"You think that Donn has killed Leox?"

  Ivy Graceful sat at a table in the Varadna Preparation School Library across from Laughter. They had been granted access as Laughter was still an official student of the school, until he started at the Academy next week.

  The orange-haired boy nodded his head. "I'm pretty certain, actually."

  "Why's that?" Ivy responded dubiously.

  In truth, she knew that Leox couldn't die. He was an immortal. However, that didn't mean that this 'Donn' couldn't make him go missing in other ways. She considered what the other possibilities were, and they made her shudder.

  "Well, to start with, Leox was stabbed by Donn on his first day. The kid seemed to have some sort of animosity towards him, but I could never figure out why."

  "Then I put two and two together. Before Leox joined the school, Donn was the only pre-awakened student in the city. Suddenly Leox joins, also awakened before his teen years, taking the attention from Donn. Then BAM! One day later, the great Leox goes missing."

  "Not to mention that Donn's family is in charge of the cemeteries in the Undying City. If anyone was able to kill and get away with it, it would be Donn. Especially with the help of his family."

  After hearing Laughter's explanation, Ivy realised that the boy's reasoning and logic made sense. Donn sounded like the culprit behind Leox's disappearance. The question was, what exactly had the boy done with him?

  Ivy bit at her nail. She had started to worry.

  "How strong is Donn?" She then asked.

  Laughter shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not awakened, so I can't see his Overview, but I've heard many things about him. Rumours of him reaching the second rank, which is unheard of for a thirteen-year-old who hasn't yet entered the academy. Some would go as far as to call him a prodigy."

  Her worry only grew stronger.

  "So in other words, you're saying Leox wouldn't stand a chance against him?"

  "That's right." Laughter said. "And neither would we, so I hope you're not thinking about doing anything silly... especially since you're missing an arm."

  Hey... I'm not the only one missing a body part here.

  Ivy didn't answer. She didn't know what she was thinking about doing. All that was certain to her was that she wanted Leox back.

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  Where are you, my best friend?

  ---

  Leox's overheated fist crashed into Donn's chest with incredible power. He felt his knuckles breaking from the force, as well as Donn's ribcage.

  The man tumbled over himself before eventually landing on his feet. He had dropped his sword in the process and now coughed blood up onto the floor.

  Donn cursed to himself through the pain. He had never expected his opponent to be able to produce so much force. He realised that this wasn't a fight he could win without using all of his strength, so he summoned his second earth skill.

  Donn punched his two fists through the ground as a green magic shrouded his arms. When he pulled his arms free, two blocks of earth were stuck to his hands like gloves. He lifted his fists in a guard position. Not only could these gloves of earth be used to attack with, but they could also help in defence.

  It didn't work. To defend a strike, you had to be able to see it coming.

  Leox dashed forward and leapt into the air, leaving a trail of flames behind him. His body managed to reach the top of the tunnel, which he used his only arm to push off of, sending him back down towards the ground. In a second, he had ended up behind his opponent.

  Before Donn could turn around, Leox dashed forward again, crashing his already broken fist into Donn's spine. He felt something crack beneath his ruined fist, and the boy was sent flying forward.

  Faster. Must go faster!

  Leox cursed and burst forward again. He felt his achilles tendons snap, as well as the joints in his knees.

  It did not matter. He had to finish this.

  Before Donn's tumbling body could land, Leox suddenly appeared beneath it. He crouched low and threw a leaping upwards strike that sent his opponent flying into the air. Donn crashed into the ceiling of the tunnel, causing dirt and stone to collapse and fall to the ground like rain. It resembled an avalanche that threatened to crush everything beneath it.

  Leox landed back on his broken legs, but only for a moment before dropping to his knees. They were no longer able to carry his frail weight.

  No... Must keep going.

  He looked up, waiting for Donn's body to fall so that their fight could continue. What he saw instead was the boys broken form stuck in the ceiling. The impact had left him wedged in between a crack with no way to come down.

  Leox's body relaxed for a moment. He focused on his opponent's face.

  Donn's eyes were closed.

  Blood dripped from the ceiling, down onto Leox's body. It felt like steady raindrops.

  "Are you dead?" Leox croaked, not expecting an answer.

  He didn't get one.

  Okay.

  Leox collapsed to the floor. He felt relaxed, despite his heart rate beating much, much faster than what was normal. His overuse of the Overheat ability was finally taking its toll on him. In seconds, he would lose his life... Only to regain it once again if fate willed it.

  Leox smiled.

  Despite his impending death, he felt at peace. Much more at peace than any of the deaths that had come before it. After so long he had avenged himself, yet there was still much to do.

  Donn wasn't alone. There was someone with him on the day that he had first kidnapped him. Leox made it his duty to never forget the woman's name.

  Morigann, the cloaked woman in black. He expected that she was part of the Hawkings family. He had always assumed that the entire family was behind it.

  Leox looked up at Donn's crumpled form in the ceiling. The boy's tongue was hanging from his mouth like a dog's, and his eyes had burst, turning into holes of blood.

  "I'm going to pay your family a visit someday, Donn. Anyone who knew about my torture will pay. How do you feel about that?"

  He didn't get an answer, which made him chuckle.

  "What, you become the silent type suddenly?"

  With that, Leox's eyes slowly began to close as the effects of Overheat finally took over him.

  He didn't care. He guessed that he would be back very soon.