Northern’s plan for training was perfect…actually it was madness. A different and hand made kind of madness and it did not take him that long to realize it.
Maybe Night Terror was just being an antagonist and wanted to make him suffer within those times that he had, maybe the stalwart monster was just being very honest and fighting voraciously for Northern’s sake.
Or both.
Either ways, it did not go easy at all.
Of course, easy was not what Northern was looking for. He had thought about this very well.
He was thrown into a hell, if he wanted to survive through this place he had to do it the hardest way.
Fight the guardian monster, find and destroy the core of the rift to close it down and finally return home to the bosom of his parents.
He thought about the crude things he was going to do to Rughsbourgh when he got back but Northern decided not to fuel his purpose and passion with vengeance.
It only provided power and limited versatility.
Northern was ready to grow in ways that no one expected. And become the best of the best.
He would survive this at all cost.
And to do that… he needed to continue fighting Night Terror.
At first their duels breeded nothing but cuts and wounds for him. He couldn’t as much block the terror’s attacks not to say of landing a clean hit.
Northern was made into a training doll, it was hard to tell if he was the one training, it just looked like Night Terror was practicing with a spineless human.
That was just the beginning though.
Northern executed a the spirit of a resilient warrior, his persistence was shocking even to Night Terror.
His mental fortitude was tough and when a path to an attack was destroyed totally by Night Terror’s domineering strength, he didn’t stop.
Instead he went harder, stubbornly choosing to experiment the same thing till it worked while accommodating flexibility.
It was hard but it was possible. In fact when the first attack slipped through and got to Night Terror, the monster expressed shock, frozen for a few seconds.
Northern had that point, felt like he had defeated Night Terror but it only got worse—that unnatural with of his, backed up by a resilient spirit was matched by the most fearsome ferociousness.
Night Terror only got faster, his attacks carried more power such that Northern would fly away like a rag doll.
Nights after Nights, Northern suffered in the hands of this terror but he chose to continue.
He wasn’t expecting to achieve all of his success in combat with this one fight.
No matter how brilliant he was, he was bound to give in to the effect of time and experience.
But one thing that Northern was sure about was that this fight between him and Night Terror was going to build a raw foundation for him.
With it, he was going to grow exponentially without having to learn martial art or spell art of any sort.
By his own self, he was going to become strong!
Huff
Huff
But it was easier said than done.
Northern panted, resting on his knees. Blood streamed down his nose and dropped on the ground one… after… the… other.
‘Crap! This is hard…’
He raised his head and wiped the blood off his nose with the palm of his hand.
Northern after being delivered a skull-breaking headbutt had rolled and tumbled deep into the cave and smashed himself against the dead end.
It took a lot of ‘sailing through the dizziness’ to finally stand but he did it in the end… even though he was still a bit stunned.
‘I wonder if I really am improving or I’m just getting myself beat’ Northern thought to himself.
But he knew better, it was slow but there was a progress. When the fight started he wasn’t fast enough to dodge or strong enough to block.
But now, he was doing those two, although he had to endure a lot of pain burning through his muscles and bones.
‘It’s not enough, I have to get better, I have to do better’ Northern’s eyes seemed burned with blue flames, emanating determination and stubbornness.
He straightened his back, stretched a little and was about to walk away but suddenly stopped, squinting his eyes.
‘Uh? What is this…?’
It was slight and almost unnoticeable but Northern saw it, in fact he had to squint his eyes because of it—the tiny bit of light ray that seeped into his eyes.
It was very shocking that Northern turned back in hurry, eyes widening.
‘Where is it coming from?! Where is light coming from!’
This was a dark cave. A place that no source of light should be… the entire rift itself was void of light.
And a ray that clear meant only one thing…
‘There’s light somewhere… there’s light somewhere!’
That was the only thing that rang in Northern’s head as he diligently searched for the source of light.
He scanned every corner and then finally turned his eyes to the dead end of the cave, where he had crashed against.
There it was, a slight cavity and through it, a ray of light was desperately trying to escape but being absorbed into the eternal darkness of the cave.
Northern’s eyes widened even further, almost popping out.
Like a starved animal that finally found food beyond a wall, he scuttled towards the dead end and began to dig.
It was a cluster of large stone that seemed to have been fallen or moved to the end of the cave to either conceal the outside from something inside.
Or conceal something inside from the outside.
Whichever one it was, Northern couldn’t wait to find out. He wanted to know as soon as possible so he began to dig through the stones with his wrist.
When he saw that there was little he could do, some stones were so large and his lean hands might be able to deal a shattering strike but not without breaking.
He ran back and managed to fetch the terror, his nemesis, associate and now teacher. A very wicked one as at that.
Night Terror after seeing Northern’s desperate attempt to bring him somewhere finally heeded and reached the dead end of the cave.
Seeing several tiny rays of light that had managed to plunge through after Northern moved and broke a few stones, the monster hesitated but eventually threw a blow.
It cost just one terrifying blow that shook the whole cave, shattered the stones and sent their shards flying into different directions.
An overwhelming flood of light purged the darkness, making both darkness inhabitants shield their eyes away from the light.
As Northern slowly turned towards the source of light… his eyes trembled at the sight before him…
‘H-H—oly crap!’