A young man floated on his bed,
staring at the sky stretching endlessly above him.
He placed a hand over his heart and listened.
Every movement was slow and drained of energy.
The quiet, sluggish beat of his heart made him uneasy.
He covered his face with his hand.
"Ugh…"
The hand moved from his face toward his hair and stopped there.
A few strands of hair hanging over his forehead looked like feathers.
Feathers floating in the air, caught on nothing.
The pain and exhaustion that refused to fade
only made the young man sigh even more.
The rhythm of his arms hanging off the bed and his sighs matched the slow closing of his eyes.
He raised an arm, and a wooden sword flew into his hand.
Hugging it close, he fell asleep.
***
"Is this what you call justice?"
"Then what is?"
"Can you achieve justice by killing someone?"
"I can't save everyone."
"You promised."
"So did he."
The young man tossed and turned before waking up, breathing heavily.
"The same things again."
Sunlight struck his face.
He got up and stretched his hands toward the bed, lifting it with his power.
The floating bed drifted into the cave and settled back into its usual place.
Phen flew over and landed on Karon's shoulder.
As he stroked Phen's neck,
"Good morning to you too," he said.
"Let's get today's work done."
He continued talking to Phen as they headed toward the stream.
***
Karon lay in the man-made pond beside the stream.
He had let himself float in the water, staring at the blue sky with Phen resting on his stomach.
"To hell with responsibilities."
With those words, he drifted off to sleep.
When he woke up, his skin was wrinkled and one of his ears was full of water.
Phen was circling above him, keeping watch over the surroundings.
Karon whistled and watched Phen fly back to him.
He climbed out of the water and dried himself while sneezing.
He accelerated his mana circulation, easing the sneezing.
Once his body had warmed up enough, he began training.
A simple downward slash.
Sometimes a thrust.
The massive wooden sword could barely even cut through the wind.
He wiped away sweat that wasn't there and walked to Himel's grave.
He reinforced the wooden gravestone a little more.
Then he stood there, staring at it.
Phen landed on his shoulder, and Karon stroked him gently.
"I wish you had warned me sooner."
Talking to Phen, he returned home.
***
Karon was shaving while looking into a mirror he had brought back to the house.
His overgrown hair and beard fell away as he shaped them.
Phen, who now reached Karon's chest in height, rubbed his head against Karon's leg.
"Alright, alright. We'll head out soon. Just wait a little."
Phen hopped outside and continued waiting for him.
After finishing up, Karon stepped out.
He raised his hand and watched Phen land on his forearm.
Then he tossed Phen into the air.
As he watched Phen fly, he lifted off the ground himself.
He drifted through the air.
He checked the traps he had placed along the road where he had first met Himel.
When he saw that some of them had been triggered, he instantly accelerated and rushed down the path.
He moved carefully through the trees and bushes.
His body felt lighter, and his speed had increased.
After traveling for a while, he spotted several people and a wagon.
Phen followed behind, flying overhead like an ordinary bird.
After locating all four men, Karon drew Zelid and let out a whistle.
Moving at incredible speed, he reached the wagon and took down the first man.
As he moved for the second, a spear of water appeared before him.
He raised Zelid and blocked it.
Both of them spoke at the same time.
"A mana user."
Karon's hands trembled.
At long last, he had found what he had been waiting for.
He swung Zelid in a crescent arc and released a wave of fire.
The man responded with a wall of water.
Droplets formed around him, sharpening into needle-like projectiles that shot toward Karon.
Karon raised his hands, and an invisible pressure spread around him.
Unable to withstand the force, the water needles collapsed into the ground.
"A Law user?"
The man shouted in fear as he stepped back.
Water burst from the earth, forming tentacles around Karon.
Karon drove Zelid into the ground and unleashed a wave of flames.
Phen joined him after knocking the other two men unconscious.
Now outnumbered two to one, the remaining man pulled a flute from his bag and began to play.
The surrounding winds twisted into tornadoes, throwing Phen out of the battle.
Karon emitted a force from his body and remained unaffected by the tornadoes.
However, Zelid's flames were no longer burning as brightly as before.
The man coated his sword in a veil of water and charged.
As their blades clashed, the impact blasted away the surrounding wind and sent dust flying into the air.
Karon poured more force into his sword and activated his mana.
Overwhelmed by the sudden surge of power, the man retreated.
As he fell back, blades of water and wind shot toward Karon.
Karon escaped with only minor cuts and withdrew.
He raised his hands, sending stones flying toward the man from every direction.
The man blew into his flute, creating an incredibly dense barrier of wind around himself.
Unharmed, he brought the flute back to his lips.
At that moment, a voice made them both stop.
"Hey, kid. Break the cage."
"No!"
Realizing what he needed to do, Karon sprang into action.
The man continued blowing into the flute while forming water spheres with his free hand.
The wind blades and water projectiles he launched often missed Karon by mere inches.
But the force field protecting Karon was not perfect; he was still taking damage.
Once he got close enough to the cage, he pressed the backs of both hands together and then pulled them apart.
The wagon split cleanly in half, the cage tearing apart with it.
From inside stepped a handsome man with long hair and animal-like ears.
"Finally."