Chapter 15: Perpetual Agony

Days had passed, since I made my return to the city, and to Targhas. In the one week I had spent there, we had moved homes, to a larger house, or should I say mansion. It was nothing too extravagant, but it was a single house, with only us as inhabitants; meaning that it was not a rented apartment. The house had cost a fortune, since housing was limited in this colossal city, with a colossal population.

I had spent several days, chatting with my friend, Targhas, and I had even sent a message to that Prince, to let him know that I hadn’t died, and was back from the library. However, he knew nothing more than that; not what my plans were, or where I was going to go.

Thus, a full week had already passed by, and I decided to leave once more. Targhas wasn’t too happy that I had go again, since I was the only one who knew about his ‘condition’, and also, the only one who shared it. He had been strictly forbidden to ever tell anyone about his Vampirism, or to ever spread it. It was too early to spread the Vampire race in these parts.

Thus, I left the city of Xarxes once more, and made for the location, which had been passed unto me, from the mysterious book. This place wasn’t located in this country; in fact, it was several borders away, and wouldn’t be a short journey. I speculated that if I went in full speed, I could make it in a few months, but to travel at full speed for several months was a tad bit tough.

None the less, I eventually managed to make my way to the foretold location, to be met with the magnificent sight of nothing. All that there was to be seen, was a large field of emerald green grass, as far as the eye could see. Just a large plain, no forest in sight, no mountain ranges to be seen.

Still, there were mystical things in this world, beyond what the eye could see. I quickly made my way to the exact location from the book, which was just an empty spot, in the middle of the plains. There was still nothing there. I suspected I might have to do some digging, but before I could even start, there was a mild change. And when I say mild, I mean more like a thundering voice, which resounded through my head, saying,

“You, who have been touched by the heavens, do you wish to undertake the Immortal’s Trial?”

Before I could even answer the question, however, the scenery around my changed, into what seemed a lot like a dungeon. Walls made of stone bricks, many of which were cracked, and some even filled with moss, or missing, and a smooth stone floor. However, there was no ceiling, as far as I could see. Raising my head, all I could see was ceiling-less abyss, above my head. I decided to try and fly up there, but to my disfavour, I found that I couldn’t fly, and my jump only got me a few meters up. I found that I couldn’t use my energy at all, and my physical strength was greatly diminished by what seemed like a far heavier gravity.

I could only walk through the straightforward path, which was ahead of me. However, the pathway was no short one, and it seemed like the end was nowhere near. As I walked through the narrow hallway, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander to the Tower. I wondered what connection this place and the Tower had. Why did the flying book even bring me here?

As far as I knew, this place might be the key to finding my brother, as it promised me the path to that which I desired the most. However, how did I find it? It was far too convenient for that book to just randomly choose me. Was there a greater power in place here? Was it my brother showing me the path, or was it something else? It wouldn’t be the Tower Guardians, or that Valadriath would have known something.

But alas, there was no answer to be found, for a very, very long time. For now, I could only look ahead, and do what had to be done. And at this moment, that would be to walk through this increasingly narrow hallway. Indeed, as I walked, the walls seemed to creep closer and closer to me, which was the only sign I had that showed that I actually progressed.

Then finally, after walking and running for several days, I seemed to finally have made it to the end. And at the end, I was met with a seemingly normal door, only slightly taller than myself. Above the door, however was a sign.

“ The First Immortal’s Trial,” were the first three, title words.

“To achieve greatness, one must know tolerance, and have a will of steel,” it then continued to say. Nothing more, nothing less. It had no information on what I would need to do, when I walked through the door, except that it had to do with tolerance, and willpower.

However, I wouldn’t waver, and without hesitation, I opened the door, and walked in. As soon as I had stepped foot into the next room, the door shut closed, locked tightly. No matter how hard I pulled, the door didn’t even as much as budge. But that wasn’t a big deal, but what happened next, most certainly was.

I suddenly felt almost all the power in my body fade away. Something which I hadn’t felt in over a thousand years, suddenly happened. I felt the clock of time tick, as my body slowly aged, as if I was nothing but a mortal man. Even most of my physical strength disappeared. At this moment, it would only take a few thousand, or tens of thousands of mortal men to defeat me, which, believe me, was a great diminishing in my physical power.

However, even though I aged, it didn’t mean my humanity returned. I still felt the normal lust for blood, but it hadn’t increased. It seemed to be the only thing that hadn’t changed. In my current state, I could probably go for a rather long time without blood. I would only be slightly troubled after several decades, or even centuries. It rather puzzled me, but I paid it no mind. I reckoned that the tolerance for hunger wasn’t directly involved with my power, but perhaps, rather my age.

As I walked further into the room, I had never felt so weak before. But there were seemingly no threats to be found. But it most certainly wasn’t the same as before, when I walked through the hallway, for this was only a single room, with a single, locked door. It wasn’t very large either; it almost seemed like a cell.

However, just as I was about to sit down to think, suddenly a sharp pain hit me. It was like a million small needles pierced every fiber of my being. The pain was excruciating, yet not completely unbearable. I simply fell to my knee for a moment, then slowly stood back up, in a low growl.

“What is this!” I growled, but no answer returned to me. I slowly limped to a corner in the room, and sat down.

“This must be what it meant by tolerance and will. Even though this is more like endurance,” I slowly said aloud, to no one in particular, considering the fact that I was completely alone, in a dark room.

So, there was not much I could do, except wait for the pain to be subside. Yet, it didn’t; it just stayed, without rest. In fact, the pain never subsided, but instead it slowly increased in intensity. Days passed, then weeks, until the pain was so excruciating to the point, where my mind couldn’t function. It increased and increased further yet, faster than I could adapt, and it wasn’t too long before I could do nothing, but scream in harrowing pain.

The pain caused my muscles to tense to unnatural proportions, and my skin to rupture, in earth-like cracks. The only thing that kept me going, was the fact that I would do anything to get Amelia back. Thinking about Amelia helped me keep whatever calmness I could muster.

And just like that, in excruciating, mind twisting pain, five years had passed, before anything changed. However, even though something did indeed change, it didn’t mean that the pain stopped. It just sopped increasing constantly, which was, in itself, refreshing.

I finally had the opportunity to get used to the pain, to adapt, as long as it didn’t start increasing again. And it didn’t seem like it would. Several months passed, and I had finally gotten to a point where I could sort of function. I was able to walk around, even run slowly, and I could think calmly once more.

But then, as I though this test was finally going to end soon, the pain suddenly took a huge jump in magnitude, and I screamed, once more, in agonizing pain. However, I didn’t faint. Not once, since I entered this cursed room, had I fainted. It was like it didn’t allow me to faint. It wanted me awake for every moment, of this soul racking agony. It was yet another thing that puzzled my mind.

As the pain had taken a large jump in intensity, it started slowly increasing again, making it hard to get used to. Thus, another five years passed, before it stopped again for a few months, then took another jump. Then another five years, and so on.

It kept going like that, until a total of twenty years had passed. It had long since passed the point where I felt like I shouldn’t even be alive, but somehow, I didn’t die. My appearance, though, changed drastically. My skin was somewhat aged and wrinkled; not from not drinking any blood, but from normal mortality.

My hair had long since grown completely white, from the intense stress, caused by the pain, and it had grown much longer than before. It reached all the way to the floor, and then some. In the past, I had somehow managed to stop it from growing, using my powers, but now that they were seemingly gone, it grew uninhibited, just like my body aged.

There was also a large beard on my face, reaching long beneath my chest. Like my hair, it was unkempt and messy; tangled in several places, but there was nothing I could do about it.

However, it was after these twenty years, that the pain suddenly stopped. This time, it didn’t simply stop increasing, but completely vanished. It felt like entering a new world, or even a new state of being. It felt like my body was lightened from a great burden, and most importantly, it felt relaxing. I hadn’t had a single second of relaxation in the past twenty years, so it was overwhelming, especially considering how taxing those years were. I doubted that even my wives would recognise me anymore.

I looked nothing like my past, seemingly twenty-year-old self. My current appearance, was more in accordance with my actual age. If you took away my beard and hair, I looked around forty, or maybe fifty years old, but with my white hair and beard, I looked ancient; mostly because the beard covered a large part of my face, and because both the hair and beard were extremely unkempt. However, that was not to say that I looked unimpressive. In fact, if I was to be frank, I looked intimidating; far more than before.

My youthful appearance of the past, had somehow made me seem more innocent, and perhaps naïve, not that I was naïve. But I didn’t look like a weathered warrior.

Then, as the pain disappeared, I simply fell to the ground, as that old, thundering voice appeared again,

“Congratulations, you have passed the first session, and may continue onwards,” it said, in an emotionally void voice, as a door appeared in the opposite end of the room, almost mirroring the door I came through.

After I dozed off for a few hours, I finally rose up once more, and walked over to the newly appeared door, and opened it, without further ceremony. As I entered the new room, the door shut closed, just like before.

This new room, was almost identical to the first hallway I entered. It, too, didn’t have a ceiling, and seemed incredibly long. However, the most important thing was, that as I entered the room, I finally felt my power return to me, or at least what power hadn’t already been restricted since entering this Trial. However, my appearance didn’t change. Changing my appearance was not a power I possessed.

Thus, once more, I started walking forwards, trying to find the end of this narrowing hallway. Just as before, I was surrounded by olden brick walls, many cracked, some adorned with moss, as I traversed the murky hallways of this age old dungeon.

Unlike in the beginning, I felt neither need, nor demand to make haste. I simply walked, at my own pace, in my tiresome and weary heedlessness. My motivation was nearly non-existent; the only though that made me want to see the end, was the thought of reviving my love.

Thus, I walked for days, pulling my long, white hair behind me, like the royal cape of a forsaken king. My clothes were ripped, and soaked in dried blood, making me look like quite the weathered traveller. But my mind paid no attention to it, or I would have long cut my hair, with my old sword, sheathed on the side of my waist.

Day after day passed, until they became months, the changed to years. When I finally saw that old, familiar door, it had already been several years, of constant walking, without rest.

Above the, about two meter, door, there was once again a sign, made of rotten oak. On the old wooden sign, which had somehow managed to last the currents of time, there were several words written, in a conformity to the previous sign, at the previous door. The words, spoke as such,

“The Second Immortal’s Trial,” was the title.

“To achieve magnificence, one must have the power to win against all odds, but one must always possess foresight and superior judgement, to that which is hidden in plain sight,” the next few words read. I, however, didn’t pay the word too much mind. From prior experience, I knew that the words wouldn’t tell me much about the next trial; I only knew that it would surely be a big one.

Thus, I opened the door, and stepped through. Once more, the door shut tight, but this time, I didn’t find myself in a small, damp room, but rather in a colossal cave, fully adorned with collapsed buildings, and ruined towers. The cave was dark, but not completely so, as there were large crystals on the rocky ceilings, giving off a faint light, somewhat illuminating the surrounding areas.

In front of me, and the normal looking wooden door, which was placed on a normal looking stone wall, was a road, leading to whatever lied ahead. As I stepped out of the door way, and unto the road, I, once more, felt my powers fade. My physical strength was once more greatly reduced, leaving me gasping for breath, and suddenly exhausted.

I immediately fell to my knees; it was as if the strength was directly siphoned out of my body, leaving me greatly weakened. It was a great deal different than before, but I quickly recovered. As quickly as I was up on my feet once more, I started walking the stone road, towards wherever it would lead me.

As I walked, I absorbed the scenery around me; it had been a while since I last saw anything other than damp dungeons and hallways, so it was a refreshing change. And, to tell, the scenery was no bland one. I had not often seen anything to be compared, to the greatness of this cave. The crystals were absolutely beautiful, and the light they showered on the old ruined buildings was magnificent and awe inspiring.

This place looked like it could have housed a great civilization, once, a long, long time ago. As I walked, and hour passed, before I arrived at what almost seemed like some sort of plaza. However, this plaza, which was in almost pristine condition, was not what caught my attention.

No, it was what was to be found, standing in this bright plaza, with a crystal fountain, spewing sparkling water. In front of crystal fountain, was a being; a man. A man, adorned in black, crystal armour, from head to toe, not revealing a single piece of skin that would reveal if this was a real, living person, or not.

As I came around the corner, revealing the plaza, the fountain, and the man, the Crystal Warrior immediately turned around, and immediately noticed my presence. Thus, he didn’t waste a single second, as he raised his arm and opened his hand, where a crystal sword suddenly grew out of.

The crystal man immediately made a step with his foot, as he instantly rushed towards me. With a swing of his sword, he cleaved the building next to me in half, and the shockwave sent me flying, dozens of meters away.

As the dust settled, the Crystal Warrior once more turned to me, and started walking,

“Losing is the only option,” the gravelly, raspy voice resounded, in an echo that repeated several times, throughout the cave. As the Crystal Warrior said the words, he didn’t stop walking, and continuously neared closer and closer to my location.

I quickly got up, and unsheathed my sword, from the sheath on my side, ready to take on the Crystal Warrior. However, I made sure that I was always aware of my surroundings; I couldn’t risk an ambush, in case there were others. However, I didn’t fear too much. The power of his attacks were not all that great, and before, I had been taken unaware.

Thus, I stood there, holding my sword in a guard, as the Crystal warrior drew ever closer, until, finally, it stood only a few meters away from me. The Crystal Warrior raised his sword, then his free hand, grabbing the sword into a two handed hold. Then, with the speed of lighting, the sword descended, and he stepped forwards.

However, I, with nearly equal speed, raised my sword, clashing directly unto the crystal sword of my enemy. As the two swords clashed, I expected my sword to directly shatter the fragile crystal, however, it was not so. The crystal sword directly cleaved through my sword, with far too great ease, then lodged into my shoulder, cutting several inches deep.

However, before it could go too deep, I reacted and jumped away, then without hesitation, I turned tails and ran away, as quickly as I could. That went drastically different from what I had expected; I guess I overestimated my weakened strength, and thus, got defeated.

As I ran, I turned as many corners as I could, between the closely packed ruined buildings, of the ruined town. I kept running for half an hour, until I reached an old tower that hadn’t collapsed, and seemed to be in a relatively good condition. It was also pretty well hidden, a not too small distance from the town, and hidden in-between several hills and cliffs.

Carefully, I drew closer to the tower, with my broken sword in one hand, while the other held the wound on my shoulder tight. Slowly, I walked towards the tower, in a near crouch, until I finally reached the main door, which was collapsed, and lay on the floor. I calmed my mind, and decided to enter; it wasn’t very likely for anyone to be there anyway. And indeed, after thirty minutes of careful searching, I confirmed the tower to be empty.

Thus, I climbed to the top, of the five story tower, into the dim and dusty attic, and sat down in a corner. My first matter of business, was my wound. It had mostly stopped bleeding, but it was still wide open. It seemed like my healing factor had been taken away, as well. Since it didn’t seem to heal quickly, I tore off the arm of my blouse, and tied it around my shoulder.

Then, I grabbed my hair, and let my hand flow through it,

“I guess I should cut this,” I said, with my deeper, older, and most definitely weathered voice, as I grabbed the broken sword, which I had dropped on the floor, with my right hand, and let my eyes move around the sword, as I gave it an examining look. This sword had been with me for a long time already.

It was there when I fought the Immortal Demon Master; it was there when I lost Amelia, and now I was here, as it lay broken in my hand; the other shard on an old road, somewhere far away from here.

Without a thought, I let it move to my throat, as it cut through the white beard, then the long, white hair, until both the hair, and the beard were shortened greatly, once more. Now, my beard didn’t go below the chin, as I wasn’t able to completely cut it away, and my hair went just below the shoulders.

It was a much more comfortable style. Before, when I ran through the ruined streets, I stepped on my overgrown hair several times. As my new hairdo was finally finished, I stepped away from the bundle of hair, lying on the floor, and stepped to small crevice of a window. The window was so small that I could just barely look through it, with one eye.

Through the small window, I scanned all of the area outside that I could see, trying to find the Crystal Warrior. I knew that I had to be careful from now on; that Crystal Warrior could easily kill me. If it wasn’t for my steel mind, and almost complete insensitivity to pain, I would have died before. In fact, it was a miracle that I could escape so easily. I had no idea how he didn’t catch up to me, but I also didn’t keep an eye on him as I ran, so I suppose it was possible for him to not be very quick at running.

As I had spent near an hour, looking through the small window, I decided to take a rest. Even though the pain didn’t even bother me slightly, it was still a wound; a disability. I needed to get it healed, but I wasn’t able to use any magic, and I didn’t have much knowledge on medicine. Even if I did, there was not much to use. So, my only alternative, was to rest.

Thus, I sat down in the middle of the room, crossed my legs, and let my eyes rest, as the comforting darkness took over.

Thus, three days passed. And in only three days, the wound had completely healed, and closed up; however, not without leaving a harrowing scar, going all the way around my shoulder, and down towards my chest and back.

As I had healed up, I once more stood up, on the floor, and let my hand rest on my chin, touching the rough beard on my cheeks. I had never before had a beard; never possessed the ability. After all, I was barely past eighteen, when I first became a Vampire, so I could never grow one. However, the one I had now was both ragged, and rough around the edges.

But I didn’t put mind to it; didn’t care. I had other troubles on my mind; at this moment, I only wanted to get out of here, so I could finish my task. Thus, I ventured down the stairs of the tower, down to the ground floor, then left the tower.

Outside the tower, I still didn’t see a single sign of any Crystal Warrior. It made me wonder, whether he was alone here, or there truly were other of his kin. I hoped for the former.

After leaving the tower, I left in a random direction, although not towards the ruined city, and scoured the humongous cave. Calling it a cave was an understatement; it was like a whole word in itself. It made think that either I was extremely far below ground, or I was somewhere else entirely, compared to where the map showed me.

After looking around the giant cave for an entire day, I still hadn’t found anything interesting, except for the occasional ruined building or farm, or seven some villages. However, there were still no Crystal Warriors. But, there was something unexpected; I felt tired. After walking for more than an entire day, I felt a bit tired. It seemed like even my need for sleep was back, although, with my physical condition, I should be able to stay for several days straight easily.

But I still ventured back, to the prior tower. I went back up to the attic, sat down cross legged, and rested for six hours, before waking up again. As my eyes opened, I already had a new goal in mind; the Ruined City. I reckoned that I would find the Crystal Warrior there, if anywhere. It was where I met him first, and most likely where I would meet him next.

Thus, I once more left the hidden tower, but this time in the direction of the city, which I had dubbed the Ruined City. If I walked, it would take a few hours, to a day to get there, but by running, I could make it much faster. Thus, I ran to the Ruined City, and in less than twenty minutes, I stood a short mile away from it.

This time, I would be careful. I knew what lurked behind those walls, and there might even be more than just one of them. However, I had a theory; they couldn’t leave the city. That was the only reasonable explanation for why it didn’t follow me.

After lying flat on my stomach, scouting the city, I finally rose to a crouch, and ventured forwards, ever so carefully, until I was just outside the city, and before I knew it, I had my entrance.

As I crept along the shadowy pathways, I constantly kept close to the walls, and kept my head low, making me as small and invisible, as was possible. However, as I searched the city, I still didn’t find anything of interest. At least, not until I somehow made it back to the crystal fountain. And, just like before, the moment the crystal fountain appeared in my eyesight, that same Crystal Warrior turned around rapidly, and stared me dead in the eye,

“Losing is the only option,” it said again, before a sword materialized out of his hand, and he leapt towards me, in a heave slash. However, I never let my guard down, since I entered this city, so I managed to jump out of the way this time, only to see his sword lay waste to yet another building.

I immediately unsheathed my broken sword, as it was the only weapon I had, just before the Crystal Warrior charged at me again, with an even greater speed. This time, I stepped to the side, but he already managed to get to my side, as his sword grew ever closer to my abdomen.

However, in the nick of time, I managed to move my broken sword to deflect, and I managed to lead his sword to the side, but without putting a crack in the sword, as well as pushing it into my side, causing me to roll to the side.

The sword of the Crystal Warrior, however, didn’t touch, and lodged itself into the ground, giving me the opportunity to roll away, and get it together. As the crystal machination got its sword free, it turned around towards me, and seemingly stared me down. However, I couldn’t see any eyes; there was a full helmet, covering its entire face.

The Crystal Warrior readied its sword, once more, but before it could attack, I decided to be to one to charge. I needed to see its defence capabilities, so I decided to chance it. Thus, I burst at it, keeping both my eyes on it at all times, watching as it raised its sword, ready to attack. However, as the sword descended towards me, I quickly took a step back, causing the sword lodge itself in the ground, once more.

As the sword was stuck, I grabbed the opportunity, and jumped on the sword, getting a higher reach on the tall crystal. Then, using my sword, I stabbed at the neck. However, instead of piercing into the neck, and killing it, my broken sword, which was now more like a knife, only made a small nick into its crystal skin.

And before I could do anything else, the crystal fist of the Crystal Warrior lodged itself into my stomach, sending me flying into a nearby wall, and collapsing a building atop of me. As the rubble fell on me, I spewed out a large mouthful of blood, however, the rubble didn’t cause any damage, and I easily threw it aside.

Once more, I faced the giant Crystal Warrior, standing about three meters tall. Now, my back was slightly hunched from the previous attack, but my eyes didn’t waver in the slightest. Instead, they observed; observed everything, from the Crystal Warrior, to the surrounding around us, trying to find any weakness or opportunity.

However, there were none to be found. The Crystal Warrior was completely monotone. For a while, he didn’t even move; he just stared me down, as if we had entered a staring competition, from the prior fight to the death. However, as soon as I moved my foot just slightly, it attacked once more. This time, its speed seemed even faster, but somehow I managed to roll out of the way, just in the nick of time, as the sword breezed past me. However, it still managed to send me flying, from the winds caused by the attack. However, this time, it didn’t hurt me, and I was on guard after only a single instant.

Continuously, I kept my eyes on the Crystal Warrior, as he readied yet another attack. Once more, the attack was just slightly faster, yet, this time I managed to dodge it completely.

From the few scuffled I had with the Crystal Warrior, I had noticed something. Its attacks were predictable. It always attacked in the same way; the same motion. It almost seemed robotic. Thus, on the last attempt, I managed to dodge in time. However, I wasn’t sure if I could keep up, as it seemed to attack faster and faster every time.

Thus, once more, I turned tails and ran for my life, leaving the city in an instant. As soon as I had gotten a good distance away from the city, I turned around and looked back. Indeed, the Crystal Warrior was nowhere to be found.

End of chapter 15.