I am the Only Son of Nyx

Chapter 179: Essence of the Reckless Fray Ending

Kai exhaled through his mouth.

His entire body was in pain, burning—like waking from a night of drinking and then getting hit by a car. Not that he would know the feeling, as he had never touched alcohol in his entire life, nor been hit by a car, but he imagined it would feel exactly like this.

Even when Kaelmorath struck him with another dull sword, it didn’t feel like anything.

Just like another pain on top of everything.

But the words that came out of Kaelmorath’s mouth right after snapped Kai’s mind back to reality. He blinked his eyes and then blinked again before lifting his gaze to meet the crystal-clear approval look in Kaelmorath’s crimson eyes.

"I did it?"

"Yes, you did. Your body would become more durable whenever you’re being... reckless."

"Is that so..."

"How are you feeling?"

"Like a mess. Say... Can you do me a favour?"

"A favour? As long as it’s nothing outrageous, then I won’t mind. You earned it."

Kaelmorath waited for Kai to say what he wanted; inside, he didn’t know what to expect—as this came out of nowhere. He could only think of one favour that Kai would want him to do, and it involved the next ending fragment, the Reckless Ruin.

He won’t give any more leeway if Kai asks for that.

But that’s not what Kai wanted.

Slowly, Kai lifted his arm and then pointed at something to the side.

Pointing at the dark blob that was still where it was.

"Can you hit that thing as hard as possible? Crush it or something."

"You request me to hit... the blob? It’s inanimate. Why would you want that anyway?"

"I really hate it."

Kaelmorath shook his head at Kai’s request; it was unpredictable.

But then again, he did spend an unknown amount of time protecting that dark blob from all attacks that came its way. He used his entire body to protect that thing, suffering agony for it, so it was normal for him to feel resentment.

Even though the dark blob is inanimate, it’s still a target for resentment.

"Unfortunately, that dark blob is also tied to the completion of the Reckless Ruin."

"Damn... What are the chances?"

Moments later.

It took Kai a significant amount of time to recover from his exhaustion. He was so tired that he used the night to put him into a nap. And when he woke up, he felt a lot better, which was a good sign.

Kai sat up and stretched his arms.

He rubbed his eyes and smacked his lips, trying to connect his soul to reality after a good nap.

"Now that I think about it, this is the first time I slept in the House of Night," Kai nodded his head as it seemed that he could sleep here—and there’s no difference between sleeping in the House of Night and in the real world. "I’ve been knocked unconscious before, but never sleep on my own terms. Good to know."

Currently, he was sleeping on one of the pews that were still intact.

Since he had completed the Retribution Ending Fragment, Kaelmorath allowed him into the broken cathedral, though he was still cramped in the spaces near the entrance. Regardless, it’s a start of mending their relationship.

"Ready for the Reckless Ruin?" Kaelmorath said without turning.

He was still near the altar, on his knees, holding the precious ring in his hands in prayer.

"I just woke up..." Kai replied and then scratched the back of his head. He was still sluggish and certainly not ready for another gruelling training. "Let me rest a little bit more. But in the meantime, can I ask you a question?’

"As long as it’s not a troublesome question.’

"Who are you praying to? Is it the Final Night?"

"I am not praying. I am trying to communicate with the owner of this ring."

"You look like you’re praying."

Kai trailed his eyes to the sides, observing the interior of the broken cathedral.

Even though most of the grand hall was cracked, he could still see remnants of grandiose as it was most certainly once a magnificent cathedral. Perhaps it was a cult that worshipped one of the Olympian Gods, but he couldn’t see any sign of the God this place worshiped.

"What do you remember about your past?"

"I only remember the feelings. I don’t have any memory of the past."

"Not even how this place looked before?"

"No..."

Noticing that the question made the atmosphere gloomy, Kai decided to change the topic. He still wanted to know more about this place and how the Nightborns worked. "Have you met with another Children of the Primordial Night?"

"I have felt their powers, but you are the first one."

"Hmm—what do you feel towards me after knowing that I am the First Son of the Primordial Night? Did you realize something was different about me from the start?"

"Feel...?"

"Yes, does it surprise you? Or make you feel attached to me, maybe?"

"I feel fear. And I know you’re different from the start—but there are plenty Nightborns that emanated the same strangeness."

Kai recoiled—staring at Kaelmorath’s broad back with genuine surprise. He had encountered a fair number of Nightborns by now, and all of them didn’t seem like they were afraid of him. Most of them attacked him on sight without a second thought.

But maybe that was the reason.

It was precisely because they were afraid of him that they attacked him first.

No, that can’t be right. That Nightborn lured me to its domain and tried to kill me.

Recalling the hostile Nightborn, Kai shook his head.

He doesn’t believe that all Nightborns felt the same way as Kaelmorath.

"In that case, why did you attack me on our first encounter instead of talking to me?’

"I felt fear, but that does not mean I won’t protect my domain."

"I guess..." Kai shrugged—and then he remembered another thing. "Do you know about the hole of light?" He encountered it on his first meeting with Mallory, but she knew nothing as she assumed it was the Goddess’ duty to deal with it.

He wanted to know if the Nightborns also shared her view.

"Hole of light? What hole of light?"

"Seems like you don’t know."

Kai rose and brushed the dust from his clothes; the pew hadn’t been touched in years, perhaps decades, as the only person in this domain preferred kneeling near the altar, and the grime clung to him like old silence.

He stepped out of the broken cathedral without a backward glance.

Enough questions for the time being.

Of course, he could stay in the House of Night as long as he wanted to.

But he wouldn’t want to stay longer if he didn’t need to.

"Alright, let’s continue."

Once the training for the Retribution Ending Fragment was completed, the living corpses that were attacking Kai and the blob earlier had returned to their original positions. Sprawled on the ground and bleeding.

Only the blob remained where it was, at the very center of the front yard.

"Before we start, can you tell me exactly how the Retribution Ending Fragment works?"

"It’s simple. It would be activated whenever you take an attack for someone weaker—or dear for you."

"But the latter one is subjective, no? What if I accidentally got in the way of an attack that was heading for an enemy, and decided to consider him someone important to me? What then?"

"Then the Retribution Ending Fragment would be activated," Kaelmorath shrugged as if this was supposed to be obvious. "As long as you consider the person important, then it will be activated without fail."

"Huh..." Kai exhaled sharply—through his nose. "That’s really convenient. And the Reckless Hardening?"

"It’s the same thing. Just know that the hardening only happened temporarily for one attack. A barrage of attacks would still get through."

"I suppose that’s where the Reckless Ruin Ending Fragment comes to play."

"Precisely."

Kai hadn’t even tasted the power of the Reckless Ruin Ending Fragment, as he had only gotten it recently, in fact, right before this, but from its description, it should allow his body to become even stronger the more damage he suffered.

In a case where he was under attack by a barrage, this would be handier than Retribution.

"So, how do I complete the Reckless Ruin Ending Fragment? You said it was harder."

"It is harder because it’s no longer a training of the body, but the mind."

Kaelmorath glanced at the dark blob on the side, and with nothing more than a stare, it began to shift—abstract and faceless at first, then slowly gathering detail, refining itself into a perfect copy of him.

And once Kai saw that, he pulled his focus away, returning the dark blob to normal.

"For you to complete the Reckless Ruin Ending Fragment, you would need to change the shape of the dark blob to the shape of someone you really care about through visualization. I call it the Bond Anchor," He explained attentively. "And it’s not easy to achieve."

"I don’t understand. What does this have to do with the Reckless Ruin Ending Fragment?"

"Although it’s true the Reckless Ruin Ending Fragment relies heavily on the physical damage to your body, the mind would help you sustain it longer, push you further past your limitations, as the mind would always be stronger than the body."

Noticing that confusion still lingered on Kai’s face, Kaelmorath decided to elaborate.

He splits the dark blob into two with only a wave of his hand and forms them into humanoid figures. One on the left remained black and the other blood-red. Then, two living corpses rose behind these figures.

"Let’s say that this one is a stranger," Kaelmorath pointed at the blood-red blob, then gestured to the black one. "And this one is someone you know. If both of them are in trouble, which of the two would you save?’

"T-The one I know?"

"Yes, it’s naïve to believe we’re going to save the stranger rather than the person we knew. Now, if two versions of you were placed in separate scenarios, each attempting to save one of these two people, which version do you believe would perform better?"

Kai didn’t need to think for long.

Considering the circumstances, the answer should be obvious.

"It’s the version of me who’s trying to save the person I know," Kai answered.

"Correct; the Reckless Fray Ending’s essence is to maximize performance when recklessness is the only way, and also make sure that you’ll survive in the end," Kaelmorath smiled. "For that reason, in order to complete the Reckless Ruin, you’ll need to be able to vividly visualize the person you really cared about in place of other people.

"In other words, you must train your mind until it can create hallucinations so vivid they feel truer than reality."

"Excellent..."