Now, with the conflict suddenly dispersed, Zylus being the only one who recognized what truly happened made him build a new emotion. He didn't know what it was, though. He felt a strange pull in his chest—a nervous energy—but he smiled. What is this? Excitement? Fear?
As he lay there, trying to process everything, Lucky suddenly bolted.
"Lucky!" Zylus shouted, springing to his feet and sprinting after him.
He chased the dog through winding alleys, wooden bridges swaying beneath their weight, leaves whipping past them in blurs of green and gold. Lucky darted like lightning, focused, determined.
Finally, he stopped. Frozen. Staring.
Zylus followed his gaze.
A vast field opened before them, glowing with a strange light. It was like something out of a dream. People walking together, entering stores together, laughing and living together. Zylus had never laid foot in a town before today. Especially one this big. "Is this… family?" Zylus whispers to himself.
He was even shocked to see them throw trash together. That was never something he'd been allowed to do, not with anyone. But more than anything, he was astonished at the constant beautiful glow surrounding the town's square. "Where am I? Who are these people? Why do my questions continue to gather?" Zylus had too many questions unanswered. He couldn't find a solution, though. His main goal was to discover his Amora.
But something was off.
He could sense it, something different. It was in the people's expressions. Then, one by one, they began turning. Staring. Not at him, but at Lucky.
Figures gathered. Shouting. Raging.
Lucky felt afraid. "Woof! Woof!" Screams at them in confusion.
"Look at that monster of a beast!" someone screamed.
"Stay away, kid! He'll kill you!"
"Woof! Woof!" Once again, Lucky barks loudly towards the crowd that has begun circling them both.
Zylus stumbled forward, confused.
Are they talking about Lucky? What? He's just a dog!
"He's not a monster! He's my pet!" Zylus cried out.
"Woof! Woof!" Lucky barks in acceptance of Zylus' cries.
The people surrounding Zylus and Lucky didn't care. They didn't stop to think for even a moment. Zylus pondered on this thought. Why do they hate my pet? A harmless small dog at that.
"Kill them both!" More voices echoed.
"Where are the Beastguard enforcers?!"
A gust of wind spiralled through the field. Then a figure emerged—calm, poised, deadly. A long cloak swirled around his ankles. A thin scar cut across his cheek like a jagged crack in stone. His eyes were sharp and unblinking.
"I'm here," the man said coolly, voice like gravel dragged across silk. "Beastguard Elite."
"Oh, thank God—kill the beast and the boy! The boy is siding with the beast!" someone shouted.
The mysterious man smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"For today…" He raised a hand, gathering air that curled and spun around his arm like a serpent. "I'll use, hmmm, Flautulence Gale."
The man inhaled deeply, raising his shoulder and arms, his body tight and his senses sharpened. "Wind of the whoopee king." He screamed.
As the weird man screams this out, the crowd surrounding Zylus, Lucky, and the man bursts out. Not with terror, but with laughter. Not tears of fear, but mockery. He didn't pose a threat to them. Zylus was a joke in their eyes.
It didn't matter to Zylus, he never wanted to be posed as a threat. But for some reason, this-this-humiliation… he hated it. "Can I access my Amora?" He wondered, trembling.
He didn't want it to end this way. Even through all the pain he suffered since being born, from his father, from his family, from the ones who despised him. He wanted a way out. Was it all going to collapse just when he'd found something worth chasing?
Is this a joke? This can't be real. Why me? Why is this happening to me!?
But the swirling cyclone forming at the man's palm told him it wasn't.
The man thrust his arm forward. Wind tore through the earth like a jagged blade, uprooting grass and stone. Zylus dove to the side, the gale missing by inches. He hit the ground hard, rolling.
"All of you laughing… You think you're better than me. I hate you. I'll show you. I'll show you all!" Zylus screamed, forcing himself upright.
"Woof! Woof!" Lucky barking back instinctively, a spark of connection igniting between him and Zylus.
The man drew a second weapon—curved daggers crackling with wind energy. He charged, swift as a hawk, blades slashing in a deadly rhythm.
Zylus barely dodged the first slice, the air from the strike searing his cheek. He ducked, spun, and grabbed a broken tree branch from the ground. It splintered on contact with the dagger, but it gave him just enough time to roll away.
He's too fast… too strong…
"I have a life too, you know! I wanted to do something-something all of you haven't ever done!" Zylus screams to the sky. His voice scaled towards the crowd.
Just before the final strike landed, the world blinked. Grass gave way to stone, shouts to silence. As if time itself had warped.
Zylus now stood beside the man who had tried to kill him, both poised at the edge of a towering cliff. Far below, the angry crowd had faded into insignificance, ghosts swallowed by mist. The wind howled softly, not in menace, but in calmness. As if the world itself was holding its breath again.
As Zylus raised his head toward the man, his mind spiralled. Thoughts crashing into each other like waves. Then instinct took over. "Stay back! I said stay back!" He shouted, voice shaking as he stumbled into a defensive stance, eyes locked on the man who meant to kill him.
"Listen. I'm not your enemy. But I'm not your ally either. This town's been overrun by magical beasts in the past... Creatures unlike anything you've seen. Including the one standing beside you." The man spoke with a heavy tone, like someone who had seen too much to hope for peace.
Zylus stepped forward, fists clenched and voice sharp. "He's not a beast! Don't call him that!"
"Tell that to the ones turning against you down there," the man said, nodding toward the crowd below the tip of the cliff. "All they've ever known is fear. That even our pets might hide beasts inside. Can you blame them, after the great invasion four years ago?"
"But my Lucky has nothing to do with this!" Zylus says, his voice breaking with sadness.
"Woof, woof." Lucky barks, stepping forward in defence, his eyes locked on the man as if to protect his friend.
"They don't care." The man's voice hardens. "Their families have been lost because of these raids. Raids caused by animals. Creatures just like your Lucky. Listen here, boy, I don't have time to argue about the past anymore."
"But, but-" Zylus stammers, cut off abruptly by the man before he can finish.
"Now we stand atop Mount Carmel," the man interrupts, his voice a low growl. "Below lies the city of Mire Valley-hailed by outsiders as a place of wonder and perfection. But beneath the surface, it's anything but." He casts a long, disappointed look down at the town below, his eyes shadowed with regret and hard truths.
Zylus takes a deep breath, his chest rising and falling slowly. With a sense of calm now settling over him, he straightens himself, standing tall at the edge of the cliff. His gaze sharpens, the weight of more pressing questions on his mind. "Who are you?" Zylus asks, his voice steady, cutting through the tension like a blade.
"I'm a joker," the man replied, turning his head. "I play tricks… magic tricks."
"Weird… Either way, where am I?" Zylus asks furiously.
"Look down this cliff. What do you see?"
Zylus looked. "People. People who wanted to kill me."
Suddenly—
"Duck!" the man shouted.
Zylus dropped to the ground. Arrows whistled overhead. Figures emerged from the trees—dark elves, cloaked in shadows, eyes glowing with crimson malice.
"Watch this closely. You can learn a thing or two." The Joker said with absolute arrogance.
The Joker didn't flinch. He stepped forward with elegance and menace, unsheathing twin curved blades from beneath his cloak. The air pulsed with pressure.
He vanished—then reappeared behind the elves.
Steel sang.
One by one, the attackers fell, their bodies dropping silently to the grass. Each body was beheaded. Not a single pulse of movement. The man stood tall, not a drop of blood on him. Each move had been precise, flawless. Then he walked slowly and elegantly back towards Zylus.
Zylus stood frozen, awestruck. So this is the power of Amora?
"How did you do that?" Zylus asks in shock.
"Well, a little bit of this and a little bit of that." The man replies.
Zylus blinked. "So what I'm hearing is… You just turned a massacre into a magic trick?"
"Basically." The Joker replied.
"Okay, so what's your name?" Zylus asks in curiosity.
"You first."
"Zylus. Zylus… Hiashi."
"Hiashi?" the man paused. "Interesting. Well… see you later."
"Wait! If you're not going to give me your name. At least teach me. Teach me, Amora!"
The man raised an eyebrow. "Amora, huh? Heard this too many times in my past, now I'm hearing it once again. I'll tell you what, kid, touch me once. Just once. Even my hair, my cloak. But… there's a catch. You've got fifteen seconds. If you do achieve this task, I'll teach you. If you don't… I'll kill you."
"This is my chance… my way out of this nightmare of a hell I've been living."
Zylus, without a second thought, lunged but tripped, crashing face-first into the dirt. "Finished? Already wasted five seconds of your time," the man teased, smirking.
Zylus gritted his teeth, grabbed a handful of sand below his body, and flung it. The grains caught the man's eyes—he staggered, just for a breath.
Zylus surged forward, hand outstretched—only to touch empty air. The Joker had vanished.
"I told you. I play tricks," came the man's voice, echoing playfully. "Ten more seconds…"
"To hell with tricks!" Zylus roared. "I don't have magic. My family hates me. I have nothing. But I'll show you! I'll show you all! Lucky!"
Lucky burst from a bush, leaping behind the joker, jaws wide, ready to bite his cloak. Then, when he thought he caught something, he darted back to Zylus in triumph.
But he didn't. Lucky never caught the piece he thought he did. It was an illusion. They were still not there yet. So close yet so far. The man disappeared once more. However, it was different this time.
Then, he reappeared right behind Zylus, arms folded. Amused. Crouching down to whisper in Zylus' left ear. "Time's up." Laying his playful hands on Zylus' right shoulder. Then, in one last hope of desperation, Zylus tries to spin his body backwards, but he is still too far. But he still didn't want to give up. Zylus then dived right in front of the man, falling face-first into the dry terrain. Face in the dirt, coughing. But the man still dodged. "There's really no way of beating this bastard, is there?" Zylus whispers to himself while picking himself up.
"Alright, alright. That's enough." The man said, brushing off his cloak.
"So I lost…Take me then. Kill me." Zylus says in agony.
"I'll show you Amora. But don't fall behind. It only gets harder from here. Ready?"
Zylus met his gaze, unshaken. "Why? I lost. You said you'd kill me."
The man smirked. "Well, I find you interesting. Good enough?"
"No. Tell me the truth." Zylus asks as he closes the distance between them.
The man sighed. "Fine. I was given a second chance once. Just returning the favour." He brushed dust from Zylus' face.
"Now, let's go. I guess you can call me Sensei from now on."
"Huh? Go where? I kind of have a curfew."
"A curfew? What are you, twelve?"
"Yes. Yes, I actually am."
The man's jaw dropped. "What?!" The conversation wasn't over between them just yet.
Zylus tilted his head, curious. "So, sensei… I never got the chance to ask. What's your name?"