Vino felt refreshed by the fairies, and he approached Ashra.
Ashra had surrounded his arm with the vines once again, and he had the big red thorn at the end like before. "Vino. What business do you have here?"
"Why did you do it?" Vino gripped his sword tight, causing his hand to start trembling.
"What?"
"Why the hell did you involve my mother?" Vino loosened the grip on the sword. His eyes glowed with hatred, and his face showed a look of fury.
"I was trying to kill you. I needed the gem." Ashra pointed at the bracelet with his thorn blade.
"This? You almost killed her for this?" Vino grabbed the other gem he held in his pocket and threw it on the ground, causing Ashra to jump back.
"You have another..." Ashra looked at Vino in the eyes, but the look of a killer was not found.
'Is this a bluff? Did he really kill someone?'
Vino grabbed his blade and struck the gem on the ground. Cracking it into pieces. Ashra reached out, but a blinding light stopped him. The gem exploded into pieces that all seemed to vanish into thin air. But a man opened his eyes and laughed.
"It seems that the fun has begun..." A man with black hair said, his hair lined with golden highlights. He snapped and stood up, looking at a wall lined with gems.
"Veronica, It seems you have perished." He grabbed a gem out of the wall and walked it around. When the gem got near one with the name 'Vino' under it, the man laughed loudly. The man hadn't expected his youngest son to be a killer.
He broke the gem in his hands and watched the shards fly towards Vino's gem.
At the same time, Vino felt his vision blur and his body weaken. "Agh!"
Ashra stood still for the time being. He knew what was happening, and it wouldn't be a good idea to mess with Vino.
Vino could see the fairy creatures running to aid him, but they were just repelled. They kept trying their best to aid Vino in the current moment.
"It looks like your first time experiencing your soul being tempered. I hope you come out alive."
Vino stood up, and his hood blew off, revealing his off-colored eyes to Ashra. "It's my second time. I don't see why the hell this concerns you."
Ashra grabbed his chin and continued watching Vino.
Finally, something happened. A black force erupted out of his body, causing Ashra to back up and hold up his sword in defense.
Vino's mind went blank, and all he could see was pitch blackness.
"AAAAGHHH!" Vino was screaming in agony, but his mind was in a different place.
"Nihil." A voice called out to Vino from the void that surrounded him. Images flashed by in his mind, showing him things he didn't know about. He returned to the present, but his abilities were going out of control. the floor around him and the air seemed to be getting sliced to pieces.
Ashra summoned vines out of the ground, attempting to encase Vino to keep him from going out of control.
"Tsk. Tsk." Vino appeared behind Ashra, catching him off guard. Vino sliced downwards with the sword and sliced open Ashra's back.
"Damn! He is lost in his own ability!" Ashra wrapped vines around his back tightly to hold the bleeding.
"Hahah!" Vino jumped into the air and grabbed an axe from the void that was completely destroyed. He swung it down, and it immediately reformed with the black color and veinlike pattern. Vino had black running through his entire body, but this time his eyes fully turned yellow.
Ashra saw the axe and jumped to the side to dodge. The shockwave blew him over, and he tumbled to the side for a bit before catching himself.
Ashra coughed up blood. He was already in bad shape, yet Vino was better than when he had started.
There was another battle happening inside of Vino's mind at the same time. Vino was trying to recall the images, but every time he tried, the darkness around him would mess up his meditation.
Vino just needed to temper his soul with the techniques he learned, and he could get out. Nothing he tried to do worked. The surrounding darkness kept Vino from acting. It kept him from focusing.
An image flashed by his mind, Rina.
"I need to protect Rina."
'Is that really my goal?'
"I just want to live a happy life with her."
'But what about my revenge?'
"She is all I need."
'Isn't that just selfish?'
Conflicting thoughts filled his mind. He didn't know what he was living for anymore.
"Why not do both?" A voice called out from the darkness. "It's ok to be selfish."
Vino looked around and saw nothing. He felt almost as if he heard nothing as well, but the message was felt in his soul.
"My soul!" Vino relaxed himself and let the darkness around him enter his body. "I just needed to open up my soul."
Vino repeated everything he had learned, cycling the energy around him through his body. His body slowly got used to the energy, but it did cause some changes. His hair was no longer white, turning into a pitch black. His eyes were no longer blue, turning an amber color.
He knew that changes would happen, but they were so drastic.
'I hope she can recognize me.'
Vino felt his mind return to the real world, and the sight in front of him made his jaw drop. The ground was completely rubble, and Ashra was standing up, blood dripping from all places.
"You are finally back. Asshole." Ashra dropped to the ground, his wounds too great for him to move. At the same time, a couple of people that Vino had saved with the tokens walked in.
"We can handle him from here." The men pulled out weapons and began using their abilities.
"No! Wait!" Vino stood in-between the group and Ashra. "Leave him be."