Arthur:(Yo, wsu) — while raising his hand to wave at the human.
Then, in a sudden instant, the human—dressed all in brown, his long hair flowing—turned around smoothly and moved to cut Arthur. Shocked, Arthur barely avoided the strike, but it still sliced off his right arm, right leg, and tore a bit from his body.
Arthur:(Not nice... You could've cut me in half. Chill, this might be hard even for me.)"I only have 200k Natural energy left. Changing my body and using your world soul power drained a lot of it… what a headache."
The human moved swiftly without a word, attacking Arthur with a sword that looked like a samurai's.
Arthur responded by making daggers from his hair, and they kept battling. But the human was more skilled and experienced in combat. In one move, he stabbed Arthur's hand, making the right dagger disappear, then grabbed the other hand and jumped, flipping midair to kick Arthur's neck. It all happened so fast Arthur couldn't react.
Arthur fell to the ground, and before he could do anything, the human placed two fingers on Arthur and said:(Live your dream… and forget.)
Arthur's eyes glowed white, and he passed out.
The human breathed heavily, saying:(If he used his energy, it might cause me a problem.)"Anyway... is he human? Hard to believe... What the hell am I seeing?"
Arthur's body began to change—shifting into many creatures at once—his eyes glowing white, screaming.He transformed into a giant monstrosity made from many strange and normal creatures, full of eyes, hands, and darkness.
In a second, more than a hundred hands attacked the human.
He reacted quickly—cutting, moving, dodging, flipping, even crawling sometimes—but Arthur kept changing. At some point, the human barely survived. Normal things like fire, ice, and thunder were bad enough, but now it was getting worse—darkness itself began attacking him. Some eyes, when looked at, made him feel sick, and they spat poison at him.
The human knew if this continued, Arthur might become something stronger, so he decided to awaken him after making him sleep.
But in reality, Arthur couldn't keep going—this transformation was using a lot of Natural energy, converting it into soul energy. He started with 200k, now only 100k remained. When it reached zero, he would stop.
The human decided to get into Arthur's head. He dodged thunder, avoided hands coming at him, and stepped over fire bursting from the ground. His movements were perfect but his body was at its limit. Finally, he made it—putting his two fingers on Arthur again, saying:
(Let me see!!)
While screaming, the smell of grass mixed with rain filled the air. A giant creature stood alone in the darkness, unmoving.
That was Arthur.
Now, the human was inside Arthur's mind.
"Ahh… I thought he was human, then a creature… now, what should I call him...?"
The place was completely dark. Arthur was in his 16-year-old form, drowning, as if giving up. The human swam deeper into the water—the deeper he went, the heavier and harder it became to see. His senses began to fade.
When he finally reached Arthur, the scene shifted—it became like a high school. Arthur, in his original form with lifeless eyes, arrived at the classroom. He looked at a boy wearing a school uniform, yellow hair, pitch-black eyes like a void.
Arthur said:(Yo, Sunset, let's chill. I'm so bored.)
Sunset replied:(Nah, let's just stay here. Too lazy to go anywhere.)
Arthur:(Fine, you emo.) — making a silly face.
The two sat together, talking a lot, while the human watched silently. Then suddenly, he showed his sword at Arthur's face.
After Arthur saw his reflection, he started laughing. The scene shattered. He looked at the human and said:(You really thought I didn't know I was sleeping? Here, I'm the king and I can kill you any moment, you gross fool.)
His face turned mad, his eyes a mix of black and white, swirling like a void.
Then the place started changing—from sky, to hell, to forest, to icy fields, to playgrounds, clubs, and sports arenas—while Arthur flew around the human, smiling.
Suddenly, the human said:(Pathetic. Even though you know you're sleeping, you can't wake yourself.) — with a look of disgust.
Everything stopped. Many eyes appeared, staring at the human. Arthur's eyes opened wide, glowing.
(YOU... who do you think you are, huh?) — his voice creepy and sharp.
(DO YOU THINK I COULDN'T WAKE? What's the point in waking up, huh? To loop the same day again, same feelings, same faces? Even my best friend—the only one left—I couldn't tell him anything because he was worse off. You know why I don't wake up? Not because I'm weak or running away. I'm just tired. Tired of dealing with this shitty world's problems. So... tired.)
His eyes went empty.
Arthur's hands slowly went to his head, trembling as if carrying the weight of a thousand sorrows. His breath came in shallow, ragged gasps—each one heavier than the last—like he was drowning not in water, but in his own despair.
Silent tears traced cold rivers down his cheeks. No loud sobs, no cries—just a quiet breaking. A boy lost in a sea of emptiness, screaming inside without a sound.
His body shook gently with the effort of holding in the storm inside him, yet the pain was raw and undeniable, stretching through his eyes, his soul.
"It's the core of the soul," Arthur whispered, voice cracked and fragile, "the very essence of every human being. Everyone has one—a glowing center of light and darkness mixed together, balanced or unbalanced, hidden deep inside. I can feel others' souls—their pain, their happiness—but I've never truly felt mine. It's like my core is shattered or missing… and that's driving me insane."
His hand fell slowly from his head as tears continued to fall like falling stars in a dark sky—unseen by the world but burning inside.
The human watched silently. He didn't understand, but he couldn't do anything except watch. After a while, Arthur stopped crying, healed the marks on his face from the tears, and pushed the human out of his mind.
The human looked up and saw the giant creature shift back into Arthur.
-
In a castle, a king and his son talked.
King:(You're going to stay in the café for training, son?)
Prince:(Yes, Father.)
King:(Good. You may become even more powerful than me. Your sister will have her trial soon. We must save this planet.)
Prince:(Yes, Father.) — though his eyes showed silent disagreement.