Chapter 185 - 185)Who Was It?

"My Lord....is there any specific reason we're here?" Shade asked as he looked around at the new environment. Cheers, sounds of running and market chatter, salesmen and women trying their best to gather everyone's attention, the smell of fire grew with every strike of the blacksmith's hammer resounding in the air.

"Oh you've never been here, right? I'm sure you've heard of the Kingdom of Aeternum, it's nothing too much but yes. Unfortunately, it's unofficially under the Imperial Kingdom so it kinda sucks. Anyway, I'm here to test myself and check up on a place....." Night replied as he looked at the spot where Hermes once stood in his disguise.

This was where everything began, the first time he fell down and 'cursed' himself further for having stupid luck. The first time he met Hermes after saving his staff, and of course, the first time he met his senior, Blade.

Just being in or around something that was related to Neo Thallius or the Imperial Kingdom enraged him, but he had to put those feelings aside and use them as fuel to continue training and growing. Regardless of who stops him or stands in his way, Night's only promise to himself was to continue growing strong enough to walk through anything and anyone.

"Let's go," Night said in a solemn tone as he walked towards a very important place, the dojo where he had first met Blade. After walking for a few minutes, both of them finally appeared in front of the building. Night's eyes teared up, they were burning, darkness slipped from his fists as he gripped them, the ground right underneath him slightly trembled with every drop of darkness that fell. His subject instinctively backed away in fear. 

The dojo was completely in shambles, even more so than it originally was. And right outside, in huge letters, were the words, "This you?" etched onto the wall with what looked like a weapon. The pillars were broken down and scattered all across the front entrance.

"..." Night simply continued moving forwards as he recalled the memories from when he was first here. As soon as he entered he looked to the right, the small corner that could hide anyone, it was where Blade was when he held a dagger to Night's throat. 

'Who sent you?' Blade's voice resounded in his head. Back then, his senior sounded scary, at least compared to how he would usually sound. And as soon as Night mentioned what he was doing here, all seriousness was immediately dropped, and instantly, Blade became the helpful senior everyone wished they had.

His footsteps echoed in the broken-down building and in the centre of the building were broken down dummies that they once used to train weapon aura. Out of all the ones there, a single dummy caught Night's eye. The dummy was completely intact, other than a huge hole in its chest region.

"..."

Every time he came across something that Neo did, his memories would automatically kick in. This was where Blade first explained to him the importance and usage of weapon aura, although if he was being honest, he still didn't know too much about weapon aura and Umbrakinesis.

'You can start off by trying to cut one of these training dummies and after that, we proceed to the giant stone. Our master doesn't take slacking off well, if he notices that you haven't progressed to the giant stone within 2 months he might oust you'

"Hah," Night let out a suppressed laugh as he remembered how Blade promised that he would be Night's servant if he somehow managed to cut even a single dummy within a month's time. He had two months to move onto the giant stone, otherwise, he would've been kicked out by Noel. It was funny to him, Night managed to completely learn the usage of weapon aura in just a short span of time, shattering the impressive record of his master, Noel.

He moved aside some of the tables and equipment thrown around and went into the chamber where Nate and he had first meditated, it was a game-changing twelve hours for both of them. If Blade hadn't thought of it, then there was no way Night would be who he was today.

Even though Neo was capable of destroying the entire building with one attack, it looked like there was one part that remained the same as always. And that was the walls in the meditation chambers. The deep scratches were still prominent, Night touched the marks and looked at the area where he had left his mark.

'Let's just say it was our ancestor's attempts to try and damage the wall with just their weapon aura'

It seemed as though there was nothing other than weapon aura that could damage the wall, even then, it would have to be extremely potent and strong. How much had he grown? Night couldn't help but think of that when he looked at his own shallow marks, at least compared to the others that's how it seemed.

"Is that so Senior Blade?" Night questioned as he closed his eyes and concentrated. Flashes, visions, memories, everything went by in a single second, the darkness in him continued to increase at a maddening speed.

'Using Pure Darkness isn't cheating right?'

Thick black ooze and clouds floated all around him, however, he didn't stop there, he continued producing pure darkness until he nearly ran out of mana. The entire room was filled with a thick dark substance. 

*DHAAAMMM*

A whip of pure darkness shot out his body and crashed into the walls, leaving marks deeper than those left by the ancestors and everyone else who had tried. The second he did that, he heard a loud sound that shocked his entire existence.

*Ding*

[You have triggered the memories of the ancestors!]

[You are undergoing extreme mental pressure!]

[Mental pressure alleviated!]

[You are undergoing extreme mental pressure!]

[Mental pressure alleviated!]

[You are undergoing extreme mental pressure!]

[Mental pressure alleviated!]

"Urh....." Night's world was spinning around at a rapid pace. He had no idea what caused the sudden change, even if he wanted to think, as he was at the moment, Night couldn't. He was in a state where he could barely fathom the world.

"And who allowed you to surpass us?"