Chapter 2 Part 6: Forward Progress

I dropped onto a giant cliff, maybe 50 feet from where the fighting occurred. My entire body crashes to the ground in an exhausted state.

This is what Cliff meant about being drained of Soul Energy. It took everything I had even to summon a Sphere around myself; Cliff was the one who moved me even while injured and unable to move fully.

After gasping for air as if I had just run many miles, I get onto my knees and peer over the Horizon, seeing the entire Town and the coastline.

It must be nearly 4:30 AM, with light almost breaking through the horizon line. I need to focus on what is happening and what I can do now.

A line of pirate ships is mainly destroyed and sinks, along with a dozen Father's ships burning. I cannot tell what is going on from here, but a bright purple light dimmed and brightened repeatedly in the middle of all the flames.

I hope Father and the other villagers are okay. The castle to the far north that we pass during our voyages is raining arrows down from the far side while having smaller vessels aiding the defense of the Kingdom's boats.

I turn my attention to the more pressing matter; Peering over the cliff, I see our half-burnt house, and directly behind it, a pitch-black half-sphere that is hardly noticeable is protruding from the ground masking the entire area.

It is roughly 50 meters by 50 meters and nothing like the actual enemy we have been facing. It looks like a solid wall of darkness.

What can I do? Wait, why doesn't Cliff teleport himself out like I did myself? Come to think of it, I have never seen him teleport himself. Just his weapon?

Maybe it is – at this moment, I start to cough up minor amounts of blood, and my whole body becomes dizzy; falling to my knees, I try to pick myself back up, but the fatigue of the massive spirit with-drawls is sucking the life out of me.

So, this is what Cliff had mentioned about running out and being at risk for death. I lay on the ground wheezing for air, and I remember Cliff putting in the importance of meditation to recover faster and build spirit stamina.

I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and focus on the ravine from our last training to see the water as before. Slowly I fade into my subconscious and appear at the bottom of a large ravine dry with no water.

As I sit and try to meditate, I slowly start to see a blue glow coming from my chest and feel a small puddle of water. I think to myself that im making some progress!

As I go back to focus more, I hear a thunderous voice behind me; it bellows out that im a fool; You cannot just decide to be the good guy now after all the crimes you have committed!

It yells this out once more as I break focus. I yell out that I'm not some bad guy. I must save Cliff and the women who tried to save me! "Nonsense, you only cared about yourself back there. You do not go from the Villain to the hero just because you get reborn. " The voice says.

Who the hell are you? I led the best life I could! So, what if I failed, I tried my best to protect my friends. It was the devil that took everything from me! I do not have time for this. I drop back down and start meditating again, trying to gather up energy. The voice bellows back, "Fine, you wretched Villain, "just this once.

You will pay for your crimes once I recover. I feel a hand against my back, and in an instant, it pushes through me as if I was being impaled.

I snap back to my place on the hill, feeling like a bottle full of water that is ready to pop, my skin burning as if my flesh was melting off.

I look down at my hands in the pitch-black night feeling an intense tingle that is hard to grasp fully. Whatever that voice did, it filled my energy up – "Do not waste this," The voice speaks out. Once it has gone, you will feel the full withdrawal and might even die." Of-of course, I swallow slightly. My vision has also improved, making everything glow slightly.

Before heading down the hill, I noticed with my enhanced vision that right behind me is a handle sticking out of the ground, almost like a wooden hilt. I grab it, and it slides out of the ground like butter. To my surprise, it is my father's training sword.

How did I get this up here, I wonder? Regardless I need to head back and help Cliff. I focus on the dark half-sphere and notice I can see the silhouettes of the person inside. I see a single man holding down the cliff and the women.

Perfect! I need to blow up that wall from the inside, and I will be able to get Cliff out! "Why not just destroy it from the outside," the voice says. Simple. The outside is more like a puddle of water. Anything that goes in passes through like clouds. However, the inside is hard, like a metal wall. So, take down the wall, and the outside will crumble! I surround myself in a sphere of water and jump off the ledge.

???- Mystery Face -???

The boy vanishes before my eyes; I yell to Cliff and the women, visibly angry.

Where did you send him? It could not have been the women. She is dealing with a knife and is still down. I summon my shadows and pull Cliff up from the ground, bringing him within breathing distance.

WHERE. DID. YOU. SEND. THE BOY! I yelled out. I get a simple chuckle from him, saying he has no idea. In my rage, I summon a dagger and shoot it into his shoulder, hearing him cry out in pain.

I will not ask again. Tell me where you sent him, or I will remove you from this existence. Slowly closing his hands, having the black robes squeeze Cliff tighter and tighter.

Somehow, he is slowly pushing back and fighting the constraints! Fine, if you do not tell me where he went, I must torture your friend—Suddenly, a loud pop goes off behind me! I curse out loud, impossible!

I have this man restrained. There is no way he should be able to attack. As I turn around, I notice it is the boy, but his skin is a light red, almost burning, and he has a fierce look in his eyes!

"Articius Last Gambit."

I summon right behind the Mystery Ghost and shout Cliff catch!! I throw the sword encased in water, and Cliff catches it in his right hand and does a swinging crescent moon slice and breaks all the black vines constraining him.

I notice he has some deep wounds on his shoulder, so regardless, we need to end this fast! Remember back early, I was able to summon fire around my water, so maybe I can do it again. ' I summon on you! "Hino-kami Sun God," holding both my hands above my head and almost like an ignitor, all my energy leaves my body and up towards my hand.

A massive ball of fire shooting up like a ki blast smashes into the dark dome crushing it to shatter into a million pieces and lighting up the surrounding area jetting towards the sky.

Almost like a giant beacon sign screaming, "Come here," I grin at the site! My plan worked now; Cliff and I could focus on (my focus snaps)– I looked over to see Cliff on the ground with a knife in his back knocked out at the worse, wrecking my train of thought.

I scream out Cliff! Before seeing the man with half his cloak burned off and showing a portion of his face. Now I can see he has short black hair and burning red eyes, raging toward me, ready to pierce my skin. He goes to strike at my face; I manage to go on the defensive and throw up a water barrier, just barely slowing his attacks down to dodge them.

At the last moment, I go to summon a water sphere to shoot at him, but like a shock wave through my body, everything becomes instantly cold, and the water evaporates into thin air. I was out of spirit energy.

I see the knife coming into view moments from plunging into me when I hear a ringing in my right ear, and instantly, the ground under the man trying to murder me erupted into a rigged pillar shooting him 20-30 feet back.

I try to keep my eyes open, but before I know it, I collapse as I see a man with long black hair run up to catch me before I fall. Everything fades to black,