Sat in the same spot for god knows how long, he concept of the ability swirled and festered in Theodore's mind.
'But is that even possible? How can a person have the ability to control a concept of reality itself?'
The concept began to crystallize in his mind. The idea that he could either manipulate or control kinetic energy was fascinating, and the possible and endless applications alone were more than enough for him to be able to survive most situations, despite the possible power increase later on. The basics of which he had already had a glimpse of. Using the momentum of attacks meant to harm him as fuel for his own power.
Well, thinking about how he could possibly apply this power was not his most pressing issue; that is, living long enough to be able to think of developing the power.
'But how to activate it?'
He thought back to how it felt when he first activated the ability, the rush of power and heat he felt in his veins, the increase of speed he felt in his perception, and the responsiveness of his muscles. It was all just so amazing, but to reach that point again, he needed the chance to absorb more energy.
His eyes fluttered open, and a smile crept onto his face as he turned his gaze towards the grey horizon.
"Guess it's time for some practice."
***
Trudging through the scorching sands of the seemingly endless desert, Theodore's thoughts were dominated by doubt. He questioned himself over and over, wondering whether he was making the right choice, wondering if it was possible that facing that beast could be too hasty a decision, or if it was even possible that if he died again, he would not be rewound again.
So many worries, and questions, and yet, no matter how much he pondered, the answers would never reveal themselves, not if he stood still. As he approached the area, his chest grew tight with tension, and the sand beneath him felt like it could open up and swallow him at any moment.
Taking a final breath, Theodore climbed over the last cresting dune, and the silhouette of the spawn was in full view.
"Alright, let's see what you've got," he muttered before charging towards the beast. Suddenly, the silhouette shifted, and whatever it was turned towards him. The familiar but still grotesque movement of its flesh churned his stomach, but before he could register the nausea, the spawn had lunged at him, echoing bone-chilling screeches.
Within seconds, its large frame loomed over him, and its multi-jointed arms came crashing down on him. Instantly, he felt all the bones in his arms, multiple ribs, and his skull all crack to the point of shattering as his body bounced off the sand below.
'Fuck!'
Pain exploded through Theodore's body as his body came to a stop. He hunched over, gasping for breath while trying to regain the air knocked from his lungs. For a few brief moments, the world around him blurred and blended into nothing before he quickly regained his composure as the beast wound up another strike.
Its arms flew high above its head before suddenly coming crashing down. In the last few moments, time felt like it was slowing as Theodore regained his senses. His eyes and mind felt like they were on the verge of bursting as he rolled away, and a wave of sand erupted where he was just lying.
He rushed to his feet as the sand cleared, revealing a man-sized crater, and Theo gulped.
'Well, that doesn't look fun.'
Despite that, a wave of confidence washed over him as he realized he was right. The crater in front of him was proof that his power had something to do with kinetic energy; otherwise, he would have been lying there with a hole the size of a tire gaping in his torso.
Crouching low, he pushed forward and straight for the beast. Letting out another bone-chilling screech, it swung its long arms and tried to grab Theo, but he ducked below and, concentrating on the warmth that had welled up in him, he leapt up and threw an uppercut at the creature. His fist collided with the beast's jaw, sending it reeling back.
"Come on, you ugly bastard!" Theo demanded.
Obliging him, the spawn charged at him recklessly. With its massive, lanky frame barrelling forward, Theodore braced himself as the beast struck his torso, sending him flying back a few meters. He quickly got up, feeling the energy coursing through his veins as the spawn lunged. Theodore sidestepped at the last moment, narrowly avoiding its grasping claws, and using the power he had once again accumulated, he focused it all in his fist and struck the center of its bulbous skull as hard as he could.
A loud crack echoed as pieces of flesh splattered over him, and the spawn fell to the ground, its body convulsing violently before finally settling.
[Congratulations, candidate, you have slain a Dormant Spawn, Rank: Beast.]
[You have received a relic.]
Looking down at his blood-soaked fist, a smile crept onto Theodore's face. But before he could fully take in his victory, something appeared in the periphery of his vision, and looking over the horizon, he was lost for words as, again, as in front of him, a massive castle overtook the horizon.
Before he knew it, he was walking towards the massive structure. Step after step, his body moved on its own, drawn towards whatever that place was.
***
Step, step, step, the closer he got, the more painful the burden of his injuries became. The energy he had managed to absorb during his clash with the spawn, or what was left of it, was on the verge of exhaustion, and with it, the only thing keeping him alive was fading.
***
Step, step, step.
All the power he had stolen from the spawn had now been long exhausted, and all just to reach the end of the never-ending road he found himself walking down, Theodore dropped to his knees and crawled forward.
The waves of heat from above and the scorching from below would have been enough to send a normal person spiralling into despair, yet nothing at all seemed to faze him. At least that was what it seemed like. In reality, Theo struggled for every gasp of air. His body felt ready to give out at any moment as he dragged it through the scorching sands.
Why was he doing this? Why was he subjecting himself to such suffering? Theo himself wasn't sure what it was. All he knew instinctively was that he had to reach that place. But where, or what exactly, was that place that drew him in so strongly? That was yet another question he had no answer to.
All the young herald candidate could do was crawl, and crawl, and crawl till his body could take it no longer. After hours and hours, his body fell to the ground, and all the life drained from him.
***
Waking up with a start, Theodore rushed out of the water and towards the beast yet again, dispatching it as quickly as he could and running straight towards the strange place once again. And like before, he didn't make it an inch closer and collapsed to the ground dead.
He started all over again, moving through the same sequence of events again, but faster and faster and faster. Eventually, reaching a point where striking down the spawn that stood in his way took less than a minute. He ran through the gauntlet over and over, and over, and over, with not a single one of his turns bearing any fruit.
After dozens and dozens of tries, all hope started looking like nothing but a waste of rational thought.
'Does this ever end?' Theo thought to himself.
And honestly, that was a good question. Again, he went through the same cycle of events over and over, and over, with nothing to show for it but the ever-increasing experience of slaughtering a single spawn that stood between him and his goal.
Honestly, after thinking about it, he was glad that, excluding that monstrosity in the black sea, he only had the one spawn to contend with. Usually, one would expect to encounter a horde of those beasts during their trial, but he was more than satisfied with the one he had to face. And it wasn't even that much stronger than a human; in fact, it seemed to be getting slightly weaker with every turn.
Suddenly, for the first time since he began his trial, Theodore stopped in his tracks and furrowed his brow. Something about what he just thought seemed off.
'Did the spawn get weaker, or did I get stronger?'
No, that wouldn't be possible. A herald candidate only unlocks their power during their trial and is granted access to it, so it was impossible for them to actually strengthen it.
'So why does it feel like it actually is getting weaker?'
In fact, now that he thought of it, the only reason he became fixated on the castle that suddenly appeared over the horizon was that it appeared immediately after he slayed the creature.
Did that beast have something to do with his constant regression? That would make sense, but how was he going to prove that theory? Theo racked his brain hard thinking of a plan and soon something came to mind. Stood there waiting for death, he built upon that idea, pulling a number of thoughts together until a concrete plan was formed.
The moment he died and came back, it was time to execute it.