2 Second Chance

Sadness, grief, terror, disbelief.

If this was enough to describe what Krom had felt, then his sanity would have returned much sooner. After those men had left, Krom eventually lost his consciousness.

He would wake up, go into shock and return to his sleep. He had thought that sooner or later, he would wake up from this nightmare.

On the tenth night, he had finally accepted the truth. His tears fell down for two straight days and cursed his own fate for two straight nights. He roared fiercely in the air but only the debris and the buzz of the flies swarming the corpse responded.

By the thirteenth night, he had stayed inside of his house and dressed his wounds. He was numb to everything but whenever he saw the wounds on his body, he felt pain. An incredibly sharp pain that he never felt before.

Krom's body has been refined to the peak which allows him to heal incredibly fast. In actuality, there should be absolutely no more pain from the injuries he suffered that day.

Instead, he felt pain inside of his heart. Whenever he saw the scars on his body, he realized that all he had done for the past two years have been for nothing. All the training that he did amounted to nothing and all the vows and promises he made was pointless.

In the end, in the face of absolute power, he stood no chance. Nobody did. This type of pain, if it was enough to be described, he wouldn't have been suffering by this much.

After two weeks have passed since the unfortunate events took place, he had buried everyone.

Beneath the cherry tree that Krom and Kayla often sat under lies her body.

"I'm sorry Kayla.. I promised.. But in the end, it was useless.. I was useless.. I couldn't do anything.. I watched you die before me.. I'm so sorry.."

Tears fell down from his cheeks. As he looks at the half crescent moon, he made yet another vow.

"Just you wait Kayla. I will become strong and find those bastards that did this to you.. I'll rip their throats and pull them apart limb by limb. I'll strike down their heart with their own skull and end their pathetic lives. I swear to you that I will get vengeance! Just wait my love.. I will follow you soon enough"

After Krom made his resolution, he walked away and left his village. He never looked back and simply walked forward.

(*)

In the middle of the day, a young man could be seen walking. His face was listless and his body was battered. Day after day, he would roam the lands and challenge the surrounding beasts. He would approach death's door at every battle but he no longer cared for his own life. The only thing he had wanted was strength and power. He wanted to be strong enough to defeat the bastards that slaughtered his people.

Day after day, he would roam the lands and be almost defeated to death. As weeks went by, he felt his body becoming stronger and his senses keener. He felt that he has finally gotten stronger but he wasn't happy.

The people that attacked his village was far stronger than he could imagine. Even though he had reached five steps, he is still ten thousand steps away from them.

Damn it!

What am I supposed to do.. How the hell am I supposed to get stronger?!

Krom lamented on his misfortune and cursed the wretched gods. He didn't care how he gains the strength. Even if it meant selling his soul to the devil, he would gladly do it.

One day, Krom decided to test his limits. He wanted to surpass himself by ten folds so he challenged an incredible beast.

He had heard of rumors that a three headed serpent roams these areas so he went to go investigate. When he arrived in it's supposed lair, he did in fact see a three headed serpent.

Legend states that this serpent once massacred a whole village and no one was able to defeat it. Only when all the powerful warriors in three different villages combined their strength did the serpent die.

Krom thought to himself that if he could defeat this three headed serpent, he would be able to defeat those bastards.

Crack

The young man stepped forth with a sword in his hand and his legs planted on the hard ground. The verdant lush whispered quietly as the breathing of the serpent and Krom were in sync.

ROOOOOOOOOAR!

The serpent lashed out and attempted to bite Krom but he had already rushed forth. With the steel blade in his hand, he slashed and stabbed at the foot of the serpent.

Bang!

The serpent swiftly rotated and swung it's large tail towards Krom's defenseless body. He flew several meters before finally coming to a stop.

Guo-

He spat a mouthful of blood but didn't stop there. Nothing could hinder his suicidal charge. Without any regards for his own life, he sprung into the air and slashed one of the serpent heads eye.

Auuuuuu

The serpent cried while another serpent head knocked the airborne Krom.

His vision faded but he stood up nonetheless.

Bang!

Everything turned into darkness. It felt as if his own body was sinking inside of a thick viscous liquid never to be seen again.

I'm finally at death's door.

In the end, I wasn't able to fulfill any of my promises. When I finally see you again Kayla, I hope you can forgive me.

(*)

Drip

A cold, chilling sensation reverberated throughout Krom's whole body as a droplet of water fell on his face. He opened his eyes and to his surprise, he was not dead.

The smell of herbal medicine was strong and when Krom had finally realized what happened, his whole body ached.

"Don't move so much"

A raspy, old voice was heard by Krom. When he looked up, he saw that there was an old man sitting down beside him. He didn't know where he was but he realized that this old man had saved his life.

Krom was unsure if he should be thankful or not. He was prepared to die and was yearning to be with Kayla once again but now, he was given yet another chance to fulfill the vow he made.

"I haven't seen such a young man willingly step in death's door in years"

Krom simply sat still on the bed without saying a word. His shirt was nowhere to be found. Instead, his whole body was wrapped in linen cloth and the smell of herbal medicine permeates throughout his whole body.

"Why did you save me", asked Krom.

He did not know the reason for why this old man would save his life. He did not know where he was but as far as he knew, there should be no benefits to saving his life.

"You would have troubled those that lives in these grounds. Once the serpent tastes the flesh of human once more, more unnecessary deaths will follow"

Krom finally understood why he was saved. It wasn't out of good will. It was simply to prevent something troublesome.

"I'll take my leave then"

He stood up and prepared to leave but the old man was far nimbler than he had thought. In a matter of seconds, he was put down back in the bed with force.

"Urgh"

"Foolish brat. Learn when to use people's good will. At the very least, use it to your benefit"

Krom did not expect for the old man to lecture him. Although it was a valuable lesson, he did not care much for it and simply wanted to leave and continue his rigorous training.

"Why did you attack the serpent"

"..."

He stayed silent for a couple seconds but eventually told the old man the reason.

"I want to become stronger. Strong enough to defeat the serpent and all those fools that did that to me!"

The dam to his rage burst forth and erupted into a volcano of flames.

When Krom had told the reason to the old man, he simply laughed.

"And you think dying will make you stronger?"

"Then what was I supposed to do?!"

"Young saplings that do not know the world will eventually wither and die"

After the old man left him with those words, he no longer paid any attention towards Krom.

Several days had passed and Krom felt that his body was fully healed. He stood up and set forth once more.

The old man only stood still watching the boy named Krom without saying a word.

Right before Krom left, he said the following to the old man.

"You asked why I want to become strong right? There are existences in this world that I must defeat no matter what. Even if it becomes the end of me, I will slaughter each and everyone of them. An old man that sits all day thinking about the past wouldn't understand"

After he said those words, he stepped outside.

As he walked away, he could hear the words of the old man clearly.

"Oh, you mean the chosen ones. I believe they're called players"