Luciferis blocked another magical slash from the werewolf's claws, which had begun to glow under the intense golden moonlight of the moon. But due to the 'Test' keeping them weaker than they should be, Luciferis wasn't having troubles at all.
"Listen, I feel bad." Luciferis began, his breath slightly ragged but his eyes showing the same tenacity he had from the start.
"So I'll tell you why you're here in the first place." He said as he kicked the werewolf in the gut, knocking the beast backwards.
"Vitin remembers everything, it has got its own will. You got cursed by an Orchel Matriarch to become a werewolf. And just so happened to be a perfect tool for Vitin to use to awaken us." His words were harsh, but the werewolf didn't care, it simply kept on attacking, but Luciferis continued to dodge with ease.
"You're just a kid, how would you know! The suffering I've gone through in here! Getting killed, again and again! I've been here for centuries at this point! I've counted every second!"
Luciferis cut the werewolf off, cutting off one of its fingers with razor-sharp precision as the werewolf's blood gushed out like a geyser.
"Suffering this, suffering that, you're just unlucky and submissive, you've never even asked anyone for help, huh?" To the werewolf, Luciferis didn't even seem like the cute and innocent 14-year-old that he looked like.
'He feels like an ancient human that has seen everything and faced it with a smile.'
The werewolf rolled its shoulders, its finger healing almost instantly as it slowly changed form, the bones crawling underneath its skin, its snot becoming elongated and more pronounced as its teeth became sharper and black like charcoal.
"I'll kill you. I should've never opened my mouth and revealed my sentience to you. I thought you would listen to my grief before killing me, but you've just been a poisonous thorn." The werewolf's voice became more and more animalistic as it went down on all fours, its fingers digging into the snow.
Luciferis jumped back, creating distance between them as his blade began to become frosty. His Vitin had almost run out, but the thrill of a good fight after so long it made him keep going.
"Right now, you're in my Vitin Landscape; this is where all tests happen. Once I get to Rank X, I'll be able to use this as a storage and pull things out. I swear to get you out of here as soon as possible. But you have to promise me, you'll help me in my endeavors later on."
The werewolf lunged forward, its speed having increased so greatly that it was now moving like a blur even to Luciferis, who barely managed to block the first charge.
'Shit, if I die in the Vitin Landscape, I'll die in the real world as well. Do I have to kill this werewolf? Damn it... It's probably three times stronger now.'
He felt that he was getting more and more overwhelmed as claw marks appeared all around his body, yet he couldn't fight back against the werewolf.
Suddenly, Luciferis had an idea. He closed his eyes, the vibration of Vitin becoming more and more clear to him.
'The Mind's Vision, I can't access it all, but since this is a Vitin Landscape, I can control some of the things that happen here like a god.'
He felt like time had slowed down, an image of the werewolf's next move already shown to him as he slashed downwards with all of his strength. His blade now a frosty blue, one that froze the air around it.
"Gotcha."
He said as his blade neared the Werewolf's neck, but just then the hourglass broke, the main objective. He had forgotten about that.
(...)
The werewolf realized that he was about to die, but he was insensitive to death now. But for some reason, he felt that death by Luciferis' sword was permanent.
'I felt like I was going up against the Reaper; it felt like he had come to end my suffering once and for all.'
It sat down on the ground, its form returning to its original, weaker form. It had exerted itself too much.
'I discovered a new loophole in the rules of the Test. I just need to match the raw powers of the test taker. I can be faster than them or use Vitin to overpower them.'
The werewolf sighed, the moon going away, it felt like it was going insane from this intense loneliness.
'If that brat really does manage to reach Rank X and remembers me, I'll forgive the Orchels.'
It laughed manically; it was mocking itself.
'Damn, I've gotten soft... Remembering me? I'm not worth it.'
It continued lying down as it looked up at the dark sky; it had almost memorized the patterns of all the stars.
It began scratching at its own face. Almost trying to peel away its own skin, as it slowly shifted into someone, someone that resembled a human.
'I hate you...'
(...)
Luciferis was pulled out of the Vitin Landscape, now back in the real world, lying on a bed in his tent in the dark. William had fallen asleep on a chair at the foot of his bed, like he was guarding the entrance.
'So... I've awakened. Poor William, I'll take him out to a fancy dinner in celebration tomorrow.' Luciferis looked at his hand, the flow of Vitin now much clearer. He also felt a lot stronger, so strong in fact that he wanted to fight once more.
Suddenly, someone walked in through the entrance of the tent, the slight ruffle of the cloth awakened William, who immediately drew his sword, pointing it at the person who had walked in.
He was kicked backwards as none other than Josephine walked in, a small frown on her sleepy face.
"Oi! Who the fuck are you?! And what are you doing in my brother's tent?"
"Sister..." Luciferis sighed softly, standing up from his bed. Almost falling from the disbalance created by his now taller stature.
"Whoa... You really do resemble Dad, huh?" Josephine smirked, grabbing her little brother by the top of his head and dragging him out of the tent.
"Hey!" Luciferis grunted, trying to escape from Josephine's vice-like grip.
"See now, the Aurelion Academy is getting impatient after Alize went on babbling about how you had a Breakthrough. And now they want you inside the Academy as soon as possible."
Just then, William flew out of the tent in a burst of wind, for a moment, even Josephine was surprised by him.
"Wow!" She said as she casually sidestepped the boy, punching him in the gut."
She chuckled, her smirk becoming more pronounced, a hint of excitement in her expression.
"Now that you've awakened, I'll also be training you. Little brother... Oh, and."
She trailed off, her eyes landing on William.
"I'll be training him as well."