The ground he stood on burned his feet
Asvard started wandering without any aim and moved purely based on his instinct as , he had no clue of what's happening or what will happen but if he stopped moving , he won't end in one piece. As he moved he Zephyra's words echoed through his head
"You'll kill or be killed"
After muttering these, Zephyra and Varnak disappeared like phantoms into the shadows of the arches of rocky hills.
He clenched his fists , hot blood dripping from his fists , he thought he should be freaking out because of everything that had happened until now but instead it was building up, something unfamiliar in him .
Something had changed, something negligible which won't be neglected soon enough , he could sense it . The air , it didnt Just gave him strength to stand up but it kept him sane.
Asvard came across a skeleton, by the looks of it , it was probably a humanoid figure whose ribcage was split open and everything inside was completely clean as if someone had cleaned it and rest of it's body left to rot , which gave Asvard that this place showed no mercy .
He wandered again , and came across a ledge and looked down.
Below there was a vast plain of dark sand shining as if the sand was dark diamonds illusioning itself to be grains of sand, with eerie rocks which were carved in weird ways ,dried out trees like plants almost like as if they were crawling out of the ground beneath them and dozens of..... eerie figures.
Hundreds of creatures with limbs so long the word monster doesn't suit them , face so flat a normal human will faint upon a sight of them, tearing eachother without any hesitation or room for thoughts , just straight up murder with a single goal , to survive, they fed on the corpses of their opponents, growing stronger with each victory.
The hunting zone : Diminished cries
Something became clear , there was no need for an explanation, Asvard knew , his instinct alone won't save him.
Asvard didn't know what was he feeling but somehow he just knew his purpose . This was where the lowest of the demons or lesser demons fought. This was their proving grounds. Their graveyards.
Yern's , the weakest species of demons. With no intelligence but left with a purpose to tear whatever's infront of them and feed on them , that's the only way to survive. They lived on believing and following this.
Asvard made his way down to the hunting zone , as a yern spotted him.
It muttered "fresh" in a disgusting way.
It broke off from the battle and ran towards Asvard.
Asvard who saw this yern charging at him knew that if he wanted to live even a bit longer he should run. But he didn't.
It charged, he saw the movements for a split second and dodged his body aside , his leg tripped on a rock and rolled over.
As he stood up , he entirety screamed " RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN"
But the unnatural pounding in his chest, whispered "Don't.Run.Stand".
As the yern charged again , this time he didn't dodge but charged against it, before it's claw scratched him upfront he moved his body slightly towards the right stepped his right foot and mustered up all his strength onto his right fist caving into the face of the yern.
The yern's face disfigured crawling and groaning in pain, Asvard tossed a heavy rock on it , it screamed, twitched and finally still.
He landed on the ground and let out a heavy sigh and breathed heavily, because he'll never forget this very moment, it marked his very existence in the hell , that he refused his existence in hell wasn't a mistake.
He stood up shivering, it wasn't fear ,but adrenaline, something in him changed , he was filled with raw , vicious energy which was flowing through him , it's as if he became completely different, something which wasn't human.
He saw another yern charging at him , he dodged stepped his right foot and punched with his right fist , again caving in it's face, it fell on the ground groaning in pain and crawling back in fear
It whimpered
He walked forward
Then these echoed in his mind "kill or be killed", he stomped on it and ended it.
Zephyra and Varnak watching from afar behind a shattered spiky rock
"No hesitation" Varnak muttered
Zephyra nodded while having her arms crossed and said "He did but he chose not to again, that's completely different"
"His transformation sped up, could it be the air?"
"No, it was already within him , this place just helped it bloom"
"Is he one of us?"
"Time will confirm that"
--
Back on the ground Asvard knelt over the corpses, he wasn't proud , he wasn't scared, he felt awake.
His fingers trembling in fear , in the reflection of the shining sand , he noticed his right eye's pupil had darkned and a red ring had formed on it.
He didn't laugh, he didn't cry
"I'll kill, this hell won't show mercy then neither will I" he muttered to himself .
(To be continued...)