'Where am I? That voice.. Don't tell me I'm back-'
"Hey, you jerk! What are you doing just standing there quietly, huh! I told you to buy it for me, didn't I!? Are you deaf!?"
'That voice.. that damn voice. The voice that started it all.'
The footsteps sounded closer, his heart pounding with both hands trembling. Even though it had been so long since this happened, Ailord still trembled every time he remembered it. A wound that became a deep trauma.
The footsteps that always served as the reason he didn't want to come to school, always fleeing, distancing himself from everything, from their stares and words. It felt so piercing and torturous. Ailord didn't want to feel it again, didn't want to experience the same thing again.
However, his hands suddenly clenched tightly with the anger that had been pent up for so long and so deep, erupting like a volcano. Unconsciously, he had already risen to his feet, facing the figure that once made him scared, made him tremble, made him want to end his life.
Now, he seemed like nothing at all.
With one precise strike to the face, the figure fell backward, holding his face while screaming in pain. Everyone in the classroom fell silent, not expecting this to happen. Someone who was at the bottom of the food chain instantly became someone on top. Someone who looked completely different, especially with a pair of sharp, angry eyes.
This time, Ailord's hands trembled fiercely not because of fear, but to restrain himself from sending him straight to hell. Something he had wanted to do for so long, which had only been an empty wish, kept eating away at him from within, gnawing at something that used to be important, now gone from his heart.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!? YOU WANNA DIE!?"
Just as he finished shouting that, a powerful kick struck his temple, sending his head towards the iron leg of the desk. As a result of the hard impact, causing every student to flinch in shock, fresh blood flowed down. Blood that used to belong to Ailord, now belonged to him.
"Hm? What did you say? Die?" Ailord knelt in front, gripping his annoying hair tightly and pulling him up "Don't you understand your position now? Can't you see whose blood is dripping? Mine? Are you blind? Ohh" Ailord nodded in understanding "You haven't felt it yet, have you? I'll help you feel it even more."
But before he could do it, Ailord could feel someone's presence behind him. A warmth that felt so comforting until his heart felt at ease. A warmth he hadn't felt in so long, a warmth he missed so much.
"That's enough, Ailord. Isn't that enough to teach him a lesson?"
Ailord couldn't bring himself to look back, knowing his tears would immediately flow down. Even now, he tried so hard to hold them back. "But.. They're the ones who made me suffer before, mother. I'm not satisfied at all. What they did, I can never forgive. They're the ones who traumatized me!"
His mother sighed, offering a warm smile. "I know, Ailord. I know what happened to you. However, haven't I always said, there's no point in giving more to hatred. You'll only find destruction in there. I know how many wounds are in your heart, Ailord. How much you endure at that school just to not burden your father and me. But that's what makes you special, stronger than them. You can endure, even transform into someone better. Don't you see yourself now?"
'That's true. After graduating from that cursed school, I rushed into exercising. No matter how much sweat soaked my body, how much pain when each muscle slowly formed, how hard I pushed myself, I kept doing it. Not letting my old self return, leaving behind the weak figure that couldn't do anything.'
Ailord's hands clenched tightly, holding back the immense anger towards himself, realizing he had never changed. Only the outer part had changed, becoming the figure he desired. Well-built, popular, and handsome. However, inside, he was still the same person. A person who kept running away from the world, fleeing from everything, never daring to face life's challenges.
That's what still prevented him from forgiving himself. Making him hate himself so much that he would destroy every mirror in the house, even considering the figure staring back in the black screen not as himself, but as a stranger.
Every time someone asked him to pose in front of a camera, Ailord would adamantly refuse, saying he didn't like cameras. Every time someone used video call, he would do the same. Preferring regular phone calls instead. One of the reasons his social media never flourished and seemed like a 'fake account'.
The figure he wanted to get rid of still remained silent inside his heart.
"What should I do, mom?" Ailord asked weakly. He didn't know how long he would have the energy to keep standing up. Knowing the world kept moving forward, while he remained silent in the background.
"As I always say, Ailord, you're someone extraordinary. Never hate yourself for that. And not everything that happens is your fault. Don't carry burdens that aren't yours, Ailord. You must keep moving forward and not be bound by the past."
"I don't know if I can do it anymore. I'm tired, mom. I miss you. I want to see you again," Ailord said amidst his sobs, unable to hold back the tears that had been held for so long. "I never got to apologize to you, mom."
Suddenly, he felt two arms embracing him from behind, with his mother's head resting on his back. Feeling her hug again, shattered the fortress Ailord had built instantaneously. The warmth that had become a void, returned to fill his heart with the affection he had missed so much.
"It's okay. It's not your fault, Ailord. Your father and I feel so guilty for leaving the two of you when you two still young. Please forgive us. Don't worry, because we will always be by your side no matter what happens. Keep moving forward, Ailord. You still have a younger sibling to take care of."
Suddenly, Ailord woke up, finding himself in a strange wooden room. He heard voices around him speaking a language that, if he wasn't mistaken, was the same as the language of that cursed goblin thief.
"Wait! Him!!"
As he tried to stand up, pain instantly spread throughout his body, coursing so quickly that he coughed up blood. Hearing this, Glok and his three friends rose from their seats, rushing towards the large wooden beam where they had laid the iron Construct to rest. How shocked they were when they saw the red eyes matching Glok's description, staring back at them with a terrifying sharp gaze. As if facing a great danger, their bodies trembled.
"Damn, even when he's weakened like that, he still emits an aura like this," exclaimed one of Glok's best friends, leaning against the wall to avoid collapsing to the floor.
None of them wanted to appear weak in front of him. But for some reason, they felt they had to bow their head or even kneel themselves to beg for forgiveness.
Ailord himself didn't understand what was going on with the goblins that they fell silent in place. Could they be worried he would attack? What could he possibly do in his current condition? He couldn't even move, let alone attack.
However, Ailord felt this was a good opportunity to prevent them from doing anything harmful to him. He still couldn't trust them one hundred percent, even though they seemed to be the ones who saved him. Somehow, they managed to alleviate the pain in his body.
"Perhaps they used healing magic. But, I apologize for not being able to trust you now. I don't want to repeat the same mistakes. Moreover, I have to survive and return to Earth for my sibling who is alone there."
Unbeknownst to Ailord, the sibling he thought was still on Earth was actually in the same world. The difference was, they were in the human kingdom, surrounded by powerful people who continued to watch them closely. As if they were a unique and precious creature.
"Welcome to Artaza!"