"It was short, but I enjoyed our duel," said Arnold, standing before Ace with his sword gripped tightly in his hands.
With a sigh, "Before giving me the fatal blow, do me a favor and answer my question," he said looking intently at Arnold with an expressionless face. "Why did you want to fight me?"
Arnold pondered for a bit, studying Ace's expression and the sensation he got from him. A weird and hollow pulse that seemed to attach to Ace like a veil, engulfing him without leaving a single piece of him untouched. That was the sensation Arnold got from Ace… more precisely, by crossing swords with him.
There was no drive behind his movements, just something akin to instinct that stirred nothing in his heart except a rage and hatred Arnold couldn't accurately pinpoint as it fluctuated continuously with a weird sloppy and nonchalant air around Ace.
That contradictory sensation he had picked up made Arnold curious about who Ace is. And so, Arnold finally gave Ace an answer.
"I stand atop the Academy as its Strongest, but at some point, it was boring," Arnold started explaining. "The burden of being strong is that there's no one to push you past your limits when you've reached the peak. Especially considering my status and age group."
"I have a responsibility to be an unshakeable pillar to protect what needs to be protected, and hence, I seek strength. The strength needed for it. But as noble as it may sound, at the same time I'm only human. I find it exhilarating to improve myself and aim higher than where I currently stand."
"That's just stupid," muttered Ace, his head held down as he felt a creeping feeling rising in his heart. "Fighting is just a means of survival. Nothing more, nothing else. What's so fun or noble about it?"
"I just find it meaningless. Absurd even," said Ace, looking up towards a surprised Arnold with a dark and distant gaze which made him ponder on his statements. "The strong survive while the weak die. Winning means living, losing means dying. No matter how you sugarcoat it, that's the reality. Anything else is just human hypocrisy."
'His eyes…' Arnold thought, Ace's expression deepening the concern and curiosity that started flaring up in his heart.
"I'm not sure what you mean by those words, but I don't think battle must always be a matter of life and death," Arnold said, exuding a certain noble air that completely contrasted with Ace's darker and heavier one. "Some fight to protect people. Others do it to defend their convictions. Every person has something that drives them to fight and it's different from person to person."
"After all, humans aren't such black-and-white beings," added Arnold, his softened expression capable of putting anyone in trust and at ease. "We all have a path we chose in life, and we simply follow that path no matter where it may lead us. That's simply one such process in this thing we call life."
'What the hell is he talking about?' Ace absorbed those words, the feeling creeping up in his heart raging more and more as a surprised and distraught expression shrouded in deep darkness appeared on his face. 'Convictions? Protect? Life? He makes it sound so deep as if it were a universal truth.'
'Aaah… Now I get it,' Ace's eyes drifted towards the ground as he gritted his teeth. 'This emotion I'm feeling right now. This man. All these people who follow behind a fictional ideal of peace like mindless buffoons. Their normal… Their very existences…'
'It repulses me!' Ace's eyes grew darker than ever before. 'What's so good about life anyway? It irritates me. To me… normal is just a curse.'
As that last line crossed Ace's mind, the glitching memories of a rocky cave filled with the scent of blood, wounds that flared up the most excruciating type of pain and monster corpses that gave any sound mind the most traumatizing experience flashed before his very eyes.
Memories he had no clear recollection of but still haunted him like a ghost from the past. Arnold's words were enough to bring back those memories that were the only thing that could trigger the only unconditional emotion that truly existed within Ace's heart.
Arnold, feeling a sudden pressure and bloodlust coming from Ace, wasted no time raising his sword before swinging it down, leaving only a few centimeters before the strike connected.
And at that moment, a white fox mask warped into existence in front of Ace, causing the world's time to freeze in place.
"What the…?" muttered Ace, unable to comprehend what was happening as a distorted young voice started echoing in his mind.
"How sad. You're deluding yourself, you know? How long are you gonna look away from the truth?"
'Urk! What the hell… is this…?' wondered Ace, glitches appearing in his mind causing him headaches as he clutched his head in pain. 'What the hell's happening?'
"Don't fight it. Accept it. Let it all out," the unknown voice continued.
Ace's mind spiraled into a turmoiled maelstrom that plagued him like the most unending of curses.
KI… ILL…! SUR… VIVE…! KILL… KILL…! SURVIVE….! KILL…! SURVIVE…!
"Guess it was still too early, huh?"
Ace's arms that had gripped his head as if it was being split now fell, and though still carrying the darkness that showered his face, the boy's expression had now simply become dazed.
At that very moment, from the swirling shadows beneath him, a sword emerged in front of Ace, his mind still not processing anything that was happening.
The sword was one-handed short sword similar to a katana. The ones with wooden helms similar those that have to be properly completed by their swordsmiths.
As his dark and distant gaze lingered on the blade whose glint reminded of the moonlit sky, Ace slowly reached out his hand to grab it, his thoughts evolved.
'I don't know what's going on, and I don't care at this point. But…' his eyes had a determined dark glint full of rage that could no longer be considered cold or human. 'This world. These people. Their normal. If they get in my way, I won't hesitate to destroy any of them if that's what it takes. I'll win… no matter the cost!'
The moment he gripped the sword, confirmation and a single truth glitched in his mind as he muttered but a single sentence.
"I'll kill you…"