Nekros yanked the sword out of Lyze's back, leaving behind a gaping wound through which you could see through his entire body. The boy collapsed to his knees and then fell on his back as blood began pooling around his body, and he coughed out his life's worth as his muscles began to weaken extremely.
Due to him having exhausted every drop of power in his body and that he could not release Chaos again after having just dispelled it, there was no measure being taken to heal the gaping hole in his abdomen. The only reason he was not in Mind Zero because the sheer pain he was going through was keeping him awake.
"How?" Lyze choked, his own words causing blood to froth out and splatter on his own face. "I had you pinned down and torn apart! How are you still here?"
The Nekros that he'd thought he'd flattened in what was now a flat platform but had once been the Colosseum, had been full of wounds and injures, and practically naked as in the onslaught of Lyze's attacks through the physical of Chaos in its entirety, his clothes had been destroyed.
But the Nekros in front of him was fully clothed and there was not a wound on him except a clear burnt hole in his tunic where now the skin had fully healed. Nekros sighed as he shook his head and rubbed his forehead in pain and disappointment at Lyze's blunder.
"You utter fool." Nekros tutted as he sat down on a rock, stuck his sword in the ground and leant on its handle as he watched Lyze suffer on the floor. "That first explosion you made in the arena and then flew me out, you simply just carried a clone of me out of there."
"You what?"
"That's right. You were fighting a clone of an avatar the whole time." Nekros said darkly. "An amateurish mistake. You were so focused on your hatred and your anger, and releasing all your power at once that you let it consume your senses and so you couldn't even tell that I was here and you were fighting a counterfeit...how embarrassing."
"So...I guess this is it." Lyze spat. "You're just going to kill me now. After how far I've come and all the effort you and I both have put into this, and the time we invested, you're just going to end it all?"
"Oh believe me, I am very tempted to do it." Nekros said as he watched Lyze's writhing start to slow down as the life began to leave him very slowly. "But I must admit, even with such a mistake, you have transcended your limits so much. And you are more innovative than I gave you credit for...you were holding back for the sake of your friends."
"...So what now?" Lyze asked. "Is watching me in agony amusing to you? Is that the alternative to killing me?"
"Well it's enjoyable watching an arrogant person get their just desserts." Nekros said before he leaned forwards. "But what this is really for is to teach you a lesson on your hubris."
"About what?"
"You wish to take on an Olympian name, and then take out that Pantheon from within." Nekros reprimanded. "Did you not even begin to think of the implications of that? This is not the game Lyze. And these gods are not the same as the one that the Kratos you revere faced. To topple their pantheon would bring forth the most disastrous consequences, and is it really worth creating hostilities where there are none?"
"I said I'd do that if they moved against me! A mortal ascending to such a station will surely invite bad attention from those who occupy its thrones."
"Perhaps." Nekros said. "But your view on the whole thing is so simplistic. It shocks me that even after all I taught you of the Laws, you did not even stop to think what the consequences would be...but I suppose I may be to blame in part for that. I did after all raise you quite militantly as well." Nekros sighed. "Not to mention you cannot just simply join their pantheon when you ascend. There is a procedure which must be adhered to in order to have a legitimate throne there."
"I suppose you're not going to tell me about it either." Lyze said as his limbs began to grow weak and his blood started dripping of the side of the cliff. "After all, I lost."
"You are correct." Nekros said. "You did not earn it. But I will ask you this once Lyze." Nekros leaned forward with a very serious expression on his face. "Is this really the path you have chosen for yourself? Is that name really one that you wish to take in order to tie yourself to this reality?"
"I simply want to stay here." Lyze said. "I have not forgotten about the Laws. If I am grounded here, then I will not be stuck in our old universe when I bring my mother back."
"No doubt to come back to the women you've fallen in love with." Nekros muttered.
"What?"
"Don't deny it. At the thought of Freya, your heart flutters and your chest warms with supressed love, love that you deny you have. The reality is, you fell for her from the beginning...but your logic prevailed over your heart...which I suppose was the right thing for once in this particular circumstance. And as for little Ais...you feel guilty over your love for her and what you know of her past...but you still wish to be there for her even if she would not be your lover in the future. And you've gained some very protective feelings over Lili too. Like I said, you would form attachments you could not help. It is human nature to do that."
"...And so? What has this pathway I've planned out got anything to do with that?"
"That pathway is the one you have carved to make sure that you can stake your presence in this world and you can stay by the sides of these women. But I will only ask once...is this what you wish for yourself? To bind yourself through a name to this world? To restrict yourself in such a way? You know that when this universe dies, you will die with it also because you bound yourself to it?"
"All that would be precious to me exists in this universe. For it all to die at some point, would mean that I would have nothing more to exist for. So I have no problem with dying permanently. I am firm upon my decision Nekros, and I will not change my mind. I will do everything, and I will take every measure to make sure that I stay beside the women I love. It means more to me than any kind of power you can offer me, for the power is just a means to that end."
...
"Then let this scar be the reminder of this day." Nekros said as he pointed as Lyze's belly. A fire lit over the gaping wound and Lyze began to scream in hot pain as the fire started to seal the wound closed. Lyze's inner organs regenerated as the skin closed over the wound but every sign of the wound having existed remained.
An ugly, barbaric scar that lay diagonally over his abs, ridged and dark against the skin as it screamed of a once existent pain that would most certainly have killed anybody immediately...just like the scar of the Kratos that Lyze wished to emulate so much. And Lyze realized this as he calmed down and paid attention to the new feature on his body.
"You're helping me?!" Lyze exclaimed in shock.
"You said it was what you wanted right?" Nekros asked rhetorically. "If you're so sure that this is the way for you and not the one I chose for you, then why would I not help you? That scar is purposed for two things; to bring you closer to the image of Kratos and to serve as a reminder that this is a decision YOU made. So there is not going to be any deflection of responsibility if there ever comes a day where you regret this decision."
"You really don't mind?" Lyze asked in disbelief. "You're just going to let me assume my own identity?"
"My plans for you have not changed." Nekros said. "What I want to happen to you shall still happen. I've taken measures to make sure that come true. But now that you have laid a claim on that name, the universe is going to send things your way fitting of the one who carries that name. You cannot help it now. Soon you will see that you will become more like him than just taking his name."
"I didn't expect this from you...I thought you would have opposed me."
"Why would I? And besides, there is one more thing I must inform you of."
"What?"
"Finn has pointed it out to you already a couple of times. But have you noticed any physical changes to you after levelling up?"
"I have noticed that I get a little taller each time."
"It's more than that." Nekros said. "It seems your growth is affecting your Falna to the extent that it is forcibly evolving you further than what is the norm. The blessing evolves you the more you fight and the more stats you accumulate. Your stat cap is much higher than any person of any other races on this planet. All of those extra stats are making you age faster, because only a mature body can handle the power those stats are giving you."
"Seriously? So how old am I now?"
"I'd say that while you are still nine, you'd be about eleven or twelve right about now in body. And the more you raise your level, the more you will age until I guess you reach a suitable point in puberty...something Freya will appreciate I'm sure."
"Right." Lyze shook his head at the insinuation. "...So nothing really changes between us."
"I will only ever be to you what you think of me." Nekros stood up. "But indeed, one thing is to be changed. Now that you have taken this name, I am compelled to address you as such." Nekros's avatar started to fade away into motes of light as the temporary form began to return to the original body. "Now, I must be gone. When your comrades wake up, they will find themselves fully restored as you are now, with no broken weapons, nor foiled spirit. This is not the last time we converse my apprentice. We will meet each other again, quite soon...Kratos."
The avatar faded away as Lyze felt a change within himself. His fatigue washed out of his body and his full strength was returned to him as his magic stores refilled and his muscles hardened. The {Cratus} skill began to hum and resonate as he felt its presence expand and fill in more of his soul, a result of having laid claim to the full name. The missing blood in his body also was quickly replenished and within moments he raised himself to his feet, suddenly feeling vastly more powerful as strength surged through him. Momentarily he became confused, as even this kind of power was more than he expected of himself.
He bent down and picked up a piece of bedrock. With a quick flex of his hand, the rock shattered into pieces easier than moulding bread dough. Calling Chaos to his eyes again, he peered through the Falna and was taken aback by what he saw as this time his jaw very nearly dropped to the ground.
...
STR: 901 S
END: 923 S
DEX: 716 B
AGI: 865 A
MAG: 999 S
...
Once again, his stats had leapt by a long jump once again. This time it had come to the S rank. The battle had been intense for sure, but dangerous enough to the point where he'd been brought to the place which was the most difficult to bring your stats to? What could have justified this kind of...
Lyze suddenly remembered the clone he'd fought. Even if it was a counterfeit, it still had magic as well as life-force contained within it, and not only had Chaos devoured the thing for him, but his Flame had also taken part in the execution as well...which meant he'd consumed some of his old master's power. A infinitesimal piece for sure, but enough to raise him this much.
Lyze smiled at this revelation. Even if he had lost the battle, this small victory was something worth celebrating.
---
Finn woke up and sat abruptly as he slipped off the sheets from his body. He was soon followed by a few other members of his Familia as they alarmedly roused from sleep and looked around at each other in confusion, debating over what might have happened based on what they had seen and experienced before being knocked out.
A crackling noise brought them over to a roaring fire as a boy sat by it and continuously kept the fire burning. It was then they realised that they had all been laid out on the floor with covers over them around this large fire. Finn quickly came to the conclusion that Lyze had a hand in this and he stood up, trying to see if Nekros was anywhere nearby.
Catching no sight of the man, Finn squared his shoulders and walked over to the boy.
"You mind explaining what's happened Lyze?" The Pallum asked.
"What in particular do you want to know?" The boy gave him a counter question.
"That man was your master? That deranged psychopath that was tearing you limb from limb and incapacitated nearly the whole Familia. THAT is the kind of master you had?"
"What more would you expect from the likes of him?" Lyze asked as he threw another log into the fire, and stirred something inside a cauldron with a ladle. "To him, the lives of us mortals are mere objects to be toyed with in order to bring about a change or a future he desires."
"The man was trying to murder you lad." Gareth said as he too walked up to them. "That is not what anybody calls a duel."
"Don't interrupt." Finn said to Gareth as he locked onto something Lyze had said. "Us mortals? He doesn't care for us mortals? What are you insinuating Lyze?"
"Exactly what you're thinking." Lyze answered, not even turning around to address the captain.
"...But they're not allowed in the Dungeon Lyze." Finn said. "That is a violation of the law. Does he not understand the consequences of such an act? Where is he now?"
"Gone from here. We won't be seeing his mug for some time yet." Lyze said as he stood up and finally turned around. Finn and Gareth's eyes widened at the new scar on Lyze's body. Their first reactions were to wince in pain at how painful it looked to have been as a fresh wound.
"What a scar." Noir said as he approached as well. "But such a wound should have killed you Lyze."
"And it nearly did." Lyze said. "But now it shall remind me of this day where I was so close to winning, but ended up nearly losing my life over a feud I had with him."
"Winning?" Finn questioned. "Forget about winning. What kind of power was that Lyze? Have you always been capable of such feats?"
"Aye." Gareth said as he looked around at the terrain damage and at the still missing Colosseum. "Making everything look like an earthquake had hit this place. You've practically destroyed this whole room."
"It is simply unnatural." Finn concluded before he put a his hands on his hips. "Lyze, if these shenanigans keep propping up like this, I may be forced to cut the expedition short or have a team escort you home. Things are clearly becoming far too dangerous for your wellbeing here. When it's not strange monsters, it's murderous gods breaking the law and coming down here to half-kill you."
"He won't be coming back, that I promise you." Lyze said. "He came to share information about the workings of my new power and to set me straight again I guess. But do you see now...why Loki was afraid of him?"
"Yes." Gareth replied as he closed his eyes, the earlier battle playing again in his mind. "He was brutal, ruthless and powerful. Strong enough to best a few first class and heaps of second class adventurers. If a god with sealed powers can do all of that, then what could he do if he was in heaven?"
"His physical might is not what alone makes him terrifying." Lyze said. "But as for your question from earlier Finn...admittedly I was holding back. Some of my powers were simply too destructive. I could not afford firing off such magic in the midst of all of you."
"Indeed." Finn said, folding his arms and looking at the absent Colosseum, what was left there no being none other than a flat platform of land. Nothing about it even resembled the old arena except that it was round in shape. "Able to make a giant monument like that just disappear from sheer combat strength." Finn looked back at Lyze. "Well, what is it you aim to do now?"
"I'll be moving forward as always." Lyze said. "Fighting and overcoming all challenges, letting nothing and no-one stand between me and my goal. And this time, I will not hold back."
Circuits of silver broke out along Lyze's torso and his arms like they were blood vessels as a wellspring of pure energy. Their senses filled with this new boy, who had once again jumped up the power ladder, and was soon to ascend to the top. It was but a mere matter of time. Lyze had leant his lesson by now. There was no use in limiting himself because he was incompetent. No, he was gong to study his powers thoroughly and their potential and he would wipe out the plague that the Dungeon continuously threw in front if them.
And he would rise up above them all. That was his silent promise.
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