012: Curiosity

*GRUMBLE*

UUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!

I'M SO HUNGRY!

Now, where did I put that lion's corpse?

There's bound to be at least some of it I can still eat.

I looked around, but the corpse was nowhere to be seen.

There's no way I ate it all right?

My stomach definitely does not have enough space for all of that.

I'm not that fat.

So where did it go?

*CA-CAW*

Above?

A massive bird swooped down and nearly chopped my head off with its talons.

I narrowly dodged in time, and the bird perched itself on a tree branch.

Hanging from its mouth was the corpse of the lion.

"So you took it, huh?"

I said to it.

It didn't respond.

Obviously.

It's an animal.

Even if it is some kind of magical creature…

It's still an animal.

Isn't it?

No.

This one's different.

It's very strange.

It's a bird in the shape of a man.

Its arms are its long wings.

Its talons are long like human legs.

Its body is feathery.

It's a birdman.

Never have I seen something so incredible.

It's a freak of nature, but it's beautiful.

I want to find out everything about it.

My face twisted into a slight grin.

I want to know just what this creature is.

I want to find out what it is capable of.

It placed the lion on the branch.

It leaned forward, preparing to attack.

Bring it on, let's see what you can do.

He attacked from the front, talons aimed straight at my face.

I brought my knife up to block, and he easily knocked it away with his legs.

Strong.

Hitting away the knife didn't cause him to steer off course, so I dodged his talons just before they made contact with my chest.

I attempted to counterattack, but he flew upwards avoiding any potential attack.

Fast.

He swooped in again, this time beak first.

Left.

I dodged to the left.

I tried to counterattack again, but he did exactly what he did before.

Cunning.

He knows that I cannot attack him high in the air, so whenever his attack fails, he retreats and tries again.

This creature is…

Thinking.

How captivating.

More.

Show me more.

He swooped in once more.

His talons aimed straight at my face, but I was ready this time.

I slid under the attack and slashed the knife across his back as I slid past him.

*CLANG*

It was like a thick metal wall.

The knife bounced right off it.

Durable.

This creature surpasses anything I could have ever imagined.

The birdman retreated to the sky once again.

More.

Show me more.

A small grin appeared on my face.

I was enjoying the fight.

I had never enjoyed something so much in my entire life.

COME ON!

SHOW ME EVERYTHING YOU CAN DO!

The birdman was stunned by that last exchange, and he circled around me thinking about what to do next.

YOU WANT TO COME UP WITH A STRATEGY?!

JUST HOW MARVELOUS IS THE MIND IN THAT HEAD OF YOURS?!

The birdman was not attacking.

NOT GOING TO ATTACK?!

FINE!

THEN I'LL ATTACK!

I pulled the gun out of my back pocket.

I promised myself that I would be careful with this thing.

I only counted twenty bullets when I stole them from the masked man.

I had to use it sparingly, but at that moment, I was unable to control myself.

It was as if an unquenchable thirst for violence overtook it.

I couldn't control it.

Looking back on it, only one thing could have caused this, Asol.

His presence is influencing my thoughts and my personality.

I don't want that.

*BANG*

*CLANG*

NO WAY!

EVEN A BULLET BOUNCED OFF THAT DURABLE BODY OF HIS!

HOW TERRIFIC!

The birdman recoiled from the blow, but his body did not suffer any severe damage.

Angered, he charged at me.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

His beak was almost an inch from my chest when I responded.

I grabbed his head and threw him over my shoulder.

He hit the ground hard, but he knew he didn't have time to stop moving.

He turned to face me and stopped in his tracks.

What exactly stopped him?

Fear?

After all, when he looked me in the eyes, he didn't see a man.

He was the unnatural monster in this scenario, but when he looked me in the eyes, he realized that I was the monster.

I wasn't in danger, I was the danger.

He tried to hunt me down as prey and didn't realize that he was now the one being hunted.

Anyone would have fled in this scenario, but a creature that has lived in the wild for so long knows you must not give in to fear.

He moved so quickly that I couldn't see it.

He flew past my right side and clawed his talons through my right calf.

OOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!

THAT HURTS!

Blood flooded out of the wound, but the warmth of the blood slowly began to ease the pain.

After a few seconds, I felt fine.

The injury was too severe for me to stand back up immediately.

The sharp pain of that moment knocked me out of my violent trance.

What was that?

It felt like I couldn't control my own body.

I was acting on instinct alone.

It felt…

Good.

I felt stronger than ever.

I never would have been able to throw the birdman over my shoulder, but it felt like I was stronger when I was not in control.

It seemed to stem from my strong emotions.

Ambition.

That's what caused it.

I can presume a lot of other emotions could also cause such a thing to occur, but even without acting on my instincts, I feel as though some of the power has remained.

I still feel stronger.

Maybe, this is the very beginning of me controlling Asol's power.

*CA-CAW*

The birdman screeched in victory.

SHIT!

I CAN'T MOVE, AND I HAVE NO wAY TO STOP HIM!

He reeled back, preparing to charge.

*chuckle*

The birdman retracted for a moment.

"I've spent my entire life looking for a purpose,"

I began to say.

The birdman stopped and listened to my words.

"I was surrounded by geniuses, and I was nothing more than trash when compared to them. They had dreams to use their genius and make something out of it, meanwhile, I had nothing. Because of this, I would sometimes act foolish and without much thought. It pissed me off whenever one of those people stopped moving forward because something was holding them back. I would step out in front of them and carve a path for them so that they could move forward. I began to believe that that was my purpose, and I became a leader, who led others on the path to their goals with no forward path of his own. I had no ambitions, no reason to live. Some days I would wake up in the morning and have no idea why I woke up. Maybe I was better off dead. A person with no dreams is no better than a dead corpse, so when I saw that hand, I grasped onto it instantly. I thought it could take me somewhere. I thought it would carve out my path for me, and it has. I don't regret taking that hand, even if it meant the pain I feel physically and emotionally. I first tried to oppose the path because I still thought that I could only find my true purpose if I was with those wonderful people, but you can find a dream in any part of the universe, and I have now found my reason for living."

The birdman heard my story, but he charged at me again.

He knew that to win this fight he must destroy me before I can accomplish my purpose, and I had to do the same to him.

I only have one shot, one opportunity.

I held the gun in my beaten and bloodied right hand.

Warm.

HOT!

Heat welled up in my right hand.

It was hotter than anything I had ever felt before.

One time, when I was younger, my school caught on fire, and everyone but my sister made it out.

The doorway was blocked with fire, she was blocked in.

No one was brave enough to go save her.

I was a mere seven years old, and I jumped through the fire and into the building.

It was hot, but not nearly as hot as my right hand.

The heat I was feeling now felt very similar to the heat I felt then, neither of which originated from a fire.

The heat originated from inside of me.

I emerged from the doorway a few moments later, my sister laying on my shoulder.

The heat settled down, but it felt as though this heat gave me strength.

My right hand was now so hot that the blood that dyed it red glowed.

It flamed just like Asol's eyes.

The birdman was way too close for comfort.

If I messed this up, I was dead.

*chuckle*

"I WILL DISCOVER EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE, I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO STOP ME BEFORE MY LEGEND BEGINS!"

*BANG*

The red energy transferred into the gun when I fired it.

Small red strings surrounded the bullet, and it illuminated the path it took just before it pierced through the birdman's head.

The birdman fell to the floor, dead, but that wasn't the first thing on my mind.

Red…

Just like Asol…

Just like the string…

This power, I will control it and never lose control.

I made a vow to protect those I care about, and even though I have now found my ambition, I will keep the vow I made.

But I have a feeling that the two things will connect in the end.

I spent the rest of the day training my body and mind to control my newfound power.

As I did this, Asol watched me closely.

"HOW HAS HE CHANGED SO MUCH OVERNIGHT?!"

Asol said.

"I HAVE NEVER FELT SUCH A SENSE OF AMBITION, DRIVE, AND CURIOSITY! THIS IS THE FIRST TIME HE HAS EVER FELT LIKE THIS! THIS BOY IS SO INTERESTING!"

Somewhere deep in the forest, a place that no one knows existed.

There was a small cabin, filled with a bed, a table, and an oddly designed carpet.

An old lady sat at the table, watching everything I did through a crystal ball laying atop a small red pillow.

"He has discovered his ambition and his determination, but possibly the most important and most dangerous of all, curiosity. Slowly but surely, he is becoming closer to being the hero this universe needs most. Now I wonder, how will he bring this to his next challenge, for his journey is just getting started, and the difficulty will soon drastically increase."

Meanwhile, a giant child with long white hair, pale skin, and a white dress sitting atop a throne in front of a large gold tree watched my ventures through a portal of sorts with a white border.

"It pains me to look at you, you disgusting human man. They will destroy you, and if they fail, then I will destroy you right after I destroy them. Your pitiful life will die along with any dreams tied to it."

At the far end of the forest, another threat came to life.

He rose from the ground, with nothing to his name.

He had nothing to help him, and he had nothing holding him back.

He gazed over at the gold tree.

A gold tree?

He thought.

This must be what they told me about.

If I see a gold tree, that is where the spirits of light are, and if I turn around and venture past a mountain range, then I will find the domain of the dark spirits.

I have nowhere to go, but if I truly wish to avenge my family, I'll have to cross this mountain range.

The masked man turned away from the gold tree and journeyed towards the mountain range.

You see, the place that I am now in consists of two parts.

Of course, I did not know of these parts at the time, but I would come to know of them soon enough.

Where I was was called the forest of light and life.

Across the mountain range, there was a tropical volcanic wasteland, known as the tropics of darkness and death.

On top of the tallest volcano in the tropics, a castle was built above the lava.

Sitting in the throne room of this castle was a shadowy figure.

"Two humans randomly appearing in the spirit realm? Such a thing has not happened in over a thousand years. Not only that, but the two of them seem like enemies. Is the Dark family behind this? I know they're doing great work in the human realm. I am eager to see just what fate will hold for these two."