War and Fortune 2.241

Viggo had decided anyway to enter the combat painting, where he would be fighting for one hundred and twenty days against all kinds of enemies. Something like Surtr's challenges, but with no one to see him, succor, give him prizes for trying hard, or stop the challenge if he failed.

Viggo had left the clothes of nobles behind and was dressed as usual, naked torso, belt with a lion's head and red tunic that covered him from the waist to the knees. In his hands the swords of chaos: small handles for the use of one hand, gold handguards and demon head shape with long fangs. Blade thirty centimeters wide by sixty long, with the tip curved upwards as if it were a long knife and several teeth that gave it the appearance of sawn. Chains tied to the part of the knob that extended to Viggo's forearms as if they were snakes that curled up so as not to let go.

On the other hand, the interior of the painted painting was an arid, flat land with an incandescent sun in the sky; It was easily 60° hot.

Viggo took a deep breath, tightened his grip on the swords of chaos and as the chains tied to his arms moved, they flickered. Soon, his whole body began to be covered with sweat and his hands to breathe. There was no hint of enemies, but suddenly, a cadaverous hand came out of the earth.

Viggo took a deep breath feeling the same air burning his lungs inside. However, he remained focused, with an attentive eye on the creature's every movement.

A dragur, thought Viggo when he saw the cadaverous face of the creature. He was only wearing a loincloth, almost his entire body was skeletal, and only his face retained a little skin that had become as hard as the texture of a tree bark. The draugr looked into his eyes and could see the igneous brilliance in his gaze. He moved forward taking awkward steps with his right foot while his left foot was dragged. He would throw weak and muffled grunts.

Viggo let out a snort of disdain at the sight of such a creature, thinking that he had been wrong to take his aunt Hera's words so seriously.

The draugr came in front of him and Viggo threw his hand back, let go of the sword, the chain spread. Viggo let the chain reach two meters, take it firmly and pull. The sword made a whip movement, ignited with fire of chaos, pure and terrifying, more than the same heat that was in this barren land. He hit the draugrs in half and broke it like a twig.

The draugr's body fell to the ground split in half, but even so, the upper half crawled to where Viggo was. The latter lifted his right foot and crushed his skull. That was it, the creature stopped moving and the fight ended.

Viggo took a deep breath, thinking that these would be the most boring one hundred and twenty days of his life. He did not doubt the power of his aunt Hera. The huge tower in which he lived was a testament to his power, but he thought something was wrong.

The next instant more cadaveric hands were seen emerging from the earth, one every one meter. Viggo smiled thinking this would be child's play. He could only see ten draugrs emerging around him. The hardest and most annoying thing about this challenge would be to endure the heat, he thought. However, when he began to see that behind the draugrs rising from the earth appeared five more rows, he no longer took it so lightly. So, it quickly turns on its axis, releasing the backs of the chaos, extending the chains up to three meters. Then he fastened the chains firmly, he jumped and whipped the draugrs with the chains and swords wrapped in the terrible fire of chaos. That tithed twenty draugrs of the weakest in one fell swoop, but behind them more draugrs kept emerging.

Then Viggo began to move forward, holding the swords of chaos by the handle and channeling soul strength into the leaves to burn with the fire of chaos. Viggo passed by the draugrs and in simple movements pass them cutting them as if they were hot butter; one after the other.

Viggo paused for a moment, his face covered in sweat and panting from the terrible heat. He looked in all directions and small armies of draugrs were seen coming in his direction. That put him on alert, he threw himself back against the draugrs and continued to destroy their ranks. However, where he destroyed ten, twenty emerged from the earth. Viggo was suffocating in the intense heat, so he stopped, put away the swords of chaos within his soul fading them from the physical world and took out the leviathan axe. His mere presence brought relief from the inclement heat, channeled soul strength, and the head of the axe was covered with a thick layer of ice.

—That's better— Viggo said, his face covered in sweat and his hair wet. He could feel the inclement sun burn his skin to the point of pain. However, he took a deep breath, concentrated, and began to disrupt the draugrs that continued to come in his direction.

Viggo took the axe by the handle with both hands, together forcefully, let out a roar of fury and threw the axe. Which flew leaving a celestial trail in the air, hitting the draugrs in their path and destroying them in the process. The axe fell to the ground, Viggo raised his right hand, and the axe flew back to his hand. Then Viggo repeated the same process several times, maintaining control and the amount of soul strength spent. However, he noticed that the ice on the axe's head was melting very fast. At most he lasted two to three minutes, so to stay cool he constantly channeled soul strength, until he began to see everything blurred and realized his mistake.

Viggo moved awkwardly to the point that he tripped on his own feet. He keeps the leviathan axe inside his soul and watch the draugrs that kept emerging one after the other. Viggo used touki to lessen his weakness and discomfort. Something he should have done from the beginning, but because he underestimated the challenge, he didn't. He felt stronger, but his mind was still overwhelmed by the constant use of soul force. He was tempted to take out the bottle of estus he was carrying in his ring, but he held back.

—No, I'll need it later, this isn't as simple as it looks— he murmured. He put himself on guard and began throwing powerful punches that shattered the draugrs. It was faster, easier, and less exhausting than occupying weapons. Viggo almost beat himself for having started fighting pretentiously from the beginning. However, he concentrated, dicipline and maintained control of his forces, aware of every move, every attack and counterattack. Everything that could happen around him. He was tempted to use his clairvoyance to move just and necessary, attacking the draugrs who would attack him, but he dismissed the idea.

After two hours of struggle, Viggo was already covered in sweat, tired, thirsty, and feeling that the inclement heat was eating away at his conscience. Worst of all, normal draugrs were replaced by sword-wielding draugrs.

—There is no end to this— said Viggo two hours after the start of the challenge of one hundred and twenty days of struggle.

The touki was a great ally, protecting him from many carelessness and giving him the opportunity to realize that even though he felt stronger and faster than the draugrs, his combat form was not perfect. However, when he came to that revelation it was too late. The draugrs with swords had been replaced by strong draugrs that retained much of their muscle mass, used good quality swords and shields.

Then Viggo remembered that he had a shield. He looked at his left hand and saw the golden bracelet on his forearm. He wanted to punch himself and if his teacher had been there, he would have given it to him yes or yes. Viggo took a deep breath, looked at the draugrs ahead, taking slow steps with his cadaverous body, his shields raised, and his swords prepared.

—Come on— Viggo shouted furiously, ran to them, and dodged and hit when the draugrs were unprotected. As he already felt better, he summoned the swords of chaos, but without injecting soul strength into him to emit fire. Instead, he only occupies the extension of the chain and the whip effect they acquired by lengthening the chain and then throwing it away. However, it was still not enough. The sun in the sky was rising and making the heat more unbearable than ever, to the point that Viggo was able to see the heat waves over the earth. Viggo invoked the leviathan axe, channeling soul strength, but only a little to lower the heat. Then he returned to the swords of chaos, blocking with the shield, dodging the blows, and entering a spiral of instinct like no other, where he forgot what he did, who he was and why he did it. It was just him and the draugrs, they had to die, or he would die instead.

It gave Viggo the night and his only help was moonlight. The draugrs continued to emerge one after another, but by now these monsters were robust, armed with huge battle axes and war hammers. Each blow had to be avoided or he would spend too much mana producing touki and that would weaken him.

Viggo lost track of time and when the night began to fade showing the first rays of the sun, only he and the last draugrs were left standing with a large battle axe. The cadaverous creature jumped forward, taking the battle axe with both hands, and ramming as if it were a battering ram.

Viggo passed by holding the swords of chaos, advanced until he was almost a few centimeters from the draugrs. He stuck both swords in his neck, then let go of the swords, spread the chain, stepped back two steps, and took the chains. Then he turned around and pulled the chains. The body of the draugr rose into the air forming an arc and falling to the ground above his head.

Viggo shot the chains, and the swords left the neck of the draugrs. The monster was left lying on the ground and vanished into a mound of earth.

Viggo was panting at the time, running a cold air that seeped down to his bones, but he was focused on fighting. Viggo turned around, looking at the vast barren land with nothing but an abandoned plain. The earth was loose where he was, but thirty meters away, the earth was covered by a thin layer of ice that was slowly beginning to crack. Then Viggo recognized this scenario. He was alone, completely alone, just like in the painted picture of meditation. However, seeing the extent of the land, he did not feel so oppressed. At least he had somewhere to go, even if there was nothing.

Viggo fell sitting on the ground, still panting, but more gently. He looked around, remembering what his aunt Hera had told him. He had four hours to eat and sleep. After that everything would start again and apparently, it would get worse day by day.