Theodore awoke once more, gasping for air as he found himself back at the beginning of the trial. Wasting no time, he rushed out of the black sea and into the gray desert. The familiar landscape stretched out before him, the sun blazed overhead, and he could feel the stored heat radiating from the sand.
Running towards his goal at full speed, it didn't take him long to reach his goal. Now only a few dozen meters away, he dashed across the blazing sands. As he approached the spawn, he felt the familiar rush of adrenaline. The creature's grotesque form turned to him, with a flicker of recognition in its milky eyes, and it charged at him. But unlike before, its movements were lethargic and stiff. Almost as if its body had been pushed to the limit.
'So I was right! This thing was getting weaker, and the cause is most likely the fact that I keep killing it. The only reason it's still alive is the constant regression.'
But if that was the case, what exactly was causing the regression?
Theo shook away all distracting thoughts and focused on the task at hand.
'No! I'll think about that later! Right now, I have to do this!'
The beast raised its double-jointed arm high above its head and brought its claws down on Theo. The herald candidate swerved to the side, avoiding the claws but not the beast's returning backhand. Sent flying back with full force, he fell to the sand and skidded to a halt.
Gasping for air and getting to his feet, Theo raised his right hand to check the damage, and to his surprise, apart from a bruise, the strike did not do much damage to him. No, his ability absorbed most of the damage as soon, his body grew lighter and a burning heat filled him.
Turning to the spawn charging him down once more, he readied himself for another strike. The beast swung at him again; this time, its movement felt even slower in Theodore's eyes. Dodging the claws, he raised his hand and caught the swipe, stopping the beast's movements instantaneously. His body grew even lighter and hotter as even more kinetic energy filled him with power.
He squeezed with all he could, and the spawn's arm shattered under the pressure. Releasing a chilling shriek, it threw another swipe his way, but Theodore caught it and did the same to that arm. With both arms in his grasp, he leapt onto its chest and pulled hard, ripping off both its arms. The creature shrieked even louder as its blood gushed like a fountain from both wounds.
Without pause, Theodore grabbed its neck with his left hand and plunged his right into its chest. Reaching deep inside, he grabbed what felt like a heart. It pulsed in his grip, a warm, throbbing mass of squelching flesh. The spawn's shrieks echoed in his ears. It was a cacophony of pain and desperation that he was beyond caring to even register.
Without a sliver of emotion in his golden eyes, he yanked the heart free. The spawn convulsed violently beneath him as a river of blood sprayed from the gaping wounds where its arms and heart had once been, soaking the sand beneath them.
Soon, the convulsions stopped, and the beast toppled over. From start to finish, the encounter took a total of thirteen seconds.
[Candidate, you have slain a Dormant Spawn, Rank: Beast.]
[You have received a relic.]
Like before, the castle once again appeared on the horizon, and the urge to approach it arose within him. But unlike before, he refused to oblige. After all, his work was not done yet.
Doubling back, he dashed back in the direction from which he came. The energy he had absorbed from the spawn was still running through his body as he dashed away.
***
Reaching the edge of the black sea, he paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and staring at the water which shimmered ominously under the light of the sun. His eyes peered through the deep black sea, but nothing was visible, at least not near its surface. Steeling himself, Theo stepped forward and into the sea, soon he was submerged to the waist, and paused.
Turning back, he saw the castle looming in the distance, its pull grew stronger with every moment he chose to ignore it. It almost felt as if it were alive and enforcing its will on him. But that wasn't going to be enough to sway him, at least not this time. He turned back to the sea and stepped forward again, but before he could take the next step, something grabbed his foot and, with an overwhelming force, dragged him into the depths.
Theodore gasped as the cold, viscous water enveloped him; the shock of the sudden trip down below stole the breath from his lungs. He panicked as he felt the powerful grip tighten around his ankle, pulling him deeper into the inky black of the sea. He thrashed instinctively, but the force was relentless, dragging him further away from the surface and the light.
As he descended, the light of the sun faded, and what replaced it was reminiscent of the sight of a starless night sky, a void of nothing. Soon, the pressure of the water pressed against him from all sides, making maintaining his composure that much harder. He fought against the beast, trying to loosen its grip and kick free, but the grip only tightened.
'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!'
His thoughts became jumbled and confused the harder he struggled. Rapidly running out of time, and more importantly, oxygen, he threw away whatever plans he had to subdue the monster of the depths and focused all the poser he had accumulated into his fist.
'Come on! Condense! Condense!'
The energy converged at a point, growing faster and faster in intensity as Theo searched hard for the torso of the spawn. The deep black sea made it exceedingly difficult, but that had to become a non-factor as if he made the slightest mistake now, this could be the last turn he would have for all he knew.
Concentrating harder and harder, he steadied his fist till his aim was exactly where he wanted it. With no time and air left to breathe, he dismissed all doubt and thrust his arm forward and unleashed the concentrated energy in a powerful punch. The force of the blow erupted like a shockwave, sending ripples through the water. The strike travelled through the viscous sea with ease till it collided with the beast.
The impact was explosive.
The creature's grip faltered, and he wasted no more time. He wound up whatever energy residue remained and threw another strike forward. This time, the impact was less impressive, but its effect was clearer. The slithering appendage of whatever it was that had him in its clutches convulsed violently before coming to a rest.
Now free, Theo reached the surface and landed where he struggled for a descent breath of air. Lying on the freshly soaked sands on the shore, suddenly, a voice reverberated in his mind.
[Candidate, you have slain a Dormant Spawn, Rank: Beast.]
[You have received a relic.]
In that moment, Theo had forgotten about all the fatigue that plagued him and got to his feet. Over the horizon, the vestige of the castle began distorting. A few moments later, the sands' horizon itself followed suit.
At the sight of this bizarre phenomenon, a grin made its way onto his ever stoic expression.
'I knew it! This world couldn't have been real!'
The realization washed over him like a wave, invigorating his spirit. The castle, the spawn, the black sea—it was all an illusion, an illusion so intricately realistic, it was indistinguishable from the facets of the world he knew.
As the horizon continued to distort, colors shifted and blended together.
***
Before his eyes, reality itself began taking a new shape until he once again found himself in a strange, white void. It was the same void he had found himself in at the start of his trial. Well, it wasn't the exact same, because around him, a strange energy enveloped his body, and ahead of him, Theo could see his core overhanging at the center of the Void.
'Guess I'm back here. Then that means this place really is my soul, but again, why does it look so... empty?'
The state of his soul was still as strange to him as it was before. It still devoid of anything resembling the sea of souls he had been taught about all his life, but unlike when he first arrived, his core, the very center of his being where everything encompassing him was concentrated, that seemed to lack in presence was now shimmering with a golden hue as something floated at its center.
Theodore felt an inexplicable magnetic pull toward it, to the very core of his being. Obliging that pull, he approached it.
"Beautiful!" he murmured, reaching out tentatively. The moment his fingers brushed against the golden light, a surge of energy coursed through him, igniting every fibre of his being. His bones all felt like they were breaking, his muscles ripping apart and reforming at the same time.
Even his eyes felt like they swole to the point of bursting numerous times before being restored. The sensation was an overwhelming paradox of suffering and relief that felt like it would go on forever. After what felt like an eternity, the pain ceased and was replaced by a calm, relaxing warmth.
Theodore opened his eyes, and the sight before him now shook him to his core.