Hours pass, with the sun arcing across the sky, before Felix finally stirs.
As Felix awakens, he stretches his arms and scans his surroundings, anxious to see if anyone witnessed his embarrassing fall after eating those drugged berries.
He begins to hum a tune, trying to gather his thoughts and make his way back to the cave. Suddenly, his gaze lands on a monkey perched in a nearby tree. Their eyes meet.
"Ooh-ooh, aah-aah!" The monkey bursts into laughter, pointing at Felix in mockery.
"You little—!" Felix exclaims, his face flushing with embarrassment and anger.
"Come down here and laugh if you have the courage to stand next to me!" he challenges, his voice echoing through the forest.
The monkey responds by closing its eyes and sticking out its tongue, further infuriating Felix.
"Now you've done it," Felix says, determination rising within him.
In a fit of rage, he points at the creature, channeling Zor energy into a dark red energy ball that crackles ominously at the tip of his finger.
"Stay still for me, little one, and don't make this hard," Felix warns, his voice low and tense.
[BAM]
The blast strikes the tree with a deafening explosion, reverberating through the forest. Though small in scale, the force is enough to end the monkey's laughter forever.
"There we go. That monkey definitely wasn't innocent," Felix mutters, satisfaction evident in his voice.
Suddenly, Felix feels something tugging at his pants. Looking down, he sees the very same monkey he thought he'd eliminated. Felix stares at it with a blank expression, disappointment clouding his eyes.
A gust of wind blows through the clearing, and Felix quickly tries to grab the monkey. However, it proves too agile, jumping off his head and leaving a dirty footprint on his forehead before scurrying behind him.
"Hoo hoo!"
"When I catch you, monkey! I'm going to make sandals out of your skin!" Felix exclaims as he whirls around.
As he lunged for the primate once more, the monkey pointed urgently behind him.
"Ooh ooh!"
"What?" Felix asked, confusion etched on his face.
Turning around, Felix's eyes widened in horror.
"No," he whispers, his voice barely audible over the crackling inferno.
The forest is ablaze; flames lick up the trunk of the towering tree he'd struck with his blast. As he stares at the inferno before him, old memories begin to surface—memories that paralyze him with fear.
The monkey sees him falter and delivers a swift kick to his back. Caught off guard, Felix falls to his knees as the gravity of the situation sinks in.
"Why does this keep happening? Why me?"
"How can I be this careless?"
The heat from the flames washes over him like a suffocating blanket. The acrid smell of smoke fills his nostrils as his mind races to think clearly. The fire crackles around him; its orange tongues lick hungrily at the dry grass, illuminating the chaotic scene unfolding in every direction.
Doubt crept into his heart, pounding against his chest like a relentless drum.
"Am I really the calamity bringer?"
"No," he muttered, shaking his head as if to dispel the thought.
"I can't waste time thinking about that now. I need to focus on resolving this issue. If I don't, it could seriously harm the beautiful wildlife around me; nature is the most innocent being to ever exist."
He scooped up handfuls of sand and hurled them onto the flames, but it had little effect. The fire roared defiantly, consuming everything in its path.
"If only there were a body of water nearby," he thought desperately.
As panic began to set in, each second felt like an eternity; the flames intensified with relentless fury.
"If I blast a hole in the ground, will that send dirt onto the fire?" he wondered.
"No, that's stupid," he chastised himself.
The fire had spread far and wide by now. Just as Felix felt overwhelmed, he heard screams echoing from the woods.
"What are those screams?" he murmured, dread pooling in his stomach.
"Don't tell me there's a village nearby." His resolve hardened.
"If I can't stop the fire, at least I can try to help them."
Taking a deep breath, he clenched his fists and sprinted toward the sound. When he arrived, he was met not with a village but with a massive green tent camouflaged among the trees.
Strange-looking men swarmed around it—some tall and muscular, others short and wiry—all adorned with bizarre tattoos on different parts of their bodies. Some wore bandanas as they fought to extinguish the flames threatening their shelter.
A few carried wooden buckets filled with water, darting in and out of the tent, while others wielded metal shovels, tossing sand onto the fire or even using their hands.
Felix dashed toward one of the men standing at the entrance of the tent. The man was bald with a prominent mustache; a vein pulsed visibly on his forehead.
He wore an open white coat over a black tank top and white pants as he held the tent flap open for others to exit quickly while bringing water.
"Listen," Felix urged, urgency lacing his voice.
"You need to evacuate instead of extinguishing the fire. I can help you with that."
The man turned to him with an unsettling glare.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" he bellowed.
"I'VE NEVER SEEN YOU BEFORE! ARE YOU A NEWBIE?"
"GET OUT OF MY FACE AND GO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE!"
"No," Felix replied firmly.
"I'm not part of your group; I'm just a passerby who saw you needed help."
"PASSERBY?" The man laughed derisively, rallying his companions.
"BOYS! DEAL WITH THE FIRE LATER; FIRST, CATCH THIS WANNA-BE SAVIOR!"
The men abandoned their efforts against the flames and quickly surrounded Felix—twenty-six hostile faces glaring at him.
"What are you doing?" Felix asked.
"POOR KID, HE DOESN'T KNOW WHO WE ARE," the bald guy mocked him, laughter echoing around Felix like thunder.
"LET ME TELL YOU WHO WE ARE BEFORE KILLING YOU," said the bald man with a sneer.
"WE ARE KAAL'S! NOW DIE!"
The bald man clenched his fist, purple energy crackling around it as others mimicked him.
"Kaals? What is that?" Felix thought frantically.
Felix didn't know what they meant, but he tried to stay calm, focusing on channeling Zor Energy into his legs and feet to jump high and escape the circle of people surrounding him.
"What's wrong? Why can't I channel Zor Energy into my legs and feet?" he thought, frustration creeping into him.
Frantically searching for an escape route, Felix scanned the crowd. Suddenly, he spotted an opening between the legs of a bald man.
With a swift motion, he slid beneath them and kicked the bald man backward, causing him to lose his balance and nearly fall.
Felix darted into the shadowy interior of the tent. The air was thick with tension, and as he stepped inside, his eyes adjusted to the dim light.
Cages lined the walls; some held lifeless bodies, while others contained terrified souls, their eyes wide with fear. Crates stacked haphazardly in one corner hinted at valuable supplies, their contents obscured by shadows.
"It smells like a trash bin," he muttered under his breath while running deeper into the tent.
"There has to be an exit around here somewhere."
As he reached what seemed like a dead end, he heard footsteps approaching behind him.
"CATCH THAT BASTARD!" shouted the bald man.
The air was thick with tension inside the dimly lit tent, its muted greens casting eerie shadows that danced along the canvas walls. The faint smell of damp earth mingled with the metallic tang of fear.
Suddenly, a metal fork clattered to the ground beside Felix's feet. He looked up, and saw a boy trapped in a cage. The boy's small frame trembled as he hurled the utensil in desperation.
"Go," the caged boy urged weakly, his voice barely above a whisper.
In that instant, a purple energy blast hurtled toward Felix from behind, crackling ominously. He turned just in time to see it—a streak of vibrant purple slicing through the dimness, sharply contrasting with the muted colors around him.
Felix's eyes widened as he noticed the boy in the cage extending his hand. Despite his frail body shaking under the strain, his expression radiated fierce determination.
To Felix's astonishment, the boy absorbed the energy with an intensity that seemed almost otherworldly. As he did so, a heavy wind whipped through the tent, tousling their hair and making Felix gasp.
A radiant purple glow enveloped the boy's arm, illuminating the dark space around them like a beacon of hope.
Veins beneath his skin pulsed visibly, as if they were conduits for the very power he wielded. The boy squinted against the pain; a single tear rolled down his cheek, glistening like a jewel in the dim light.
Despite the evident agony etched across his face, he remained silent—refusing to scream or cry—a testament to his resilience in the face of overwhelming odds.
He took a step back, pressing against the cold metal bars of his cage before sliding down until he sat on the ground.
The bald man and his group observed everything with growing fury.
"THAT STUPID LITTLE BRAT!" roared the bald man, fury twisting his features.
"DEAL WITH THAT BRAT LATER! FIRST, CATCH THE RED-EYED BASTARD! AND DON'T BE RECKLESS!"
"THE GOODS IN THE TENT CAN BE DAMAGED!" he added, frustration lacing his words.
"BUT DON'T LEAVE HIM ALIVE! IF THE NOBLE CLANS FIND OUT WE HAVE A BASE HERE, IT WILL BE OVER!"
The group of men advanced toward Felix without any strategic formation, swords drawn and crackling with negative Zor energy. Desperation fueled his movements as he focused on widening the hole in the tent.
Yet, without any way to harness Zor energy himself—an inability he couldn't comprehend—he realized he had no choice but to fight with his hands and strength.
The tent loomed large around him, its fabric fluttering ominously in the wind. Shadows danced across the ground beneath flickering torches that cast an eerie glow.
The air was thick with tension; smoke from nearby fires filled his lungs as distant sounds of chaos echoed—shouts and clashing steel mingled with rustling leaves.
Felix prepared for what lay ahead. Escape was not just a matter of survival; it was also a chance to protect those who were trapped here.
Felix took a fighting stance as twenty-six men approached him. The bald man watched from behind, frustration etched on his face. In that moment, Felix understood why they were defending the tent rather than fleeing from the fire consuming the forest: they kidnapped and sold children for profit.
He promised himself they would pay for what they had done. Before engaging in battle, he turned to the little boy beside him and said,
"Cheer up, kid; your nightmare ends today."
The boy looked confused, unable to grasp Felix's words as he witnessed Felix narrowing his eyes and taking a deep breath before rushing toward the men.
Felix dodged a slash from one of the attackers and kicked him hard, sending him crashing into a cage. Reacting immediately to another incoming strike, he caught that man's forearm, kicked yet another assailant away, twisted the arm he held, and threw him at the rest of the group with great force.
Some fell to the ground from the impact, while others managed to evade.
"How is he so strong?" one of them muttered from the floor.
"FOOLS!" shouted the bald man.
"YOU CAN'T EVEN KILL A STUPID PASSERBY!"
As he spoke, he removed his white coat.
"LET ME DEAL WITH THIS ONE; YOU GO OUTSIDE AND CONTROL THE FIRE."
"He's going to fight Leonardo; he's done for," one of the men smirked before they all rushed outside.
"So you finally want to fight?" Felix asked, his expression serious despite the turmoil around them.
The bald man laughed, a harsh sound that echoed in the tense atmosphere.
"You're the craziest kid I've ever seen," Leonardo replied calmly, his tone surprisingly subdued compared to his usual loud bravado.
"Why are you laughing?" Felix asked, confusion washing over him.
"Well, I don't think you believe me when I say I'm not going to harm you," Leonardo said with a knowing smile, his eyes glinting in the dim light.
Felix felt a surge of uncertainty; he couldn't tell if this was a trick or if Leonardo was genuinely sincere.
"Your face tells me you don't trust me," Leonardo continued, still smiling.
"What if I give you this?" He revealed a set of keys that glinted in the low light, their purpose clear—they were for the cages.
Leonardo tossed them to Felix, who caught them with a mix of surprise and hope.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked, still wary.
"Aren't you a Kaal or whatever?" Felix questioned, trying to piece together Leonardo's motives.
"I am," Leonardo replied.
"But my goals are different." His expression shifted to one of urgency.
"Anyway, we don't have much time; quickly take that boy and the others and run!"
Despite lingering doubts gnawing at him, Felix decided to trust him. He hurriedly began opening cages while keeping an eye on Leonardo. When he opened the cage containing the boy who had helped him earlier, he found him unconscious.
With a quick motion, Felix lifted him into his arms alongside three living captives: an adult couple and their five-year-old child.
"You got everyone?" Leonardo asked urgently as Felix nodded.
"Good! Now get out before the others return!"
Leonardo reached into his pocket and pulled out a small knife with a sharp blade. Channeling his negative zor energy into it, he approached the tent wall and sliced it open with precision.
"There, now go quickly," he urged.
Felix nodded and sent the family outside first. Before stepping through the gaping tear in the tent with the boy cradled in his arms, he looked back at Leonardo.
"I have many questions, but I will wait."
"Until then, don't die," Felix said solemnly as he stepped into the chaos outside.
Felix knew that whatever Leonardo was trying to accomplish was fraught with danger.
Leonardo nodded as tears filled his eyes at the vision of another boy resembling Felix appearing in his mind.
Once Felix left, Leonardo rubbed his eyes fiercely before punching himself brutally; blood trickled from his nose as he smashed himself against one cage before finally exiting the tent.
As he emerged into chaos outside. All men close in, their faces a mix of confusion and concern. Questions tumble from their lips, a cacophony of voices demanding answers about what has happened.
"THAT BASTARD DEFEATED ME!" Leonardo shouted fiercely.
"HE ESCAPED WITH THE REST OF THE HOSTAGES!"
"BUT DON'T WORRY—I WILL CATCH THAT BASTARD AND KILL HIM MYSELF!"
Despite their shock at someone defeating Leonardo, they rallied around him, supporting his vow for revenge, while looking toward the smoky sky where the sun was setting. Leonardo thought silently,
"I hope to see you again someday... passerby."