Fifth Act: Vengeance and Acceptance

Marcus hurriedly moved to clean his clothes in the river so that he could quickly begin the process of healing his hands.

'I hope whatever it is he wants me to do actually works,' Marcus thought while putting on his damp tunic.

He didn't even wait for his clothes to finish drying as he ran to the nearest tree he could find. All this time Marcus hadn't unsummoned his [Spectral Scythe] in fear of the corrosive effect spreading further down his arm.

The corrosion was gradually spreading, and though it was moving at a snails pace, it still caused Marcus to be unnerved.

As soon as he made it to a nearby tree, he glanced at the scythe in his hands and back at the tree.

'Will this even cut this thing.'

The tree in front of Marcus was wide ranging, and it had thick roots that were visible above the ground that stretched in multiple directions. It's girth was equivalent to that of two car tires and looked as though it would take numerous swings with an axe to even catch a glimpse of the wood underneath.

Marcus's scythe was slightly taller than him by at least a foot, and its skinny frame made it seem more like one of those farming scythes used to cut grass rather than the combat scythe Marcus believed it should be.

Despite his doubts, he still readied himself to take a swing at the monstrosity of greenery in front of him.

"Hah.. Okay, here we go."

Marcus took a few paces back so that he could get a running start to build up momentum when he slashed. To this, Nekros chuckled, but Marcus ignored him as he ran towards his target.

Once he got close enough, Marcus gripped his scythe as tightly as his fragile-looking hands could and executed a wide slash that seemed to only encompass half of the tree.

For a moment, time seemed to slow as he watched the blade of his scythe draw closer and closer to the bark of the tree. He half-expected the scythe's blade to dissipate into mana particles once it collided with the tree, and for him to deal with the resulting force that would travel to his already weakened hands.

Yet despite his doubts, the blade and even the snath of the scythe passed cleanly through the tree.

"Huh?"

Marcus was puzzled by this because he felt almost no resistance at all when he cut into the tree.

He looked at the scythe in his hands, which was completely fine, and then towards the tree.

At first, the tree wasn't effected at all by the attack and merely stood there domineeringly and unmoving, but after only three seconds the tree's appearance changed rapidly.

The tree's original dark brown and healthy-green color changed to that of grey. It's leaves all wilted and turned a sickly looking brown color as they fell to the ground. The bark from the tree had a similar effect, only the tree's brown color became that of grey, and the numerous roots beside it shriveled up and looked even more frail than Marcus's hands.

Marcus watched this process calmly, but inside, he felt a since of... excitement.

"Beautiful isn't it," Nekros spoke as Marcus continued to gaze at the scene in front of him.

"Everyone else usually finds this scene revolting and frightening, and truthfully I don't blame them.

"However, death is as much a part of life as anything else and shouldn't be feared or ridiculed because it signifies the end of something."

Marcus didn't take his eyes off the now dead tree in front of him as he spoke.

"Would you rather others embrace such a thing," Marcus asked inquisitively.

"No.... just accepting," Nekros spoke in a forlorn tone that escaped Marcus.

The boy didn't say anything after his master spoke.

He himself feared dying, but it wasn't the same fear that everyone else felt. Most feared death because once they died their life would be over, and they had no idea as to what was in store for them after that.

Would they be engulfed in eternal darkness with no hopes of ever seeing the light again, or would they find a peaceful resting place where they could throw all their worries away now that they had ascended. No one knew the answer to this and because of this, death was obviously hated and feared.

However, Marcus was different. He'd already experienced death once if only for a few moments, and he could confidently say he didn't fear death itself. He didn't fear the unknown that came with it either.

He only feared dying before he got the chance to seek revenge on those who had wronged him. That was his main reason for living now, and he'd make sure he'd live long enough to see it through.

'Geralt, James, Gavin... just wait for me. Once I find you all I'll make sure to return the favor,' Marcus thought as his eyes turned to an even eerier shade of black.

He hadn't forgotten about the masked man responsible for attacking his family either. It was just that this man in particular didn't even need to be mentioned. Marcus would never forget about the person who was responsible for separating him from his loved ones.

Eventually, Marcus realized he had to calm down though, and it took him exhaling several deep breaths before his eyes returned to their original tranquil black color.

The boy realized he'd lost himself in his emotions again and looked down at the weapon responsible for this.

'I guess master was right about my emotions growing along with my power. I'll have to train more.'

After taking note of this, Marcus also observed his hands, which were now slowly recovering. The corrosive effect had stopped moving up his arm and was now contained at his hands.

Marcus knew that things wouldn't remain like this, so he moved on to begin mowing down as many trees as it would take to finish restoring his injured hands.

Just like his master had stated, it only took Marcus a few minutes before he'd fully recovered and stood in a patch of forest completely devoid of life.

The sun appeared to be the only entity to witness the bloodless massacre in the seemingly empty forest, and as the sun continued to shine forth on Marcus, the boy began to speak to Nekros.

"What now?"

As soon as Marcus asked this, he heard rustling from a bush about thirty meters away, and what emerged from the bush was some type of warthog-like creature.

The creature stood at about four feet tall and had two long upper canines on either side of its mouth. Its teeth were also razor sharp and definitely looked as though they could tear through flesh with ease.

Marcus instantly stood to the ready as he placed a palm in the direction of the beast and the scythe to his back.

Deciding now was as good a time as any to respond, Nekros replied to Marcus.

"Now you fight," Nekros spoke in an amused tone.

Marcus could only ignore his master's amused voice as the beast let out a guttural squeal that signaled the start of the battle.