And So, I stretched my hand of friendship to the Ugly guy, trying to make a new friend in this cruel world, Giving the guy a chance to experience Friendship, passion and comradeship. Damn, even I, myself am getting moved to tears by my own generosity. But...
-Roar!
The Ogre answered my 'friendship' with a sky-shattering scream. He raised the ironwood club, the muscles in his back rippling like tectonic plates and...
I am fucked, aren't i ? Ugh... why can't anyone ever just respect my love.
Flash!
-Thud! BOOM!
The club slammed into the stone where I had been standing a heartbeat ago. The impact was deafening, a localized earthquake that sent a shockwave through the floor and erupted in a cloud of pulverized rock and dust. A small crater marked my previous position.
I watched all these the collision, the debris settle from twenty meters distance away.
Damn... I was less than two seconds late from turning into a human flavoured meat Jam.
I had used the movement spell of lightning attribute, [Flash]. It doesn't teleport you through space like [Blink] but it just accelerates your body to a blur.
Flash uses less mana than Blink. And right now, In a lockout like this, I can't be frivolous with mana spending here. I don't know how long will this take.
So, Gotta be careful. Gotta save Mana.
Sensing that he had perhaps failed to hit his Target, The Ogre pulled his club from the crater, the ironwood groaning as it dragged against the shattered stone. He turned his milky eyes toward me, as if he could sense my presence. Which he probably can. And for the first time, I saw a flicker of genuine irritation.
"Hey! Come on! Is that an ogre's custom or something? Welcoming your new roommate with a club hit ?!" I shouted in fake surprised voice, Scolding him like a senior scolding his junior for lack of courtesy.
I am Surprised myself by how I'm sounding more like a disgruntled customer service rep than a child facing an executioner.
I was still spouting Nonsense Even in this situation. Just how Much of a Flippant guy am I?! But it's a actually good thing. Really good.
Actually, I was pretty worried that when standing against a big and stronger hostile opponent like this guy, I would get a cold feet or would be too much anxious.
But the fact that I am still spouting Nonsense jokes right now, means that I am just a little nervous and nothing more.
How do i know that? Easy.
It's an old habit of Nick. Nick had a specific quirk: he was a 'Nervous Talker'. That guy would often start spouting Nonsense jokes to amuse himself when he gets a little nervous or situation got a little dicey, regardless of the place or situation. It was A way for him to amuse himself and calm his nerves.
But whenever he would be afraid or extremely anxious, he would go quiet.
So, right now, By that Logic, I am just a little nervous. Since I was currently roasting an Ogre's Room service and all. But there's another weird thing. I am not afraid, even though I should be.
I was already in a stance where almost all of my strength was focused on my legs, fully prepared to run. And he came slowly stretching his club at the side and as he reached right in front of me, He swung his club sideways.
And again, I ran with [Flash].
Despite a 60 percent chance of death, I am not afraid. But I guess that's a given for me.
Most people are not afraid of death itself but rather something else, the pain of the process, or the consequences left behind in the wreckage of their absence Or, missing the feeling of seeing Tomorrow's sun.
Death has another Name. It is often called as 'Eternal Sleep'. But everyone loves Sleeping. It is absolutely necessary for body.
Which means, When we're talking about fear of death, People are not afraid of the 'Sleep' part. They are afraid of the 'Eternal' Part. They are not afraid of going to sleep but rather Not being able to ever wake up again from that sleep.
People who have a good life are afraid of death or End and don't want to go to Eternal Sleep. It is because they are afraid of loosing the great experience of their good life and the future experiences that are to come.
As for people who don't have a good life? Why are they afraid when they have nothing to lose and nothing to look forward to? Well, The answer is 'Hope'. They have hope that even if yesterday and today wasn't great, Tomorrow will definitely be better. An irrational belief that tomorrow might actually suck less than today.
The only people who are not afraid of 'Eternal Sleep', People who can embrace and accept it are the people who have Given up on their Current Life, Their Hope, Their Expectations. Only they can look at the "Eternal Sleep" and not blink.
So, Yes. People are only afraid of the pain of death and it's consequences.
Being an only child, Nick was the same. He was afraid of pain of death and it's consequences, which in his case would be his parents. But never of death itself.
He feared the pain and feared the grief his parents would suffer, but the concept of non-existence? That never bothered him.
But I am different from him. I can use mana to numb my nerves and make sure to not feel any pain.
As for consequences? I doubt the king would be sad. And as for Mother... She would grieve, yes. But She has plenty of people to take care of her. As for the pain of loosing me... A pain like that is not easy to forget but Not impossible either. She will manage.
How do i know that? I know because I have experience. plenty of it, in fact.
***
-Rawr!
And Just like that, this boring game of Cat and mouse kept going on and on. I kept moving, using [Flash] whenever the distance got too small. I was running like a rat, but I had a reason.
Why am I running like a rat ? Simple.
I want to observe my opponent but...
I looked at him running or rather jogging towards me! his massive ironwood club dragging behind him, leaving a jagged furrow in the stone.
This Ugly fucker is not even trying to catch me! He is having fun chasing his prey! The Bastard is treating me like a Warm-up toy!
-Rawr!
Huu... This can't go on. Neither of us is using our full power. He's not using it because he doesn't have to. And I'm not using it because I know my current won't have any effect.
At this rate, this will go on for infinity but, I don't have neither the mana nor the time for it. If I kept running, I'd eventually hit zero and become a very expensive floor mat.