Agnus stared back, unmoving.
"JASON! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Alex's yells were filled with worry, but Jason paid no mind.
He needed to taste his power himself.
"So be it."
Jason dashed forward, his sword drawn far behind him before swinging it forward in a perfect horizontal line. The trajectory was perfect; Containing the swordsmanship of a warrior who has faced death in the face for countless decades.
Agnus ducked under it, but Jason was already countering. His sword rolled in his hand, the blade flipping point-down. If it were a real sword, it would pierce straight through Agnus's back, but to his luck, it was a simple wooden sword.
Jason plunged it downward, aimed directly at the spine of the white-haired boy.
As if he had eyes on the back of his head, Agnus twisted his torso a complete 90-degrees as the blade slipped by with a hiss as a cold whisper graced his back.
His legs lifted off the ground as his palm slapped into the floor as an anchor as momentum lifted his legs, swiftly descending in a brutal arc towards Jason's head.
Jason smirked, releasing his left hand from his weapon and bringing his forearm up, absorbing the power of Agnus's kick.
The force caused his legs to tremble and a searing pain to jolt through his arm, but he held firmly, his stance perfected after decades of countless battles. Agnus quickly planted the sole of his boot on Jason's arm, kicking himself backward as he executed a stylish backflip to regain his footing and stand upright.
'He knows to disengage to reset himself. He's fought before.' Jason marveled in his mind, his blood boiling to await what comes next.
Agnus took the initiative, dashing forward as his blade chopped across.
Jason raised his arms, flipping his blade downward to intercept the blow, the melodious clack of wood reverberating throughout the training area.
Agnus shuffled his feet, planting his right leg underneath himself before extending his other leg, smashing the toe of his boot against Jason's calf.
Jason's foot slipped due to the force, slightly disrupting his center of balance, to which Agnus quickly swiped down, grinding his blade off of Jason's sword before slashing upwards at Jason's exposed leg.
"FUCKING EXCELLENT!" Jason roared out, the words escaping his mouth unintentionally.
Jason was forced to bring his foot backward, further bringing his stance into a state of disproportional breakdown. He could've easily regained his footing, yet he let himself refrain from it, only allowing himself to presume the movements of a veteran soldier.
Agnus retracted his blade and unleashed a calculated flurry of blows, each strike hammering down the narrow gaps in Jason's guard.
Agnus lunged forward, his shortsword dropping from above as Jason raised his blade and blocked it, Agnus following through his attack sequence with a deliberate kick to Jason's over-extended knee.
He stumbled and dropped to the ground with no time to recuperate, as Agnus was already upon him, his shortsword descending with ruthless strength.
But in the next moment, Jason didn't need to look.
Jason swept his blade at the perfect second, intercepting the clean attack with instinctual habits.
Before Agnus could disengage, Jason's sword flashed outward without even needing to move the rest of his arm, the momentum carrying it forward as his wooden sword smacked into the ribcage of Agnus.
Agnus's body caved around the blow, his breath expelled from his lungs as he tumbled to the ground with short breaths.
Jason quickly stood up and rushed over, a worried expression on his face. "Did I hit too hard?" Agnus stared at his legs, blinking before shaking his head. "No." The response was bleak and plain. "Does it feel like you broke a rib or anything?" Jason asked as a paternal instinct blossomed in his body, a feeling he never knew he'd experience this soon.
"I don't feel it," Agnus replied simply, standing up without problem.
Jason blinked at his words, his mind pausing for a mere moment.
He stepped forward, coming within arm's length before stopping, 'I hit him hard enough to break a rib or two. Even if he isn't expressing it, he has to feel it. "Stop, give me a second, ya?"
Agnus halted his steps, his eyes tracing the voice back towards Jason.
Jason extended his arm on his rib and injected his mana.
His mind fought against it, but he allowed his intrusive thoughts to affect him.
Jason's vision faded, his consciousness being brought into the Soul of Agnus's being.
The area was lightless; everything was painted in a deep black. Jason casually stood unmoving, allowing himself to adjust to the space of a different person's soul.
A second after, Jason unfurled his mana, allowing his mana sense to paint an image of Agnus's Soul space.
It covered every inch, every minuscule detail.
That's when his mind paused for a second.
The Soul space, as it was named, was an area where one's soul rested.
By observing it, you can discern if their soul was damaged, manipulated, upon other things.
There were also runes that affected the soul in many distinct ways. Jason saw it for himself in the past.
Runes of chaos, manipulating one to be a carrier of wrath, inflicting death like it was a primal urge, was one prime example.
But this was a first for him.
There were 10 runes revolving around an invisible sphere, circling slowly as it ominously floated above Jason, in the peaks of Agnus's Soul space.
Jason felt his blood boil as he easily recognized the category of the runes.
Suppressors.
A type of rune means to suppress an individual in a myriad of ways.
May it be stopping one from unleashing their mana, a typical way to make criminals powerless. A Rune could be helpful as easily as it was damaging.
Jason's eyes scoured over each one, his gaze dimming as he absorbed all the information.
Rune of Joy.
Rune of Love.
Rune of Courage.
Rune of Disgust.
Rune of Anger.
Rune of Fear.
Rune of Empathy.
Rune of Sorrow.
"Who..." Jason spoke aloud in his physical body, his eyebrows subconsciously furrowing.
And the last two.
The ninth.
The Rune of Oblivion.
The tenth.
The Rune of Stillment.
Oblivion. The act of being unaware or unconscious, typically.
Yet in this manner, it was meant to make him merciless. To make him not feel any regret or guilt for killing anyone.
A child, a family, even his own mother. He wouldn't bat an eye.
Even if the runes that were suppressing his emotions were removed, as long as the Rune of Oblivion remained, he would be unaffected by death.
And lastly, the Rune of Stillment.
A rune intended to stop one from progressing their mana, effectively stopping one from growing stronger.
Waves of relief washed over Jason as he realized how easy it would be to remove the last two runes, as he had the connections to do such a thing.
But the runes responsible for withholding his emotions?
That couldn't be removed. It could only be counteracted by experiencing an emotion so great that it breaks the runes themselves, but that was as good as it was bad.
An event so powerful that it would cause a breaking, such as The Rune of Sorrow, would unleash a torrent of emotions Agnus has never felt before, and it would effectively destroy his mind for a long time.
Losing a family member, a cherished friend, or a lover was among the list that could unleash the emotion of sorrow.
It would be unbearable, something Jason never hoped he had to feel.
It was in the back of his mind that he wished this rune would stay in his soul forever, never to be broken.