Aeren observed Luca as he studied him, and his instincts relaxed. Aeren smiled at Luca. "Kill all the monsters here, and I will let you live," he said in a polite tone. However, his voice was heard by all the monsters nearby, causing them to freeze at his words.
It seemed as though Aeren was issuing an order to Luca, but Luca didn't react to the command. Instead, he continued watching Aeren, which confused him. Aeren spoke again, "You don't want to live?" He couldn't understand Luca's behavior. Was this related to his instincts? Aeren pondered, his eyes still fixed on Luca.
"PFFFFTTTT." Suddenly, one of the monsters laughed at Aeren's words, as if he were joking. Aeren turned toward that monster and recalled who he was—the one Luca had killed. It dawned on Aeren that the monster hadn't truly died; he was a clone and could use that clone to his advantage.
"HAHAHAHAHA, you livestock! You think too highly of yourself, huh?" he laughed, mocking Aeren with derision glinting in his eyes. "We are just—"
Aeren vanished before he could finish his sentence, suddenly appearing right in front of him. He paused for a moment, noticing the stunned expression in the monster's eyes.
BOOM!
Aeren punched him, delivering a devastating blow that pierced his heart. "What are you laughing at?" Aeren demanded, glaring at the lifeless body. "Did you think I was joking with you?" He turned to the other monsters and Luca, having struck down one of them and silenced their laughter.
"Attack!" Luca shouted as he watched his companion fall, a wave of fear washing over him. But before he could process the situation, that fear faded. What just happened? We were only testing his hidden abilities. How is he controlling our instincts?
When Aeren appeared without chains or imprisonment, we all thought he was different from the others—someone with the power to manipulate our instincts. From the moment he arrived, we felt overwhelming fear directed at him, as if he was controlling our very nature. This suspicion lingered, yet we kept it to ourselves, believing we could finish him off once we broke free from his influence.
But what's happening? How can he kill so easily? Even though he has slain all of them before my eyes, my instincts aren't sensing any danger from him, as though he poses no threat. Yet I can see that he possesses the power to kill me. How is it possible that my instincts aren't working? Is he controlling them again? What should I do? If I stay, he will definitely kill me. Should I run? But what will happen to my people here? I have to fight him or die like a warrior, and my master will surely avenge me.
As Luca contemplated the situation, he watched in horror as monsters fell one by one. The area around him felt emptier with each creature Aeren defeated. The monsters that attacked Aeren met swift ends as he effortlessly dispatched them. Despite the primal instinct urging him to act, Luca felt unexpected terror toward Aeren, watching him with fear in his eyes.
"You're all too boring for me," Aeren complained as he continued killing the monsters with his bare hands, blood splattering across his body with each death. He began whispering, glancing at the useless monsters around him. "I thought I might find something entertaining here. Let me have a little fun to experience some joy! Why has no one here matched that girl from before? She survived ten to twenty of my punches, while you barely last a single hit before dying. What a disappointment!" Aeren shook his head, expressing his frustration that they couldn't even serve as effective punching bags.
As Aeren complained about his situation, the monsters who had been watching started to flee. He began killing faster and faster, feeling so bored that he found strange amusement in it. His excitement was evident in the way he killed; each time he became more bored, his pace quickened. He crossed from boredom to a twisted kind of excitement. "Hahahaha, this is so boring! Being bored is surprisingly fun! I never thought I could enjoy boredom like this," Aeren laughed, his pace increasing as he killed even faster.
As Aeren eliminated all the monsters around him, Luca suddenly approached.
BAM!
He managed to throw a punch at Aeren, but Aeren blocked it before Luca could reach his face or body. "Hmm, you finally came, huh? I never thought a coward like you would have the courage to fight me, you slave." Aeren's calm and cold tone reached Luca as he raised his hand.
SLAM!
BAM!
Aeren slammed Luca to the ground and jumped into the air, preparing to finish him with a single punch. He descended from the sky at twice the speed he had ascended, aiming to strike Luca. However, Luca dodged the punch, which instead hit the ground, creating a small crater.
"You're quite skilled; you can dodge," Aeren complimented Luca, genuinely surprised by his reflexes.
"Fuck off," Luca replied defiantly as he sprinted toward Aeren, confidence in his eyes as he closed the distance between them.
BOOM!
"Yup, you're useless. A slave will always be a slave." Before Luca could reach Aeren, he collapsed as if he were nothing. Aeren then turned his focus back to his new prey, who were running away from him.
A few hours later, Aeren walked over the corpses of the monsters that had captured him by chance. As he stepped on them, he realized that no one else was alive; he was the only one left in the oppressive silence. He recognized the fear frozen in the faces of the corpses beneath his feet, but that fear had vanished as he dispatched all the useless slaves surrounding him. Aeren sensed that someone was using them as pawns in a larger game, but he didn't care about their master or their plans. He was here to experience the adventure of life. Aeren sighed as he surveyed the corpses around him.
"Do you know," Aeren began whispering to himself as he sat down among the dead, "I once encountered silence. When I was searching for my freedom, I studied the knowledge of that world, yet I still didn't find the freedom I longed for. I looked around and realized I was alone in a small room filled with a mountain of books, and that's when I truly encountered silence. That day, I faced my first abyss: Silence."
"Silence was consuming my time, and as it did, I observed it for a while. When my patience wore thin, I asked it a question: 'Why are you consuming my time without giving me anything in return?'"
Silence looked at me, but no words came from its presence. Yet, I understood its message without it needing to speak. It conveyed, "I come to give you fear, but you have never accepted fear." I heard its words, even though no sound was made. While Silence spoke of fear, I had already mastered all my emotions and feelings, so it didn't affect me. I understood that it wanted to offer me something but couldn't because I had transcended my fear.
I nodded in response but felt something was wrong; I was giving something but receiving nothing in return. So, I questioned again, "What could you give me other than fear? I can't allow you to consume my time without receiving anything. So tell me, what will you give?"
My question confused Silence; it had never anticipated this inquiry. "I can't give you anything, but I can allow you to consume me, which would increase your understanding beyond your comprehension," Silence replied as it offered me a glimpse into its abyss.
I accepted its glimpse of silence and consumed the silence around me, and in that moment, silence gave me my first step toward freedom.