On the mountain covered in black ice, the blue-eyed youth's fingers suddenly twitched. His once vacant eyes now shone with a brilliant light.
Bathed in the ethereal glow of the stars and the moon, he slowly rose to his feet.
He turned his head in the direction further up the mountain and saw that the naless monster had caught up to the little girl.
They were standing near a cliff and the monster had tightly grabbed onto the little girl's neck, about to devour her identity anyti now.
The blue-eyed youth's eyes blazed with a determined light as he crouched low, drawing spirit energy from the mysterious place he had just co out of, and coating it around his legs.
Then, he shot toward the monster at unnatural speed, shattering the ice-covered ground beneath him.
His figure was a blur as he quickly closed the distance. From ti to ti, he would dive into the reflective surface of the ice, and co out several ters ahead, his movents unpredictable and mysterious.
The naless monster must have sensed an imnse threat to its life as it imdiately threw away the silver-haired girl to the side, and turned towards the direction the blue-eyed youth was coming from.
And the mont it did, a figure erged from the reflection in the ice like a ghost.
"Give it back!" The blue-eyed youth roared as he pounced on the monster.
The naless monster was furious. No matter how many tis it dealt with this human, he still ca back for more.
In a fit of rage, it thrust both its arms towards the youth, aiming to pierce his body and ruthlessly kill him.
"I said give it back!!" The youth scread at the top of his lungs, mirroring the monster's movents and thrusting both his arms as well.
BAM!
The clash between the two knocked back the youth several ters in the air. However, the naless monster was also pushed back a few steps.
Enraged even more by this outco, the monster dashed towards the youth, but much to its shock, found that he had vanished again.
Before the monster knew it, the blue-eyed youth silently erged from the reflection on the ice behind the monster and landed a solid punch to the back of its head.
For the first ti, he was able to deliver a critical blow to the monster!
What followed next was a brutal and bloody lee. As soon as the monster got to its feet, it started to rain down one attack after the other at the youth.
No matter how many tis the youth was knocked down, he always got back to his feet.
Slowly and gradually, he started to adapt to the monster's fighting style. If the monster delivered a punch, he mirrored it with one of his own.
A punch for a punch. A kick for a kick. An elbow for an elbow. A knee for a knee. A headbutt for a headbutt!
After what felt like forever, the youth was finally able to bring the monster down to its knees.
He raised his hand, coated it with spirit energy, and roared, "I will defeat you! And I will reclaim what I've lost!"
Then, he drove his fist forward, aiming to deliver the final, decisive blow.
However!!
The youth's fist was only inches away from decimating the monster's face when suddenly, he saw fleshy appendages shaped like tendrils erge from the monster's stomach.
These tendrils tightly curled around the blue-eyed youth's hands, threatening to tear them apart.
The youth's eyes flashed with shock, realizing that the monster had been holding back all this while.
As the naless monster slowly rose to its feet, it lifted the youth into the air by his arms and unleashed a blood-curdling shriek, seething with rage and killing intent.
Its gaping maw widened as a terrifying suction force was once again ford within. At the sa ti, it ruthlessly thrusted its claws forward, aiming to pierce the youth's heart.
Ti slowed down around the two of them, and it seed like the whole world had co to a standstill.
The blue-eyed youth could see the terrifying black orb forming inside the monster's deathly maw, and its claws rely inches away from piercing his chest.
At the most critical juncture of his life, he closed his eyes and chose to rely on his instincts once again.
And then... sothing completely unprecedented in the history of this world occurred.
He awakened his second Hallmark!
Suddenly, a ghostly apparition that resembled the blue-eyed youth erged from within his own body and then dove straight inside the naless monster!
The monster's body trembled and its claws stopped less than half an inch away from the youth's chest. A mont later, the tendrils around the youth's arms loosened and allowed him to limply fall to the ground.
The monster remained standing, its body trembling incessantly. The youth, on the other hand, motionlessly lay on the ground.
Then, under the stunned gaze of the silver-haired little girl in the distance, the naless monster slowly turned around and started to walk toward the edge of the cliff.
One step at a ti, it walked towards its doom. The closer it got to the edge, the more intensely its body trembled, as if resisting its own demise with everything it had.
Yet, it continued to walk forward, slowly and steadily.
Just as it was about to take its final step and fall off the cliff, the monster let out a screech filled with extre unwillingness.
It struggled desperately, seemingly trying to regain control of its body. But in the end, it couldn't.
The monster took the final step and fell off the cliff!
At that exact mont, the apparition shot out from the monster's body and flew toward the blue-eyed youth before plunging inside him.
The youth opened his eyes and slowly sat up. He looked at his bloodied hands and then in the direction of the cliff, feeling greatly shocked as well as disoriented.
"That thing... that was my second Hallmark?" He murmured in a daze.
He then got to his feet and walked toward the edge of the cliff. There, he saw the naless monster clinging desperately to the jagged rock in a futile struggle to survive.
As the sun slowly rose over the horizon, the first rays of dawn bathed the blue-eyed youth's face in divine glory.
He stood tall. Victorious.
Without hesitation, he lifted his foot and brought it down rcilessly on the naless monster's face.
Watching the monster plumting towards its death, the youth proudly proclaid, "My win."
Right at that mont, all strength seed to have left his body and he fell to his knees, gasping for air. His body ached all over and he felt like he could pass out at any mont.
The battle with the monster had taken a heavy toll on him. He had erged victorious but at great cost.
Right when he was about to lose consciousness, the silver-haired girl appeared before him, watching him with teary eyes. She balled her tiny fists and scread, "You cannot give up now!"
She pointed towards the peak of the mountain. "You must go there!"
The youth's eyes snapped open and he thought to himself, Fuck! I nearly passed out!
She's right!
I... I need to climb the mountain!
I need to complete the objective and pass the first trial!
I need to... reclaim my identity!
He looked at the girl and asked weakly, "Where... Where is the treasure chest?"
The girl's lips quivered as she pointed in a certain direction. The blue-eyed youth turned his head in that direction and saw the unassuming wooden chest nestled inside the bamboo basket.
He also noticed that with the sunrise, the black ice was quickly lting. In a few more minutes, the ground would be covered in flas again.
And considering how close to the peak they were, he knew that the fire would be the most intense from here onward.
His gaze then shifted towards the little girl. Watching her legs that were still covered in serious burn marks, he couldn't help but wonder, Will she even be able to make the journey?
As if reading his thoughts, the little girl lowered her head and began sobbing. "I... I don't think I can go up there. You should leave without . I... I'll only be a burden."
However, the blue-eyed youth shook his head. He gently patted the girl's head and said, "Don't be naive. I fought tooth and nail against that monster to keep you safe. There's no way I'm going to abandon you now."
With that said, he slowly rose to his feet and walked towards the treasure chest. "Wait here," he said.
He picked up the bamboo basket containing the chest. He then returned and placed the basket before the little girl.
"Get inside," he instructed, "and tightly grab onto the chest."
The little girl's lips quivered. She gazed at the blue-eyed youth and asked in a low voice, "Will you... sacrifice to the moon? Just like that woman wanted to?"
"Of course, not!" The youth frowned. "That treasure chest should be enough. Now get inside! We must hurry!"
"Mmh!" The little girl did as told and got into the basket, while tightly holding onto the wooden chest.
anwhile, the blue-eyed youth mustered all his strength and lifted the basket, setting it firmly above his head.
Just as the mountainous terrain was engulfed in flas, he pressed forward, beginning his ascent.
Only one final hurdle remained to complete the first trial!
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