The Regressed NoBody

I couldn’t seem to get a hold, or time to correct my breathing as the effort made me even more wary and apprehensive, as an adamant amount of fear pinched at my insides—some feeling of dread and horror just by looking in the direction of that entity—, making every hair on my body to stand in alert, as I lunged forward in this endless void, as my stance broke and I landed a few feet away from the once dark entity which released a stifling aura which filled the air around us.

I was barely able to take back control over my breathing, as my chest heaved and my heart threatened to jump out of my chest as it pounded like a drum. The sword conjured by the deviant magic of ice, effortlessly sliced through that black entity’s body as it crashed on to the floor.

With a squelching noise which was carried to my ears, I saw a puddle of black sludge form where the entity stood just moments ago.

With my still amateurish control over the deviant magic, the sword of frost began to form cracks on its surface as it shattered in my hand as shrapnel of ice scattered all around me.

Caution bled from my face as my eyes didn’t once leave where the sludge was wriggling. I tried to call out to the system and withdraw razor’s edge from my inventory, but panic shrouded me as the system interface didn’t appear in front of me.

No...whenever I made the interface to disappear from in front of me after its use, there was always this presence and awareness which made me aware of the system’s presence whenever I wanted to call out to it.

But right now, at this moment, I couldn’t feel the system or even its peculiar presence. There was...nothing.

What happened to the system? Was it caused when I touched the multifaceted keystone and entered this space? Is the system lost? Why can’t I access my items?

My mind raced for possibilities to help explain my current predicament but as hardly I tried to think, nothing came to mind.

Something like this did happen once in the past, when I was trapped inside some peculiar space in between two location when I had moved through the portal dais when I was going back to the academy. Back then, I couldn’t access the system or any of my skills when I had heard those peculiar voices.

The sudden realization caused me to panic even more as I searched for my skills and there was only a hollow wisp when I reached inward and tried to look for them and will for the activation of my skills.

They felt like they didn’t exist currently, they were there, but at the same time not. Their aura and power, I was undeniable able to feel which was held inside me, but they felt dormant and unresponsive for some reason.

Just like in the basilisk dungeon. Is this space similar to the dungeon? I thought looking around as I frowned.

I don’t think so! This place felt unusually surreal to me. Like it does exist without a doubt, yet it doesn’t at the same time, like some anomaly in the space where I was summoned for some reason.

This was a part of the trial and I was summoned in this place for some purpose. But first I needed to figure out the reason behind my appearance in here.

My eyes shot open as the hair at the back of my neck stood, as a squelching noise entered my ears. I spun and saw the black sludge wriggle and bubble as it expanded, enveloping the floor to several meters.

I stimulated the atmospheric mana available here and quickly conjured a rough sword of ice which emanated a thin mist from around it as the mana coalesced around it to reinforce its shape. It was cracked and rough shaped from several places but in the face of danger, having this was better than nothing.

The black sludge stirred as bubbles bobbed and burst like the surface of boiling water. I looked closely and saw in horror as the entity from before regained it’s previous shape. The black sludge stirred and moved, morphing to first form it’s feet, moving on to create it’s torso and then lastly the head as it straightened it’s posture, making the same gurgling noise from where it’s mouth should have been, instead a pitch black nothingness was visible to my eyes.

My eyes didn’t once leave the entity as it snapped it’s head in my direction as I stood my ground, my feet firmly planted on the floor of the white void as I felt the floor could be swept from my feet any minute.

I felt the air grow heavy as the surge of my mana, circulating to reinforce my body as my breathing finally calmed as I took a stance, maintaining a good distance from the entity, to counter any abrupt action taken.

The entity brought it’s hand forward, as I didn’t even feel the slightest of pinch or fluctuation in the movement of the ambient mana as a spike was launched in my direction, created from the pitch blackness of it’s body. My arm moved and I struck it just in the nick of time as I tore my gaze away from it and toward the spike and saw it had a smooth reflective surface as it glimmered and reflected the white void around us. My mana surged as I lunged in it’s direction, my feet slightly lifted in the air as I covered the short distance in an instant.

Mana circulated and reinforcing my limbs as the icicle sword I had conjured drew an arch near the entity’s right flank and it effortlessly sliced through its body like cutting butter, and instead of seeing blood, like before a thick murky sludge plunged the white floor of the void as I twisted my body, my mana worked and I cycled it towards my legs and struck the entity right in the chest as it went crashing several meters away, only stopping after crashing more than ten times.

But something didn’t feel right. When I had attacked that thing just now. I felt like I was hitting something sturdy but weak and shallow, plus I almost didn’t feel any weight in the previous spike it had launched in my direction before or any body weight when I had just struck it.

It just didn’t feel right when I attacked it. It felt like I was hitting something which existed, yet didn’t. Like hitting a ghost.

The entity went back to it feet as quickly as it had hit the floor. It vanished from it’s location and appeared only a few feet away from me as I twirled and dodged a spike which grazed my cheek as it drew a streak of blood down my face, before the wound undid itself.

It thrust it’s other hand forward, but I parried its attempt and forced more mana into holding the shape of the icicle sword as my arm tore through the air. The trajectory of my sword drew countless arches, I didn’t give the entity time to take a hold over it's shape and recover.

Under the force and cycling of my mana, the icicle sword broke and shattered apart, but another one formed right from the middle of my palms as the frigid surface stung my skin, as I slashed and cut the murky substance as fast as I could. My swords drew arches faster than the previous ones before, as a silvery hued sparkle was left in the wake of my each slash.

The entity made a gurgling and chirping noise like before as the black substance splattered across my arms, face and the floor as the swords made of frost kept cutting it. Not able to retaliate against the onslaught the entity let itself get cut down, but I wasn’t getting a good feeling about this. Something was wrong here. Something had terribly gone wrong.

My panic and fear turned out to be true as my eyes shot open in surprise as I laid eyes on the severed head of the entity falling backward as I cut it off with a perfect horizontal slash, but goosebumps rose over my body as my nape grew cold and sweat trickled the sides of my face, as I witnessed rows of rough jagged teeth taking form on its face into a twisted wry smile which looked animalistic and sharp.

I released a burst of my mana suddenly, as a white glow suffused my surroundings, as the ambient mana began to coalesce, forcing harsh winds to scythe the remainder of the entity’s body as I willed and stimulated the wind particles to my choice, as the wind based attack scattered apart it’s gooey black body as it made a squelching sound crashing against the floor several meters away.

I sputtered a few coughs as I heavily breathed, my chest felt like it was on fire as my arms flailed, the swords cracking and shattering in my grasp as I looked at the splattered body of the entity.

I couldn’t seem to put this ominous feeling away since the moment I had laid eyes over that thing.

It made a gurgling wail as the scattered substance crawled closer to the head but I took that moment and lunged forward as a wind based spell started forming inside my palm as I condensed the wind even more as a hard whistling sound hammered into my ears, I tried to wrap a charge of lightning around the wind based spell to make it more effective as my arms began to wince under the robust of manipulating an attribute of mana together with a deviant, but it posed quite problematic to keep the wind attribute in control and mixed with the lightning as the coiling of the static energy surged out of my hand.

I flew off the floor and rushed in the entity’s direction and thrust my arm forward in which the spell was forming.

The dark sludge gathered in place and formed a quagmire which bubbled up and shuddered as if it was alive.

The sludge moved, spears from all directions were launched in my directions as my mana sparked, coating my physique in a denser layer of mana to protect myself from the sharp end of the spears hurled my way.

The bone inside my arm began to shudder and go numb as the spell formed, as fierce tendrils of yellow lightning crackled and coiled my arms, causing the space to shudder and warp.

I was surrounded from all the directions, so I punched my arm into the floor—right into the sludge beneath me—as I released the spell and a rush of violent wind rushed forth, the mana which held the spell together diffused as the wind attribute caused a torrent which pushed several of the spear heads back, but some still tore forward through the force of the wind and came close enough.

Next, the lightning attribute converged into the spell kicked in as fiery lightning coiled the ground, using the splattered black substance as a conductor to widen its reach, the black substance was struck by the static and it caused their shape to distort and change, giving me enough time to conjure a blue flame which burned and consumed the black substance.

The murky black tried to fight back, but the amply burning blue flames licked their form and continued to feast over the substance as they devoured the splattered remainder over the floor, cleansing it.

I tore my gaze toward the entity who was half submerged in the quagmire created by it’s own body fluid and sneered as I saw it looking at me with a twisted grin with it’s jagged maw showing. It didn’t have eyes yet, but the delight over it’s face made me wary of it’s next actions.

I quickly covered the distance and was over the entity in an instant, a mist rose from my arms as I absorbed the particles of water into my body and I circulated the mana into my arms as a sturdy sword made of ice magic formed as I clenched it tightly in my grasp. With a jolt of my arms, I thrust the sword into the entity's throat and twisted the sword as I ripped through its entire body—or what was available through the quagmire. But suddenly the quagmire bolted up and held me in its clutches as I felt a searing pain, akin to my skin burning and bones melting.

I released a wave of flames and the sludge splattered apart. But I felt odd, the pain disappeared all together and I tore my gaze to my arms and the other parts of my body and there was not one wound or even a burning mark over it. But the pain I felt, it was definitely real. Felt real.

But next moment, it felt like I had been struck and pierced by some sharp object from my back as I wined in pain, a sneer caught up to my face as my face twisted further, but as realized dawned suddenly, I realised that I was shaking in the air close to the quagmire, half afloat in the air.

Suddenly, the quagmire shot upward like pillars and stretched on, until stopping a few meters in every direction, as it consumed the once white void in a pitch black darkness. The light around me disappeared as only the haunting dark and eerie stillness made the hair at the back of my neck to stand.

A gurgling noise came into my ears as I spun on my heel and saw the entity, its body was veiled with the darkness around it, but the way I was able to distinguish its appearance in the void were its jagged teeth which were bared, as two white eyes looked my way.

“Hehhhh...” I swallowed hard as I heard something akin to a chuckle escape the entity—no this monstrosity’s mouth

Then next moment, its body started to convulse as its shape shuddered and violent spasms rose over its body.

My heart uncontrollably pounded in my chest as I struggled to comprehend what I was witnessing. I felt like my mind was betraying me, as I wanted to reject the figure from in front of me with every cell inside my body.

The sight of the monstrosity transforming into the face of my Master filled me with a mixture of fear, confusion and perplexing. It’s face twisted further, as the skin and face structure of Master’s appeared over it, as its physical appearance took more of a human tone, a stark resemblance to my Master—the person I revered.

It was as if the familiar visage of my Master had emerged from the depths of this terrifying entity. But it, that thing was not my Master. The twisted face that now resembled my Master contorted into a menacing smile, as its baleful azure eyes—displayed as much condemnation and hostility—filled with nothingness bore at me, causing dread to arouse from the depths of my heart.

The once warm eyes which I still remembered, full of wisdom and familial love, now held a dark and malevolent gleam which caused me to instinctively take a step back as I clenched my jaw in anger.

“Ah.. .Ahh...Right, so that’s how talking works. Considering its even the first time I have spoken, that is. And this human is quite the specimen I have to say.” The monstrosity barked with its canines bared into a malevolent grin, as it looked at its physique—Master’s physique. “According to your memories, this human is the most precious to you. Someone you revere and love like your own parent. And also the reason why you became the person you are today, Jiwoo, or should I say Shun.”

I looked at the monstrosity—now taken the form of my Master—with a stupefied expression of apprehension and disgust.

The voice that echoed from its mouth sent shivers down my spine, a sickening parody of the familiar tone I once revered. I felt cold sweat as I felt the terrifying aura it was releasing, causing me to flinch away for my life. It was unlike any monster I had seen or fought before. Its ability to change its appearance into someone else was a terrifying skill nonetheless.

How dare it try to imitate Master? I spat with malice and rage lacing my thoughts. My face fumed with anger as I looked in its direction, mana charging through my veins as I clenched my hands into fists, the mana rippled as it heeded my call, as if trying to tell me to use it to end this monstrosity right now.

“You bastard,” I roared as I lunged at it, my fist coated with mana as my tendons and ligaments reacted and worked the way I needed them to.

My fist hurled and tore through the air as it came close to the monstrosity’s body. But with a calm and solemn expression over its face, it looked at me with its azure eyes, which displayed a kind of familiarity which I looked for even now.

“Ehhhh...Damn it,” I changed the trajectory of my fist at the last second and struck the black floor as the area around us shook, causing severe quakes to run rampant, as my skin tore open and blood trickled the floor.

“I knew you couldn’t do it.” The monstrosity spat with a dark edge to its words. “Even if you want to tell yourself that I am not the same man you remember—your precious Master—, but the guilt and hauting memories of your past are blinding your ability to think straight.”

“What??” I retaliated with a sneer, my word laced with malice and rage.

“It’s quite simple actually, Shun.” The monstrosity scoffed, its canines visible to my eyes as a soft smile creased its new features. “You are only cold and calculative when its convenient for you. But the truth is, you’re more prone to emotions and attachment than you think. And that is the one weakness which becomes your biggest enemy in battle, which has caused you severely in the past, be it in your past life or even now. And you know it, even if you try to deny it.”

“You let your emotions control you. Still do!" It added right after.

My face twisted into a sharp grimace, as the blood from my arm dried up and the wound closed. “No! You’re wrong. I—”

“That’s the truth. And it was just confirmed when you couldn’t even land that attack when I’m just an imitation of Amamiya Akito. Why do you deny it so badly? Shouldn't it be over if you just accept your shortcomings?"

My brows furrowed in apprehension as the monstrosity gazed down at me, as if some judgement was befalling me. Like I was standing in front of a judge, who knew everything about me.

“N-No,” I stammered over my words as I looked conflicted and confused.

The monstrosity sighed, then moved. “So be it.”

I felt my eyes widen as a searing pain coursed through my body as I heard the noise of bones shattering.

When I came to be, I realized the knee of the monstrosity had connected to my sternum as I vomited a mouthful of blood and crashed several meters behind as I staggered to get up.

"Foolish mortal scum," it hissed with Master’s face, its deep voice echoing in my ears like sharp explosions, each word laced with malice, as its menacing eyes seem to gaze right into my soul. "Your loved ones are long gone. I am but a reflection of your deepest fears and deepest desires. You, who is living in a fantasy of your own creation, to escape and ran away from that pain, that agony, that sorrow threatening to consume you even now.”

“Why're you hesitant? The answers are with you, within you, but you reject them in order to protect yourself from the loneliness and emptiness of your thoughts and painful past. Shun, since when did you become so pathetic?”

My heart sank, and my hopes were dashed, as the sharp words of the monstrosity pierced through me like the sharpest of daggers. It turned its dull eyes at me, as I saw nothing in them.

It was an embodiment of my own inner turmoil, a grotesque manifestation of my fears and longing.

Despite the disappointment and the danger that lingered in the air, I refused to let despair overtake me. With determination, I gathered my strength and resolved to confront this abomination head-on.

“You’re right, I may not be facing my Master, but your sorry for an excuse of using his face is a rather pathetic attempt to shake me up," I declared, my voice firm as it rolled out like thunder into the nothingness around us. "Whoever or whatever you are, I'll fucking kill you and clear this goddamn trial and be on my way," I said as anger boiled through my veins and the veins on my temples constricted, as my words came out sharp and venomous.

The creature's twisted smile widened after hearing me, revealing rows of jagged, razor-sharp teeth. It lunged toward me with terrifying speed, but I stood my ground, ready to face its attack.

I remembered my training back with Han, how he had instructed me in the way of martial arts—also teaching me a few basic movements of the Han clans martial prowess—as I took a breath to steady my stance as my mana jolted inside me, layering in order to form a barrier to protect me.

My mind had cleared up, the conflictions and worry doused as I launched my fists at the monstrosity. They hit home, some strikes hit me which he had hurled at me, as I released a burst of my mana and it wailed in agony as it crashed a few steps. Taking that moment, I lunged in its direction, as I launched a series of japs and kicks its way.

Each strike seemed to carry the weight of my anger and desperation.

The monstrosity unable to bare with the onslaught of one strike after the other, shouted in agony as some black blood like substance dripped from its mouth and nose, as its body wobbled, unable to hold its physical body together as it convulsed again.

"Pathetic..." I spat with my face and tone emotionless. "You spoke real big, but look at yourself now. My Master isn't someone as weak and pathetic like you."

I didn’t let this moment go, and was over the monstrosity and my fist coated and charged with mana as I hurled it at him, but unbelievably at the last second when my fist was about to come into contact with its body, it spun, as I heard a cracking sound of bones breaking and twisting, as the monstrosity twisted its spine and avoided my strike.

Its back now turned to me, I looked with a horror filled expression as my mind kept on telling me that it was not Master, but the guilt which aroused in my heart made me think otherwise.

With another twist, the monstrosity spun and placed its spine back in place as it set its jaw and made a devilish grin which made a shiver to run down my spine.

“Interesting,” it said as its right arm convulsed and then a black blade took form in its hand.

It took a stance, and to my horror, I couldn’t have expected it to use the very same sword style which my Master had created. Its arms moved in the way they needed to as it drew a fluid vertical line in the air in front of it, as the force of the attack rushed as the mana fluctuated in the air and caused the space to distort and blank slightly.

“First movement: Moon Split!”

A bright luminescent radiance enveloped the entire void as I barely avoided the first movement, but I vomited blood as I felt the aftereffects of the first movement, as I felt warmth drip from the right side of my body as a searing pain coiled through me as I slumped to the floor, a puddle of my blood forming beneath my feet.

I looked down at myself and saw that my body had been cut open and my bones and muscles in clear display as my breathing staggered and my eyes dilated under the sudden shock.

“H-H-How?” I stammered as I chocked on blood and saliva my chest heaved for breath as my mana worked, trying to heal my body and stich the wound close.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m the embodiment of your innermost fears, so performing the crescent moon style isn’t a problem for me.” It spat as the sword deteriorated from using the movement. "I know about everyone you know about, plus all the things."

"Should I use the others as well?” It added with a vicious smirk, causing me to frown.

With my jaw clenched, I took a hold of my feet and with a deep breath I looked at it with a stoic expression.

“Why? What is the point of this trial anyway? What am I being tested for? For my emotional maturity or mental fortitude?” I asked, annoyance laced my words, trying my best to force some answer out of it.

“Then let me answer your question with another question,” it said as its voice shifted and morphed more high-pitched as its face convulsed and distorted as the shoulder length jet black hair grew longer and took a more blonde shade. “Why do you think you are being tested in the first place? You always rejected your own weakness and cried and winced about your failures of being unable to protect your loved ones. So do you think that you can just move on and start a new life with all that blood and death on your hands, Shun? After you casued all our deaths. My death!” Its voice grew more harsh and deeper as my breathing heaved.

My body quivered as shivers ran down my spine.

Rachael! I said looking at the visage of her, which the monstrosity had taken.

Then suddenly, its body and face morphed into that of Han.

“You hypocrite!! You’re the reason I died, you caused my death. You are the reason for all my misery. Why did you cause all of this?"

Next it morphed into the visage of Fujimoto.

“You allowed Akito to die. You allowed me to die. You disgust me.” He said with a look of disdain as his dark eyes bore down at me with a grimace over his face.

No!... That’s not true. I-I...

Its visage then took the form of Jiyoung as she patronised me about my reasons and decisions. Then it turned to Ryuya then to the face of Jiwoo’s father.

“You were my biggest mistake.” He scorned me.

Then turned to Jiwoo’s mother.

“I shouldn’t have given birth to something like you. You monster.”

It’s figure twisted and convulsed again as its body shifted and took on a slightly buff but more of an athletic physique as its hair grew longer until it reached its waist and turned jet black again, as a pair of malevolent crimson eyes looked down at me, which caused me to shudder back as I felt a wave of dread overcome me.

No...it can't be him.

“What you thought were your convictions and ideals are only lies and a way for you to escape reality to appease your pain and suffering, human.” The words of the demon I had heard decades ago echoed into my ears as I looked up at him with a blank expression. The one who had killed Han.

No! No...its not. They’re not! I-I

“Ehhhh...” I shouted, a gut-wrenching scream as I lunged in the monstrosity’s direction. My mind was clouded by simple rage and the memories I tried to supress as they came back in a torrent, more strongly.

I hurled a simple punch in the monstrosity’s direction, there was no intent behind it, just my desperation to deny the words of everyone, the people I loved, that demon and Master. Every word.

Why? I knew they were not the same people I loved, they were safe back on earth, the cataclysm hadn’t arrived yet, but the past still haunted me. Even from time to time, the traumatic experience of my past life still haunted me in my dreams. I was vulnerable to them still.

The monstrosity’s face convulsed again as its body started to change shape as its height decreased and its face started turning feminine.

My face twisted into a desperate frown as I looked at the face of Jihye which the monstrosity had now taken.

“Jiwoo...please!” It looked desperately at me with a pained expression, as I was reminded of my sister back on earth.

Was I really that pathetic? Was I really rejecting my own weaknesses and failures and blaming it upon happenstance to save myself.

Was it...??

Were my convictions truly just lies and an escape for me to appease myself of the pain and suffering?

My feet slowly came to a holt as my mana dimmed and sparked out. Even Jihye, it can imitate almost every person I know and had met.

Did they really feel like that about me? I wanted to reject the inclinations, but somewhere deep inside my heart I held the possibility of these words being true and real. No I didn’t wanted to acknowledge them, I felt if I did, these possibilities will become true. Every words they had said to me.

It was true, I allowed them to die. I was their malefactor. I had indeed caused all of their misery. I was the start and end of it all. Their misery only started when they met me.

Tears trickled down the sides of my face as I blankly looked at the endless abysmal darkness which drowned my surroundings.

The monstrosity moved, its light steps echoed through the dark void as it came close to me.

Jihye’s face twisted into a malevolent grin as she looked up at me. Her eyes gleamed as darkly as the void around us. The innocence I once saw and founded inside them was no where to be found.

“You see now, what I said turned out to be absolutely right.” Jihye’s soft voice, hoarsely made way into my ears. “You are prone to emotions and quick to attachment. Once you get attached to someone you can’t push them away as much as you want to. You’re only cold and calculative when you think it’s convenient for you. That’s your biggest flaw.”

“You’re right.” I said back. Not an ounce of retaliation in my voice. I felt hollow, as if another word from it could cause my mind to collapse.

I wanted to rest. Why can’t I rest even for a little bit. Ever since my regression, no even before that, I have been fighting a constant battle within myself, despite the war. This world didn’t own me anything, neither its people. All I ever wanted was to have enough power to protect the people I care about. But can’t I relax just for once, even if for a little bit, can’t I take my mind off from all the thoughts of war and the imminent danger which might occur any minute. The conflicting emotions and self-deprecating thoughts which still makes me feel empty.

Power! I always thought that if I had enough of it, I could protect them. But even if I had rose to the pinnacle of human kind, I was still nothing but a grain of sand in the vast sea of power. There were more powerful individuals in the world still.

Do you want power? Somewhere from inside me, someone or something asked. I think I knew who or what it was.

Can you help me then? In my conquest? Help me gain enough power to not be weak anymore.

I needed to come to terms with my own conflicts, my own weakness and desperation. I needed to accept the fact that my past failures had been my own fault, and accepting them and moving forward was the only way I could survive.

At that exact moment, something clicked into place inside my mind as I understood what this trial might be, or what it might be indicating and testing me for. It was simpler than I had thought. Not too peculiar or hard to grasp, just a simple test of acceptance. For me to learn to forgive and move on.

Forgive. Acceptance. And Growth. I needed to accept my failures and move on to grow stronger. I assured and told myself as I felt like something inside me had been released after such a along time. The guilt which I felt, felt slightly less heavier now that I understood what I needed to do.

Yes! All you need to do is to entrust everything to me. Trust me! Trust in yourself. I am your power!! Wield me!! That voice which sounded so much like my own said to me, and I felt reassured for some reason.

The monstrosity held me by my hair as it lifted my head upwards. But its grasp loosened ever-so-slightly as I saw the reflection of two lavender eyes which radiated power in its dark eyes. I felt my mind clear up, still like water, as the atmosphere around me grew heavy and oppresive as the monstrosity instinctively pulled away and created some distance.

“You’re absolutely right!” I admitted. “I am a weak man. I get attached to people quickly, and I try to act cold when I need to,” I said with a breath as my eyes followed its figure. “My convictions were a way for me escape from my pain, in order to save myself, I created this bubble of apathy around me. But you made me realise it finally...” I said to the monstrosity as its face twisted into a deadly frown.

“All I need to do is to trust my own strength, the power I have gained after going through so much trials and conquests. This is my power and if I understand it good enough it will also respond with goodwill. And I don’t care what I need to do anymore, I will do without question in this life. I won’t hesitate any longer or be like my past indecisive self. My goal had always been to protect my loved ones, and to do so the ones standing in my way, I will kill them all. Even that loathsome demon king. And in order to do so, I am willing to even risk my own life.”

My mental fortitude thickened as I felt the walls of mind reinforced, so not one more taunt or provocative word from the monstrosity could shake me even as it took and imitated the form of my loved ones, as I fell deeper into the marvellous grasp of this power. It was my power and it was reacting to my will to be wielded.

It needed acceptance and my recognition, being my strength and a part of me. I always tried to be hesitant and reserved when using Ruler’s Authority, but now, its just a power which I needed to grasp in order to understand it. As if the skill wanted me to use it.

And I had finally gotten an understood on just what this place was. I didn’t know how or what I needed to do, but I focused my mind as the robust of power rose from within me and the mana around me rippled and coalesced as I felt all of my skills once again.

I felt my connection with Leap re-establish as I reached out to the paths and allowed myself to go deeper into the streams. Without an ounce of hesitation I disappeared with a flash of lightning as I appeared right in front of the monstrosity as I hurled my fist charged with mana, just then I laid eyes on the peculiar lightning coiling around my arm as it reinforced my strike.

The monstrosity looked at me with the innocent face of Jihye, but right now I didn’t care. All I wanted to do was to kill this thing, this bastard. It had wielded my memories, my weakness and my soft spot for my loved ones as a weapon against me, and I would praise it for that.

Because that finally made me realise the things which I always pushed away.

My fist struck the monstrosity right in its sternum as it vomited the black substance which stabilised its body. My arm grew number as the lightning released my arm and struck the monstrosity as it screamed in agony.

Seeing Jihye like this did cause my heart to be squeezed in pain, but Ruler’s Authority made me impassive to all of my unnecessary emotions. It kept them in check. For me to make the right decision, the best decision.

But this time I didn’t reject them. I accepted them all. As I should have done so in the past. Not driving them into a corner of my heart and let them pile up.

It was like swallowing a cloth which had wiped tar as I acknowledged my weakness, powerlessness and discarded my past convictions.

I just needed to focus on the present and the future ahead of me. This trial was indeed tricky, but it had made me realize my own shortcomings and weakness.