Who knows how long it will take... Even if everything goes crazy after meeting the deity, I almost prefer this darkness and being alone - Riku thinks to himself.
After a moment, Riku finds himself in a dark room, dimly lit by small candles. The air is thick with the scent of incense.
"Where am I now?" Riku mutters, visibly worried.
More candles slowly light up, revealing the room. The walls are carved with unclear historical bas-reliefs, from which small waterfalls emerge, pouring into three streams that flow towards one side of the room, without a wall and open to a starry sky.
"Wow, this place is huge," Riku says, looking around as he walks towards the edge where the streams converge. Noticing that there is nothing below that point, he instinctively takes a step back, surprised.
"Magnificent, isn't it?" a male voice surprises him from behind him. Riku jumps in fright, almost falling into the void, but is saved by an elephant trunk that grabs him just in time.
"Oh, I almost did it! Hahaha!" someone laughs as the trunk puts Riku back on the ground safe and sound. Riku breathes a sigh of relief.
Ugh... I almost died there - he thinks, turning to thank his savior.
"Thank you so much—" Riku stops mid-sentence, stunned by what he sees: a gigantic humanoid figure, about three meters tall, with the head of an elephant and four arms.
What... what is this?! - Riku thinks, speechless.
The creature stares at him with a sweet look. Sensing it, Riku immediately begins to calm down.
And yet... I don't know why, but his presence calms me...
"Well, let's get to the important thing. I am Ganesha, the god of wisdom, and I am the deity you will represent during your journey." Ganesha says, looking at Riku, "If I'm not mistaken, you must be Amano Riku, right?"
"Yes, that's me." Riku replies, then reflects on the moment, until a sudden realization shocks him.
Wait, I'm talking to a real deity! Not just any deity, but one of the most important ever... Ganesha!
"I already know enough about you... so let's move on to choosing your weapon!" Ganesha says, as a huge table appears behind Riku, with a decent variety of weapons.
"They're awesome..." Riku whispers, walking closer to the table to examine them.
"Choose the one you like the most!"
Riku carefully examines each weapon until he notices a spear. The shaft is engraved with sacred mantras, and the golden tip is shaped like a palm leaf: thin and elegant.
"I like this one..." Riku says, picking up the weapon. It begins to glow for a moment before returning to normal.
"Val's Spear... excellent choice!" Ganesha exclaims with joy as he observes, "It's a light and versatile weapon! I've let five other people choose from this selection, but none of them have ever considered that one."
Riku considers Ganesha's last statement, then turns to him.
"Right... but why do you give me a weapon?" he asks, puzzled.
Ganesha seems surprised by the question.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"You said you already knew me! Someone like me won't last long enough in this tournament to see it through. A coward like me has no hope!" Riku blurts out in frustration, "A coward who couldn't even get himself out of the way properly..."
Ganesha is silent for a moment, surprised by Riku's confession. Then he smiles.
"A man isn't left without hope forever. All he has to do is live long enough to find a new hope... So who better than you, someone starting from scratch, trying to find meaning in his life? Who better to bet than you?" Ganesha's words hit Riku hard, "I know what you've done in the past, but I think you realize now that this is your second chance, right? So go out there and do your duty. Don't just make me proud in this tournament, make yourself proud too! You're my bet, Amano Riku!"
Riku is speechless at Ganesha's speech. He stares at the god in amazement.
I don't know if it's his divine presence... but those words changed something inside me... - Riku thinks, as tears begin to fill his eyes with the world disappearing into darkness again.
Before everything goes completely dark, Riku sees Ganesha waving at him.
"I hope we'll meet again. Remember: fight and—", but Riku can't hear the last words, as he is swallowed up by darkness again.
Unknown location
Riku finds himself in a jungle full of towering trees. He is clearly disoriented.
"So this is Aetherion..." he mutters, looking around thoughtfully. Then he gets a confused expression.
"Now where do I go?"
After a moment, Riku looks at his spear and picks it up, wielding it briefly.
"It's really light!" he says, swinging it in the air.
"I need to learn how to use it as soon as possible."
As he trains, a cool breeze blows, surprising Riku. Then he notices a smell.
"I recognize this breeze and this smell..."
But before he can process the thought, he hears footsteps approaching.
There's already someone! - Riku hides behind a tree.
After a few seconds, the footsteps stop - It seems like they didn't notice me...
Just as he tries to peek, he steps on a twig, snapping it, making a noise - Fuck!
An arrow grazes the tree and sticks in the ground right next to his feet, making Riku pale.
"Shit!" Riku starts running through the jungle, arrows whizzing past him by centimeters.
"Shit! Shit!"
—
"A man isn't left without hope forever. All he has to do is live long enough to find a new hope..."
—
Riku, remembering Ganesha's words, feels overwhelmed - I'm sorry, god Ganesha... but your gamble was too risky!
He continues to run, dodging the arrows - It shoots while moving through the trees! Is this the level of power and agility that a blessing grants!? I feel faster, but this guy jumps through the trees three times faster than I can run!
—
Riku recalls that fresh breeze and the scent he picked up earlier.
—
He suddenly changes direction - I have to catch up with her! It's the only way to force him out into the open!
Riku works hard to run and dodge the arrows, until he finally sees the sea and his eyes light up with hope - There it is!
Almost out of the jungle, he jumps over a fallen tree trunk near the beach.
I did it! - Suddenly, a pain hits him. An arrow has superficially hit his right leg and he lands on the sand.
Riku tries to crawl away from the jungle, but his opponent comes out into the open.
"So that's what it felt like... that's a disgusting feeling," says the archer - a female voice - approaching Riku, who grabs his spear.
"But it's definitely better than being the one who gets hurt...", Riku can see her face: it's Celia.
Celia approaches him as Riku tries to stab her with the spear, but she easily dodges and catches it, ripping it out of his hands and throwing it away.
This is terrible! - Riku thinks, terrified.
Celia grabs Riku by the hair, lifting his head to look into his eyes, "Yes... I think that's the same face I made back then." She looks at him more closely, noticing his defeated look, and frowns in disgust, "At least I had the courage to fight against death."
Celia violently throws him to the ground and kicks him in the face.
"Tell me your name!"
Riku feels blood dripping from his nose, but he doesn't answer. Celia kicks him again, this time in the stomach.
"I said, what's your name!?"
Out of breath and in pain, Riku finally answers. "My name is Riku..."
Celia grabs his hair again, this time pressing the tip of an arrow to his neck, "Pleased to meet you, Riku. I'm Celia, and I have some anger to vent. So I'm going to kill you...", Riku sees her expression and terrifies him: pure anger and a terrifying determination, "But just so you know... it's going to hurt."
"Why!?" Riku shouts, shaking with fear.
Celia bursts into an almost maniacal laugh.
"You're asking me why?"
She presses the arrow lightly to his neck, drawing a thin trickle of blood.
"This is our world now! We're here to kill each other, and I've decided that I'll be the one to rule over everyone, to decide everyone's fate. You'll just be the first victim!"
Celia charges, with Riku closing his eyes.
"And then..."
—
He remembers the robber's cold expression.
—
"I never want to see a face like that on anyone again!"
But before she can strike, someone grabs her hand.
"That's a strange reasoning...", a male voice says.
Riku opens his eyes and sees a boy holding Celia's arm, she is shocked.
I didn't hear him approaching... - Celia thinks, trying to free herself.
The boy is about 1.80 meters tall, has short dark hair and eyes that shade from green to brown. His physique seems slightly above average.
"I understand your reasoning... partly. I understand that: we should kill each other, that's our main goal. So, because of that, you've become a crazy person who wants to kill everyone. That's fine. But the part where you say: 'I never want to see a face like that again'... yeah, that part is strange."
"And what are you trying to say!?"
"Well... from what you implied, you probably went through something traumatic: your life threatened by someone cold and emotionless. A horrible experience, no doubt. So why would someone who has been through something similar want to make others feel the same way? And even go through it again because you were the cause? Why would you become the problem? Don't you want to forget?"
Celia begins to breathe heavily, anxiety rising, "I told you: they brought us here to kill each other! What I'm doing is right!"
"Yes, of course... but like that god said, they want all kinds of entertainment. They gave us freedom.
So you had a choice. But it seems your trauma didn't give you one."
"And what do you know!?", Celia looks into his eyes and instantly her anger turns to fear, "You have the same expression..."
—
"Don't do it… I don't want to die."
Celia looks into the robber's eyes, noticing their cold emptiness.
"I'm sorry..."
—
"That robber didn't hesitate to kill my best friend, and he didn't hesitate to try to kill me either!", Celia struggled even harder to free herself from the boy's grip, "And I won't let that happen again... I'll become strong enough for everyone to fear me! I'll take down anyone who stands in my way! I'll be the master of my life!"
Seeing the situation, Riku began to walk away as quietly and as far away as possible.
The boy sighed.
"So... there's no way to help you..."
Celia continued to struggle, but she couldn't free herself. The boy remained still, calm, with a firm grip.
Such a strong grip... - Celia thought, increasingly uneasy.
"I think you understand now: you won't get away that easily."
Celia's expression faltered.
"So you're telling me... that I can't have control over my life anymore?"
"I don't think you ever have been, since we came to this planet. But it's not your fault. It's not mine either. It's no one's fault... except those gods."
Suddenly, Celia dropped the arrow from her immobilized hand into her free hand and tried to strike him, trying to catch him by surprise.
"Die!"
But the boy easily dodged the attack, not even letting go of her arm.
Celia tried again, this time more desperately. The boy not only dodged the blow, but also grabbed her other arm and broke it.
Celia screamed in pain, collapsing to the ground, consumed by the pain.
"Bastard!"
"There are two ways to survive here," the boy said coldly.
"Trust your luck and pray you make it to the end... or be the best and fight until you win."
He grabbed Celia by the collar and began to lift her up.
"And since I don't rely on luck..."
He lifted her to his level. Celia looked at his face and what she saw filled her with a fear she had never known before.
I was wrong... This is not the look of that robber. This is the look of someone who truly wants to kill.
With his other hand, the boy drew a sword, long and narrow, forged from shiny steel with glimmering blue-silver highlights. The blade was engraved with wavy patterns, the hilt wrapped in black silk and trimmed with gold thread.
He pointed the sword at Celia, who began to cry.
"Not again! I don't want to die!" she cried in despair.
"I'm sorry..."
With those words, he plunged the sword into her heart, killing her instantly. Then he gently lowered her body to the ground.
Riku had tied a piece of his shirt around his injured leg like a makeshift bandage. He had watched the whole thing, frozen in shock.
"Hey, you..." the boy shouted, startling Riku, "Help me give her a proper burial."
They buried Celia. Afterward, Riku took a moment to pray silently.
When he was finished and stood up, he looked at the boy, "Don't you pray too?"
"No... I'm not the type to believe in that kind of stuff," the boy replied with a hint of irony.
"Even after seeing the gods in person?"
"Especially after."
Riku looked at him, uncertain.
"What do you plan to do with me now?"
The boy turned to him.
"Nothing. It's not like I'm going to go around killing random people."
He began to walk slowly toward the jungle, with Riku watching him go.
"Thank you..." Riku said, bowing slightly toward him.
"Don't thank me. I just killed a scared and confused girl," the boy replied without turning around.
"But... you saved my life..."
Riku tried to take a step, but winced at the pain in his leg.
"Don't strain yourself. I suggest you hide somewhere while you heal."
Riku watched him go.
"Excuse me... can I ask you something?"
The boy stopped and turned to him.
"Yes. What is it?"
"Do you think that... if we had met under different circumstances... that girl could have been helped?"
The boy sighed. "Maybe... But I advise you not to think about it too much. One thing the god Bragi said in the beginning was right:
We have to get used to situations like this. Even when you think there's a chance to save someone... sometimes you have to think twice. Most of the time, you have to put yourself first."
"But... I don't think I'll ever get used to killing people."
"No one's asking you to. But you'll have to get used to living with it."
Those words hit Riku. He looked out toward the sunset over the sea.
"Hey, try not to die before we meet again!"
The boy smiled faintly and walked off into the jungle.
"You too!" he shouted to Riku.
Then, staring out at the vast sea before him, Riku made a vow.
I will do everything I can to become a person without regrets. For me, this tournament will be the start of a second life... But it's not just for me.