Blood and knowledge

—Who's the scum? Who the hell is the scum? —I roared, my blood-stained fists striking again and again, each impact resounding like a war drum.

Lucas's face deformed under the fury of my attacks, the features that moments before had shown superiority and disdain now turning into an unrecognizable mass of crushed flesh and broken bones, until his body collapsed, lifeless, reduced to a ruin that no longer resembled anything human. A cerulean fire levitated from his severed head, floating like a liberated soul.

Gasping, I released the body, which fell to the ground like a torn sack. My grade E armor and my enhanced body had endured what few could have withstood, but the cost was evident in every fiber of my being: the pain pierced me like red-hot knives, every bone seemed splintered, every muscle screamed in protest.

Yet, in those first minutes after the act, there was no guilt or remorse in my heart. Only a visceral, primal relief for having survived once more. My body trembled, not with remorse, but with adrenaline, my senses still on maximum alert, scanning the forest for new threats that might exploit my moment of vulnerability.

Lucas had been an Ascendant with a formidable stellar technique; without my armor and private attribute, I would have been the one lying dead on the ground, becoming food for scavengers.

I leaned over the corpse, hesitating for a moment before rifling through his belongings. Scruples were a luxury I could not afford in a world where every resource meant the difference between life and death. I found a dimensional ring hidden on his index finger, and upon inspecting it with my analysis skills, my eyes widened in astonishment.

Inside were dozens of stellar crystals, gleaming like fragments of fallen stars, along with several stellar technique manuals bound in exotic leather. I flipped through one of them, and despite the pain consuming my body like liquid fire, a spark of euphoria shot through me like a bolt. I nearly laughed, but the weight of the situation held the sound back before it could escape my throat. The joy soon faded, replaced by a deep melancholy that settled in my chest like a cold mist that would not dissipate.

With slow, painful movements, I stood up, every joint protesting as if made of shattered glass. Every muscle seemed on the verge of collapse, but my will remained unyielding. Methodically, I stripped off the blood-stained armor, the tattered shirt hanging from my body like the shed skin of a snake, and the mud- and bodily fluid-covered pants I preferred not to identify.

With my calloused fingers, I began to clean my body in the lake, peeling away layer after layer of dirt, blood, and sweat accumulated after days of relentless combat and desperate flight. The cold water bit into my skin like thousands of needles, but I barely noticed, lost in an almost supernatural state of introspection that transported me beyond physical pain.

I remained still by the lake, the hypnotic murmur of the water and the distant song of nocturnal birds enveloping me like a mantle of serenity. Never had I felt so connected to nature, so aware of my own fragility and, paradoxically, of my own strength.

Deep within me, a truth crystallized with the clarity of a diamond: this might be my last day alive. My body was at the limit of its capabilities, my spirit exhausted by years of constant struggle. But why had I come this far? Why had I risked everything once more on this seemingly suicidal mission?

It wasn't just to help Cassie; that motive, though noble and genuine, was merely a facade covering deeper truths. Nor was it for the thrill of adventure, now that the problems of the past seemed finally resolved and I could have chosen a quiet life. Those were convenient excuses, fragments of a greater truth I had buried in the depths of my mind, too proud to face it directly.

—I can't stand living under the yoke of others —I confessed to the nocturnal wind—. I refuse to be just another cog in someone else's machine. I want to be the wheel, the entire carriage, the treasure escorted with honors.

The words echoed in the forest's silence like a confession. I had come to this hostile place, driven by an arrogance I now recognized as my greatest weakness and, paradoxically, my greatest strength.

I had ignored that part of myself, that boundless ego that pushed me to defy fate, to prove I was more than a mere survivor marked by circumstances. I had always considered myself a rational man, superior to the childish dreams of glory and heroism that drove so many others to destruction.

But the truth was undeniable, like the blood still staining my hands: I longed to be a knight in shining armor, an invincible warrior capable of dominating a hostile forest, of facing any adversity with an unshakeable courage that transcended human limitations.

—I've been lying to myself all this time —I murmured, bitterness tinging my words like sweet poison—. And now I'm paying the price for my arrogance.

Nature had cruel ways of teaching humility, and I was receiving a lesson that would mark me forever… if I managed to survive to remember it and apply its teachings.

As the sun sank between the crowns of ancient trees, dyeing the sky a fiery red that reminded me too much of freshly spilled blood, I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs with the pure air of the forest.

My eyes scanned the horizon, weighing the options born of pain and desperation, but also of a newly acquired wisdom. Time was running out like sand in an hourglass, but my will remained unyielding, forged in the crucible of adversity and tempered by the fire of survival.

With the few strengths I had left, but with a renewed determination rising from the ashes of my shattered ego, I began to devise a new plan. It would not be easy; nothing worthwhile ever was in this cruel world. But my life, with all its contradictions and complexities, with all its scars and triumphs, deserved to be defended to the last breath.