Yozrasef turned his head down, he knew he couldn't fight.
Even if he was physically in top condition, he wouldn't land a solid hit on sekhm.
He accepted what he thought was fate, Which is eath.
Spontaneously, Sekhm's right hand blurred mid–air.
With that, yozrasef collapsed on the ground.
Sekhm's right hand moved at incomprehensible speed after channeling energy through it, attempting to knock yozrasef out by striking the back of his neck, a vital point, that connected the blood flow to the brain.
Silence stretched across the desolate land.
Yozrasef's body collapsed on the ground but before his head landed on the jagged land, sekhm swung his right hand down, catching yozrasef then placed him gently on the ground.
Sekhm sat cross-legged on the ground beside him, his face was stoic.
Khet stood there, mouth hanging open as her ears twitched hearing the clear thud of the hand strike landing on the neck followed by Yozrasef's body collapse.
Immediately, she understood that sekhm had knocked him out.
For what reason, she was clueless.
'Huh? Why..did he knock him out?..'
Thoughts raced through her head giving excuses behind sekhm's actions.
Actions that were contradicting with his intentions.
Cautiously, khet stepped forward, approaching sekhm and the collapsed yozrasef.
Her footsteps echoed through the depressing silence that hung in the air.
Reading the direction of where sekhm was by smelling his sweaty and blood–scent.
Standing in front of him, she couldn't stay silent but had to voice a question that lingered in her head during this Fraction of an hour.
" why did you not explain yourself?"
Khet asked in clear and genuine tone of voice.
She couldn't deduce his intentions at all but she felt that he has a noble intention behind his actions but what was confusing her, his complicated choice of actions.
'Why can you not be honest through your actions?'
Khet wondered inwardly.
"He is confused. He is like a newborn child that his mother abandoned him"
Sighing he continued while rubbing his eyes
"explaining myself right away would break him even more which would be unnecessary, his pure soul would be confused and that would be a severe trauma"
Taking a deep breath he continued as khet paid attention, her ears twitched.
"i'm only teaching a lesson—a lesson that would shape his mindset."
Sekhm explained plainly and stoically, khet could feel the guilt in his voice.
"You know...knocking him out was unnecessary..you could—*Sighs*... its too late now..."
Cautiously Khet said but was met with nothing but silence so she held her tongue from overstepping her boundaries and sighed.
It was by no means her right to intervene.
Sekhm reverted his attention from khet to yozrasef.
Khet felt heavy and powerless in this situation and also clueless, but one thing she understood, that sekhm cares for yozrasef.
In her opinion, sekhm is bad at communicating.
Even a horrible teacher for yozrasef but she couldn't say anything.
She knows she has no right to speak on behalf of the unconscious yozrasef.
'Not because i feel uncomfortable with it, i don't have the right to influence others based on my thoughts, others have llives and beliefs, which could be different to me, doesn't mean it is wrong, they are humans just as i am, it would be wise to let sekhm reflect on himself or even find the right words to say to yozrasef when he wakes up...right mother?'
Khet touched the cloth that is wrapped around her eyes, while thinking inwardly.
Silence roamed the land like a heavy cloud of depression.
two hours passed and silence continued over the three.
And during that, Sekhm's gaze reverted from the sky to the lying body of yozrasef, his jaw clenched in displeasure.
He wanted to check on his breathing.
As sekhm seemed to be immersed in his conflicting thoughts between his rational self and his guilt over what he had done to yozrasef, the silence continued.
Now, khet was sitting on the jagged land on the opposite side of yozrasef and sekhm.
Spontaneously, yozrasef's hands twitched, gripping on the sand and the tiny rocks of the ground.
Groans of pain escaped through his mouth.
All of his core muscles along with his quads and glutes twitched and bulged with unbearable pain.
The pain stung him like hundreds of bees stinging his muscles repeatedly.
Witnessing that sight, sekhm closed his eyes.
Khet's head turned in the direction of the movement.
Yozrasef opened his eyes in pain, his eyelashes were almost glued together due to the dried stain of blood and tears.
Rubbing his eyes with his hands, he opened them.
His eyes shone with confusion but soon remembered what happened.
First thing he saw was the appearance of sekhm, sitting on the ground, cross–legged beside him in silence.
Turning his head to the left side, he could see khet sitting there in silence.
At that minute he heard it.
" I did not give up on you, I didn't think of you as dead weight, I didn't kick you into the crater to hurt you or kill you."
Sekhm said plainly and yozrasef's eyes twitched then he shut them tightly.
Khet's ears twitched listening to him.
'Yeah he is definitely a..lunatic'
Khet couldn't help but curse him.
"I kicked you and made you think of me as horrible person, as lesson.
Never trust human beings...only trust humans when you have power or status because when you have those, every human would think twice before hurting you, Humans are like naunets but could even be more vile than them.
I may have come off as horrible—kicking you was unnecessary, indeed—though you have to taste the pain as if it's real.
You wouldn't have gone past your limits without a reason..a reason to prove to me you are not a dead weight.
To prove to yourself you are not a dead weight either.
Betrayal and cheating someone's trust are hidden blades that can be used to kill, yozrasef.
Remember the pain of today...this will be a reminder—your fuel for a clouded tomorrow."
Sekhm stated genuinely with care.
Opening his closed eyelids, he perceived the gaze of yozrasef and the silent presence of khet.
Opening his closed tight eyes, Yozrasef got up awkwardly from the jagged—land, he struggled to stand up from the pain in his muscles.
He fell on his knees.
Tightening his grip in pain and frustration, he groaned in pain as he attempted to sit down.
Sitting cross–legged, he glanced over at khet then his gaze diverted to sekhm.
'I understand his reason though...even if I didn't understand his reason there is nothing i could or would do about it...i'm completely powerless..this is too much..'
Yozrasef grimaced inwardly over the situation once again.
Despite the fact Yozrasef still felt uneasy, deep down he felt that this uneasy feeling is unnecessary, he tried to rationalize the situation and accept his reality so he doesnt break down in weakness.
'There is no need to overthink it, I already survived, he explained himself as well'
'he seems genuine about it too. If he wanted to get rid of me, he would have done so— long time ago.'
Yozrasef thought inwardly of the situation, collecting his thoughts and reflecting on all of what happened once again and Sekhm's words made sense to his mind but he couldn't agree with him to trick him like that.
Being left alone in the dark felt horrible to Yozrasef.
It also felt like an inhumane action, and not just randomly left but kicked to the depths of the earth.
'It felt like someone who you never hurt, intentionally traumatizing you, which is more traumatizing than the action itself'
Yozrasef thought to himself, his expressionless facade cracked with unease and discomfort to his own trail of thoughts.
Taking a deep breath, his expression softened returning to emotionless–cold–pale–facade, replacing his pained expression.
Obviously, he wanted to bury his pain deep down not to appear in a weak state for them.
He still feels uneasy.
His face lightened up under the torch lights that scattered around the land.
"That was a horrible lesson."
Yozrasef said in his dry and harsh voice.
Yozrasef couldn't fathom how sekhm could be unpredictable.
He thought of him as a simpleton type of person, all muscles but no brain but turns out, he had a brain and muscles.
A nasty brain as well.
At the end, yozrasef accepted his reality, he believed that this might not be the last lesson that he would experience such a situation as betrayal, he would face more and more similar lessons.
Yozrasef took a deep breath and then let it out.
Sekhm glanced over at yozrasef noticing the change in his demeanor.
'I know for sure that things would be awkward between me and him for a while, so let's take it slow'
Sekhm thought inwardly, reaching a deduction about the whole situation between yozrasef and him.
Khet noticing the change of the atmosphere in the air, she felt relieved.
'I'm glad that he found words to explain himself...or more like..i'm glad that yozrasef understood him despite how harsh his words were...that lunatic's actions were a bit too much....he talks so much as well to the point he really doesn't know how to properly communicate...I hope he evolves for the better'
Khet thought inwardly.
"Ahem—so what did you see in the crater?"
Sekhm broke the silence with a question in a tone full of curiosity.
"What do you mean?"
Yozrasef asked, he was confused.
"Ahh— well what did you see? Now that I remember you said that you crawled through a tunnel."
Sekhm asked once again, remembering that yozrasef didn't know a thing about the crater.
"Did you not see it already? The 10 tunnels, the labyrinth? It's there"
Yozrasef stated and asked in confusion pointing at the crater's direction.
Sekhm fell in thought.
'10 tunnels...I would understand that since I explained the idea of our training but why 10 tunnels? Why labyrinth? Are those reflections of his inner world?'
Sekhm's head exploded with thoughts and theories while yozrasef felt more confused throughout the silence.
" I will explain— so basically, this crater is an unusual and mysterious crater and in short, its like a mirror that reflects your inner world to fill what you lack, it was a training ground for naunets in the past—long ago."
Yozrasef's eyes widened in response to that information.
'That would explain how inhuman that training felt along with that insane pressure of energy'
Yozrasef exclaimed inwardly, feeling everything clicking together now.
"Whenever you look at it, it reflects your inner world so what you perceive is different to mine— when I spoke about the training method to you, I already knew that this crater would reflect your thoughts to fill in your perception, to give you what you need to do to grow— I knew you would think of our training since you were very enthusiastic about it as well and that's why i asked."
Sekhm explained his actions in detail.
'That makes sense now, this place felt like a living entity for sure..that's a very complicated method of training, very inhuman as well, though on the other hand, a very effective method'
Yozrasef's head nodded in response, the confusion from earlier disappeared, his widened eyes shut down while digesting the logic behind Sekhm's action and the information about the crater
'He is a very weird person, at times he acts very mature..understanding and intellectual, he understands everything as if he didn't lose any memories—it feels like he is regaining them, it could be understood through his silence— but him crying was something I never expected of him..I thought he would attack me right away...he truly is strange...maybe he was overwhelmed'
Sekhm thought inwardly, he couldn't figure him out, yozrasef for him is the biggest question mark beside the abyss.
"I have a question, yozrasef"
Sekhm said in a genuine, clear tone of voice.
in response, Yozrasef nodded, signaling to him that it is okay to ask.
"What are you fighting for?"
Sekhm asked in a wondering tone but mixed with curiosity but in response, yozrasef tilted his head in confusion.
"What is your goal through surviving?"
Noticing the confusion visible on yozrasef's face, Sekhm explained his question with another question.
"I don't know..—I just wanna survive and figure out my origin"
Yozrasef scratched the back of his head unconsciously feeling that this question was too sudden.
"Oh—I see"
Sekhm replied while scratching his cheeks awkwardly.
' I mean that was obvious right? That was really stupid of me to ask'
Sekhm thought inwardly, he knew yozrasef had been searching for answers all over the place to understand how he got here and his past.
Yozrasef diverted his gaze towards the sea of darkness.
The sea of darkness is deep, so deep one would feel like they have their eyes closed while staring at it.
As the crimson glowing eyes of yozrasef stared deeply at the sky as if entranced.
Until their eyes met through the darkness.
Two pulses of light like signals reacting to each other's resonance of existence.
Floating in the sea of darkness kheru's gaze was locked down on them from the sky, through her indifferent and cold gaze, the world unfolded itself, it's there but it could never be fully comprehended.
The land was vast.
Too vast for her eyes to encompass it.
The earth wasn't a planet but the very foundation of creation, the bottom and floor of all creation and before it, the sea of darkness stretched far and wide and inside it dead planes of land floated in the middle of darkness.
The sea of darkness was indeed like the sea.
Through that sea of darkness, a weird phenomenon of echoes of voices and Cries reverberated.
Cries of pain of millions of beings boiling in hot lava.
Sometimes, it's the cries of wars.
Sometimes, it's the cries of dying soldiers.
Sometimes, it's loud echoes of incomprehensible words, like a madman repeating words in a fast rhythm.
Despite all of this unsettling atmosphere, kheru floated indifferent to it all, as if she is used to it.
Yet kheru wondered, what were these Cries for?.
Who were these beings?.
What is this the sea of darkness?.
was the sea of darkness a being with intelligence just like us?.
Many questions surface every day inside kheru's mind.
The minute she falls into her mind and thinks internally, the cries would get louder but whenever a voice comes out of her mouth, the cries would cease to exist.
Speaking in this sea of darkness is a sacred act.
Only those who are mentally disciplined can not be affected by these cries of anguish.
Burying the thoughts of the world in the back of her mind.
The land had no source of light yet somehow it exuded its own light of visibility but once you set your feet on it, there is no light but the light of torches that you don't even know the source of where it came
Sekhm claimed that this land was invaded by them centuries ago, but was it truly the case?
'My own memories feel unreal and more distorted, ever since I came to the underworld, I keep feeling something is missing but I don't know what it is, no matter how much I try to remember the events before I was deployed to this land, it blurs- it as if i remember what I need to remember not what I want. '
Kheru's mind rampaged with millions of thoughts and attempts to remember her past clearly but fails, at the end, she gave up.
Shutting her eyelids tightly, she breathed in and out to calm her spirit.
Sitting cross-legged mid air, kheru's gaze swept the surface of the land then finally her gaze landed on the group.
She had been watching the whole time.
She had been watching the time where yozrasef was kicked into the crater, disappearing into pits of the darkness, until the moment he had woken up, and now they were both staring at each other deeply.
Yozrasef perceiving kheru's purple glowing eyes mistook it for a star as she perceived yozrasef's crimson eyes that were glowing with coldness and indifference.
During that, through the deep sea of darkness, kheru's gaze wandered.
It wandered far deep into the sea of darkness, another form of a dreadful plane of land emerged in the distence.
Beyond that dreadful plane, the feint glimps of yet another realm could be seen.
Her gaze could only perceive those two but she knew that there were others out there.
As her gaze lingered more, she could feel a ripple occur through the darkness, ripple of energy that would cause a humming sound.
'Someone is approaching'
Kheru instantly knew, that humming and ripple of energy were caused by someone diving through the sea of darkness.
Soon enough, that entity emerged through the darkness.
Smokeless flame of energy like a wave radiated from his body but it soon dimmed, revealing his body structure clearly.
Once again, he appeared.
Brown skin color with dark scales that covered his vital spots.
Wearing a simple white robe knitted with gold.
The entity stood at nine feet tall with a muscular frame.
Black hollow eyes with a white glint of coldness yet indifference, his gaze swept the land in a judgmental manner as he stood beside kheru.
Kheru, floating cross-legged in the sea of darkness, her body rotated mid air towards the direction of the entity, upon the emergence of the entity, her legs stretched down, balancing her on the sea of darkness, standing before the entity.
Her right hand, holding the hilt of her sword, she was ready to kill him but for some reason she stopped herself.
"The world is empty right?, killing you, wouldn't attract the eyes of the 7 rulers, would it?"
Her voice rang like sword resonance slicing through the flesh of the enemy, despite her relaxed stance, her threat wasn't empty.
Her voice silenced the cries and echoes of the sea of darkness.
"I didn't come to fight, so you can relax for now"
The entity spoke in a humane tone of voice, as his gaze diverted towards kheru, meeting her chilling cold gaze that was full of killing intent.
"I have come to warn you"
Continuing, he stated while closing his eyelids, in indifference.
Kheru's eyes narrowed slightly while observing the entity carefully.
"Soon there will be another attack in an hour or so, mobilize your unit-"
As he was telling her, he cut himself in the middle of his sentence as kheru spoke in a chilling tone of voice full of mockery.
"Oh- I see, so even you snakes have such things too"
Kheru spoke after chuckling amusingly.
"What do you mean?"
the entity stood there, his eyes narrowed slightly waiting for kheru to explain herself.
"First, you came to me out of the blue, giving me information on your side who is our enemy, based on your behavior it's not a trap, are you trying to mess up someone's plan using us?"
Kheru stated while observing him, her purple eyes gleaming with killing intent, encompassing the entirety of his existence in her eyes, reading him like the back of her hand.
" truly, I can't fool you, can I?"the entity stated as his lips lifted upwards, his eyes gleamed with killing intent washing away the previous indifference "You are indeed the most intelligent human I have met so far" laughing coldly, he crossed his arms together.
"Well since i have given you the warning, I'm leaving-"
As he was turning around to leave, kheru spoke.
"Who is coming, Nidrasef?"
She asked in a chilling tone of voice.
Nidrasef's body stopped moving, turning his head he spoke.
"If I tell you, it wouldn't be fun, right?"
His voice was serene as he spoke, soon his body vanished within the darkness leaving nothing but ripples of energy behind him.