"For I, who wants to die, and you, who wants to survive,"
Licht was having a hard time processing everything Arkein had said, it wasn't easy for him to understand something like this.
It hadn't even been a month since he was dragged into this new realm of possibilities.
He was standing on a thin rope, grasping at it every second. He was just one step away from death.
Every time death was so close to him, he survived, giving it his all at every step in this depraved process.
Licht didn't believe in luck. It was just a possibility, a maybe. Maybe he would survive or die.
It was just an excuse. Even if he died at the end of this all, he didn't want to end up saying something like 'I was unlucky'.
But now…now he had to find a reason for even telling why he should get power.
Was the world joking with him? Did he really have to get it that hard, unlike others?
Alas, he didn't have a choice, so he had to face it head-on.
'It is what it is,'
Unknowingly, his hands clenched tightly, the uncut nails digging deep into his skin, driving his blood out from those cuts.
Lich took a deep breath, he didn't know what was coming his way, but he didn't want to resign himself to the whims of some random dude who had already died.
He was alive, and that monster wasn't, and he will continue to do so!
He spoke, his voice brimming with confidence in his situation "As you have already said, I just want to survive, and having your power to myself will make it easier."
"But as if you want some answer like that, you even brought this up because there is hope for you to continue living. I can see that in those eyes behind the mask."
"Whatever you do, I will still fight to live,"
Arkein's eyes widened after what Licht spoke, an unfamiliar sensation rising inside of him just because of this boy.
"Make a deal with me,"
A silence enveloped them just as Licht said that, and it didn't break till the damn monster started laughing, his hand slapping his thighs.
"What makes you think I want to make a deal with you?"
To his question, Licht just kept staring into his eyes. Not willing to give an answer.
"Ah, kid. You are half right. I want to make a deal with you, but what makes you think I want to live?"
"You don't even know what I want, and even then, you want to make a deal with me?" He said, his breath spasming from time to time.
It was like Arkein was deprived of air. His gestures were getting out of hand.
It was like he was looking at a drunk person throwing tantrums, just this time it was a monster that had power over his fate.
To Licht, it just showed his craziness.
The monster of his was crazy.
A psychotic, deranged crazy monster.
"This is too ridiculous of a situation. Do you even know my power or what I have achieved? That is why I don't like talking to cocky brats."
The more Arkein spoke, the more his mood shifted from an amused greater being to a mad monster.
Licht was scared of his emotions getting out of hand and killing him in rage.
'Was I wrong?' Licht thought. His mind was churning about how to get out of this situation, yet Arkein was too unpredictable. It could do anything at any moment.
"A deal is a deal ain't it?"
"I will give you power, but I can and will revoke it at any time, I deem fit. I will play with your life,"
"Don't be mistaken kid. I have plenty of ways to achieve 'my goal' yet I am your only way to achieve yours,"
"Next time, come here bowing your head. I ain't your father to listen to your rants and sympathize with them,"
"As for my goal? You will know it after you pass this test of mine," said Arkein, his voice fading into an eerie stillness.
Suddenly, the world Licht was standing started to get hidden in the outside darkness. Its borders were rapidly devoured by it.
"Wait! How do I use it-"
"Figure that out yourself. I am not your mentor," Arkein said while getting into a jumping position.
His massive legs brimming with power, and then nothing happened.
The power behind his jump was so much that he was already gone from his place. He left behind an afterimage of himself.
Just as the image vanished, a big gust of wind hit Licht's body, making him fall down.
The ground was enveloped in large spider net-like cracks. The power behind that one jump was enough to change the structure of the ground, a feat worthy of Licht's admiration.
The darkness devoured him.
"Ugh"
Now in the real world, the world through Licht's memories was disjointed and fragmented.
He tried to stand up, but his legs didn't function as they did, and something was poking out of his hand.
After several failures, he decided to give it a rest.
Sitting still for a brief moment, his mind found some relief as it got back on track.
His somewhat lost senses slowly recovered. He could finally hear the surroundings again!
A sound escaped his mouth as he tried to stand up using his legs, "Ouch!"
"Is there something sharp here? Huh?"
"Is this real?…." Licht thought to himself while looking at his whole body covered up in some big white spikes.
He looked like a living, breathing porcupine human. Even his butt and tongue had spikes.
Which made it harder to sit or talk.
'Ah, this hurts! Is this his power? What kind of power has he given me!'
'Maybe they are voice-activated!'
After trying several words with his now spiky tongue, the spikes didn't recede inside his body.
Wriggling around for some moments, he finally had some peace.
He tried to calm himself down. In movies, if the main character calmed themselves down then the power went away.
'This will surely work! Right?..' in hopes of trying to get some discomfort out. Licht lifted himself with the tips of his fingers.
He had gotten quite strong in the past few battles and will become more after the two integrations he had left.
His body instinctively shuddered at the thought of getting another integration. He knew for a fact this was Arkein's pettiness. Whoever he might be in the past, right now, he was nothing but a crazy man.
'Oh god, why am I stuck with this time bomb,' Licht wanted to cry, but no tears came out.
Removing these useless thoughts away, he focused on only the current problem.
A minute went by.
Two minutes went by...
Five minutes went by...
'Are you kidding me??' Licht's patience was running thin, he couldn't even think the more time passed by.
His body started to feel compact and enclosed and his hands were sore from taking on his whole body weight.
Even after minutes of trying different solutions, Licht couldn't devise a way to disable those spikes.
They didn't cause any unbearable pain for him, instead, they were causing him discomfort.
Too great of a discomfort.
He couldn't even sit with them, and to walk while having them was a far-off thing.
'I guess that is my only option now,'