"Fuck your ancestry….!"
Nafız wanted to lunge forward swearing a blue streak, but her body suspended in the air didn't allow it. Actually, this couldn't exactly be called a body; it was as if she was inside a projection of her existence.
"That was a nice swear word; I use it occasionally!"
The old man was chuckling; Nafız's words didn't seem to have affected him, but a moment later he jumped and brought Nafız, who was suspended in the air, down next to Alis.
"This is my cave; whatever I want happens here. Not you, not even that damn woman can change this!"
His calm state from a moment ago was gone; the few remaining teeth inside his mouth were chattering against each other. Judging by the indifferent stance of the beautiful woman who was his power animal, the person he mentioned was not her; the target of the old man's anger wasn't here.
"Alis!"
While all this was happening, Nafız bent down and lifted Alis's blood-covered head from the ground; the white hair she took between her two hands was covered with blood. He was wearing the clothes he wore on the last day they said goodbye; Nafız understood this from a few places remaining unbattered.
"Sir, so you came!"
The young man was short of breath; sounds were coming out of his mouth in the form of wheezes.
"I came, Alis!"
Although questions rained down in her head, Nafız didn't open her mouth and voice even one of them. Right now, what would happen mattered more than what had happened.
"I couldn't do it; I thought I could but I couldn't!"
He lifted his hand and made a move to reach Nafız standing behind him, but he was so exhausted that he couldn't achieve this. Instead, Nafız standing behind him caught the falling hand; her eyes became moist.
"Whatever you tried to do, you did your best. I am sure of this; stop upsetting yourself!"
Grabbing him by the armpits and bringing Alis to a sitting position, Nafız wrapped his hands and feet around herself. Although the two entities looked locked onto each other, both knew that this was actually the reunion of a single entity.
"It's all my fault! Even though you represent my human side, my past life, there were things I hid from you!"
Nafız spoke the words in a whisper, but the other two people inside the cave suddenly turned to her. Although this situation wouldn't be strange since the old man was involved in the events from the beginning, the state of the woman who did nothing but care for her nails was interesting.
"No sir!"
Alis wanted to make a move, but Nafız brought her hand to his mouth and closed it. If there was to be talking, now was the time, and after the two dungeons she entered on the Hell Realm, she understood some things better.
"For a long time, I thought I brought only my weaknesses from my life spent as a human. A creature with a human body born within the orc tribe; the inferiority of this combined with my bad memories, and as a result, I met you.
I always thought like this, but how wrong it was. You represent my strong sides as much as my weaknesses. My power, which I never knew existed, which I possess just because I exist, is also inside you."
The old man took a few more steps and approached the duo locked onto each other; the beautiful woman was right behind him.
"I wanted you to be snow-white to cover what I saw as flaws; I felt my powers were black as if they were shameful. I limited you, just as I limited myself. Just as I allowed others to tell me what I am and what I am not, I wanted to determine from the beginning what you are and what you cannot be.
I am sorry; although I let you go, I never wanted you to go from inside me!"
After the last words, a long silence began; even the wind blowing inside the cave stopped and allowed the breaths of the four entities to mix with each other.
"Live Alis; walk your own path with the good, the bad, your strength, and your weakness!"
Nafız withdrew her hands from Alis, who was on the verge of death, and stood up. The sadness in her gaze was gone, replaced by a calmness accepting what is.
The old man closed his eyes slowly while looking at the woman who had come next to him; the power animal receiving the message lunged forward and targeted Alis's head with the sickles in her hands.
Nafız involuntarily extended her hand forward and realized she could do this comfortably. The wristbands on her arms were in place; she could use them any moment she wanted and attack the beautiful woman, but she didn't. She submitted to what was happening for the first time and trusted what came from inside her, her previous life.
A breath later, the sound of two metals hitting each other echoed; the beautiful woman was hurled back. Alis's right hand, standing as Nafız left him, was in the air, and the tip of his katana was pointing at the old man's power animal.
Alis took a deep breath; the winds that had subsided inside the cave started again thanks to him. Then came his roar; a scream magnificent enough to deafen ears hit the high walls and extended to eternity inside the darkness.
He stood up slowly; his wounds were closing rapidly too, but the biggest change was occurring in his external appearance. His clothes turned into rags started to form again, and these were not snow-white like the previous ones.
It was as if he had stolen the black of the night and wore it. When a completely black suit appeared on him, Alis was reminiscent of the prince of darkness. His eyebrows and eyelashes took on a black color; only his hair was white, and it was as if they were shining more than before.
He assumed a battle stance by raising his weapons; when gazes turned to the two katanas, another change experienced was revealed. One of the weapons was jet black, the other whiter than snow; they had become the elements reflecting the young man's change best.
"Alis!"
Nafız shouted, but no sound came out.
"It is time for you to go!"
The old man waved his hand without looking at her. While the vortex forming right behind Nafız swallowed her, the attention of the man and the power animal was on Alis.
"You sons of bitches, just you wait for me!"
When Nafız, shouting at the top of her lungs, opened her eyes, she found herself lying alone in the middle of a blood pool inside the three-story library.
No one cared about her movements. Although decreased, there were many people inside, and they were all busy with their own work.
"I believe in you Alis, please return safe and sound!"
When she calmed down, she reviewed what she experienced and concluded that Alis had a chance to live. The old man possessed a power exceeding her comprehension; he could have easily destroyed both if he wanted, but he didn't.
His main purpose wasn't killing, and this was the most important branch Nafız could hold onto. The interest of the duo in what she experienced together with Alis was also great; with the change, the tiny white's chance of survival should have increased.
"Return!"
Standing up, Nafız ordered by extending her two hands to the blood puddle. Before a breath passed, the blood was being sucked towards her wristbands, and this movement attracted the attention of those around for the first time.
"Am I seeing wrong or are the letters on the item two R letters standing back to back?"
Following one poking his friend next to him, others also focused their attention on where he pointed.
"Yes, I see it too. This item is the work of Grandmaster Abarran!"
A shock wave gripped the library tightly; while a voice came from every head, one among them couldn't endure and shouted.
"How can this item, which only Grand Council students can possess, be in the hands of an Outsider?"
Nafız, who didn't care about the situation until that moment, immediately turned to the shouting person; she was hearing about the Grand Council he mentioned for the first time.
"Silence!"
When she was about to move, a voice filling the area nailed her to her place, while others scattered like partridges.