Limits

I don't know for how long he tortured me, but everything stopped suddenly. When I opened my eyes, we were back at the cave. I was too tired to even speak, and simply closed my eyes to rest. I was asleep, until someone slapped me awake. I slowly opened my eyes, and saw the same Eterian. He was alone this time.

The Eterian said "Time to wake up. We still need some answers". I replied "You will get shit from me". He just smiled, and said "We will see about that". My surroundings changed again, but this time it was some sort of wilderness. The Eterian asked "How come you have an arm of a Lizard? Did you chop it off of one of them?". I replied "I have an answer for that question". He seemed surprised, and asked "Oh, let's hear it then". I replied while scratching my head "How about I took it from your mother? Who would've thought she was mixed breed right?". He didn't take it well, and some sort of vines extended from the ground. They wrapped my arms and legs, which restricted any movements I could possibly make.

He said "You think you are funny? I wonder for how long you can play a tough guy? You will crumble Human. Sooner or later, your ass will be mine". I replied "I don't swing that…". But before I finished, a vine slapped my face… hard. I spit out some blood, and looked at him. He asked "Did you like it? Don't worry, there's more where that came from". Another vine slapped my face, then another. "AAAGH!", I screamed. I could do nothing else but vent my frustration and pain, with the use of my voice. The Eterian was a sadist for sure. His face was full of smiles, especially his comment "Scream, scream for me!".

I was being battered with the vines like a rag doll. He would stop once in a while, but I was too tired to answer anything. Time slowly passed. I've been tortured countless times. Every time, the Eterian found new ways to torture me. I was eaten alive by beasts, dropped into hot lava, or even frozen to death a few times. Although I never really died, this placed an enormous strain on my mind and fuelled my rage.

One day, he visited me again. This time, he didn't create an illusion. He simply said "You are indeed tougher than I thought. Being able to last that long, you are special indeed. If you are that bent on staying silent, I'm afraid we just have to kill you". I opened my eyes, and asked "Tell me one thing though. Why did you start that war?". He snorted, and replied "I told you, I'm the one asking questions". I shook my head lightly, then said "It doesn't matter. If you are going to kill me, do so. I was just curious".

He stayed silent for a while, before saying "You have no idea right?". I asked "Idea? About what?". He continued "You fight a war, yet you have no clue why it is happening. Why do you fight for them? Why die for the Lizards, Shades or Voltars? No Human would do such a thing. I'm curious as well". 'Why do I fight? Why risk my life for a war that shouldn't concern Humans? Because Eterians can attack Endrosian Empire later? Did I ever cared about that?' I asked myself.

The Eterian stood there quietly, and waited. In truth, I didn't have an answer… Or perhaps I did. There was a legend of a certain person, who mastered his skills and became a ruler. The North was never unified, wasn't that my goal? 'I never believed that story, even though people as well as books told me otherwise. Yet, even though I never wanted to believe it, I was trying to do the same thing' I thought. I wanted to be a legend as well, I wanted to be remembered for centuries to come.

I said "I guess I wanted to be a legend. A legend I myself never believed in". The Eterian was a bit stunned, and asked "What do you mean?". I shook my head, and asked "Does it matter?". He thought for a while, then replied "It's fine. You are a strong Human, an enemy worthy of respect. If others were like you, perhaps history would look differently". I asked "Why the war then?". He replied "All I will say, is that we weren't the ones who started this all".

'They didn't start it? Then who? What is he on about' I thought. My thoughts were disturbed by him asking "Are you scared? Of Death?". I looked at him, and laughed. I laughed hard. So much and so crazily, he was stunned. "Have you gone crazy? Whatever, your life ends here". He pulled out a sword, while I said "Scared? There is only one thing I'm scared of".

He paused, and asked "What would that be?". I replied "Myself". I released the stored up rage dwelling inside me. All the torture and humiliation, everything turned to rage. 'Art of War Forbidden Form: Aura Limit Break' I thought. The Form I was supposed to never use, a Form I had no control over. A voice sounded in my head 'Now you want to release me? What if I refuse?'. It was my voice, more precisely, the manifestation of my rage and hatred. It never went away, and I was never able to control it. I had to seal it inside me, and never allow it to escape.

I replied in my mind, 'You can have the control for a while. I will take it back'. The voice laughed crazily and replied "You can try!". The atmosphere around the room changed. My Aura intensified, and changed to that of suffocation. Pure hatred and rage escaped my body, while I laughed evilly. "What is that power?", the Eterian asked. My body replied, "Time to die… Eterian". "Booom!", the shackles and chains holding me down broke apart. The Eterian was shocked, and quickly backed away.

I started losing consciousness, even though I tried not to. I had no control over what would happen. My body or rather my other personality, didn't distinguish between allies and foes. This happened two times when I trained with Irwin. He ordered me to seal that power away, and I managed to do that. There was an exception. I could resort to it, if my anger reach the apex, or even passed the threshold. The second condition was, my life had to be at immediate risk. Otherwise, the seal would simply not let go of it.

Yater knew some forbidden stuff when it came to Formations. He was no master, but all of them knew the unconventional methods of doing stuff. Irwin knew unconventional methods to smith. Yater to make Formations, while Nathan.. Nathan was the craziest. He could actually make skins and change his looks completely by wearing that skin. This was the reason I accepted death, the reason I stayed silent, even after what seemed like an eternity of torture.

Before I lost my consciousness completely, my body said "Let me show you how to use this body". I didn't witness that though, and completely fell into a state I could only describe as asleep. Although I didn't see or hear anything, I could feel something surrounding me. It was the darkness. I thought about using my skills, but to no avail. I wandered through the darkness for a while, as if lost in my thoughts. I thought about many things, but I felt like I was forgetting something.

'Did I forget something important? Was it my family? A friend of mine? Perhaps I was supposed to do something' I asked myself. The doubt grew, the more time passed. It bugged my mind, but I just couldn't remember. 'I'm missing something… a war? There is a war?... Eterians.... Anger…' I thought. At that point, I thought about Auras, and I finally recalled what happened. I quickly tried to wake up, but I couldn't. I shouted, even though I didn't seem to have a mouth "THIS IS MY BODY DAMNIT!".

"Swoosh!", my eyes caught some light. More and more light flooded my eyes, until I heard a voice. "You? No! I will not return. This body is mine now!". An Aura seeded deep within my existence awakened, while I said "You dare oppose me? Yours? This body is yours? Know your place!". The unmatched and unyielding Aura enveloped my body, while a voice shouted "No!... You can't do this!". "Swoosh!", I had a complete control of my body now. Before I could perceive my surroundings, I heard my voice one last time. '...This is not the end… You will crawl back to me again'.