Cato Emberson's Perspective:
After I had gained my contract with the Goddess, our training started becoming more complex. Although my training had increased in difficulty noticeably, and there wasn't much floor left to cover with my blood, I started getting injured less and less.
When I began training my contract, our drills switched from one-on-one battles to me facing conjured enemies. The Goddess was able to control most everything in her realm, and conjuring enemies was a simple task.
However, what came with the conjured enemies was a rage I emitted that became palpable as they advanced. The Goddess' summons took on the traditional garbs worn by the Tribes of Terra, some of which I recognized from the weaponsmith's house. They brandished conventional weapons used throughout Terra, while the Goddess could also simulate their source energy.
While they were brainless puppets, they moved and reacted incredibly fast.
I had started getting used to the different forms of source energy through the summons while increasing my fighting skills. I had started by facing off against one summon and cycling through the different types of contractors.
The Goddess, having lived much longer than me, had constant pointers that increased my fighting abilities. She had fought against other Gods and Goddesses for lifetimes to practice her abilities.
She was also able to call upon information she had learned from previous contractors and God Sources, which made her summons even more realistic.
The Goddess was an adept hand-to-hand combat fighter, while she was not as proficient with the sword. She did, however, know a God who was capable of decimating the entire continent we lived on in a single slash of his blade.
Through countless battles with the Ocean God, my Goddess had quite the understanding of advanced sword techniques.
She was able to provide me with instructions as well as a blade style that looked like a dance. It utilized an extensive amount of source energy to use because of the accelerated pace and precise footwork.
I had grown with my blade, and throughout my training, I had developed multiple techniques that I continuously practiced while facing off against the Goddess' summons.
She would occasionally call off the summons to directly teach me hand-to-hand methods that could deal with significant groups of soldiers.
As my battles grew longer and the waves of enemies stronger, I had effectively developed a blade-style through my knowledge of the Ocean God's movements, the extensive practice I did at eleven, and my newly forged contract.
I was able to manipulate fire out of my cursed blade but could not surround it. If I covered it in source energy, I could launch fire slashes towards my enemies because of the discharged source energy that ignited.
Occasionally this tactic would flounder, and I would have to cover myself with hand-to-hand combat or another blast of fire.
The Ocean God's techniques had been hard to learn. The Goddess was able to create a summon of the Ocean God so that I could watch and practice his movements, but even as she slowed the speed of the conjured God, it was an arduous task.
I couldn't access the genuine movements the Ocean God had perfected, but the footwork was an excellent addition to my blade style.
Now, after an unknown amount of training, I was capable of facing up to five standard contractors at a time and, using my life as a bargaining chip, could face three God Sources.
As I slowly carved my way through two Mountain Tribe members, blood sprayed across my face. I spun on my heel, flicking the blood off my sword before dirtying it again by burying it into the gaps of a Demon Tribe's God Source's armor.
He coughed blood onto my shoulder as I twisted my blade and pulled it out of his abdomen with my left hand. My right hand pushed his shoulder away from me, using his momentum as a springboard to spin into my next attacker. My sword met solid resistance as it slowed next to my enemy's armor.
Taking one hand off of the handle of my sword that was now motionless, I raised it to my enemy's head and released my source energy. His head erupted into flames as he shot a final attempt at my life in the form of a conical root. The root pierced through my extended palm and out the back of my hand.
I released another wave of source energy without a second thought of the pain and burnt the root to a crisp, leaving a gaping hole in my palm.
The Goddess had taught me an invaluable skill that harnessed the 'Soulflame' that she so creatively dubbed the white fire on top of my energy pool. The Soulflame was a legendary flame that the Goddess of Destruction used to disintegrate her enemies. However, its incredible destructive capabilities, with the proper practice, could be used to restore. The Soulflame, when manifested inside a contractor, contained the basic information about its holder.
Capitalizing on this ability, one with enough control over the Soulflame could rebuild portions of their physical body. However, if losing a limb was painful, growing a new one was excruciating.
But, with my extensive knowledge in bodily regeneration thanks to my time spent in the Goddess' realm, this process came easier and was less painful than expected. However, this did not mean that it was a walk in the park by any means.
Utilizing the Soulflame's source energy, I pulled it into my hand and concentrated. A small white flame grew in the hole in my palm and started repairing. Wincing at the pain from rebuilding my hand, I firmly gripped my sword in my left hand and continued to concentrate.
The regeneration process was slow and sent a dull throbbing through my body, but it was better than losing limbs in battle.
As I brought my sword down onto the crown of an Ocean Tribe member's head, his skull released a pleasant cracking noise, and the summon's body slumped onto the ground.
I sighed and dropped my sword into the pool of blood beneath my feet before following it onto the ground. I had been stained in blood for, most likely, years at this point, and sitting in more of it was not a bother.
Exhausted, I looked up at the Goddess who was standing silently—probably calculating behind her usually expressionless face.
I wanted to ask how long I had been fighting for, but I knew she was not fond of the construct of time. My internal clock had been the only thing I had to go off of when it came to training lengths, but because the scenery never changed, I doubted my judgment.
The Goddess, noticing my evident exhaustion, told me to meditate until we began training again. After she told me my next task, she vanished.
The time I spent meditating and collecting my source energy was the only time I rested inside this realm. One couldn't sleep even if one wanted to.
I had enjoyed meditating previously, but inside this realm, sitting in a pool of blood, it only served as a key to memories I had hidden away. When I closed my eyes, I could feel the blood seeping into my clothes, and my imagination started to run wild.
I was inside the dome-shaped training room. Blood covered the floor, and surrounding me, were the silhouetted corpses of my friends, family, and tribemates.
The emotions I had held onto for so long started to float to the surface. Grief, sadness, hatred towards myself, and most importantly, hatred towards those who wronged my Tribe and me.
In my mind, I began to talk to the reanimated corpses. I attempted to console them as they came and took my hand before exiting the room.
'These are their final wishes,' I thought as the silhouetted corpses continued to speak.
I took each corpse by the hand and told them they had nothing to worry about, that their wishes were safe with me. I was confident I could keep almost all of their desires because they encompassed the same thing, revenge.
Until a silhouette that I had grown up with walked towards me.
I couldn't see her face, but I knew it was my mother. She was the last silhouette left after the rest had spoken to me and exited the training room.
The silhouette of my mother knelt and took my hand before relaying her final desire.
"Please," I heard a faint whisper from the silhouette, "live a normal life, Cato."
The silhouette finished and stood. She exited the training room, leaving me sitting in a pool of blood.
I opened my eyes and was back inside the Goddess' realm. She was standing in front of me, and I was startled by her sudden appearance.
"You've made significant progress in cultivating your Soulflame. I would advise you look." She gestured towards my chest as she said this.
With child-like excitement, I closed my eyes and searched for my pool of energy.
The once pond inside my body was now the size of a lake. While the white flame sitting on top of it was the size of a mediocre boat.
I shot my eyes open in surprise. I had more or less realized that I was advancing the cultivation of my Soulflame, but my energy pool too? And to this extent?
"I must admit, Child; you do have quite the knack for cultivation." The Goddess spoke in a proud voice.
"Do you experience hallucinations during cultivation?" The Goddess asked as if she was reading my mind.
"I did just a second ago. I'm not sure if it meant anything, though." The fleeting feeling of uncertainty towards revenge that appeared when my mother spoke was replaced with a calm rage when I opened my eyes.
"According to previous contractors who were talented in cultivation, hallucinations tend to happen. However, they are not something to fear and generally harness your emotions to further your cultivation." The Goddess replied to my statement flatly.
"So during a hallucination, my emotions feed my cultivation, but when I am cultivating without experiencing a hallucination, it takes immense concentration to cultivate at all?"
The Goddess clicked her tongue as she could have repeated herself while answering my question.
"During a hallucination cultivating becomes a secondary task while your brain focuses on taking in the new information around you. Thus, expanding your ability to cultivate." She replied flatly but with a hint of a smile.
"That's quite helpful," I stated out loud—more to myself than the Goddess.
"Yes, but do not become lost inside a hallucination. They can possess quite a firm grip on your mind if you let them." She pointed a finger at me as I thought about the scenario.
The Goddess split my thoughts with her following words:
"Begin!"
A blade of ice connected with the back of my right shoulder and sent me rolling forward as she spoke.
'A God Source to start with?' I thought to myself as I stood up and attempted to draw my sword.
Grabbing nothing but air where my sword handle should have been, I looked up to see the Ocean Tribe God Source standing above it, almost as if he were guarding it.
Suddenly four more enemies appeared in front of the God Source and my blade. They began to charge me with their weapons as I covered my fists and feet in flames.
'So we're doing it this way,' I thought to myself as a smile crept onto my face.