7 A Dead Ziki is no Ziki

After hearing about the death of Carnak, the Giants launched a full scale assault on the Dragons. The Dragons and Magus defended Rianshard with their last breath, but without their leader, the Giants overran Rianshard. The Giants slaughtered every single one of the Magus and Dragons. Even children and women were not spared. However, this wasn't without consequence. The dragons burned their life force in an attempt to repel the giants, and the giants suffered immense losses. More than 70% of giants lost their lives on that fateful day. Before the Giants could bathe in their victory, the humans, led by Amelia, started slaughtering the battle worn Giants. The Giants almost became extinct on that day, with less than two dozen giants surviving. On that day, 1000 years ago, the three great races were no more.

Dru looked at Chaus. "Do you understand why now?" Dru looked into Chaus's eyes. "You are the curse."

Chaus went into shock. He tried to process everything he was just told. He was the son of Carnak and Veronica. He was the curse of Tsirgia. He tried to process it, but couldn't. It all seemed unbelievable.

Chaus managed to get out a few words. "If Carnak and Veronica died, how was I born?"

At that, Dru had no answer. Even he wasn't sure how Chaus was conceived after 1,000 years. He had theories based on the laws of casualty. Maybe the greed of humans caused an imbalance in the world and Chaus was sent to maintain balance 1,000 years later.

"I do not know. Maybe it is the will of the world." Dru paused. Take time off. Think about it."

With that, Dru disappeared from the platform. Chaus, shocked, stayed still for a long time. He spent the entire day digesting what he was told. His enemy was no longer the Ziki, but the human kingdom of Cazak. No, not the human kingdom, but everyone who played a part in his parent's deaths. Both parents.

At first, Chaus was feeling shocked. Then shock turned into anger. He was angry at the tragedies brought to both his parents. He was angry at the greedy and evil nature of humans. He was angry at the world. He had nothing left except for Dru, and he didn't even know Dru that well. Chaus let the hatred run throughout his body. His soul turned more dark. It started emitting the feeling of death. Maybe it was more accurate to say his soul was starting to turn into death itself. His hellfire started turning more chaotic and frenzied. He made up his mind. He would make the world rain blood.

The next day

Chaus woke up with an avid determination. He quickly ate and touched the door on the platform. Like yesterday, a sword appeared in front of Chaus. But this time, instead of a single enemy appearing, two appeared. Chaus smiled. He took the initiative and charged towards the two enemies.

Rather than fighting tactically, Chaus fought recklessly. He integrated his soul with his body and fought without care for his injuries. The two humans without souls were not a match for the battle crazed Chaus. Chaus quickly dispatched the two humans without feeling a hint of remorse. After that, he swiftly entered the illusion again.

In the illusion he saw Carnak again. But this time, he felt something in his heart. It was painful for Chaus and he didn't know what this feeling was. It was like the feeling of losing his parents from the village, but different. It felt like it contained some manifestation of anger. Anger due to the humiliating way Carnak died. "Father, I swear I will repay what they did to you 100 fold." Even though those who harmed Carnak died 1000 years ago, the evil nature of humans haven't changed. The destruction of Chaus's village was evidence of that.

Chaus started learning with new vigor. He started learning faster and became more focused than he had previously been. He practiced soul integration while watching Carnak integrate body and soul. He was now able to integrate 60% of his soul with his body. He also started to see simplified versions of Carnak's footwork. Maybe it was because of the change to his soul, but his perception improved. Carnak started practicing the simplified version of Carnak's footwork. Chaus could follow Carnaks footwork, but not his attach methods. Chaus couldn't follow Carnak's strikes. They looked simple, but each strike was extremely complex. It was even more complex than Carnak's footwork. Chaus was not at a high enough level yet to learn Carnak's attacks, so he decided to work on footwork and integration. Soon night time came and Chaus was thrown out of the illusion. Instead of sleeping, Chaus began training. He limited the time he slept to make more time for training.

The next day Chaus woke up again and repeated the same process he did the previous day. He ate, he killed, he went through the door, and he learned. This time however, he killed four people. Every day the amount of people doubled. Fighting the people that appear on the platform was currently the only way for Chaus to develop his offensive abilities.

A drastic change that occurred the second day was that Chaus switched to a spear. His father used a spear so Chaus decided to follow his footsteps. This could be seen as a way of honoring the dead.

When Chaus was sent back to the platform after the second day, he found a book on his bed. "The Art of Spear Wielding." Dru must've left it there. Chaus began looking through it.

Days passed like this until a week passed. Every day Chaus would look through the book. Chaus learned how to use the spear, the versatility of the spear, how to fight with the spear, how to defend with the spear, and how to kill with the spear.

Every day Chaus would kill more and more people. Every day Chaus would practice his footwork.

Eventually a week passed like this. By the end of the week, Chaus was able to integrate his soul and body fully. His footwork improved to such a level that it gave him an advantage in combat and his spearmanship was on par with a soldier's spearmanship. Chaus improved drastically, but so did the difficulty of the enemies that appeared on the platform. This time, instead of enemies without any souls, enemies in the Vitality stage appeared. Chaus grew excited at the appearance of a stronger enemy. The people Chaus had been fighting were weak. Terribly weak. After the third day of fighting them, Chaus couldn't gain any more experience. Now, with stronger enemies, Chaus could gain more experience.

Chaus held his spear point towards the Vitality Stage enemy and charged towards him. His enemy responded and blocked the spear and counterattacked Chaus. Chaus used his footwork and swiftly parried the counterattack. He then proceeded to launch a flurry of fast, but powerful attacks. The Vitality Stage warrior couldn't match Chaus's power or speed and quickly died. At the end of the fight, Chaus was sweating a little. He had also gained insight in the art of fighting. He wasted energy on inefficient and ineffective attacks. His attacks lacked precision and therefore weren't as strong as they could've been. He needed to work on improving his precision and removing his flaws.

For the entire week, the enemies of the Vitality Stage doubled each day. For the entire week, Chaus improved at a monstrous rate. Unbeknownst to Chaus, even Dru was surprised at the rate Chaus was improving.

By the end of the second week, Chaus had killed over 100 Vitality Stage humans. His footwork reached a tiny percentage of what Carnak's footwork was, and his spearmanship touched the edge of Carnak's spearmanship. His soul integration gave him more power and became more refined. His soul had reached the middle stages of the Revolution Stage.

The third week came by and opponents of the Revolution Stage appeared. They were in the same stage as Chaus, but due to Chaus's improvement, he easily dispatched his opponents. With Chaus's soul integration, he was able to generate 1,000 pounds of force. His opponents, on the other hand, could only generate half as much force.

With more powerful enemies, Chaus improved faster. Near the end of the third week, Chaus could perform the basics of Carnak's footwork. He could now move like Carnak, but to a minimal degree. His spearmanship began taking form and he was halfway there to learning the basics of Carnak's spearmanship.

On the fourth and last week, Chaus showed the most explosive growth. The reasoning for that was due to the appearance of Ziki as his enemies.

Chaus started out his day as he usually did and touched the door. He awaited the appearance of his spear and his enemy. However, what appeared today made him boil in rage. He had never seen one before, but he knew what it was instantly. A Ziki. It was in a translucent form with darkness emanating from it. It was as tall as an average adult male, but wider. The entire figure was black except for two eyes that sat on what seemed like the face of the Ziki.

Chaus growled in anger. He charged straight at the Ziki in a fit of rage. He struck the Ziki, but the spear passed right through its translucent body. Chaus frowned. The Ziki launched an attack of its own. Chaus raised his spear to block, but the attack passed through his spear and struck Chaus. Chaus flew back from the blow and coughed out blood. Even with 100% soul integration, Chaus was injured heavily. Chaus's mind was in disarray, but he quickly calmed it. Physical attacks don't seem to work on Ziki. Magic. Its weakness must be magic. Chaus needed to create distance in order to cast magic. He tried backing away, but the Ziki followed him, not giving him the chance to cast stationary magic. Chaus had practiced trying to use magic while moving, but he wasn't proficient at it. Chaus managed to get out a fire spell whilst moving. "Burn." Part of the Ziki burned, and it shrieked in pain. The spell hurt the Ziki, but it also made it angrier.

The Ziki's barrage of attacks grew more crazed. Chaus grimaced. Magic worked on the Ziki, but he needed a more powerful spell. Then he thought of something. When Carnak fought the Giants, Carnak was able to cut through the Giant's skin like butter. The Giants had defense second only to the dragons. Chaus believed in the strength of Carnak, but he also believed something must've helped increase the power of Carnak's attacks. Something must have been on the weapon. A magical enhancement. Carnak's spear was imbued with magic.

Chaus needed to imbue his weapon with magic if he wanted to cut through the Ziki. Like everything, it was easier to say something then to actually do it. Chaus used his footwork to his advantage and dodged the avalanche of Ziki strikes. Suddenly, he stood still and took the Ziki's strike. The Ziki's translucent arm pierced Chaus's chest. A sinister smile appeared on the Ziki's face, but an even more sinister smile appeared on Chaus's face. The Ziki turned fearful. "Enjoy this mother f**ker." He casted the burn spell. The Ziki tried to move away, but his arm was stuck in Chaus's chest. The Ziki went up in black flames and burnt away into nothing, not leaving anything behind.

Chaus sat down on the platform and gasped for air. The battle took more out of him than he thought. A burning pain came from his chest, but it was child's play compared to the room of fire. He looked at the gaping hole in his chest. He was losing blood fast. Then something miraculous happened. The wound in his chest started healing on its own. His flesh started writhing and coming back together. After a short period of time, the wound healed completely. The only thing left was a hole in Chaus's clothes.