161 Broken Heart (Long)

Three days went by in the blink of an eye.

Gerald spent each day sending a different Element through his students so they would better understand it. Although there were some improvements, they weren't as great as he thought. The Elements they had access to for their entire lives still far overshadowed the rest, although Qiona already learned to control Earth a tiny bit.

He wondered if this way of forced training would be viable for the rest of the people, but then thinking about the amount of Mana he had to spend to get a tiny improvement, it was probably not viable if other people tried to do the same.

He had a hundred times more Mana than an average person and so his forced training was one hundred times more efficient. Even if a teacher focused all his effort on a single student for a year, the results would be less than what he was able to do in a day.

Quality beats quantity, they say… But what if you have both? Then there is no comparison.

And today was the day of public executions. A whole crowd of people gathered at the designated place in front of the entrance to the inner city.

"So many people gathered? I guess they don't have much excitement going on in their lives, huh?" Gerald wondered out loud.

"Public executions are more of a show for the people and a warning to the Kingdom's enemies than anything else after all... Often it's not even about the prisoners." Sera said quietly and tried to stretch her neck to see better.

Royal guards surrounded a wooden platform that was hastily made a few days prior. It was high enough for everyone to see, even from the edges of the crowd.

A wealthy-looking man slowly climbed up the stairs of the platform and stopped before a lectern.

He was about fifty years of age and wore expensive attire. He wore a white silky tunic over which he had a scarlet vest with fur padding and silver embroidery designs. A fancy golden belt went across his hips, holding up his beautiful jewels-and-gold-ornamented sword.

He had soft leather pants and high leather boots with high heels and silver designs. He was the embodiment of wealth, especially with his shiny, pristine white, fur hat.

The man opened up his vest and placed his hand in the inside pocket. As he did so, his amulets and necklaces as well as rings and bracelets reflected the sunlight straight in Gerald's eyes.

Gerald covered his eyes and cursed, "Motherfucker, we get it! You are rich, now fuck off!"

"K-hm!" the man on the podium loudly cleared his throat and took a scroll out of his pocket.

"I, Bartolomeo Viseblff will, In the name of King Robart III, bearer of the Scepter of Verrant, take over the duty of guiding this public execution, on the first day of the fifth month of the…" As the man continued his speech, Gerald rolled his eyes and quietly groaned.

"It's one of those events… I should have known!" He turned to the girls around him, "Wake me up when something interesting happens."

With these words, he closed his eyes and straight-up fell backward and smashed his head on the stone pavement. The stone below him slightly cracked, but he was, of course, fine. He was too lazy to even sit down properly and just decided falling backward would be easier. A bit of defensive magic and he didn't even feel the impact.

"What the hell! You can't do that!" Sera gasped and tried to pull him up.

"I can and I did," Gerald replied with closed eyes and increased gravity over himself.

"Ugh!" Sera tried her best to lift him up but to no avail. He suddenly became so heavy as if he was made of lead.

"Big brother is tired…" Quina said quietly while holding Xilia's and Elly's hands.

"Sssh, just let him be…" Xilia said and lifted her little sister on her shoulders. "Let's listen to what that uncle over there has to say."

The speech lasted for nearly half an hour as Bartolomeo Viseblff spoke about the deeds of the criminals that were to be executed today.

He also touched on the consequences of betraying the Kingdom and treason against the King. The convicts were led up the stage in chains, dressed in simple dirty rags, bare-foot and emaciated. Their eyes were sunken-in, with deep dark circles and without life.

An executioner also came up, dressed in black leather and a hood over his face, with a dangerous-looking greatsword on his back.

"It's finally happening! Gerald wake up!" Sera kicked him in the boots.

"Yawn…" Gerald stretched his body and slowly stood up, rubbing his eyes. "What's up?" He looked over to the front of the stage. "Eh, I thought our old friends will be there…?"

Sera pulled him by the sleeve and pointed, "They are, look over there!"

Making a surprised expression, Gerald was shocked, "Is that Adelard?! He's so thin! What did they do to him, he looks so old!"

Clenching her teeth Sera snarled, "That bastard deserves it! He and his worthless father are the reason my friends are dead! They were my only family after…after..." She choked on her own words as tears started to form in her eyes.

Gerald glanced around and then took a step back to distance himself from her. Xilia gave him a judging side-eye.

"What?"

"How can you just let her cry like that?" she berated him.

Shrugging his shoulders, he turned back towards the wooden platform. The King's advisor started naming the criminals and their crimes loudly so that everyone could hear them. After being named, two guards stepped close and grabbed the convict, and made him kneel down.

The executioner pulled the greatsword off his back, and with one clean swing, the head was gone.

The rest of the death row inmates shuddered at the sight and a few of them tried to break free and escape, but with chained hands and feet, they only stumbled and fell, getting beaten by the guards and then mercilessly pulled up when it was their turn.

Gerald suddenly had a lightbulb turn on in his mind and he made his way through the sea of people to get closer to the action.

"No, please! Please! I don't want to die!" a convict screamed and tried to resist. But in his agony, he was pushed towards the bloody pile of corpses and forced onto his knees. "Please… Sob, sob… I learned my lesson, I promise it won't do it again, plea-"

Splurt!

The swing from the executioner separated his head from the rest of the body and a fountain of blood gushed into the sky.

Those citizens nearest to the action took a few steps back to avoid the blood splatter, only Gerald remained, grinning from ear to ear, enjoying the abundant Mind Energy.

"Delicious…" He licked his lips. "It's not much, but every little bit counts…"

The executions eventually ended and another long speech followed. Gerald saw Adelard lose his miserable life under the blade, but the rest of his family was not there. His father probably lost his life during the interrogation or torture, Gerald didn't know for sure.

He couldn't help but feel slightly bad for the guy, but then again, they were the ones that started it by ruining people's lives, so the punishment was appropriate.

"Alright, let's go! There is nothing left to see here."

Returning to the mansion, the atmosphere was gloomy and somewhat downcast. Even the sky darkened as it appeared the spring rain was soon going to come.

"What happened to your family?" Gerald suddenly asked, directing his question towards Sera.

The latter looked at him with teary eyes, before she lowered her head and avoided his gaze.

"Are they dead? How did they die?" he questioned further. "Was it, people? Or was it some wild beasts?"

Sera swallowed hard. "Goblins," she said, barely holding back her tears. "There were so many! I- I came back from school when I saw them... eating my little brother alive…" Her lips trembled as she spoke, her face pale as if she was reliving the traumatic experience again.

"My father fought them even as he was covered in blood… My mother, they were… They dragged her away… I- I tried…" She burst into tears, sobbing loudly.

"You tried to use magic to help, but you were too scared and froze," Gerald finished her sentence.

She nodded.

"And you watched your family die without doing anything… And you ran away!" Gerald sternly said.

"I had no choice! I couldn't do anything!" Sera screamed hysterically.

"You had no choice? Is this why you can't use magic? The guilt you are feeling for the fact that you are still alive is stopping you, huh?"

"I…" Sera lowered her head even further in shame.

Gerald frowned and then shouted, "Trash!"

"Huh?"

"You heard me! If a mage can't cast a spell under pressure he is nothing more than trash!"

"...What are you-"

"Don't interrupt me!" Gerald shouted and pointed a finger at her, "Cast a Stone Spike right this instant!"

The girl trembled with tears in her eyes, "I- I can't!"

Boom!

The earth near her exploded and a fissure was formed in the ground. A few meters long crack was formed with a simple wave of Gerald's hand as a powerful Wind Blade was shot forward.

"Why are you doing this?" she cried.

"Why?" Gerald smirked, "To show you how worthless you are, of course! It's your fault your family died, with a cowardly daughter like you, I can't imagine how depressed your parents must have felt!"

"Stop it!" Sera shouted and covered her ears.

The rest of the girls were pushed aside by a gentle wind at the start of the conversation. The only thing they could see was Sera crying in a crouching position, covering her ears, and Gerald pointing at her and laughing like a madman.

They couldn't hear anything though. It was as if all sound was voided before reaching them. Only the quiet sounds of the first raindrops, striking the ground, traveled to their ears.

They were beyond confused.

"And your friends too! How can someone be so unlucky to pick you as a teammate?! It's your fault they died! You could have saved them when the Serrell's thugs attacked, but you chose to run! Hah!" Gerald scoffed as he mocked her.

"No, stop it! Don't say that!"

"Why not!? Am I wrong?! Prove me wrong! Cast your spells at me! Do it! Do it, trash!"

"Shut up! Wuuuuu…" She cried loudly, trying to make herself as small as possible.

"I bet you enjoyed watching Goblins take turns with your mother, and tear apart your brother, why else would you not save them?!"

Suddenly something snapped in the girl's mind. She quieted down in an instant and her arms fell to the floor. She stared blankly at the wet ground as the raindrops fell on her frail-looking body.

'Ah, shit! Did I completely break her?' Gerald scratched his head and then pursed his lips. 'Damn it, I might have gone too far with-'

"AAAAAAAAH!" Sera suddenly roared at the top of her lungs as extreme bloodlust and hate ignited in her eyes.

"SHUT UP! DON'T SAY THAT ABOUT MY FAMILY! I HATE YOU!" Her right and scraped the ground in a forward motion and a tremor traveled forward at an amazing speed, blasting through the surface as a stone pillar struck Gerald square in the chest.

Boom!

Gerald was blasted backward and smashed into the stone wall surrounding the mansion.

"Raaaah!" She made a motion as if trying to pull down the sky. The raindrops suddenly changed shape and froze solid. Thousands of tiny ice needles rained on the dust cloud where Gerald fell down.

It all only lasted a few seconds, and then it was over. Sera collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted.

Clap, clap, clap…

Walking out of the destruction zone, Gerald slowly clapped his hands. It sounded somewhat weird since he was clapping with a prosthetic, but he was otherwise completely fine. Only his clothes sustained some damage.

"Congratulations, you can be considered a mage now." He came closer and picked her up in his embrace. "I'm sorry for what I said before, I didn't really mean it. I just wanted to help you understand that fear and doubt will only hold you back in life."

He quietly sighed, "Different people chose different paths in life. You could go on the easier one and eventually forgive yourself… That would maybe allow you to use magic again, but it carries too much uncertainty."

He placed his hand on her chest and started using Recovery on her. She avoided his gaze and stayed quiet, letting him speak.

"There is another kind of people, those that are like me! Anger is a much stronger motivator than forgiveness and with the right guide, it can be used as fuel to do amazing things."

He caressed her cheeks and wiped away her tears, "You need to remember this anger you felt towards me today. Remember it, but find another target to guide your path! You hate Goblins, that's understandable. Now you can use this anger and aim it towards them, use your hate to grow and become stronger!"

"Only by becoming stronger than everyone else can you protect those that you love, and take revenge for those that you can't protect! The world will always try to beat you down and make you miserable, and it will keep you there if you let it! So don't!"

He placed her head on his shoulder and hugged her tightly, quietly whispering, "But that is for tomorrow… You are allowed to cry and mourn today, I'm here, I'll protect you…"

The sound barrier was released and Sera burst into tears. Her wailing and sobbing sounds resounded in the darkness and her snot and tears covered Gerald's shirt.

Elly, Xilia, and Qiona came close, unsure of what just happened, but hugged Sera in silence nonetheless.

They could feel her pain, and sometimes, a warm hug was the best medicine for a broken heart.