Not again

Corban was sweating, he had ran 20 minutes without taking a break. Now, he was feeling that he might die at any moment from the lack of oxigen. However, water was falling like waterfalls, it was cold and he needed to get moving.

'Damn...it. I may...have...forgotten...to breath... while running.' said Corban, completely exhausted.

He looked at his wound, fortunately, it didn't seem serious, so he teared a part of his clothes and covered the wound with it. He was already in Laren, and was sitting on the floor under a big tree to regain his composture. When he was well enough to walk, he resumed his journey to his home.

Corban lived with his father in a small stone house. His father, Igor, was a merchant, although not a rich one, he wasn't poor either.

Corban finally arrived at the entrance and knocked. There was no response. Then, he pushed the door and it opened with a creak.

'Not again.' Corban thought.

When he entered, he could see his father, Igor, laying in a chair, completely passed out. It was clear that he had been drinking, the empty bottles of beer and wine proved that. Corban looked at the sleeping man with disgust. He hated his father as much as Igor hated his son. Since Amely's death, Igor treated Corban like trash because he blamed him for his mother's death. Why? Corban didn't know how her death was his fault but Igor insisted on that. So, the relationship between father and son was terrible. Corban sometimes wondered, what would happen if one day he took his iron knife, went to his father's bed and.... He quickly snapped out of it and went to change to a dry set of clothes to sleep, leaving Igor there.

As the sun was rising, Corban woke up while the first light of the day entered the window. He got up and went to the dining room. His father still hadn't woken up, and Corban prefered it that way. He ignored the unconscious man, took a bite out of an apple, drank a glass of water and left the house. He wanted to get out before Igor woke up and shouted at him. Corban definitely didn't want to spend time with his father, so he used to wake up before him to go outside, but this time waking up early hadn't been necessary.

It was still raining outside, although less hard than before, Corban didn't mind getting soaked instead of spending the entire day with his dad. He was wearing a set of black clothes again (all the clothes he had were black or grey), although this time he had a cape. He covered his head with it and went outside.

Surprisily, the boy started to walk towards the Forest.

20 minutes later, Corban was in the edge of the town, he then entered the Dark Forest and started to walk, as the trees were big enough to block the rain. He knew the route like the palm of his hand. After a bit, he arrived at a small lake, in its heart, there was a small island with an enourmous tree in the centre. But this tipe of tree was especial, as it was called a Tree of Life, because one could feel the Light Element radiating out of it. In front of Corban, there was that small paradise that the Tree of Life created.

Birds, fish, deers and more non-dangerous animals inhabited the place; the lake's water was as blue as sky; there were beautiful and colorful plants everywhere and there was this mystical light around it, that enlightened the entire place. The Tree's magic was powerful enough to affect everything around it, and to create a barrier that prohibited monsters from entering the area. This place was something that only the people of Laren knew about, and they would sometimes come to relieve their stress. However, Corban didn't feel comfortamble with that place and its light at all.

'Everytime I come to this place I feel like I was in the enemy's den, this hostility... I guess even after coming here for three years, you still don't like the idea of me coming here, do you? I guess you really hate Darkness after all.' Corban said, looking at the tree.

Although the tree couldn't move or harm anyone, it did have a type of conscience, and the moment Corban first entered the place when he was 12, he knew he wasn't welcomed there. After all, all elements had one or more opposite elements. For example, Water and Fire, Earth and Wind, Fire and Nature and so. Light was supposedly the only element that didn't have one, but if Darkness wasn't the opposite of Light then Corban didn't know what it was. So, of course everything related to the Light repeled Corban and Corban repeled everything related to the Light.

One would wonder, then why go there? Well, the boy's real destiny wasn't that place. Corban went next to the lake and jumped. He swam towards the bottom while holding his breath, almost in the lake's centre there was a hole. He continued to swim, crossing the small tunnel. In some point, the boy let himself float. He found himself in a cave, a place he knew too well. Corban swam to the coast, and instead of wet, he was completely dry, after all, the lake's water was magical.

The cave he was in was where he would usually spend the day, and it was literally the opposite of the place above. All the plants inside it were withered, it was dark and the water looked cold and misterious. There also was a big and sinister crystal floating in the middle of the lake, with dark energy radiating out of it. But to Corban, this was paradise. When others might find that place scary and dangerous, to him, it was a place where he could relax and think. It was a place where he could be at peace, without anyone bothering him. Nevertheless, the cave was special, too, and Corban knew it, because if it weren't for him, it wouldn't be like that. He first found it by accident, and when he did, it wasn't scary nor brilliant. However, in the heart of the cave stood something that surprised him, a Neutral Crystal.

Neutral Crystals were items that could be imbued with Elemental Power. When one did that the Crystal would act as a boost and provide with Elemental Energy and boost the user's own power, as long as the one using it had the same element as the crystal. They were normally embedded in weapons or accesories for Carriers. And if there was enough Elemental Energy stored inside it, it could even affect the enviroment as well.

In the end, Corban was curious and decided to go there everyday and imbue his Elemental Energy into the Crystal. Now, the Crystal battered with the Darkness Element and the area was affected by it.

Corban sighed and looked at the beautiful dark crystal. After staring at it for hours in complete silence, he sighed again and then said:

'What am I supposed to do with my life now?'