Leaving tears

"Pam", a sound came, as he took the first step to the classroom.

"Pam", another sound came which made my heart pound like crazy.

"Pam", the third sound came and my breathing condensed.

We heard sounds of footsteps but the man himself we did not see, for our eyes were closed.

The man approached one of the children, lifted his sword, and stabbed through the flesh.

"Shh...", I heard a sound but did not know the cause behind it.

"Shh…", I heard the sound again. My curiosity grew, making me want to open my eyes.

"Shh…", a third sound came and this time I opened my eyes for a little bit.

I saw a man standing near the corpse of a bloody child. I saw how the sword was in the flesh and how he pulled it out with a stain of blood flying to the floor.

"No...way", I said in my head, "He is making sure that every one of us is dead"

As the man was approaching another kid, lifting his sword, ready to stab, I pushed myself from the floor and stood up. The man gazed upon me but there was no surprising expression on his face. It was like he knew that we were alive. He knew he killed living children and did not regret it at all.

I took a deep gaze into his brown eyes, feeling fear and anger. I was furious at how he mercilessly stabbed them, knowing full well what he was doing. My body was trembling, as I lifted my sword and took a guarding stance. Keeping my sword close to my chest, I felt my heartbeats and how his every step made it go faster and faster.

"The first step", I counted in my head.

"Second step", sweat on my hands made my grip a bit slippery.

"Third step", I took deep breaths.

"Fourth step", I strengthened my grip on the sword.

"Fifth step", I blocked his slash.

He kept slashing, right, left, right, left. Each time I blocked while stepping backward with my feet. He pulled his sword inside right, thrust it. I dodged but fell to the floor.

He lifted his sword, and with a menacing gaze, he slashed.

As my heart was pounding, I blocked, rolled, stood up but didn't get time to think, as he was already going for another blow. I blocked.

I felt the vibrations each time he slashed: up, down, up, down. Each time, my heart pounded faster and faster, as I knew, these might have been my final seconds.

I took my last breaths, pulled the sword in, and went for the final blow. He dodged, grabbed my arm, and raised his sword.

I gazed upon his sword and felt how my heart stopped pounding, as it was coming right at me. With thoughts of not wanting to die, I removed the grip, changed the hand, and slashed against his sword.

An echoing noise came out, as the two metals collided against each other.

He lost his grip and stepped back but so did I, as my body didn't let me go for another round. I took deep breaths and tried to relax, as my heart was pounding at the speed of a rocket train. My arms were shaking. I have lost all the strength to lift my sword. I dropped it.

He took another stance and gazed upon me. Like a beast, trying to hunt his prey down, he took one leap forward and ran at me.

I stood there. Frozen. For my heart had stopped beating, as I knew, that was my final moment. But you know what they say:

"A protagonist never dies"

"Clang!", a loud voice came out, as a bronze armor was hit by a rock.

Fortunately for me, he stopped and turned to look at what hit him. There, he saw Dinna with an exhausted face and shaky legs that were ready to fail her.

Like her, I was also exhausted, yet I smiled in relief. For I already thought that would've been my final episode.

Other kids stood up and gazed upon him. Soon, it was a battlefield between an adult with a sword and children with magic.

"This needs its own genre", I said in my head.

It began with Dem running straight at him like a total idiot. Not surprisingly, the man took one step forward and punched him in the face, causing him to fall to the floor with blood pouring from his nose.

"He kinda deserved that", I said in my head while smiling.

With Dem out, there were only five kids in the room. Excluding the kids, incapable of fighting.

With a sword on his right side, he took the first step forward. With another stance, he was ready to attack. Like a snake, staring at a group of frogs, wondering: which one of them would be its next prey. And yes, while describing these, I feel like an English teacher, trying to convince her students: “books are cool”.

The man rushed forward, straight at Dinna. With a threatening gaze, he thrust his sword forward, but she stepped backward and dodged. One kid grabbed his arm tightly, another his legs. Third used all of his strength to push him over, causing him to fall.

The kids, incapable of fighting, looked from the side with a worried expression on their faces, as they were unsure which side was going to win.

The man released a grunting sound, as he struggled to stand up. One of the kids was sitting on his chest, throwing punches to his face. Right punch, left punch. Until a bit of blood poured from his nose. But he knew, he didn't come here to die at the hands of mere kids, as he took his sword and stabbed the kid to the throat. Soon, a metallic smell of blood filled the room. One kid down and four to go.

The man stood up like a boxing champion, ready to go for another round. But the kids were already exhausted. Slowly, four of them stepped backward, planning their next move. They looked at the tables in the classroom. At the candle on the wall, that lighted the whole room.

Suddenly, Dinna fell on her knees with her eyes closed. Looking at her face, it was clear that she was concentrating on something. Suddenly, every rock, even the tiniest sample, was levitating. All of them started flying straight at the man. All, from every direction: up, down, left, right. But his reaction time was incredible, as he blocked every bit of them.

The kids, incapable of fighting, watched all of this with their eyes wide open. They trembled in fear, as they knew this was the end: there was no way to win.

Shaking. Dinna's legs were shaking, as she had used almost every bit of her powers.

Leaping forward, the man raised his sword and was about to make a fatal blow.

But the kids, all of them, gathered their courage to step forward and grab onto the man. They were all scared, yet motivated by the thought of helping. By the thought of doing something to protect their village.

The man lost guard, which gave Dinna well enough time to gather all of her remaining strength and as she shot her final rock, she fell to the floor unconscious.

The rock hit the sword, leaving behind an echoing sound and a powerful vibration, causing the man to lose his grip.

I saw how it flew from his hand to the wall, where the candle was. The candle fell to the floor igniting the whole room. Suddenly, there was smoke everywhere and the heat of the flames created an unpleasant feeling.

The man was still standing despite all of this. While he wasn't watching, I decided to make it quick: I took my sword and approached him from behind. Raising my sword, ready to swing, he turned around and blocked. While pushing each other with our swords, he kicked me to the stomach. I felt the force behind it, as I flew to the ground. Gazing up at him, he was staring at me with the eyes saying: "I'm ready to kill".

As he pulled his sword in and was about to thrust it, a cliche anime scene happened, as Asta came and pushed the sword from the side. She got wounded from the hit and with a tiny squeak from her mouth, she fell to the ground.

My attention was on the man. He has finally lost his guard while I'm still holding my sword. With my legs, I pushed myself from the ground and penetrated him. I felt how the sword went through his flesh and usually, it would've been disturbing, but my heart was filled with relief, as I had finally killed him. With a grunting sound of pain, he fell to the floor, letting the flames eat him alive.

After that, I drew my attention to Asta, who was on the floor:

“Can you stand?”, I asked her

She was crying in pain with tears all over her face. There was blood flowing from her stomach.

With a shaky voice, she used her remaining strength to open her mouth:

“You...you have to go”

“No, the wound isn’t deep. You can still be saved!”

“No! Go now before the flames get you”, she said while pushing me with a little bit of strength she had left.

I only felt a little force behind that push, which told me how weak she was. I tried to help her stand up, but she couldn’t. It was clear to me that her end was here.

With tears in my eyes, I tried to carry her. She resisted.

I stood up and walked outside while trembling, as sadness had taken over my body.

I felt the emptiness in my heart, as I had just lost everything. People who were alive and well this morning are now all dead. Every single one of them.

I walked alone in the village. It was deserted with no sign of any kind of life.

I saw my house and how the door was open. It was obvious that someone came here before me. I went to check and saw no one. Not any men wearing bronze armor nor my father. I went to the dining room and there I saw a book, a necklace, and a letter.

“Huh”, I said while sitting on a chair.

With an empty face, I looked at the letter. I sat there staring at it. There was no strength in my arms so I didn’t bother to grab it.

“Is this some kind of a joke?”, I laughed, “Some kind of Arry Botter shit. Is this the day I’m gonna become a wizard?”

After a while of sitting there, by myself, laughing. I finally gathered the strength to open the letter.

"This is for my beloved son. Today, I attacked the chief's house"

"Woah", I said to myself, "That's pretty straightforward. And he casually wrote that like it's some kind of diary"

"From there, I took this ancient book. Study it. As it contains ancient teachings, which doesn't require magic"

"Wait, did he attacked the chief’s house for a mere book? Huh, that's fucked up"

"If you want to know my reasons for attacking, I…"

I skipped that part and continued reading:

"Either way, this necklace is a valuable ancient treasure, which should never be sold"

I looked at the necklace. It was an object made out of glass. Inside it, there was a blue liquid.

The letter continued:

"The necklace is from the ages of gods. During that time, our god Rimpest was slain. But he did not die, for his remainings were sealed in this necklace"

"Cool", I thought, "So this is a remnant of some random god. Wait, I can open!"

"The glass can be opened, but do not open it"

I opened it.

"And whatever you do, do not drink it. For as long that necklace is with you, Rimpest himself shall be with you"

I drank it. Didn't feel anything.

"Huh", I said in my head, "Is this a start of some kind of fucked up adventure arc? I'm too tired for this"

I stood up and took the book. Wrapped it with clothes. I then tied it up with some leather and left my house. I hurried, as there might have been some armored men out there.

While getting closer to the village's gate, I was starting to get tired. My eyes were tired, as well as my whole body. As cliche as it was, I fell on my knees and fainted in front of the village's gate. I tried to crawl but soon, there was no strength in my arms either. And so, I fell for deep rest.