2 Chapter 2: Atonement

[Current year 4456: 2nd month, 3rd day.]

[Time: 12:30 pm.]

While I am sleeping, I am dreaming of a peculiar dream, people begging for their lives, people who died by my hands, and faces that people don't usually do. Why am I dreaming such things, I haven't done anything wrong, killing people isn't wrong, getting money to live isn't wrong, right?

I woke up my heart is beating so fast, my lips and chin are trembling, and my whole body is freezing, is this what they call fear? Every single time I sleep, I always dream things like these, killing, begging, blood, and scary faces. A few moments after, I calmed myself, I look around in the room that I am staying and I saw a couple of shirt and pants on my side. I stared at those things and wonder, why didn't I sensed someone coming in? I am highly sure that I was on guard the whole night even if I was sleeping. He shook his head and snap out of it, maybe I was just tired. I said to myself, I walk outside of the room to find Haluk. I look around at every corner of his house but I failed to find him. I sit on the couch in his living room and wait for him to come back.

{Haluk's point of view.}

I shouldn't have done that, because of me the world turned upside down, it's my fault everything turned out like this. Will I be able to deem myself to these sins that I have committed? What should I do? Please, what will happen if I die? I have killed too many people, no doubt my soul will burn in hell, my sins are not redeemable, I cannot do anything about it. I left the boy in my house alone, will he be okay? I left out a huge sigh as I am walking uphill on the Kryxton mountain; one of the steepest mountains in this city, monks always come to the top of this mountain to meditate. As for me, I go to the top of this mountain every single day, to redeem my sins and ask for forgiveness from those people I slaughtered. I would stay on the top, without wearing any clothes that might protect me from the coldness of this place. I would stay here for 6 hours until the sun sets and I'll do my farm works when I got home. And I will only eat supper, I do this every single day since that incident. That boy walks the same path as mine, I'll do anything to change him before it is too late.

While I reached the top of the mountain, a strange bald man rushed towards me and punched me in the face, I dodged his punch and grins.

"Good afternoon Aliston," I said after I dodged his punch, Aliston is a monk living on top of the Kryxton mountain, he is staying here with his grandfather and the other monks. Believe it or not, he's as strong as an A-grade adventurer and he's just 12 years old.

"You're as fast as ever, brother Haluk." He said to me, he bows his head to me as a sign of respect, I don't like it on the first time he did that to me. It was 9 years since I am going up and down on this mountain every single day.

"Don't bow your head to me, I'm not worthy of your respect," I said to him politely and I bow my head to him, both of us raised our head at the same time and Aliston would attack me once more, I left out a long, big sigh, I blocked his fist that was supposed to hit my face, and I hold his foot that was supposed to kick me on the side and throws him on the ground.

"You're no match to me, kiddo, It'll take a hundred years of practice before you could ever lay a punch or kick to me." I grin and held out my hand so he can stand up, he reached it and I pull him up.

"You're as strong as ever, I wonder how you got that strong." He said to me and tilts his head curiously.

Only the senior monks know about my past, these kids know nothing and I bet they will get scared to approached me if they knew who I was before.

"I wonder how, where's your grandpa?"

"Gramps is meditating on the temple, he ordered me to not let anyone disturb his meditation, are you going to meditate again?"

"As usual, I'll meditate beside your grandpa, don't let anyone disturb us, okay?" I said and I removed my upper clothes.

Aliston is looking at me when I removed my upper clothes, he could see all of the marks and scars on my whole body. He saw these scars and marks every single day for 9 years, but the looks on his eyes were still mesmerized to my body.

"It is very cold right now, I hope you won't catch a cold," Aliston said to me and he plays with the other kids on the temple.

I nod to him and go inside of the room in the temple where monks meditate every single day, I didn't make the slightest noise nor presence, but Aliston's gramps noticed me, he's the strongest monk on this temple, I don't know what his real name is but I just call him gramps. Rumors says that he is stronger than Xerxes himself, but he never shows his presence or goes down on the mountain because of some particular reason that he never tells us. He gets disturbed for a moment and continued meditating, I was dumbfounded and just stood in there, doing nothing yet.

"Don't just stand in there, go and meditate," Gramps said to me in a deep old man voice.

"..." I just nod and sit in a meditative stance and meditate peacefully, I would focus on my breathing in, breathing out, becoming one with nature, and atoning my sins. After meditating and fasting for 6 hours, the sun sets down and it's night time. Haluk bows down to Gramps and left the temple, Aliston would be at the mountain at this time, playing with his other monk friends. Haluk would start to go down on the mountain without drinking some water or eating.

{Lennart's point of view.}

"Geez, the old man is taking too long, it's already. 6:30 pm." I said to myself while waiting for Haluk to be back, I would be asking why I didn't leave this place; the reason why I didn't leave this place is I don't have anywhere else to go. My money was stolen and others syndicates haven't contacted me yet, I sighed I heard some footsteps on the door of Haluk's house.

"Haluk! Finally, you came back." I said out loud and rushed towards the door, but what I see isn't Haluk, but two men wearing a strange black robe and their face would be cover by shadows.

"Huh? Who are you?" I asked and the other man suddenly punched my guts, I don't have enough time to defend myself and I fall to my knees. "Urgh..!" I grunt because of the pain that they inflicted.

"W-W-Who are you?" I asked both of the men.

" You don't need to know, where's Haluk?" The other man who's wearing the strange black robe said.

"I-I don't know." I'm still grunting in pain after I answered his question, the other man who's wearing the same robe hold my hair. "I don't know." My heart doesn't feel any fear and I'm still visibly calm, I don't know why I am like this.

"Pathetic, you dare to go in on Haluk's house yet you can't defend yourself, release him, Arden." Said by the man who's just standing there, Arden, the man who is holding my hair, he released it and go back besides the other man.

I stand up, holding my stomach because of the punch. "What do you want?" I said to them.

The man and Arden removed both of their hood and I could see their faces.

"This man name is Arden and I am Rayden, we are brothers and as you can see, both of us are Haluk's former acquaintance, what's your name kiddo?" Ayden said to me after they show their faces to me, they got the same vibes as Haluk, the looks on their faces looks experienced. Arden looks like a man who just knows brawn, his body is so muscular and his height is taller than Haluk, around 6'5" I must say. And as for Rayden, he looks physically weak, his body is so lean and his face looks so gentle and his height is as tall as me, around 5'9." Still, there's a bit of anger left inside my heart because of what they did.

"After both of you assaulted me and now you want to know my name, I won't give it to some stranger like the both of you," I said, I was very mad at what they did, I never felt that kind of pain since I go down in the path of killing people.

Ayden is the type of person who's just silent and as for Rayden, he is very talkative.

Rayden looks at me and shot a warm smile. "We're just testing your strength," Rayden said to me gently, he approached me and whisper to my ears. "Don't you dare make Haluk mad, you don't want to see the other side of him, right?" He whispered to me, the tone of his voice was very serious as if he was warning me of something. He stepped back again and go to Ayden's side, both of them vanished into thin air as if they didn't get in Haluk's house. "We'll soon see each other again, Lennart."

I got confused about how he knows my name, What exactly are they? I asked myself, are they mages? Who the hell is Haluk...?

-End