《Iranib》 The nightmare I know the first chapters are a bit short, but i prolonged them later on, so keep reading >.< i''ll post 2 or 3 chapter for day, i hope you''ll like it **** It was a day like any other the one that just passed, and a bitter cold was taking over the heat of the day, it''s midnight now, and the local bell is sounding its twelve strokes, unknown to all, a shadow hovers in stealth in the garden of the villa''s most important people, that of some wealthy collectors. The shadow slipped behind a bush, without the guard noticing nothing, carrying on his round; quieter than death the shadow emerged from the bush and positioned himself behind a tree, waiting for the passage of the second guard, after which climbed into the gutter pipe up to a window of the building.e villa is rectangular and divided over three floors, a view from the front, the first thing that a stranger would notice would be the steps to the entrance, slightly curved and marble, as befits a villa of that caliber, also the window arrangement is singular, starting from the left, there are three windows then a balcony, after which are presents another 3 windows, with a guard always present at each window; also the entire building is surrounded by a huge garden, enclosed by high walls, while lanterns and braziers are scattered here and there to illuminate the path followed by the guards and part of the walls. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.The shadow has just entered the narrowest part of the perimeter of the villa and after climbing to the third floor is now in; after that the light start to go off... along with the lives of the guards, in order, from left to right; in the fifth room the guard is looking outside from the window, without a sound the shadow slips behind the guard, closes his mouth with his hand and the throat is pierced with a dagger hidden in his sleeve, even thought the moonlight should illuminate him, the face of the shadow remains hidden in the dark. Lessons of life: never be late Hi all, it''s my first time doing something like this, so comments and tips are welcomed, i hope to write 1 or 2 chapter for days, but if i fell good even more... Enjoy (or so i hope) **** A 16 year old boy with uncombed blond hair and blue eyes wakes up, seeing a strange and dim light on his arm without a defined form, which disappears after a second, so after rubbing his eyes, he does not give it too much weight, thinking of having imagined it. The boy opened the window, but outside is all too painfully bright, trying to protect himself from sunlight, he puts his hands in a way that their shadow covers the eyes, immediately a girl from the familiar face appears in front of the boy, and when she just sees him yells: -it seems the time to get up, Eiji? - Dazed by the sun and by the sudden scream , the boy finally manage to focus on a girl of his own age, with smooth and long red hair, she was wearing a shirt that was a bit short, so that the navel was exposed and her measures where greatly showed up, the pants instead were long enough to cover from the waist to the ankles. After crossing arms on the window and have almost fallen asleep again Eiji said: -tch, always yelling at me when I wake up, you''ll never lose this habit, Layla? - Layla did not let him even finish: -no, until you will continue to get up late, you know what day is today? - Eiji start to thing without even moving from the position in which he was: yesterday was Thursday ... June ... today is ... Getting up from his position exclaims: -Friday 17 !!!!! - Having arrived at the point, the boy swallowed, while Layla gave him the confirmation of what that day meant for him: -yes, today it''s your turn to go to cut wood, your grandfather told me to tell you that he wanted you at ten o¡¯clock at the old shack on the mountain-. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Eiji looked at the position of the sun: -but... it will be that time in just a few minutes!! I''ll never get there in time-. Layla replied while going back to the village: -then you''d better hurry if you don¡¯t want to suffer the wrath of your grandfather, see you, DEAD-Eiji-. Eiji jumped out of the window and started running toward the mountain, shouting behind him: -Layla, one day or the other I¡­- fortunately a loud noise of leaves covered the remainder of the sentence. At half past ten, and after a long run, the boy was finally able to glimpse the cabin of the wood, and entering in a rush inside, he found his grandfather sitting on a stump of wood, which began to shout at him: -where the hell you were Eiji? Do you realize what time is it?! - Eiji looked at the ground, and while still trying to catch his breath, tried to mumble an excuse: -Oldman, sorry, it was Layla¡¯s fault, she kept me on the run ... I mean, the way ...- The Oldman was unimpressed with all that he had heard until now from his nephew: -as usual you slept too much, but that''s okay, I''m not angry ... - the boy felt relieved for a moment - you just need to recover the time lost-. Eiji didn¡¯t understood immediately the meaning of those words, so foolishly asked: -what? -, but soon repented of those words, the Elder was faster: -then GET THE AXE AND START TO CUT !!!! ONE TWO, ONE TWO ...-. Eiji began to slowly chop the wood repeating -ok, one two, one two ...- while his grandpa added: -and as a punishment, you''ll work until tonight without breaks!!! -; Eiji blurted out without thinking: -until tonight?? Everything else but this ...- so the old man gently asked:-do you have something to complain about? -. Just a dream The second one for today, maybe in the afteroon i''ll post more :) ***** By now the sun was starting to set, when the Old urged Eiji: -c¡¯mon, the last and we chopped them all for today-, Eiji looked at him whispering: -but if I did everything... - The grandfather of the boy looked at him with murderous eyes: -we finished, or do you want to continue all night? -, Eiji pretended nothing: -ok, okay, we are done, let¡¯s return to home- On the way back Eiji thought about the nightmare he had that morning, and his grandfather, seeing that something was wrong with the behavior of the boy asked: -What''s wrong? You have the same face as a fish... More than usual- Eiji decided to not pick up the provocation: -it is because of this nightmare, it keeps coming back, I can¡¯t take it anymore, every time it continue a little more than the one before... tonight I almost saw the mysterious man, but he had a hood and in the end I couldn¡¯t see his face...-, the elder began to think and, after a long reflection said: -well, it''s just a dream in the end, don¡¯t give it too much weight-. Eiji smiled: -maybe you''re right, I also imagined that light on my arm...-; the Oldman made a strangely worried face: -Which light, Eiji? - Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The boy replied without thinking: -just when I woke up, for a moment, I saw some strange luminescent symbols on my arm- then Eiji uncovered his left arm -but it probably was just the light that penetrated into the house, and together with the dream I must have imagined it-. The elder swallowed, and after a few minutes of silence resumed the discourse: -all right, u probably just imagined... But listen, I know that I always prevented it, but from now on keep your dagger near you, before going to sleep and everywhere you go, you''re now old enough and experienced to know how to use it, in the end, I taught you the use of all weapons, and having your knife with you will give you more security- Eiji smiled, while his eyes showed his surprised and could not contain himself: -Thanks Oldman- and hugged him: -you¡¯re the best grandfather in the world-. The elder struggled out from the embrace: -ok, let¡¯s go back to home-; However, on the way back, his mind was leaning towards a single thought: that''s just my feeling, that''s just my feeling. The nightmare -part 2- Maybe in the evening i''ll put another chapter I hope u''ll enjoy this for now ***** Dark. Again the twelve strokes of the bell tower, again the shadow that is wandering in the villa¡¯s garden, again the lights go out and the soldiers dying, but this time, something is different, something that smell of danger, and the dream continues , after killing the last guard, the man goes near a painting, and after slicing it right in the middle, he enters in the hidden room. No one seems to be in this room, even though it seems a bedroom, there aren¡¯t light of any sort, the shadow goes towards a bedside table and pulls the third drawer, which does not opens. Whispering a curse, the shadow begins to recite a few words necessary for the activation of a spell, after which the lock is released and the drawer is opened, the shadow pulls out a dagger. What ... my dagger? For a moment the thoughts of Eiji had the better on the dream, but it was only for a moment, after which the nightmare continue. The hooded man made sure to fasten the dagger to his belt, and as he was about to turn around, he found himself with a sword pointed at his back, with the head of the guards to enjoin: -I am not like the others, you will not take me down by surprise- then the man loaded the slash -bye, assassin-. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The captain of the guard proceeded to give the ending blow to the hooded man; but in a moment, the words spoken with such conviction went back at him, as the sword sliced through the vacuum; the shadow dodged the sword sagging, then got up directing the blade concealed in the sleeve towards the throat of the enemy. After pushing the dagger under the chin of what was the captain of the guard, the shadow said a few words to the corpse behind him: -I¡¯m not an assassin-. Training The boy was still happily lazing when, as usual, Layla came at the house and began to knock against the window of Eiji¡¯s room and calling his name in order to wake him up; doing that resulted in the hoped result, and Eiji went to open the window. What he saw left him stunned, Layla was dressed in a very elegant battle dress, which some would dare define provocative; when she realized that Eiji was still looking at her, she decided to provoke him, talking with her usual voice of superiority: -What, you''ve never seen a girl? - Eiji recovered and sheepishly came out of that situation with something like: -Uh, I really...-; Layla passed on to his bland attempt to excuse and continued: -don¡¯t tell me that even today you can¡¯t remember which day is it?- Eiji took a thoughtful pose and began to think aloud: -So ... Yesterday was Friday 17... today is Saturday 18... should something come to my mind? -. After carefully looking at the clothing covering Layla, and looking again from top to bottom, more for lascivious taste than for actually remember, it occurred to him: -ah, right, today is the training¡¯s day! -. Layla decided to tease him again: -exactly, and if you do not hurry, I will choose another guy as a partner... maybe that Marco, the new one, what do you say? -. In a moment, however, Eiji had worn his combat clothing and they walked together to the arena, located on the other side of the village. The village of Esafirt had nothing special, it was a small village in the mountain, surrounded by nature, there were about twenty houses made from wood placed one near the other in the limited space available, they provided protection from rain to citizens, with a small square in the center that had the function of the market; the only noteworthy thing was the arena not far from the village, in which the boys and girls of the village gathered, formed groups of two and fought in pairs. This custom was indeed practiced every Saturday. The groups were well established, normally Layla and Eiji were together, as well as Soana and James, the strongest team in the village, also Crystal and Raye, the seconds of the village; in all, there were 10 pairs of people, including Layla and Eiji that occupied the third place in the ranking of the strongest. In the arena were all friends, although there were some differences, so, after greeting everyone, Eiji and Layla sat down and the boy, as usual, stared at Soana; everyone knew that he was in love with her, like most of the boys of the village. The reason for the popularity of Soana was simple: her measures were about double those of Layla, and like all the other boys in the village, Eiji was not corresponded, but unlike all the others, Soana liked taking advantage of Eiji and his feelings as much as she could and in all situations. So, as soon as Layla saw him lost in gazing the girl in question, she hit the sternum of the boy with her elbow. Once settled, they were immediately reprimanded by the arena¡¯s teacher... that actually was Eiji¡¯s grandfather: -as usual you are late... Eiji, always your fault I guess -; the boy bowed: -I apologize for being late master, it will not happen again- Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.-Yes, Yes, I am sure of it... like all the other times that you told me the same, let¡¯s start-, then the elder turned facing everyone: -today we have a new recruit, Marco, for now he¡¯ll look the matches, then in the future he will team up with someone-, then the Oldman turned to the person concerned: -ok Marco? -. Marco was a boy one year younger than Eiji, with straight hair that reached down to his shoulders, a lean physique and his height was slightly lower than Eiji, who asked him: -if you want you can come and sit next to us-. While Marco approached Eiji¡¯s position, he looked at Layla and her clothing, Marco became completely red, and the girl, noticing it, smiled exhorting him: -c¡¯mon, come here, I¡¯ll not eat you-; those words shacked the boy, making him recover, and thinking that basically would not have been so bad of an idea replied: -ok-... and sat near Eiji. After that, the teacher gave the instruction: -Today we will use swords, for the first fight the pair number 8, Cesar and Alfons against the team 7 Aida and Kaii- The fight was not very long; after 30 second Aida disarmed Alfons and Kaii used his amazing footwork in order to bring down Cesar, so both members of the couple 7 aimed their wooden swords at the throat of the opponents; the fight was over. Not surprised by the outcome, the elder preferred to not comment: -The winner is team 7, in the next fight the team 5 Greed and Sky will challenge the team 9 Victor and Hisa-. The fight lasted for two minutes, with more or less successful strategies and after several thrusts and feints, the team 5 was able to impose itself on the other team, braking through their defense with sheer strength. This time the teacher decided to give advices to his students: -As usual, you two of team 5 are a bit too violent, but the rules are clear, you are winners-, then he faced again the other teams: -now team 4, Angeal and Luke, against team 6 Kyle and Sam-. Even this fight went for long, the opponents were well balanced and no one wanted to lose, but after several minutes the team 4 were defeated, with wooden swords pointed at their throats. So the Elder announced -the team 6 won, next fight team 2 Crystal and Lisa vs team 10 Raye and kata-. This time the battle did not last even a moment, the 10 team was knocked out with a combo of Team 2, Crystal had hidden Lisa from the viewpoint of the opponents, then she lowered her body and made Lisa jump from her back to behind the opponents, making a pincer attack on the two member of team 10. This time the Eiji¡¯s grandfather was quite surprised: -not a bad move, Crystal and Lisa- but since he didn¡¯t wanted to give too much of an appraisal added ¨Chowever don¡¯t you think you were a bit reckless? If team 10 was a few faster, you could¡¯ve lost-, then the oldman looked into Eiji¡¯s eyes and announced: -the final fight leave only two pairs; team 1 Soana and James against team 3 Layla and Eiji-. Clash At that moment, the knowledge of who they were going to challenge, made the heart of Eiji skip a beat, and he murmured: -among all opponents ...- while Layla struck his side with the elbow for the second time, ordering him to focus. Once in position, the two teams got ready to attack, initially the team 1 decided to engage one opponent each, so James attacked Layla and Soana went for Eiji, knowing that she had the advantage over his challenger. Their vehemence forced Eiji and Layla in fast and relentless parry, there was no room for a counterattack, and the two were at a distinct disadvantage, so Layla came up a strategy, and whispered to Eiji: -you need to turn, let''s put ourselves back to back-, and so they did, Eiji avoided the slash of Soana sword and changed placed with her, even so, Soana did not mind it and continued to attack, pushing back the boy. In this way, Layla and Eiji found themselves at opposite ends of the arena; and with a sign of understanding they both avoided the opponent¡¯s blow, exchanged places and allowed their opponents to attack until precisely find themselves back to back in the middle of the arena, then Layla whispered to Eiji: -In a moment let¡¯s change opponents, I¡¯ll send back Soana and we¡¯ll focus on james-. They continued to suffer for a while team1¡¯s blows, to give them the impression of winning... although it was not exactly only an impression. When at one point Layla gave the signal to Eiji, they exchanged place, and after Layla kicked Soana making her fall, they focused on James; their swords were in perfect sync, and closed as a wolf¡¯s fang on James, or at least they would have done, except that the target executed an incredible leap, making a complete rotation as it passed over their heads and went near Soana, in order to help her. The strategy didn¡¯t work, by a slight margin, but it had not worked, so the boy asked Layla: -and now? - While she whispered thoughtfully: -I could try that thing ... But it is risky- Eiji could not understand: -Which thing? ¨C But she did not deign him of a reply, instead told him: -all right, when I tell you, give me your hand and throw me in their direction, but I need 10 seconds and I can¡¯t move, so I need you to protect me-; the boy tried again to understand the intentions of the girl: -ok, but what do you want to do?- She replied with a smile: -trust me- The opponents were now back on their feet and were advancing towards them, so they started to battle side by side, and after a few time at a sign of Layla, the both of them began to push their opponents, forcing them to retreat quickly, and after reaching the end of the arena, Eiji and Layla retreated to the other side, leaving Soana and James without words. Layla had run all the way to the other side, while Eiji had stopped halfway; Layla then closed his eyes, while Eiji waited. 10¡­9¡­8; Team 1 had recovered and understood that something was amiss. 7¡­6¡­5 Soana and James were running through the arena preparing the final attack. 4¡­3¡­2 Eiji incredibly parried both the attack of the opponents and now they had crossed swords with him You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. 1...0 -NOW!!!!!!- the girl extended a hand towards Eiji, who disengaged and ran towards Layla with team 1 just behind him; at the last moment, Eiji grabbed Layla¡¯s hand. The boy felt pervaded energy, while he could incredibly throw Layla against Soana and James in a moment, with a strength that he never had. The team one ahead parried swords, but Layla¡¯s body was covered in a strange white glow and when she kicked, her leg easily destroyed the wood swords of Soana and James, making them fall to the ground; now it was the turn of Eiji, the fight only ended when one pointed the sword to the throat of the opponent, when they admitted defeat, or when on hit a vital spot, so Layla shouted ¨CFINISH IT!!!! - Eiji did not need to think twice about it, and was about to hit Soana, when she murmured: -Ahia, that idiot, it hurt a lot, help me Eiji-; it was a moment, the indecision of a second, and with a fast movement Soana seized the Eiji¡¯s sword, who offered no resistance, and struck him and Layla. The fight was over. The teacher announced in a neutral tone of voice: -the winner is team 1, there are no further meetings today, train some more alone or go back home-, so everyone started to go home, foreseeing what would happen in a few time; only Layla, Eiji and his grandfather stayed where they were. The girl stood up and headed to Eiji, while the oldman watched; a slap at full power struck the face of the boy, who was stunned looking at her friend''s face, Layla had tears in his eyes and spoke softly: -what happened to you? What the hell happened to you? We had won- Eiji couldn¡¯t hold her stare and lowered his head: -Sorry, at some point, she told me she was badly hurt and I couldn¡¯t ... I couldn¡¯t hit her-; Layla shouted: -is it possible that she is the only one that you care for?- and ran away. The old man looked at the boy and decided after a few seconds: -for punishment you¡¯ll have to train throughout the afternoon-. Eiji tried to protest without much conviction: -why? I¡¯ve not done anything bad- Hearing those words his grandfather reprimanded him: -you''ve made your teammate cry and you have been defeated, you will have more to apologize at the first opportunity and....- and because there is something wrong continued the oldman, but kept it for him . The boy urged his grandfather: -and? -; -and for that, it¡¯s enough, don¡¯t you think? I''ll wait for you for dinner at home- Eiji trained for all the afternoon, striking blows against a dummy more to vent his anger than for training, he thought aloud: -what can I do if I like her and I can¡¯t hit her? Is it a crime? And because of Layla I''ll have to train until evening, it¡¯s not right, I¡¯ll never say sorry-, the boy depleted his energy until the sun went down, then the boy went home in time for dinner, which passed without even a word, then he went to sleep. It was a night without dreams, the one before the end of everything. The end of everything Noise of chairs thrown to the ground, smoke, hot flashes, Eiji did not even have the time to sit up that two unidentified people jumped on him with the intent to kill him; the boy put his hands in front, as if trying to avoid being sliced, but he knew that those katana would¡¯ve cut him in two, no doubt. At a whisker from Eiji, the katana stopped, while the boy was aware of having his grandfather behind him with a drawn sword in his hand, not even the time to understand what was happening that his grandfather had already sliced up those assailants, making them exhale their last breath. Eiji was finally able to speak: -Old, what''s happening? -, But the elder had no time for unnecessary questions: -what are you still doing in the bed? Get up, the dagger that I told you to keep is not there as an ornament!- Eiji stood up, continuing to ask: -ok, but what''s going on?- Catching his breath, the elder notified him the situation: -We must escape, they set fire everywhere in the village and are looking for something ... and probably also someone, now run, follow me-, thus the oldman headed to the nearby forest running, taking care of having the boy always behind him. Eiji still did not understand the situation: -where are we going? ¨C The elder dismissed him again with some notions without explaining in full: -in the woods to the east there is a shelter, we will be almost sure there. Eiji found himself thinking: almost? He was about to say something when her grandfather suddenly stopped cursing -we are surrounded-. Eiji was sill dazed from what was happening, he had just escaped from home, the village was on fire, and now his grandfather said that they were surrounded; it made no sense, and looking at the forest,he couldn¡¯t see anyone: -grandpa, there is no one here-. At that very moment the oldman shouted loudly: -SHOW YOURSELF, I KNOW YOU¡¯RE THERE- As soon as he finished the sentence, from the surrounding trees came out at least fifteen people, arranged in a circle around them, it was too much for the two of them, understanding that there were even more still hidden, the elder whispered to Eiji: -I¡¯ll keep them occupied, you have to run-. Eiji however didn¡¯t move: -no way, there are too many of them, I will fight by your side, I still have my dagger- -I TOLD YOU TO RUN- shouted his grandfather throwing himself against the first enemy and killing him with one hit during the rush, then he got rid of the second thanks to a knife threw in the brief moment that the first assailant took to collapse; and finally began the actual close combat. Eiji was no less, in the end he had been trained in the use of the weapon since childhood, but the enemies were too many, and the boy had never killed anyone, just knocked out, and because of this, he immediately found himself in trouble, because, differently from him, the attackers fought with the intention to kill. The fight went on until when, backing, Eiji tripped on a root; his fate seemed decided as four swords were about to befall him, with the intent to pierce his heart. The oldman saw the scene in a corner with one eye, disengaged in a second and appeared in front of Eiji just before the tragedy, too little time for trying to parry with his sword, too many swords and enemies, only one solution. The swords pierced the body of the elder, the blood began to flow from the wounds; the boy listened to the last words of his grandfather while he was still bending over him: -ru.....n-. The one who had once considered his entire family fell on Eiji with swords still stuck in the body; those images and those sounds impressed themselves like fire in the mind of the boy, while the assassins take some steps back. In a moment, Eiji understands what''s going on, but he can¡¯t accept it, he don¡¯t want to accept it, so changing position Eiji keeps his oldman from falling, and with his knees in the ground takes his grandfather in his arms, calling: -don¡¯t make jokes, I know that you can¡¯t die from this- This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. From behind one of the assailants who had killed his grandfather was slowly approaching him. Tears began to fall from the eyes of the boy, and his anger start to rise: -you can¡¯t die like this, you know? Don¡¯t you dare!!!!! -; his pain and anger were increasing every second, even while the voice of the reason began to take possession of the boy, the assassin was now behind him. Damn, it''s all my fault, all my fault ... A male voice came into his mind: -it¡¯s not your fault, look around you-. Eiji did not know why, but he did exactly what the voice had suggested and looked around, while the assailant behind him was loading the fatal blow, to cut his head clean off. Anger mixed with despair and pain, these feelings seized him, Eiji realized that the murderer of his grandfather were still all there, they had killed his oldman with their weapon, and they were all around him, next to him. A symbol began to shine on his arm... he would fight, he would kill them, he will kill them all, and would not have any scruples; symbols kept appearing on his body, but he did not mind, he just wanted to see all them dead, his anger was at its peak, his body covered with symbols, the assailant who was about to kill him hesitated, not understanding what was going on . The time around Eiji had stopped, there was absolute silence in the forest, but the air seemed thicker around Eiji, his dagger was not there, lost somewhere, but he would have killed them with his bare hands, there was no problem ... the same voice as before whispered: -you have the weapons, you just have to look, you have the power, you just need to ask-. Eiji was now surrounded from a doom of light, when the boy uttered: -I... I want them, I want the weapons, I want the powers-, it was a simple swish brought from the forest, but all the people they could clearly hear the words: -then¡­ I¡¯ll give you them- At that moment Eiji looked up, his eyes radiated light, his body is full symbols, the air was now gathered around him, at that time the attackers recovered from the surprise, and advanced toward Eiji; in the end, he was kneeling on the ground, wrapped in that strange light, but without weapons, what were they waiting? The assassins used their katana in order to quickly kill him off, but the tense light acted as barrier, not allowing the blades to touch him, then the light exploded; all the attackers were thrown back, but stopped in mid-air... it was not enough, for Eiji that was not enough, the time had stopped, or so it seemed, Eiji was blinded by the desire for revenge, his gaze froze the blood of the assailants and he spoken: -not so easily-. Suddenly Eiji found in his hands two twin curved blades of pure energy, he moved, but everything around him was still motionless, and he heard that voice again: -one for the left hand, one for the right hand, we have different powers, you¡¯ll have to understand us and dominate us-; but Eiji did not care, he would have killed everyone in that forest, without exception. Eiji gripped the two swords of energy in different ways, so that the one in the left hand had the blade facing the sky, like a normal weapon, while the one in his right hand faced the ground; Eiji himself did not know why he was using them that way, but he knew it was so that they had to be kept. In the end, following his thirst for revenge, Eiji killed all the assassins remained in the forest; when he killed the last, the time went back to normal, and Eiji fell in the darkness. waking up A ray of light came from the window left open enough to illuminate the Eiji¡¯s upper half body, waking him from its slumber. The boy looked around wondering: -where am I...? ¨C A voice from the darkness said ¨Cin a shelter at the edge of the forest- Eiji couldn¡¯t recognize who that voice belonged to, so in a faint voice tried to guess: -Grandpa?-, then he remembered; his grandfather had died, died for his fault ... "run" were his last words. But then who was the person closest to him? Eiji pressed his back against the head of the bed... -who are you? - But the only sentence he received in return was: -u don¡¯t recognize me? -; so the boy finally began to focus, shivers went down his back, as he was hoping that his eyes were playing tricks: the hooded figure of his dreams, the one who had mercilessly killed the guards, was now before him. Eiji recoiled himself, but he knew there weren¡¯t escape routes: -What do you want from me? You¡¯re with those people who attacked the village?- But the Shadow did not seem troubled by those suspicions: -cool down, you''re hurt, and if I wanted to kill you I would have already done it... I found you passed out along with fifteen henchmen of the GripZone and Ranov... they were all dead- Eiji could not suppress the surprise: -Ranov... is the name of my the oldman, how do you know it? ¨C But as before, the shadow told him just what he wanted to say: -this is not important now, in a few time you¡¯ll get better, the medicine I gave you are doing miracles- Eiji could not help but to feel guilt: -they were all dead ... it was me that killed them-, however the Shadow did not move: -you did what was necessary, I¡¯m not here to pass sentence on it-. At these words the boy recovered, if it had been necessary, then there was no need to worry, so one evil eyes gleamed in his eyes: -GripZone... who are they? -. Once again, the Shadow was unimpressed by the boy''s words: -why worrying about them?- Eiji took it as an understanding between them -they killed my grandfather, I need to have my revenge-, but the plans that the hooded man had for him were different: -you''re worrying over the dead, rather than doing it for the living? - This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Only then the boy he remembered all those people who had remained in the village, and his thoughts flew to Soana, Marco and, what surprised him most of all, he could not help but hope with all his heart that Layla was still alive: -I have to go back to the village, I need to... - He had just tried to get out of bed, but the pain coming from his body stopped him, Eiji hadn¡¯t noticed to be seriously injured: -but what ... ?? -; again the shadow explained his situation: -you¡¯ve been seriously injured, if I had not arrived in time, you''d be already dead, I don¡¯t know how you killed all those henchmen alone, but now you can¡¯t move-. The shadow actually knew what he did, but chose to not reveal it: -now, recollect yourself and listen to me-This time the boy did exactly as he was told, then asked: -How much time is needed until I can walk again?- But the Shadow began to run out of patience: -for now this is not important, listen to me! - Eiji could no longer bear to sit still and the frustration made him shout: -it is important, I need to save her-, the boy stopped for a moment to listen to his words, while a thought made its way into his head: I have to save... who? Once again, the Shadow didn¡¯t move, but his words were sharper than blades: -and how? You''re hurt, you do not have a weapon, you have already been beaten once and ...- the Shadow paused, as if he did not know whether to continue the sentence, which ended only after a few seconds: -and you don¡¯t know what happened in the woods, am I right? -. Eiji was dumbfounded by the strange break, enough to push him to start to think it''s true ... I can¡¯t protect them; I couldn¡¯t do it with grandfather, how can I success with them? The Shadow interrupted his train of thoughts: -Will you listen to me now?-, as the boy did not answer, the hooded man continued: -then listen; I am about to reveal something that will change your life- Revelations -You hold a secret, the swords that appeared to you, do not appear to everyone, they¡¯re weapons that resides within you, pure energy that is given form and takes shape-. The Shadow paused for a moment, to see if the boy had assimilated, and when he looked into his eyes, the hooded man knew that the boy was quietly waiting for other information, even the smallest clues in order to save the people he cared about, so he continued: -very few possess this weapon, roughly one person over ten thousand, but even if they have it, many never find out about owning it, unless of events that completely disrupt their lives... as happened to YOU-. On Eiji¡¯s face conflicting emotions were mixed together; happiness for the discovery to have the opportunity to rescue his friends, and despair for the fact that he had to see his grandfather die in order to have that possibility; -if in that forest nothing had happened, you would never have found out your power- Eiji uttered his words with resignation, aware of the pain that they brought with them: -you''re right-. The hooded man was surprised, it wasn¡¯t something so easy to accept, so he decided to give him a reason to hope: -you must also know that nobody owns two weapons within themselves, you¡¯re the only one in this world-. The boy''s eyes sparkled: -only me? - Under the hood, the Shadow smiled: -yes, at least as far as I know, what¡¯s more these weapons are divided into saint and devil, and depending on that, the powers of the weapons change; normally, the bearer of the weapon, determine its asset, but remember that there are many types of good and evil in this world- Eiji however stopped at the first sentence: -Powers...? -; unknowingly to Eiji, the hooded man¡¯s eyes were now pointed to him, as if to stab: -Each weapon has its own powers, depending on the wielder is more or less powerful, you can even have two powers in the same weapon and, if one is destined... also something else-. The boy felt somewhat intimidated by the last part of the sentence: - ... if one is destined? ¨C However, the Shadow decided that it was still not the time for him to know more: -so it¡¯s said, anyway, you have to get in touch with your inner side, and listen to your heart, your emotions, only then you''ll get the help you need-. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Eiji however had no idea what he was talking about: -and how?-, but the Shadow had already foreseen this eventuality: -I¡¯ll now put these herbs in the incinerator, you will fall into a deep sleep, think about what you hate and love more than anything in the world, so maybe you¡¯ll succeed-. The boy''s eyes were starting to get heavy, and a sweet smell began to spread: -the herbs are already doing effect, they also have a great curative effect; even thought you strained your body and broke your muscles because of that technique, you¡¯ll wake up completely healed, but you¡¯ll not have a lot of time-. Eiji now could no longer move: -ok, then I''ll go to the village-; but the shadow still had a phrase for it: -at your awakening, you will find your dagger, a sword and some clothes on the chest near the bed, goodbye... Eiji-. My name? How does he know? He also said to not know what happened in the forest¡­ Damn... Eiji was now asleep, when the shadow uttered the last part of his sentence: -we will meet again ... my son-. The cabin¡¯s door closed, but Eiji couldn¡¯t know, since he found himself immersed in white, that place seemed somehow calm him down, making him not think about the last words of his savior, but rather to those previously spoken: think about what I hate most, what I love the most, do not stop, follow your instincts. At that moment, anger, love, pain, joy, hatred and happiness seized him in a swirling vortex, that covered the blinding white, and when Eiji found himself at the very bottom, he could heard something, like the voices of two people of the opposite sex coming from that vortex. -do you think he¡¯s ready? - a female voice came from above him, -no, not for me- answered a male voice that came from under him; only at that point Eiji understood that where he was standing was the bottom of not only one vortex, but two of them, with completely opposite direction and him as the only point of connection. -we still can¡¯t reveal ourselves, sorry- displeasure came from the female voice, and this time Eiji could have sworn he heard it coming from his chest, -we will meet again... maybe- ended male voice.