In a house made of wooden planks and slabs, one wooden table at center of the room, two torches on two opposite side of the room, and a chimney stood in the corner. Knox's eye twitched as he slowly opened his eyes, only to see an unfamiliar ceiling and him lied on a bed.
"I was at the village.....and it was burned....or raided by the bandits," he mumbled.
The boy's black eyes shone with sharp light as he remembered what he witnessed, what he had done and the pebble that struck him at the end.
Knox's eyes narrowed as his try to study this unfamiliar room. By his side, he noticed an old man with cyan color eyes staring at him, as if saying- I know you're awake.
Then he saw it.
His eyes widened ever so slightly at the sight of something mysterious, something he had never seen before.
An Aura.
The Cyan color aura wrapped around the old man like roaring blaze, dense, burning, a force that can reduce anything to ashes in its path.
Knox was shocked inwardly but didn't surfaced any emotion on his face. He noticed the intense heat simmering at his glabella, as if inside him was reacting,
"You should be able to move now," Old man's voice rumbled as deep, heavy and commanding.
Knox decides to stare straight in his eyes, choosing to gain knowledge of the situation before acting further.
"Who are you?" he asked calmly "And...Why am I here?"
"From this point on, you are my disciple. Got it, kid?"
Old man declared his decision, offering no answers to the boy's questions.
Knox fell silent, his expression unreadable, but his thoughts raced in his mind.
Knox with this unwanted answer confirms three things.
First, everything that had happened was real.
Secondly, this old man by his side was no ordinary man, he is not any virtuous guy who helped him out of pity.
And lastly.... He could now somehow see the mysterious force - Aura, even though he had no idea what it truly was.
"I will teach you swordsmanship so that you can one day reign over this world on your own" Old man said, "but in returned, I demand that you make the so-called great Indrath clan perish."
This sentence made the boy realize the old man beside him is no virtuous guardian. He only wants to use him for a vendetta against some clan. Make me reign over this world....yeah what a lie. Maybe he has some ties that doesn't allow him to slaughter the whole clan, or maybe he isn't strong enough to carry out the act alone.
The boy strangely felt pity for the old man, watching him choose someone who can't even shoot an arrow straight.
"I know you're trash, but so what." old man said. "I desire someone who can kill, not only adults but children too, just like that girl in the pink dress."
Knox silent, no emotion surfaced on his face as he listened.
"Kid you're evil", old man with cold expression said. "You just acted all that caring before, but yet you killed a girl who could have been saved."
"And your posses no talent, you are a empty box."
"killing you in this cruel world is as easy as killing an ant under foot"
"Therefore, I will impart my teachings onto you as my successor, so one day you can take revenge on the Indrath clan for burning your village and stealing your so-called peaceful life."
Hearing this, Knox understood the situation. He had been lucky to survive the slaughter, and the old man - Hungry for vengeance against the Indrath clan had been lurking around near the village, searching for any advantage, for any chance that could be used against them.
Fortunately for the old man, a survival of the massacre had became his chance to make use of against them. By shaping this unfortunate boy into killing machine, using him as his cover, the old man could gain opportunities to destroy the Indrath clan.
Knox, his mind cleared and situation understood, circumstances that led to this outcome, and made his decision in splits seconds.
To save his skin from this overwhelmingly strong old man, he replied coldy, "I want revenge too....Please teach me everything you know so I can kill every single one of them."
The old man heard the reply and his lips curled up, as if this outcome was already predicted by him long ago.
To Knox, the old man's plan to bend a teen boy towards revenge against an entire clan sounded like a very selfish-dream. Still, the chance of becoming strong ,even if it's path of evil, was tempting.
Killing an whole clan with just two people. Yeah, dream on.
He told himself he must learn everything the old man could teach, and race against time to kill him before the Indraths ever learned of this connection.
For the moment Knox submitted. In that instant he formed two goals in his mind.
First- to become strong, strong enough to kill this old man and set himself free.
Second- to understand this mysterious force.
Could it be used against this old man?
Could it change his life?
Why could he perceive it now, and not before the massacre?
Questions dwelled in the boy's mind, but now they were sharpened by clear intention.
Knox rose from the bed and examines his body. He only felt one thing, his glabella, hot and tingly.
"Remove your shirt, I'm going to mark the Indrath Stigma onto you" old man said, "This will help you to perceive and feel the energy that peasant can't even imagine."
"Isn't Indrath the clan we're supposed to take revenge against?" boy asked
Old man answered, "It will be easier to infiltrate them, besides it's the method that I know best."
Knox realized, in an instant, that the old man in front of him was once one of the Indraths.
This arose a question in his mind-What past had this old man suffered to make him want to kill his own brethren?
Boys removed his ragged shirt and stood before the old man.
The old man raised his hand, tracing and drawing a zig-zag pattern, top to bottom repeatedly on thin air in front of Knox .
spark... spark...
Knox watched the floating pattern pulse a bright, electric blue. His heart pounding
Then suddenly, the zig-zag drawn pattern, color shifted to deep lightning blue. Old man started to breath fast, his eye glowing in this dimly lit room.
"Turn around quickly", Old man ordered, almost out of breath, voice strained.
Boy immediately turn around, bracing himself.
Old man slowly thrust his open palm toward the Knox's back. Zig-Zag pattern ,deep blue in color smoothly glided forward and pressing itself into his skin, forming a small palm-sized zig-zag brand at top-right of his back.
Knox in pain, started groaning, feeling as if someone with sword had slash opened his back. The pain was so sharp, so consuming, he thought death might have been kinder choice.
breathing heavily...
Knox started to breath and sweat heavily. His throat burning like fire, yet every breath he inhale felt like thread of relief keeping him conscious.
Knox clenched his teeth, his fist trembling, yet he refused to move a step, not even an inch, declaring his vow of becoming strong, no matter if pain felt like sword carving through his back.
As the symbol imprinted completely into his skin, Boy almost wanting to collapse and hug the floor. But he forced himself upright-gasping, trembling, breathing and sweating heavily.
He turned slightly, catching the old man with corner of his eye.
Nothing had changed. The man's aura still burned around him, dense and cyan like living flame.
"You can see it....excellent" old man's voice carried note of joy.
"Tomorrow will be the start of your training, now- sleep"
Before Knox could react, the old man's hand snapped out. The edge of his palm struck the back of the Knox's neck with a clean notion.
Thwack..
Darkness swallowed everything. Knox's body hit the bed before his mind could register the fall.