Aldo breathes heavily with splattered blood on his face.
His burning sword is piercing through Erick's stomach, the skin around it got scorched black. No matter if there's his aura or his leather armor. The sword pierced him easily.
Blood starting to gush out of his mouth, Erick looks down realizing that the sword is stabbing through his chest. The shock mixed with pain is evident on his face. He slowly looks up before grabbing Aldo's shoulders weakly.
This snapped Aldo off his daze before his piercing yellow eyes dimmed back to his brown eyes.
"Why did you make me kill them...?", Aldo mutters while still holding the bloodied sword. The voice inside his head is beckoning him to kill Erick and his brother, it doesn't take no for an answer. Even the reason why his Ego Beast forced him to kill Erick and his brother is unknown.
It makes sense for the Ego Beast to beckon him to kill Erick and his brother after the man shows his true intention of not wanting to let Aldo go and turn him in, but the voices told him to kill them before that.
The voice didn't answer his question, it can't be heard again even after waiting a moment.
"Hhkkk..", Erick gasps for air to no avail as his eyes that are starting to resign from life are looking at Aldo, he tries to mutter something but all Aldo can hear is only him gasping for air hoarsely. He can't bring himself to say anything.
While looking at this, Aldo saw Erick taking his last breath before his head falls forward and stop just after leaning on his chest. Aldo is still in shock.
The scream of the man that has his right arm severed is still there, filling the silent night with pain and agony. Aldo slowly lay down Erick's corpse on the ground gently, he was still at a loss for words.
After gently laying Erick's corpse on the ground, Aldo saw his hands are trembling.
Even with his own Ego Beast forcing him to kill Erick, he's no killer. He never killed anyone or even harm anyone, he lived a simple life trying to work enough so that his sister is happy.
Laziah...
Upon remembering that Laziah is still kidnapped, Aldo's expression turns hideous.
'I need to become stronger to save her, I was forced to take this route. Everything I do is for Laziah, to carry on the will of my mother... She's the only light in this world. The only hope for me to become happy.'
'The future will be cruel to me, that's what he said'
'Maybe this is for the better good... He's the one that gave me this Ego Beast'
But while Aldo is reflecting on himself while looking at Erick's corpse that he just recently killed. The man realized that his little brother is dead, and his eyes turn bloodshot grabbing one of the arrows in the quiver and forcing himself up.
"YOU BASTARD!! I WILL KILL YOU!!"
Stab!!
Aldo got pushed forward after the man jabbed the arrow at his back. Surprisingly the arrow pierced his back, it stabbed right through his right back forcing a groan out of his mouth.
Both he and the man falls to the ground because of the momentum.
With quite a bit of difficulty, Aldo gropes his back and feels an arrow piercing his back. He then looks at his hand which is covered with his own blood before glaring at the man that is also glaring at him the same.
Out of nowhere, an exploding wave of anger welled up inside of him.
'This man is in the way of me getting stronger!', Aldo thought before he stands back up with his red aura slowly burning his body again, his mouth is starting to get fiery like before.
Upon looking at this, the man crawls backward with a hint of fear, "I-Innate Skill!"
Aldo then grab the arrow stabbing his back before breaking it with a yank of his hand, he grunted a little before he focuses his attention back on the man crawling back in fear. The thought of this man trying to bring him back to Ivor which basically meant delivering him to his death makes his blood boil, Laziah is still out there and this man tries to kill him!
While steadily approaching the man, Aldo feels the same bubble as he did before in his throat. He somehow can control the bubble, and it didn't take long before a subtle fire come out of his mouth.
Like an animal, Aldo pounce at the man before grabbing both of his collars.
The anger inside of him is begging to erupt while Aldo is looking at the man with his fiery mouth straight in his eyes, and without another second of hesitation, Aldo pulls the man to him by his collar before he opens his mouth and burns the man's face with his fire breath.
Swoosh!!
Upon getting drowned by fire, the man can only struggle that didn't even last for five seconds. His aura didn't even protect him for that long before the fire melted his entire face. Aldo didn't stop until all that is left on the man's face is his skull.
After doing that, he then scours back with heavy breaths.
'I killed him!', he thought while looking at the man's corpse that has his head burnt.
Both brothers died by his own hands. A wave of panic downs on Aldo as his breathing becomes heavier, he then took the middle-tier beast core near Erick's corpse before he ran away without looking back.
While running away in panic, there's one this in Aldo's mind.
'What the hell is my Ego Beast?!'
~
It's been more than one month since the incident where he killed Erick and his brother.
During that time, Aldo has been training rigorously day and night stopping only to eat, clean himself, and sleep. Every second besides doing those three was dedicated to training, he didn't waste any second to get stronger. Wanting to reach the second circle as fast as possible so he can start searching for Laziah.
All he does is wake up in the morning and start training, stop for a fifteen minutes break three times a day to eat, about twenty minutes to clean himself, and eight hours of sleep.
His routine started to show as his thin and frail body starts to look muscular.
Not to the point that anyone will say that he's muscular but the muscles that are never there starting to show, he's now has a lean physique through the training he has done the last month.
On the side of that, the tattoo on his right arm has become larger.
This happened right after he absorb the middle-tier beast core that almost got taken by Erick and his brother, the energy inside of it pushes him even stronger. The shockwave of his punch can break five trees at the same time instead of three.
He noticed the tattoo on his right arm become larger when he clean himself in the waterfall.
Aldo saw his tattoo that should start from the shoulder all the way to his wrist now has starting to spread to his back, it's like another tree root but he can't really inspect the tattoo. It's supposed to be a sign of him getting stronger, but he's not sure.
Even his own Ego Beast never said anything after that night, not even once.
During the morning of each day, Aldo tries to meditate on himself just to reach out to his Ego Beast but there's no answer. His own Ego Beast ignores him, and this is frustrating.
Right now Aldo is currently honing his straight punch and kick by hitting the hill behind the house. Every punch and kick that he throws makes a loud sound and even shakes the rubbles around him, his knuckles don't get hurt from punching the hill anymore.
After doing that for almost an hour every single day, his punching and kicking posture becomes natural. Even his form becomes precise and violent. Under such powerful punches and kicks, the hill's wall even started to crack.
Even though a month has passed, Diane has never come back ever since her last visit.
Aldo waited for her patiently inside this lonesome house hoping that she will come and teach him how to reach the second circle, but he's still waiting until now. He can only keep training and hunting to absorb more Beast Core.
On that note, he also finds that he can now breathe fire just like a dragon.
It took him a week of constant training just to perfect his fire breath to come out at his will, and three more weeks to use the ability that his Ego Beast showed that night. The ability to make the fiery sword that he used to cut Erick's brother's arm.
After finishing his punching and kicking training, Aldo then went straight to sword training.
Every single day he at least swings his real sword about a thousand times, and after he did that he then tries to use the new ability he learned. He called it Sword Ignition.
Aldo focuses on his mouth almost like wanting to spit but he needs to activate the muscle near his throat that can somehow ignite his breath into a fire breath, with the muscles contracted he then opens his mouth and spat fire onto his sword.
Swoosh!
The first step is that and it's very easy to do, but the next part is very hard. He needs to use his red aura from reaching the first circle to keep the fire burning on the sword.
But with the training he's done, he manages to stabilize the fire.
Aldo smiles while looking at the blazing sword he's holding proudly, he's confident that only himself can do such a skill in the first circle of an Ego Fighter. It's just to cheer himself up though since he's very much lonely in this place.
"If only Laziah was here, she will be excited to see this", he mutters chuckling to himself.
Thinking of Laziah's smile and her excited look if she know that Aldo can do something like this brought a smile to his face, even without her presence here Laziah can still bring a smile to Aldo's face.
With a sigh, Aldo then kept training until night came.
In front of Aldo right now are five types of roasted meat from different beasts that he killed, his appetite increases along his power but he usually eats the Earth Stripe Cow's meat that is now only a quarter left.
Five types of different meats are excessive, it seems he's celebrating something today.
Clasping his hands in front of the roasted meat, Aldo looks up to the sky before closing his eyes, 'Dear gods if you hear my prayer right now, please protect Laziah wherever she is and keep her strong facing whatever the future has in store'
'I hope she can still smile despite the current circumstances. Please make Ivor let her wash in peace since she really likes to take a calm bath and hates being dirty. Let her eat good food so she will not be hungry. I hope Ivor also gave her a blanket while trying to court her so she will not freeze in whatever prison she's in right now'
'Laziah will be fine... I bet she is also praying right now knowing that today is my brithday'
'Something bad could happen to Laziah but please don't make that the case dear gods, she's a good woman that deserves to be happy in the future. Having kids with Daley, and living the rest of her life in peace'
'Please... don't let anything happen to her'
'If anything happens to her... If Ivor did as little as harm the edge of her hair...'
"RARGHH!!"
Thinking that Laziah is hurting right now, Aldo opens his wrathful eyes as his body and tattoo glow with a red hue violently. He then punched the ground angrily.
BOOM!!!
Under the punch's might, the ground around him cracks and even shakes because of the force.
Aldo punched the ground putting every inch of the strength inside his body to the fullest extent, it breaks the ground around him and even toppled over the bonfire he made. He then slowly stands up amidst the cracked ground while looking at the sky.
But he can still feel the anger inside of him, he kept punching the ground angrily.
BOOM!
BOOM!
The ground shakes from each punch Aldo throws to the ground, venting the anger inside of him just from the thought of Laziah crying. It went on for minutes as Aldo relentlessly punch the ground, he looks like an angry maniac while doing this.
After sending a powerful punch to the ground, Aldo stopped before he looks at the sky once more.
"If you let her suffer in this world unfairly, even you will not escape my wrath!!", Aldo shouted while pointing at the sky fiercely, his chest is heaving up and down in anger.
But just as he points at the gods above, Aldo suddenly saw a woman emerging from the woods.
The woman is holding a bag in her hand and her movement stopped when she saw the scene in front of her, the cracked ground shocked her the most. She then raises her eyes.
Aldo and the woman's eyes met before a smile appears on his face.