Nox mindlessly stepped through the dead forest. Branches snapped as he lazily walked over them, possibly alerting the Guardian of his arrival.
However, the boy didn't care. No… he couldn't care.
Not anymore.
'How many regressions has it been?'
He looked down on his arms. For every addition death, the next Nox would add an extra mark. This helped him judge his progress and track the flow of time.
Numerous sword wounds marked every death. Some were shallow, others were carelessly deep.
At first, he was confident. After all, he improved every regression while the beast couldn't.
That was, until the death that changed everything.
The 5th regression.
Nox found a second orb of light, providing another boost of strength. He was still unable to slice through the ancient armor, having his head crushed to a pulp.
The 7th regression.
The divinity, 'Rain' underwent a change. For a brief moment, he would be able to cause rainfall in the nearby area… not like it mattered against the monster.
"Threat level determined to be: 3. Commencing elimination."
Just like before, he dodged the first shockwave. A well-timed blanket of rain stopped the second shockwave. The Mythmaker was killed by the third.
The 9th regression.
He began to search for alternative solutions. After scavenging the forest as much as he could, a toppled trunk revealed a third power orb. The battle with the Guardian reached a new stage.
His sword cut into the monster right as it snapped his neck.
The 12th regression.
The boy came up with a plan. After quickly retracing his steps and retrieving the three hidden power orbs, he activated his divinity.
Every single regression after the 3rd, he had been tracking the location in which the guardian approached from. Using the knowledge from his past attempts, he was able to ambush the beast while it was still unearthing himself from the ground.
「You have encountered the Guardian of this Challenge.」
Focusing every ounce of energy into one decisive strike, the hardened blade finally pierced through the ancient armor for the first time.
After that, Nox channeled the nearby rain, sending as much of it as he could into the tiny gap that his sword created in the steel body.
As the blazing red eyes came to life, so did his own divinity. He closed his fists, hardening the water that had been pushed inside the entity.
Strings filled his vision as the boy hurriedly searched for the shimmering cores inside its body.
The guardian flared into action, simultaneously fixing its body and attempting to smash him into the ground.
However, Nox happened to be a split second faster.
"Threat level… determined… to..-
With one final push, the liquid pierced through the two blue orbs, shattering them into a thousand pieces. Anger dimmed as the monster seemed to pause in disbelief, and fell over onto the murky water.
Nox remained cautious even as the mud splattered on him from the body's impact.
[You have successfully completed a mission!]
'I did it…'
Falling over on his knees, he began bashing his hands against the ancient beast. It had caused him so much pain… but it was finally over.
He would finally be able to return to the real world.
Thinking about how he would surprise Elysia and Opal, the boy closed his eyes. Managing a small smile, he laid there and waited for the Challenge to end.
Except, it never did. For every hour that went by, Nox grew increasingly stressed.
As the sun set and nightfall took over, the Mythmaker suddenly felt sleepy. Perhaps he was too tired? He did just fight against a powerful monster, after all.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he took a little break while the Challenge sent him back home.
'Just a little…nap…'
————————————————————————————————————————
The aroma of delicious food woke him up.
Jolting out of bed, Nox frantically took a look around him. Everything was normal. Flames crackled in the fireplace as he heard the droplets of rain slowly hitting the wooden roof of the house.
'Wait… house?'
His brows furrowed. He should be feeling wary, but there were no immediate signs of danger. Getting out of the comfortable bed, the Mythmaker realized that someone had put a silky white robe over his body, replacing his old, mud-soaked attire.
After getting another whift of an amazing smell, he looked over to a neat arrangement of furniture.
Nox took a seat on one of the chairs. It was extremely comfortable… too comfortable even. A small touch of his Divinity revealed that there were runes engraved onto the carpentry.
Relics were hard to come across and even harder to create, making even Ordinary tiered ones expensive to purchase on Earth. To be able to engrave enchantments on simple pieces of wood was difficult and luxurious.
On the table, lay a large bowl of stew-like substance as well as a small spoon.
He ravenously dug into the food. His stomach growled as he pretty much shoved the entire bowl into his mouth at some point, finally relieving himself of his hunger.
Thump!
After replenishing his energy, Nox laid down his spoon. Gazing at the now empty bowl of stew, he felt a little guilty.
What if the food wasn't for him?
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"Who's there?"
The Mythmaker asked, putting his guard up.
As the door slowly creaked open, a figure stepped into the room.
The girl looked around, stopping her gaze on him.
"Huh? You really ate everything, you glutton." She went up to Nox, poking his face with her thin fingers.
Although surprised at first, he gently pushed her hands away. Meeting no resistance, his gaze softened.
'She doesn't seem to be an Awakened… what's a normal person doing here?'
"Did you.. bring me in here?" He questioned, getting up from his seat.
"Me? Why would I bring in some dirty boy? It was grandmother's will that spared you from the dangers of the night." She scoffed, seeming amused.
'Grandmother? So there's more people..'
"Isn't that right? Grandma! Come over here!" The girl called out to the corner of the room.
Casually glancing over to see who she was speaking to, his face dropped.
There, lying peacefully on a wooden rocking chair, was the dead body of an elderly woman.
Before he could say anything, the dead body raised itself into the air.
"Please make yourself at home, Challenger." The corpse spoke, leaning on the wall for support.
Somehow, he seemed to be the most normal person in this room.