He softly opened his eyes. He stared at the purple-robed woman who was looking at him. She was casting a spell, he rolled sideways, and took a step back.

“Oh, so you are still not out?” she said. “I admit that you are tough, if you weren’t Porter, you wouldn’t be a tasteless man.”

“I am sorry,” Nolan said.

“My, this is not the time for forgiveness, Porter. That time has long passed. If you have that awhile ago, I would have negotiated peacefully. Did you lose your wits? Oh, don’t tell me you turn coward after being beaten by a few spells?”

“No, that’s not it,” he said, conjuring an obsidian flesh sword and pouring the phantasmal oil on it. “I forgot my core, it looks like I was too preoccupied with what I should do, that I forget what I am. Who I am, and what I am.”

“That sounds nice, but time to sleep.”

She blasted him with a shock spell. Nolan’s sword transformed into the shape of a shield. Insulating him from the spell completely.

“Hmm?” she said.

“Phantasmal oil still works nice, and a bit of rune on it, it still works. Seriously, why did I forget this late? Sigh, you rely on one power, then forget about the things you engraved on your bones. You never really let go of them.”

“Phantasmal oil...”

“It looks like I was being disrespectful, forgive me.”

“What are you even talking about? Do you think that a little oil would change the outcome? You seem to have forgotten who is on the losing end here?”

“I know,” Nolan said. “I can’t match you in terms of spells...I never was good at anything other than surviving.”

“Stop being sentimental, you tasteless man!”

The compressed beam exploded in six directions, each of them homing, he covered his body with the obsidian flesh, deftly rolling away from the blast.

“Do you think that will be enough? That will dry up before long, Porter!”

“Nope,” Nolan said, sliding past a beam, he gathered all the obsidian flesh from his hand while he slides on the slippery ground. “Do what though wilt is the law. A man has the right to follow his own law, therefore, I shall bind thee to the light to this Sword of Obsidian; as my power and strength; my blood and fresh. Let this Sword of Obsidian be the new binding light that blinds!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

Light explodes from his hands. The flash made Audrey Cress flinch, she blocked the light, but before she can cast a spell, a fist pummeled her right side, it was then followed by a push, and a grab to the back of the head, which was then continued with a knee to the face.

“Gah!” Her head rang as she tries to keep her balance. She saw Nolan moving inside her guard, his fist targeting her, a continued blow to her liver, and before he could land an elbow to her diaphragm. She countered.

Nolan was pushed away, his back hitting the wet floor. He leaps up to his feet, meeting the fist of Audrey, her eyes bloodshot, veins popping on her forehead.

“Don’t underestimate me, boy!” She shouted. “Do you really think I can’t fight you barehanded? Test me! Test me!”

Nolan felt that punch. The punch was hard enough to crack the skull mask he was wearing. He didn’t intend to lose, he needs to get out of this place. This place was consuming him, it was making him act, he thought. If he doesn’t keep this woman from being agitated, she would blast him away with long-distance spells.

She landed a straight jab on his forehead. Nolan pushed in, blocked with his left forearm, and then slapped her right ear. She cringed, he followed it with a jab below her armpit, and a kick on her knee. She spat blood, wiped it out, and pulled Nolan with telekinesis, Nolan didn’t resist, allowed himself to be pulled, and when he was near her, he banged his forehead on her, she flinched backward, he pulled on her collar and elbowed her on the neck.

Ears ringing, vision shaking, Audrey Cress panicked, she created a shield around her body, and Nolan urged forward, his fist tried to pummel her, but this time, he felt like he punched a concrete wall instead of flesh.

She regained her wits, she looked at his fist, and smiled, “You ran out of time, fool.”

He was blasted away. She pounced on him a like a hungry tiger, mounting him, following it with a barrage of fist that –peeled away the obsidian flesh off Nolan.

“You like hurting woman that badly, you tasteless man! Now you simply lost!”

“Not yet,” he had a grin on his skull-like face. “I still haven’t lost, you know?”

“What are you talking about—ah? Ah, no, what is this? A sigil? You are a bleak walker!?”

His eyes lit up in a dark eerie color, the vision of the old future flashed upon Nolan's eyes. The death of his comrades, the battle near the Overlord's territory, and the days he had experienced.
The world turned dark for the two. He felt like he was stuck in a dark world along with Audrey Cress. Below their feet was a ripple that spread on every direction. Nolan's eyes glowed softly as the sigils in his pupils made the two relive all of his painful memories

Audrey could only see the sigil's mesmerizing her. She could feel the pain that was being emitted from Nolan's eyes. The suffering, despair, hopelessness, anguish, sorrows, and the desperation was felt by her. It was like listening to the screams of a million death throes, she took a step back, the eternal hawk sigil’s tugged on her memories, making her relieve the five hundred years of her existence, the pain, the heartbreak, and her suffering on the light’s war.

“Make it stop!” She pleads him. Her hand conjuring a bullet of air that tore Nolan’s skull mask.

She saw it clearly then. Red eyes with the symbol of the eternal hawk glowing on him. Her memories were tugged as she recognized the tasteless man who he once met in Da’s Mill.

“You!”

“Sleep, for now, Witch of Nether.”

Nolan clenched his fist, his palm bleeding as he pulls his fist back, and with his weight on it, landed a right hook right at her cheek, punching her lights out.

“And yeah,” he said. “I am not a Porter, I’m just a Bleak Walker...”