On the sixth day…
There was no morning.
No feeling of rest.
Not even a clear beginning to the day.
There was only…
the continuation of pain.
Daron woke slowly, as though his body refused to return to consciousness.
Every muscle screamed.
Every joint complained.
Even breathing felt like an effort that wasn’t worth making.
He stared at the ceiling for a long time.
“Why…?”
The question wasn’t about the pain.
It was about everything.
Despite the past few days, despite the training, despite the genuine progress he had made…
he still didn’t feel stronger.
“I’m just…
failing better.”
He closed his eyes.
Immediately, a single image returned.
An arrow.
Fast.
Silent.
And he hadn’t seen it.
“If that had been real…”
His eyes snapped open.
“I’d be dead.”
Slowly, he sat up.
Doubt sat beside him on the bed.
Was what he possessed truly an ability?
Or was it merely an illusion that appeared whenever he needed to believe he wasn’t weak?
He stood, dressed, and headed toward the training grounds.
The road was quieter than usual.
As though the world itself were waiting for something.
When he arrived, nobody was there.
He stopped in the middle of the field.
“Good…
no one will see me.”
He set his sword aside.
Sat on the cold ground.
Closed his eyes.
“If you’re real…
then appear.”
Silence.
A few moments passed.
Then a few more.
Nothing.
He breathed slowly.
“Again…”
He focused.
Tried to summon that strange sensation.
But—
Nothing.
His eyes flew open.
“Why?!”
His fist slammed into the ground.
“Where do you go?!”
He rose abruptly.
“You’re there during battle, and when I need you…
you disappear?!”
His breathing accelerated.
“Am I imagining it?!”
He gripped his head.
“No…
no…
I’ve felt it.
I’ve seen it.
I’m not imagining things!”
He stepped back.
Then another step.
“Then why…?”
He sat down once more.
But this time, he didn’t try.
He simply…
thought.
“What do I do when it appears?”
He closed his eyes.
Karl and his attacks came to mind.
“I could see them.”
Then Gene. New chapters come out on g.com first.
“I could feel his weight.”
Then Amy.
“I kept losing track of her.”
Then Noor.
“I felt nothing.”
His eyes slowly opened.
“This isn’t consistent.”
“It’s not a rule.”
“It’s not a skill.”
He paused.
“It’s…
chaos.”
A smile appeared.
But it wasn’t a real smile.
“An ability…?”
He laughed quietly.
“This isn’t an ability.”
“It’s a burden.”
He stood.
Then assumed a fighting stance.
“If you won’t come…”
He raised his sword.
“Then I’ll fight without you.”
At that moment—
Footsteps.
He turned.
Karl.
Karl looked at him.
“You started without me?”
Daron didn’t answer.
He raised his sword.
“Come.”
Karl smiled.
“Good.”
And charged.
The first attack came.
Daron didn’t wait for the sensation.
He moved based on what he had learned.
What he knew.
What his body remembered.
He barely dodged.
The second attack—he avoided.
The third—he was too slow.
A shallow cut appeared on his forearm.
He retreated.
“I can do this…”
Karl charged again.
Daron tried.
Failed.
Tried again.
Failed.
Then—
He stopped.
“Enough.”
He lowered his sword.
Karl halted.
“What?”
Daron looked at him.
His eyes were different from before.
“I’m not fighting you.”
Karl frowned.
“Giving up?”
Daron shook his head.
“No.”
A pause.
“I don’t understand.”
Silence.
Karl took a step closer.
“Explain.”
Daron inhaled slowly.
“When I fight…
sometimes I can see everything.”
“And sometimes I see nothing.”
“There is no pattern.”
“No control.”
“No reason.”
“How am I supposed to fight using something I don’t understand?”
The silence lingered.
Karl didn’t mock him.
He simply looked at him with calmer eyes than usual.
“Then don’t use it.” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Daron froze.
“What?”
“Fight without it.”
Karl crossed his arms.
“Until you understand it.”
Simple words.
Yet they shattered something inside him.
He looked at the ground.
“Without it…”
“Then I’m weak.”
His grip tightened around his sword.
Then his hands began to tremble.
Not from exhaustion.
But from realization.
“I rely on it.”
Slowly, he raised his head.
“I’m afraid…”
The words escaped before he could stop them.
“I’m afraid of fighting without it.”
“Afraid I’ll die…”
“Because I have nothing else.”
His knees gave out.
The cold earth caught him.
He didn’t try to stand.
“What am I without this?”
Silence.
A gentle breeze drifted by, carrying dust across the ground.
Then footsteps.
Someone approached.
He didn’t look.
But he knew.
Amy.
She sat beside him without saying a word.
No empty comfort.
No forced sympathy.
She was simply there.
After a while, he spoke quietly.
“I don’t understand it…
but it’s the reason I’ve survived until now.”
“I don’t even know how to fight.”
“I don’t know anything.”
She looked at him.
“So what?”
Silence.
Then he answered.
“Before Karl attacks…
I feel something.”
“Not his attack.”
“But…
his decision.”
Her eyes widened.
“But…”
He continued.
“Not always.”
“Sometimes I see everything.”
“Sometimes nothing.”
“This isn’t normal.”
“It’s unstable.”
He lowered his head.
“It’s frightening.”
She didn’t answer immediately.
Finally, she spoke.
“Then don’t try to control it.”
“Understand it first.”
“Even if it costs you a breakdown.”
A long silence followed.
Daron didn’t respond.
Didn’t move.
But he understood one thing.
“This ability isn’t a weapon.”
“And it isn’t a skill.”
“It’s something bigger.”
Slowly, he raised his head.
His eyes were no longer the same.
Not because they held strength.
Not because they held confidence.
But because they held something else.
Will.
The will of someone who knew a long road lay ahead—
And accepted it.