When his soul faded away…
all that remained of Haiven…
was a memory…
The boy gradually opens his eyes…
slowly…
An exhausted look fills them.
He looks ahead, then to his right, then to his left.
Grass completely covers the slope.
He tries to rise to his feet.
But…
he can’t.
Pain courses through his body, while a headache pounds inside his head.
He looks down at his hands, then at his feet.
He is startled.
His hands.
His feet.
His body.
Massive chains restrain his entire body, connected to enormous weights firmly anchored to the ground.
And strangely enough, he doesn’t scream.
He doesn’t feel fear or panic, nor even shock.
Instead, his face bears an expression of confusion.
He tries to move.
The chains dig deeper into his body.
And the more he struggles, the more intense the pain becomes, while the headache pounds violently inside his head.
At last, he exhales a sigh and speaks to himself in confusion:
Why am I restrained…?
He tries to endure the pain, moves his head with difficulty, and looks around.
Right.
Left.
Even upward.
Dense fog surrounds the entire area.
And because of the severe headache, even his own vision is blurred.
But he can barely make something out.
A small, distant shadow.
He tries to focus harder.
It becomes clear that it is the shadow of a distant man holding a sword in his hand.
He tries to open his eyes wider, and his vision settles somewhat as several clouds move away.
And finally, the scene before him becomes completely clear.
It is the shadow of a mysterious man kneeling on one knee, with a mysterious swordsman standing before him.
The swordsman raises his sword overhead, preparing to slaughter the kneeling man!
At that moment…
For some reason…
Haiven’s heart pounds violently.
His eyes widen to their fullest.
For several moments, he begins gasping heavily, as though breathing itself has suddenly become an exhausting task.
He ignores the pain and desperately struggles to move his helpless body.
But the chains continue to hold him back.
He tries to scream.
But not even a sound escapes his mouth.
He is incapable even of that…
In the end, all he can do is scream inside his mind:
Stop!
Stop!!
The swordsman swiftly brings his sword down to slaughter the kneeling man!
And as the sword finally descends, Haiven finally manages to scream:
STOP!!
…
As though time itself has stopped for a few moments…
…
And for an instant, his eyes widen until they nearly burst from their sockets…
His body has been freed from every restraint.
The chains have vanished as though they had never existed.
And a sword has even appeared in his hand out of thin air!
But the only thing occupying his mind at that moment is the sword pointed directly at his face, about to split his head in two within moments!!
For an instant, thoughts race through his mind:
Wasn’t this attack aimed at his head just moments ago?!
What is happening?!
When did he disappear?!
And when did I take his place?!
When did the restraints disappear?!
And when did this sword appear in my hand?!
But he immediately dismisses every question, and with lightning speed, he barely evades the attack!
But in the next moment…
His pupils suddenly contract, and he screams inside his mind:
A feint strike!
Damn it!
It was a trap!
He immediately reacts, desperately attempting to evade it.
He barely succeeds.
But…
It strikes him in the side.
He thinks:
Damn it!
I didn’t evade it completely!
My balance is off as well!
I have to retreat immediately…
His thoughts are abruptly cut short by the shock of realizing that the enemy has skillfully exploited the opening created by his loss of balance and immediately followed up with another attack!
A direct strike straight at his head!
Haiven stares at the sword descending rapidly toward him, knowing it will split his head at any moment, and speaks to himself:
A direct strike!
Shit!
I expected him to follow up the attack, but not this fast!
He’s extremely skilled!
There is no hope of surviving this time.
For several moments, the light in his eyes fades, as though they have become a bottomless abyss…
But…
At that moment…
As though time itself has stopped for an instant…
With inhuman speed…
He performs an astonishing movement, barely maintaining his balance on the tips of his toes.
He grips the hilt of his sword with every ounce of strength he has left and moves it with insane speed, driving it into the enemy’s chest!
At the exact same moment the enemy’s sword pierces his head!
And he consoles himself with his final words:
At least I didn’t die alone…..
……………………
Haiven falls to the ground.
And after a few moments…
His consciousness begins to settle somewhat, but his head is still throbbing violently.
He slowly opens his eyes, still confused.
He looks ahead and sees a boy lying on the ground, writhing in pain and spitting blood!
Haiven thinks in shock:
I’m alive?!
How?!
And isn’t that boy lying on the ground the one who killed me just moments ago?!
He immediately places a hand on his head and feels his face, continuing his thoughts:
And why don’t I feel any blood running down my face?
Just this pain in my head.
He begins looking around and sees decorated pillars, a ceiling shaped like a dome resembling the sky, and students standing there, stunned by what has just happened.
And finally, he realizes that he is in a training arena, and that what struck his head was nothing more than a wooden sword!!
Some of the students finally snap out of their shock and rush toward their classmate, who is coughing blood as a result of Haiven’s strike.
The trainer immediately announces that the duel is to be stopped and declares it a draw, then rushes toward the injured student.
The trainer’s hand glows with a faint blue aura as he places it against the injured student’s chest.
His hand freezes for a moment.
He speaks to himself in shock :
Two ribs !!
No…
Three are broken !!
If not for his loss of balance and the sword deviating slightly from its path, it would have pierced the heart through one of those ribs, and this student would be dead now !!
He slowly withdraws his hand.
Then he raises his head, his gaze falling upon a wooden sword lying on the ground.
Its hilt has been completely shattered from the force with which Haiven gripped it at that moment!
For several moments, he simply stares at the sword.
Little by little, his expression hardens.
He remembers only that final movement.
And asks himself in confusion:
Seriously…
If I had been in that student’s place at that moment…
Would I really have been able to evade it ?!
Or should I say…
Was there even a way to evade it in the first place ?!!
As those thoughts pass through his mind, a shiver runs through his entire body.
Not from fear for the injured student’s life.
But from sheer terror at the capabilities of the wielder of that broken sword !!
…
After the duel ended, training was temporarily suspended so that the trainer could quickly take the student to the infirmary.
During the break, Haiven sat with his friend outside the training hall, and they began to talk.
His friend asks him in a worried tone :
What’s wrong with you, Haiven?
You could have avoided that strike easily.
It’s not like you to let your mind wander during training, especially during a duel.
Haiven gives him a faint smile.
Don’t worry.
It seems I was just a little exhausted.
His eyes narrow slightly as he asks:
That dream…
You saw it again, didn’t you?
Haiven remains silent…
His friend takes a deep breath and speaks in a serious tone :
Haiven, you and I both know very well that those non-human movements weren’t simply a response to an attack from a wooden sword.
They were your instinctive response to a threat to your life !
Less than two months remain until the final exam.
You know very well what fate awaits the loser.
And let me put it to you bluntly…
If you cannot control that overwhelming rage, you will never be able to control the Alketra !!
Haiven interrupts him:
Ares…
Don’t you think that would be better ?
I mean failing the final exam, and therefore being unable to take the path of the warrior…
Getting a routine job within the clan and taking care of a family.
He falls silent for a moment.
It doesn’t really seem like such a bad life.
At least then I wouldn’t have to lose my mind one day, enter that instinctive state, and hurt someone.
Ares tries to speak, but Haiven interrupts him.
That boy earlier…
If I hadn’t lost my balance because of that strike to the waist, he’d be among the dead right now.
Ares!
If the eliminations continue like this, you’ll definitely be my opponent in the end.
If something happens to you then, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.
Ares falls silent for several moments.
Little by little, his expression hardens.
Then he speaks in a calm tone:
You’re right…
On the path of the warrior, there are no guarantees that you won’t lose your mind at some point and enter that instinctive state.
You may even end up killing someone.
And in return, that quiet life you’re talking about would indeed spare you from all of that.
But…
Are you really satisfied with that?!
Then his eyes widen to their fullest.
Ares stares at him with a terrifying gaze and shouts:
Haiven!!
We were born against our will, and we will die against our will.
A past that cannot be changed, and a future that cannot be predicted.
Our lives—or rather, our present—is the only thing we possess.
Either you stain it with the sorrows of the past and the fears of the future…
Or you move forward despite every circumstance standing against you.
For the greatest loss in this world is to die with regret!!
If you retreat now, you will never reclaim yourself again!
That moment when your body moves instinctively, performing those insane movements simply to evade death at any cost…
It is not for the sake of living a quiet life.
It is because it refuses to die ignorant!!
Haiven!!
A life like that does not excite me!!
A life of beasts that are ignorant of everything happening around them…
A life that is not worth living!!
You cannot control that overwhelming rage, can you?
To the point that you consider it a curse?!
Then suppress it!
And when the moment of our confrontation comes, unleash all of it on me!
And I promise you, I’ll smash your nose until you beg me to surrender!!!
Haiven stares at him in astonishment, and for a moment, his eyes flash intensely…
Something inside him has moved.
A flame…
One that must never be allowed to go out again…
Ever.
………………………………………………….
Abdelrahman :
Haiven…
You Have No Idea…