Chương 37: With Great Power

Gray crept through the grass, carefully closing the distance to the figure standing at the center of the meadow. The stranger wore a loose robe of black silk, casting a shadow against the flower fields, and dark hair flowed freely down their back, settling just above their waist. The figure shifted. A sudden gust of wind caught the long strands of hair, sending them whipping through the air. Heat rushed to Gray's cheeks as a delicate side profile came into view.

He had suffered through an entire year deprived of human contact, yet even without that isolation skewing his judgment, the otherworldly beauty of this woman stole the breath from his lungs. The stranger pivoted to face him directly, and Gray's jaw dropped. It was a man. He was, without question, the most stunning man Gray had ever laid eyes on. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, his skin held the smooth, flawless texture of porcelain—a sharp and cruel contrast to Gray's own sunken, battered features.

"It seems you've finally clawed your way out," the man said, his voice carrying a smooth resonance. Gray forced a dry swallow.

"Did I… fail the test?"

"Failed? Quite the opposite, actually. You succeeded." The stranger crossed his arms, letting his gaze sweep over Gray from head to toe.

"And on your very first run. I have to say, I am impressed. Though, to be fair, I cleared it on my first try as well." Relief washed over him at the confirmation of his victory, but the stranger's boast caught on his mind.

"Wait." Gray narrowed his eyes, piecing the puzzle together.

"You took the trials? Does that mean you are… Gozen's mentor?" The man rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish smile breaking his composure.

"I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit it, but yes. I am that brat's master."

"Then how are you in here?" Gray pointed a finger at the earth beneath their feet.

"Gozen said you died three years ago." A shadow passed over the mentor's face.

"So. That is the fate of my future self." He let out a soft exhale.

"Well, to answer your question, this meadow is a simulation. A construct built by the Soul Blade, if you will. The moment you accepted the soul contract, the weapon gained the agency to carve out a sliver of your very core, repurposing it to serve as its internal domain." He placed a palm on his chest.

"One of the defining properties of a Soul Blade lies in its memory. It imprints the essence of every wielder directly into the steel. This allows the weapon to properly assimilate with its owner and forge a resilient bond." Gray's face twisted into sheer terror.

"Are you telling me that after everything I just survived, this sword plans to trap me in here forever?"

"Not necessarily." The man stroked his chin in thought.

"Well, I suppose it depends entirely on your perspective. I am not real, Gray. The version of me standing before you is merely a snapshot. Tobari constructed this echo the instant I completed my own bond with the steel, right after conquering my trials. My true consciousness is not trapped here. Once our conversation concludes, this entire realm will fade to nothing. It only remains active while a potential master undergoes the test.

The moment you wake up on the outside, both myself and the brand-new imprint the blade creates of you will slip into dormancy. We will sleep here in the dark until Tobari's next chosen wielder steps up to the challenge."

"That sounds incredibly morbid." Gray grimaced, the tension leaving his shoulders.

"So, what happens now? Are you just here to hand over the sword, or do you serve some greater purpose?" The stranger cleared his throat into his fist.

"I wouldn't necessarily deem it greater, but I do serve a purpose. I may be little more than a remnant of the weapon's core function. However, the added perk of giving us projections sentience allows us to pass down our wisdom to the next wielder." Gray's eyes widened. This was the opportunity of a lifetime. Any shred of knowledge in this unfamiliar world offered a massive advantage.

Answers from a fellow Awakened who shared his class felt like an absolute godsend, especially since this man potentially held the key to stopping the Primordial Shroud's possession. He needed to address his immediate trauma first, though.

"What the hell did I just go through?" Gray snapped.

"Are these trials usually this extreme? I understand why the weapon would throw me into a storm, but why teleport me into an empty void? Why was suffocating me for over a year a mandatory part of the curriculum?" The man let out a melodic chuckle. He covered his mouth with a delicate hand, the light, chiming sound jarring against Gray's frayed nerves.

"Yes, that was quite extreme, wasn't it? The majority of Soul Blade trials are straightforward evaluations. They are constructed solely to measure your might. A typical blade conjures a magical construct—a feral beast or a spectral gladiator of sorts—and if you possess the strength to cut it down, the weapon deems you worthy." He lowered his hand, his eyes locking onto Gray.

"I assumed Tobari's test would be exactly the same when I initially bonded with it. After all, a storm is synonymous with brute force and destruction. You have just experienced firsthand that this is not the case." The man shifted his weight, the silk of his robe rustling softly.

"I cannot blame the steel entirely, though. I played a significant role in turning the ordeal into a psychological torture chamber. I finalized the forging of this blade, meaning its ego became a direct reflection of my own personality. The true purpose of this trial is not to test your strength, but rather to educate you on the weight of it."

"To wield a disaster, you must first understand what it feels like to experience one. Tobari has quite the sentimental side, you see. The sword needed you to comprehend the catastrophic harm you can inflict on others by unleashing its wrath directly upon your own mind." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Gray shot him a venemous glare. The logic of this sword was twisted beyond belief. The endless torment had not sparked an ounce of empathy within him.

It only bred fury. The isolation instilled a violent urge to lash out—not at another person, but at the Soul Blade itself. He would have snapped the steel in half in the real world if his own fate were not tied to it.

"That exact way of thinking is why the blade felt the need to teach you a lesson," the man said. He casually inspected his fingernails, utterly unfazed by Gray's internal rage.

"Your hot temper and impulsive decisions have been nothing but a hindrance." Gray scowled, his hands flying up to cup his ears in alarm.

"Did… did you just read my mind?!"

"Well, of course. I am a fragment of your Soul Blade. That makes me a part of you." The man offered a knowing smile.

"I know everything about you, Gray. Your character flaws, your insecurities, and every single one of your memories." He let his voice drop, taking on a mocking edge.

"I am also acutely aware of the incident with that boy, Ivan. You know the one." The man lifted both hands and clamped them tightly around his own throat, mimicking a chokehold. Gray's face drained of color from the morbid display. The stranger dropped his hands and jabbed a finger toward Gray's chest.

"That is exactly why I decided to do the same to you. Suffocating in the endless void isn't standard protocol for Tobari's trial. The test should have concluded the second the lightning strikes ceased. I took it upon myself to customize the experience to better suit your needs." A feral snarl warped Gray's features.

"My needs?" he spat. He curled his fingers into claws, aiming a desperate strike straight for the mentor's throat. The man didn't even flinch. He casually brought up the sheathed katana at his hip, took a smooth half-step to the side, and rammed the solid metal pommel squarely into Gray's ribs. The blunt impact forced the air from Gray's lungs, and he tumbled into the grass, gasping for breath. The mentor clicked his tongue in disapproval and lowered the weapon.

"Still letting that hot temper steer your actions. Have you learned absolutely nothing from the trials?" Gray pushed himself onto his hands and knees. He coughed, struggling to draw the air back into his chest.

"What… what do you even get out of doing this to me?" The man shook his head, his eyes filled with disappointment.

"This has nothing to do with what I gain, Gray. It is about what you take away from it. The class you inherited is unlike any other in existence. You hold the capability to level entire continents while remaining completely untouchable. You are a walking natural disaster. Tobari and I exist in this space to steer you down the correct path." A bitter laugh escaped Gray's lips, his face twisting at the sheer hypocrisy.

"Oh, the right path, you say? I never asked to receive the power of suffocation. To level entire continents. And who are you to lecture me? Weren't you the one who surrendered to Shroud's possession? Didn't you try to bring down an entire guild and destroy an entire city?" The man lowered his gaze, letting the silence hand until he finally spoke up.

"So I have heard," he murmured, his voice dropping to a fragile whisper.

"I am deeply ashamed of what my future self became." Gray flinched at the soft, defeated response. He fully expected to bait out the man's pride or trigger a burst of defensive rage with the snarky comment. He received nothing but repentance in return. Guilt immediately cooled his anger.

"I… look, I apologize," Gray muttered.

"I shouldn't be blaming you for something that was entirely out of your control." The stranger held up a placating palm.

"It is quite all right. I have to take full accountability for the atrocities I, and only I committed." He struck his palms together with a sharp clap.

"Now, we are burning precious time. Is there anything crucial you wanted to ask me before this realm collapses?" Gray cleared his throat, eager to address the main question nagging at his thoughts.

"Yes. If I have my timeline correct, this snapshot of you—the exact version imprinted into the Soul Blade—should already be at the Kaiser Rank. Gozen was your disciple at the time, since you forged this specific sword just for him."

"Does this mean you have already encountered Shroud? Has he already made advances to possess you by this point in time?" A brow ticked upward on the mentor's face.

"Very observant. Although, Gozen was merely being humble when he claimed I forged Tobari solely for him. That boy did the vast majority of the heavy lifting. All I did was step in to iron out the final kinks in the steel. This blade was always meant to be his." A heavy sigh escaped the man's lips.

"Unfortunately, I misjudged just how strict the Soul Blade's ownership clause was. As a result, Tobari rejected him." The mentor hummed, folding his arms over his chest.

"As for the possession of the Primordial… all I will say is you should not worry about it as much as you think." Gray threw his hands up in sheer exasperation.

"Don't worry? First Gozen, and now you? Why are the two of you so nonchalant about a bloodthirsty god hijacking my body to end the world?" A faint smirk tugged at the corners of the stranger's mouth.

"You will understand exactly what I mean while you speak to him."

"Speak to him?" Gray's voice cracked.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid! I don't want a friendly chat. I want a full-blown exorcism!" The man tapped his chin in thought.

"If you are looking for a permanent solution to mitigate the risk, I do have one particular method in mind." Relief washed over Gray.

"Oh, thank God. What is it?" The mentor closed the distance between them. He planted a firm hand flat against the center of Gray's chest.

"I can strip you of your core right this second. All I have to do is reach inside and rip it out. That would permanently sever your connection to Shroud's power." A devious, unsettling smile stretched from ear to ear across his face. Gray took a very generous step backward, putting immediate distance between his ribs and the man's hand.

"On second thought… I think I'll take my chances with the Primordial." The man nodded in approval, and he clapped his hands together once more.

"Excellent choice. Now, there isn't much time left before this realm collapses. Could I ask a favor of you after you leave this dimension, Gray?"

"You can ask," Gray replied, nodding slowly. Alarm bells immediately began ringing in his head. These specific scenarios always played out the exact same way in fantasy. If a spirit requested a favor, it usually involved a dangerous task on the outside—be it avenging their death or freeing some kind of world-ending beast.

"Could you pass a message along to Gozen for me?" the mentor requested, snapping Gray out of his spiral. A heavy sigh of relief escaped Gray's lips, and the tension bled right out of his shoulders. It was just a simple message. He could easily manage that.

"Tell him not to live his life like that. Warn him that if he does not change his current path, he will meet a fate far worse than mine," the man instructed, his tone dead serious. Gray realized he had dropped his guard way too quickly. Delivering that kind of critique to a volatile man like Gozen was much worse than freeing a dragon. It was a straight-up suicide mission.

"Sure," Gray replied, drawing the word out and forcing a stiff smile that nowhere near reached his eyes.

"I will definitely pass that along."

"I truly hope you do." The mentor offered a faint, melancholy smile. High above them, the sky began to fracture. The vibrant blue ceiling peeled away in chunks like cracked paint, exposing the black void lurking just beyond the illusion. The distant horizon frayed at the edges, and it rapidly swallowed the surrounding meadow, sucking the vibrant grass and flowers into an endless nether.

"It appears our time is up. I wish you the best of luck on your journey, Gray."

"Thank you. It was good to meet you… sir?" Gray shouted to be heard over the deafening roar of their crumbling reality.

"I never actually got your name!"

"My given name is Rai," the man called back.

"But you probably know me better as Shroud." Before Gray could even begin to process the confession, Rai tossed the sheathed katana directly at him. The man gave a final, casual wave of farewell, and a second later, a bolt of white lightning shot down from the shattered sky and struck them both.