Safwane didn't know what to answer, he had always done everything alone and had done fairly well, did he really need a partner?
"It's true that you are strong, but remember that there will be more powerful nightmares and being alone would be suicide" said Blake.
The enlightened one was right, Safwane was not an enlightened one so he didn't know when he would reach his limit and being alone in that case would only lead to a stupid death.
"Okay... But do you have any idea where to go?" asked Safwane.
"To the north there is only a desert full of corpses, I haven't encountered any nightmares" answered Blake trying to think of where to go.
"In the south there is only a forest with weak nightmares, there is no need to go to that place" added Safwane.
"Then there is only the east and west..." Blake murmured while stroking his chin.
The crack was so unpredictable that any place they chose was going to be dangerous.
"Let's go east?" Blake asked.
"Alright..."
The two young men began to head east with no time to waste.
"What do you think the divine beast will be like?" Blake asked curiously.
"No idea... Nightmares are supposed to have similar characteristics, but I've already encountered many different types..." Safwane answered, surprised.
"Do you think we can close the rift? A hundred years ago they were only able to seal it and the one who did it is one of the most powerful enlightened ones in history..." Blake said with sadness apparent in his voice.
Safwane had the same thought as him, after all even his master, Ilkay, showed fear when talking about the rift.
"We'll see about that, we certainly don't have the advantage..."
Blake gritted his teeth.
Between the various conversations they had, a few hours had already passed and in the distance they could see some very high mountains.
After so many conversations with Blake, the young man was able to learn more things about the enlightened ones and his companion.
The first were the weaknesses or better called limits, these provide a weak disadvantage to the enlightened ones, for example:
Kaiser can order anything with his voice, but the ability to order something to be killed is impossible, making his uniqueness have a limit in its capabilities.
He was also able to learn that Blake was the second son of the leader of a clan, but because his older brother was much more talented than him, Blake was socially removed from his own clan and his brother, the only one who previously supported him, stopped doing so and began to see him as useless.
"What do you think is behind those mountains?" Blake asked as they approached them.
"From what I see, it will be a frozen environment." Safwane replied.
Dawn began to break.
Strangely, a path seemed to lead to the depths of the mountains, which the two young men began to enter.
"Did we choose wrong?" Blake said between nervous laughs.
"Surely..." Safwane answered looking around..
The rocks that rose on the sides of the path gradually narrowed, in the air you could breathe an extreme danger and the metallic smell of blood flooded the place, this place had beasts at another level.
"Hey Blake, what rank did the nightmares we had killed in the desert have?" Safwane asked.
"The tallest was the nightmare with tentacles... I would say it was a specter, outside the crack it would be a corrupt..." Blake answered.
"I see"
The nightmares within the rift are ranked lower because although they are stronger due to the divine beast's energy, their base capabilities remain the same.
They finally reached the edge of the road, the walls stopped covering the sides and the young people had to continue through a narrow passage that was attached to the mountains, below them they could only see an endless fog.
"Are you cold? Your hands must be in good condition, otherwise you will fall" said Blake before grabbing the walls of the mountain.
"I'm fine"
Both began to walk through the small passage holding on as best they could to the walls, which were frozen.
Safwane's hands were dry and red, and because the rocks were rough, his skin broke causing slight wounds. On the other hand, thanks to Blake's ability to adapt, he was comfortable, he seemed not to be suffering from any kind of cold and he grabbed the rocks as if he had done that all his life.
'That singularity is too useful...'
Suddenly a roar broke the tranquility of the mountains.
"Where is that roar coming from?" Blake muttered, searching for where the sound came from.
"It's coming from below, it seems that someone is fighting that nightmare," Safwane replied.
"...How do you know?" Blake said with a surprised face.
"How do you think I'm going to walk with a blindfold on?"
"Right, I hadn't thought about that..."
After looking at the void below them for a few seconds, they continued on their way, the slight step that had been slowly disappearing, until they reached the point where they had to hold on to the walls completely.
After a long hour of climbing, they finally reached the top of the mountain. It was a mountain that seemed to have been cut in half, the ground was flat and with slight imperfections.
In front of them a huge sanctuary rose, it was black in color in which its peaks were covered in snow.
"Let's go in." said Safwane as he walked towards the sanctuary.
Blake nodded.
The cold air cut through their skin as the shadows of the mountains seemed to block their path as they advanced towards the black sanctuary, its towers rising like claws.
After arriving, the large doors began to open slowly and with a squeaky sound. The two entered prepared for a supposed attack.
The interior was dark, nothing was visible, but suddenly the candles on both walls began to light, the blue fire making it possible to clearly observe the place.
The walls were filled with strange writing and drawings depicting some kind of creature.
The creature depicted was incredibly large, possessing enormous wings, long, curling horns, and finally very intense red eyes. It was drawn as a calamity to which humans offered sacrifices, one day the humans grew tired and tried to kill the creature leading them to a painful death.
"Hey...Safwane." Blake said with broken words.
"What's wrong?" Safwane asked as he walked towards the enlightened one, who was observing the floor in the center of the sanctuary.
When Safwane arrived he couldn't help but put on a face of concern and surprise. On the floor were drawn the two of them watching a winged nightmare emerge from the ceiling.
After seeing the drawing, Safwane felt a powerful energy descend accompanied by a slight tremor.
"Why is it suddenly shaking?" Blake asked.
"Get ready, we're going to have to fight." Safwane said as he unsheathed the katana.
The tremors stopped and Blake was puzzled, but that doubt would vanish after seeing a creature slowly descending in front of him. It had enormous wings covering its body and was descending on a huge altar.
When his feet touched the altar, they made the altar go in slightly, as if it were a button. Suddenly, a large amount of blood began to come out of the inside of the rock, which descended until it covered the feet of the two young men.
'This nightmare is on another level, we shouldn't have come to the east...' Safwane thought as he watched the nightmare slowly open its wings.
When it opened them completely it let out a powerful and heartbreaking roar.
"Safwane, we have to fight with all our strength, otherwise we will die." Blake said as he pulled out the broadsword from his back.
But as he finished the words, the nightmare attacked with great speed, hitting Safwane, who could not even react.
Safwane crashed hard into the wall.
'How can it be so fast?' he thought in pain as he tried to stand up.
Blake on the other hand could keep up, his great ability to adapt made him able to match the rhythm and strength of the nightmare.
'So this is the difference between an enlightened one and a normal person'
The nightmare launched an attack with its powerful claws, which Blake was able to block with his broadsword, after that he pushed up the claws and launched a horizontal cut, which was able to slightly tear the creature.
While the creature was leaning back, it received a cut on its heel, Safwane had taken advantage of the fact that it was focusing on Blake.
The katana seemed to still have the effect of the poison which made the creature feel its body weakening, trying to counterattack it launched a blow towards Safwane, but Blake gave a powerful cut to its torso.
The nightmare was being pressured and the two did not stop attacking, Safwane cut again its other heel, trying to make it lose mobility, while Blake strongly stuck the sword in the wound of its chest.
The creature was being overwhelmed, which together with the poison finally ended up falling to the ground.
"Yes!" Blake shouted excitedly.
Safwane on the other hand, did not think that this was over, the poison was not circulating through the nightmare's body.
"I really thought it was going to be more complicated, I guess we are a good duo" Blake said with a smile.
"I guess so..." Safwane answered without being completely sure.
And finally, the blood from the ground began to cover the nightmare, the accumulation of blood lifted it and placed it on the altar. Following that, the blood formed a large sword and stuck the creature's chest.
"What is happening?..." Blake stammered.
The nightmare's dark blood began to mix with the red blood. The creature's body rose slightly and began to move uncontrollably.
Her body began to take on a different shape, now she looked like a shadow, she was smaller, about three meters tall, and her body was thinner.
After the strange transformation, the creature stood up and turned his terrifying gaze towards them.