Chapter 16— Side Story: Road to Beginnings VI
* Six months later *
In a small forest behind a Tier 0 Gate, Skye could be seen facing off against a group of humanoid creatures with green skin. They were very short and looked like deformed humans of some sort, execpt for the obvious racial differences if course. They surrounded Skye while pointing their crudely made but dangerous looking weapons at him. Unfortunately, their intimidating demeanor did not seen to faze Skye, who looked as calm as a lake.
"A breach in their formation. There!" Skye rushed towards a group of goblins while slashing at them with his curved dagger, severing their heads off their necks. This only served to infuriate the creatures more, as they screamed in an unknown language as they rushed at him, hoping to avenge their fallen kin.
Skye, facing off against a horde of these creatures with murderous intent coming towards him, smirked with a malicious undercurrent raging within.
"Come!"
He gripped his daggers, and running towards the goblins, he jumped into the air and with astounding grace, landed on an unsuspecting goblin's head, slashing its neck before it could even react. He continued jumping on and off the creatures' heads, leaving a bloody trail in his wake. His movements looked like a swan's dance with the true essence of murder mixed within. Anyone who watched him at this moment definitely wouldn't comment about the numbers of goblins he had killed, which numbered in the seventies, and while a 14-ish young man would brutally murder them so. They would definitely ask for more goblins to be present so that the beautiful show in front of them might never end.
Unfortunately, the show would have to come to a close, because Skye had finished slaying not less than 80 goblins, covering the area where he stood in a dense smell of blood.
"Ever since that day, my skills seemed to have improved more. My thoughts feel more clear. My mind feels free and unfettered. But I can't seem to improve further. Is this the limits of my so called 'talent'? Hmph! Talent or not, I will become stronger! Push past my limits! Do everything I can! That pain I felt that day, that sorrow, that helplessness. I will never—
I WILL NEVER FEEL IT AGAIN!" He roared.
....
[Exterminate the goblin tribe in the Tier 0 F rank Gate]
[Mission Status: Complete]
[Reward: 150 Imperial Points]
"Would you like to take on another mission?" Asked the student receptionist that looked at Skye with a smile on her face.
"No." He looked at his watch that showed the number of Imperial Points in his possession and sighed.
[Imperial Points : 500 IP]
500 IP. What a pitiful amount of points to have. He thought.
For someone like him that was both poor and quite competitive, that amount put a scowl on his face rather than a smile. For other second years like him, that number of points flashing above his communicator was something they'd kill for. But Skye didn't consider himself one of them. Never had, never will.
Back to training my ass off anyway. Not like I've got anything worth my attention to do anyway. Ever since Layla died, I just feel empty. He thought as he packed his equipment, ready to go to his training spot.
....
*One week after Layla's death*
Skye stood at the spot where he and Layla trained together. Tears in his eyes, he reminisced about the times they spent together. A question that Layla asked him suddenly popped off in his mind.
'Do you believe in fate? In a life after death? In gods? Supreme beings that give and take life by sheer will alone?'
"WHY? WHY DID YOU LET HER DIE? If there are gods out there, surely you must have had the ability to save her right? Why didn't you?! I never wanted her to die! I should have died in her stead! She didn't deserve such a fate. She was kind, too kind— and I ended up taking her for granted..." Skye's screamed, his voice getting lower and lower as he reached the end of his words.
'Fate. What fate? Gods. What gods? Layla died because of me— my mistake and my— pride killed her. But that doesn't mean I'll lose myself in pity and self blame. I'm never going to let what happened with Layla repeat itself again. This is a reminder. A reminder of my weakness. Layla, you talked about you reining in my destructive tendencies. You may have reined them in, but you didn't tame them. Like a wild beast in a cage, you've made my chaotic nature even more dangerous— more lethal, more savage. I will become stronger! Not even this so-called fate can stop me!'
....
As Skye thought back at all the things he said, he suddenly felt very childish. He let out a mirthful chuckle as he trained with a wooden sword in hand.
Ha! All that talk. And I still haven't broken through to the next level of Apprentice mage. Was that all my screaming was worth? Luckily I decided to pick up some new skills. Just keep on trying then. He thought.
Suddenly, he sensed some people coming towards his location and quickly jerked his head at a particular direction and seeing the familiar approaching faces, his chuckle instantly devolved into a scowl, one filled with a condescending pride and malevolent anger within.
"If it isn't our little boy Skye. Still haven't given up training with these— worthless trash of yours, I see." Five figures, dressed in the academy uniform walked towards Skye, all with malicious grins on their faces. The one who spoke was the leading figure, positioned in the center of the five. Looking towards Skye's training gear packed in one direction, he snorted.
"What—are–you—doing here?" Skye asked with an icy face.
"Hmph! Trash like you don't deserve to ask questions. Just shut up and obediently get your handsome ass kicked." The male in the lead said with a smile that wasn't a smile while secretly gesturing to the other four boys. The boys tactly received the message and quickly surrounded Skye, cutting off all possible directions of escape.
Skye saw this and quickly understood what they where trying to do, but paid them no heed. Instead he continued to ask the leader of the group with an icy gleam in his eye.
"WHAT— ARE— YOU— DOING— HERE— JAVKON?"
"Aw, didn't you miss me? Strange. I thought he'd miss me. Or is it because of that little bitch with no brains on her head? It must be. I've heard that Skye went nuts when she died, talking about injustice and some crappy shit. Please. Like he doesn't know that this is the Imperial Academy. There's no place for trash here."
"If Edward could see you now...I am sure he would be very disappointed..." Javkon rambled on with a grating smile on his face. The four boys that came with him continued to act like the lackeys they were, inflating Javkon's ego while constantly saying some trash talk that was unpleasant to the ears.
"I'll kill you." Skye said in an eerie calm voice.
"What? You angry? Nothing you can do about it. Wait— What'd you say?" Javkon said with slight caution. He knew he wasn't a match for Skye. At least not alone.
"I said. Speak one more word about Layla. And I will kill you."
"Hmph. Look at you. A lowly dog. Trying to protect a lowly bitch's name. How typical. How pathetic. Maybe you should—". Javkon continued to speak but soon suffered a massive hit to the face from Skye's fist.
Javkon was shocked, but he quickly controlled himself in front of Skye's attack. He tried to defend himself, but soon got hit with another attack from Skye. The four boys quickly rushed at the latter, but a few minutes later they were all lying on their backs, having suffered some injuries.
Skye looked at them, muderous intent brimming in his heart. But he knew he could not kill them without inviting more trouble onto himself, trouble that he did not need right now. But just as Skye was about to leave, a voice soon rang out from behind him.
"Letting your guard down without even finishing the fight. Seems like your so-called battle talent is just for show. Hmph!"
All that Skye soon saw was darkness as he was brutally knocked out by the hidden party.
The slightly injured Javkon walked towards the nigh unconscious Skye and stomped on his head, forcefully planting it on the grassy field.
"Hmph. Messing with me, was the worst mistake that you've ever made apart from coming into this world. How sickening. I'm bored of playing with you. You're just a depressed piece of shit. Let's go guys. Breathing the same air as this— ugh! How nauseating." Javkon said with an obvious tone of disgust whilst gesturing to the two new figures that stood before the unconscious Skye.
"Oh— and take them." He pointed to the four boys sprawled on the ground as he walked away. "How useless. All they've got are stupid flattering tongues."
.....
Skye woke up with a splitting headache. He found himself lying at the base of a tree with slight wounds all over his body accompanied by sharp pains at occasionally caused him to wince. He had never felt so weak as he did now. He swore silently to make that bastard Javkon suffer in the most brutal way possible. But as he looked at his current state, any random idiot with a bit of training could easily send him to his grave.
Time to go to the medic. Third time this week. And it's not even half over yet. Feels like that place is my second home. Whew! He let out a wistful sigh.
No sooner had he started walking out of the area when he suddenly felt a huge sense of danger. Like that feeling of a prey being stared at by an apex predator. He quickly controlled his injured body, dodging to the side. A sharp needle suddenly pierced through his former spot. The needle was dripping with a purplish black liquid that quickly corroded the surrounding earth that it pierced through, looking very sinister.
'What the hell! Is my life not mine today? How come someone suddenly wants to kill me? Was this the source of that tingling sensation I felt? But how? If it is true? How long have I actually been targeted?' He thought as a chill ran down his spine.
His chaotic thoughts were soon cut short because a blade soon stabbed at him, causing him to dodge to the side once again. He wasn't so lucky this time though, because the blade soon cut the tendons at his right arm, temporarily rendering it useless.
"Who ever the FUCK you are! Come out! Or can you only fight in the shadows like a rat?!" Skye screamed at the air.
"Forcing me to come out eh! Are we now? Be careful what you wish for, because— you just might get it!" A voice soon rang out of nowhere, accompanied by a masked figure landing a kick on Skye's chest, sending him flying and causing him to spit a mouthful of blood.
As Skye weakly raised his head, he soon saw his attacker. The masked figure wore a cloak of sorts, making it nearly indiscernible to ascertain his gender from his body type. The voice that also came out from the mask sounded very androgynous, making one wonder the amount of effort the attacker went through to hide their identity.
"Who are you? What do you want? Why are you after me? What reason do you have to kill me? How were you able to breach the defenses of the academy? And why didn't you kill me sooner if I was your target all along?" Skye fired a barrage of questions at the figure, trying to support his limping arm with his uninjured one.
"..." The figure was silent for a while, then it spoke, this time with a clear male voice.
"You ask too many questions. You don't need to know all that. All you do need to know is that today is your death date. Nothing can change that. Now prepare to die. Any last words?"
"You talk too much."
"I see then. What a shame. Well then— die!" The figure soon disappeared from Skye's vision.
'Not good!' Skye thought.
His eyes soon widened in shock and traces of blood soon leaked out of his mouth. He looked at his abdomen, where a blade was embedded 2 inches deep. He struggled to speak, but no words could come out of his mouth. The assassin looked at the dying boy without a shred of pity in his eyes. It was part of his job after all. But then it was the assassin's turn to have his eyes popping out of his mouth, because the supposedly dying Skye soon exploded into motes of light.
In his place was a small device with a number 0 colored red blinking on its surface. Before the assassin had the time to properly assess the situation, the device had already exploded in his face, causing a bright white light to emerge in his vision, blinding him. He screamed in pain, trying to regain his boundaries, but a blade ran through his chest with no time to react. He tried to move, but another blade soon stabbed his head, ending him without a word.
"Like I said. You talk too much." A voice spoke. Walking towards the dead corpse was an injured Skye, limping as he approached the body. Searching through the body, he found a spatial ring on the man's finger. He swiped it off his hand and quickly departed from the area.
'Good thing that Substitution Card and the Flash bomb worked. I might have died if it didn't. Time to leave. I don't want to attract unnecessary attention. Not now at least.' Skye thought as he left.
A figure, wearing a unique badge belonging to a teacher of the academy watched as the injured Skye left.
"The plan failed. Or could it be said that it succeeded? No matter. This boy...how interesting. He managed to kill Rik. He may be useful to the Master's plan in the future." He laughed as he disappeared, like he was never there.
....
"The Black Skull. Assassination Organization. The Underground. That's where he was from? But what's this other stuff. A key and a badge that looks like a snake?" Skye looked at the three items that caught his eye amongst the dead assassin's belongings. One of them was a circular badge with a white skull with glowing red eyes on a black background. The other was a worn out key that looked like a triangle and a hexagonal badge with a silver snake imprint.
I need answers. Skye thought.
...
"Are you sure you want to join the Black Skull? Do keep in mind that any breach on the terms formerly explained to you will result in your death." A pale faced man asked Skye who was currently wearing a mask and a cloak made out of feathers.
"Yes."
"Alright, here's your badge. Welcome to the Black Skull."
'Here comes another one.' The man thought in exasperation as he led Skye to the Black Skull's base in the Underground.
Skye quickly found out that the best way to hone his skills without many people finding out was in the Underground. A lawless place where anything can happen. And honed his skills he did.
...
"Hey did you hear?"
"What? That your wife cheated on you again?"
"No you shit for brains, a new assassin has showed up in town."
"Dude. That's not anything to be proud of. It'll only make this city even more troublesome to live in. Who's this assassin anyway?"
"They call him the Bloody Skull."
"Bloody Skull. Oh please. How terrifying. Seems like the guy took the name from a kid's play toy."
"Shut up! That guy is really dangerous. He has over 50 confirmed kills and has never failed a single mission! The most terrifying part is, he has been an assassin for less than a year!"
"What the?— is he slaughtering people like cabbages or something? How is it even possible? Less than a year? Where did you get this info?"
"I've got my ways. Nothing that you can compare to."
"..."
Similar discussions could be heard everywhere as people continued to speak of the assassin that would come to be known as the Bloody Skull. Some feared in their hearts that a huge change was about to begin. And indeed it was.
.....
*Present Day*
Skye's apartment...
[Points : 0]
"This badge. It's the same as Garris'. There's no mistaking it. This 'them' that he was talking about, was the one that sent that assassin that day. From my deductions these past two years, I have concluded that at least one of the teachers in the academy is one of them. But who?" Skye turned away from the screen that only he could see, talking to himself as he fiddled with the badge.
"Why are they after me? I still haven't found the answer to that question. I feel like there is a storm brewing behind the scenes. I have to get stronger.
Fate huh?...
We'll just have to see the extent of your reach...." He said with a cold grin on his face.
....
Hey readers! I hoped you enjoyed the side story arc. Because it's time for the main show to run its course. Thanks for reading my book. I feel like there were some things I could have done differently. Nevertheless, the side story arc ended on a relatively ok note. Please leave a review and support with PS:-)
From GrandSky.
P.S: Sorry about the abrupt name change. I just felt like the new name really captured the essence of my book. Sorry for any inconveniences though.
I find the new title a little on the edge, but ok.
Maybe it's fate.:-)
Thanks for your consideration.