Keep Struggling

"Don't listen to him... Just run away...!" Chris yelled. He tried to get on his feet and act as a decoy for Luna to get away from there, before this Jay could do something to her.

Luna, however, knew that it was pointless. Chris could no longer fight, and even if he were to charge at this Jay, then it would most likely spell his end. Running away now was also not an option. Although this Jay was also seemingly tired from his fight against Chris, he would surely have no trouble chasing after a rookie like her.

There was only one thing she could do.

"Y-you want me to bring Jay here...?" she said. She tried to act confident, grinning at him even if her lips were trembling.

"Then fight me...! If you win, then I will do as you say!" Luna suggested. The best thing she could do right now was to stall for time until other people assembled here. Furthermore, she could get her hands on a weapon in case this Jay tried to harm her.

"Do you think I can't see through your plan?" this Jay responded, hardening his eyes. Of course, someone like him would not be fooled by such an obvious plan.

"If you don't want to waste more time, then you should hurry up and defeat me as soon as possible." Luna provoked him even further.

"Or I can kill you right now."

"But if you do so, then you won't be able to see Jay."

The only way for this Jay to meet the other Jay was to make Luna call him for him.

"I suppose you're right."

Luna was delighted for one moment, lowering her guard.

"However, I'm not so desperate to see him as soon as possible." he stated. Since he had no weapon, he balled his hand into a fist, ready to strike Luna down.

Reflexively, Luna shrank down in fear, preparing to get hit. However, nothing happened. Instead, she heard the sound of something having stabbed the wall near them.

It was Chris's sword, which he had thrown toward them, close enough to almost scratch this Jay's head.

"I won't let you hurt her in front of me...!" Chris declared, blood still trickling down from his wounds.

"Maybe I should kill you first." this Jay pondered, annoyed by Chris's interference.

Using this opportunity, Luna quickly grabbed the sword and pulled it out from the wall. Her body was still shaking a little, but nonetheless, she pointed the sword as firmly as possible at the Jay in front of her.

"So?" he asked, completely unfazed by the turn of events.

Gathering her courage, Luna charged at him and swung the sword even though she was not trained in swordsmanship. She lacked both strength and technique. Therefore, the result was clear.

This Jay effortlessly evaded the sword, knocked the weapon out of Luna's hands, and grabbed it for himself.

"This is how you use a sword." he announced indifferently. He raised the sword and struck it down, slashing Luna vertically from the chest to the hip. The cut was not too shallow, but also not too deep to instantly kill her. Still, a good amount of blood gushed out as Luna fell on her back.

"Luna Park!" Chris screamed, causing his wounds to ache even more.

Luna did not hear him. She drowned in her own thoughts, staring at the morning sky, which was neither too bright nor too dark—it was pleasant to look at.

She was probably screaming right now, wailing on the ground due to the pain she had never felt before. And yet, she was mentally somewhere else.

Was this the end for her? Would she die without fully experiencing her new life? Was all the suffering she had to endure in vain?

Was it a mistake to enter the Whispering Tower?

Her vision was blurry. Not because she was losing consciousness, but because of her tears that began to form in her eyes.

"That's not it..." she softly uttered, slowly being able to bear the pain.

Luna Park endured so much and struggled all the time—back in her real world and here. She was enduring and struggling just to achieve the life she always wanted. No matter who stood in front of her or what obstacle she had to overcome, she tried to break through. She failed countless times, but she always stood up and tried again.

Again, again and again... Until she eventually succeeded.

"I can do it...!" Luna told herself as she attempted to lift her upper body.

She was close to her goal, so there was no way that she could allow herself to quit after all the time. She had to keep struggling.

"What do you think you can do in your state?"

Luna did not respond. However, she knew what she had to do, even if it meant that she had to face heavy consequences later on.

It suddenly turned bright above them.

"Again? The amount is impressive, and sure, they hurt more than a normal Level 1 skill. However, it's still a low-level skill. It won't hurt someone like me that much." this Jay remarked. He looked above him, where dozens of thin lightning arrows were directed at him. He squatted down a little, preparing to evade them as soon as they were fired at him.

Luna's gaze, however, was directed somewhere else.

On her command, the majority of her lightning arrows rained down on the Jay, who was dodging most of them. He had to take a few hits, but aside from getting a short shock, it did not bother him that much.

[Congratulations! [Lightning Magic Novice] has reached Level 2.]

Luna received a message from her status window as she used up all of her lightning arrows, but she did not have the time to look at it.

"You have used up all your mana. With your current state, there's nothing you could do now." this Jay said, walking toward her.

However, he failed to realize quickly that he was not the main target of the lightning attack. While most of the arrows acted as decoys, a few of them were shot at the castle, alerting those who resided in there and guarded the said residents.

This Jay was about to deliver the finishing blow, but he wanted to flee from the place. But the moment he swung his sword, a spear came flying, piercing this Jay's right forearm.

"Ugh...!"

He looked over at the hardly damaged castle from where the spear was thrown. And with the windows open, Queen Maya revealed herself in her white night gown, glaring sharply at him. Based on her posture, it seemed like she was the one who threw the spear.

This Jay glared back until he was aware that it was not the right time for that. Since Luna alerted the whole castle, knights would soon storm the training grounds. Thus, he had no other choice but to leave for now.

"I... I won't let you...!" Luna muttered weakly, crawling her way desperately to him. She had almost no strength left, and a trail of blood was left as she continued to crawl. However, her efforts were in vain. Her vision darkened, with this Jay escaping being the last thing she saw.

And while knights flooded the training grounds and took care of Chris and Luna, Erik and Jay had a discussion. Completely unaware of what had happened during their absence, the two had breakfast and were now drinking tea.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" Erik asked, not showing a change in his expression as he read the newspapers.

"What do you mean?" Jay replied, feigning ignorance.

"You can fool others with your act, but I know that you're hiding something." Erik responded nonchalantly.

Jay was speechless for a moment.

"Sometimes I wonder how you could know me so well despite it being just a few weeks since we met." Jay huffed, averting his forced smile from Erik.

"Well, I'm just good at reading people. No need to overthink." Erik answered. He put down the newspaper and sternly looked at Jay.

"So what is it?"

"It's about the Jay that Luna and I encountered a few days ago." Jay admitted. As a sign of giving up, he heaved a sigh.

It was also the same Jay who was currently on the run after ambushing Chris and Luna.

Before he had encountered that version of himself, Jay managed to hunt his kind version. Usually, Jay did not need to think twice about hunting a part of himself, ignoring how they looked or how innocent they were. He hunted them all in order to become whole again.

[Your 'parts' are scattered inside the tower.
Completion rate of yourself: 8%]

He was currently at just 8%, but he already had to face one of the greatest obstacles in this hunt.

"You know... I don't know if I want to go after this Jay..." Jay said softly. He had to witness how a part of himself attacked countless innocent people, including Luna. Also, that version of himself was colder than any part he had met before.

Jay was scared of this version of himself. However, he was now also scared of how his original self was, if that was a part of him. Was he potentially a ruthless killer? Someone who did not care about others? Then, what about his other parts? Why did a kind version exist if someone so cold was lurking outside?

Just what and who was he?

"Jay."

With a hand on Jay's shoulder, Erik snapped Jay out of his uncomfortable thoughts. What would Erik say to Jay? Would he be on his side and say that it would be fine if he did not want to go after this Jay? Would he be supportive?

"No matter what you think, you have to do it." Erik replied more seriously than ever. He was not just stern, he seemed like he was guilty and regretful.

"Please, Jay..."

The hand on Jay's shoulder trembled slightly.

"No matter what happens or what others say, you have to see it through...!"

"This is what both of us need to do..."