Joy and laughter filled the air around the dinner table. Peter told tales while others laughed. Only Ren sat there emotionless, staring and frozen as if he was a stranger among them. His eyes replaying the same the dream over and over , mental exhaustion showing its toll . Pausing his deep thoughts came the sound of his mother. "Ren, it's time for bed. Say goodnight to your friends."
Ren, unbothered, got up and walked straight through the stairs up to the room, not a single word spoken, followed by his mother. He entered the room and lay in the bed, turning away from her. "Ren, what's wrong? You look sad," she asked, worried.
Ren coldly replied, "Goodnight, Mother." She went out slowly, looking at him. "Goodnight, Ren." As he closed his eyes after staring with a blank, emotionless gaze toward the wall.
Ren opened his eyes, and he was running in a forest. He instinctively stopped and stood still for a moment then bent down and extended his index writing on moist soil '22' but gets interrupted by the sound of twigs snapping .
Peter, on top of a tree, looked around for Ren but saw nothing. He was definitely sure Ren was running after him. "Damn it, I lost him," and looked at his dagger. "It's my last."
Peter got a chilling sensation and turned around, seeing Ren's fist as he got punched and thrown toward the ground. Peter grabbed his jaw after momentarily losing consciousness. He looked around and saw Ren standing by the tree he was on. "Nice punch, but how did you find me?"
Ren walked toward him silently with a death stare on his face. Peter got nervous. "You won, Ren, so don't get angry."
Ren reached him and extended a hand to Peter, who was still lying on the ground. He sighed and relaxed. Peter grabbed Ren's hand while getting up, just to see him swinging again. Ren's punch knocked him unconscious as the impact sound disrupted every animal around.
Ren walked out of the forest alone toward the camp, with Bjorn and Shin talking. Shin saw him alone and just staring. "So who won?"
Ren reached them. "I don't know. I couldn't find him after he went hiding."
Shin grinned. "Yeah, he does that sometimes," and turned toward Bjorn, who was running toward him shocked. Shin instantly turned just to meet Ren's fist. The punch sent him flying, crashing into the wagon and destroying it in the process. Bjorn, looking at Shin lying in the debris, turned instinctively, punching Ren, who was mid-punch, as both fists lay on top of each other and both got pushed back. Bjorn screamed and started punching quickly while Ren dodged everything, then jumped in the air, delivering a kick to Bjorn's face and knocking him to the ground. Bjorn instantly got up and lifted his eyes. Ren threw another kick that sent Bjorn down as the ground caved in. Ren, looking at Bjorn, saw a fire projectile coming toward him. He dodged to the side as it landed, exploding where he stood and pushing him away from Bjorn.
Lili, floating in flames, said, "You bastard, you will burn for this," and extended her arms downward, pointing at Ren. Flames erupted from her hands, violently spreading all over Ren. She kept spewing flames from her hands for a couple of minutes, then stopped as there were no movements and realized Ren might have turned to ashes by now. She kept floating, waiting for the flame to calm, and where he stood was empty—no charred corpse. She extended her arms and started looking around for him.
Ren, way far off, stood holding a rock, measuring with his eyes. He lifted his hand, ready to throw. He held that pose for a moment and threw it. The rock traveled with great momentum, covering the distance in moments and hitting Lili on the head. She dropped to the ground unconscious next to Bjorn. Ren's hollow stare fixed on them from afar as he walked away in the direction of the village seen on the horizon.
Ren reached the village, and it was the same memory. An old man holding bread approached him. Ren just walked past him toward his mother, who was passing by. She noticed him. "Ren!" and ran toward him, hugging him. He stood there emotionless, staring, as his eyes kept playing the same event except it was just him. He lay in his bed, closing his eyes slowly, waiting for something—anything that might be the cause of it.
He opened his sleepless eyes, and he was running in the forest. He dropped to his knees, yelling angrily, and started hitting the ground. His fist went through the moist soil with every punch, and with every hit, the ground caved in. Peter approached out of nowhere. "Ren, what's going on? What happened?"
Ren, covered in dirt and sitting in a big round hole, lifted his head for a moment and stared at Peter, who was shocked, then looked back down at his hands. "Fine." In a blink of an eye, he jumped at Peter, not throwing a fist—his hand stretched open with all steel nails like claws shaping a blade edge. He instantly cut Peter's throat in one swift swing. "You are just a dream. That's what happened," and grabbed his dagger and walked away.
Shin and Bjorn sat near the fire as the pot of vegetables simmered between them. "If you lower your flow intentionally and keep it steady," Shin said, calm as ever, "channeling becomes easier." Bjorn nodded. "Interesting." He glanced down at the pot, stirring once, then lifted his eyes—
A dull thud.
Shin collapsed forward.
Bjorn barely had time to react. He lurched toward him, arms reaching, but Shin's weight slipped through his grasp and hit the ground hard. A dagger jutted from Shin's skull, buried to the hilt. Bjorn froze.
Shin's eyes were still open—wide, empty—locked on nothing, as if frozen in the moment of realization.
Bjorn stared, his mind refusing to move.
Then pain exploded through his chest.
A hand burst out from him, slick with blood.
Bjorn gasped, breath leaving him in a wet choke. His body trembled as he slowly turned, disbelief etched across his face.
Ren stood behind him, arm still inside his chest, expression unreadable.
Bjorn's lips parted, trembling, "Why…?"Ren pulled his hand silently—no answers given. Bjorn dropped next to Shin, eyes opened, blood spilling from his mouth.
Lili sat cross-legged, sweating while on fire, focusing not to burn the grass under her. "What do you want? Can you not see... ohm—" Blood spilled out of her mouth before she finished the sentence. Ren pulled his arm out of her ribcage as she dropped dead along with her flames. He stood for minutes, looking at the blood on his hand. He turned and started walking in the direction of the village.
Ren reached the village entrance, and the old man was there, holding the bread, smiling—but that smile faded away when Ren cut his throat instantly. His mother, passing by, saw him. "Ren?" But the smile disappeared with the old man dropping. Ren passed her and started killing everybody on sight—women, even children. She just stood there, terrified. And that look remained for a while with the screaming getting lower and lower. Ren approached her, soaked in blood from head to toe. "Hello, Mother." She closed her eyes, afraid, but Ren passed her and headed inside the house.
Night fell with blood filling the town—a massacre done by Ren, who sat on his bed staring for a while and closed his eyes. He kept them closed, waiting, and suddenly the sensation of thick blood covering him disappeared, replaced by the sunlight warmth . He instantly opened his eyes, and it was the same forest again. He kept looking forward but then dropped to his knees and threw up. He wiped his mouth, breathing heavily, and whispered to himself, "230."