This is a story that goes back to a time when the fruits of chaos are still being formed, the cruel fates yet to be revealed.

In another volume of his journey through the Underworld, the “Adam’s Heir” will fight memorable battles and meet people who might have the answers he is looking for.

Origins, convictions, and duties. Everything will be put to the test once more.

Underworld Level -2, Restricted Block

Lied rested for thirty minutes after fighting against Zaccharias. The boy was not feeling down for losing the battle, because he knew it was not realistic to be able to defeat a user with 100% SSL so soon.

“Hey, why are you guys still in Mictlan? Shouldn’t you have reincarnated by now?” Lied looked at the talking crow, who was adjusting his hat, and at Mare.

“That’s because we… still have our regrets” the aztec girl smiled with a broken heart.

“Regrets…” the human murmured.

“Eight years ago, I fought Nachash and lost.”

Lied was reminded of what the crow told him during their fight. Was that really Zaccharias’ deep regret? What about Mare? Now that he had obtained the power of the spirit, the human felt like he was getting a little closer to understanding everything and everyone, but he was also aware that there was still a long way to go.

“How are you feeling, Lied?” the talking crow asked him.

“Good, I don’t feel pain anymore” the young man nodded and replied.

“Great. We can start training then.”

“What are we going to do?”

“First I’d like to get back to the foundations. Activate your Spirit Mode.”

Lied obeyed him as his eyes turned white and his body was surrounded by a mystical aura. The swinging cross popped up on his right wrist.

“Have you ever done meditation?” the crow asked.

“No” the teenager shook his head and replied.

“There’s a first time for everything. Sit down, close your eyes and feel your surroundings.”

The boy sat in lotus pose and used the Sensitivity property. The results were almost instantaneous.

“There’s two different pranas…” Lied said.

“It’s me and Mare. Spiritual flows usually vary from person to person, so it’s easy to know who’s who. I want you to stay like that for ten minutes” Zaccharias said.

Lied meditated without losing focus. When he finished his first task, the talking crow asked him to keep his eyes closed.

“I’ll be shooting you with spiritual energy blasts for the next five minutes. You’re going to try predicting and therefore dodging them” the teacher said.

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Both his Sensitivity and his Visibility were not good enough. Either way, Zaccharias’ goal was not for him to be able to handle the crow’s attacks, but rather to improve his fundamentals, that is, the underlying basis of fighting with the spirit: the main properties.

Time flew by and Lied was getting tired of kneeling. Fortunately, the talking crow’s next order was for him to get up from the ground. The crow told him to summon his sword afterwards. The Anima Sancta appeared in his right hand as he gripped it firmly.

“A truly unique blade, better than any I have ever seen. That’s precisely why you must learn not to rely on it” the teacher was saying “Your fighting style is too predictable. It may have worked against that Animus, but the Spirit Mode users you will encounter from now on all have their own specialties and most likely more experience than you.”

“Not rely on the Anima Sancta…” the student said and swallowed his saliva as he made his sword disappear.

“The best way is to obtain more weapons. Remember the attack I used in our fight? I’ll teach you it.”

Zaccharias previously described it as a “basic, yet very effective technique if used at the right time”. The truth is that anything would serve to expand his arsenal. The talking crow wished to demonstrate the technique once more before teaching it to him through a step-by-step training procedure. Lied joined Mare as the two of them watched his demo.

The crow gathered prana into one of its wings. Then, the mass of spiritual energy took on a wavy shape resembling a sea wave. Lastly, he fired at a wall with a bang.

“This is the ‘Unda’” the teacher said.

After watching Zaccharias’ impressive demonstration, Lied was eager to learn the Unda and get stronger. Mare gave words of encouragement to him before they started training.

“While I said that the Unda is an elementary technique, it doesn’t mean it’s easy to learn, especially for a beginner” the talking crow was saying “When you fought the jaguars, you managed to summon a great deal of energy. To do this, you unconsciously used the Expandability property, necessary to make the Unda. For the first step, start by remembering that very same feeling.”

The young man listened carefully. Prana gradually surrounded Lied as he replicated what he did earlier to pass the second trial. He built up a considerable amount of spiritual energy in just a few seconds.

“Good. Now focus the prana into your right hand. Don’t unleash everything this time, just a little” the crow said.

Lied channeled some of his spiritual energy into his right hand and then tried stabilizing it in his palm. However, this proved to be difficult, as he could not properly control the prana.

“Your spiritual flow is unstable” Zaccharias said.

The lad took a deep breath and repeated the same procedure as he nailed it to the satisfaction of the talking crow. Everything was going well. Mare watched nervously.

“Second step: give a form to the energy by using Expandability. The shape is that of a wave” the crow explained.

The teenager closed his eyes and pushed his imagination to the limit.

“Imagine it. Yeah… like the ocean waves on that day…” Lied thought.

To better picture it in his mind, he recalled the warm sun and the calm sea on a summer day spent with his late parents six years ago. After multiple failed attempts, the prana finally got a wavy shape. Mare’s mouth fell open in a gape of astonishment.

“That’s it!” Zaccharias nodded and said “Lastly, fire!”

Lied stuck his right foot in the ground as he prepared to shoot at the wall that the talking crow hit earlier. However, it was at that moment that, to his dismay, the wave faded away.

“You need to maintain control” the crow said.

The Unda training began a little over ten minutes ago and sweat was already running down Lied’s face. This was nothing to be surprised about, since he was not yet used to this type of intense practice, which required high levels of stamina.

“Don’t overstrain yourself, Lied. You can rest for a bit” the teacher suggested.

“I’m fine. Let’s continue” the student said.

The lad knew there was no time to waste. They carried on with his training as twenty minutes passed in an instant. Never before did Lied try so hard and his dedication would surely bear fruit.

“Alright, show me what you’ve learned” Zaccharias said and moved away from him.

“First step: remembering how I felt at that time…” the human thought.

He recalled the time he released all his spiritual energy in order to utterly destroy the bloody river and pass the second trial. Then, the boy calculated the amount of energy needed and channeled it into his right hand.

“Second step: shaping the prana…”

Lied remembered the ocean waves he had seen with his parents. The nostalgic memory slowly gave shape to the spiritual energy as he stabilized it in his palm.

“Third step…!”

He fired the Unda as the result went far beyond the talking crow’s expectations.

[END OF CHAPTER]