Accumulated resentment, hatred and harbored feelings consume the soul; they choke the heart. It may be the absence of love, rejection, or misunderstanding and oppression. There are countless reasons why a person might lose himself and hide from the world.

The consequences of this are vast and unstoppable.

***

Those who suffer silently, who suffocate in frustration, found where to let themselves go. The poison in their hearts gave life to a land called Batoru.

A small nation made up of people fleeing their reality, a land of outcasts. It was founded by a man who led a group of hundred persons, there were dozens of wizards among them. In a space that did not belong to any kingdom, they tried to found a country where they would be free.

The disaster began when the members of the group decided to insubordinate against the one who started it all. Finally, after a pitched battle among the wizards, a new leader was decided. Thus, it was established that this fight would be repeated every year, and the winner would be the next to lead the group.

Soon the rumor spread of a small country where ‘you only had to defeat the current leader to take command’. This attracted attention and Batoru was filled with all kinds of people. In one of the many changes that took place, one of the winners stated:

The most important thing for the strongest should be his heart and spirit.

However, that ideal did not remain for long due to the constant changes of rulers.

It took more than a century, but finally they had a stable leader who worked to improve Batoru. Still, fortune was not on his side. He died of an illness, but he had a pupil: a girl who, at fifteen years of age, managed to become the leader.

At present, the girl was sixteen years old. 

Batoru was still a rustic place surrounded by nature. Little progress had been made. Although the girl was a disciple of the one who was considered the best leader of Batoru, she seemed to have no interest in that trouble-filled country. In fact, it was so small that it would be accurate to call it a city instead of a country.

Worse: a threat lurked in the vicinity of Batoru. Perhaps, such a threat, was the young leader's only interest.

***

Batoru was surrounded by several mountains. On one of them was a seventeen year old boy, he looked so young and small that he did not seem to be that age.

On top of one of the mountains lived this young brown-haired boy who had freckles on his face. He slept in the open. He had a fire burning, even though it was daytime, because he was cooking, when he finished eating he put out the fire.

He sighed contentedly.

“The beetles taste good... or was it me who made them taste good? Maybe I am a prodigy at cooking... but I don't know what the word prodigy really means... have I insulted myself by saying it?”

He thought about it for a while.

“Having no one to talk about these things is not good... but when I'm done with ‘that’ I can get out of here and meet people!”

He stood up to stretch. Whatever 'that' was it was important to him. More important than taking care of himself.

This young man's name is Peck. He wears faded, dirty clothes that are too big for his size. There were leaves tangled in his long hair. He had shoes covered in dirt. His hygiene was quite poor. 

Without warning, he decided to descend down one of the sides of the mountain. He took his preferred route and ran down. On the way down he dodged every tree, bush and animal that came his way. There were places where water was coming down from a river, Peck avoided the water at all costs: he likes to drink it, but not to get into it and get soaked.

He seemed very happy as he descended, but the path he took gradually became gloomy and dismal.

The trees had fewer and fewer leaves, no grass, no flowers, no animals, no water. The sky was no longer blue, the sun was obstructed by black clouds and the air had an unpleasant smell.

Finally, at the bottom of the mountain, he found his destination.

A dry land with no trace of life. The most striking feature of the place was a huge hole from which dark smoke was rising into the sky to form clouds.

Peck reached a forbidden territory where a creature called Leben lives. He kept his distance from the gaping hole, ten paces exactly. 

“This time I'm going to do it. I'm going to win!”

Peck has fought Leben dozens of times, losing every time. Yet he is the only one who has been able to survive this long. For that reason, he has come back time after time to try again.

Despite that, the nerves showed in his body. His legs trembled and a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead. His heart was pounding, knowing what awaited him.

“I'm here!”

He acted quickly to forget his nerves.

With his right hand he pointed inside the hole in the ground. Sparks appeared through his fingers and then a ball of orange fireball shot to where he pointed. Peck used the so famous Fire Magic.

For an instant he illuminated that abyss, but the impact of his attack was never heard, nor could any creature be seen there.

Nothing seemed to change due to the fire, but suddenly a hand with sharp fingers came out of the gap and clung to the edge. Then another hand peeked out... and another, and another, and another... hands as black as obsidian.

Eventually limbs of different animals peeked out. That also happened in the clouds in the sky and everywhere that smoke spread.

Peck only wondered what his enemy would look like this time.

In time, heads, legs, wings, tentacles and eyes also appeared.

An instant later, all the clouds in the sky began to recede and gather in a single point to return to the hole in the ground.

Leben is capable of taking all kinds of forms. He has been winged creatures, sometimes a giant eye, sometimes a snake with arms or a giant spider.

For this occasion he chose to look like the shadow of a grown man. There were no distinguishable facial features on him, but whoever was in his presence could sense that he was angry.

“You scare me a lot…" said the frightened Peck. "But I've survived several times. I guess that means I have a chance to win, right?!”

No matter what words Peck used, he couldn't hide how insecure he was. In his thoughts he had already accepted defeat as the greater possibility.

Peck prayed that this time he would succeed, because having to return again with the same defeated countenance was not something he could bear. Consistently, all his efforts ended in a resounding failure. Peck was falling apart inside.

Leben did nothing but generate incomprehensible noises. Peck became impatient and decided to attack.

With his left hand, Peck used Wind Magic; with his right hand, he used Fire Magic. He used the power of fire to launch a flare and the power of wind to create a whirlwind to trap his enemy. Altogether, it was a whirlwind of fire. 

Peck gritted his teeth in anguish. He tried to clasp his hands together, which would cause an explosion that would finish off the attack.

Suddenly the fire disappeared and the whirlwind ceased. Leben's figure was intact.

Peck bit his lip in response.

Even in fear he decided to continue attacking with everything he could think of because it was better than standing idly by. He tried different combinations with Wind and Fire Magic to bombard Leben with explosions.

At some point, Peck was unable to continue casting magic. It wasn't because of exhaustion, the cause of the problem was that he understood that those attempts were useless. No matter how hard he tried to shoot, he only managed to eject sparks.

With few alternatives, Peck saw his own hand: the one that could not perform magic. He began to walk backwards by instinct. When he returned his gaze to Leben, the latter was in front of him with his face almost glued to his.

“Ah!”

He jumped back. He tried to use magic again, and failed.

Leben extended his left arm toward Peck. Leben's arm reached out to reach Peck's neck and wrap around it. In this way he lifted the boy up and began to whip him several times against the ground. He took the opportunity to smash him against nearby trees, debris and some mounds of earth.

Peck's blood fell and splattered on the ground. Even though he was in such a condition, he kept pointing his hand at Leben in the hope of casting a spell that would save him from that predicament. Nothing was happening and his vision was blurring, the last glimmer of consciousness was slowly disappearing.

Okay... this is the point where I fall asleep and then wake up... right?

Peck tried to be optimistic in his thoughts.

But... it's the first time it's hurt me this much.

...

I can't move my arms.

...

My fingers are cold...

The next thing that happened was that Peck's body was slammed into the ground several times. Peck's blood splattered with each impact.

I think... he's going to kill me this time.

...

If I die here, I will have done nothing good in my whole life.

...

I don't have a single good memory.

...

I wanted to at least accomplish something that others would praise me for.

...

I wanted to be told I did well.

…

Was it... so hard to say something nice to me for once?

While Peck was thinking about that, Leben reached toward him to lift his battered body. Leben's remaining arm took the shape of a sword. Before Peck lost consciousness, that sword tried to pierce his chest.

Peck's consciousness vanished....

Along with his entire body.

Leben's sword did not reach him.

Peck somehow disappeared completely.

A second later, what seemed to be Leben's angry scream echoed to the heavens.