DC: Don't Utter A Word Chapter 174:

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[David Lance POV]

I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath, my knuckles buzzing in pain as they dripped with blood, lting the ground beneath . For forty-two hours, I had sparred with Wioska without stopping, making in our wake a trail of blood and destruction as the brutal battle went on.

Not a single drop of blood was hers.

Her unfathomable power drove to the gates of beyond more tis than I could count. Her power was without equal as far I was concerned. She was formidable. A worthy opponent. One I had failed to conquer on the battlefield.

"Impressive," Wioska complinted, her tone sincere, showing admiration for my progress.

With a blood-tainted smile, I looked at her before surveying the scene around . Mutilated pieces of my broken were strewn everywhere, so mangled beyond recognition, a true massacre of one man.

The ground was slick with blood and gore, and the air was thick with the stench of death.

Even for my current mindset, one fueled by rage and an unyielding desire for vengeance, the scene before was truly grueso. No matter where I looked, the picture would be the sa, growing darker under the dim light of the night.

Severed limbs and entrails piled high as my very own blood pooled on the ground, giving birth to a cloying perfu that made my gorge rise out of reflex. in fact, flies were already starting to gather, drawn by the sickly-sweet scent of my own decomposing flesh.

Without a doubt, this was a scene of utter carnage, one that I knew I would never forget for as long as I lived.

Sure, Wioska had healed after every lethal injury, but the experience remained. The pain of each near-death experience, the suffering behind the futility, and the fear of the unavoidable would forever be there, etched into my mind like a brand.

"Impressive?" I chuckled darkly, "I didn't manage to make you bleed, not even once."

"True," Wioska admitted, "But you ca closer than anyone else has in a long ti."

I snorted, "Is that supposed to make feel better?"

Wioska shrugged, "It is what it is. You should be proud of your accomplishnt."

To be proud of one's own failure, how utterly pathetic!

I refused to accept such diocrity! I didn't go through Wioska's cruel training to accept this pitiful result! The reason I had accepted to be under her tutelage was to set my sights even higher than before. Failure was simply no longer an option.

I respected her overwhelming strength, but my respect didn't equate to an acceptance of defeat. If anything, my understanding of her power made my resolve even stronger.

"Proud?" I spat the word out like it was poison, "I will never be proud of this result."

"Don't be so harsh on yourself," Wioska replied calmly. "You've improved by leaps and bounds. When we first started, you couldn't even touch . Now? You can land more than a few hits."

I knew her words to be true. Even with my powers sealed, I had shown results beyond what was expected of ; however, this truth did little to placate my desire for victory.

"The week ended, Wioska," I said, breaking the silence as I turned to look at her. "What will happen now?"

"Nothing, I go back to my retirent, and you go back to your vengeance or whatever, I don't care," Wioska replied plainly.

I frowned. I recalled her saying I would have to endure a test of great difficulty at the end of the week. Had she forgotten about that?

"You passed my training, at least the first week of it," Wioska answered. "If you rember correctly, our agreent was for one week of training. That week has now ended."

I grunted. It seed like defeating her would have to wait for another ti. "So I passed your test, the one you said I would have to endure at the end of this week?"

Wioska nodded, "In a way, you did."

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[Rachel Roth - Raven POV]

[Young Justice]

I had finally done it. After months of research, I had finally found a clear path to my goal, bringing David back. It had been hard to unveil the threads of chaos, but one by one, I learned the arcane secrets behind them, their mystical aning and purpose.

Now, all that remained was to gather the ingredients. So were common enough, but others were rare and unimaginably difficult to obtain. It would take ti, but I was willing to do whatever it took. This was my chance to bring him back.

The first ingredient was the most important and also the most difficult to find. It was a small black stone, no larger than a child's fist. But it was not the size that made it so difficult to find; it was the magical properties of the sa. The stone was incredibly dense, heavier than anything else on Earth, yet at the sa ti, it was lighter than air itself.

A physical paradox of arcane origin.

This stone was known as the remains of the in-between.

According to so speculation on Fate's part, this stone was the physical embodint of the space between creation and nothingness. Sothing that should not exist in this world, yet against all odds, it did.

That ingredient would take so ti to find.

The second ingredient was a drop of rain from the tears of a god. Compared to the last one, this one would be easier to acquire, not only because there were many gods in the world but because I had soone who could help with this task.

Diana of Themyscira.

Now, as for the third and final ingredient, I needed to acquire the blood of a familiar. Preferably one whose master was powerful in the arcane. Needless to say, I already knew who I would use to get this ingredient.

Klarion and his cat would serve this purpose well.

After all. It was only fitting for that pathetic chaotic scum to aid in David's retrieval.