Garden Of The Abyss

Andraste turned back to him with a sly smile, looking upon his blood-stained form with a look of malicious joy.

I can't evade it. Anything I try, it still reaches me. It's not some invisible extension of his blade, he's…he thought.

"Have you figured it out? "Destiny Bisector"...my ability allows me to bypass the "cause" from effect, making any action I do guaranteed to happen," Andraste told him, "Do you get it now? I meant it when I said it would be impossible to stand against me. Once I use my ability, none can escape my reach."

He could feel his blood run cold for a second as the confirmation of his heart-thumping suspicions, freezing for a moment as he slowly brought his palms together once more. Releasing his 'Void Space', he kept his gaze locked on the knight, who stood with utter, unavoidable bloodlust oozing from his pores.

His attacks are guaranteed to land once he makes the motion; it goes beyond unfair, but it's not unbeatable…nothing is. There is a clear weakness, if it can be called that. He has to make the motion of the action he wants to cement in destiny. He can't just "will" it into reality; that's my key, he thought.

"Vajrapani."

The moment he invoked the divine name, his perception was altered completely, and fundamentally.

What he entered was a stage of amplification, or rather, the coalescence of his strength, centered and optimized–elevating all of his abilities past their normal limits.

It seemed as if every tree had doubled in each sway it took, the rainfall coming down three times as strong, and the form of the knight seemed to take the shape of three men.

But, that wasn't what it was.

What he saw was what laid beyond mortal eyes–he saw the true, untampered future.

Each droplet of rain could be seen meeting his skin seconds before they actually met with his pale complexion; passing breezes were sensed before they swept through the terrorized jungle, and each, minuscule movement of Andraste was seen moments before he made them.

I need more. With only half of my vision, I'm basically cut down to half of the future I could see…I'll do it–just this once, he thought.

Begrudgingly reaching up, he slid the makeshift eye-patch from his face, shoving it into his pocket as he revealed his right eye to the world, seeing through it for the first time.

It immediately felt as if it was swirling around in his eye socket, awakening to the light of the world beyond the veiling fabric.

"That's a nasty eye you got there," Andraste said with a curious look, "How about I pluck it out?"

With his full vision returned to him, it felt as if restraints had been lifted from his body after an arduous journey; across his complete vision, he saw the future in absolute manifestation.

As he looked at Andraste, he saw it: the man beginning to lift his blade in the near, drawing future.

He immediately bolted forward with his utmost speed, forcing Andraste to never make the motion as he was forced to clash with him, blade-against-blade.

"You're a troublesome one," Andraste said, grunting a bit as he combated his hold.

"So I've been told."

Peering into the close future once more, he caught the knight by surprise by swiftly kicking behind his knee to momentarily throw off his balance, causing him to be forced back in their contest of strength.

"Humpf–!" Andraste let out as he lost his balance.

In that split-second that the knight had to take to regain his footing, he slammed his blood-soaked palms together again.

Before he could even invoke the name past his lips, he felt every muscle in his body tighten; constricting and expanding as further arterial fluid spewed from his orifices.

I knew my body wouldn't be able to handle this well…but this is worse than I thought. Even so–! He thought.

"Senju Kannon…!"

In the midst of the mystical jungle, the thousand arms sprouted out from behind him once more, crushing and tearing apart the nearby, vine-covered trees in their summoning.

"You–!" Andraste let out.

Just as the revered knight of Mastorn caught his balance, one of the mighty palms struck against him, resounding with a cascading shock wave that caused the rain to spiral around the surrounding nature.

I don't care how strong you are, Andraste. You won't win, because of the stark difference between you and I, he thought.

After being shot backwards, Andraste caught himself as he used a tree as a launch pad, shattering it in half from the force of his launching kick.

Even with the thousand, divine arms aiming for him, the knight remained elusive in his flashy movements, launching from tree-to-tree at speeds only traceable by peering into the moments laying beyond the present.

"You won't win like this, Ren Nakamura!" Andraste shouted out amidst the rain.

–He swiped his blade while staying dozens of meters away, though it still resulted in a brutal cut appearing on the golden-eyed adolescent's chest.

However, what Andraste did not perceive, was his opponent's willingness to follow through with his own attack, even through the cutting edge of his blade.

"Ghh–!" He let out.

What–? Andraste let out.

With speed that surpassed physical matter, the golden hand swept in front of him like a blur of light before slapping him away like a stray insect–sending him crashing into the side of a stone-laden hill.

"Phew…that smarts…" Andraste muttered as he laid against the shattered stone, bleeding from his forehead.

I wonder…how long has it been since I've felt this alive? He thought.

[Audracia, the "Magic Capital of Mastorn", XXX years prior]

"You really ought to learn how to enjoy life a little more, Andraste!"

As he walked along the bustling, stone-laid streets of the city, he looked down at the youthful girl that spoke to him, who skipped with her hands behind her back, holding a frivolous smile.

"Huh? What's there to enjoy in this shitty world?" He asked with an annoyed tone.

He continued to stroll alongside the peach-haired girl, who wore a similar, dark-brown coated uniform like himself.

In the renowned city of magic, the streets were packed full of people; Mastornians and foreigners alike, most of which were dressed in the famous, emerald robes of the world-revered academy occupying the city: "Briswald School of Magecraft".

The small-statured girl held a playful frown as she walked in front of him, but faced him as she walked in reverse, "Aw! Don't be like that, Andraste! There's plenty to enjoy! Eating exotic food, shopping, finding love! You just have to look for something, that's all!"

"Not interested," He abrasively declined, keeping his eyes forward as if trying his best to ignore her.

"Enjoy life", that's not something I've ever really put much stock into. It's all too fleeting. If I grow attached to something, what's stopping the wind from carrying it off the very next day? All I can do is what I'm good at, I guess. Work, and earn money, he thought.

"Why're you always like this?! Ever since we were kids, you've always been a loner!" The girl asked, stepping in his path.

A visible, perturbed vein pressed against his forehead as his expression remained stoic, having been stopped by the small girl, "Have you ever considered that I just prefer being left alone, Gisela?"

After letting those words out without much thought, he looked down to see the girl's amethyst eyes watering as her lip trembled; holding back plentiful tears like a child that had just scraped their knee.

"Huh? What's the matter, Gisela–"

Just as he asked, reaching out towards the curly-haired, eccentric girl, she ran off without a word as her tears spilled onto the neatly laid cobblestone street.

Did I say something? He thought.

The eyes of the passing academics laid on him as he stood there, clearly being the cause of the scene as the girl disappeared into the crowd.

"What a bother…" He muttered as he rubbed his neck, begrudgingly going after the girl.

That's right…she took the same day off as me. She wanted to spend the day with me…but why? Isn't there a whole lot more interesting things she could be doing than spending the day with a guy like me? He thought.

Paying no mind to the eyes of the people who filled the streets just as he did, he kept his hands tucked into the pockets of his umber coat as he went after the girl.

At every turn, large, architecturally astonishing buildings made of silver stone occupied the city of Magic, though for the one-track-minded man, it all blended together.

"Crap, where the hell did she go…? I'm lost now, too, dammit!" He grunted.

After aimlessly marching through the city, he found himself in an alleyway–by some means.

One quick glance through the shadow-lung, narrow space, and he didn't see Gisela–only a couple, less-than-savory looking individuals.

They dressed in shoddy, hole-ridden clothes, with expressions twisted by poverty; he knew the type well.

Even Audracia has thugs, huh? Guess there's always a disparagement between the wealthy and the bottom class wherever you go, he thought.

As he turned around to look someplace else, he was stopped as one of the men called out to him:

"Hey, big guy!"

He was already facing the opposite way, but he stopped, standing still as he spared a moment for the sly-tongued individual.

His expression remained stoic, but a certain edge inhabited his crystalline, blue eyes as he stood with his back kept to the thug.

"That coat of yours looks pretty nice," the shaggy, blonde-haired thug smiled.

Listening to a set of three footsteps slowly approaching from behind, he removed only his left hand from his coat pocket as trickles of white electricity caressed his digits.

"Yeah, looks like it'd fetch a shiny coin or two," another one of the thugs bellowed.

Fools preying on others in a city of mages…people like that don't deserve to live, he thought.

He remained still, though his eyes were kept forward, he looked a thousand yards into the distance–set only on what approached from behind.

The twisted chuckles of the malicious thugs resounded, their footsteps growing closer as the mystical electricity coiling around his fingers began to spark up further.

"That's quite enough!"

–A commanding, but gentle voice called out.

It came from the entrance of the alleyway, though he was facing that way, he didn't even notice the man now standing there until the sudden words were yelled.

By the spotless, white uniform the man wore, accentuated by crimson stripes and a two-layered coat that tugged behind him like a cape, accompanied by a sword at his hip, he immediately recognized the position the man held.

"Oh crap!"

"It's a knight!"

–Taking off and hopping over the wall at the back of the grimy alleyway, the thugs left in a hurry once seeing the man.

He simply looked at the knight, having not moved a single step as he relinquished the lightning coalescing at his fingertips.

"Thanks," He said, devoid of emotion as he brushed by the hazel-haired knight.

"I didn't save you from them," the knight said, causing Andraste to come to a stop as their backs faced one another, "Andraste, right?"

He furrowed his eyebrows a bit, tucking his hands back into the pockets of his dark-brown coat, looking displeased to be held in a conversation.

The knight turned around to face him, prompting him to shift to the side as well, only facing the white-uniformed knight halfway, who extended his hand towards him.

There wasn't much that stood out of the ordinary from the youthful, hazel-haired knight besides the warm smile he looked up at him with.

"Apologies, it's just difficult not to recognize that hair of yours.. That, and it's not often one sees white lightning being wielded so casually," the youthful knight smiled, "I'm Markus."