The First Trial Of Death (7)

Raith's sudden cockiness alerted Thard-Harl's senses. He might not have known Raith all his life but with the past few hours he has spent with him in the abyss. He could tell that this young man was not the kind of person to do things without a reason.

Every time Raith came closer to him in terms of strength, it stemmed from a strong resolve and Thard-Harl had no idea how he kept mustering unreasonable resolve when he was obviously going to keep dying.

Raith's immortality was to be blamed for a part of his stubbornness but Raith was not relying on it. Because every time he came at Thard-Harl, he fought desperately for his life even though he would still end up losing it –but he fought. And all Thard-Harl could see was an undying resolve to win.

And it scared him, he once again was being reminded of why he hated humanity so much.

'That foolish hope that shines bright in his mind like a daystar. I will crush it, I will show you that you are beneath me and belong nowhere else.'

Thard-Harl was being careful but he was getting angry –very angry.

'Don't think! Don't think! Don't think! Don't think!!'

~tthwack!~

Thard-Harl covered the distance between him and Raith in a fraction of a second and in the next fraction blasted a chain of stomach punches that burst air from Raith's back, -tearing his clothes from behind.

He spat out blood upon the last blow which was the sixth but was seen as the only one by even Raith who was so close to it.

'What the–

He didn't even have to worry about thinking because the increasing speed at which Thard-Harl kept dealing with him could not be handled by his slow chain of thoughts.

Raith had grasped the basis of what he needed to do but did not have the whole situation organized. Even if Thard-Harl was an asura that coordinated his attacks based on Raith's flow of thought how was he supposed to fight without thinking?

It wasn't like fighting used to be his thing.

He sank to his knee and Thard-Harl grabbed him by his hair.

"How foolish"

~slap~

His head flung sideways and spat out blood despite being held by Thard-Harl.

~slap~

~slap~

~slap~

The asura continued to slap his face until his cheeks were swollen and blood had made the most of his jaw and chin.

Raith slowly turned his head as the asura raised him –pulling his hair.

It hurt, it was stinging to be pulled by his hair and Raith especially hated it because out of everything he was made of that black hair is the only thing he was very proud of. Because it was an unwashable and unmatched trait of the Dellagado family. You don't get to see many people around having jet-black hair like his.

He spat blood on the Thard-Harl's face as he was lifted.

The in reflex closed his eyes to prevent the blood from entering.

And in that split second, it happened again–

An instinct that Raith could not help but follow. Just as the asura closer his eyes from Raith's blood and was about to open them...

Raith's delved his fingers straight into the asura's eyes causing him to stagger backward with a frustrated groan.

The asura bent down with his hands on his eyes and soon droplets of blue blood began to fall on the ground.

Raith's eyes were filled with the sparkles of stars.

'I blinded him!'

His mouth gaped in joy as the blood kept pouring out. But more than the joy of blinding the asura, he was glad because this was going to get easier from now on thanks to the message that he was looking at.

[You have awakened an inherent perk]

[Transcendent Senses]

- Grade: Prodigious

- Details: You have a very uncommon sense of getting used to certain situations and because of this you have developed an inner sense to smell openings and dangers. Your senses improve the more you get used to the situation and have no limits.

'wow... Prodigious?!'

A prodigious rank was quite high, and since he knew high it was, he was even more bewildered.

The least grade of perks(which also applies to skill) is:

Generic

Sterling

Peculiar

Exceptional

Prodigious

Legendary

Divine

He finally gained some useful perk but having a grateful heart, he couldn't help but trace it back to the intense situation he was put in. Raith does not know how much time has passed but one thing he could tell for sure was that he had changed from the kind of person he was when he entered here.

"I will kill you!"

Thard-Harl barked as he rose his eyes which were tightly closed, blood flooded his lower lid to his cheeks and jaw.

"Oh oh... I am not scared of dying by your hands. But I know you are... you are scared of dying by my hands. Because if you die, there will be no resurrection for you."

This game was rigged from the beginning and was designed for Raith to win no matter how long it took, Thard-Harl knew that –his time to die might be coming faster than he had anticipated. But still, this was not going to be easy for Raith.

~whim~

His image disappeared and appeared in front of Raith.

~pow~

Immediately delving a punch into his jaw, Raith staggered backward —Thard-Harl's next blow immediately followed but swung into the air as Raith had been pushed backward by his first blow.

Raith's eyes widened as he realized.

'Even though he just moved like he wasn't blind at all. He is really being affected by it. If I play my cards right, I might not even need to die again.'

~pow~

~pow~

Two punches met him while he was occupied with his thoughts, tumbling him away but not too far compared to the other punches he had taken.

Raith could feel it, the overall power of the asura was reducing. He grinned as he discovered something interesting yet again.

'Since he can't see... he is placing a heavy burden on his mind-reading ability and using it to sense me... and if I am not wrong, he is probably one of those novel characters that have honed all sense apart from their eyes.'

As Raith was about to move backward, his leg kicked a metallic object immediately alerting the asura who disappeared in response and appeared right where Raith was...

~whoosh~

His fist flew into the air which he was sure should have been Raith —his miscalculation showed in his confused expression.

~stab~

From behind, his razor-sharped claws entered and came out from his stomach.