To be human

I head inside the black mist.

At first, I walk without being able to see anything but eventually the view gets clear.

I find myself on an open chamber, the black smoke that was blocking the path is now floating around my ankles, like shallow water. There is an opening on the ceiling that leads all the way outside. In the middle of this chamber the smoke goes up towards the sky like a pillar, passing through the opening.

And right there next to the pillar, an orc kin with a shaved head and heterochromia on it’s eyes.

“Tanaka.”

As I look at him, I remember Olivia, Salazar, Volkan and everyone else who lost their lives on that raid.

“You remembered my name! That’s so polite. Sorry, but I don’t remember yours at all.”

“How do I stop the curse!”

“What if I had to say you had to kill me?”

I immediately shoot a fire arrow towards him.

He raises his arm and blocks my shot with the same black veil as before.

“Wow, those monsters really changed you huh? Attacking a fellow human being just like that? Without a second thought? You’re awful, man!”

“You dare call them monster and yourself human after what you did last night?! Actually, forget that, after what you did for the past 10 years!” I never been so angry before in my entire life. “How many lives did you ruin! How much suffering have you caused!”

“Will you relax? It is not that serious. You heard them and their stupid story. Sonala was the one who interfered first. If anything, she’s the bad guy here. I’m just doing the right thing and turning them back into the forms they were created.”

“And why would you do this huh?! What could Umbravar possibly had offered you for you to choose to do these things!”

“Offer me? He didn’t have to offer me anything dude. He just brought me to this world with magic powers and that was it. I’m just having fun here. I mean, I died back in our world. I deserve to have a little fun right? And after the world gets cursed, then the real fun begins. To be able to hunt as many as these dumb creatures as I want! It is a dream come true! I’ll never get bored again!”

“So… You’re just doing this all for fun?”

“Yeah. For fun.”

I have been surrounded by so many good people that I completely forgot that scum like this could exist.

“Tell me how to stop the curse…”

“Why would I tell you, dumbass! You know what, instead of telling you, maybe I should just kill you. Looks like you were influenced too much by those beasts, you barely remember what it is like to be human.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“What was that?”

“You’ve been here for how long? 10 years? And all this time you’ve been calling yourself human but you’re the farthest thing from that.”

“What are you talking about?” He lets out a nervous laugh.

“Bald head, greenish skin, big nose almost like a snout, those big teeth coming out of your mouth.”

“Shut up.”

“Maybe that appearance just reflects what you looked like back when you were an actual human. Were you that ugly back on your first life?”

“Shut up!”

“Were you called an orc so much back then that you were actually reincarnated as one?” I start laughing. “Man, talk about hilarious!”

“I SAID, SHUT UP.”

He puts his hands in the shape of a blade and swings at me.

“Cursed Nightmare Arts: Shadow Slash!”

The shadows on the ground take shape and come flying at me like blades.

I dodge out the way and the rock walls behind me get slashed.

(Definitely don’t want to get hit by that.)

I try to circle around, and shooting fire arrows towards him, but he blocks all of them with the black veil once again.

He launches another slash at me, but this time I try and block it with a blessing shield, but it cuts right through. I get out of the way at the very last second, but it cuts my shoulder. I wince in pain but keep fighting.

I power myself up with monster strength and dash towards him. He gets surprised by my sudden speed and I can almost reach him. But this time he gathers the black smoke in his hands and pushes me back, launching another slash right after.

I dodge It at the last second once again, the slash barely grazes me.

I try one more time, but once again I’m a little too short to hit him. He pushes me back again and sends another onslaught of attacks.

All I can do is dodge.

(There’s no way I can hit him with long ranged attacks; I have to get close. But I’m not fast enough.)

If this keeps up, I won’t beat him in time.

(There’s only one way for me to go faster right now. I have never tried it before. I was always too afraid. But now is not the time for that.)

I fire one more dawn flame arrow at him and he brings up the veil once again. As he raises his arm his view gets blocked.

“Didn’t you understand its useless?!” He laughs maniacally.

(Now!)

“Holy Nightmare Protection: Full Primal.”

My entire body glows purple and begins to change into the same tall and skeletal form I saw back in the city of Hariot. I get afraid but remember what is on the line. The faces of my friend help me maintain my calm and I fully transform for the first time.

I rush towards him at an impressive speed, my longer limbs are enough to reach him. He tries to push me back with the smoke. But I’m too fast, he doesn’t have time to. I aim at his throat and as I’m about to slash him, my body suddenly stops in place.

I look at myself and I’m caught in an almost invisible black thread made of shadow.

Tanaka laughs at me.

“Did you really think I would leave myself open like that? You really are just a dumb monster now!”

He tightens the treads around me. It’s slowly suffocating me.

“I mean look at you! You said all those things about me, but you yourself isn’t even human anymore! You’re just like them! A monster!”

“Then I guess I am human after all.”

“What? Are you deaf? Did you hear what I just said?”

“Yes, I did. If I’m just like them, then I know no matter what I look like I will always be human. Because to be human is not about appearances. It’s about how we treat others. The ability to feel empathy, to understand people. And if we don’t understand them, to be human is to seek to know them better and change ourselves. Because deep down, to be human is to understand one another no matter how we look like.”

“That makes no sense.”

“Then I guess you were never human to begin with.”

I revert back into my normal form and the threads holding me get looser and I manage to free myself. I dash towards Tanaka who is now right in front of me.

He tries to hit me with another shadow slash, but I’m too close to him. With a quick glance I can tell he has no experience with martial arts. And even though I’m still a novice, I spent the last months training everyday with some really amazing people.

I hit him with a fast series of punches and kicks, and he can barely react. And as I’m about to hit the final blow he wraps me up again in the shadow threads. He once again wraps me tight but right now I’m in my small normal form.

I turn once again into my monster form. The sudden growth makes the lines tighten even more, and I can feel my skin bleeding and getting cut all over. But they can’t handle the tension, and they snap.

I look at Tanaka dead in his eyes with my monster form. I can see pure fear in his face.

“NO WAIT, PLEASE STOP! I-I DIDN’T MEAN TO…”

I pounce toward him and aim at his throat once again. He tries to raise his arms to protect himself, but I hold him still with my hands and take a bite out of neck with my sharp teeth.

As I let him go, he tries to stop the bleeding with his hands, but the wound is too deep. He gargles in his own blood, and his body goes limp. His lifeless eyes still open.

(Guess there are no healing spells in Umbravar arsenal.)

I revert back to my normal form.

All there is left is the pillar of black smoke.