For Malum to be condensed, for one’s very self to be compressed, they needed a direction. For what reason would someone go so far as to fully commit to becoming their selves for? Power? Wealth? Influence?

A Combat Technique gave them the very direction they needed to seek. Aimlessly striving for a goal without even knowing what it was, was complete foolishness.

Arin has not fully learned any Combat Technique at all for one simple reason. It would influence him in one way or another. This was the same reason why second-hand Fragments weren’t even reaching his eyes. Another person’s Malum would’ve left some kind of mark behind, subtly changing something.

Despite having Perfect Affinity, it could not deflect all sense of influence on him at all. Arin was still susceptible to the influence that he willingly subjected himself to. Anything drastic that overhauled his very identity was what was blocked.

Although this small influence didn’t seem that vital, this statement was true later on when Arin had solidified who he was. As a novice, he could still be influenced by a lot of things.

Refraining from anything that could prevent him from becoming who he wished to be was a major point that he needed to be wary of. Arin tried his best to make sure that he became someone that his heart told him to. Someone free from the restrictions of the world.

Comparing the strength of the three Combat Techniques he had some contact with, there was no doubt that Fiona’s Combat Technique was the greatest out of all of them. If it was anyone else other than Arin, they would’ve tried to mimic Fiona’s Combat Technique first since it was objectively the strongest.

Arin, instead, took another approach to this. Which Combat Technique paved the way to becoming someone that was free of the rules of the world? Fiona’s Combat Technique was strong but it restricted them to be pure, something that was limiting.

The next Combat Technique that came to mind was the city’s Combat Technique, Culled Future. This was an extremely flexible Combat Technique that had given people the ability to derive even more personal directions from it. Such as Rion’s Culled Future: Faune, letting him control plants at the cost of his vitality.

Paying a price for freedom seemed like what Arin was looking for yet this actually conflicted with what he desired. If he had to pay a price then was he really free? He looked at the very next Combat Technique that he had gotten in contact with, Fluttering Shadow.

To be free to move as you wish, to be unfettered by the light, to show what is false as true. This was the surface-level observation Arin had arrived at with his brief contact with this Combat Technique.

Inherently, this Combat Technique was quite terrifying, to be able to create fake shadows without Malum meant that it when Malum was used, these fakes would no longer be fakes. The power behind this was no doubt, overbearing. Too bad she couldn’t use Malum back then.

With a target in mind, Arin sighed, the most promising Combat Technique was the one that he had the least amount of interaction with. With only a brief moment of contact, there was no reasonable way for Arin to perfectly mimic this Combat Technique.

Even so, he had to try or die trying.

He didn’t know the basics of what a Combat Technique even was, only what it could do. He was going in completely blind without any relevant information to go on about with. With a goal in mind, he tried to use his Malum to create an illusionary shadow.

At first, he was making some progress, but there was a dark spot that was starting to form as he was reaching his goal when an expected accident occurred. The illusionary shadow he created suddenly dissipated, causing all his efforts to dwindle to nothingness.

He had wasted thirty minutes.

Normally this amount of time wouldn’t have been anything but in such a dire scenario, every second counted. His body had already reached the limits of the human body, this meant that the efficiency at which his body used energy was nearing perfection. This gave him a total of four days without any food or water to survive on.

Arin quickly regained his calm, he didn’t expect to succeed in his first attempt. Trying another approach, he pushed once again. Another accident occurred as everything took a much more drastic effect on his body.

Arin had decided to actively use Malum on his shadow, forcing it to have some kind of reaction. As he was pouring in more and more Malum, there was some kind of effect as a small mound appeared on top of his shadow.

Unfortunately, this small mound suddenly burst apart, causing Arin to suffer some backlash. His entire body felt the impact, sending him flying back. Even the mantle he had worn didn’t stop this. As much pain as he was in, there was something much more agonizing to him.

This time, he had wasted an entire hour.

He had wasted so much time for nothing. Knowing that this was to be expected and actually experiencing it were two completely different things. He had decided to try a much more dramatic course of action, he had no time to meticulously try every single approach at once.

So the solution to this problem? He was going to try everything at once.

A completely stupid and self-destructive move but the only one that he could think of. If he had no time to waste then he was going all in at the very beginning. So what if his body bore the impact? He was good as dead if he didn’t get a Combat Technique at all.

One failed attempt after another finally caused Arin a nearly dangerous attack. His organs felt as if they had been hit with a sledgehammer, again and again for the past hour. His entire body was screaming out to stop his madness yet he couldn’t stop. If he wasted any time then he would lose his life.

An hour had passed, and Arin was groveling as he sent out his arm, still attempting to mimic the Combat Technique. Everything he did caused his harm yet at the same time, gave him valuable information on which approach worked the best.

Four hours had passed. At this point, even Arin couldn’t hold in the stress anymore. He wailed as he pushed on, the guttural screams of a man feeling the backlash of numerous failed attempts was echoing within this barren prison.

Nine hours had passed. Arin was barely conscious. The agony he had undergone was starting to be far too much for him to handle. He felt his eyelids turn heavy, it seemed like an extremely good idea at this point.

As he lay on the floor with blood splatters filling the ground all around him, the idea of rest was starting to become more and more willing. The dizziness of losing so much blood was finally catching up to him until… he bit his lips until he bled.

This sudden influx of pain woke him up from his stupor.

“I can’t fall asleep right now! Not before I find success!” Arin pulled himself up and continued his experiments.”

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

It had been a total of 24 hours since he had entered at this point. Kian was firmly standing before the menacing Sephirah Bind-level Trial door with a deadpan look on his face. He was counting the time his son had spent inside. Right behind him were his slaves, hoping that Arin would similarly return for the wrong reasons.

For the mental and physical anguish Arin had suffered throughout this entire time, how much progress had he made? A small blob.

That was it. A small blob that he could control. It couldn’t attack nor could it further compress his Malum to the next level. It was just a small party trick at this point. Arin had toiled and suffered for so much yet only made this much progress.

“What’s… this isn’t anything at all! Useless!” It had finally dawned on Arin just how terrifyingly difficult it was to create a Combat Technique. Throughout his experiments, there were a few aspects that he had learned were extremely vital in the creation of a Combat Technique.

The very first aspect was the purpose. What did the Combat Technique do or wish to achieve? For what reason was it created? Does his Malum reflect the purpose of this Combat Technique?

The second part was the flow of Malum. The affinity of what he needed it to do and the power behind it. The amount of power needed in order to give the Combat Technique the ability to do what it needed to do.

The very last segment that he needed to understand and was the most difficult was stability. Malum might be omnipotent, able to will everything, influence everything, create everything, and destroy everything but it didn’t mean that the user was just as strong. It entirely relied on the user’s understanding and influence.

And as it currently stands, Arin didn’t have either. With no direction, no help, and no references, it was essentially the same as trying to be as terrifying as the founder of Combat Techniques. He needed to strive for it by himself.

As he had managed to create this small blob, he could control where it went but that was the extent of it. There was no concept behind it that could be tangibly used. It was a mere object to be played with.

He was unable to make any further progress at all. He had met a bottleneck.

Feeling stifled, he rashly threw away everything away. He had to put down his pride and ignore the future for what he had right now. He had to choose a Combat Technique that he had more familiarity with. Since he had seen them use Malum, it would greatly aid him in mimicking it.

Between the two Combat Techniques, as odd as it sounded, Fiona’s Pure Maiden was more applicable. This was for one simple reason, he hadn’t personally faced someone who used Culled Future with Malum. He had seen them use it with Malum yet they had never fought.

The exact battle… exact humiliation played in Arin’s mind. He had been completely pulverized without any way of fighting back at all. He had been playing around without any ability to face her attacks at all. He had tried his very best yet he was only able to get beaten down.

All acts of retaliation were futile. If not for Fiona foolishly retracting her shield then he wouldn’t have been able to get so close to her.

As Arin had Fiona’s disgusting Malum coursing through him, he had managed to gain somewhat of an introspective understanding of what the characteristics of her Malum had. It had a firm and steady characteristic to it, unwavering and unbending. To purely go for her goal without backing down at all.

As foolishly as Fiona acted, her Malum reflected that it was strong enough to force Arin’s murderous tendencies down. This helped Arin further understand just what he needed to do.

With more of an understanding of how Combat Techniques worked and a basic understanding of Fiona’s Malum, he had made much more progress than before. He initially tried to form the barrier that Fiona had erected when they fought yet with only a few attempts, he quickly stopped.

As little and as careful as Arin was, his skin was a mess. It had been torn apart bit by bit, with even some segments being completely ripped off. He could feel the stinging pain of the mellow surroundings assaulting his senses. Such an agonizing pain was the consequence of pushing the limits of his understanding.

To learn is to be pained. He had no way to heal himself at this point. Which meant that for the rest of his days inside this Sephirah Bind-level Trial, he would suffer this sensation. Stopping was only the logical conclusion.

Placing his attention on a different approach, he had recalled that Fiona’s meek and shy attitude turned cold and calculative. It was as if she had turned into a completely different person. This seemed to be a much safer approach than trying to mimic Fiona’s barrier.

Continuing on with his attempts, Arin quickly figured out that this approach was much easier. He had quickly managed to form a basic understanding of this. He noted that his Perfect Affinity had greatly helped out with this approach.

Arin quickly formed a black blob from his shadow using Malum. It moved around as he willed, without any resistance at all. He injected his newfound understanding of the will and created a semi-sentient being.

It still relied on him for commands yet he didn’t need to actively maneuver it. If he gave it an order then it would do so. Unfortunately, it could only do basic commands, unable to do anything too complicated or long.

Even more unfortunate for Arin was the fact that he had also met with a blockade. He couldn’t progress any further. He didn’t know whether it was his Perfect Affinity blocking the progress or it was another reason. There were just far too many things he didn’t understand.

As Arin was testing out what he had learned, something unexpected happened. As it turns out, Fiona passing out back then wasn’t a coincidence at all. Placing a will inside something requires a tremendous amount of mental power. For Arin who was cold, hungry, and sleep-deprived to be able to get this far spoke volumes of his capabilities.

This time, he truly was unable to push himself anymore. Against everything he tried to do, his body has shut down. The Mantle of the Damned suddenly sprouted out, creating the shadows of many menacing devilish figures around him. If it was the time to attack then it would be now.

Devilish whispers of murderers and the chaotic murmurs of the numerous bodies contained within it desired to make their move. Numerous crimson protrusions appeared all around his body, seemingly consuming something within it. As it did so, a small dome covered Arin’s body, protecting it.

This was Arin’s Fragment reacting to the situation. It was using Arin’s Malum to form some sort of safety net around him. Completely contrary to one’s expectations, this cursed item was actually protecting Arin’s body.

Time passed…

Outside the Sephirah Bind-level Trial, Kian had similarly stood outside with a determined look on his face. He didn’t make another move other than to stand firmly before it. If Arin died then his body would be spewed out or if Arin had managed to overcome an extremely overbearing difficult Trial his body would be there barely surviving.

Either way, he made sure that he was the very person that met his son. Whatever happened, he wanted to meet him first.

“Master Kian… please have something to eat first.” One of the Overlords came to Kian’s side respectfully. It was no joke to say that every one of Kian’s words could force the very situation in the City of Sin to change. With one word, he could launch numerous terrifying Seal Solvers to wreck everything.

“Was there anything edible inside?” Kian merely asked in a bland tone.

“I… There wasn’t…” As an Overlord, he was privy to some matters that the public may not know of.

“Then did he bring anything to eat inside?” Kian was firm in his decision.

“He wouldn’t bring anything he didn’t think he would.” The Overlord sighed, understanding what Kian was implying. “I’ll tell everyone else to stop bothering you, Master Kian.” He bowed his head before meeting up with everyone else.

Kian wouldn’t dare eat if his son couldn’t. What kind of father would enjoy himself with lavish food while his son was starving to death? Kian gripped his fists enough to draw blood. He continued waiting…

“It’s already been three days… Where are you Arin? Come back home.” Kian’s Malum subconsciously spread out. It took all of the Overlords working together to stop it from affecting the underground city. The situation was turning out more and more dire.

Inside, Arin weakly opened his eyes to see that nothing had changed except for the fact that the blood on the ground had already dried up. His entire body was crying out for water. His lips couldn’t even produce any saliva for him, it had completely dried up.

Even so, he didn’t have the luxury to think about this at all. He still had to push forward, attempting the very last Combat Technique, Culled Future. This was the worst option for him yet at the same time, the only saving grace he had left.

His skinned body had been subjected to air for far too long, causing it to crust up. Even slightly moving caused these wounds to open back up, stinging his entire body one more time. The dangers of haphazardly trying to create a Combat Technique were clear to see.

Arin couldn’t even muster the strength to stand straight but he had to. It wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when. Faltering now would render all of his previous efforts null.

Arin tried to mimic the Combat Technique, Culled Future. The main concept of this was sacrificing yourself for power. This was the most self-destructive thing Arin could do. To even attempt it meant that he would need to sacrifice something and even then it wouldn’t necessarily work. It might even cause a backlash that would further pain him.

“I’ve gone too far… Even if I can’t stand still… I’ll go down swinging!” Arin rushed in once more.