Chapter 248 Suffering With Cerberus (2)

"We will no longer hold back. Prepare yourself, mortal, for you shall see the power of a god,"

All of a sudden, the sweat from my skin began to rise up into the air, and I felt the literal air boil around me as I stared at the two heads.

A shiver ran down my spine, and as the Cerberus began to growl, flames flashed out of its nose and mouth.

But, I had no time to shiver and shake with fear as the Cerberus quickly approached me, each step of it increasing the temperature of the air around me.

"How exhilarating,"

…

I died over and over until my brain felt like it was about to melt out of my ears, and it felt as if my mind was slowly crumbling into pieces.

But, even then, I continued to fight and fight the Cerberus with all I had… though, in the end, it still wasn't enough.

"Huff… huff… huff… huff… SHIT!"

"How many deaths have passed… five hundred or so?" The second head muttered with a large grin, amused at my suffering and struggle.

"Can't you ease up on me?" I muttered, but the Cerberus growled once again, a signal that the fight was about to start up.

So, I took a fighting stance and charged in once again, only to be swatted away by the dog's massive palm.

"*cough* *cough* *cough*... Shit… Why can't I hit you!?" I shouted with anger, punching the invisible black floor beneath me until my knuckles revealed themselves from underneath my skin.

"*sigh*... You've lost what made you great. Think… You're charging in like a wild animal, and it's so pitiful that I can barely lay my eyes on you… SO THINK! THINK HARDER!" The Cerberus shouted while charging toward me.

"Tch… My bones are too broken," I muttered before feeling my body get chomped in half, causing me to snap awake yet again.

"You suffer from your impatience. Calm down and breathe… I'll give you a week to reset your mind, and if you are still incompetent by the end, then continue to suffer for even longer, for only that will bear beautiful fruit,"

"Huff… huff… huff… huff…."

As my glaring eyes slowly rested downwards, my muscles relaxed for the first time in decades, and a true built-up wave of exhaustion coursed through my body.

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"Dammit… and this fucking status won't appear," I grit my teeth before swiping away the error notifications flooding my vision.

"A true warrior who has gone through many hardships will be able to overcome such a trial without using cheats such as the system,"

"They've been ingrained into your body, right? The feeling of using them and the feeling of where they came from… because if you haven't, then you truly are a lost-"

The Cerberus paused upon laying its eyes on me, watching my widening eyes very carefully and considerately.

"You're saying I can use those skills even without the status?"

"Of course. These skills were things developed way before the existence of this thing you mortals call a status. The status is just a vessel used to help transfer the mana and knowledge into your feeble minds… and this is why you all are perfect soldiers for our armies,"

"Armies? What armies?" I sighed before slowly sitting up and taking a meditative position.

"You have no need to know now. Just focus on building up your strength, and the knowledge will come to you with time,"

As this stubborn Cerberus still wouldn't inform me of what any of its mysterious and enigmatic words meant, I just let out a long sigh before slowly closing my eyes and placing my hands on my knees.

"Good. Focus on your breath…."

The natural passive skill slowly came to me, and the breath of the underworld caused the air to seemingly cool around me.

But, as soon as I stopped breathing in that certain way, the scorching heat of the monstrous two-headed dog in front of me battered me yet again.

"No need to test it out. Just focus," The first head muttered yet again, and so I quickly blotted out the slight buzzing in my ear and focused entirely on my breathing.

It was euphoric the way my mind cleared almost instantly, and as soon as I felt my breath attempt to escape my mouth again, I quickly caught it, creating a burst of cold mist to escape from the sides of my mouth.

My lips furled around the cold air, inhaling it and letting it swirl within me, causing my heart rate to drop drastically, but not to a point that was dangerous.

It felt as if I couldn't even move my limbs anymore due to how relaxed I was.

In and out… in and out… in and out… in and out… in and out… in and out… in and out… in and out… in and out… in and out… in and out… in and out… in and out… in and out… in and out…

In just a few minutes, I had achieved a peace that flowed through my veins and manipulated my limbs as if it was a puppeteer pulling my limbs with invisible strings.

"Good. You've achieved your first skill. Now, what shall you learn next?"

Thinking back to my status, I scrolled through the image that had popped up in my mind and the next obvious one to learn quickly engraved itself into my brain.

"Tangible Bloodlust… I want to learn that, but I don't know where to start," I swallowed my pride as I slowly opened my eyes and glanced up at the two-headed dog with cold eyes. "Please teach me how to learn such a skill,"

The dog visibly smirked before shaking its head side to side, allowing the realization to sink in that it probably didn't even know that skill existed.

"What you're thinking is correct… I do not use skills, and I have never even heard of that skill before. As a servant of Hades, one of the primordial gods, my power surpasses that of even Athena or Dionysseus,"

"And Ares? Does it surpass that of Ares?"

"Of course not. That man would beat me to death with just a single pinky that has been held back to exactly one percent of its power… I am nothing compared to him, and you are absolutely nothing compared to him,"

"Shut the hell up and tell me how to learn this skill. I asked politely, and now you should respond with some nice words,"

"Oho… Alright, fine. Close your eyes once again, but this time focus on the core of your very being. Not your heart, lungs, or ribcage… focus on your soul. The thing that sits in the very core of your being,"

I quickly followed his directions but struggled to comprehend the idea of feeling out my soul when it was something so ethereal that even most shamans couldn't see them even at their highest class evolution.

This probably continued for another ten hours until I dropped onto my back, nearly dead from the exhaustion of focusing so much.

"Take a break and sleep. I doubt you've had the chance to sleep over the past few decades," The first head suggested, but just before my head crashed onto the abyssal plane below me, I asked the massive dog a question that he hesitated to answer.

"Why did you eat me for decades on end? And now suddenly, you feel all fine,"

"Well… Hmmmmm… *sigh*... Unfortunately, I can not inform you of such information, but if you-"

"Yeah, yeah. If I pass the trial, you'll grant me such information… I got it already," I groaned before slowly closing my eyes and feeling my mind slowly drift away.

…

"Ugh… huff… huff… huff… huff… what the hell?" I muttered as I was suddenly surrounded by a ring of fire that scorched and burned my body, only for my constitution to regenerate me back to full health.

"You've awoken. You slept for a week straight, so I was worried your soul might've slipped out of your body, but it seems you're fine now,"

"That's great and all, but what is all of this for?" I asked before flinching yet again as a piece of red flames attached itself to me and attempted to claw off my skin with its fiery nails.

"Well, it's for your training, obviously. Can't you see?"

"I can see, but that doesn't mean I want to… ugh… how the hell could this even help me?" I asked before patting out another scorching hot ember.

"Well, cross your legs and sit tight. Steady your breathing as well; otherwise, your heart might implode from the amount of heat boiling you from the inside,"

"I'm surprised it hasn't already,"