Arthur sat on the cold ground, flexing his newly regenerated arm. The sensation was strange—his nerves still registered the pain of loss, yet the limb moved as if it had always been there. The power of Blood Feast had exceeded even his expectations. He clenched his fist, feeling the raw strength coursing through his veins.
Adora, still staring at him in disbelief, finally broke the silence. "You... you devoured that thing's blood, and your body just... rebuilt itself? What kind of human are you?"
Arthur smirked. "I'd say I'm still human, but honestly? I'm not so sure anymore."
Adora hesitated before shaking her head. "Whatever you are, you're not normal. But I suppose normal people don't survive battles against Frost Elf Commanders either."
Arthur exhaled. "Tell me about this place—the Cursed Lands. I suppose you know more about this hell than I do..."
Adora crossed her arms, composing herself. "The Cursed Lands are kind of a Soul-World, you can't enter them without the Curse and even if you enter, you can only do so in your Soul. If you receive Damage and die in the Cursed Lands, your Soul crumbles, and you die for real. In normal circumstances, only humans who are trying to pass the same Trial are transported in the same area. But I still don't know what the goal of this trial is. I suppose you are on your First Trial too?"
Arthur nodded, absorbing the information. "Yea, I fought my way through some Ice elves until I met you. So you've survived here alone?"
"Barely," Adora admitted. "I gained some valuable Information about the Curses power system, But I'm still at the beginning trying to figure out many things."
I learned most things when I was trained by a few different teachers, even people who already beat their First Trials already taught me."
Arthur's eyes gleamed. "Explain the system to me, please."
Adora took a deep breath. "The strength of a Monster gets decided in two ways, first its rank and its class. The Rank gets decided by how many Souls a monster consumed, the higher it's potential rises. I only found out two Ranks until now:"
Lesser, these Monsters have consumed less than five Souls and are easy to deal with. Common, this Rank has consumed between five and twenty Souls, they are harder to deal with than Lesser Monsters.
"Then there are Classes, these decide how strong a Monster is, the souls a monster consumed slowly fill with Soul essence. Soul essence represents strength, the more they have, the more dreadful they get. Right now I found out three Classes:"
Feral, these Monsters have no intelligence, and can mostly not communicate with each other well. Savage, way stronger than Ferals nearly no Intelligence, but they can communicate. Stalkers, these are real Nightmares, they are smart can communicate and mostly hunt silently.
"For example, these Frost Elves, the Workers were Common Ferals, the Warriors were Common Savages, and the Commander was a Common Stalker..."
Arthur let out a low whistle. "That's a lot to take in."
Adora smirked. "About humans, I wasn't able to find out anything valuable mentioning."
Arthur nodded.
Then his grin widened. "Interesting."
Adora huffed. "That's putting it lightly. But don't get cocky—power comes at a cost."
"And by the way the highest Rank any Human has ever reached is Ascended, there are some groups who probably are in their trials right now like my parents were, to become Harbingers, but if they return is still unclear."
Arthur rolled his shoulders, testing his new strength. "Then I better make sure I'm strong enough to survive. I need more blood."
Without hesitation, he reached for another corpse and sank his teeth into its cold flesh. Adora grimaced, watching in discomfort as Arthur drained the lifeless body. More energy surged through him, strengthening his muscles, sharpening his senses. He devoured corpse after corpse, consuming their essence until his very being pulsed with raw power.
Finally, he stood, feeling the change within him. He was at least twice as strong as before, his body honed, his abilities sharper.
Adora shifted uneasily. "What now?"
Arthur cracked his knuckles, his gaze burning with determination. "Now? I go after that bastard Commander."
Adora's eyes widened. "You're insane. He cut off your arm like you were nothing. Even if you're stronger now, he is still leagues above you!"
Arthur smirked. "We'll see about that. Stay here."
"Like hell I will!" Adora snapped. "I'll watch from a distance, and if you get in over your head, I'll step in."
Arthur sighed but didn't argue. He stepped outside into the cold night, snow crunching beneath his boots. His breath misted in the air as he made his way toward the heart of the camp.
There, standing tall like an unmovable titan, was the Frost Elf Commander.
Arthur's lips curled into a vicious grin as he shouted, his voice echoing through the icy landscape:
"You dumb bastard! See? I am still alive! And I will also be the last thing you will ever get to see!"