"Are you ready?" Standing before me was the protagonist who would one day save the world. His wavy blue hair, muscular body, and bright brown eyes all revealed an expectant look, as if he had been waiting for this moment to arrive. "I'm ready." Although I don't know why Ethan wanted to spar with me specifically, such opportunities don't come often. I clenched the two daggers in my hands, which were the weapons I had always used for close combat. 'My attributes should be enough to fight him head-on for a while.' As I thought about it, I raised my dagger, while Ethan held his spear tightly. We were standing on the academy's dedicated training ground. I say "exclusive" because not all students have access to this place. Ethan's last name, "Hartley," plays a role in this, as does the game. Although he initially refuses to use this special training ground, he changes his mind. "It was probably at the party." I thought to myself. Although I was not there, I can speculate what happened in the battle in the banquet hall.
"So, shall we get started?" Ethan readied his stance, a challenge gleaming in his eyes. "good." whoosh! After hearing my confirmation, he immediately rushed towards me with a clean and neat movement, his muscles tense and his movements swift. I was also ready for his attack. I quickly turned sideways and dodged the spear he thrust at my shoulder. whoosh! The spear grazed my arm. "hiss……" I frowned in pain. The gun blade cut through my skin, leaving a shallow wound on my arm and a stinging sensation. It seemed that Ethan showed no mercy. His strength and agility were amazing, and his skills with the spear were also very skillful. But I couldn't let the pain distract me. 'He's much better than before.' This was my first impression of him. Watching him retract his spear, I realized that I also had to give it my all. Whoosh! Whoosh! As he retracted the spear, he launched a series of stabbing blows, nearly injuring me each time. Clang! Clang! I watched his movements closely, paying attention to his muscles and the trajectory of the spear, and blocked his attacks with my dagger. clang!
Each exchange was a violent collision, sparks flew, but I knew it wouldn't last. Despite my improved attributes, I could only temporarily block his attacks and fight him off, and my lack of stamina meant that, in the long run, I would eventually lose. 'I need to get closer.' Since the spear was longer than the dagger, Ethan was able to attack while maintaining a safe distance. Tighten up! Seeing his muscles ready to attack, I prepared myself too. whoosh! The spear quickly cut through the air and stabbed at me from a distance. I could clearly see that it was aiming at my side. Bang! This was exactly the action I expected. whoosh! I reacted quickly, pointing the dagger straight at Ethan's abdomen, using my speed to make up for the disadvantage of distance. I hadn't had the opportunity to use speed since the beginning of the sparring, but now was the time. Swish! In an instant I appeared in front of him and slashed at him with the dagger. “You’ve made progress.” I heard Ethan mutter to himself, as if surprised by my increased speed. After all, this was our first fight since the Forest of Time, and I was much faster than he remembered. whoosh! But Ethan was clearly not panicking at all, his eyes were fixed on my movements, and he dodged my attack with amazing speed, just a hair's breadth away. It was as if he had anticipated my attack, and his reaction was almost extraordinary. 'What?' I was initially surprised at how easily he dodged my attacks, but I knew that I now had the initiative. I continued to attack, my movements smooth and directed towards the target I had in mind. I launched a series of attacks, each one trying to find a flaw in Ethan's defense. But he was still extremely agile, dodging and blocking every attack accurately. Something had changed, and it wasn't just his reaction speed. His fighting style and dodging methods were completely different from what we had experienced during our previous sparring in the practical class. 'That's weird.' Clang! Clang! As I was thinking, I attacked continuously with my dagger, using the frequency advantage of dual wielding weapons to try my best to overwhelm him. "I can see that." I heard him whisper to himself again between breaths and our eyes met.
prick! At this moment, the trajectory of Ethan's spear changed. He no longer used the spear to block my attack, but swept it across. 'quick.' That's all I can say, I could see the fast swing coming straight at my feet, and since I was in an attacking stance, there wasn't enough time to dodge and maintain an advantageous position. whoosh! All I could do to avoid this attack was to step back, giving up the advantage I had gained by closing the distance. "call……" My breathing began to quicken, and I stood at a distance, facing Ethan. "Morse." Just then, I heard him calling my name. "What?" As I caught my breath, I raised my head and looked him straight in the eyes. "I want to ask you a question." He looked at me seriously. “…” "Will you answer?" "See what the problem is." "Don't worry, it won't be too personal." "Yeah?" "Yes." “…” "So, what do you think of the Devil Contractor?" When he said this, I was stunned for a moment. I didn't expect him to ask such a question. ...... This was the first time Ethan had fought Morse since the dungeon exploration. As soon as the fight started, Ethan went all out. He was looking forward to witnessing Morse's progress. Sure enough, Morse did not disappoint him. His progress far exceeded Ethan's expectations. However, as the discussion progressed, Ethan's urge to talk to Morse became stronger and stronger. Somehow, he wanted to hear Morse's opinion on recent events more than talking to Lucas, Julia or other friends. "So, what do you think of the Devil's Contract?" Ethan looked at Morse and saw that he was stunned for a moment. Obviously, he didn't expect to ask such a question. After a brief surprise, Morse's brows furrowed and his eyes became gloomy in an instant.
Seeing this scene, Ethan couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine, as if he had made a mistake. "Calm down." Ethan gripped his spear tightly, stopped sparring, and began to ask, "I just want to know what you think of the devil's contract. Are they really all evil?" This problem troubled him for a long time. Morse remained serious, without a trace of smile, and answered in a low voice: "Devil Contract and evil..." He raised the dagger while muttering to himself, looking at his reflection on the blade. "Why do you ask this?" Morse's question surprised Ethan. "Recently, I met some devil contractors..." "Then what?" "Then, while fighting one of them, I talked to him," Ethan continued to explain. "What did he say?" Ethan chooses his words carefully: "He says human nature is weakness, and they're moving beyond that." Morse's expression remained cold, and his tone was steady: "I understand." Ethan was not intimidated by Morse's serious attitude and continued, "I can't help but feel that some of these demon contractors may have been manipulated, or they were forced into a desperate situation before making a choice. Perhaps they signed the contract just to survive in this cruel world for them." This is the question Ethan has been thinking about. What if these people were forced into a desperate situation and had to sign the devil's contract? What if they were originally kind people? Is it really fair to simply label them as "evil"? "Does it matter?" Morse replied, gripping the dagger tightly. "What?" "Does their past and their beliefs matter? Does it matter whether they were cornered or not and why they made the choices they did?" His words continued, his purple eyes flashing with hatred. Ethan was shocked by this emotion, not expecting Morse to show such strong emotions. "What does this mean?" "We call it evil. You're asking if they're all evil, right?" Morse's voice was low, and the veins on his hand clenched around the dagger were bulging. "From the perspective of someone like you who hasn't been directly harmed by demons, you might try to sympathize with them and it might be hard to just label them as 'evil'. After all, you're the type who wants to be a hero, aren't you?" Ethan felt as if he had been seen through. He knew that Morse would be fully capable of understanding all of this. "But from the perspective of people who have lost loved ones at the hands of evil, you ask this kind of question, it just angers them." These words shocked Ethan's heart. He couldn't help but recall the people who were slaughtered by the Demon Contractor and his reaction and anger as a bystander. How would those who lost their loved ones at that time feel? Anger? Despair? Hatred? “At the end of the day,” Morse continued, his voice low and firm, “it’s not about whether they’re evil or not.” "So..." Ethan began. Morse interrupted him, his face full of determination: "You asked me what I thought of the Devil's Contract at the beginning, right?" Ethan nodded, silently waiting for him to continue.
At this moment, he saw Morse clench his teeth, and the expression on his face became unprecedented. Ethan instantly felt the huge hatred emanating from the man in front of him. "The answer is simple," Morse said slowly, gripping his weapon tightly. "They are my enemies." Ethan was shocked by this blunt declaration. "I will keep going," Morse said firmly, his purple eyes flashing with hatred, "until I have destroyed all my enemies." "Until I get everything back for what happened to me, what happened to her." "She..." Ethan asked instinctively, but before he could finish his words, he saw the expression on Morse's face and swallowed his words back. "So, shut up, Ethan." Morse's words echoed heavily in the air, making Ethan deeply feel the deep darkness and determination behind his friend. "Put on your weapons, this conversation is over."