Aethernea : Soulbound [Book 1]

Episode 106 - Willpower

Previously:

The day of the practical exams is finally here and Kiel is inside a large arena created by the Replica Dungeon. Nelaira tricks Deora into attacking the Rroda brothers, and Deora ends up pursuing Kiel with a barrage of fireballs. Kiel runs away, dodging the fireballs, however, Deora manages to hit him with an explosive airball. Kiel loses his consciousness and remembers how he got trapped inside the burning house as a child.

* * *

The girl's chest heaved up and down, her white dress stuck to her glistening skin like glue. "... the barrier... why aren't you opening the barrier?"

The boy felt as if his heart got pierced through with a knife. Is that why no one is coming to help me? Because they can't enter through the protective barrier surrounding the house?!

He clenched his fists so hard that he yelped in pain. "I... I don't know how to use magic."

The two large eyes stared at him unblinkingly for several seconds. Those two unfathomable eyes looked as if they held an entire universe inside of them. The diamond shaped pupil inside of them had shrunk down to the size of a needle.

The girl whispered softly. "You are..." Her gentle voice paused briefly before it struck Kiel's heart like a hammer. "...weak."

Weak...?

Yes.

He was weak.

So very weak.

He wished he could save his mother.

He wanted to save Clawy and Arnold.

Yet he couldn't even save himself.

He had thought that he was smart, that he was talented, capable; he hadn't even started going to school yet, but he could already read well.

Yet now, in this greatest moment of need, he couldn't do a thing!

Not a single thing!

A fresh round of tears started rolling down the side of Kiel's small face as he sobbed: "I... I... it's not my fault I wasn't born a mage...!" His mouth upturned and he managed to glare back hatefully through the tears. "And... and... I'm just six...!"

The girl cut him off. "Age doesn't matter. Birth doesn't matter either. People are not born equal. But so what?"

Her face scrunched up into a frown. "Age? Birth? Unfairness of fate? Are you going to keep coming up with excuses for your own weakness? Does that make you feel better about yourself?"

The boy bit his lips, his unyielding nature finally rearing its head. "What is wrong with you? Are you going to stand there or help me?!"

"What's wrong with you? Are you going to just sit there and await your end?" The girl countered. "Are you just going to let luck control your life and death?"

The boy's eyes blurred, the girl's small figure turned into a blurry blob of blonde, black and white. "No! Of course I don't want to!!"

The girl's eyes flashed with an emotion Kiel didn't manage to catch. "Then become strong enough to control your own fate! If your birth locks the doors around you, then break a hole through the wall! 'A path' is only a route someone else has traversed. Instead of following someone else's footsteps, become the person whose footsteps others will follow!"

Kiel's mind shook, and pupils dilated. The girl didn't give him any time to process her words – she reached out her hand towards the glass.

"Wait...! It's hot!" The boy gasped, but even before he managed to finish his sentence, the girl's palm had reached the window.