7 Hope ?

VILLAGE TOURNAMENT (at the same time)

"Ol' Tree village WIN!"

On the stadium of Octogon village, Restar just finishes his run against his contenders, fifty finalists screened after ten races taking in the five bests at running. His front was beaded with sweat, his breath chaotic but his expression resolute and dark.

There wasn't any joy written on his face just a will to win, to surpass others, he wasn't the same naive boy that left his village a week ago. All his nights were under the suffering of this picture, his best friend falling in the abyss.

" I couldn't do anything, I was completely powerless. If I was just an inch better, it could possibly have changed the whole outcome. Never again will I just witness my friends suffer and disappear next to me."

This dramatic event had taken the youthfulness of many in the group if not all but for Eline and Restar, the shock was still here. The two of them devoted their days just improving themselves. Restar decided to give his all in the races, without fear of the consequences while Eline had closed herself in a room from the beginning, practicing The Art without restraint.

Never before did they stimulate all their potential like these last few days. Normally they would work a little but most of the day was dedicated to making pranks, walking in the forest and laughing, but somehow it changes with the disappearance of Alix.

It's not because Alix was the instigator, well he was probably in a good number of situations, but without the whole trio, they thought it didn't make sense anymore. "I will go on the top of the world and if Eline can't achieve what she said, my position could help me do it".

He remembers what she told him the night after the fall with a dark face, a little madness clearly showing in her beautiful eyes. "I don't know if I should share it with you but you are the only one who could understand me on this... Hmm, you know that I'm quite good at The Art, some even spoke of me as a master of it... In fact, it couldn't be farther from the truth." She stopped under the shocked gaze of his close friend, practically his brother, if not in blood then in trust. She then continues after a short breath.

- "I'm quite good at The Art..."

-"I don't understand, I thought you said..."

-"Don't stop me, listen until the end please, it's not easy to explain to a neophyte, no offense"

-"None taken, I know that I know practically nothing about The Art, continue."

- "First of all, in reality, The Art is a name that the villager came up with but it's not really its true name, we could say, it's a subcategory of The Abraxas."

-"The Abraxas, what is..."

-"Please, let me get to the end without question, it's really a complex subject. I don't know all the ins and outs of it even if I could be said to be one of the few most knowledgeable on it in the twenty villages around us"

Restar remembered the face he made at this moment, clearly surprised and even forgetting the loss of one of his best friends during the short moment that intense curiosity flooded his mind.

She then proceeds to explain some part of The Art, normally kept a secret for non-insider, for fear of devastating experiences happening if not controlled. And it was, by the way, the reason for the mysterious burning house during their childhood, Eline had wanted to share what she knew on The Art to them resulting in an explosion when they tried between them.

"You know The Art allow someone to manipulate the energy of the world and crystallized it in the formed willed by him. This energy called Emanation comes from the breath of our planet. It's everywhere and there are lots of different kinds of Emanations, and I know just one of it, the Mind Emanation, created by life. I can't even use a portion of this Emanation in particular and with it, I know just a few constructs, needless to say, they are nearly unlimited..."

She looks kind of sad with an unwillingness in her gaze, explaining her shortcomings.

"So you can't say I'm a master of it, The Art used by the village is just the surfaces of it, an infinitesimal portion of it. I know you and Alix...sigh... Didn't believe in all those child's stories which my parents sometimes recounted."

With the mention of Alix's name, the two of them winced in pain as their heart just missed a beat.

"But there is a good portion of them which relate to the truth, the ancient book on The Art relates to it too. And even if I can't tell you in-depth of what it truly is because of my oath to Teacher Willow, you must understand that the capacities of The Art are unlimited. And when I say unlimited, I truly mean it, even giving a new life to the dead should be possible at the apex of it, if you understand what I want to say..."

Keeping his mouth shut, Restar's eyes were as big as plates and shining with a strange light, hope.

"I will give my all to The Art competition in between the village, I think I should be able to finish first if nothing goes awry, and you know as I know now that we can't expect any more for all things to be as we wanted them to be. After the competition, when we will be deemed as citizens of the Aka region regrouping the twenty villages, I will go to the nearest city, trying to be recruited in the prestigious university spoken by Teacher Willow. I will little by little climb the social scale and if there is an even bigger mountain behind it, I will climb it too until I can retrieve our unfairly lost Alix."

After a short break, she continues as if wanting to say the other part in one breath.

"That's my plan and I will make everything in my power to stick to it. I don't want you to follow me but even if I want to retrieve our friend, I don't want to lose you too. So that's why I'm saying all these things right now, so you can make a choice too with knowing as much as I know about the situation. I won't expect you to do nothing if I know you as much as you do me, so I will tell you that there is more than one way to succeed in our task and I think you will find yours"

These words echoed yet again in his head. His course of action was a little blurred for now but one thing was certain, this tiny victory at his graduation was just a small step in his path to the apex.

He was sure the apex wouldn't be lonesome, his two friends would be here with him.

With renewed motivation and a thirst for knowledge and power, three hearts were beating in accord, one just lost in thought after the finishing line of a race, another in a closed room practicing without rest and the last one hunting mysterious creature in the depth of the planet.

__________

DEEP IN THE NEVER CANYON (a week later)

Alix was breathless, having run for his life for more than an hour. Fully encased with a mix of odd bones making him quite similar to a moving skeleton with rags of fur hanging, two green eyes shining in the darkness could be seen under a helmet, well it was more a skull of a beast with two long coiling horns pointing on each side.

If he could be seen by humans, he would surely create fear in their heart beginning to look like a demon spoke in horror stories before going to bed. Panting, he was helpless about the whole situation. The day had begun relatively well, he just found another Big Eye, it was the name he came with, bored of using grey creatures to look at them.

Slowly melting in the shadow, the darker parts of the darkness, without moving or even breathing, he waited for it to be at a meter of him, the perfect distance for striking the eyes and killing it in one blow. Contrary to its name, he discovered that the Big Eyes seemed to not see really well, just reacting to movement. Just when he was about to move, a big Spiky jumped on it instantly killing it.

The two of them just look at each other, like the time was suspended, neither of them had seen the other before going for the kill. The surprise lasted for a good five seconds before the Spiky's muscles began to contract, an indicator of the soon to be, jump.

Without waiting to confirm his conjecture, Alix began to run, quickly turning over and sliding on the hard soil as he always does with the help of his Kata. The chasing lasts for at least an hour before he succeeds in evading the Spiky. "Well more because he became bored of pursuing me with all the twists and turn that I took, I hope I give it quite the headache hehehe."

The Spiky was the same creature as the ancient owner of the skull that was on his head was. He named it like this after finding an incomplete skeleton of it in one of his explorations. It was full of deadly spikes and horns on it which gave it a terrifying look but seeing one in the flesh and alive was an altogether different experience.

He already lost count of the times he was happy about being alive after deathly experiences so he didn't really lose his calm when seeing this creature at less than a meter from him. "It's really this dangerous, to think there are other creatures able to kill a Spiky... If not why did I found one dead? So that makes a hypothetical fourth species after the Big Eyes, the Spiky and the Bulky. Strange, It's been three days since I saw a Bulky, is it because they feared the Spiky species? Possible, I don't see how a Big Eyes could hunt them, they are too... Big. Bigger than any other creature I already saw !"

Close to five meters tall with a length of approximately ten meters for adults, their skin like armor, more of a shell, didn't even have a scratch when Alix tried to cut it with the Big Eyes' claw with all his strength.

"I did try to kill one, it was completely impossible for me, but there must be ones who could, there seems to be a real food chain developed in these depths. The Bulky doesn't appear dangerous if not from their hazardous running sometimes. I think I saw one, one time, eating the stones of the cliff with its enormous jaw full of flat teeth, not sure tho. They should be at the bottom of the food chains, and possibly the one responsible for the enormous cavities I saw extending endlessly, plunging deeper even than the Never Canyon."

In this one week of hunting and exploring, Alix discovered that first, the canyon was much bigger than what appears in his memory on the surfaces. He walks in the same direction for a full week and never did he meet the outline of an ending.

"If I count correctly, it's particularly difficult to count the passing time. But if I had to follow the cliff on the surface, I could probably join the two end in a week, and I fall close to the center of it... It's obviously much bigger in its depth, extending doubtlessly in the other direction too."

He also discovered or confirmed that eating the flesh of the Big Eyes helps to improve his sight. After killing and eating two others which he didn't finish yet, he was already able to see at a dozen meters or so in front of him in black and white.

Alix wondered if eating the Bulky or the Spiky would have the same effect. "Right now, seems complicated, I have absolutely no chance to kill one, even if it's gravely wounded. I would need another creature to do the job and let the remains for me to eat, which sound less than likely."

Observing around him and checking if everything was alright, he began to retrace his run's path to retrieve his place of sleep for the night. His little campsite was a bit unique. Taking in mind all the things that tried to kill him these last days, he digs a little cavity in the wall with lots of sweat and pain. He searches before for a part of the wall a bit more tender, testing it with the claw and finally finding a small area with splits covering it.

"It was really tiresome to dig bit per bit with the claws, receiving stone splinters cutting in my arms. But it was worth it, it's the first night where I can sleep without awakening each minute fearing that something tried to eat me...I have to upgrade the little shield bones for this night"

His small shield was something he composed with a mix of various bones from Big Eyes and Spiky that he put at the entrance of his little cavity with ropes of fur. Linked to his body and to the bottom of the hole, he could sense and awake if something tried to open it, and he would have the time to prepare for his small defense.

Musing with all his senses mobilized to not experience another problem, he learned the hard way to always be vigilant even and especially after escaping a threat. Slowly returning to his small place, he stopped abruptly before truly being here.

"I'm sure of it, it's a horn mark of a Spiky on this wall, there wasn't anything before. How come there is one just next to my settlement, could it be the one that just gives me chase? Did he somehow found my cavity? Or could it be, he senses my trail and follows back to the campsite? Oh sh*t if it's a smart Spiky, I won't see the end of it... Never mind, better to give up my much cherish cavity trading it with my life"

"GROAR !!!!"