Dante p.o.v
"You have a great power in you zero…. You just need to draw it out." I said in a serious tone, while standing on a branch of a tree close by the orphanage and with the gate protective seal. "You just need to manipulate that mana flowing through you."
I jumped off the branch and landed directly on a snake that was well hidden in the ground; with it having a very brilliant camouflage. I grabbed it by the head; shutting the mouth close and keeping it from biting me, as this had caught zero's interest.
"h-how did you do that… even I couldn't see that snake there…. how did you know it was there, wasn't it mana presence too low to be sensed?" zero asked me with a perplexed expression on his face. I knelt down while letting the snake go, after calming it down for me to let it go.
"…. Then don't see with your eyes…. See with mind." I started to grab a stone that was just in front of my left foot, as I stared at it with a stoic expression on my face. "Your eyes are just tools used by your mind to aid it in seeing… but what if you were able to use just only your mind…. Yeah, let's start with that"
"wait what? You want me to do what." Zero asked in a curious tone, as I just came next to zero… with the stone still in my right hand.
"Wait… and watch." I said to zero, I started to close my eyes, and had increased the grip I had on the stone… but as my eyes were now closed, I waited in silence. Then in a sudden, I threw the little stone with such minimal effort, but with great precision as it went through the tree I was standing on in a matter of seconds. I opened my eyes to behold a very shocked zero; who had a gapped mouth.
"but how did you use that little stone to pierce through that oak tree…. How?" he said with a surprised look on his face, as I just smiled towards him and had showed him something that made him even more shock and that was. "THE STONE IS STILL IN YOUR HAND…. HOW???"
"as I said… with just the mind…. Everything is just an opened book, and so is just like mana…. Life." I mentioned to zero while heading towards the horizon just close to the oak tree, which was beside the orphanage. The sky had turned to a mix of yellow and orange colliding as one, the night blooms as everywhere was silent and peaceful… until it became dark. "Just like how eyes were are enhancements for our mind… the same can be said for mana presence."
"yeah, yeah mana presence. Isn't it just sensing other nearby mana sources, scale and natural composite… yeah sister mia has explained to me about it alread-." I caught zero off by glaring at him and releasing a very large amount of blood lust from my body, as this had shut him up immediately and had put him on the edge. "w-what was that….?"
"Then I guess that you are a fool for thinking that, or maybe you were not listening well boy… mana presence isn't just as simple as that zero… it is the very fabric of existence…. And if mastered, only then can you truly get stronger." I seized my blood lust, so that I would attract any unwanted attention. Zero stood up shaken, but had a serious expression on his face. "Before you can get stronger, you need to understand the power you have."
"Well… what if I don't want it then, any of this training… the only reason I decided to train with you was because I don't sister mia to think that I was being rude to you." He pointed his finger at me, with a scowl on his face. I kept a straight face at him, as I was still in my kid form, making him glare at me at the same eye level. He started to head towards the orphanage, with looking at me. "and don't think that I trust you even one bit, don't think I forgot what you said during our little time in the forest… mercenary…. Beside what will you know about being alone almost throughout your life?"
"... how long will you keep all those despair inside you huh zero…. If you don't let it go, then it will eat its way out of you, in form of a fiery pit of flame… trust in who you are, you keep on portraying yourself as a demon right zero…. Nobody wants you around, they are all afraid of you…. All expect mia… then I guess that we are not all that different you know… hahahaha." I wore a fake smile on my face, as I threw the stone in my hand towards zero; who had caught it with his left. Made my way towards the orphanage, as I felt my mana slowly depleting and I needed sister mia to help me. I walked right pass zero; who was staring at the stone in his palm with a solemn look on his face… he got the message. "zero, you lack trust and therefore you keep on putting everyone at a distance, people who are trying to help you zero… but instead you cast them aside, if you keep on doing this… then always keep this words that I am about to tell you… 'just one candle light, cannot light up your dark path… but a shining sun, can light up your whole world' everyone have their own darkness zero, and clearly you're not the first one."
With that said, I walked into the orphanage without sparing a single glance at zero; who was still standing there with a distressed look on his face, still staring at the little rock in his left hand… until he shifted his stare at my previous position; as the grass and plants that was underneath me had all withered and die and my foot step were that of a demons owns, leaving a trail of withering grass, as zero just stood there and wondered… 'Is he right? ….. Should I learn to trust again?'
Zero p.o.v
"... maybe, I do need to get stronger…. Perhaps, I need to use this power, this cursed power in me... but I can't control it… every time I try to gaze into the power…. It feel this dark entity trying to consume me, truth be told back at the forest; I actually blackout after what he said about sister mia… but is it possible for me to tame it?" I stare at the stone in my left hand again, as I started to head towards the tree, where he was before, as I reach the front of it. "….. but how can I control the one thing that cause me pain… so much pain?"
Flash back
"My son…. Don't worry; we will be back for you."
"Yeah my champion, you just have to wait for us, come on do it for me and your mom, okay. The meeting with father victor will be over before you know it… you just need to trust us, zero"
"yes zero… just wait for us, my son." My parents hugged me, while I kept on crying on the floor… there are lying, why are there still smiling… there still don't know that I overheard some of the other higher missionaries talking about their execution… because of their demon child… because of me.
"i-is it because of me… that you are never going to come back
"zero… my son, you don't need to worry…. Everything is okay, please don't cry…. You just have to trust us."
End of flash back.
'you just have to trust us.'
"mom…. Dad…." I trailed off; as I gripped the small stone in my hand, while closing my eyes. 'let see how it goes.'
I immediately threw the stone at the tree, but just before the stone was about to leave my hand; it shattered into pieces and the force had driven me backward.
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