Chapter 2: Futile Struggles

Feeling the sudden surge in my ability, he became flustered. "I need to finish this before it goes back," I told myself. Other than bonding my undeveloped powers, this seal held another peculiar function. Unlike other seals, which needed a whole new one to be applied using a different formula when broken, mine would rejuvenate a few minutes after it was unsealed. "That's right, yeah," said the man in front of me.

Dash!

I dashed forward, not allowing him to raise his guard up. Just as I appeared on his left, I slashed left, but my attack was blocked as if he had seen it coming. The man was armed with a longsword, which gave him the advantage. However, the properties of my attacks changed when I removed my seal. The space around our clashing swords started to distort. He seemed quite surprised, then loosened up.

Bang! Bang! Clash!

Metal striking metal echoed everywhere. I slowly began gaining the upper hand in battle, and seeing this, the man became flabbergasted. He stepped back a few feet. "I shall finish this off now!" he screamed, and he began to surge his mana intensely. "This is bad," I said. Whatever he was going to do, it was bad—the scale of mana gathering around him was starting to manifest. The man summoned a gigantic fireball, nearly half the size of the ground. "How.?" I said in utter disblief. The spell he was casting shouldn't have been possible at his level. "My name is Lucas Vetr, and I shall be your death today!" the man bellowed. "Need to dodge—need to dodge," I repeated over and over again, only to realize soon enough that there was no way to dodge. I dodged the upcoming attack only to know for sure the area-of-effect would kill me.

I checked on my surroundings first to confirm the barrier was still up. "I must take his head before he finishes conjuring." I was actually quite calm, as I first analyzed the situation, then prepared a stance for a sword vertical slash. I held my sword up high. "My last slash shall be with the same power as the first, and it shall be exactly like my first slash," I began chanting.

Seeing me prepare my counterattack, the man in front of me frowned but soon composed himself. "Your full efforts are futile, kid. You shall die here today," Lucas said. Unaffected by his provocation, I concentrated on my attack. The space around my sword started distorting, and time itself began to slow down. "Do you think I will stand here and receive your attack?" Lucas shouted.

Swoosh!

Lucas charged his attack at me. I couldn't dodge. I didn't even have a single second to spare worrying. All I could do was to complete my attack. The fireball that Lucas had fired was closing in on me: {10m-8m-6m-2m}. When that fireball reached within the 2-meter radius, the preparation of my attack finished. "Temporal Rift Slash—1st Origin [Meriak]!" I completed the chant and with all my might, brought down my sword.

BOOM!

Another loud burst rattled earth, dust covering my sight. I couldn't see where the man was. As the dust began to settle, I could see a figure, but Lucas's presence wasn't that imposing compared to before. My attack had torn through his fireball and struck him directly. He was cut in half horizontally and was dead. The fireball altered my attacks course as they collided.

Cough! Splash!

My mouth was full of blood, and I had burned my hands completely black; the skin was torn in pieces in some areas. My legs finally weakened, and I collapsed on the ground. "At last, it's fin—" As I said that, I looked around and found something strange. Even after Lucas's death, the barrier he placed was still up, and that shouldn't be possible. A horrifying idea crept into my mind, and I stood up to run to the other end of the dead body.

BOOOOM!

Suddenly, a black aura burst from Lucas's body as he began regenerating. "Unknown civilization."—this was the only thing that came to my mind. The aura which has come out of Lucas's body was a power I knew all too well. It was that same power which killed my friends. After looking at the aura, I was enraged and

Suddenly, a black aura burst from Lucas's body as he began regenerating. "Unknown civilization."—this was the only thing that came to my mind. The aura which has come out of Lucas's body was a power I knew all too well. It was that same power which killed my friends. After looking at the aura, I was enraged and i prepared myself to use Meriak again

 Slash! Slash! Slash!.

I slashed countless times until Lucas' body was cut into smaller pieces that couldn't regenerate anymore. Blood burst from my mouth as my body couldn't resist the seal anymore, and I started to turn back into my original self. I collapsed to my left knee as my mana was depleted, and I couldn't recover my body anymore. Soon enough, the body stopped, and I could no longer feel the energy of that unknown civilization. My eyes started to blur, feeling the fainting moments.

Swoosh! BOOM!

Again, the aura started emitting from that body, and again at a frightening rate regeneration began. Terribly my eyes were filled with terror, and I could remember Lucas saying that all this would be in vain. I tried to stand up, but my legs and my hands were numb. A form began to take shape—Lucas's body—and I could do nothing but stare at him with open mouth. "See, I told you, boy, your struggle is futile," Lucas's voice said, low and more raw than I ever heard it before. It was the first time that I ever felt an overwhelming fierce desire to kill as I watched him.

"Your bounty is too low for such powers you possess," Lucas said as he came in front of me. "So, what do you think? How should I kill you? Should I give you a painful death, or a painless one like you gave me?" Lucas continued. This attitude of his took away all my hope, and subconsciously, I started to prepare for my death. With a longsword in hand, Lucas lurched forward and cut at my neck. "Goodbye, boy, and be thankful to me for giving you a painless death." The sword came close to my neck but stopped just short, and he then retreated a few steps back.

Boom!

There appeared before my eyes a man and a woman, both masked. "You people never learn, do you?" the man said as he turned toward me. The expression on Lucas's face changed; he was terrified by these new figures. "Why are you here?" Lucas shouted. "Eeeem! I'm not here to answer your questions, so stand there and then after I'll give you a painless death," the man said. Something about the man seemed very familiar, yet I couldn't tell exactly what it was. The man turned toward me, placing his right hand on my head. "You did great; now go and rest," he said, pouring mana into me. The memory of something very similar to this incident cropped up in my mind—my teacher helping me. With that, I lost consciousness.

"Wait." I shouted, waking from my sleep. I looked around; seems I had been brought home. I was wrapt in bandages but thoughts of how and why and what happened to Lucas and those new figures flooded my mind.

Slide.

My room's door opened, and the soft voice said, "Oh! You woke up quite early." A young lady entered, about my age. The instance I looked at her, I couldn't help but feel shocked as painful memories started flowing back into my mind.

"How are you ali—" But my question was again cut as I fainted…. 

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