Years earlier, a young Jack, only ten years old, lay on the training grounds behind the Ryder mansion. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he struggled to catch his breath. Around the field, weary knights sat on benches or rested against the stone walls after training. Through the quiet atmosphere, Jack's father approached and stopped beside him, looking down at his exhausted son.
"You good?" Aaron asked.
Jack groaned and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Ugh... I don't get it." He muttered. "How am I supposed to beat multiple guys at once?"
A faint chuckle escaped Aaron as he crouched beside Jack. "Were you focused during the fight?" He asked.
"I did!"
Aaron smirked. "Oh yeah? And let me guess. You were focused on only one opponent?"
"Uuhh...yeah?"
Aaron sighed. "Listen, son. If all your attention is on one man, the others will take advantage of it."
He tapped Jack's forehead.
"Focus is important, but so is awareness. A good fighter doesn't just watch his opponent; he watches the entire fight."
Aaron gestured toward the training field.
"If possible, deal with them one at a time. But if several enemies come at you together, don't let it overwhelm you. Concentrate. Take everything in. Eventually, you'll see a weakness, a single opening."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"And when that moment comes, strike with your very best."
Jack looked up at his father, his words filling him with a newfound sense of determination.
________________
Years after receiving his father's advice, Jack finally put it into practice. By concentrating on the battlefield as a whole, he found the perfect opening to strike both foes simultaneously. Four razor-sharp pillars of ice erupted beneath the N'ghftnah, impaling the creature through its body and pinning it in place. For a moment, it appeared dead. At the same time, brilliant light exploded from Jack's left arm and slammed into the Ahephai's legs, hurling the eldritch soldier deep into the forest.
Jack hit the ground and knelt there, his chest rising and falling as he caught his breath after the precise attack. He slowly turned his head and saw the Ahephai struggling to stand, its knees scorched and still burning from the lingering light energy.
He stood and unsheathed his sword, bringing it up beside his head with both hands, the crossguard held perfectly horizontal in an ox guard stance. Lightning surged through his body, crackling across his arms and blade.
Even with its injured legs, the Ahephai drew both of its arm blades and lowered into a predatory stance. One crimson blade skimmed just inches above the field while the other was raised behind its head, readying itself for one last attack.
They stood frozen for a moment, blades raised and trembling with tension, both preparing to end it in a single, final clash.
Then, with a final burst of speed, Jack and the Ahephai exploded forward at the same moment, roaring as they committed everything to a final strike. Their blades met in a violent clash as they crossed paths, and for a heartbeat, both were frozen in place.
They stood motionless, neither willing to look back at the other again.
Jack smirked faintly. "Didn't see that coming, did you?"
Seconds later, lightning detonated from Ahephai's chest, tearing through the injury in a violent burst of blood and energy. The creature collapsed to the ground behind Jack.
With that, Jack secured victory over both the N'ghftnah and the Ahephai. He gave his blade a single clean swing to shed the blood before calmly sheathing it on his back.
"Phew..." Jack placed both hands on his waist and lifted his head. With his eyes closed, he slowly breathed in and out, allowing himself a brief moment to recover.
He lowered his head and exhaled.
"It's over now."
Behind him, the earthen walls slowly crumbled into piles of dirt and stone. Riven helped the injured Bryce stay on his feet, while Tatsu guided Kani forward with her arm resting across his shoulder. Meanwhile, Alette hurried through the air toward Jack.
"Jack! That was-"
"Yep... It's over, just like you saw."
Tatsu looked from the impaled N'ghftnah to the fallen Ahephai, struggling to believe what he was seeing. "Incredible..." he muttered, his voice filled with awe.
Riven blinked and tilted his head. "Uh... Jack?" His voice trailed off as he stared at him. "You've got something on your..."
"Huh?" Jack lifted a hand to his forehead. Blood ran down his face from the gash above, tracing blood across his skin. He touched the wound and pulled his hand away, studying the blood coating his fingertips.
"Huh? I thought I'd hardened my forehead before... Weird." His eyes rolled back, then he promptly fell flat on his face. Apparently, defeating two eldritch soldiers did not exempt him from blood loss.
"AAAAHH!! JACK!!" Alette's voice cracked with fear.
Moments ago, he had been standing victorious; now, he lay motionless in the dirt.
Unconscious and motionless, Jack drifted through the depths of his own memories.
Among them was a scene he wished he could forget.
The knights of House Ryder stood their ground as a gigantic green beam tore across the battlefield. Those caught in its path were instantly vaporized, leaving nothing behind but devastation.
"Ngh..." Though his eyes remained closed, they moved beneath his eyelids. His lips twitched faintly as he lay motionless on the ground, trapped within the memories replaying in his mind.
A memory surged through his mind: the knights being overwhelmed by endless hordes of eldritch soldiers, every last one of them consumed.
"Ah."
Then the last memory that surged through his mind revealed his father bound and being tortured by an unknown force. Behind him stood a colossal shadowed entity, its form obscured except for three glowing eyes. Its palms were held aloft as though manipulating an unseen power, wracking his father with unbearable agony as he screamed in pain.
"Gah…" Jack finally opened his eyes, gasping for breath after enduring that nightmare in his mind.
Alette hovered above Jack, staring down at him in concern. "Jack? Are you okay?"
"…" Jack stared at Alette and slowly realized it was night. A bandage was wrapped around his forehead. He looked beside her and saw Riven's group gathered around a campfire, still in the same field where they had battled N'ghftnah and the Ahephai.