Growing Stronger.

GASSSP!!!

Dean's eyes flared to life with a powerful glow. His icy blue eyes scanned his surrounding with unwavering precision. His gaze shifted from the blood-slicked cobblestones, to the broken door and then to his blood-stained clothes. He breathed a sigh of relief, a soothing feeling washing over him.

Forcing himself to his feet, the sound of his bones being straightened reverberated through the air. One of the simple lessons he had learnt from Garren- From the Amaraith... He closed his eyes, shoving down the hidden scars deeper into the depths of his mind.

Wasting no time whatsoever, he dashed into the endless darkness before his eyes. Shadows danced across the walls, the endless darkness lingered in the corner of his eyes as he sprinted down the streets of what appeared to have once been a... great civilization.

The towering houses, the hardened cobblestones. The strange oil, the soothing water, the odd objects. The state of this world itself whispered secrets that have been lost to ages. Secrets that have been torn from history. Dean paid no more heed to his surroundings, not the sprawling buildings, nor the buildings that reeked of... flesh and blood.

His leg slammed onto the ground, light unheard echoes running across the hardened cobblestones beneath him. A wave of pain, searing hot and cold shot through his legs. But he was already used to it by now.

He simply gritted his teeth as he ran harder. And Faster. He literally turned into a blurring shadow as he sprinted down the desolate yet haunted streets.

Dean felt a slight tug at his leg, and then, a surge of adrenaline suddenly rushed through him, coursing through every fiber of his being. Muscle, organs and blood included.

Startled!

He didn't know what was happening. But he felt stronger, faster.

He felt... Invicible!

He didn't need to be told to know he was getting stronger.

But the reason behind it... t-hat

...That was elusive to him.

As he ran, and dashed into alleyways, avoiding various supernatural creatures and forces as he headed for the towering house. His mind spiralled into a descent of chaotic thoughts, each one more frantic than the last.

He thought hard on it. Pondered far harder than what he deemed possible. Yet he wasn't able to come up with a reasonable explanation. The only explanation he could come up with was simply too good to be true.

How could his body grow stronger just because of some mere exercises.

That was literally impossible, at least logic says so.

Yet as he ran harder.

Blitzing through the air as he ran past various crumbled buildings and haunted houses. A strain of thought clung to his mind. A spark of understanding igniting within him. He wasn't getting stronger because of some mere exercises. That was of course impossible, and defied all law of science or any scientific experimentation to his knowledge.

He was only growing stronger because he had been constantly pushing himself beyond his limit.

He had constantly pushed himself far beyond what his body could tolerate. And it had became far obvious than ever after he could live for a few more seconds to even a minute even after a devastating damage had been dealt to his heart. But he just hadn't placed too much emphasis on it, or had rather not bothered to think about it.

But now that he thought about it, things started to piece together and it all now made sense.

The endurance.

The ability to live for a few more seconds- to a minute, after getting killed or receiving a fatal damage.

To his current increase in speed, strength and endurance. They were all subtle clues that he was growing stronger, and he would be a fool to not make use of this wonderful opportunity.

With the ever-growing belief in his heart, he focused his Arcana, believing he was indeed getting stronger. Not too insanely strong as that would be blurring the lines between reality and his perception, just slightly stronger than what he assumed his limits to be.

It was an ingenious move and most wouldn't have thought of using The Arcana in such a way, at least it wouldn't have crossed the mind of most. Mostly because they wouldn't have been pushed to such extent, nor been through the fear and dread that Dean had... had to go through.

He could feel it.

A surge of energy coursed through his veins, blood, to every fiber of his being. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he bolted to his left, barely avoiding being seen by a supernatural creature.

The endless darkness suddenly yawned open ahead of him. Endless shadows coiling around a particular house. His heart surged to his throat.

A supernatural force... His face turned pale, dread settling into his bones.

He immediately dashed to his left, rapidly running towards the ten meters safe zone. He could only hope it hadn't seen him. And if it had, he had better run like there was no tomorrow.

He ran and ran, pushing his body beyond his limit. And after what felt like a lifetime, he realized he wasn't being pursued. The supernatural force probably hadn't seen him.

Yet he didn't dare stop.

He kept running, bolting into the ten meters safe zone. He moved further for a couple more meters before finally coming to rest. His eyes darted to his surroundings, after confirming that there wasn't any nearby threat, he sat down on a crumbled dark stone.

He knew he couldn't afford to go into the battle ahead of him with a worn-out body, a dreadful mind and a weary soul. He first had to regain his calm and bearing. And so he waited, he waited, breathed, tried to reminiscence on the only good memories he had with Garren. Although it was short lived.

Not-withstanding, it was still the best moments of his life- of what he remembered to be his life.

And the more he thought on this moments, the more the old wounds began to peel, they poured into him, coursing through every fiber of his being as tears streaked down the corner of his eyes.

His sobs and tears weaved into the eerie desolate atmosphere, the crumbled stone beneath him seemed to feel the weight of Dean's sorrow as the teardrops slowly dripped onto it, light hollow echoes reverberating through the endless darkness.

He cried and cried until he could cry no more. He wiped the tears of his face, forcing himself to his feet.

He forced back the tears and fought hard against it.

Yet the more he thought about the betrayal, the more heart-wrenching it became.

It tore through him like a dazzling arrow.

Cruel and unmerciful!

The hollowness.

The betrayal.

It rippled through every fiber of his being.

It was so painful. He wanted to die.

He wanted to sleep and be done with all this. He just wanted to lie down and rest.

Was it too much to ask for? Was it!!

Despair and desperation slowly settled into his bones, tears streaking down his eyes, leaving a hot trail along their tracks as he collapsed onto his knees, a light echo running across the cobblestones beneath his feet. Time clocked by and Dean felt his grip on his sanity slowly loosening.

Yet he knew he couldn't allow that to happen.

He had what he needed- he had the revival ability. And although he only had himself, it was more than enough. He couldn't allow himself to be broken.

Not when he had come this far.

With clenched hands and hardened resolve, he rose to his feet, eyes piercing through the endless darkness to come to lay on the towering, nightmarish building.

He inhaled and exhaled sharply, forcing down the unease that gnawed and clawed at him with each ragged breath of his.

With a deep exhalation, his leg slammed onto the ground as he bursted into a fast sprint. Rapidly approaching the towering house and the three supernatural creatures manning its grounds!