After falling to the ground, Robert tried to get up. His mind racing. So much happened today. So many things rushed into him. He tried to calm himself and gather his thoughts. { OW, I WAS STABBED. IT BURNSSS!}
He looked at his stomach and saw the wound. It was straight through. He moved to press and slow down the bleeding - Anything to buy him time. He could not stand. So, he tried to see the person who stabbed him.
Mustering all his strength, he pulled himself up against the alley walls. He felt immense pain; each pull seemed to rush more blood out of him. The burning sensation grew and grew. The attacker looked so familiar.
It was the Short Stack. The one preaching back at the academy about equality. Those bright blue eyes and blue bowl cut were unforgettable. He was holding a shimmering sword. The blade curved and had two razor-sharp points. "You must be wondering what I am holding, right?" The short stack smirked and pointed the sword at Robert.
"This is Zulfiqar, the physical concept I use in battle. It stings, right? Even though it is only at 20% manifest, it is still very strong" The smile on his face grew as he talked. Moving the blade closer to Robert's face, he said, "Know this, Robert. I, Michael Cross, will kill you and change the world."
Robert grabbed the blade and shoved it to the side, and landed a punch straight in Michael's face. "CONCEPT START-DYRNWYN !" Robert pulled back and grabbed the air above him. A blade formed in his grip. It had a pure white handle with a thin black blade. IT was so black it absorbed all light. The air around the blade grew hot and started to burn Robert's hand.
{5%. I just need to get to 30% and then kill him.}
"Oh, what is this? Is that The Dyrnwyn? Must burn to hold since it is constantly judging you. I am shocked you can even manifest such a sword." He was right, and Robert knew it. Durnwyn is a powerful sword with great cost, but it is the only thing Robert could ever manifest as a Physical Concept.
{15%}
"SHUT UP!" Robert swung Dyrnwyn at Michael, and with each second, the sword became more and more real. Michael kept parrying him and piercing Robert, slowing him down. Robert did not want to die. Not now. Not after finally getting someone to love him.
{25%. Screw it, that's close enough.}
[Temporarily worth condition reached. Power granted, Blaze-Burn]
"FINALLY! NOW DIE!!" Dyrnwyn's blade was covered in a thin flame that reached 700℃. Robert's hand chard holding Dyrnwyn, but he had to win.
Robert slashed Michael's chest open. The heat was destroying his flesh, and the rest was charred. Robert did not stop and kept slashing over and over again, still aiming for his chest. Michael barely blocked the onslaught as Zulfiqar began to melt. The once two sharp tips drooping, and the blade softening.
Right as Robert was going to deal the finishing blow and kill Michael, Robert's blade vanished along with its heat. { Really? I thought I had a few more seconds.} Robert again fell to the ground, this time more drained, and his hand was now charred.
Michael was in shock and backed away from Robert. "Who are you, really, Robert? Without a Soul Concept, you should not have such power." Zulfiqar vanished as well, and Michael ran away. His voice was filled with such fear and jealousy.
"What does he mean? Dyrnwyn was only at 25% manifest, and I ran out of stamina before I could kill him." The Sun was setting, and rain had begun to fall, filling the streets of Kroobtown. The cool water running into Robert's open wounds and cooling his hand.
{Is this the end? Am I really going to die from blood loss?}
Robert's vision began to fade as the last of his strength left him. He thought about Rose. Her perfect eyes and smile. The way she smelled. Her bright golden hair, but even those thoughts came to an end. He awoke inside his mind.
It was cold and dark—nothing to see nor hear. Robert shivered and shook as he looked for heat. Anything but the cold that reminded him of his life. Always empty and filled with nothing but emptiness.
Robert began to lose hope. He knew he was most likely dead or at death's door. He read that in a person's final moments, they relive their entire life and then die, but Robert never really had a life. He never experienced the love of a parent or the youth of being young. He just grew up too fast.
As this world began to vanish in front of his eyes, he rejected this as his end. He refused to die. He has to see Rose. He has to get back at Michael. "I REFUSE TO DIE!!" Robert yelled at the void, but it yelled back, "THEN DON'T GIVE UP! NEVER GIVE IN!"
Flames burst from Robert's body in the Rain as his injuries healed. He rose to his feet "Am I alive?" Robert inspected his stomach and saw it was healed, but there was a massive scar where the injury was. He started to walk to the Kroobtown hospital.
Passing his house and the park, he arrived at Kroobtown Hospital. It was a massive golden building and a statue of Richard Pendragon in front of it with a plaque that read "Gift to the man who always gives"
Robert entered the Hospital and was instantly met with a pink-haired nurse "Are you okay, Sir?" Robert lifted his shirt and asked, "Can you please do a Concept damage test on me please?" The nurse sighed at his request but did not argue.
She led him to an empty room and asked, "What Physical Concept was used on you?" Robert responded quickly, "I was stabbed in the stomach by someone using Zulfiqar, and then I overused my Physical Concept, Dyrnwyn." The nurse's face filled with worry, and she quickly grabbed the scanner and scanned Robert's entire body, head-to-toe.
Her face drained even more as she got the results, "Sir… I have some bad news." She handed Robert the printed result, and it read-