The attack done by Hang Feng seemingly appeared like quick,sharp cuts with an illusionary and unpredictable rhythm though Andrew could easily see through it all and know where the attack actually lay. Hang Feng's speed seemed to slow down till time itself froze. A crow with beady red eyes sat on Andrew's right shoulder spoke ,"Do you see it?" Andrew tilted his head and got closer to Hang Feng. From Hang Feng's body, infinite red and golden threads were eminated as they went above way above back to the heavens but Andrew saw where they actually went. It was a realm he was trapped in,the static white void as the threads were perfectly wrapped Hedonism and Fear.
Every single thread of every single being seemed to be traced back to the two puppeteers. "So what now?" He asked. "Well as long as the opponent has these threads,they are not a threat to you in any way. The only creatures you should avoid are God's as they lack these threads. But your other skills should easily suppress them." Andrew paused as he made his assessment. 'Its use is only to notify me whether an opponent is dangerous to me or not? How trivial.' He had expected more than that. "It helps you in retaining your soberity. Though there are no active benefits to it."
'It's better than nothing I guess.' The crow switched positions and flew right above Hang Feng's head sitting on it. "You'll realize how valuable it is later on but for now,get ready to be rejected as if you weren't an outcast already. It requires a strong mental fortitude to maintain this state and you will lose a lot of your humanity in the process. You will be shed the light of insanity with this path, Andrew." Andrew looked at himself. There were no threads around him,he was informed that they were removed during the "rebirth" moment during the shattering of his mental state. And now the threads were replaced with a direct connection to the source. "What if I commit acts with the motives of either principles? And do you benefit with this whole thing?" The crow with it's dull feathers and sharp red contrasting eyes with the shade of black. "Don't stress yourself too much on that."
"I know you may not believe me but we can't do anything to you as of now and you should take it as a benefit from that thread you have on you." Andrew once again looked at himself and found a black intangible thread cutting across his chest. He wanted to ask about it but the strength to open his mouth was suddenly cut off so he decided to focus on another topic. "Well thanks." The crow vanished silently the same way it appeared and time seemed to flow normally. Hang Feng started to pick up speed to his prior speed pouncing on Andrew. Andrew manipulating his skills was able to successfully dodge every single attack.
Hang Feng was taken aback. "How were you able to dodge that attack?" A person with nothing to his name,him able to do something like that was unheard of but Andrew got the answers he was looking for and he wasn't planning on staying here any longer. Hang Feng was instantly frozen in place as Andrew started to walk heading towards the exit. "Wait!How about the spar?" The guardian asked to which Andrew simply looked back at Hang Feng then darted back to the guardian ,"I came to test something and now that I have, I'll be off. And I'm sure your higher ups will be upset with allowing a stranger so here." He summoned a glowing red pill and tossed it to the guardian.
"It's a pill that should help you. By the way,what was your name?" Andrew asked. The guardian stupefied replied ,"My name is Chen Po." Andrew uninterested in prolonging this question instantly teleported from where he stood bewildering those around. "Did he just teleport?" Chen Po was shocked to realize that the individual possessed such an artifact. He looked at the pill in his hand and if it was a high grade pill,then he could use it as a leverage to keep his life but then again the idea of giving away a gift didn't sit well with him. He initially refrained from taking it storing it away for now and since the two were isolated from the crowd, nobody saw anything.
Hang Feng had now broken free from the will instilled by him wondering why the opponent decided to leave it n between the fight. Andrew didn't care how Chen Po would use it,for his own or for the greater good of the people was his choice. Finally arriving at his own world,the clone had gone about as he would have and now,they were being served supper. Looking around him,he instantly took the place of his clone to realize that it was seated alone on one of the benches far off and isolated. The sustenance was plain,like the way he would have preferred it. Looking at the rest of the students,they all had both red and golden threads wrapped around their bodies hanging as illusions equivalent to his.
"You should consider yourself honoured to see this. As an observer in between puppets." Fear said in his head. "Provided there is life, I'll always be there and with the bumps of it, Hedonism will be there. Serving constants in the scheme of things to which all beings have to abide by." Andrew now had a condenscending view of the world around him. "But that doesn't mean that you are completely free either. Even the very fact of having a hobby, having a liking in one thing morf than the other still counts. So even the taste that you have for bland and plain for can still count." Hedonism said making Andrew realize that to break free was nearly impossible.
After he was done with his food,the students all converged to where they had assembled earlier to waste time. 'The classic campfire stories.' He said. Some sat here while others made off to do who knows what but not a fan of other people, Andrew quickly excluded himself and started to walk deeper into the forest. The starry black sky though the night wasn't that well illuminated as the moon was hidden behind some clouds and would occasionally shine through. It was quite an eerie part of the forest but he wasn't bothered by this and kept on pushing on. He could easily see where he was going dodging the branches,twigs and extensive roots laying all over,a hazard for people.
Before long,he came to a small lake and paused briefly staring at the lake because of something he saw. He was well hidden with the darkness of night and the foliage of nature and his eyes cast out to the middle of the lake was a oar driven boat, however,what made it interesting was that there was a person on it. Looking closer with the exposure of the sudden appearance of the moon behind the moon,he realized that it was Mr.Henford. 'Why would he be all the way out here at this time?' He seemed to wrap a heavy chain around a white tarp of some sort and tied the chain to a heavy concrete block and threw it in the lake causing a big splash before the waters calmed down once more.
'He was disposing a body,so he's a killer.' Andrew thought and avoiding problems,he left heading back to camp. He felt that he had wasted enough time and quietly made his way back with nothing jumping at him. He went straight to the fireplace and realized that everybody had left and he sat down to feel the warmth of the fire. Staring blankly at it,he could feel the heat slowly warming his face and body and had to look away before looking again at it. Couple of minutes pass and someone else came and sat at the opposite log to him. 'Since it can't be one of my classmates,it has to be one from the other class.' Looking at the individual,he paused momentarily. Though he wasn't wrong,he was shocked to see who he was looking at.
She had a black fur coat and with the darkness of night,the only thing bringing out her appearance properly was the fire showing her black short hair which was tied up along with her dark eyes, seemingly cold,the rest was hard to see. "Hello, what's you're name?" She took the initiative asking Andrew in a neutral voice. "My name is Andrew,you must be Ashley,right?" The girl paused before responding,"Yes. Though what brought me here is something special. Do you know what it is?" Andrew simply looked at her ,'To think that she would be brought out in this format. Cold and callous.' He knew the reason why and not a fan of wasting time,he got straight to it. "You're here because of what happened in the lake right? About witnessing Mr.Henford disposing the body at the bottom of the lake."
Ashley looked at him, "You seem oddly calm about someone seeing a corpse being disposed off. I thought you would immediately tell the other camp counselors. But here you are." Andrew looked at her before shifting his gaze back to the fire. It wasn't that he didn't know that she was there but he chose to ignore her. "Seeing that we're here and not where we're suppose to be,have you ever seen a murder?" He asked. "Yes. Multiple times." She answered after a long pause. "I don't have any evidence on me about the earlier incident should you be curious." She inquired. "Why would I be curious? It's not like I care." Andrew stood up ,"Because Mr.Henford is your father. And I serve as a witness but don't worry,your secret is safe with me." He then headed towards the boys cabin for some shut-eye.
Ashley was a little shocked that he knew the connection between the two. She went to the counsellor's cabin where she met her father seated ever so calmly on his seat. The walls of the room adorned with heads of various trophies. "What is it?" He asked. "He does know about you disposing the body and that you are my father." He paused as he looked at her seated in her chair. "He could serve as a liability but why didn't he tell the other counselors? Just keep an eye on him and we'll kill him after the camp comes to an end." He said coldly dismissing Ashley off.
*In Andrew's cabin*
'So know he knows and plans to kill me.' He concluded. "For a person with such power, it's quite contradicting that you aren't using it here." Hedonism told him. "It's not that I don't want to use it but I don't see the reason to use it even with Ashley or his father." Andrew lay lifeless on his bed. "They are in a state of discontinuity." Andrew in the void with his principles. "What!?!" Hedonism gave a laugh. "Look,when one starts,you can't stop but to ensure that my control still exists,I usually introduce discontinuities. Something that breaks the chain and see whether my toys will yearn to come crawling back to which they always do. You are a discontinuity to their lives right now and they will strive to remove it by removing you. That's what I mean." Now with a better understanding Andrew knew what he had to do, though he knew the magnitude of his choices,as he recalled making a promise.
'I don't intend to break it.'
*The next day*
Andrew along with the rest of the students are currently standing being informed about the activities that they would do today. Was it intentional or coincidental that it was Mr Henford that made the announcement looking directly at Andrew,"For today students,you may all help yourselves to the adjacent lake nearby." The students were thrilled to hear that as they rushed off to change their clothes. Andrew along with a few others didn't swim though Andrew had a genuine reason. 'There is absolutely no way I'm swimming in a lake with a corpse in it.' He started to wrap around the lake seeing the students engrossed in the activity as the threads only got thicker. Now he was completely alone on the other side o the trail he along with the other students had come on. "There's another lake upstream if you'd like." A soft,warm voice came from his side. Looking at the source,it was Ashley.