and worse all my attacks failing to even come within an inch of him but yet i was laughing, why not, everything he was so desperate for me to gain was about to come crashing down like an unstable deck of cards, what am saying, an unstable deck of cards would look like a 100 year old steel oak compared to the bullshit i was working with a system so rotten rats wouldn't dare touch it and i still can't tell why i started it

'always remember when it comes to physical strength no one can match you'

clang!

my hammer struck his blade once again but rather than deflecting like he had been doing uptill now he simply blocked it like it was a strike from a child

'hold that thing well and you're defense will always be unmatched'

i was too slow to dodge his next swing so i tried blocking it and when i did every bone in my body screamed in protest

'and so long as you will it nothing can match you're flames'

"converge soul burning flames, black flames and pure fire"

and with that command those three edict's gather together before bursting foward in a stream towards him but before they reach i hear him speak

"field 'PERFECT NIGHT'"

i chuckle inwardly, a field is a manifestation of an Arcanum in a particular area and deploying one could help the user gain full control of the space they are present in, it wasn't a low level thing to do, hell it was around intermediate i had already used mine in order to pull the match in my favour but he destroyed it easily

"darkness Arcanum second edict lack of warmth"

in an instant all my flames fissled out and replaced with their scorching heat was cold, and unbearable cold that made it feel like everything that lived in the world had simply faded out leaving only a semblence of a dead land, i had felt cold before i had shrieked when i came in contact with the seconds Don's edict of 'undying ice' but this was worse while her's felt like all the warmth in my body was leaving me this was more like i was never warm in the first place i was half convinced i was nothing but a walking corpse, i grasped at my throat somehow convinced that there was no air here but before i could black out he removed his field.

I was on all fours grasping for breath while he stood right in front of me his expression nonexistent if someone saw our surroundings without context they would thing a desperate and important battle took place here but that was not even close to the truth for one it was a one sided beat down where one person gave it his all while the other responded like he was accessing the capabilities of his soon to be victim and the cause of our fight at least one of us had a somewhat good reason for the fight as for me i just wanted to protect my pride, i kept hearing his voice in my head and once again i was remided just much of an idiot he was, he got me into a fight with the special squad of a Don from another city and during said fight one of the guild members got angry at how he was constantly berating me even though i was holding my own while not being allowed to go all out so he grabbed a boe and arrow and gave him a hole in the center of his neck, i lost it, i instantly finished off my opponents but by then the Don herself had come out, i went home a bloody orphan utterly destroyed by a woman but i didn't let that discourage me, i fooled myself into thinking that this was my chance to leave a legacy we could be proud of when we reunited in the afterlife so i drilled all he said into me and lost pitifuly to some nobody, i look up at him and ask

"so what do you plan to do now"

he looked startled for a second before answering

"after this ill turn myself in"

as stupid as it sounded it was an answer i fully expected

"I'll tell you the truth, i should have never been this"

"...."

"my father wanted me to be a Don so badly hr chased my mom away with his obsession and i foolishly followed him and his stupid plan thinking it was for my own good, i know it was worse on the people who had to live under me but it was bad on me as well i ruined this place with my idiocy and incompetence, i know i wont get out of this so please do me a favor"

he loomed over me his eyes showing what i hoped was consideration before answering

"what is it"

i smiled

"take my place"

"..."

"you know one of the abilities my soul flame has is that it can literally read the soul and i gotta tell you bro you need so much therapy i don't think a god can help you"

"...."

"but you're also a good person, one who's morals are unquestionable and a whole lot smarter than me so you'll definitely be able to not fix i don't think anyone can do that right now but, help out with my mess"

he looks as me with the same expression before saying in a small voice

"I'll consider it"

i shrugged before saying

"good enough"

i lay down on my back but rather than dread i feel comfortable with the fact that yeah, its finally over hopefully brawling is allowed in the afterlife cuz i hope to beat the shit out of my dad and maybe if mom there i can apologize on both our behalfs

swing SFX

and with that my head leaves my body with the last things i hear being

"KALEN YOU JUST KILLED A DON"