The System

CHAPTER 04 - Mana.

Zeal to find.

Vigor that conquers.

Like a pebble rippling the peace.

A single droplet woke a mighty celestial from slumber.

I remember stepping into the grasslands, with no clue as to why or how. Neither did I care, as my entire being left its earthly desires and unearthly wants behind. For my sole focus lingered on a mighty battle, fought in a realm known by few.

The warrior had no form for my mind to register. Yet somehow, I perceived it to be on the run... tired... furious, and with the sole purpose of conquering and destroying everything that stood in its path.

The opponent who dared face this fanatic was the realm itself.

Within a thought, I joined the warrior's side. Back to back, we faced the realm together. I tried to protect his blind spot; I suppose! With no time to think, with no words to express, with only my instinct to guide my actions, I began ripping apart an enemy who wasn't even trying to fight back.

The battle contained no weapons, no bloodshed, nor anyone suffered a bruise from any of our attacks. Still, I grab and rip the flesh out of something that didn't even have a physical form.

My enemy is all that my mind says. My enemy is all that I see.

Bigger and stronger than I was. Like its form, its power had no limit. Yet it tries to calm me down, instead of using its might to subdue me. I knew it could bury me alive if it so desired. For all I perceive is its form of never-ending green, ethereal, and omnipresent. A might that consumed everything in its path.

Still... the realm feared me and its fear fuelled my pride.

I unleash my wrath upon this almighty realm, ripping its colossal form bit by bit. With every chuck of flesh I rip out, I can sense its power—diminish, its resolve—falter, and its fear—grow.

How many chunks later will it retaliate? Can I find its core before it does? For every swing I take, more flesh forms, increasing the beast's colossal form.

Like an endless sea of green, in which I swim, forever dicing away, hoping to find a shore. Whether it be mine or the beast I faced, death was the only way out.

A flurry of questions invaded my mind. Why hasn't this mighty ocean drown me yet? Why am I fighting a downhill battle? Why hasn't my foe turned hostile? For all my questions meant nothing to my rage. Unanswered and left a stray, my rage fuelled itself over a cause unknown to me.

I forced myself to stop, and the sea transformed into an ocean, swirling around me. I wondered whether the beast was still scared to attack or had increased its size, hoping to survive. My heart still flared with blinding rage. I knew not the cause, for deep down I relied on a mysterious strength which held the power to rip the ocean apart.

For all its might, the ocean wouldn't dare stand in my way. My entire being was filled with a singular mindless hunger to devour. For reasons unknown—Over a mindless rage. Going against me seemed foolish, which made me marvel if I had to stop. A battle ragged within myself. Here I declined myself from what I know, what I knew, and what I felt. The ocean waited patiently until I moved, for I decided the next move.

Only once logic overtook reason and when I moved against my very being to bow, defying its will, I understood. I and the warrior were the same. Two entities bound by fate. Like a shadow bound to my will, once I held myself back, he stood impassive as well.

My silence gave the realm hope. A false hope of defiance, which it gladly leaped on. A stream of agony spewed through my entire body. In between, I would sense a spark of defiance, which I held onto. Maybe I wanted to understand the flow before I retaliate. Once I let loose, the ocean backed away and once I held back; the ocean tried to dissolve me from the inside out.