While Na sat silently in his seat, shoulders broad and unmoving, his mind drifted far from the roaring crowd and the echoes of punches still bouncing around the venue. He barely heard the chatter of other contestants. Instead, he found himself replaying something he had overheard not long ago, Max explaining the significance of the Vow to everyone.
The memory played out clearly in his mind.
Max had spoken with unusual seriousness, describing what the Vow meant, what it demanded, what it could awaken. At the time, Na hadn’t known whether to believe a single word. The concept sounded... ridiculous. Almost supernatural. The idea that humans could unlock something extraordinary just by making a promise felt like a story, not reality.
Even though the Rejected Corps was involved in the underworld, they were still relatively new to that world, newer than many other gangs, at least. They understood fighting, weapons, and intimidation, but not myths about people gaining powers.
Chrono had been the one who gathered them all, the one who found people with similar backgrounds, similar scars, and gave them all a place. A purpose. A way to make money doing the only thing most of them knew how to do: fight.
But Chrono never talked about "super beings" or powers. Na wasn’t well versed in any of that. None of them were. So when Max spoke of the Vow, of potential and awakening, Na had wanted to laugh. It sounded like some made-up legend.
Yet...
There were the Black Hand members.
And there was Aron.
Na had witnessed Aron’s abilities firsthand, abilities that pushed the limits of what a normal human could do. He wasn’t sure if he’d call Aron a "superhuman," but he was definitely close to it.
So Na decided to try.
He tried because he had nothing to lose. He tried because something inside him whispered that maybe... maybe a change was possible.
And that made him think about the life he had lived up until now.
When Na was young, he had grown up in an extremely strict household. His father was an admiral in the navy, a high-ranking, respected position. And he wasn’t the only one. Every member of Na’s family served in some branch of the military, each carrying status and honor like it was their birthright.
Na was expected to fall in line.
His father was harsh. Brutal, even. Orders were absolute. Expectations were unshakeable. And Na, young, impressionable Na, tried to follow everything perfectly.
But something had happened when he was a child.
He had been playing with his brothers, laughing, running near the water... until he slipped. Until the water swallowed him. Until his lungs burned and panic blurred everything.
He nearly drowned.
Since then, he developed a deep fear of water. A real one. An uncontrollable one. He never learned how to swim.
And because of that, he became the only member of his family unable to join the navy.
The disappointment in his parents’ eyes had been sharper than any blade.
They treated him like a failure. Like a burden. Like someone who had broken the family tradition single-handedly.
And with every look, every sigh, every bitter comment, Na grew desperate for approval. Desperate for someone to look at him with pride.
So he listened. He obeyed. He followed their orders without question.
He joined a special military unit, becoming a soldier just like they wanted, at least, in part. He carried out missions and orders exactly as told, down to the smallest detail.
But the whole time...
He had thoughts he never said aloud.
Is this right?
Is this the right thing to do?
Am I a good person?
He constantly wondered. Constantly doubted. Constantly silenced himself because approval mattered more than anything else.
Then, one day, he followed the orders of someone who wasn’t doing the right thing, someone who manipulated the unit for their own gain. The entire squad, including Na, was dismissed.
Disgraced.
That was how he ended up with Chrono.
Chrono always managed to find people like him, the skilled, the discarded, the lost. He offered Na a place again, a purpose again. And Na clung to that purpose just like he had clung to every order he had followed his whole life.
Chrono became yet another person whose approval he chased. So Na did what he always did. He followed orders. He obeyed. He didn’t question anything.
Not even when Abby entered their lives.
When Abby appeared, Na had thoughts, real thoughts, about helping her. About warning her. About guiding her on how to survive. About doing something, anything, to stop what he knew was coming.
He could see the direction things were heading. He knew Chrono’s mindset. He knew what the Rejected Corps was capable of. He knew Abby might not live.
Yet he suppressed every instinct. Every emotion. Every human impulse.
All because he wanted Chrono’s approval.
He kept his mouth shut. He followed the mission. He didn’t act. And Abby died.
Her face, terrified, helpless, still haunted him.
Everything changed the day he joined Max, Aron, and the others. For the first time, after leaving the Rejected Corps, he had time to think. To breathe. To reflect. To feel. And the regret hit him harder than any punch ever could.
He had never lived for himself. Not once. Not ever.
He had never made decisions based on what he believed was right. Every choice he made had been about someone else, his father, his unit, Chrono.
So when Max explained the Vow, and what it could awaken...
Na realized something.
He didn’t even know who he was. He didn’t know what he wanted. He only knew one thing: He regretted the life he had lived. And he refused to live it anymore. So he made a Vow.
A promise not to the world, not to Max, not to Chrono, not to anyone. A promise to himself.
He vowed that he would no longer live under the orders of others. He vowed that he would no longer seek approval like a starving dog begging for scraps. He vowed that from this moment forward, he would live his life following his own choices, his own beliefs, his own will.
His fists slowly tightened at his sides as he remembered the words.
To no longer be seeking the approval of others.
And he meant it in every sense.
If Max, or the Bloodline group, ever asked him to do something he didn’t believe in...
Then he would stand against them. Even if it cost him everything. Even if it meant fighting Max himself. Even if it meant fighting the entire Bloodline.
"That is my Vow," Na muttered under his breath, both fists tensing with resolve.