Chapter 38: A Fools Conviction.



"Where am I?"

Aric had seen death before, more than once, but even then—this was different.

He stood in a field, and around him in every direction, flowers of dull purple seemed to stretch endlessly. In fact, the only thing interrupting the stretch was a single cliff, jagged and daunting.

It rose in the far distance, as though in defiance of what had already been.

The third thing Aric noticed was that he could see, and this surprised him, as the field was bright—not from the presence of light, but by some conceptual abnormality: the absence of darkness.

Aric then noticed the final thing—silence. One so perfect it felt almost defiling to disrupt it. Perhaps that was why the wind blew, yet did so quietly and the flowers rustled in kind, but they, too, did so quietly.

Not a single sound was made, and the silence continued to prevail.

It was then, as Aric looked, that he noticed something poised atop the stretch of flowers—Serina. Her veins glowed black, and a mist surrounded her.

"Serina?" Aric mutterd, and it was at that moment he realized he had no voice.

So the silence remained.

"Do not disrupt her... She must absorb."

"The stillness, let it consume her...shape her."

Aric turned. He had heard the words, but not as sound, rather as a feeling. As he searched around to see where they had come from, he found nothing but the single jagged cliff.

His confusion only arose further. Why was Serina here? Where was he? Moments ago, he had been at the house, so how could they have changed scenery so drastically?

"I know you, boy."

The voice came again, softly it spoke.

"I don’t care about the greater good or any of that bullshit. I don’t care what you want, or what anybody else wants for that matter. But this time... this time, nothing—no one—will stop me."

Aric’s hands became ablaze with his ki. He concentrated everything in him into his outstretched palm, and the ki converged, becoming so dense the air around his hand warped.

[Skill (Ki Fist): Ki consumption abnormally high]

[Ki is dropping rapidly]

"You gave me two options, but I propose another: what if I thrust my hand right through her heart? What will I be absorbed into then? A corpse?"

Aric waited a moment for a response as he raised his outstretched arm.

"Silence? That must be the way, then," Aric smiled bitterly.

"Don’t be foolish," the voice warned.

"It is far too late for that, no?" Aric said, now mere feet away from Serina. He poised his hand, ready to strike through her chest.

"Valerian, you are making a mistake," the voice continued.

"Perhaps. But what is my alternative?"

Aric stood just six feet away from Serina, the pull of the vortex intensifying with every step. He paused, taking a deep breath to steady himself, his muscles tense as he cocked back his hand, ready to strike.

"I’m sorry, Serina," he whispered softly, his voice inaudible over the silent storm.

The voice echoed once more, colder than before. "I will remember this, Valerian."

Without hesitation, Aric thrust his hand forward, but just as his fingers reached her, the ki that had blazed fiercely in his palm flickered out, vanishing like a dying flame. His arm swung past her, but instead of the fatal blow, his hands instinctively caught her collapsing body as she fell into his arms.

The chaos that had raged moments before—wind, lightning, and the vortex—disappeared as if it had never been, leaving them standing in the stillness of the mage’s room.

[Mana core formed]