Chapter 41: Combat 1

With his eyes gone, Rueben felt a pain coming from his stomach, it was a gut punch.

He then felt his body airborne before landing on some liquid. After realising this fact, he immediately drank the liquid and his eyes slowly regenerated.

Just as he was about to get his eyesight back, he suddenly felt a thin needle stabbed through his ears, stabbing his ear drums. Then the two eyes that just regenerated were torn apart from his eye sockets with fluid accuracy that the nerves of the eyes were unharmed.

Hearing a ringing coming from his ears, he then felt that the world was awfully quiet.

Then he felt something stabbing through his nose, before taking it something out, forcefully tearing apart the flesh as it yanked in.

Then he felt his body go up in mid air and slam down on a ground.

Rueben then felt that the world seemed dark, silent, and scentless. As if he was alone in the voidness of the universe, just a speck of dust in the never ending darkness.

Soon, fear over took him once more.

It was like an ant, biting on his skin. As the fear within him grows, more and more ants started climbing his body and bit him simultaneously.

Rueben closed his eyes, feeling the warm blood dripping from his eyes sockets. Rueben touched the sandy ground of the island, then clenched it as he tried to calm the raging fear within him.

Fear.

It is an emotion that have been with humans, even before humans have come to this world. Fear was the emotion that evokes this heartwrenching feelings in ones heart, affecting their mind and indirectly affecting their soul and body.

Fear was a concept that our ancestors have discovered and tried to explain in the most simplest of terms.

Rueben had felt fear. Countless times in his whole life.

The fear of being hurt. The fear of falling. The fear of pain.

And the fear of losing someone.

This was the first time that Rueben have felt...

Stopping the shivering arms, he tried standing up but his head was gripped tightly and slammed into the ground, creating cracks in his skull.

The being looked down at him, surprised.

[I had thought that you were a great opponent but....]

With his ears bleeding, Rueben then pushed himself up and span around, making a spinning kick that barely managed to hit his opponent.

It was a pathetic attempt for survival.

The being grabbed both of his legs and tore it apart from his torso. Grabbing the two legs, the being opened its mouth wide and directly ate the two limbs.

"Kuoh!?"

[Even you "Fear" dying.]

Disappointed, it kicked Rueben on the head and slammed its lizard like feet down on the ground, lightly as to not quickly kill Rueben.

Rueben have felt the fear of death.

[Why do you mortals fear "Death"?]

The being then grabbed a handful of blood from the lake and stabbed it through Rueben's heart, infusing the blood into his heart.

Then Rueben convulsed as he felt his flesh regenerate once more.

[Death is a blessing. A blessing to be able to end your miserable and agonizing lives.]

Then it stabbed its fingers into Rueben's torso, using his ribs to lift him up. Rueben had fully regenerated and looked at the being, then tightly gripped its wrist, wanting to make it let go.

But the being was unfazed. The grip on its wrist was terribly weak to the point that it wondered if Rueben was using his full strength in that grip.

It faces Rueben and softly asked, [Why do you mortals desperately cling to life?]

Rueben looked at the being, then shivered as he was once again asked that question.

To be honest, Rueben does not even know why he was stubbornly clinging to life. Is it truly because of Sara? Is that why he was clinging to life desperately.?

No, he already had the answer. Yes, it was for Sara. He was living, for Sara.

'Is it truly just that?'

Rueben heard a voice on his head.

'Or is it just an excuse. To live longer, to cling to life longer?'

....Was it truly for Sara?

Would Sara be happy if he didn't die? Would Sara be happy if he lived? Would Sara smile and thank him after he saved her? Will she really do such a thing? How was he so sure about it?

More and more questions filled his mind, making his thoughts chaotic as he held on to that single thread of consciousness left within him.

[Is there truly no reason? I refuse to believe that, mortal.]

[Do you know what life is?]

Rueben looked at it, his eyes shivering.

His mind was a mess, his life was a mess, everything was a mess.

For what was he living? For what was he clinging to life?

...Why.. was he born in this world?

[Life is both fickle and unbalanced.]

It opened its mouth to speak.

The creature was not just chatting because it felt bored, or it just wants to entertain itself. No.

The creature felt the intense bloodlust from Rueben, a bloodlust of someone who have gone and experienced countless battles.

Someone who knew how to fight.

The being knew that it could only learn how to fight through experience and instinct. The being knew that only through Rueben would it learn and grow.

That was why it didn't directly eat Rueben when it took a large bite and swallowed him whole.

That was why it formed into this humanoid like body in order to achieve a perfect body that was adaptable and easily controllable.

The being wanted to grow. To surpass its creators and become a "God".

To do that, it must learn how to grow, it must observe, learn, understand, imitate... It must do everything.

Its dream of becoming a "God". The being knew that it would be one step closer towards that dream after it learns how to fight from Rueben.

[Those who are above and greats, are cursed with great lives away from large misfortunes. Those who are below and are ants, are blessed with suffering, agony, and miserable lives.]

[Yet what does these two have equal in common?]

The being then one again slammed Rueben's head on the ground and pressed it with its feet.

[Infront of true power. They are nothing.]

With a slight twist of its heels, Rueben grunted in pain as he felt his neck tearing apart.