“…Are you really sure that you want to figure this out on your own?” Yuri said, with a hint of amusement leaking into her voice. On purpose, of course. She may act more restrained than Cecilia on the surface, but Alnea knew just how much she liked teasing him. Just as how he liked teasing her. But not at the moment.

“I am sure,” Alnea said, as he went through the instructions of the of the Aspect Trials—glowing on the blood red curtain on light in the darkness of the Trial Space— one by one. “The clues that you two have given me are enough.”

“…Are you still angry about what I said earlier?”

“…I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“…Sometimes, you can be even more childish than Cecilia.”

“…I will tell Lia that you were calling her childish.”

“…Do you not believe in me?”

“…This is different.”

“It is not.”

“…Forget it. Even if you tell me about your experience, it is not going to help me much. Breaking ten city wide records in a row… Is this what humans can do?”

“I thought you were happy that we broke so many records.”

“I am… But that does not stop me from complaining.”

“You were the one who asked us to complete the Trials first.”

“I did… But I did not expect both of you to break so many city wide records. And neither did I expect the Aspect Trials to be so perverted. Leaving other things aside, what is with the request of manipulating Aspects without using any Martial Styles? Is that really something that False Wanderers can do?”

“…I have seen you manipulating your Aspects without using any Martial Styles.”

“…My case is a little different. And even I cannot perfectly manipulate my Aspects without the guidance of Martial Styles. Rather, that was what Martial Styles were made for in the first place. To make better use of our Aspects. Did the people who designed the Trials had some problem in their heads?”

“What, are you regretting your decision now?”

“…Can I not even complain now?” Alnea grumbled, as he read the instructions for the third time over, ensuring that he did not miss even the most trivial of details. It was not that he did not trust what Cecilia and Yuri had told him. If need be, he could trust them with even his life, let alone some Trials. Still, being cautious was not going to hurt him. Especially since breaking the records was going to be a little more difficult for him than it was for the girls.

“…Alright, alright. Calm down. You can complain all you want later. For now, focus on the Trials.”

“…This is going to be so tiring.”

“Have you decided which part of the Trial are you going to focus on?”

“…You broke the records in speed, and Lia broke the records in strength. What else can I do except go for the skills?”

“…That’s a nice way of classifying the three records.”

“Isn’t it? See, I am so good at naming things. So, how about letting me name the team?”

“…Just focus on completing your Trials. And don’t make us wait for too long.”

“Stingy,” Alnea said, clicking his tongue in pity, as he moved his finger on the blood red curtain of light in front of him to begin the Trial. “Wish me luck.”

“…May Goddess Ilea be with you and guide you on your way.”

As long as he had her smile with him, there was nothing else he needed. Not even the Goddess’ blessings. Or at least that was what he was feeling at the moment. He did not voice out his feelings though. He had no wish of embarrassing just before starting his Trials. And he did not wish for things to become awkward either. He may have become a little shameless lately, but he was still not shameless enough to flirt so blatantly.

“Defeat a first level Initial Stage Blood Shadow.”

“Powers outside of the path of Warriors are forbidden.”

“Usage of Martial Styles is forbidden.”

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“Usage of weapons, other than those formed by your Aspects, is forbidden.”

“You can use only one Aspect.”

“Using more than one Aspect will disqualify you from the trial.”

“Perfect clearance condition: Defeating the Blood Shadow without getting injured.”

“Record one: Defeating the Blood Shadow in one second.”

“Record two: Defeating the Blood Shadow in one move.”

“Record three: Defeating the Blood Shadow without using any Aspects.”

…As he had expected. After Yuri’s inhuman display, none of the three records could be broken in the first Trial.

“Your Trial will begin at the count of sixty.”

Defeating the Blood Shadow in one move…

“…Ten.”

Defeating the Blood Shadow without any Aspects…

“Nine.”

How was he supposed to break those records?

“Eight.”

Forget it.

“Seven.”

Worst case scenario, he would be the same as Cecilia.

“Six.”

Breaking just nine city wide records.

“Five.”

That would still earn him a total of ten Warrior Tokens.

“Four.”

Counting the tokens that he had earned the day before, he would have the same number of Warrior Tokens as Yuri.

“Three.”

Even if his situation was bad, at least it was better than Cecilia’s.

“Two.”

But only if he managed to complete the Trials with perfection.

“One.”

So, when Alnea saw the curtain of light shattering into tiny pieces, dissipating into his surroundings, and a bright white light erupting from the darkness, dying the world in its colour, he suppressed all of his thoughts to the bottom of his Heart, readying himself for what he was about to face. A blood red figure with no apparent features. A man with no eyes, nose, mouth, or ears. A Blood Shadow. Except, it was not just a Blood Shadow. It was a Blood Shadow that could use Aspects.

Just like with the Martial Style Trials, what was being tested in the Aspect Trials was his command over his Aspects. Going by that logic, he could understand why the Trials had been designed so. After all, only if he could command his Aspects without the help of Martial Styles created by other Wanderers would he be able to create his own Martial Style. And only when he fought other Wanderers using just pure Aspects, would he be able to better understand where he lacked.

On second thought, the Trials were more like personalised guidance from higher ranked Wanderers. One of the many hidden benefits of the Lost City. No wonder those people on the streets, even when being reduced to a wretched state, kept on striving for a ray of hope to extend their stay in the city. Even if it meant risking their lives and bearing a certain amount of humiliation. In the face of their future, in the face of the probability to being promoted to True Wanderers, and maybe even Mystic Wanderers, who would not be willing to risk it all?

Fortunately, with his strength, an Initial Stage Blood Shadow, especially one at just the first level, did not pose too much of a threat. Still, he could not afford to be careless. Even if he could not break a record in the first trial, he could at least try to do his best. Making up his mind in the time it took for the Blood Shadow to take a solid form, Alnea urged his Aspect, the very first one he had tamed, to surge out of his body.

A golden shell, with a black core… It was the Aspect that revealed the colour of his Heart. It was the Aspect that had promised to become his sword and help him protect his Heart. Protect the people he loved. Even if the Blood Shadow was not threatening those people, by becoming his enemy, the Blood Shadow had already offended the Aspect. Roaring in defiance, and indignance, the Aspect—

Alnea reigned in his Aspect before it could run out of his control, and rush towards his enemy. Without the help of his sword, commanding the Aspect to taken on a stable form was harder than he had thought it would be. Lacking a central concept to command his Aspect did not help either. In the end, despite all his effort, all that the Aspect could form was a thick stick, with no sharp edges…

Forget it, Alnea thought. It was, what it was. Gripping the stick as if it was a sword, his sword, he leaned forward, and used gravity to help himself launch towards his enemy, slashing his sword at the Blood Shadow just before they met in a way that made it seem as if he was unsheathing his sword. The Blood Shadow was not just standing still though.

In time that Alnea coalesced his Aspect into his sword, and rushed towards the Blood Shadow, the Blood Shadow itself successfully urged his Aspect to form a sword of its own. It was as if the Trial Space knew that he would be using a sword Aspect… Or maybe, it just copied his Aspect the moment it surged out of his body. It did have a strikingly similar contrast—a blood red outer shell, with a black core.

Even if the Aspect was copied though, the Blood Shadow used the Aspect much more easily than Alnea. At the very least, it did not face any problems in shaping its Aspect into the form a sword—a true sword, with sharp edges, and an even sharper tip— in the fraction of a moment and placing it directly in the path that Alnea was taking to reach the Blood Shadow.

Facing the blood red tip of the sword coming closer, and closer to his head, for a moment, Alnea wondered what would happen if he let himself get stabbed by the sword. Would the trial space ensure his safety? Or would it heal him after he was defeated? Could such a wound even be healed in the first place? Maybe, the trial space itself was not real. Maybe, it was just a virtual space, like the ‘Mirror World’. Maybe…

Alnea, with no intention to confirm his errant thoughts, suppressed them into the depths of his Heart before they could interfere with the control of his Aspect. At the same time, he also slowed down his steps by a beat while shifting his body, tilting it towards his right just enough for the Blood Shadow’s sword to pass below his left shoulders. It made his own sword’s arc miss the Blood Shadow by half an inch, but that was enough.

Timing his step perfectly, Alnea took a step forward when the arc of his sword reached the Blood Shadow’s chest, piercing its Heart in the next moment. Just to be sure, he gave his sword a little twist, completely crushing the Blood Shadow’s Heart before it could make a counterattack. He was far too close to the Blood Shadow’s sword after all. A slight misstep or carelessness was enough to ruin his chance of a perfect clearance.

Thankfully, the Blood Shadow was not too persistent in staying alive. Or maybe the injury was just too fatal. In any case, blood Shadow soon shattered into countless tiny shards of blood red light, before dissipating back into the white world just moments after it had taken form, prompting the trial space to bring him back to the black, dark world.