Mangaka : Fidxair.
Artist :Nil .
Anime company : Jxst fxr.
Later that night
[in a dream] I woke up looking manlier and powerful on high grounds, I took a look at my environment ,to my horror I saw people with different powers killing and fighting each other .
"no no this is not what I wanted,life is not going as I planned" I yelled from above to what I saw,then the grounds started to uproot spikes of red colour it started killing everyone then I cried .
"NOOOOOO! IT CAN'T BE". I saw someone coming out of a giant hole.To my horror it was me. Before I could act he placed his palm on the earth then STRIKE ! a giant spike came out and it struck me in the chest,I was struggling for my life when he walked over to my side and said "goodbye" then he used his hand to chop off my head "AHHHHHHH" I SCREAMED.
I woke later — or maybe hours, maybe minutes — in the bartender's room. The air reeked of stale alcohol and wood. I'd dreamt of standing on a field of broken people, of fighting myself. The other me smiled and drove a red spike through my chest before cutting off my head.
When I gasped awake, my heart was still beating.
"Hey," Devin said from the doorway. HE sat beside me like he always did after I collapsed — calm, unshocked. "You look like hell, Ten. What happened?"
"Nothing," I lied. My voice sounded hollow. "I'm off to work" I said wearing my usual clothes , "thanks for the accomodation." I said.
Outside, the royals found me again — circling like vultures.
"You look pathetic," one sneered, kicking me in the gut. Pain flared, sharp and distant. My anger felt dampened, muted.
The phantom's voice brushed my mind. You're weaker without it, he said, amused.
"Leave me alone!" I barked. My voice carried a promise that tasted like blood. "I'll see you again — when I'm the one who decides who dies."
They laughed and walked away.
*Cough cough cough* I coughed blood again.
"Sheesh kid why do you cough blood?."
"I dunno."
At work, I moved faster than ever. My hands were cold but precise. My mind sharper.
"You did well," my boss said later, counting coins with tired hands. His face darkened. "They took my children."
"What?"
"The nobles. Payment for a debt. Even if I pay, they won't return them." His voice cracked.
I swallowed down the anger. "We should tell someone."
"Don't," he whispered. "You'll get yourself killed."
"Then let me die trying," I said quietly.
He slipped me an address — Brown Wizard Cottage, east side. " My home, come when you can. There are things you should know."
---
Night fell cruelly. I lost a corpse from my wheelbarrow — the family attacked me and left me bleeding in the street.
Back home, my walls looked smaller. I thought about the exam, the school, the pouch of coins. I thought about the phantom and how half of my happiness had been drained away.
It was easier to live without hope, but emptier.
Then, in the dark, I heard him again.
"Phantom of Repercussion," I said aloud.
"Yes?" His voice was amused.
"How do you help me?"
"Symbiosis," he said. "You give, I give. When you were attacked, I siphoned strength from your enemy and gave it to you. We both profit."
"So you can't kill," I said slowly. "You took my happiness because you couldn't take my life."
He laughed softly. "Exactly. Not yet. But if we grow together, I grow stronger."
"Then help me study," I said. "I have the scholarship exam next month."
"Boring," he replied. "But fine."
So I studied. The phantom sharpened my memory, molding my thoughts into patterns. When the day came, I answered every question with mechanical precision.
🔥 End of Reap 5🔥