Chapter 104 - Set Forth Into Darkness

Time felt as if it didn't exist in this realm of rest, only a still flow carrying the tides of divine skies across his body before--he opened his eyes.

"Morning. Well, time of day doesn't really exist here."

Galaggher sat in the same spot on the cushion near Ren, playing with the silver hair that extended from his sharp chin.

"--Did you watch me sleep the entire time?"

"Not much else to do."

"Okay...How long was I out for?"

Ren asked, feeling as if he only got a wink of rest in before his eyes had shot back open. Even so, his body felt completely rested.

"I am the wrong person to ask in regards to time, lad. Minutes, hours, days--it mostly feels the same to me. If I were a guessing skeleton, I'd say you got...a good few hours?"

"Thanks…"

He could tell Galaggher pulled the answer out of thin air, but it felt about right anyway. Standing himself up, he stretched each of his limbs, cracking his joints as he fully woke himself up.

"I'd stay here the full three days, if I were you."

"Gramps?"

It left Galaggher's mouth from seemingly nowhere as he watched Ren get up from his temporary bed and stretch.

"I understand that being separated from your companion has likely left your heart full of impatience, but if you act rashly--Asterius will thrive off of your shortcomings."

"--," Ren fell silent for a moment before taking a deep breath, "...You're right."

Using the two and a half day's worth of time given to him within the safe haven, Ren used it to properly hone his senses and visualize Asterius.

"You really still remember how to use a sword and magic, Gramps?"

"Of course I do! As an adventurer, those very skills were carved into my flesh--well, soul! I just can't use magic anymore in the state that I am, but it's still in the noggin, lad!"

Galaggher tapped his finger against his skull, a hollow clunk emitting from the tapping. Standing there with his blade drawn, the old skeleton offered to give him lessons of his own regarding combat.

--Looking at him now, he doesn't look like much, but I can't deny...He was someone who managed to reach the third floor. In his prime, I bet he was someone on the level of an Argonaut. I better accept his guidance.

"Show me how you strike with your sword."

Under Galaggher's command, Ren nodded his head before extending his reinforcement over the steel of his blade--raising his arms before bringing the sword back down through the air, unleashing a small gust from the force unleashed.

"Not bad, not bad. It's not enough though, even for the Asterius of my day--a cut like that would only break its skin."

"Then what do I do? Heighten the output of mana into the blade?"

"You're thinking too broadly, lad. Consider what causes magic to thrive in this world--"restriction". With that in mind, what is the best option here?"

--The best option? "Restriction"?

Ren looked at his blade, running his eyes over the symbols inscribed onto it as he studied every nook and cranny of the sword--evaluating the very concept of a sword.

"Restriction.", he ran that word through his head over and over, thinking of what he could lose in order to sharpen the strength behind his weapon. Flipping the handle in his hand, he looked over the dull side of the blade--a switch then flipped in his head.

--That's it!

Coating his sword with magical energy once again, this time, he focused the extensive reinforcement primarily to the sharp edge of Belus. Rather than wasting power stretching out his mana across the surface of the blade and the dull side--it was all condensed to one side.

"You're a quick learner! Give it a nice swing!"

Galaggher praised the unexpectedly fast development from Ren, who in response swung his blade once more--the air parting as the sharpness of the blade cut through the space in front of Ren, leaving a temporary tinge of darkness.

"That felt...different. I could feel my sword parting the space in front of it. Thanks, Gramps!"

A smile formed across Ren's lips as he looked at Belus, watching the vapors of dark mana leave the blade.

For the next few hours, with nothing else to do but prepare for the trials ahead--Ren honed this new sharpened reinforcement, with each strike, he engrained this technique into his body.

"Dark magic though, eh? Can't say it fits your personality, lad."

"You think so? What's your affinity?"

"Can't recall."

Stopping for a moment to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his brow, it started to become natural to him--only concentrating his extended reinforcement to the edge of his blade.

"Tell me, do you possess an innate ability, lad?"

"Urr, I've been told I have the potential for it--but it hasn't really shown itself yet."

Ren answered him before starting his sword repetitions once more, getting into his stance before he began to strike at the air.

"Hmm...Well, if you're certain that you can unlock your innate ability--then that is your strongest asset. Although, telling you to focus on unlocking is easier said than done, it isn't exactly something you can specifically train for. It just happens."

"I gotcha."

Innate abilities were something frequently discussing the theory of magic, with all of that time spent watching the Outlanders with their abilities--he began to feel like a kid watching other children play with their brand new toys. In essence--he was envious.

--Seriously, I've died twice now, what more of an activation requirement do I need?

Another hour of sword swinging came before his empty stomach yearned for another meal in the form of a rumbling groan.

"How am I even hungry? I thought that wasn't a thing here…"

"You can't die of starvation, but you can still starve!"

Gallagher laughed before tossing a potato towards Ren, who gladly caught it and subsequently devoured it, nearly choking on it before it made its way to his stomach.

"—Araphel: Inverse Hand."

Practicing a spell which he had not yet mastered, an orb of darkness manifested between both of Ren's hands. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he gave his undivided attention to the sphere before a mass of darkness in the shape of a hand stretched forward from the orb.

The hand wiggled about, stretching its fingers out and clenching its fist before Ren released the spell, sending the conjured darkness into nothingness.

"Interesting. Doesn't seem very powerful, though."

Galaggher commented while watching the rookie train, laying on his side. Moving over to the storage of food placed in one corner of the room, Ren retrieved another light brown potato before biting into it.

"Not yet. I still haven't been able to grasp it very well."

Spending all of his waking time refining his magic and swordsmanship, Ren approached the final hour within the safe haven--faced once again with the prospect of being alone in the unforgiving depths of this trial.

"Any parting guidance? Advice?"

Ren adjusted his attire--tightening his gloves over his hands as well as his boots, adjusting the light leather armor that protected most of his body.

"As an old pile of bones without any inkling of his past, it's hard to justify giving you any real advice. However--just keep moving forward. The trial wants you to succumb to utter despair, to think what stands before you is an insurmountable mountain--it is not."

"--Right."

Ren nodded his head and stepped just before the doorway that led outside of the haven. There was no seal or door that blocked his path, only a slight distortion similar to heat waves that acted as a one-way exit.

--Once I step outside this door, there's no coming back.

Taking one last look at Galaggher, who gave him a thumbs up with his fleshless finger, Ren smiled and raised his foot--taking a step forward.