章 13: Chapter 13 : Graveyard of the ancient (1)
[With your skill, you have strengthened your constitution despite suffering intense pain.]
[Your constitution increases: Constitution: E -> D ]
He laid on the cold, blood-soaked floor with the dampness seeping into his clothes as the newfound strength coursed through his veins, He felt something poke him near his abdomen.
"Ahh"
The skeletal assailant's grotesque weapon, tainted with his own blood and torn muscles, had pierced him near the abdomen.
The poke-like cut stirred his emotions, causing him to feel pain throughout his body, yet it paled in comparison to the agony he had experienced previously—almost like comparing a water dam to a water tank. Utterly absurd.
Each passing moment felt like an eternity, with the intense pain from the strike slowly ebbing away. Bittu's body, once wracked with agony, gradually surrendered to the upgraded constitution. It was as if an invisible force cocooned him, shielding him from the worst of the torment.
Bittu felt no joy even when he didn't suffer when the damned skeleton poked the gruesome weapon.
Lying on his back, he felt the cold and damp floor soaked with blood as the pain gradually subsided. An eerie stillness filled the air, and with his senses numbed by the ordeal, all he could perceive was a lingering ache.
Though, the skeletal creature continued its malevolent work, but its actions seemed distant, as if Bittu had detached himself from the grim reality unfolding.
Bittu just let the skeleton do as it pleased as he collected his thoughts.
But,
The cold, damp floor beneath him served as a cruel reminder of the brutality he endured. The metallic scent of blood mingled with the dank atmosphere, creating a sensory panorama of suffering. Bittu, despite the relief, found no solace in the absence of pain. The numbness left him in a paradoxical state, detached yet aware of the grim tableau around him.
His thoughts echoed in the cavern of his mind, each word a whisper against the backdrop of his torment. "Ahh... Peace," he mused, the notion foreign yet tantalizing. The absence of pain was a revelation, a respite from the relentless assault on his senses.
"No pain, no suffering, no agony. Just relax," Bittu murmured to himself as he lay on that cold, unforgiving surface. The skeletal puppeteer continued its macabre dance, but Bittu, in the cocoon of his thoughts, sought refuge in the newfound tranquility, however surreal it may have been.
With his dead eyes, Bittu stared above while immersed in his own thought.
'Why did I suffer? '
'For what reason? '
These two questions echoed in his mind. Bittu tried all he could, but he couldn't bring forth an answer that would satisfy him. He first thought was that someone had pulled the string to make him suffer, but that didn't seem true because he has not even come into a proper contact with another human.
If not that, then what?
Was he being treated to such harsh condition, just to please some entity?
That could be.... but it seemed unlikely because he didn't think he had enough charm to attract such entities.
Then what?
Was it because fate wished to toy with him? Was it because it had some beef with him? Or was it just on a wimp?
'...'
He didn't have an answer, but one thing he was sure of was; he didn't have control over his own destiny. He couldn't decide what he wanted to do.
'Just like now. '
He had to endure such fate because... Because he wasn't powerful enough. He could control his destiny only if he had enough strength, enough power to hold the heavens, even when it falls.
Suddenly, he felt a voice born straight from the deepest part of his soul.
'I....'
'I will !...'
'I will definitely! ...'
'I will definitely be the one in control! '
Bittu felt his blood boil. The more he thought, the more his determination increased, increased until it raised to such a level that fate had no choice but to provide him a clear path that he had to travel.
Suddenly,
He felt his soul raise from his body, pass through a gate, that came out of nowhere, as if crossing an ethereal barrier.
He opened his eyes to see a path before him.
The path was clouded and blurry, but he could feel the way ahead, the path he had to walk on.
As he looked at the path, he had a feeling... No! He was sure, that countless had arrived at the place he was at, at the step he was at and seen the things he was seeing but, not a single one,
NOT A SINGLE ONE!
Has ever crossed the path and reached the destination they sought.
Like him, there were many but, none could travel the path; The Path to Freedom.
Standing before the path, just as Bittu raised his legs a little to take his first step, he felt something pressing on him. Something that was stopping him from taking that step. No matter what he did but he couldn't even move his leg a little and take his first step.
The more he tried to push forward, the more he felt how impossible it seemed to actually do so. He felt as if the world was acting against him right at that instant.
He tried, a lot, but couldn't do it, which was a heavy impact on his newborn spirit. He couldn't even take the first step towards his goal.
This set back truly had a heavy backlash on his soul, so much so that, the path itself, was now rejecting him that couldn't even handle a single failure.
Bittu was about to be thrown out of this ethereal path when,
'Hahahahaahaha.'
A carefree laughter came out from somewhere around him, which acted like a firm rock, saving him from drowning in what seemed like the sea of hopelessness.
'You just need to walk'
'Leave the rest to me. ', like a magical spell, the words he heard sparked hope to continue on the path he choose.
Even though he felt a slight doubt about who it was, he didn't think about it and, with a firm step on the path, gazed ahead. He didn't want to ruin the chance he got, thinking about something else so he refrained from asking and taking his next step but he instead said; "I will be back!" With a content smile on his face.
In the next moment, before he could react, he felt the path vanish like a fleeting dream, like an illusion. All he felt the skeleton poke once again.
"Ahh"
The moment reality hit him, Bittu let out a grunt from the slowly subsiding pain.
In what seemed like an eternity, he finally felt his body respond to him as it naturally should.
Bittu felt the cold and bloody damp floor. He felt the drifting wind passing as it touched his skin. He smelled the metallic scent of his own blood and heard the creaking of the bones of the damned skeleton.
He finally felt that he was ready to walk the path that he had decided a while ago.
".... Kekekeke.... "
Bittu ignoring the disturbing laugh of the undead, raised both his land.
He saw his right hand was back to normal. It had its initial pale skin covering all it's part. It looked as good as it had, before the torture.
He saw as his left hand was still in the same condition. Half his hand; from his shoulder to his elbow, dead; like a zombie, filled with rotting skin while the other half was just like his right, well as before the apocalypse.
"Of course, it wouldn't heal from just this. "
"Sigh"
"I should look for a solution after getting out of here."
His nerves, which could not respond because of the unbelievable extent of pain, were now fully relaxed, as he could speak naturally.
He then sat on the floor with his spin straight. Looking at his body that didn't have a shed of cloth on it, surprisingly, Bittu had no reaction. Similarly, as he looked at the blood-soaked ground, he didn't react.
It was quite bluffing since one would expect him to wake up in immense anger and directly kill the skeleton, but Bittu was unexpectedly quite calm in this situation.
He was acting this way because finally his trait, cold, has taken effect. It could only do so now because the immense and unimaginable pain was not there to destroy and shed away its mysterious energy that had a calming effect.
".... Kekeke... "
Bittu stood up and turned towards the skeleton to inspect the skeleton that had tortured him for an unknown time.
The skeleton, that was totally white, was now morphed into a menacing figure, its body now adorned with splatters of blood and muscles. Its right forelimb, once a hand, now carried the evidence of its malevolent actions with its gruesome appearance. The eerie glow in its eye sockets now revealed a slight intelligence, a chilling hint of awareness behind its sinister deeds.
"... Kekeke.... "
The skeleton laughed in its creepy manner as it matched Bittu's eyes. It, just like before, thrust its torture hand into Bittu's body only to be stopped by his now powerful constitution.
Bittu, while staring right into its eyes, raised his hand and slapped its skull.
*crack*
The skull cracked from the impact. The otherworldly glow in its eyes instantly disappeared as its bone fell down on the ground. It was as if a puppeteer has abandoned its puppet, making the bones fall.
The skeleton died as it should have from the beginning; in a lack lustre manner.
'What's this? '
When suddenly, Bittu saw a scroll appear on the ground the moment the bones dropped. He curiously picked up the scroll.
The moment he picked up the scroll, he heard the system notification.
[You have found an ability scroll. Would you like to learn the ability? ]
The scroll was in a sinister crimson hue, with arcane symbols pulsating in dark, coagulated ink. Running fingers along its surface, a subtle shiver coursed through him, as if tapping into a blood-soaked reservoir of forbidden power with ominous whispers of untold secrets and the haunting scent of ancient bloody techniques.
Bittu was mesmerized by the appearance of the scroll. He felt an unknown force from the bottom of his soul urging him to learn the ability. He, not going against his instincts, immediately learned the ability.
"Yes."
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