The Absolute: Humanity's Second Chance

'What, What is the meaning of this?! What is going on here?!' My thoughts raced at super sonic speed, and I had many scenario flashing through my mind.

Yet that all came to an end when our heads met together at the center with a "bang!!", and then I felt like the world had split up in two. The pain was minimal, but the effects were absolute.

"..."

And before I could say nor do anything, I was pulled towards him once again and what met me this time was another knee strike on my stomach, forcing me to bend over once again.

Then another rising uppercut, yet this time around I was not sent flying, because this man had been holding my hand all this while!!

He then let go of my right hand, and held me by the other hand. I was surprised. Why did he change hands, and I realized the answer a bit too soon.

He was planning on punching me with the other hand, the one that had been holding me all this while. And that plan, came to fruition seconds later.

Bang!!

I was heavily punched. Then he switched hands again, and did the same thing.

Bang!!

Bang!!

I was played around like this, and by the fouth punch, he let go of me completely, and just threw punches out, left, right and center. And I helplessly took the beating.

All I could see at that moment was fists flying to, and back from me... And I still felt no pain throughout the whole process, but I did feel my pride shatter.

Bang!!

The next coming punch delt more damage as I was sent flying back a few tens of meters. I then crashed on the ground, and slid across the surface forming a small gouge.

"..."

My vision slowly returned to normal, where I could see things clearly again. And my hearing as well. I could hear the man's footsteps getting closer and closer to me.

Meanwhile, I was still hesitating whether to take this man as real opponent or not. I felt no killing intent from him since the beginning.

So maybe... maybe he really got the wrong guy. Yeah, that must be the case. Because, how else would he attack me without killing intent?

He's not sure of his target. Thats it.

"..."

As I had this thought, I was not aware of the golden glint that flashed and receded within my eyes. Once my thoughts agreed on the matter, it never appeared.

"You must be really naive." It was at this moment when I heard the man's voice for the first time.

"..."

It was not that of an adult, yet not that of a kid either. Yet most importantly, it had charm, one that would be able to sweet talk most women.

I thought, and then stood up to look at the man that stopped a few meters from me. He looked down on me, his gray mask saying a lot, even though I could not see his expressions.

He was looking down on me.

But more importantly, why was I naive?

The man shook his head, more and more disappointed within his actions. He then said, "There's a lot I want to tell you, but the most important one is that... I don't need killing intent to end your life."

"What?" I looked up at him in shock. I was but 18 years old, and never been exposed to the outside world. And maybe because of that, I failed to understand his words?

"No. You're just naive. Simple as that." He said, then turned his eyes towards the sides.

I followed his gaze as well.

There, I could see the greatly damaged houses all around us. It seems like though our battle looked like an ordinary street brawl to me, it was more than just that.

Our strength was inhuman, and our speed super. We have covered the entire village, and toppled down almost all the houses in just a couple of minutes.

I used all my will power to try and not focus on the village, then looked back at the masked man. "Naive? What makes me naive?" I questioned, furrowing my brows at him.

The masked man looked at me, his cloak dancing along the wind. He then said, "You just are. Simple as that."

I felt annoyed and irritated, but still politely asked, "Sir, what does that mean?" He looked at me, from my face down to my feet, then back to my face and added, "Simply what it means."

"..."

I now felt really unnerved. This man, this man... it's like I can just strangle him to death. Why does he act like this towards me?

It's as if... he knows me.

He then added, "For starters, you're not finding out the source of the problems, yet trying to find excuses to not fight for yourself."

I did not understand.

"You avoided the whole scenario where everyone in the village is not here." He further explained, snd I retorted, "It's obvious that they came to agree with you that they would pull back. They always do that. They always sell me out like this."

"Indeed." He agreed, the added, "But if I knew that, what makes you think that I won't kill them all off, just to make you think that they agreed to this?"

Ah... that's true. But then again, "You cannot silently kill off the entire village. It's impossible." I added with conviction.

"You can manipulate flames that can burn even gods." He said, and I was surprised he knew that. Then he further continued to say, "What makes you think there's nothing special about me?"

"..."

True. I am not the center of attention, hence there is bound to be someone like me out there. Or even someone far greatly stronger than I am. I should have thought about it.

"Now I shall ask you this... in that case, are you not naive?" The masked man repeated his question, yet this time, I was forced to answer it myself.

I frowned, and even grit my teeth in what I thought was anger. If his words were true, then everyone I know, everyone I grew up with, everyone that raised me...

Are dead?

No. It's impossible. It's just a hypothesis.

"There you go again with your constant avoidance of the truth." The man cut through my thoughts and casually said.

This time, I looked up at him and questioned, anger apparent within my tone, "Then are you saying you really killed my entire clan?"

I asked. And the masked man paused for a moment. I did not let him speak as well, and continued, "You say I escape reality, yet here you are, not giving me enough information to verify what is true or what is not."

To my words, he just shrugged his shoulders and spread his arms apart. Something I viewed as an attempt to make me focus on our soroundings.

And I did so. I looked around us, and there was no one. No one but broken down houses, no one but rumbles and felled trees everywhere. No one even through my senses.

"..."

It was at this moment that it clicked to me. I didn't need anyone to show me proof. Everything, was right before my eyes.

The proof was always there.

And even if I was not sure whether everyone was truly dead, or had done the usual selling me off... I still had to fight as if they truly are dead.

After all...

Whenever I fought with my current mentality, it showed that I did not care for them. Maybe that explains why they can so easily sell me off like this without a care.

I... was the one who did not care about them first. I always thought they were safe, so I never thought about it this way. But who knows, maybe they were always watching.

And whenever they did so...

"You get it now?" The masked man asked, and I looked up at him with sullen eyes. I did not know how to feel. I felt disgusted at myself though. That I knew at least.

"It was never about you, as an individual." He said, then walked towards me while adding, "It was about you guys, as a clan. Maybe if you had showed care in the first place, they would be fighting your battles alongside you."

He said, moving ever so closely towards me, yet I listlessly looked down. His words did not stop there, however, "Who knows. Maybe if you had showed anger at the destructions your hunters caused, they would have supported you."

"..."

He stopped a few centimeters before me, our heights the same as he spoke, his tone lower than usual, "Who knows. Maybe if you stay the same as you are, you might never see that little girl ever again."

Ba-dump~

My heart suddenly hit its last beat, as my breathe stopped. I would never see her again? I might never see everyone again? I might... really lose them?

My mind was suddenly swallowed by memories that I tried so deeply to hide. Memories of a time when I was still young, and when I used to live with my grandfather.