AIN: The Eyes of Deception

Chapter 4 : Something Behind Me

"Let's see how far you can play before you realize that this world doesn't belong to you, Arel... but to me."

Arel stood frozen. The scent of Lyxaria's expensive, sharp perfume filled his nose, contrasting with the metallic stench of blood from the three men he had just killed on the corridor floor.

Arel felt a pulling sensation at the back of his head, like two cold hands were squeezing his nerves, preparing to unleash an even greater power. Velkris, that inky entity, now extended from Arel's back, stretching shadow tentacles toward Lyxaria like a snake coiled to strike.

Arel took a deep breath, trying to steady his heart as it pounded like a war drum. "This world doesn't belong to anyone, Lyxaria. Especially not to a woman who stands atop the corpses of others just to secure her shares," Arel replied, his voice raspy yet firm.

Lyxaria let out a soft chuckle, a sound that was elegant yet as piercing as a blade of ice. She didn't spare a single glance at the bodies on the floor, as if they were nothing more than trash unworthy of her sight. "How amusing. You talk of morality after taking three lives in a matter of seconds? Arel, darling, you are a newly blossomed Ain User. You're like a child just learning to hold a sharp sword. You'll end up cutting yourself before you even manage to touch me."

Lyxaria stepped forward, her heels clicking against the corridor floor, creating a deeply intimidating rhythm. Arel felt the air pressure around him spike. He tried to visualize something, an explosion, an attack, but his thoughts suddenly turned to chaos. Every time he tried to focus, Velkris whispered with a cynical edge. "Don't do it now. She has a mental shield. You'll only fry your own brain."

Arel stood his ground. He couldn't retreat. If he backed down, he lost. "You came here because you're afraid," Arel accused, his eyes locked onto Lyxaria's. He searched for an opening, trying to find a thread of reality he could unravel. "You feel the threat, don't you? You see me as an anomaly that you can't control with your filthy business metrics."

"A threat?" Lyxaria stopped exactly two meters in front of him. "You aren't a threat. You are an unstable asset. And unstable assets must be either liquidated or repaired immediately."

Suddenly, Arel felt an intense heat behind his eyes. He didn't look at Lyxaria with hatred, but with a profound fear, and that was the catalyst. Without him even realizing it, his Level 1 ability activated violently. The corridor lights above them shattered one by one in a perfect row, creating a rapid domino effect of destruction. The walls cracked severely, the concrete peeling away like sun-scorched skin.

Lyxaria frowned slightly, her hand moving through the air in a quick motion, as if she were merely brushing away dust. Suddenly, the concrete debris headed for her veered off course as if it had slammed into an invisible wall.

"Interesting," Lyxaria hissed. "So that's your Level 1? It's messy, unfocused, and quite satisfying to break."

Arel staggered back. His head felt like it was about to split open. He heard Aelion's whisper, the light entity that had been silent until now, for the first time as a crystal-clear voice in his head. Stop, Arel. Don't let your emotions dictate the flow of your Ain. Focus on a single point. Don't be the storm, be the needle.

Arel tried to swallow the pain. He closed his eyes for a second, casting aside all fear and rage, and then imagined himself as the epicenter of every possibility. He opened his eyes. His world had shifted. He no longer saw Lyxaria as a human being, but as a cluster of vibrating energy threads.

"You think you can control me with your cheap tricks?" Arel growled. He didn't attack Lyxaria physically. He attacked the very reality beneath her feet.

He visualized the floor under Lyxaria becoming unstable. Instantly, the ground cracked right beneath her heels, causing her to lose her footing. Lyxaria gasped, her arrogant expression faltering for a moment. She had to steady herself on one leg, and for a split second, her focus wavered.

That was the opening Arel needed.

Arel lunged forward, his body feeling weightless, almost as if he were gliding. Velkris enveloped his right hand in pure darkness. He intended to land a punch, an impulsive strike born of pure adrenaline.

However, before his hand could reach Lyxaria, another hand appeared out of thin air, seizing Arel's wrist with overwhelming strength.

It was a man. He was wearing a gray suit and possessed a completely flat, emotionless gaze. Draeven Korr.

"You're too naive, Arel," Draeven said in a cold, commanding voice. "Level 1 is a playground for the foolish. You're attempting to attack a Level 2 who is nearing the peak with nothing but baseless bravado."

Arel tried to pull his hand away, but Draeven's grip only tightened. "Let me go!" Arel screamed.

"Draeven, don't kill him just yet," Lyxaria interjected, standing tall once more. She smoothed her slightly disheveled hair. "He still has potential for us to study. Who knows, he might be the key to unlocking Level 3 for us."

"He's nothing but newly awakened trash," Draeven replied, flinging Arel's arm so hard that he was sent crashing against the wall. "Just looking at him makes me sick."

Arel slumped to the floor. The pain in his shoulder was excruciating, but he didn't give up. He could feel Velkris thrashing inside him, demanding to be let loose. The entity wanted to take control, wanted to slaughter anyone in its path.

Let me out, the voice of Velkris whispered within his soul. Let me swallow them. Let me destroy them all.

Arel stood up slowly, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He stared at Draeven and Lyxaria with eyes that were beginning to lose their human warmth. He realized he couldn't win this physical confrontation. He had to be smarter. He had to be more than just a "user."

"You think you know everything about Ain," Arel said with a low laugh, a sound that would have chilled anyone who heard it. "You think you're the masters of this system just because you've reached Level 2."

Lyxaria narrowed her eyes. "What are you getting at?"

Arel felt something change. An incredible, frigid energy began to wrap around his body, originating from Aelion. The light entity slowly began to merge with Velkris's darkness on Arel's shoulder. His body was soon surrounded by an indefinable aura, a mix of blinding light and a darkness that consumed everything.

"I don't want to control the world the way you do," Arel said, his voice now echoing, sounding as if ten people were speaking in unison. "I want this world to stop hiding the truth behind your masks."

Draeven stepped forward, his hand radiating a powerful Ain energy that created enough air pressure to severely crack the floor around him. "Enough talk. Let's end this."

Draeven lunged with inhuman speed. His punch was aimed directly at Arel's heart. Yet, Arel didn't flinch or dodge. He simply stood there, letting it happen.

Just as Draeven's fist was about to strike his chest, Arel visualized one thing: the space between them no longer existed.

BOOM!

A massive explosion of energy erupted between them. The apartment corridor didn't just crack, it was completely leveled. The walls disintegrated, and the concrete floor split in two. Dust and smoke choked the air, blinding Lyxaria as she immediately scrambled back several paces.

As the smoke began to clear, Arel was nowhere to be found.

All that remained was a bizarre trail of energy on the floor, a mark that left Draeven standing frozen. Draeven looked down at the hand he had used to strike, there was a strange burn mark, as if he had just punched something that was never meant to be touched by human hands.

"He's gone," Draeven muttered, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"That wasn't teleportation. It was... he manipulated probability so that the strike never happened."

Lyxaria stared at the ruins with an expression that was hard to read. There was a very faint trace of fear in her eyes, something she had not shown in years. "He didn't disappear, Draeven. He's learning."

"Learning what?"

Lyxaria turned toward the shattered window, staring at the dark night sky. "Learning how to see us. If he can already do this at Level 1, then he has already reached the threshold of Level 3."

Somewhere far from there, on the roof of a high-rise building lit by the city lights, Arel lay sprawled. His breath was ragged, and his body felt as if it had just been hit by a train. He looked at his own hands, which were still shaking violently.

He made it. He didn't know how, but he managed to get out of there.

Suddenly, he felt the presence of two figures beside him. He didn't need to look to know who they were. Aelion and Velkris stood there now, looking down at the city below them.

"You took a very risky action," Aelion said in a flat tone.

"But it was quite fun, wasn't it?" Velkris chimed in with a wide grin. "You just terrified those two hounds, Arel. You're starting to like this feeling, aren't you? The feeling of being able to change reality as you wish."

Arel remained silent. He looked down at the crowd of people busy with their lives, who had no idea that above their heads, a war between entities greater than mere ambition was beginning.

"I don't like this feeling," Arel answered softly. "I hate it."

"Then why did you do it?" Velkris asked.

Arel stared at his reflection in a puddle of rainwater on the roof. He saw his own shadow, and there, for the first time, he saw not just himself, but a connection. A red thread connecting his heart to the rest of the world.

"Because," Arel replied, staring into his own eyes which now emitted silver and black light alternately, "they started this. And I... I will be the one to end it in a way they could never imagine."

Arel stood up, his exhausted body once again filled with a foreign and deadly energy. He knew he couldn't go back to the apartment, couldn't go back to the office, and couldn't go back to his old life.

But, just as he was about to step away, a small voice whispered in his ear. It was the voice of Eluni, the little girl with the red balloon he had met at the bus stop earlier.

Don't go too fast, Arel. This world is deeper than you can imagine. There is something down there, something that has been waiting for someone like us for a long time.

Arel stopped. He turned toward his own shadow, which no longer seemed to be clinging to the ground, but instead began to stretch toward the darkness of the city. He didn't know what lay beneath this city, but one thing was certain: he had just opened a door that could not be closed again.

"Let's see," Arel whispered to himself, "how deep this rabbit hole actually goes."

He jumped from the roof of the building, not to fall, but to begin the hunt. And down there, behind the false glitz of the city lights, something ancient began to wake, hearing Arel's footsteps which now held no more doubt.

The Ain War had begun, and Arel Virel had just positioned himself at the very center of that destruction.