Chapter 05: Doubts

   2300. That is the time that has passed since humans and wizards stopped being a single society. The reason for this is a kind of prophecy or curse, saying that wizards are creatures that will cause the end of humanity. I had never seen one, or at least I thought I had never seen one.

   I lived with two of them. Which meant that when I stood in front of a mirror, I saw one of them. I don't know how to react to this, as my mind was falling apart at the scene I had seen a few moments ago.

   Not only this, but apparently their death was my fault, as I ended up using the code core and revealing that I was a wizard. I was used to get to them, and now my parents' blood was spilled in my living room.

   But it was only a matter of time before mine was too.

   -Do me a favor and die.

   I hear these words from Naila, who had just materialized her two scarlet-bladed cutlass swords. I wanted to get away from her as fast as possible, but her last shot went through my belly, but apparently didn't bring any immediate sequelae, apart from the bleeding and an extreme feeling of shock throughout my body.

   Performing a blow aimed at my head, she moves towards me. As I was unresponsive enough to draw any of my weapons, I used the palm of my hands to bring the two swords together and block the attack.

   She immediately used her knee to strike the wound, and I don't need to describe how painful it was. Losing the reaction of my hands, I received two more shots, one in each leg. Next, a kick, which sent me crashing into the wall and now being punished for the wound from the back side.

   She... was serious.

    I was being treated like an enemy. If I did nothing, I would be killed. And given the girl's face, dialogue was not an option.

   Now, I am a wizard. I mean, I always was. But for the moment, I am a public enemy of Tecmetriun. A wizard. A calamity that would bring about the destruction of humanity.

   But... what the hell does that mean? I don't want evil for anyone, and if I just get banned from the city, it's a sensible thing to do.

   ...

   Idiotic. 

   My parents were killed. And considering that the fact that we were wizards was kept from me, there was nothing to stop them from having already killed someone and kept it a secret. 

   But I had something to focus on at that moment. That was... 

   ... stay alive!

   I try to get up from the ground, materializing from my devices my rectangular bladed swords and my pistols, leaving my pistols at my waist and using my swords as walking sticks. 

   The shots I received in my legs grazed my bones, so luckily they didn't go through them, allowing me to still stand. But I barely have time to stand up straight, when Naila appears in front of me, striking me. Giving up the support of my swords, I block the attack. 

   She keeps her swords in a power struggle with mine, and taking advantage that I was bending forward due to my lack of balance, she starts to kick my legs.   

   As I resisted, I was analyzing something that puzzled me. At this point, I was not even supposed to be standing, since my body was weaker than most. Could it be that when I caused the blackout in the city, my body had somehow become stronger?

   It didn't matter, I had to get out of here alive. I'm not a sucker to spend my whole life searching for something only to have some bitch come along and start taking everything from me like it was nothing. I had to do something about it. 

   I am once again thrown backwards when Naila gives up on kicking the wounds in my legs and gives me a hook. Almost falling, I lean my body forward, which caused enormous pain and worsened the bleeding from my belly and legs. With this movement, I dodge two shots she fired.

I have never been able to keep up with her change of weapons, and now was not the best time to learn.

   She switches one of her pistols to her sword, attacking me laterally with the latter. I manage to block it, but I get another shot, now in my other hand.

   This wretch is trying to keep me from being able to fight, which means...  

   ...that as much as she is fighting to kill, she is counting on me to survive. She wants to take me alive.  

   Now was not the time to imagine clichés like brainwashing or a theater to make me escape. The murderous intent that was directed at me was real. No, even if I couldn't feel it, the two corpses in the kitchen were enough.  

   But something Jack said to me yesterday gave me a little glimmer of victory.  

   "In matters of combat, you can overcome even the monster who is a captain."  

   I joined my swords together into a double-bladed sword. With what little strength I had to walk, I took a shot and struck Naila sideways. She must have already realized that something was different with my body, blocking the blow with both swords.  

   When her body had absorbed all the shock, she was preparing to defend the blow that I normally deliver, which would be by separating my swords.

   Normally. This fight was not a normal fight.

   I let go of my double sword, which clearly surprised her. Even more so with the well-timed punch I landed in her face, using my wounded hand. 

   I feel a throbbing pain, but the reason was not just because of the impact with her face. 

   Lightning.   

   Blue and red lightning was coming out of my hand. And my punch tried to launch some at Naila herself, who was thrown backwards.  

   But the lightning was not coming out of my arm. They were coming out of the wounds on my body. And not in a very pleasant way.  

   -AAAAAAAAAAARGH.

   Every wound on my body was accompanied by a throbbing pain. The rays coming off them were making my body hot. The strange thing was that I was feeling my wounds implode. But every part of my body that didn't have bullet wounds was being contracted. It felt like I was convulsing.

   -Shit... I have to get out ofq-  

   -ARGH! 

   Before I could say anything else, I was immobilized by a scarlet-bladed sword driving diagonally into my leg. If I tried to take a step without removing it, it would be an amputation without anesthesia. Thinking that the situation could not get any worse, Naila must have noticed that my body was not working very well.

   I take the handle of the sword, but I notice that Naila had already recovered from the last blow and was already with her two pistols facing me.

   -That's enough. I hope you have a good time in hell with your parents.  

   She was going to shoot, and I wouldn't be able to do anything. I was going to die.

   *BOOOOOOOOOOOM*

   I hear an unusual noise. When my eyes get a reaction to focus on what it was, I am surprised by what I see.

   While I was studying history, I read that boys my age in the past had a very strange saying that went: "a real friend is not the one who separates you from a fight, but the one who gets whith a drop kick. I had no idea what that meant, but I had an idea now.

   A boy with white hair and green eyes, a little taller than me, possessing a slightly cheeky look. This guy destroyed a wall in my house, and came in kicking Naila in the face. He came in kicking his captain in the face.

   Jack Eldryn. I wondered what he was doing, but I didn't even have the reaction to say anything. As soon as Naila hit the wall, Jack came towards me and withdrew the sword from my leg. As he did so, I fell backwards, but ended up falling over a flying board.

   Jack places himself on top of one as well. Looking at me, he speaks with a serious look: 

   -Hold on.

Through the same hole he opened in my house, we left at high speed, standing on one board, while I sat on another.

   After twenty minutes of that fight, we were heading for the southern area of the city. We ended up having to stop in a closed alley in a residential area for Jack to give first aid to my injuries. Not only this, but the electricity coming out of my body damaged my board, rendering it useless.  

   -Wait a minute, I have a kit here. 

   -...   

   He was carrying a backpack, and from it he takes out a white metal box. Inside it were mini injectable guns, which were about two centimeters long. Skin regenerator patches, serums that speed up the recovery of blood from the body, as well as painkillers, anti inflammatories and things I didn't know what they were.  

   -Here, I'll apply a painkiller first. The board before breaking analyzed that you also broke a rib. Can you lie still?

   -...

   -Keyner, are you listening to me? I... I don't doubt that what you must have gone through just now was unbelievable, but now we have a little distance.

   -... 

   The problem was not about having distance, a hiding place or an escape plan.     

   From all the electricity or whatever passed through my body and I felt my wounds imploding and my body contorting on the outside, I got used to the pain.

   The thing was.

   I am a wizard.  

   As the doubt replayed in my head, I let it slip out of my mouth:  

   -Why are you helping me?  

   I finally lifted my head, which had been staring at the ground since we stopped. As much as at other times I would avoid showing my face while I was crying, I kept my gaze fixed on Jack's eyes.

   -DAMMIT, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HELPING ME? I AM A WIZARD! YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS TREASON AGAINST TECMETRIUN. DO YOU WANT TO BE KILLED?  

   As convenient as it was to keep silent, I couldn't. Not just because my body still had trouble obeying me, but because of how senseless the situation was.  

   I am a wizard, and in front of me an AWA second-class soldier is helping me to escape an execution. Not a simple execution, but one carried out by the captain of the very unit that this guy is.   

   -You... are trying to drug me to get me into the AWA, aren't you? Or to get a chance to attack me while I am treating my injuries?    

   I manage to keep my voice down, but not because I was calmer or because my body began to obey me.  

   It was hatred.

   My parents were brutally murdered. I was used by the AWA to find out who the wizards were. I was being hunted by my best friend. My best friend is supposedly trying to help me.  

   I don't know what to do. I don't know who to believe. The only thing my senses are giving me are three things:  

   Pain, doubt and...  

   ... hate.  

   Waking up from my thoughts, I wipe my eyes and turn my gaze back to Jack, and end up realizing a few things that thanks to the confusion I didn't realize before. 

   Jack was not wearing his AWA uniform. Instead, he was wearing gray shoes, black pants, and a dark blue shirt under a red leather jacket.  

   He had taken off his jacket when I turned my gaze back to him. That was when I realized.

   I was not the only one in need of first aid.

   He had burns and cut marks, probably from explosives and swords. Not only that, but there was a purple bruise on my right shoulder, apparently something had tried to crush him.  

   -Calm down there. I'm going to give you first aid first. Besides...

   I get even more lost in the situation.  

   -I disowned the AWA.

   -You did what? Did you do what?

-They're trying to kill you because you're a wizard. I've never faced one or anything like one before, but you... I know you're no threat to anyone. And also, after finding out that you were used to detect the undercover wizards, I wanted to get answers for myself. I didn't want to risk losing another friend. 

   He spoke while using a pistol and injecting some serum into me. My body moments before started to become more relaxed, unlike my mind with Jack's last line.

   -Jack... -What did you mean by "one more friend"?

   -...

   He remains silent until he has finished all the first aid on me, making sure that all the bleeding has been stopped. He speaks again as he begins to apply it to himself:

   -Caius...

   -What... what about him?

   -I was not the only one to question Naila's decision to kill you. Caius, unlike me, didn't keep his cool and argued with her.

   I didn't want to imagine what came next. Just from the look on Jack's face I couldn't imagine that something peaceful had happened. His bruised body was also an indication that an ugly fight had taken place.

   -He, unlike me, formally withdrew from the AWA because he did not want to cooperate with the operation. Naila asked if he was going to meet with you and he said yes, because he wanted to get satisfaction about it, but that he still defended your right to defend yourself if you were a victim of your parents.

   Jack puts his hand on his neck. With a look like a child in a haunted house, he can no longer look at me.

   -One moment. That was enough for Naila to slit his throat, giving him an instant death. Not because he was disobeying orders, but because he was giving a wizard the right not to have his life taken.

   I think I have had enough for one night.

   My parents and one of my best friends. I didn't know what or who to turn to. Anyone now should be in a shelter because of the blackout. Mari... She is a captain, I don't know what would happen.

   I didn't trust Jack. Given everything that is happening today, the only thing I have learned is that...  

   ... I shouldn't trust humans.

   They treat me like an animal, like an irrational monster. A nice comparison would be like a monster that got out of its slaughterhouse, and now must be eliminated. 

   Humans may just be defending themselves or enjoying it, but to me, they are monsters. They ...

   ...have taken from me what is important to me.

   Not only that, but they want to take from me what I have always fought to get: a place in the world to call my own. As a "human", my right not to have my life taken away was still respected. Now, I am a wanted man.

   What have I done? I was born.   

   It's so ridiculous that it's making me nauseous. 

   -Keyner... 

   Jack's voice reminds me that I'm with him. I stand guard, in position to easily draw my weaponry.

   -I know you don't trust me, and you have every right to. But I'm trying to help you. If you think it's best, as we head to the south airport, you can walk with me with a gun to my head. I know you're still having trouble walking.

   He was serious. Not for nothing. Leaving Techmetriun means not only being targeted by patrol soldiers for fleeing the city without permission, but also by monsters and wizards...

   Although as for the last part, I don't know what will happen anymore.

   Although reluctantly, I just put my uninjured arm on Jack's shoulder, which was not in the same deplorable state as the other. We then started walking to the south airport, where apparently he had an aircraft he had built himself with old parts, which would not be traced.

Techmetriun is a city with square-shaped borders, which is built on top of a plain, with the southern part of the city being the edge. We could not go to the north airport, as we would have to pass my house, which would probably be full of soldiers.

   I still had a doubt: why is Jack helping me?

   -I help you because I am sure that you have never killed or harmed any human.

   -Wait a minute.

   -Your face combined with what you mumble has given the game away. But I thank you for not putting a gun to my head.

   -...

   We arrived at the south airport. It was a place with several towers and sheds, although I couldn't spot any aircraft, I was sure it was the airport. Apparently they had removed all the aircraft to prevent my escape.

   -Ok, wait a minute.

   Jack makes me let go of him. As I stood on my own, I noticed that the electricity coming out of my body ended up opening some of Jack's wounds, but apparently he preferred to keep quiet.

   -Rest assured, I don't know if we can call this magic, but I'm sure you can't even control yourself.

   He spoke with the smile of someone who was trying to convey confidence, but his sad, dry eyes did not deceive me: he was afraid. I don't know if it was fear of me, of the AWA, or of what he would have outside the city, but the fear was evident.

   He takes a few steps forward and closes his fist. A moment later, a section of ground opens up in front of him, and a two-seat aircraft appears.

   It was a mini jet, with a very rustic design, and it was clear that it was built with old parts. But it did not appear to be sabotaged.

   Get out of Tecmetriun. Apparently, that is what we are going to do, if Jack is not luring me into an ambush.

   But... I was just about to find out if it was a trap or not.

   -Stop!

   I look at where the voice was coming from, and I see ten people.

   No. Ten soldiers.

   They were wearing the standard AWA dress, except that on the chest symbol, instead of three triangles inscribed inside three circles, the symbol was made up of three circles with only two having triangles inscribed. In addition, the gray garment featured near the right sleeve an octagon with a star at the top left corner. 

   It was the first unit of the AWA. The unit of Caius, Naila, and Jack.

   I stand on guard, holding my gunblades. No more playing around. I could not hold on and wait for my body to want to obey me.

   -Turn on the ship.

   I was startled, for it was Jack who spoke, as I walked forward to where the third class soldiers were.

   The ship was close to the edge of the plain, just a few meters away from us. I could not afford to miss the only chance of escape and be trapped between soldiers and a drop of tens of meters.

   But what is Jack about to do?

   -Apparently, you have come without any second or first class officers, even though my promotion to first class officer is near and none of you possess an ArcanaTech.

   The soldiers drew their weapons, sticks, swords, everything in their arsenal.

   -Keyner, just watch...

   I fixed my eyes on Jack, who was looking more daring than usual.

   -... that you still have people in this world you can trust! 

   -ArcanaTech: Fenrir's Roar!

   As he said this, cobalt blue metal armor with indigo details covered his body. Materializing out of nowhere and in a way that looked like a hologram forming and making its image clearer and clearer, the armor took on a beastly form.

   Jack now looked like some kind of wolf. His helmet covered his entire face, with the golden visors standing out. The whole body had a streamlined design, which resembled a predator preparing to catch its prey. It was beautiful, but frightening at the same time.

Hands and feet were equipped with thick claws, and it even had a tail, only this one was thin, but not too long, with two spines at the end.    

   The soldiers were not intimidated. Realizing that Jack was bleeding right after activating his Arcana Tech, they went after their former superior.   

   I'm sure they thought it was the biggest mistake. 

   One minute. 

   That was the time it took for Jack to finish them all off. 

   His speed was something extraordinary. Added to the brutality of his attacks, where he used his claws to dismember the soldiers. His tail was a weapon that gave him blind spot cover.     

   I was impressed. But at the same time, frightened. Naila was a captain, and didn't even use her Arcana Tech. So she took it easy on me in the last fight. I wonder if my parents tired her out or if she really underestimated herself.

   No. I am really weak, there is no denying it.

   -Cof, cof.

   -Jack!

   He dematerialized his Arcana Tech. Apparently it was impossible to keep it, since his wounds opened up and became worse than before.

   -Not yet. Look.

   Jack points to where the soldiers were initially. He tries to be on guard again, which was normal, since Naila had caught up with us. 

   But she was not alone. There was one more person. She was wearing the stealth uniform of the AWA, which was a black outfit, with the same design as the traditional outfit, but black and with a helmet with a circular visor covering the whole face.

   The other person had the same chest symbol as Naila, which meant he was a captain. As for the octagon, the star was the previous one counterclockwise from the vertex where Naila's star was. Therefore, it was the captain of the eighth unit.

   -Damn it. Keyner, is the ship on?

   Jack, who was beside me, spoke with a nervous tone. Not for nothing.

   -Yes, let's get out of here!

   -That's great, start piloting and I'll follow you.

   -While Jack was talking, I ran to the powered ship. I realized that he wasn't following me. I kept running, thinking that he had a plan to temporarily contain the two captains.

   As I reached the side of the ship, I finally understood why he hadn't continued what he was saying. And I hadn't followed because I stopped paying attention.

   Naila had impaled him with her sword, while the other captain had disappeared.

   I can't believe my eyes once again in the day. I was again wishing that everything I was seeing or feeling was just an illusion.

   But seeing the blood pouring out of Jack's chest while he kept a face like he was in agony was enough to know that this was reality.

   Naila takes her sword from Jack's chest, and lifts him by the neck.

   -STOP IT-

   My shout was interrupted by the fright I got. The second captain stepped in front of me and kicked me in the stomach. The force of the kick was strong enough for me to crash into the aircraft.

   I turn my gaze to Jack, but regret it.

   Naila threw him up, and just as he was about to hit the ground, she shot him in the chest, which went right through him. Not only that, but the impact pushed him over and knocked him off the edge of the plain.

   I was paralyzed.

   I didn't want to see anything else.

   When my brain starts to process my anger, it processes something else.

   Several bombs on my body, on the ship and on the ground, in the shape of boomerangs. 

   I had no time to have outrage or response to the two unfortunates in front of me.

   My vision was blurred with the glare of the bombs, which marked the beginning of their explosions. The entire ground below me and the aircraft are destroyed, and I go into free fall towards the ground dozens of meters below me.