CH 15: This Isn't a Game

In a wide plain of grass, a boy stood on top of a hill with his arms up to guard himself. Surrounding him were many soldiers in metal armor.

"Hageshi really doesn't hold back does he?"

The boy in question had already knocked out a few and was eyeing the rest in anticipation.

Soon, one of the men with a longsword lunged at him and swung. The boy sidestepped the attack and quickly spun, landing a chop on the knight's neck, knocking him out.

"You know, if you guys all attack me at once, I'll probably die."

The soldiers looked at each other in surprise. Why didn't they think of that?

They all ferociously charged at the lone boy on the hill. The golden-eyed boy's face broke out in an evil grin.

"He he… gotcha."

The first soldier to reach him thrust a spear toward his sternum. A quick swipe from the boy knocked the spear off its path and into the ground. The boy converged on the knight and knocked him out with a punch to the liver.

The surrounding knights only got angrier as they rushed toward the arrogant boy.

"HAA!" One of the soldiers exclaimed as he swung his large sword.

"So slow. Why lug that thing around if you can't control it?"

Halfway through the knight's swing, the boy nimbly palmed the side of the sword and struck the man in the neck. The soldier dropped his sword and lost consciousness immediately.

Four soldiers converged on the sole attacker, who jumped into the air and out of the encirclement. As he escaped them, the knight with his back to the boy was kicked in the back of the head, also dropping to the ground unconscious.

His golden eyes moved back and forth as the boy scanned the six knights left and leaped toward another. The knight was quickly taken care of as his chest armor caved in, knocking all the air out of his lungs.

"I don't get why Hageshi is so adamant about this."

Another knight screamed as his arm was broken from a knee to the elbow. He quickly passed out from the shock.

The boy sighed and took off at the other knights who were beginning to retreat down the hill.

Screams rang out as the grass swayed in the gentle breeze on top of the green hill.

…

"What the hell was that?" I asked Hageshi. "They were just a bunch of regular humans!"

Back in the completely white room, Hageshi was staring at me with his normal indifferent gaze.

"You need to form your killing intent. To complete your training, the technique must be used to kill."

I was speechless. How could he talk about killing people so easily? I knew the knights I had beaten were fake, but it still felt real!

Hageshi's gaze turned cold and the landscape shifted from white to a wide platform on the top of a mountain above the clouds.

As soon as the scenery completely shifted, Hageshi darted straight at me with a punch.

Blocking his sudden attack, my eyes focused and my muscles tensed.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I blocked more attacks.

Hageshi broke my guard and punched my liver. Nearly all the air was expelled from my lungs and I leaped back, out of range.

I held my side and took deep breaths.

"This will be your last lesson," Hageshi said as he let me recover. "You've been training for the past six months. You could have finished in three but you refuse to advance to the final level."

"If I don't need to kill someone, why should I?"

Hageshi's gaze made me shiver. "The final stage of all martial techniques is to end the life of another person. If you can't kill someone, then the training will never end!"

I sighed and stood straight. "I just can't. You can't force me."

"You want to bet?" Hageshi asked.

"Huh?"

He disappeared from where he was standing a moment ago and reappeared to my right. A flying leg swung over my head as I dodged the attack. But I knew this wasn't the last one and quickly backed up.

Hageshi's fist appeared directly in front of my eyes and connected with a loud bang! I flew backward, nearing the edge of the cliff.

"I'm not done yet," said a cold voice next to me as I was in mid-air.

A tight grip clasped around my ankle and swung me up and down toward the ground.

*BOOM*

Rock flew everywhere as a large crater formed on the mountain peak.

"You're too durable for your own good. It just lets enemies toss you around more."

The shadow of a foot descended down from the sky. Before it reached my head, I rolled out of the way and sprung out of the crater with a flip.

*CRASH*

A shockwave spread through the platform and dust flew into the air, covering the entire area.

"Hageshi, I'm not going to kill–"

"If you don't, you are going to die here."

My back hunched as a fist rocked my stomach. Blood spilled out of my mouth and I was flung upward into the air.

On my way down to the ground, a shadow appeared above me.

"And this time, you're not reviving."

My body chilled and goosebumps formed on my skin from the bloodlust in the man's voice.

Something in my body changed at that point. My arm moved out of instinct and grabbed the leg of the shadow above me.

I pulled as hard as I could and the body flew to the ground.

*BANG*

The mountain shook as the crater covered the entire surface of the platform. A large dust cloud rose into the air, obscuring my vision.

"Shit!"

I hit the ground and ran to the middle of the crater.

"No, no, no, no, no."

In the center, the body of a man wearing a black kimono lay there gasping for air.

I ran to him and knelt over his body. My eyes began to water and my hands shook.

"I–I didn't mean to!" I exclaimed through sobs.

"You idiot," Hageshi said through wheezing breaths. "If you're going to hold back your strength, at least don't make it so obvious."

"I just di–didn't want to hurt you," tears started to fall from my cheeks and onto the ground. " I just wanted to–"

"Stop, boy. Stop being such a wimp. You think the world is nice enough to let you play around and have fun while you grow stronger?" Hageshi's breath became thinner and thinner. "You should just be glad you're learning this here, where there are no consequences."

His gaze remained on the sky as his vision began to darken.

"Boy, remember this. When you hold back your strength to fight someone, you're not fighting them anymore, you're toying with them. The more you stay in your little hole where you think everything is a game, the more people are going to think you're taking everything around you as a joke," Hageshi coughed and blood spilled out from his lips. "Just promise me something, kid. Promise me you'll take it seriously. Because every time you laugh with joy in a fight and every time you have a smile on your lips, people like me watch you and have hatred in our hearts. From where I come from, the only people who smile are the ones stepping on the dreams of everyone around them. So promise me. Promise me you'll take your enemies seriously and fight them with everything you've got, don't hold back even if they're an ant. At least have the decency to give them death."

I closed my eyes and more tears spilled out. "Hageshi I-"

"Promise me, kid!" He yelled, coughing out more blood. "Life isn't a game. You're fighting for your life out there and so are other people. So promise me that you'll take this seriously."

I frantically tried covering his wounds. "Heal yourself or something! Please!"

"Still an idiot. As soon as I saw you, I recognized the look in your eyes. The look I hate so much. Hopefully, you can get rid of it with this. If my death is the cost of keeping you from becoming one of those bastards, it's a cheap price to pay. So, promise me!"

"I promise!" I exclaimed as I grabbed his hand and squeezed it while closing my eyes. "I promise! I promise! I promise! I promi–"

My heightened senses immediately let me know his breath had ceased.

"Dammit! System! Emy!" I called out.

Nothing came back in response.

I sobbed and more tears flooded down my face as my vision and my consciousness faded and the impartment ended.

I returned to the seated position on my bed in my room at the Raijin estate.

My bloodshot eyes instantly shot open and I flung off the bed. I couldn't control myself and my fist ran through the wall, making it collapse.

*BOOM*

"DAMMIT!"

My breathing quickened and I stood there as the wall crumbled, revealing the afternoon view of the mansion.

[Master…]

"Emy, where the hell were you!!? You could have helped him! You could have saved him!"

[I'm not allowed into the Fight Technique impartment in case of aiding in your understanding of the subject. I'm sorry…]

Hearing the sadness and regret in her voice, I sighed and unclenched my fist and I dropped to my knees.

"I'm sorry, Hageshi."