Pulling the cord with all his might, he sent the fatty down. Soren could hear the breath leave his lungs as he hit the floor.

  ‘The dumb bastard actually fell for it! He was too busy chasing after me to notice the threads wrapping around his leg.’

  As he dashed to the boy, the threads connecting his hand and the cord vanished. The radiant rope he had wasted hours of his lifespan making, dissolved into nothing. But the opportunity it made for him would not be wasted.

  Just as the chubby weaver attempted to pull himself up, Soren’s fist came down fast, sending the boy’s head back into the dirt.

  “Not so funny now is it?! You think what happened to me was a joke?”

  Soren continued to pummel the boy, his fists becoming stained crimson. With each strike, droplets of blood splattered onto his face. His hands were becoming numb, each strike he delivered carried more anger than the last.

  “Don’t even think about surrendering… I want to take my sweet time.”

  He wasn't sure why, but the anger he felt seemed unwarranted. Sure the fatty had insulted him, even made fun of the tragic fate of his siblings. But was that a good enough reason to pummel him like this?

  ‘Why do I care? He deserves it… Everything I've been through, all the things I’ve suffered. And he makes jokes?’

  Right and wrong didn’t matter anymore… The only thing that mattered was finding Killian. He would pummel as many shit heads as it took. Who cares what others thought of him, would their praise bring them back?

  ‘No! This world is cruel and sick, It takes everything you hold dear. You can’t bargain with it, or beg for its mercy, there is only one thing it listens to… Violence.’

  Deep down he knew he was in the wrong. Fatty was an obnoxious asshole sure, but he didn’t deserve this.

  ‘Why do you care?’

  That one night had ruined his life, it was no joke.

  ‘Yeah. Why do I care? So what if one little piggy dies, no one will miss him.’

  A small, almost unnoticeable smirk appeared on his face. This felt good, so good. He felt so clear, like the world around him became so quiet.

  ‘Are you going to let him get away with insulting them?’

  His smirk widened.

  ‘No…’

  He felt so much anger, so much hatred, but even so there was something else… Excitement.

  Just as he brought his fist down, a powerful gust of air shot him upwards. Landing with a thud just a few feet from the bloody weaver, Soren shot his hate fueled gaze at the boy.

  Fatty staggered to his feet, blood dripping from his face. Even though Soren put everything he had into those punches, fatty still managed to stay conscious. He didn’t even seem dazed. His face was swollen, cuts were present on his cheek and nose, it didn’t seem right that he was standing. Yet he was.

  “You little shit! You wanna join your family that bad, huh? Fine, I’ll send you to meet them!”

  Pulling himself up, Soren stared at the bloody pig. Even through his blinding anger, he somehow felt… Aware. Everything he had been struggling with so far, seemed so simple now. It wasn’t a realization, more so his body knew just what to do. As he faced the bloody boy, a twisted grin appeared on his face.

  “Well don’t just stand there Piggy!”

  Dashing in recklessly, threads of soul began to flow from his palms. They didn’t weave into any sequence, nor any construct, they simply followed with him. They moved with him, reacting to his intentions, as if they had a mind of their own.

  It seemed that fatty also found his second wind, several long sequences formed in each of his hands. Once complete he launched four large waves of air at Soren. They were much faster than before, the size had also increased.

  ‘Oh, was he holding back? Good… I’d hate for him to make this easy on me.’

  His body moved on its own, reacting to each of the spells. Seeing where he fired them from, then preemptively moving before they could reach him. It was like he was dancing around Piggy.

  He couldn’t help but laugh, watching the boy struggle to reach him was far too funny. It was loud, almost hysteric, but he couldn’t suppress the laughter.

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  “Come on! You’re gonna have to try harder than that!”

  He got closer and closer, eluding each attempt to strike him. What was this feeling? He had never experienced anything like it before. This clarity was intoxicating, he never wanted to lose it.

  ‘It’s good right? This feeling of power, making others feel helpless… Now you get to make them scared, make them suffer.’

  His soul felt different… Like it was pulsing. No. It was beating, matching his heart.

  ‘Yes, It’s incredible.’

  Fatty raised his hand, three lines of runes formed together, he was going to knock him away. But before he finished, the threads of soul shot forward, wrapping themselves around fatty. Soren was hit with an incredibly powerful burst of air, but the threads kept their hold on the bloody boy.

  Grinning ear to ear, Soren stood in place as the torrent of wind dissipated.

  “Nice try!”

  Piggy’s face paled, raising his hand, he prepared to cast the same spell. Before he could, Soren delivered a punch to his gut. Clutching his stomach he bent over, firmly grasping the back of his head, Soren’s knee planted itself in the pigs face.

  “I wonder how much you can take!”

  His heart and soul continued to beat faster, their sound drowning out the world around him.

  ‘Let’s find out.’

  Again and again, he slammed his knee into the boy’s head, waiting for it to cave in. Even after all the trauma done to his head, Piggy remained standing. His hands shot upwards, grasping Soren’s neck firmly.

  There was so much strength behind those hands, it was unnatural. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t break free. Removing one of his hands from Soren’s neck, a line of a few sequences formed in fatty’s palm.

  His eyes were full of malice.

  “I’ll kill you!!”

  Fatty shoved his palm to Soren’s mouth, suddenly It felt like all the air in his lungs was being sucked out. His lungs seemed to cave in, as waves of maddening pain radiated through his body. Fatty dropped Soren to the ground, blood trickling from his mouth.

  ‘Gah!’

  He clutched his chest tightly, his vision blurring. No matter how hard he tried, no air would enter his lungs. He was suffocating, that fat bastard had destroyed his lungs.

  ‘I can’t breathe! I need to do something… Anything!’

  He could try using the mending sequence, but that would only make it worse. That sequence was meant to fuse two pieces together, it had been incredible at closing open cuts. The damage he received needed a skilled weaver to repair.

  ‘Dying… I’m… Dying!’

  He was going to die here, at the hands of someone like that pig. That angered Soren, that idea that this was good enough to kill him. It was disgraceful… He hated this.

  ‘Someone like him? I have to die like this? All the things I’ve done and this is how it ends… This isn’t fair.’

  Soren had survived so much, fought so hard. He outsmarted peace keepers, survived Killian’s ritual, even killed a lieutenant. All of that, for an ending like this.

  Looking up at the crowd watching them, he saw the terrified expressions of young weavers.

  ‘Help… Help me!’

  The instructor stood there watching them, his eyes never leaving Soren.

  The harmonic beating of his heart and soul seemed to speed up, their drumming growing louder.

  ‘Are you just going to sit there and let him get away with this?’

  Soren clenched his fists.

  ‘What can I do? I’m gonna die, I can’t heal this.’

  No one was going to help him, he was alone.

  ‘Return the favor.’

  His vision was blurring too much, he could feel unconsciousness calling him.

  ‘Take him with you! Let his screams be the last thing you hear. He made you feel weak, made you look pathetic! How many people are you gonna let humiliate you? Stop being a coward! Grit your teeth, stand back up, show this fat bastard just who you are!’

  As if possessing a mind of its own, his body stood up. Piggy was frozen in place, too stunned to speak. Dozens of soul threads emerged from all over his body, shooting towards the pig, but instead of wrapping around him, they joined together.

  More and more threads formed, Soren had lost count of exactly how many. It didn’t matter, minutes, hours, days. The pig needed to die, no matter what.

  Joining together, the shining threads formed together into a simple line of four runes.

  ‘Do it!’

  Fatty tried to run, but he found himself surrounded by dozens of the same sequence.

  Fire.

  A massive torrent of fire engulfed the boy, his anguished screams filled the arena. He fell to the floor, thrashing around. His entire body had been doused in orange flames, his skin was blistering. He desperately reached out a charred hand to Soren, trying to form a sequence.

  The threads of his soul couldn’t manage to properly form a sequence, leaving him helpless. Soren gave the pig a wide grin, his teeth stained by blood.

  His body finally gave out, as he collapsed beside the burning pig. His screams were nearly drowned out by the slowing beat of his heart and soul.

  ‘Well done…’

  Before he could fall unconscious, one thought remained in his mind.

  ‘... Who was I talking to?’

  His vision blurred, as fatty writhed around next to him. Standing above Soren, the instructor had a look of shock and interest on his face. He held out his hand, as complex rings of runes formed. The rings formed around each other, spinning, making them almost look like a sphere.

  As everything went dark, he heard the cold man speak. His voice was no longer callous, now it seemed to house disappointment.

  “You fail…’