.
.
.
"Hah… Hah… Hah… Hah…"
Why does he always look so tired?
The student assistant asked whether Darius wanted refreshments, but he refused. He continued to stare at the other boy across that rectangular arena, each holding their own smirk. One slowly began realizing that it was not just him who had to fake it.
He stared at the girl who once drove them apart, who didn't even show a slight interest in him. Only staring at the one across. At a certain point in time, that level of focus would drive the two crazy.
'He just needs to get his head out of the gutter! Seriously, man?! Everyone knows they have liked that girl since they were kids, one more than the other!'
He's right… Sephalyn… If only you stared at me…
So why?
Why isn't he excited that the girl of our dreams is looking at him?
Why didn't he celebrate getting a hit or two on me?
If this duel is really to prove he's better, then the sensations of my forearm cracking should bring a wider smile to his face.
…Fuck it hurts so bad…
Even with the numbing ointment being rubbed against his arms, it hurt him so greatly. But the place where Darius so wished that numbness would encapsulate him.
Was his heart.
He didn't taunt me; he isn't interested in winning; I bet he isn't even trying to beat me.
How far have you burned yourself… How did you increase the gap between us this much?
In power and in friendship… How much were you willing to burn for your ideals?
Once upon a time, this question plagued both of them:
"If becoming the greatest leaves nobody left to know you, not even yourself, what exactly became great?!"
.
.
.
A boy raises his hand to the other, as their guardians leave them in the garden to chat. There were more children all around them, laughing and running through the fields. In fact, some of them were even floating in the air.
However, these two individuals felt a force greater than fate attracting them to each other.
"Hey! My name is Darius, Darius Azareyl! Nice to meet you!"
"oh. my name is caelum veldt. nice to meet you too."
Before the less enthusiastic one could perceive it, flames engulfed both of their clasped hands.
"Hahaha! You should see the look on your fa— Oh?"
It was a common trick used by the Brute to surprise other children upon their first greeting. He would never mean them harm; the flames were just ignited at an angle that made it seem as tho their hands were on fire.
What the Brute would not expect was that this less enthusiastic boy had already coated their hands in a layer of liquid, while activating his own Thaumitonic Shielding to disperse and absorb a majority of the heat.
Out-Treading Thaumitonic Shielding was not something 6-year-olds should have known, let alone the fact that he simultaneously In-Threaded the T.H.O.M.C Clause Construct in response to his 'provocation'.
"Huh?! What an interesting fellow… Caelum Veldt, right?"
"mhm… do you try to light people on fire every time you greet them?"
"I mean… Yeah, I do… But you… Have you heard of me before? Or… Wait… Actually… What Resonance Archetypes do you have?"
"all."
"Argh… Don't lie—"
"i'm not lying! wanna see?"
"Yeah! Show me!"
Out of the ground, a small pillar of carefully selected minerals rose upwards. To keep the altar intact briefly, a gust of wind began swirling and centering around the soil structure before liquid out of thin air raced towards it. The muddy structure now resembled an altar of clay that Caelum began to mold, with fires in his hand.
The result was a sculpted basin of water in the middle of the garden.
"phew… i could have done better a second tim—"
"Woah! That's so cool! What the fuck!"
"Language! Darius!"
"Sorry Ma'am… Hehe…"
Quite similar to another young chap he was.
This was the first instance where Darius truly found a particular individual interesting.
It was the start of Caelum and Darius' friendship.
.
.
.
48 seconds left… When was it when I first noticed…
.
.
.
4th of 8th Month.
"Dude your doing it wrong. How tf can you do things so much more complicated than this? Twist your wrist more and angle your hips, step in as you throw the jab, keep your rear hand to your face."
"like this?"
The second try was picture perfect.
"Hehe! Yeah, good job! Keep it like this from now on."
Wow… Lucky hi—
"uss… uss uss…"
The following jabs and crosses were picture perfect.
"Woa— Try adding P.T.P to your punches. Like this!"
"P.T.P. P.T.P. P.T— Argh shit… P.T.P!"
Darius fired three in total.
"okay… p.t.p… p.t.p… p.t.p… p.t.p…"
Although the power and pace of the fireballs coming out of his fist were lower and slower, his form and stance were still picture perfect, retaining the previous teachings perfectly. Attempting it once more, the pace and power began growing rapidly, exponentially, one could say.
Three paces became Two.
"p.t.p.. p.t.p.."
Two became One.
"p.t.p. p.t.p."
Even the distance of Clause Construct was increasing until, at one accidental point, the tree in the distance was set ablaze.
"p.t.p— oh!"
"Caelum, stop! Shit! Put it out using Water Noësis!"
"aight! uh…. h.m.p!"
What erupted from Caelum's palm was a pulse of water, pulse being an understatement. It was akin to a jet propulsion of water from his palm. More so than the previous time Darius watched him perform the same Clause Construct.
.
.
.
25 seconds… What makes him so different from us all… Not even they can compete against him…
.
.
.
25th of the 12th Month.
It was an ordinary day by all means. Darius was a smart little boy; he taught everything he knew to Caelum and theorized on ways to improve himself based on the student himself.
Winners focus on winning; losers focus on winners… You've got this! Darius!
He felt no shame in being the weaker one; he felt no envy of being the less talented. As long as they continued to remain the closest, bestest of friends.
He was fine with the ever-growing gap.
But it was the 'gift' given to these two on that fateful day that turned the gap into a singularitarian void.
"Introducing… The Three and Only… Princesses of the World! Sephalyn Veledônia of La Casa Veledônia, Turaiya Elenos of the Dynasty of Elenos, and Anzhelika Knyagatyrsk Golatsyn of the UKSR!"
The visit of all three royal families to the biggest orphanage in the world was considered an annual gift on each family's part to the generation of the future. All the kings and queens humbled themselves and mingled amongst those less fortunate; this included the princesses.
It was the first time the two boys had seen such elegant and beautiful girls.
And it was the first time the girls had heard of an Anomaly amongst their Generation.
It started with Rayyan Qadir Elenos, father to Turiaya, King of the Worlds, the God-King who interacted with every orphaned present. But he noted two specific individuals.
It was he who originally knelt to two boys.
"Good noon, gentlemen, what are you young chaps doing under this tree?"
"who are yo—"
"It's a pleasure to your majesty; pardon my friend's cluelessness. Today is quite the sunny day; therefore, we have sought refuge under this fine shade."
"At ease, young chap. Please speak normally with me. What are your names?"
"caelum veldt."
"Darius Azareyl, your honor."
"What names… Would you not like to join the others?"
At this rate, Caelum gave up on talking, relying on Darius instead.
"Ah… We would love to bu—"
"Father." A surprisingly strong tug on the king's robe was noted by them all.
"Apologies, young men, give me a moment."
The Monarch faced the ruler over him.
His daughter.
"Father. What is the other connotation of the word 'Monster'?" Turaiya posed.
Following her, two additional girls their age approached.
"My… What a peculiar question you pose to me, Yaya. Why do you ask this?"
"Because of him." Azhelika pointed at Caelum.
Darius found it weird that the seeming passion in his eyes disappeared.
"Yo! You two are Caelum Veldt and Darius Azareyl, right?"
It was Sephalyn who barged in, as King Rayyan took her daughter away to answer her question in private.
It was love at first sight for one of the two.
"Y-your highness… A-ah… Yes… I'm Darius. Nice to meet you."
"hi… i'm caelum…"
"Dude! Have some respect!"
"ok…"
Sephalyn and Anzhelika sat down across the two.
"Tell us… Why do they call you—"
"Father. It's because they call him a 'Monster'."
King Rayyan turned to where his daughter was pointing.
He expected it to be Darius, a kid that confident in his speech must be equally confident in his arts.
But the direction where she pointed.
Was to an antisocial boy.
Caelum Veldt… Hoh?
.
.
.
10 seconds left… Hah… What a coincidence…
I love you two… I'm sure I do… But for one of you… I still hate you…
You turned him into this distant bastard… That other dude isn't the First Anomaly…
You are…
A tear ran down his scratched face.
.
.
.
After the meeting of the royals, 10 years passed by, and the two friends became more distant.
The now-turned Brute of Flames watched the First Anomaly train daily with him.
He watched as the First Anomaly began staying up later, skipping annual festivals.
He watched as the Monster skipped more of their outings and training.
He watched as the Genius gained more comparison from other orphans and the royals alike.
He eventually watched as his best friend stopped smiling, talked less, laughed less, and grew so much more powerful.
He did not compete in the amateur bouts that Darius did. But he knew that if the boy were to compete. Not one single person their age would be able to fathom his existence, let alone beat him in a duel.
With the sole exception of Darius, of course.
Why? Every year, the royals come and challenge him, and he doesn't even flinch. They beat me so easily with their Regal Winds, Lightning and Ice… But when I… Against him… Do the same mistakes they do… No… More mistakes they make.
He leaves himself open for me?
I somehow win?
I know it's not mockery… Caelum isn't like that… So why?
Ah… He's less human every time I speak to him… I know… Be it as delusional as it may be… He's sacrificing himself… He's burning his humanity to meet their ideals. He must be the First Anomaly of this Generation… At the expense of himself… And by way of losing to me… he might be reminding himself of what makes him human…
.
.
.
7 seconds left… We fell out 7 months ago… Ain't that right?
Haha…
.
.
.
It was one thing that represented life outside of achievement.
That thing, or per se, person, was Sephalyn Veledônia.
Although the Princesses were relatively close to orphans, and in part, Caelum and Darius. It was Sephalyn who was the closest to Darius. She who assisted in their vigorous, passionate pursuit of Fire Noësis by giving upperclass teaching, and grew a bond so close to the two.
But at a certain point in time, that care turned into worry.
"Caelum… I, future representative of La Casa Veledônia, urge you to stop and back off in your pursuit of Noësis temporarily."
"why should i?"
"Can't you see?! You're losing yourself every single time you copy Yaya's or my Clause Construct! Every time you face Anzhi in spar, your eyes become less and less bright! Has that darkness blinded you?! Every orphan, every caretaker, every royal that has visited cares for you! Your best friend is so worried he asked me to talk to you!"
Darius looked away; he was amongst the other orphans who watched as Caelum was about to leave the orphanage.
Permanently.
The rambling went on and on, eventually reaching a point where Caelum just left.
Darius tried to reach out, but stopped himself just shyly. To face back and see the girl who tried her best.
By all metrics, Sephalyn did the right thing.
She was caring, kind, and worried for another, an orphan at that, as a royal not even of this continent.
But that was what frustrated Darius the most.
.
.
.
3…
Why are you worried about him? When he chose that for himself! Based on the expectations held by you! You all! I thought… by giving him the chance to meet with one of the greatest sources of his issues… He would have recovered…
But looking at him now… All of you have failed! Why would you choose words when your repeated acts are what started this! I knew when to stop him! But YOU chose to push him! For the sake of your own evolution, you forced him to burn his ideals hotter, for yours! Be responsible and keep up!
I've failed as well… I couldn't keep up at the time… I needed you to use violence to convince him…
I should have grown stronger to do that myself.
.
.
.
"Caelum! Power is valuable because it allows you to live a richer human life! If becoming the greatest leaves nobody left to know you, not even yourself, what exactly became great?!"
Human life is meant to be preserved! What he is doing right now is—
"darius… life is valuable only insofar as it can be converted into literature that imparts power to achieve an objective."
"Tha— Y-you— Why would you think like tha—"
"think about it darius… fare—"
.
.
.
2…
In some sense he's right… Life is literature… But…
.
.
.
"When did winning become enough?"
"always was."
"You used to enjoy this?"
"once."
"Why keep going?!"
"because stagnation is the greatest form of failure."
.
.
.
1…
But… Literature should not be stopped short, nor should it be burnt to the past!
Come!
I have grown so much more in the time of your absence.
I will return the favor that I should have given 10 years ago.
I will copy and steal the sparks of your flame as you did me!
"Caelum!"
All eyes turned to Darius, now smiling genuinely.
Once the 1 minute was over, they stood up once again and got into stance. Darius gestured for a glove bump, the same that he rejected. But Caelum accepted to meet in the middle. This time, a proper fistbump was given between the friends.
It was an unsanctioned T.M.T.I from Darius, setting their fist ablaze.
And through that, pulled a hug from Darius to Caelum, as the yearner pulled his best friend in.
"Veldt… Is your humanity still there?"
"Always in front of me."
"But how much of it are you planning to burn? For your ideals and theirs?"
"All of it… Till the Book is entirely Burnt."
"And if there's nothing left?"
"Then with the ashes, I write what is necessary."
Darius couldn't help but cry into his friend's shoulder.
"Hah… Fuck you, man… Let's do this like we once did."
The referee finally managed to separate the two. Darius, provokingly, pushed Caelum's chest off.
Finally, with the same movement to initiate the duels.
Let your humanity burn you to ashes… and rise from it once more!
The clap of the hands and bringing them down:
Began the 2nd Round.