The Trial of Strength (5)

What..?

What is this place?

It's so cold, so deathly cold.

Had I died?

I'm in a void of pure darkness, this chill is worse than anything Indri could've conjured. It feels reminiscent of the first time I had felt death...

I'm scared. I don't want to die!

Am I this weak?

So terribly weak.

I needed more power.

I needed to survive, but I couldn't even manage that...

You think you are dead, boy?

Far from it, this is the abyss within yourself. 

A fountain of your power, my regrettable prison.

Now look, face your own vestiges of power.

This dark, monotone, guttural voice continues to pry at my psyche. Whatever it was, it was undeniably powerful. He's saying that I'm in my own mind, my own body?

But what of the fight, what of the battle with Indri?

Bare witness, do not avert thine eyes.

My vision returns but I'm floating within this abyss of black. The vision is so far away, as if viewing it from such a distance.

I saw Indri, his face was contorted, it was full of fear...

From this view it looked like my hand had extended, what covered the floor was a miasma of darkness, it swept and soared until it reached Indri, he was rooted and lifted into the air. The Resan that pulsated was so profound it was cracking the pillars, the walls, the very floor beneath the sand.

This was... me?

People in the stands began to faint from the sheer pressure that my Resan was exuding.

No, this was not my power. But it was darkness, just like the lightning.

I couldn't control what I was doing, I screamed, I yelled, nothing influenced the scenario that was happening in front of me. I was locked out of my very body, my actions were not that of my own.

"Stop, stop it!"

Silence.

This is what you lack, this is what resides within you.

Indri was screaming, he was being flailed around by a tendril of darkness, he was helpless. The crowd was deathly silent. Their cheering had been paused by this amount of Resan. 

As Indri was slammed to the floor, his back had convulsed, a loud crack was heard, emanating around the room. He was screaming, pleading for his life, calling me a monster.

This has to stop, it has to!

"Enough of this, he is done! He cannot fight anymore, stop doing this!"

I attempt to do anything to let this beast, this demon, have some leniency.

His death will be a catalyst for your growth.

This demon is laughing, and I hear my own voice mimicking it from the view that I had within the abyss. I'm trying to swim towards the view, trying to break through, to get back in control.

It was impossible, no matter how much I flail my arms I do not move from this spot.

There it was.

Indri's face, contorted, crying.

He wept for his mother, for his brother, for his blood brethren, somebody to save him.

"Please, help me! Mercy! Somebody help me!" His cries were met with silence of the crowd, who could only watch on.

The Resan of darkness had come together, compacting itself tightly around my body, I could see me lifting my hand, crashing it down onto Indri's face.

The horror...

He began to scream as the darkness spread across his face, into any crevice it could find, his eyes, his ears, his nose, his mouth. It was eating away at his very flesh. 

He yelped and yelped.

His final words before meeting his fate at my hands...

I don't think I will ever forget them.

"Mother, mother! Motherrr!"

What have I done..?

As his body lay lifeless on the floor, the silence continued to marinate. Not a single cheer was heard, nor a boo. Just nothingness.

Do you finally comprehend your power, boy?

You are not meant to be oppressed, you are meant to use this power to gain all you desire. Through me, you can achieve your deepest desires.

Within the abyss, I felt myself shooting through, snapping back into reality and looking down with my own eyes, Indri's body.

I begin shaking, the sight... the blood, his face lacked any of the features that made Indri himself.

I keel over and begin to spew fluids onto the floor, my gut churning with the brutality of the actions I had committed. 

"No, no... no..." whispering to myself, thinking it all a big joke. How I'd wake up and greet mother after this dream.

Alas, I remained. This was reality, I knew it too. But, I just murdered somebody. An innocent person. Someone who only had his own dreams he wanted to accomplish.

My hands are trembling while holding the floor, grasping at the sand whilst the tears that brew along my eyes begin to fall. Melding with the grains of sand.

"A-- And the winner is... Gian!"

The crowd remained silent.

Whispers began to be heard around the arena instead of the usual cheers.

"The Trial of Strength has officially been postponed, we shall recommence tomorrow at noon."

Did I do this?

I don't want to be a murderer.

The proctor from our first trial appeared out of no where. He grasps my shoulder and begins dragging me away, his bright blonde hair swaying with the wind.

I'm taken away while the entire arena, all of these students and teachers, they all watch. Just like they watched me murder Indri in front of them. They still watch.

I'm thrown into a room, the room was dark, lit by a few candles and a backdrop of red that had a distinct hue in the room. This was different from before, it was not made of differing metals and hard materials, but brick instead. 

I gather my bearings and look around the room. Surrounding me were all the proctors that we had seen before, plus others that we had yet to see.

They watch me like hawks, their eyes following my every move. My eyes were red with the burden of my guilt.

The proctor who dragged me here took off his dark-shaded glasses, "What are you?"