The God Of Agriculture grabbed something from behind him, and pulled out a sickle and a knife. His eyes began to stare back at me. They held large amounts of malice within them. I can tell that he has no intention of letting me live… so I'll just have to beat him. He took a few steps towards me, and smiled once again, "Alright let us begin!" He pulled his sickle behind him, and charged towards me. I took a step backwards, but could see how fast he was going. Judging by his speed… I'd say he's probably slower than me. I grabbed the sword from my back, and unsheathed it. The grey and black blade glistened in the sun, as I was about to use it for the first time. The God swung his sickle at me. I parried and countered with rock magic, sending a slab of rock into his stomach. It hit him directly, but he absorbed the hit and swung with his knife. I jerked backwards, but the knife connected with my shoulder, making a shallow cut along its side. I regained my balance, and pushed off my right leg, swinging my sword downwards. The God swerved his body left, completely dodging my attack with ease, and countering with a jab to my stomach. I swung my right arm downwards, grabbing the blade before it connected with my stomach. My hand began gushing blood, but I was able to stop the knife from making a fatal wound. I dashed backwards, trying to catch my breath, but the God appeared to my left, and swung his sickle. I had no time to react and the sickle's blade cut straight into my left arm. I grabbed the sickle by its handle, and pulled it out of my arm while gritting my teeth in pain. My arm went numb, and my chest was burning up. I fell on my side, and rolled across the ground before using my right arm as leverage to shoot myself upright. "I remain unimpressed Kiliano! Do better boy!" He lunged at me again. I tried to raise my left arm, but it wouldn't move, so I grabbed the sword with my right, and blocked his attack. I tapped the ground with my foot, and sent myself flying upwards, along with a giant slab of rock. I used this time to grab my left arm and heal it with magic. The wounds began to close, and the feeling came back. I clenched my left fist, and opened it again, "Alright, all better!" I grabbed the sword from my armpit and looked down. The God was staring up at me, waiting. I let out a sigh, and dropped down from the slab of rock. Once the God was in reach of my sword, I sent out two slashes of my sword, enforced with mana. The God parried each one, and countered with a lunge aimed towards my stomach. I was still in midair, so I couldn't dodge. Instead, I chose to swing, aiming at his neck. If we trade blows, I'll be able to kill him for sure! He noticed this and backed off before our blades connected. I smiled at him, "What's wrong?" He scoffed at me, "Don't get cocky brat. You may not have any regard for your life.. But I do." I clenched my right fist, blood was still gushing from my palm. The God pulled his sickle out to his side, and it began to glow yellow. He wasn't close enough to reach me, but swung anyway. I tightened my guard, and for good reason. The sickle sent out a copy of it, glowing yellow, hurling at me. I jumped right while blocking it. The God saw a gap in my guard and swung his knife towards my right side. I tapped my right foot on the ground and sent the bottom half of my body upwards, making me completely parallel to the ground, which let me evade his attack. I did a backflip in the air and landed next to the God. I pulled my sword by my side and let out a few swings, he blocked each one, and countered. We began exchanging blows. Dozens of slashes flew through the air, each one getting blocked and countered. The ground around us became littered with slashes from our weapons. My eyes darted around, following each attack the God made. I was able to counter each one, and eventually landed a blow, cutting his stomach. The wound was shallow, but it was enough to stagger him and give me enough time to channel mana into my sword's blade. I continued swinging, this time with much greater speed and power. My sword was enveloped in flames, which forced the God Of Agriculture back.
Vencer was staring at the two of us fighting, and began talking to Victoria, "Kiliano's doing well. He's got him on the defensive." "Yeah… if this keeps up, Kiliano could win." Master Vencer nodded, "Agreed." I pushed the God backwards, and sent a spurt of flames hurling towards him. I overswung, but realized it too late. The God swung his knife upwards, cutting through my right shoulder, sending a spurt of blood into the air. I squinted my eyes and staggered backwards. Vencer clinched his teeth and took a step forward, before stopping himself. He swung three more times, sending blood gushing from my right leg and torso. I fell to my knees, putting my right hand on the ground while still holding onto my sword. The God Of Agriculture walked up to me, his gaze looking downwards, "Truly pathetic." His arm became a blur, and my neck began to feel warm. My vision became blurry, and I could feel something wet hit my collarbone. My body went limp, and the ground under me started to get closer and closer. I could hear the screams of Victoria to my right. But they were too far away, and I couldn't make out what she was saying.
I tilted my head up, trying to look at the God. But he was already walking away, as if he had won the battle. Who do you think you are!? I'm not dead yet! I haven't lost yet! This fight.. Is far from over! I could feel my body begin to feel warm. My body regained its feeling, and my vision went back to normal. I slowly stood up, with small spurts of black flames coming out from my body. My eyes turned azul, and I felt irregularly happy. I couldn't help but smile widely, and turned to face the God, "Hey! Does this mean you quit!?" He stopped walking away from me and paused for a few moments, before turning around smiling, "Ohh? So you've got more…!?" I nodded, "...Good!" He dashed towards me swinging his sickle. I smiled even wider, and sent my right arm to my left side, a wall of black flames followed behind it, blocking the God's path to me. He reappeared farther to my right, swinging his knife towards my head. I dashed backwards, countering with a swing to his chest. I connected, sending a small spurt of blood pouring out from his right pectoral. He staggered backwards, and I rushed in, swinging my sword. He managed to block each one, but I reinforced my blade with hellfire, which began to overwhelm him, and I connected to his torso, creating a cutting from the top left of his chest down to the bottom right. A spurt of blood hit my face, but I couldn't blink. Instead, I continued rushing in, swinging at full force. The God gritted his teeth and his movements became faster. He blocked each swing with better precision, and countered. I dodged right, and countered his counter with a sword plunged into his side. He jumped backwards a few meters, and gagged blood. I stopped pursuing and caught my breath. "My mana's slowly draining. I doubt I'll last another few minutes." The God put his hand to his torso, and began using healing magic. I dashed towards him, stopping the spell prematurely. He swung his sickle, sending out a golden silhouette hurling towards me. I blocked it, and redirected the sickle to the right, continuing my onslaught towards the God Of Agriculture. He dashed backwards, several dozen meters, while simultaneously shooting out multiple silhouettes of his sickles flying towards me. I blocked each one, and parried with my own spell. I shot out a ball of Hellfire at full speeds shooting at him. The God couldn't react in time, and took the full force of my flames. It exploded, sending out spurts of flames in all directions. I rushed in, continuing my barrage. We clashed, sword to sickle, dozens of times per second. The ground around us became littered with slashes. My sword was completely enveloped with Hellfire, but the God was able to keep up with my increasing strength. "Have you been holding back!?" I said, while continuing my onslaught. His eyes were shooting in all directions, trying to keep up with me, "I still am! You may think you have the upperhand, but…" He plunged his right foot into the ground, stopping all our momentum. This caught me off guard, and I was put in an awkward position that left my stomach open. He saw this, and plunged his knife three times into my gut, stomach, and chest. I spewed out blood, but didn't hesitate to swing my sword downwards, slashing through his shoulder. I clenched my teeth and stood my ground. I put my right hand onto my stomach, trying to stop the bleeding. But I could feel blood pouring out from my gut. I can't breathe… but if I let up for even a second then it's goodbye! I dashed forward, swinging my sword again. But the God dodged and countered with a strike to my collarbone. He ripped it out, severing my collarbone. The feeling in my right arm had completely disappeared, and shock ran through my body. Time slowed down, and I began to feel cold, despite the fact I was surrounded by Hellfire. I could see my own blood pouring out of me. I tried to move, but my knees gave out, and I fell down. I tried to look around, but my eyes fixated on one thing. My own arm fell in front of me. Blood poured out from my right side, and my body began tilting left. I couldn't support myself, and fell down. My vision went blurry, and I ran out of mana, which dissipated all the Hellfire I had set loose. "Again…?" I thought to myself, "...Even with this blessing… I still can't win. He isn't even what I'm aiming for. Why can't I get stronger? Why can't I win!?" I looked up, staring at the God who was walking away from me. Suddenly, he stopped walking and looked over his shoulder, "Absolutely pathetic. You aren't worthy of being called a hero." My eyes widened. All this time I had tried my best to be like a hero. But even so… I can't compete with Gods. I'm powerless now, and I'm going to die. I feel so cold… I can't feel anything below my neck, and anything above that is throbbing with pain. I can feel my own blood flooding my throat. It feels like I'm drowning in a pool, and there's no escape. "Kiliano" A voice called out to me. "Kiliano" It sounds familiar… almost nostalgic. "Kiliano, wake up." I knew it! This voice… It's Excalibur! Throughout this entire fight, I neglected my most powerful weapon. "Kiliano get up. Things aren't finished quite yet." That's right! He's turned his back to me, which means he thinks it's over. But it isn't. I'm not dead yet!
Suddenly, I felt a surge of power course through me. I regained my strength, and my vision cleared up. The feeling in my body had come back, and my right arm healed. I feel warm. It's like I've been completely enveloped in flames. I hadn't realized it yet, but my body was enveloped in flames. I couldn't use Hellfire, but my entire body's substance had turned into orange fire. My aura had completely disappeared, and in its place, was this fire that gave me strength. I slowly stood up, eyeing the God Of Agriculture, who hadn't noticed me yet. My body was completely submerged in flames, but it didn't hurt. I felt my energy come back, almost like I had woken up from a long nap. The stab wounds in my abdomen began to heal, and I began walking towards the God, "Did you think it was over?" I said. His body twitched, and he turned around, "Well… that's annoying. I've inflicted fatal wounds twice now." "You get too cocky. If you had killed me off fast, then things could've ended differently." The God's eye witched, "You say that like I'm going to lose now." I took a few more steps towards him, "Yeah… that's because you are." I gave him a smug smile, which made him visibly mad, "You cocky little-" Before he could finish his sentence, I appeared behind him, and flicked the back of his head, still holding my smile. His eyes widened from surprise, and he dashed forward, twisting his body in midair, trying to maintain his sight on me. I stood still, waiting for him to make the first move. The two of us held eye contact for what seemed like minutes.
Vencer and Victoria stood on the sidelines, watching in amazement. Victoria turned to Vencer, "What spell is Kiliano using?" Vencer's face was a mixture of worry and surprise, "I… I don't know. Out of every fire spell in the world… this one seems to be similar to any of them." Victoria smiled, "Does that mean he created a new spell!?" Vencer nodded, "Yeah, not only that but… the power emanating off Kiliano is very interesting. Judging based on what I can tell… that spell enhances the users physical attributes. And based on the amount of pressure I can feel… the amount of power that spell gives you is equivalent to a God tier fire spell." "W-wait but isn't there only one God tier fire spell? If Kiliano can use it, then does that mean he's on par with a God?" "No… that spell isn't the God tier fire spell we all know. What you're thinking of, is Pyro, which is completely different from this… Which only means, that Kiliano has created the second ever God tier fire spell."
The flames surrounding me began to grow larger, and more violent. They flowed past my body, and into the air nearly half a dozen meters. I raised my right arm, and pointed it towards the God, with my palm open. He tensed his guard, and raised his shoulders. But before he had realized it, I grabbed his face, and was pushing him into the side of a mountain. We created a crater the size of a small house, as I continued to crush his skull deeper into the mountainside. His eyes widened, and blood began to pour from his eyes. He had dropped his weapons when I grabbed him, so he started wailing on me with his arms. But his strength had already begun to disappear. His arms went limp, and I let go of his face, leaving him lying inside the crater. His eyes lost their gleam, and it was obvious he was on the verge of death. I stared at him, completely emotionless, "Give up yet?" His left pointer finger twitched, and he began mumbling inaudible words. "Speak up." "Geuh… N-...no. Never..." Blood started running down from his mouth, "...It, isn't over." "Tch… I believe it is. But if you won't surrender, then I'll kill you." I raised my right arm, and began channeling my flames into it. A fireball began to form in front of my hand, but before I could send it out, master Vencer grabbed my shoulder from my right, "It's alright kid… you've won." I dissipated the fireball, and turned to look at him, "Are you sure? What if he tries to attack us?" "Don't worry, he won't. You've made your point, and have defeated him in battle. That's all he actually wanted, so I doubt he'll hold any sort of grudge. It'd be best to leave him be." I lowered my arm, and sighed. But before I could respond, everything went black, and I fell to the ground.
Victoria stood there, completely astonished at what she had just seen. Vencer picked up Kiliano from the ground, and put him over his shoulder. He took a few steps toward Victoria before looking over his shoulder, towards the God Of Agriculture, "Take care, Yorr. I'll see you around… And lose some weight."
For me, everything was black. I felt awake, but I couldn't see anything. This feeling… It's like when I first met Excalibur. I feel like I'm drowning in emptiness. My body feels numb, and I can't see anything… but it feels like I'm sinking. Maybe I'm just dead. "You aren't dead… At least not yet." That voice! It's Excalibur, "Hey! Geugh… It's hard to talk." I began swerving my head around, trying to find Excalibur. "You won't be able to see me." "Why not?" "Because I'm already by your side… Both literally, and metaphorically." "Okay… then why am I here?" "It's because you've used a bit too much power. Despite the fact your mana completely ran out, you still used your flames, which took some of your vida." "Uhh… what's vida?" "Sigh… I forgot you people don't remember. Vida is basically mana that can never regenerate. It's your life force." "Life force? Do you mean to say that I used my own life force to defeat the God Of Agriculture?" "Yes, that's exactly it. And now that you've endangered your existence, I've had to step in and make sure you don't accidentally off yourself." "Hm… I'm a bit skeptical. Why can't my life force regenerate?" "It's really quite simple. Mana runs through your outer body, and regenerates by itself slowly, from the atmosphere. Vida flows within your body. And the faster it flows, the more it'll leak out of your body. Since vida flows within your body, and not outside of it, you can't absorb any more of it from the atmosphere, which is why regeneration is impossible. And when your vida runs out, you die from old age." "Ah… I see. Well then… Why exactly am I here?" "As I said before… it's so you don't run out of vida and die." "Yeah, but what I mean is how this is going to help." "Well… in reality, you're currently getting carried by Vencer. What's really going on, is that I've taken control of your subconscious temporarily, so that you don't leak out any more vida. The display you provided me earlier, when you defeated that God, was quite fun to watch. But you were practically gushing out your own vida, which has already shortened your lifespan by at least ten years." "Ten years!? No way, you've gotta be kidding me!" "I'm not! That's why it's imperative that you don't use any more vida. Not until you know how to slow down the flow of it." "Wait what? I can slow down the flow of vida, how?" Before Excalibur could answer, the feeling in my body came back, and bright lights filled my eyes, as I began to regain my consciousness.
Once I had woken up, I noticed Victoria's large eyes staring at me. She had a worried look on her face, but held a smile once she realized I had regained consciousness, "Hey Vencer, Kiliano's awake." "Oh yeah? Alright then, I'm putting you down kiddo." Vencer lifted me from his shoulders and gently placed me down beside a rock, which I was now leaning on for support. My body wasn't numb anymore, but I still couldn't move it; aside from my eyes and mouth. Vencer sat down next to me, and Victoria stood a little less than a meter to my left. "W-what happened?" I said that, but I can remember everything pretty clearly. I was able to defeat that God, but my body had lost all its mana, so I used my own life force as a substitute, "Well kiddo… you won the battle, and defeated the God Of Agriculture. And you also made quite the accomplishment. But before we get into detail, can you stand?" I tried moving my limbs, but they wouldn't budge more than a few inches, "Can you give me some time? I think my body's a bit worn out rom the mana exhaustion." Vencer laughed, "Haha, yeah well I'm surprised you didn't lose consciousness sooner! Once you got stabbed in the stomach, I realized immediately your mana was completely drained. So I thought you were a goner for sure." "W-were you really gonna let me die!?" "Of course not. I was fully prepared to send in Victoria." Victoria jumped backwards, "Wow wow what!? I'd get sliced to tiny bits by that guy, why would you think I could do anything!?" Vencer scoffed, "It's sarcasm, jeez." Victoria's face turned red, and she walked off. I chuckled a little bit, "Master… Do you know anything about vida?" Vencer's eyes widened. His mouth opened, but no words came out. "M-master?" "Sorry Kiliano. I'm a bit surprised you know about vida… but yes I am aware of its existence. Why do you ask?" "Well… while I was unconscious, Excalibur began talking to me. It said, that I had used my own vida to power my flames, which is how I defeated the God. And I guess… I wanted to know what you thought I should do, since I apparently shaved off a good portion of my lifespan doing that." "Dang, that's a bummer." "Is that all you have to say!? "Of course not. But you shouldn't worry about anything long term. I doubt your life will be ending short." "Why do you say that?" "Call it… a God's intuition." I think your intuition is bullshit. Honestly… you were completely unprepared to help me during that battle. Master Vencer stood back up, "Kiliano… I suggest you rest, we'll be arriving back in Karth shortly." He turned away from Kiliano, and started walking away from his line of sight.
I sighed, and closed my eyes. But I couldn't stop thinking about the encounter I had with Excalibur. How had the two of us communicated like that? Are we connected? I guess that would explain how he appeared in my subconscious, and was able to control my flow of vida. Something I don't get… was how I got such a power boost from using vida instead of mana. Meh, I can ask master Vencer about it once my body regains its functions. For now, I think sleep is the most important thing I can do.
Vencer walked over to Victoria, and put his hand on her shoulder, "By the way… I hope you know I did have some countermeasures to make sure Kiliano wouldn't get killed." "Oh yeah?" Victoria said, doubtfully. "Aw, c'mon. Do you really think I'm that dumb? There's no way I can let Kiliano get killed. Not until Shyzen's been defeated." "Is that all he is to you!? A weapon to use as a way to kill Shyzen!?" Vencer's face went emotionless, "I'm sorry Victoria… but the only reason I've been training him… was for that only reason. However, I've grown to like the boy. And his personality, well… It's pretty welcoming, to say the least. So in some ways, I care for the boy." "If that's so, then how can you agree with this method!? He's only fifteen years old! He's younger than me, and that boy hasn't had a single normal day as a teenager ever! How can you say that you care for him, when his entire childhood has been nothing but pain!?" Victoria's eyes began to tear up. Vencer sighed, "I know you think he's some broken soul, but I can assure you his hunger to get stronger outways the torture I've put him through ten fold. So please stop acting like he's a victim…" Vencer put his hand on the top of her head, "...I can assure you everything I do is for his sake too. So don't worry about him, he's just as strong mentally as he is physically." He smiled warmly, and walked away. Victoria stood there, contemplating her thoughts.
While all of this was happening, Nyleah looked over from a tree stump she was sitting on. Her gaze focused on Lura, who was walking over, "Hey, Leah!" (Short for Nyleah). Nyleah sat up and smiled, "How's it going Lura?" "I'm doing fine. Nazeem's been on the crapper for over an hour. I guess the meat we had yesterday didn't sit well with him." "Haha, I suppose it's my fault we cooked so much meat. My pallet is pretty narrow… hehe." Lura patted her on the back, "No worries. Nazeem's pretty puny, so I doubt his stomach would've been fine, even if we had something different last night." Nazeem's voice called from behind them, "Eugh… What're you girls walking about? You better not be making fun of me!" Lura's expression changed to a face of disgust, as she looked over her shoulder towards Nazeem, "Why're you here? I thought you were busy destroying the toilet." Nazeem laughed awkwardly, "Haha, yeah well I'm done. It's thoroughly destroyed… trust me." His face made a horrified look. Nyleah smiled awkwardly, and walked. She was walking towards a giant mansion farther down the forest. Lura began talking to Nazeem about something. A gust of wind blew past Nyleah's face and up into the sky, which prompted her to look up. It was starting to get dark out. The sky's orange hue was beginning to fade into black, as stars began to appear, one by one.
Just then, I opened my eyes from a nap, and sat up. I pulled up my hand, and began to open and close a fist, "I suppose my strength is back. But where's master Vencer and Victoria?" I stood up, and began looking around the area. I walked around a few rocks, and looked into a cave, but they're nowhere to be seen. "Sigh… aw man, why does this crap gotta happen to me? I'm too tired for a game of hide-and-seek." Suddenly, I got the urge to look up. The sky's orange hue was completely gone, and bright stars littered the sky. I was entranced in the sight. My eyes glistened from the starlight shining down.
At the same time, Nyleah and Kiliano made a smile, while looking at the stars. The starlight entranced both of them, and their eyes couldn't look away. Nyleah raised her right arm towards the sky, as if she was trying to grab the stars. After a few moments, Kiliano raised his left arm, and held it to the sky, reaching out to the stars. The two of them closed their eyes, and lowered their heads, keeping their arms raised in the sky.
"Hey Leah! What're you doin!?" Lura called out from deeper in the woods. Nyleah opened her eyes, and lowered her arm, "Sorry 'bout that, i'm coming!" She snapped out of her trance, and ran over to Lura.
Kiliano had his eyes closed when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder to find Victoria smiling at him, "What're you doing Kiliano?" He lowered his arm awkwardly and smiled back, "S-sorry 'bout that. I woke up and couldn't find you two, so I decided to go looking." "Is that why you had your arm raised to the sky like a weirdo?" Vencer blurted out from farther away. I slouched slightly, "Hey shut up master!" "Oh whatever, let's just get going." Vencer walked to Kiliano and handed him his things, before continuing his way down the road. Victoria and Kiliano started walking shortly after, side by side. After a few moments, Victoria turned to Kiliano, "Oh by the way. Why did you have your arm raised to the sky like that?" Kiliano blushed slightly, "Uhm, well… I'm not sure. I just felt like something was pulling me… I guess."