Chapter 03- Slave Of Curiosity
Asha came near to him, her legs finally gave up, and she fell.
Tears started flowing out of her eyes,
She knew she couldn't be saved after such injuries but did not want to die.
More than death, what truly frightened her was to leave him alone,
She was with Avatar from the very beginning and now she has to leave him alone in this world.
She saw how everyone they loved left one by one, but she could not do anything in front of their cruel circumstances.
Her eyes focused on the person standing before her,
Her vision began to blur.
At this moment a hand touched her head,
"Do not cry my dear friend,
After a long pause, he continued
"Maybe this is not the end, maybe we will stay together forever, maybe..."
No words came out of his mouth, he could not think of what he could say as a last word to a departing friend.
"Goodbye Asha, don't worry about me,
May...
Maybe I will join you soon,"
"Goodbye"
Asha closed her eyes and took her last breath.
He stood there for a long time, silent, unmoving looking at the dead body of one of the oldest friends.
He wanted to feel sorrow but could not feel it,
He wanted to feel regret but could not feel it,
He wanted to feel anger but could not feel it,
There were no tears in his eyes even when someone who was closest to him, someone who understood him the most was gone.
"No emotions ever belonged to me"
At this moment he picked up the broken blade once again, grabbing it tightly, he deeply inhaled,
The temperature of the broken blade started to rise and it continued rising until the blade became glowing red hot.
The high temperature of the blade did not harm his palm nor did it harm the crimson cloth tied on the broken end where Avatar grabbed this long broken piece of the great sword.
Suddenly he lifted his hand and pointed his glow-red blade in his right direction,
"Are you my enemy"
In the direction of the blade, there was a figure standing, watching them for a long time,
A middle-aged man with Long pure white hair that almost touched the ground, white eyes, wearing a white robe,
There was a peculiar smile on his face, gentle yet mysterious.
He replied,
"Oh slave of curiosity, I am just a humble watcher, the overseer of this land, known by many as the Rudra,
And I am not your enemy"
Then he pointed by lifting his finger toward the forest and said
"But he is"
As soon as he said that, from that direction, a figure came into view,
Emerged from the darkness, approaching toward the avatar,
He wore a wooden mask on his face, the wooden mast had no holes for the eyes or any design on it, and the mask seemed to be completely fused with his face, tall and perfect physique,
What stood out most about his appearance was not his mask but a long straight sword already pierced into his left shoulder, the blade emerging from the other side but no blood flowed out from the wound.
As the masked figure continued his approach, he grabbed the hilt of the sword pierced into his left shoulder with his right hand and pulled it out,
This action of the strange masked figure radiated a strong sense of threat into the mind of the avatar.
Avatar sensing the strong threat, did not remain standing,
At full speed, he rushed toward the masked man, with a red glowing broken blade in hand, he attacked the figure with the full strength of his muscles.
The broken blade pierced through the air and reached in front of the masked man, he tried to block the sudden incoming attack and succeded but it made him step back several steps.
"Who are you" Avatar asked with a cold tone,
But no answer came, as if the masked man was unable to understand him or even unable to speak.
But this time, a masked man lunged toward him, his blade slicing through the air, Avatar swiftly parried the attack`
The clash echoed through the green night.
Avatar moved with calculated grace, and each step with strategy and skill.
Against his powerful attacks, the masked man kept on falling behind
Avatar was overpowering him,
The scene looked like the outcome of the battle was already decided,
His opponent was not skilled in the sword, nor did the strikes contain enough power.
But in Avatar's mind, he was clear, there was no way an opponent this weak could defeat Asha.
And ass avatar thought, the sword in the hand of masked men started to glow red as well.
This time masked man struck back with enough power that it pushed back the avatar multiple steps.
This time they clashed again exchanging multiple strikes,
Now Avatar was sure the one who defeated the Asha was this masked man,
Because his sword skills were improving, as if he was learning from the avatar while they were in battle.
He was not exactly learning but was copying the moves of the avatar,
From his ability of the sword to his skills.
But this time their fight was interrupted by the sound, the sound of the running footsteps,
Again someone was coming near them from the direction of the village.
The one who appeared was a boy of the age around 13 to 14 years old with brown hair and red eyes.
He was Karna holding a small dagger in his hand,
As he just arrived, he saw Avatar and in front of Avatar was the strange man who wore the strange mask.
He looked confused and asked
"What is happening avatar? Chief just told me you are in trouble and he sent me to help you"
As Avatar was about to warn him, his gaze fixed on the laying figure of the tiger.
He shouted
"Asha'
And ran toward it, he let go of the dagger in his hand and started shaking the body of a dead tiger,
"No, no, Asha, wake up,
Asha,
What happened, this can not be,"
Tears flowed out of his eyes, and his heart felt heavy as if the stone settled in his chest.
He couldn't tear his eyes away from her dead body, the emotions he experienced in the past started to rise.
But now what emerged into his mind was not sorrow but anger,
He stood up and picked the dagger from the ground, with red shot eyes he looked at the masked man,
"I kill you for what you did"
He rushed towards the masked man with a dagger in his hand, blinded by anger and hatred,
But suddenly in the middle, he was stopped by the avatar,
"Calm down yourself, you cannot win against him"
"No no, I will fucking kill him"
Karna's anger kept on increasing trying to rush toward his enemy
But this time avatar said in a strong and cold tone
"Calm down"
Karna looked at the face of the avatar, his mind stopped racing with thoughts, and as always he could not imagine how the avatar was feeling.
Then he looked down and replied
"Alright"
"Now return to the village, it's dangerous here," Avatar said.
Karna lifted his head with strong determination he said,
"No, I will not" and shook his head slowly.
"Then stay behind me and do not lose focus" Avatar warned
Karna nodded.
The masked man strikes again, Avatar effectively blocks the attack, and with nearly perfect timing Karna strikes,
The masked man dodged the attack from the dagger and retreated behind.
And again strikes back, the fight continued with the teamwork of the
Both,
"Why is his sword red hot as well' Karna asked the avatar.
"Not sure, maybe he is copying" Avatar replied.
"Didn't you tell me it is unique to your broken blade?" Karna asked again,
"..."
The focus of the masked man was always on the avatar so despite the inexperience of the karna, he remained unharmed.
At this moment, an opening was made in defense of the masked man through the attack of the dagger, avatar did not let go the such an opportunity,
He struck towards the neck but missed it, but scratched through the mask.
Cut appeared on the mask but nothing happened, it just cut through the wood, and the hot temperature of the blade made the wood burn on the edges of the cut.
But at this moment a bright light came from the direction of the village,
Karn looked towards the village, but he saw a fire burning in the sky above the village, a pillar of smoke released from it.
The village is on the fire,
"What is happening?"
But at this very moment of his confusion, he heard the shouting
"Nooo"
As he turned back, he saw the masked man very close to him, sword's
pointed tip very near his chest and avatar running towards him but it was too late now,
A sword pierced through his chest.