Where?!

It was the evening of the next day.

The dying sun shone upon him as his legs moved, carrying him on the road that carried him to the same place. Windy and twisty, once a disorienting road, became one that he even remembered to even the smallest of turns.

"Four hundred and fifty five…"

"Four hundred and fifty six…"

"Four hundred and fifty seven…"

He counted, his voice among that of the woods surrounding him. It was an entertainment in itself, as the emptiness was bothersome.

"Four hundred and fifty eight…"

"Four Hundred and fifty nine…"

"Four hundred and sixty," a voice, a voice that wasn't his own.

Hubert spooked a little, he looked in front of him, thinking it might be a joke from Dareon or Vinc.

It was neither. The sight made his brows frowning, curving downward and his fists clenched in readiness.

"Oh…? Why did you stop?" the voice asked. Slowly as the source and his group came out from their hidings in the near wood.

"Aadish…" Hubert greeted, his voice barely above a whisper.

"You remember! Ah, it's such a nice thing isn't it if one friend remembers the other?" Aadish asked, rhetorically. His friend broke into laughter, toying upon the joke

Hubert growled, his teeth gritted and his eyes blazed with a mix of bravery and that of slight fear.

"No hugs for us? This is our first meeting since that day you threw me to that cold fcking cell, after all. Haish… What do I expect from the likes of you," Aadish said degradingly.

"..." Hubert's silence replied. At this moment of time, Hubert knew that there was only one outcome, one possibility of an event.

"Give him a hug, boys," Aadish commanded, his voice stern, slightly blended with wrath.

"Okay!" Henter replied as he stepped forward, fist by his side, prepared for a confrontation. 

On his left was Cassian and on the right, Cobman.

"Tch!" Hubert clicked his tongue, then he too launched forward, his fists readied.

A fight broke down.

Swiftly, with power behind his fist and momentum on his body, Hubert threw his punch toward the first person of the day, Cassian. A straight punch, aimed onto Cassian's nose.

"You think I will fall for it?!" Cassian ducked under, effectively dodging the strike.

Hubert's fist suddenly moved downward in a calculated motion. The bare fist hitting Cassian straight from above, right on the skull, where a loud and almost hollow thud could be heard.

Thud

Another followed, Cassian found himself knocked out cold, laying on the ground with his eyes pupiless and his body like a crunching worm.

"Hubert! You dare?!" Cobman shouted, it was him that reached Hubert's range, Hubert's next victim, supposedly.

As Hubert turned his face, he was greeted by a blur, coming from the corner of his right eye.

"Lefties?" Hubert muttered, analyzing the kind of meager and chaotic throw toward him.

The blur was a hook, aimed at the temple of his head. Yet Hubert rolled to the right, leaving him with a large opportunity to attack Cobman.

"U-ugh!" Cobman groaned in advance, prepared for the counterattack that he thought was going to happen.

"Ignem Ruptis!" Henter cast a spell. Thus, a compact burst of fiery blaze flew to him, aiming for his head.

Bam!

Staggering back, he used his left arm as a shield to guard his face.

"Ha…" Hubert exhaled, his breathing shaky. The pain was sharp and unbearable.

"You think we came here unprepared?" Aadish taunted, hands in his pocket, as he sauntered forward before stopping just right behind Cassian.

"Wake up, Cassian, just how long are you planning on playing dead?" Aadish called jokefully.

Cassian slowly stood up, scratching the top of his head where he was hit.

"Itchy," Cassian remarked.

"Wh-what?!" Hubert pondered.

"What what? Do you think any of us won't be developing our own talents up to this day?" Henter asked mockingfully.

"Yeah, right! That's what you get from messing with us!" Cobman, once groaning, was now filled with confidence as he showcased what was in his hand, a ball of air.

"Boys, why don't we now try giving our friend here a hug once more. Let's just give him more of our loving effort, okay?" Aadish said.

"Sure, boss!" Cassian replied, before once again charging forward, his body slightly enveloped in a blue aura, his muscles inflating like a balloon.

Henter took out a dagger from his back pocket. His eyes closed as he chanted the dagger with focus.

Woosh!

Fire descended, enveloping the dagger as a whole.

Cobman cast forward, his palm directed toward Hubert.

"Interficiam cum ventus, wind cut,"

Aadish watched as the spectacle unfolded in front of him, his eyes gleaming with excitement. A grin was etched on his face, from ear to ear. His arms shook as his heart beat faster.

Hubert was defenseless. As far as he remembered, he was never taught magic or spells by his master. Only boring and senseless books that he knew were useless in such a predicament.

"Oh Goddess Astia…" he prayed, though already half believing that the Goddess didn't even care for him, yet it was the only place he could place his plight on.

"Prepare to die!" Cobman shouted, and the wind, like the shape of a large crescent, flew. The air shook, and the leaves were cut in half, cleanly, even to the last of edges.

"Then, come at me!" Hubert shouted back, roaring like a lion, surrounded by poachers.

Birds squawked into the horizon, fleeting the scene Squirrels watched from the tree, their nuts almost falling off from their mouthpockets. The grass on the roadside rocked back and forth.

High pitched and low pitched, sharp and dull, punches and stabs could be heard echoing through the woods. And they continued.

Punches were thrown.

Slashes were targeted.

Spells were chanted.

All toward the same person, one that was leaking life from his body.

"Ha… Ha…"

His muscles torn, fleshes bruised, blood leaking, sweat tricking, fear was nonexistent, and determination gleamed in his eyes. His lungs gasping, his heart screaming, his muscles aching, and his head dizzy.

"The balls on this man…" Cobman said, his voice almost sympathizing. His friends looked at him with mixed stares.

One was of uncaringness, blended with a hint of the remaining bloodlust.

One showed a lack of enthusiasm, exhausted from the fight.

One showed weariness, added with a light woriness.

"What? It's the truth, isn't it?" he asked.

"I know, but sh-shouldn't we help him?" Cassian was nervous.

It was clear why. Hubert threw punches into thin air, his motion weak and slow, painfully slow. A pitiful show.

"No, leave him," Aadish said, before turning around.

"..." Henter was the second to leave, and with a word, he placed his dagger back on its sheath.

Cobman glanced for the last time, his eyes admiring, contrasting his legs, which soon carried him away as well.

Cassian was the only one left facing Hubert, his gaze was sharp, but warm, as if he were the only one who actually had a sense of humanity in him. In that moment, his mind questioned his heart.

"I-is this…" he asked, looking at his buffed and enlarged hands, defiled and tainted by Hubert's blood.

"Let's go, Cassian," Cobman shouted.

"Ah, I'm coming!" Cassian swiveled around and ran, catching the group.

Cough!

A juice of saliva and blood came out of his mouth, thrown onto the ground.

"Y-You wi-will no-not," he rambled unclearly.

His vision was filled with red from his own blood that leaked into his eyes. His nose was struck not only by the freshness of the wind, but also by the odor of his sweat. His muscles launched forward, again and again.

In his vision, each of his strikes impacted those who surrounded him with loud and satisfying crunches. His unyielding effort and determination soon defeated the four of them.

Truthfully, there was no one there.

"Ha… I-I,"

Thud

He fell to the ground, face facing the darkening sky, the familiarity once again greeting him.

"I-I won," he muttered to himself, believing.

His eyes then closed in the respite he got.

The embrace of darkness, one much alike with the one in his mana mind, greeted. A friend of his, a true friend of his, was something he was reunited with.

"Warm…" he muttered.

—

Dareon was strolling around, his legs moving quick and fast. His calloused fingers coiled around the shaft of his steel glaive. Worry, panic and fear were mixed in his eyes.

He looked on and on, from the bustling cafeteria, to the lonely classrooms and even the woods that surrounded the academy. Searching for one thing, one person.

The moonlight was cold, accompanying his search for Hubert.

"Where?" he asked himself.

"WHERE?!" frustrated.

Then his eyes set upon a path that was as if whispering to him. A path that was unfamiliar and dark, one that he knew did not lead to where or what.

"No… it can't be," his heart as if finding the truth. His legs moved in accord, and his steel glaive soon became reflective of the woods.

Then the pungent smell struck his nose. At this point, he was sure.

He ran forward, moving faster and quicker with each passing second. The smell, increasingly thickening.

"N-no," he stuttered in disbelief.

Blood puddled on the ground, his eyes closed, and his lips dried and became pale.