61 Chapter 16: Port City Ak'hilheim (4)

I planted my feet apart as I watch my opponent.

I wonder if I can make this match work, knowing my shoes are giving up on me...

But then in a blink of an eye, he vanished.

Alarmed, I looked around.

Wait, no! Not with the eyes! I argued at myself.

I closed my eyes and just stood still.

An itch is blooming on my side.

A faint draft is felt.

I opened them and held my hand out, clawing it towards midair

as my opponent suddenly appears and was immediately surprised that my hand had welcomed his sight.

I grabbed his face and summoned the black veins on my hands

Hastily, I hooked a punch toward his torso

But his legs moved faster than me.

It hit the right side of my body and the next thing I new I was on the ground.

glaring wide eyes at the sky with my back flat against the floor.

I underestimated my opponent.

So this is what a match feels like, I thought to myself.

I can feel my heart drumming wild.

My breath is short and rapid but it wasn't nerves.

I'm somewhat thrilled.

The rush is intoxicating.

I groped at my waist where he kicked me

And surprisingly, it doesn't hurt one bit.

I pushed at my elbow to carry myself up.

But I made one wrong step that made my shoes ripping apart more. So I stepped back down and shifted to kneel.

But the floor suddenly moved farther from me.

It's then I realized I was being carried from the collar of my nape.

My feet freely dangles on midair.

He raised me even further and then abruptly pulled me downwards with both hands.

The point of his kneecap met my stomach on impact.

Again, it didn't hurt

but it snagged my breath for a moment,

then he dropped me to the floor.

Everyone was either clapping or yelling.

Feels like a riot in here.

Only, I'm the only one being mauled.

The merchant laughed out loud from the crowd. "My eyes never deceives me. From years and years on this line of work, I developed a sense of knowing who are weak from those who are strong!!! You shouldn't have brought such a defenseless kid in this part of the city! Huk huk huk huk!!!"

Aide and Scias didn't replied, they just watch me and smiled when my eyes met theirs.

"GOooo, Ri!!!!!" Scias pumped a fist up.

And now he calls me by that nickname too?

But I felt bad for them being mocked like this.

So I quickly stood up on my feet, dusting myself off.

Suddenly my opponent popped out in front of me without any warning,

"The strong preys on the weaker ones"

Huh—?

the next thing I saw was my opponent's fist. Hitting me squarely on the face.

Oh. I forgot to focus on my senses again!

Darn it!

I was thrown on the ground another time.

Skidding and rolling towards the edge of the ring but I stretched my hands and feet to break the momentum even before I would have been thrown off outside.

It doesn't hurt but being thrown here and there feels frustrating!

I looked down and noticed my shoes is almost parting away from its soles.

Darn it, this is making it harder to move.

But I know it's not just about the shoes.

Why can't I harbor the strength I had back then when I faced the daemon in Greenrun?

I shut my eyes and focused on my senses.

I can just slide my feet, that way my shoes won't fall completely apart, I thought.

I stood up and felt the draft before me.

I side-stepped.

Another itch bloomed from my behind.

I ducked down and felt a gust of air passed from above me.

One after another, I began to evade all the sensations.

And then it stopped.

I won't win if I just keep being defensive.

...so I opened my eyes back.

I can see the merchant grinding his teeth in frustration. Aide and Scias are cheering noisily now. The rest of the crowd are roaring out loud.

"Finish him!!!!" The merchant shouted.

I looked around and saw my opponent charging towards me.

I immediately summoned the black veins on my hands and waited till he comes.

He vanished and conjured in one spot to another, from my left and then to my right; Right and then left. Hopping and vanishing...

—drawing closer and closer

Until he was within my reach

I tried to grab him

But he suddenly appeared in three's!

Surprised, I gasped and stepped aback.

Hesitated.

Took one step forward and punched one of them hastily.

The images vanished.

My opponent appeared below,

He scoops my feet up with something, binding it as he lifted me up and I went dangling upside down.

"The struggle is useless. The difference between us is far too apparent." Says my opponent in a sneer. "Do you know what you lack?" says my opponent, taking his mask off.

I scowled at him in silence

"Experience." he says.

I tried to break free and even reach for him but it was impossible.

I tried to sway like a pendulum this time and hopefully get my momentum but then he spoke,

"Well now. What do we have here?"

I looked up at him.

Has he noticed my hopeless shoes?

I can feel my blood pooling in my head.

The pressure is increasing and my ears feel like their plugged.

"Nice anklet. I'll take it."

And with one pull of his finger...

It snapped.

He smiled contentedly, "This will be my trophy" he sniffs at it, grinning as he rubs it against his cheeks.

My parted lips closed.

My anklet.

The sky of dawn.

My brother's gift—

.....

"Here" he(Aeron) says putting something in my hand. He closes it into a fist and leaves the room. The rest of the people of my household also left the room including my parents. Darion stayed however.

I opened my fist and saw a peculiar looking rope tied in knots. "That's an anklet charm to ward off bad things, especially accidents, from happening" Darion stated with a smile, seeing the rope I held. "Master Aeron has been making that ever since you woke up from the accident. It is believed that when you wear that anklet, your feet will have more affinity to the grounds you are stepping on. He believes it will protect you from falling ever again. He had asked several servants to teach him how to weave that even if they insisted to make it for him instead, but he was adamant to make it with his own hard work."

"Is there a name to this charm?" I asked. Bending down to tie the charm on my ankle.

"There is but... if you name it now it might work it's charm more effectively" Darion chuckled in delight.

... "Sky of Dawn" I said as Darion nodded, "I'm sure Master Aeron will be glad to hear you gave it a name"

~[Chapter 2.5 (extra): Bond of Twins]

I can feel my heart racing inside me.

It began to just pound, pound, and pound

louder and louder.

Faster and faster.

Until it ached against my ribs.

"Give... my anklet..."

My entire body began to feel numb but the cold sensation enveloped me.

"What are you muttering about? This fight is over."

The rush is filling me once again

But it wasn't intoxicating...

—it was drowning.

All my senses felt so overwhelming and my entire body now feels light.

I feel so angry.

So frustrated.

So utterly infuriated.

I want to kill him.

"I said.... give.

it..."

My body moved on it's own.

"...back."

The next thing I knew,

I had his head in between my grasp.

His eyes wide opened,

And I looked straight at them

Gazing beyond inside those two orbs

where I can see a glimpse of light; flaring like a candle but pulsating like a heartbeat.

My vision darkened and all I see now is this man; his shocked facial expression; his swollen eyes; crooked small nose; dry chapped lips, that was gawking wide open yet breathless; and the veins almost popping out from his forehead.

He's not even saying anything.

Oh, right.

It's because my legs are crossed around his neck, almost sitting on his shoulders as I held his head like a crystal ball from behind him.

I moved my eyes closer to his.

I can sense stark fear in him.

It lingered like a sweet scent.

...And it made me feel more alive.

I tightened my grip as if to crush the bone underneath the skin he wore while looking and watching inside his hollow and fragile vessel.

If I reach further, I feel like I turn off that flickering light I can see deep inside his eyes.

This man deserves no pity.

I dug my nails deep and began to release shadows from his eyes.

And like watching an ink blot, the white of his eyes began to stain like the abyss.

More

...more

more—

"You won. That's enough"

I felt someone grabbed me from my back and carried me away from him.

I looked who it was

and saw a man with a cropped hair and jade eyes.

I blinked repeatedly.

Oh, I know him.

"H-hi, Scias." I said in a raspy voice. I cleared my throat.

It felt like I was in a daze.

Uhh— what was I doing again????

Scias opened his hand and showed me an anklet hanging between his fingers.

"It's fine. He already dropped it on the floor, kiddo. The match is over."

"Match?" I snapped out of it as he puts me down on my feet gently, "...what match?"

Suddenly, Scias throws a cloak over my head.

I tried to take the cloak off but Scias stumps his hand on my head to pin it in place. "Hide your eyes. They're blazing red." He whispered.

Oh...

I nodded and he took his hand off.

I peeked around and saw crowds of people around me from outside the ring.

I saw Aide standing from a corner, wearing a playful smug. She nods once at me.

"Oh! Right! The match!"

I turned to look for my opponent.

He was on the ground, trembling like a lamb while eyeing me with horror in his swollen eyes.

"But he's not out of the ring yet..." I murmured to Scias.

"I YIELD! I YIELD!!! I GIVE UP!!!" He suddenly went shouting, crawling backwards, away from us. His voice is shattering.

He stood on his knees in a hurry and scurried off from the ring, even stumbling and tripping on his feet as he went off, until he ran into the crowd and disappears from sight.

"The winner!!!" The umpire announces.

I can hear the crowd cheering joyfully.

"C'mon!" Scias called out as he began to climb down the ring. I followed after him.

I kept my head down and my eyes closed while trying to wear the cloak on and more properly this time.

"Okay, we won! Give it!!!" I can hear Aide's voice yelling.

The merchant groaned but handed the three sack of gold coins anyway. I can see his jaws tightening in annoyance but turns around and walked away in silence.

Aide handed me my share. "You scared the shit outta your opponent— good job!" she says patting my head.

I took a deep breath.

I feel more calm now.

If anything else, I actually feel so happy!

I can buy myself new shoes!

Slowly, I opened my eyes back.

"Is it still red?"

Scias and Aide shook their heads, "Nope. It's back being blue again!"

Aide pulled me to a corner and whispered,

"Look kid, red eyes would've been fine if you stayed with it from the beginning. But you came out here with blue ones. Everyone will freak out if they realized you're changing into a blood eye color out of whim! You know how dark magus are treated here!"

"It's not out of whim." I grumbled. "I didn't mean it to change."

I looked down and stared at the anklet on the palm of my hand. "I just wanted this back so bad. It's very important to me..."

I tried to recall what happened back there and knew I partly lost control of myself.

I knew I was angry yet instead of trying to calm myself down in order to act rationally, I indulged in the moment and just went with it.

"I can see that." Aide chuckled, "You went on full killer mode when he took that off you! What a show! Hahaha!!!"

Scias joined us, "You're still a bit out of control but wow! Now I get what Emis meant yesterday about you!"

"But my anklet is... broken." I sighed, studying the charm on my hand, its ends are cut where it was forcefully yanked.

"Don't worry, we can ask Emis to fix that later. Emis is handy with crafting things with threads. Cheer up kiddo! At least you got that back!" Scias stated, crossing his arms contentedly.

"You're right. I'll first see if Emis can fix it! If not, I'll just look for an alchemist to fix it for me!" I lifted my cloak and looked at the bag of coins draping on my belt from my side where I hooked them.

"Yep, it's better when you're being optimistic like that!" Aide says at me in a sigh. "You look better with a smile."

"I agree. It's rare to see you so happy like this. What's up?" Scias added, arching one brow up.

I patted the bag of coins, put my cloak down to hide them and then turned and grinned at Scias, profoundly. "I'm going to buy a new pair of shoes!"

Comically, at the same time, they both looked down at my feet.

And then exchanged glances.

Finally, I thought, a money I earned on my own. With this, I won't have to depend on them too much!

The fight is a blur and I know I still need to train my powers until I can control it perfectly

—control even my emotions, that is.

But for now that's not the exact problem at hand.

Scias bursted out laughing. "Let's get out of here and get yourself that shoes then!"

"Seriously, you could have just told me you needed one!" Aide rubbed her temples for a moment but ended up laughing along, realizing how silly my real motive was.

Right now, the main problem I have is to be able to walk or fight without thinking about my footwear.

So, with the money I gained from that match—

I'll get me a new pair of shoes fit for adventures!

I nodded, beaming at Scias, "Yup! Let's go!" 🎵

———end of Chapter 16———