Chereads / The Awakened Warrior / Chapter 8 - A Moment of Peace

Chapter 8 - A Moment of Peace

Star: Surrounded by the sound of people talking and cars passing by, they felt a sense of peace as they compared it to the sounds of Hell. "Here we are, I saw this little coffee shop when I first came here and thought it would be a good place for us to have a conversation."

Radna: He itched the hole in his chest, looking down the street and noticing a group of construction workers fixing up the street. "What the fuck happened over there?"

Star: "Hmm?" he followed Radna's gaze. "Oh, when I first arrived, there was a little incident with a demon. I'm still unsure what they were doing here in the first place."

Radna: "Demons do dumb shit all the time, it probably was just trying to torment people for the fun of it." 

Waitress: A well-dressed woman approached the podium while looking down at a tablet screen. "Thank you for your patience. How can I assist you?" she asked, lifting her gaze from the screen. However, as she looked up, she was momentarily stunned by the sight of two unfamiliar figures. "Oh, uhm," she stammered, her body shaking nervously as she struggled to regain her composure.

Star: "Excuse me, are you okay?" He leaned in to check if she required assistance.

Waitress: She took a step back, inhaling deeply. "I'm fine, thank you. A table for two, I presume? Would you prefer indoor or outdoor seating?" 

Star: He made sure she composed herself before nodding, "Outside please, thank you miss." 

Waitress: She deftly picked up two menus and gestured towards the outside seating area. "Please follow me," she said in a friendly tone. As she led the couple to their table, she stumbled slightly but quickly regained her footing and continued with confidence. 

Once they arrived at the secluded table, the server set the menus down with a gentle thud. "Here you two are," she said with a smile. "Somebody will be with you shortly." She then gave them a quick nod before turning and walking away, leaving them to peruse the menus in peace. The gentle rustle of the nearby trees provided a peaceful ambiance, and the distant chatter of other diners added to the charming atmosphere of the restaurant.

Star: He took a seat and looked at the menu after noticing how nervous and concerned she appeared around them. "Why are humans so afraid of us? I feel awful." 

Radna: He sat down and chuckled, "You have much to learn about facial expressions, Star. She wasn't afraid of us. I've seen that look before."

Star: He looked up at him, tilting his head, "What do you mean? She was shaking-"

Radna: He leaned back in his chair and said, "You'll eventually learn about facial expressions and nervous humans, but I know you didn't invite me out here to the mortal world just to talk about that. So, tell me, what is it that you wish to discuss?"

Star: He put the menu down before speaking, "During the fight between me and Lucifer, you seemed to possess a tremendous knowledge of my flaws. It's not just because you're an experienced warrior. After all, I only arrived in this world a few days ago. It's hard for me to believe that you could have known that my gauntlets were limiting the forces of my punches after just meeting me." Before Radna could answer, another waitress approached the table.

Waitress: A woman stopped at their table, pulling out a small notepad and pen from her apron pockets. "Hello folks, my name is Amanda I will be your waiter today, what can I get for you two?" Her tone was slightly shakey and nervous, but she kept herself calm.

Star: "Could I get a caramel latte with whipped cream please?" He handed her the menu.

Amanda: She turned toward Radna, "And for you sweetie?"

Radna: He smirked at Amanda before answering, "Vanilla macchiato for me hun, thank you." He handed her the menu.

Amanda: She took the menu from him, "I-It will be out shortly." Her face was noticeably flustered before walking away.

Radna: "Man, humans are confusing as fuck. They are afraid of anything that doesn't look like them one second and then they get all flustered the next. But, to answer your question Star, I know a lot about you because this is not the first time we have met."

Star: He leaned forward, growing more confused, "We've met before? How is that possible if I've only been here for a few moments..." While they were talking, their drinks had arrived.

Radna: He took a sip of his coffee before continuing, "It's all a bit hazy for me, but I'll try to explain as best as I can. I used to belong to this world, but I was taken away for a short period of time. During my absence, something happened. It was like a reset button was pressed, and everything was restarted. Just like that, the book was closed, only to be reopened again, and now we're here."

Star: He was staring down at his drink, looking staggered. "I don't understand. Are you from a different time?"

Radna: He scoffed in response, "If only the explanation was that simple. It is neither past nor future time has no play in it at all. I am from a time when everything was told differently when everything was flawed, but it was home. Most of what happened during is a blur, the only thing I can remember from it all is a few people I'm somewhat familiar with." 

Star: "If we've met before, what was I like?" he asked after a long silence, staring down at his drink and tapping his fingers against the table.

Radna: He was in the middle of taking another drink but stopped once he heard Star's question. He set his cup down and spoke, "You...You were a noble warrior, the strongest and greatest person I have ever met. You were kind, caring, and always understanding. If there was ever a better way to handle a problem, if somebody could be spared, you would always try to take that route. Taking the life of a person, no matter how evil, would be the last thought in your mind. There was no other like you. I see that same person in you now."

Star: He grunted, fidgeting with his fingers, "He sounds like the perfect person, but I don't believe I am anywhere near that guy..."

Radna: He smirked and said, "He never referred to himself as perfect. He once told me that 'Those who believe they are perfect move further away from the truth, and those who can admit they are flawed are the ones with the biggest hearts.'" He pushed his cup aside and placed his hands on the table. "You have the potential to be as great as he once was, Star, maybe even better.'"

Star: He looked to the side, feeling ashamed to even be the same person as his older self. "How can I understand my flaws or weaknesses, let alone be as great as he once was?"

Radna: "Did you think that he became as strong as he was overnight? Do you believe that he won every battle he ever participated in, against every villain he ever faced? He lost more times than I could count, but with every loss, every hit he took, and every time he fell, he grew stronger in his heart because he knew that somewhere out there, somebody needed him. And so, he got right back up again." 

He placed his hand on Star's shoulder and said, "You were made the same as him, but that does not mean you have to live the life he lived. You can be better."

Star: Radna's encouraging words brought a smile to his face. "What can I do to become stronger?" he asked.

Radna: He tapped the chest of his Star with the back of his hand. "That's the spirit! Firstly, we need to make you more familiar with what you are already capable of doing. You are much more than just moving and punching."

Amanda: After they had finished their cups, she returned to clean up for them. "Don't worry about paying, it's on the house."

Star: "Really? That's very kind of you," he said with a warm smile.

Amanda: "It's no problem," she said with a smile as she placed a napkin on the table and slid it toward Radna. She blushed and giggled as she walked back towards her other coworkers.

Radna: "Alright then, whatever that was, let's forget about it. Come on, Star, we have a lot to do today before nightfall." He allowed Star to walk ahead of him before picking up a napkin from the ground. Upon reading the phone number scribbled on it, he muttered under his breath, "For fuck's sake." He tossed the napkin into a nearby trash can. "I don't even have a phone," he grumbled as he picked up his pace to catch up with Star.

Star: As they walked up the street, Radna turned towards the speaker and asked, "Where exactly do you want to host this event? I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Radna: "Don't worry about that, there's a couple of timelines I know about that have zero life forms in it, that'll be perfect." 

Star: He raised an eyebrow, showing a hint of concern, "TImelines?- I don't think we need that much room nor will we be doing that much damage." 

Radna: He dismissed his concern with a wave of his hand, saying, "Don't worry about it, it's just a vast emptiness that used to be a massive expanse of space. It belonged to a lesser timeline anyway. Moreover, damaging a timeline is not even a fraction compared to what you did earlier when you put a hole in Hell." He stopped them both in the middle of the road and said, "I can teleport us there. Oh, there's one small thing that I wanted to try while teleporting. I saw some guy do it on TV once." He placed his hand on Star's shoulder, and then he touched two fingers to his forehead. Suddenly, their bodies shifted in and out of reality until they appeared in a large blank white void. "Nice."

Star: He gazed at the vast emptiness of the new environment, his breath taken away. He turned back to face Radna and asked, "What do you need me to do?"

Radna: "Before we start, it's important to clarify a few things. Firstly, you need to understand that not every opponent you face will be slower or equal in speed to you. Some will be faster. However, you have always excelled at predicting where an attack might land, which you refer to as your 'Golden Vision'."

Star: He wiggled his fingers and asked, "Okay, how do I activate it?"

Radna: He facepalmed himself and sighed, "Oh, Great Elders... It's not something that can be simply turned on like a switch. It's a state of mind that requires you to allow your body to enhance its senses so that your mind can accurately determine the source of the information."

Star: He scratched his head and said, "That sounds confusing, but I'll try."

Radna: "Watch closely," he said, as he clapped his hands together. The ground beneath him started to darken as he conjured up a bunch of black rocks, also known as Shadow Stones. "All you need to do is anticipate where these stones will land by visualizing their trajectory in your mind. I suggest you try it with your eyes closed first, and once you're comfortable with that, we can try it again with your eyes open to test your mastery."

Star: He took a deep breath in, exhaled, and then closed his eyes, saying, "I'm ready."

Radna: "Good," he clapped his hands together, and three stones shot out from dark patches in the ground toward Star.

Star: He could hear the sound of approaching stones. As they drew closer, he leaned back to dodge the first two, and then he slid forward slightly to move out of the way of the third. Just when he thought he had avoided them, the stones changed direction and hit him from different angles, causing him to exclaim, "Augh!" He staggered a bit but quickly regained his balance before looking at Radna with a hint of frustration in his eyes and said, "You never told me that the stones would move!"

Radna: He wagged his finger at Star and said, "You allowed your mind to think before your body reacted. You used your sense of sound to dodge the projectiles, but your body and mind didn't realize that the projectiles could move. What will you do when faced with people who make no sound? You need to rely on more than one sense. Your body will guide you to where the danger is coming from. Allow your body to use its golden senses to draw out the scenarios before they happen."

Star: He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down once more. He closed his eyes and suddenly felt a strange sensation in his mind. It was like a blank canvas, and he could see every possible outcome of the attack before it even began. This feeling rushed throughout his body, and he could see his inner consciousness moving with every possible attack. When he opened his eyes, he realized that he had been moving the whole time and saw the bits of scattered stone sinking back into the ground. He was amazed by his capabilities and exclaimed, "Woah..."

Radna: He applauded Star for her accomplishment, "Now you see it, don't you? I threw thousands of those self-moving stones at you all at once, spiraling around you like a storm, picking up speeds that no one could ever comprehend, except for you. You used your creative mind to envision every single scenario that could have possibly occurred and moved based on those mental drawings."

Star: He smiled staring down at his hands before looking at Radna, "What should we do now?" 

Radna: "I honestly thought we would have had to test your capabilities further with that one, but it looks like you got it down. Now keep in mind, with different enemies you will have to create different scenarios, not every person will be completely hand-to-hand combat."

Star: He tilted his head, "Was there anybody capable of hitting me when you knew me back then?"

Radna: He stood and thought for a moment, "I can't say I remember things from that far back, like I said most of my memories are blurred since I came here. But I can somewhat remember at least two people, there was always some kind of dark entity that was after you that was capable of consistently hitting you, and then there was my brother."

Star: "You have a brother?" He sounded somewhat excited.

Radna: "Not exactly a blood relative, but we were extremely close like brothers. He was something else...but since I arrived I've tried so hard to find him, but the more I look the less I remember what he looks like. It has gotten to the point where he became a blur to me."

Star: He rubbed his arm, feeling guilty that he brought it up in the first place. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to bring up some bad memories or thoughts, I had no intention of making you upset."

Radna: He shook off his earlier confusion and regained his focus. "Don't worry about it," he said reassuringly. "Let's try experimenting with different types of attacks. You have the ability to create and control anything within the known and unknown, including substances, solid objects, or even things beyond that. This is just based on what I can remember, but it's possible that you can do much more than that."

Star: He said excitedly, "That sounds cool! Do I need to be near the objects to create or control them?"

Radna: "Let's test that theory, start small and try to summon a small rock and then we can move to the bigger things." 

Star: He blinked and looked down at his hands. He put his hands slightly together, keeping a little gap between them. "Alright, come on..." His body tensed up, feeling the immense pressure building up between his hands. The void-like floor began to crack under his feet, and he started sweating as he tried harder and harder to craft the construct between his palms. Finally, he fell to his knees, panting. "Dang it...I can't do it."

Radna: He tapped Star's shoulder and pointed in the distance, "I wouldn't be so sure."

Star: As he turned around, his eyes widened in utter disbelief. In front of him, a fraction of the dark, empty void had been destroyed, and in its place stood an entirely new and vibrant cosmos. The colors were so vivid and mesmerizing that he stood up and walked to the edge of the void, gazing into the deep vastness of what he had created. He was filled with wonder and amazement as he marveled at the intricate details of his new creation. "I was merely thinking about rocks," he murmured, his mind still reeling from the inexplicable transformation. "How did all of this suddenly appear?"

Radna: He placed his hand on Star's shoulder, standing next to him. "Your mind is more expansive than you think. You mustn't doubt yourself. You have great potential and a great heart, Star. Come on, we have some more things to test out before moving on to your final trial."

Star: He nodded turning away from the newly created cosmos, "Final trail? Was it there to do after we practice everything that you know?" 

Radna: A large smile formed across his face, "One-on-one training, a sparring match." 

Star: He nervously exclaimed, "Ah, I see." His eyes widened with both shock and excitement, as he looked forward to seeing what they were capable of and if he could defeat Radna.