Chương 5: Chapter 4: The Door Is Open

Fires burned through the window, casting Torin's home in an orangish light.

"It is good to see you again, Thrain," the man with the long hair said.

"Can't say the same for you," Da said, spitting out blood. Da couldn't move. Not with so many soldiers holding him and Ma down. The two stayed in place while half the soldiers kept them trapped while the others tore through the furniture behind. Torin watched from inside the hidey-hole. It was a small room, barely big enough for him to fit. But Da used magic powers to make it so no one else could see or hear inside. So long as Torin didn't leave the hidey-hole, they wouldn't know he was there.

The man with long hair frowned.

"Where is the weapon?"

"Long gone," Da said.

"He died last winter."

"Is that so? My scouts already found the flawed one, and don't think that paladin will protect him. I sent a team of Peak Golds to ambush them as we speak."

"Do whatever you must. We don't know anything more." The man with the long hair tsked.

"Oh, we both know that is not true, Thrain. You know more than everyone else in this backwater hamlet combined. But I only care about answering one minor question. Where. Is. The. Weapon?"

"He died last winter…" A punch sent Da down. Torin stirred, but he could do nothing inside the hidey-hole. Da locked it from the outside.

"This could still be different," the man with the long hair said.

"We could destroy the State together." But Da only shook his head.

"You have no intention of doing that. You only care about controlling it from within. And even then, it would be pointless. The boy was beyond your control. He was beyond everyone's control." He stared into the other man's eyes.

"Don't you forget that, Gaius Maro." Gaius Maro gleamed, his princely features distorted into an ugly beast through the light of the fire.

"Your lies will get you nothing. I know the weapon lives. If you don't tell me what I need, then I will have to get the information another way." He nodded at Ma. The men threw her to the ground.

"No!" Da stood, but they beat him down a second later. Torin kicked the door to the hidey-hole. Again and again. But it would not budge.

"Don't stop until I say," Gaius Maro said with a tone that suggested he had no plans on uttering another word.

"Look at me, Hilda!" Da shouted.

"I'm right here." Ma screamed. Why did Da have to lock Torin in here?! He should be out there with his mother and father. He shouldn't be forced to watch them in pain! But he couldn't look away. The hidey-hole only had one exit, and it went right out into his bedroom. He had to see. He couldn't not see.

"Save some for me, will you?" a soldier cackled. And Torin watched everything unfold, hidden inside his hole in the wall. * Torin stood behind a younger version of himself, his six-year-old twin watching the night play out again. Yet, he was not still there. Torin stood about five meters behind. The area around the hidey-hole had dissolved into a sheet of white. No, even further than that. It spread as far as eyes could see, everywhere turning into this empty, white void that glowed softly. Except for one place.

Inside this strange realm, a glossy black cube floated diagonally above the ground. It stood about ten meters behind him and perhaps half as tall. The corners were perfectly symmetrical as they spun slowly in the air. Light reflected off an impossibly smooth surface, though the cube cast no shadow. Breathless, Torin took a few steps closer. The cube did not react, continuing to spin as it had before. Until it didn't.

In a fraction of a second, the cube deformed, a tetrahedron suddenly superimposed over the cube's surface. But this strange vision only hung for another instant before the tetrahedron collapsed back into the cube, now choosing different corners than it had originated. The cube continued its rotation, yet Torin could feel its presence, as if it could watch him back. Was it alive? The cube repeated its trick, the tetrahedron growing and collapsing before he could blink.

"Who are you?" Torin asked." What are you?" A low whisper echoed from the endless void, soft and slow, yet carrying enough weight to destroy worlds." I… am the last testament to your dreams…" the Anomaly answered. Torin blinked. He had not known this entity's name until it spoke, but the moment the words hit his ears, he felt as if he had never known differently. This was the Anomaly. It had always been the Anomaly.

"I don't understand," Torin said.

"Where am I? How did I get here?" The Anomaly snapped into another impossible shape before falling into itself." I am the Aetherium manifested and the Corporium only imagined… You found me before the Beginning and after the End… This Domain is where you belong when you don't belong… Like me…" The Anomaly let the riddles linger in silence.

"Why did you bring me here?" Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings." Why did you bring me here…?" It took a moment to realize that the Anomaly had answered his question and not just repeated it.

"Are you saying that I came here on my own and summoned you?"" Correct… You made a choice to experience this existence… You are here again to confront that existence…" He looked at the fragmented version of his childhood home.

"This is a memory."" Memories are fickle beings…" the Anomaly said." They are moments that do not exist once passed… Yet, great power is stored within… The power to change… The power to grow…"

"What's inside mine?" The Anomaly flickered." Pain… A pain that your young mind could not handle… Once you escaped the fire, you created this Domain early to lock the memory away… You will not understand yourself until it is opened…" Understand myself, Torin thought.

"Is this why my Trait is hidden?"" Correct… To accept your power is to accept your pain… Your trauma… There is no other way… Your spirit cannot align with your body while the memory remains trapped… But once it is removed, you can no longer hide from your pain… You will feel this weight immediately…

"You understood this before the Beginning, but then you forgot…

"Its tone went lower, almost sorrowful." Everyone forgets…" The Anomaly crunched through itself again, another set of tetrahedrons contorting from different angles. It reminded Torin of a puzzle box trying to solve itself. Or rather, he knew that's what it was the moment he had the thought. An unsolvable problem endlessly in search of an answer.

"What if I don't accept it now?"" Then, you will forget, and this Domain will close again… You will return as you are… Not as you could be… Forever…" He gulped, the idea of that loss heavier than he expected. The memory played out behind, his heart racing just looking at it. Torin stared at the strange cube. Until this moment, he had never taken the thought seriously that having a Hidden Trait was psychosomatic, but he also could never remember what happened to his parents until now.

Watching it over and over made his skin crawl. But Torin had also never experienced anything like this before, seeing his past unaltered in an open white void. Whether magic, an illusion, or just another trick of his mind, he felt like he could see clearly for the first time in his life.

"How do I accept my power?" Torin asked." The door is open…

"the Anomaly explained." You only need to step through…" His younger self had disappeared, and the hidey-hole expanded to be as tall as him, his parents still being murdered behind, over and over. But the door stretched with it, and Torin could stroll straight through. He hesitated, unsure of what was to come. According to the Anomaly, he would feel the memory's weight immediately, and there was a group of men committing the same heinous act nearby. What would happen if he faced them right now?

But then Torin thought of how powerless he had been his whole life. How much time had been lost not knowing this option waited for him? Now, he held the chance to escape that, if only he was willing to accept the burden that came with it. With his head held high, he stepped through the door. * Torin screamed. It was a shrill, primal shriek, uncontainable with the memory of his mother freshly seared into his mind, playing out again with the fate of the young woman in front.

He launched forth at full speed, his eyes focused only on the nearest Hawk. At the center of his vision, the man's image grew bigger, the rest disappearing into a wall of reddish rage. The Hawk's features became more detailed, his mouth falling ajar as Torin closed in. His hand fell to his cudgel far too late. Torin slammed his masonry hammer into the Hawk with all his might. Blood splattered out as the nose crunched, but the eyes did not curl back. They narrowed into his own in horror.

"Help!" the Hawk squeaked. I need more strength. A blue box had appeared at his vision's edge, but Torin resolved the obstacle before it could interfere. He wrapped his fist tighter, his muscles exploding with a strength he did not know he possessed. With an upward swing, he struck the Hawk again through the base of the jaw. The bastard's teeth shattered on impact, and he tumbled back without another word. Another gasped.

"By the Swan, bring him down!" Blows took Torin in the side. He stumbled to his knees, realizing that the other two Hawks had flanked him. Like a caged beast, he glared from one to the other, deciding which would feel his wrath next. Even if their studded leather armor could deflect his hammer with ease, they were still vulnerable where exposed. Torin shoved one Hawk aside and put all his weight into beating the second. One blow from Torin's hammer knocked the cudgel aside.

The second threw the Hawk's kettle hat away. The third took him in the ear with enough force to dislodge an eyeball. His victim fell screaming, but Torin was not finished. He collapsed his hammer again, caving the skull inward. The other Hawk proved more difficult. His muscles seemed like they were made of stone and deflected the hammer with ease. Meanwhile, the cudgel's effects started wearing Torin down.

"Won't be so easy," the Hawk said with a grin. Need more power… More strength… The blue box appeared again, but he focused only on the man in front of him. The next time the cudgel hit him, it felt pitifully weak compared to before. His skin had stretched tightly as if he'd adopted the same stone physique. His opponent's confidence evaporated as Torin pressed with his newfound advantage. The Hawk swung feebly back, but the two were fighting on equal footing now.

He did not survive for long, his skull cracking open after one too many hits. Then heat swirled around, and Torin caught sight of another aggressor. The Raven had clung to the edge of the melee with his training staff. Now that the others had fallen, he pointed the staff forth. Fire rushed from the tip and swallowed Torin whole.

"That's right," the Raven mocked.

"Burn!" But the pain lasted a mere second before Torin felt warmness flood through him instead. The Raven's glee went away as Torin stepped through the flames unharmed, his enemy's eyes widening in fear. Torin went straight for the chest, driving his hammer in. The Raven did not wear studded leather like the others, so his ribs took the brunt of the hammer's impact.

"Wait–!" the Raven tried to plead, only to get knocked onto his back. His body remained tougher than his allies, but Torin did not care. He beat him. Again and again and again. He wanted him to hurt. He wanted him to suffer. This monster deserved every ounce of pain! Each blow pushed Torin closer to his goal. The Raven gasped for air as his bones creaked against the strain, but he could not escape Torin's grip. One devastating blow after the next, his victim weakened.

Even then, the Raven attempted a final, desperate gambit. His terror-stricken eyes focused on the sky above, and he flicked his arm upward. An uncontrolled fireball launched into the air, dozens of meters before dissipating. Then Torin broke through the ribs, shattering into the Raven's soft heart. His victim vomited blood once before stopping. Torin huffed in fresh air, his muscles alive as if they had been consumed by molten energy. How had he never fought back like this before?

But as he scanned for further enemies and his bloodlust thinned, the reality of his circumstances caught up to him. A group of State officers had just been murdered… In broad daylight… For anyone to see. Torin looked for the woman he had saved, but even she had fled sometime during the melee. An alarm rang in the distance, and Torin knew that reinforcements had been called. But before he could leave, something else caught his eye.

Right in the corner of his vision, a blue box had flashed up, and it contained a message that should have been impossible. Congratulations! You have Leveled Up!