This time around, Cardinal Weiss gave Kieran the pleasure of opening the massive metal doors.
As he stood before them, Kieran still couldn't determine whether they were forged from iron or steel. Either way, it was some absurdly heavy metal. When he placed his large hands against it, a chill icy enough to give frostbite permeated his body.
Then… the door requested something Kieran lacked in abundance — refined Significance. Luckily, he did have what the Flame provided him at a grave cost.
Subtle groans echoed in the underground crypt, rattling the walls as Kieran's robust, fiendish body trembled. Pounds, kilograms… those concepts of weight didn't do this damned door justice! Perhaps tons did, but that was a frightening notion to think about.
Finally, with a deafening groan, the turbid air leaked inside the crypt as a crack formed between the two doors. With a bestial roar that sounded quite odd coming from Kieran's mutilated throat, the doors opened faster and faster still.
Until a body could slip past.
He knew from prior knowledge how fast these doors closed once released, so once Cardinal Weiss passed, Kieran slipped through.
The rumble came and lingered for some time, even echoing into the vast distance before going eerily silent.
Cardinal Weiss turned with a cheeky grin.
"Think you can keep up? Let's see."
One moment, Cardinal Weiss was standing beside Kieran. In the next, a crater had formed where he stood, and the backlash of his movement assailed Kieran with blustery winds.
Defending his face instinctively, Kieran lifted a hand and squinted.
Then, he lowered his figure, taking the posture of a predator on the prowl, preparing to stalk its prey. Fiendish vigor flooded Kieran's veins, gathering in his muscles. Like the pistons of an engine having finally warmed up, Kieran's thews pounded with exertion, and he streaked through the air, leaving the ground altogether with a single bound.
As the scenery underwent rapid, blurring changes, Kieran looked down in awe, marveling at how fast he was moving. Cardinal Weiss was a dot in the distance, but he no longer focused on what the old, battle-hardened man could do.
Kieran was more fascinated with his personal ability.
'So much power. And it translates to a gross amount of explosive speed.'
When he felt himself losing momentum and nearing the ground, Kieran extended another leg and performed another mighty single-leg bound. The ground erupted, caving as a result of the sheer power power he used.
In terms of long-distance travel and sudden acceleration, Kieran excelled without a shadow of a doubt.
But he didn't know if this all translated well to sustained speed. For example, would he be faster or slower if he decided to take running steps instead of bounds?
Curious, Kieran experimented.
He changed to running after landing and immediately noticed a stark difference. His running speed felt inadequate compared to his explosive speed. The difficulty lay in understanding how to control that power in tiny bursts.
However, it was too much power for Kieran to finely adjust. He would need ample time to acclimate to his current standard to accomplish that.
With his horizons expanded by his experiment, Kieran returned to traveling via insanely far and rapid leaps. Cardinal Weiss remained a dot in the distance despite how fast he moved. The space had not closed at all. In fact, Kieran was quite sure the length had steadily increased.
His curiosity and brief testing played a role in that, but it was minor. Cardinal Weiss was simply much stronger and far faster than he was. As it stood, the battle-hardened man served as a goal.
No, he had always been a goal.
From the moment Kieran saw the man rend tempered steel with his bare hands, he had locked his gaze on the man. Within the entire Trial, other than the Flame, Cardinal Weiss was the recipient of all his interactions.
'Perhaps he was meant to be a guide in this place. He's not terrible. I think it was quite the opposite. Before he fell… Weiss was likely someone of honor and dignity.'
The Flame didn't instill qualities that weren't there. It only perverted and enhanced what already existed. That said, it stood to reason that Cardinal Weiss was a devout man with unshakable loyalty.
What had that loyalty been vested into before the Flame defiled it?
That question could not be answered. Not yet, at least.
'When he uses enough Significance, a part of his original dignity returns. Perhaps I can exploit that caveat. The only issue now is how do I get him to exhaust his Significance?'
The Cardinal had only exhausted himself to show Kieran a piece of history. So if they could happen upon another part of history that Cardinal Weiss knew of and Kieran wished to learn about… perhaps he could convince the stately fanatic to expose older information he knew.
Unlike the rest, Cardinal Weiss had followed the Flame since it awoke in this land. He was likely a treasure trove of buried and forgotten information needing stimulus to remember.
A few hours later, Kieran caught up to the Cardinal of War and Flame, but only because he had stopped moving after arriving before the Lifeless Pass.
Kieran knew it was the Lifeless Pass for a few reasons.
Firstly, he could see where the gaping ravine caused the noxious miasma to sink, deepening its color.
Secondly, having activated the True Unveiling Eyes and Eyes of Profound Discernment, his visibility was much more significant, allowing Kieran roughly twenty-five meters of virtually omnidirectional vision.
It wasn't perfectly circular, but it was leagues above what he had to work with years ago.
Lastly, the bones of those decrepit mammoths remained, still bearing the pale luminescence of the deathly flame.
Cardinal Weiss turned slightly, acknowledging Kieran's arrival with a nod.
"You arrived here faster than I estimated. I felt your explosive start, but it petered out after some time. Of course, I'm not impugning your endurance because you look unfazed and far from spent. It's your utilization that lacks."
Kieran nodded.
During his travel, he had surmised the same issue. Trying to capture the propulsion of the first bound while in motion was hard to accomplish. He failed miserably every time he attempted to.
Those failures resulted in a broken rhythm. But all that came with practice, and he intended to practice both theoretically and practically.
Cardinal Weiss rolled his shoulder with an aggrieved sigh.
"I've grown so old. It saddens me that I have to warm up these old bones before getting some exercise in. The things I'd trade to be young again…"
Kieran's eye twitched as he restrained himself from scowling or contorting his face with dark anger.
A light chuckle came from Cardinal Weiss as his gaze shifted to Kieran's waist.
"So, how propose we do this? Hand-to-hand combat? Weapons? I noticed that you've gained access to the power of a Fiend. I suppose we could apply that too if you wish. I'm not too skilled. But, I dabble."
That comment left Kieran slightly taken aback. Cardinal Weiss… could use blood powers?
'No way…'
Kieran doubted the authenticity of the man's claims despite having witnessed his power firsthand.
Perhaps Kieran's shift in his impassive expression gave it away, but Cardinal Weiss sighed wistfully.
"It seems you don't believe me. Fair enough. There was a reason I greeted you as the Risen Fiend. So, blood-enhanced fighting it is."
Then… an ominous presence leaked from Cardinal Fiend and rose from the ground, coalescing around his hands via diabolical gauntlets — each finger was tapered to resemble claws and bore the sharpness of a refined blade.
'So that's why he was called the Risen Fiend…'
