“Very well. The first test will focus on your mental strength. Best of luck.”

Riku was transported into a different dimension where an identical lookalike confronted him.

“What would you do for power?” it asked.

“I would sacrifice my soul to gain enough power to kill,” Riku said.

Without further ado, Riku’s mind flooded with images of what happened the past few days: he saw his parents killed trying to protect him, he saw the man who killed them laughed maniacally as he watched his parents burn, all the while feeling their pain. As tears streamed from his face, Riku screamed and apologized repeatedly for every one of the deaths that he indirectly caused with all the scenes accumulating towards the death of Yelmin. Riku experienced the shock and terror that Yelmin felt in his last moments and passed out. He awoke to see his lookalike staring at him amused.

“I am you; we share all our experiences. By forcing pain upon you, I tested your mental strength to see if you would break under torture, but it seems your lust for vengeance has become our identity and what keeps us sane. You have passed.”

Riku was transported back to the cavern where he was told, “Congratulations on passing the first trial. If you choose to stop, you will be given some valuable treasures, which if sold, you would be able to live a life full of leisure and satisfaction. To continue would be to risk death.”

“I continue.”

With that, a sword appeared in front of him. Confused, Riku looked around and saw nothing else around him. He grabbed the hilt of the sword and a swordsman appeared and charged straight at him.

Riku raised the sword and blocked the first slash. He dodged the second slash and got maimed in the leg by the third slash. Experiencing the icy cold touch of steel on his leg brought Riku back to reality. Hobbling on one leg, Riku jumped to the wall to steady himself. He brought the sword up in a futile attempt to avoid being stabbed. His leg healed, so he kicked out at the swordsman to create room. Riku bull rushed the swordsman to catch him off guard. He tripped. The swordsman sauntered over and raised the sword over his head and swung down. Riku felt the incoming danger and something flowed through his body and screamed out, “NO!”

The swordsman was blown away and crashed into the wall, head lolling to the side. Riku grabbed his sword and gingerly used it as a cane to lift his battered body up. He limped towards the swordsman and stabbed him through the heart with it and watched the body slowly dissipate.

“Congratulations on successfully passing the first two trials. If you decide to back out now, you will be given skill books to practice. If you were to practice these, you would be able to discover the true nature of your abilities and be able to harness them in some capacity. To continue would be guaranteed death. No one has ever passed the third trial.”

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“I have come this far. I will not be turned away by death. If I die, I want to be able to face my friends and family with dignity.”

“The third and final test is one of potential. Place your hand on the rock in the center of the circle.”

Clueless, Riku reached out and touched the rock. Nothing happened. Depressed, Riku slowly took his hand off the rock. When he moved his hand off, there was an inscription on the rock. It said G1.

“You have passed the third trial. Your potential is limitless. As a reward, you will be given the opportunity to become the disciple of one or both of these two legendary figures depending on whether or not the weapons choose you as their owner. Go forth and select one weapon at a time. You only get once chance each. If both reject you, you will die.”

Riku reached out to grab the staff. As his fingers came close, he felt some tingling and resistance and then the staff drifted five feet away from him. Riku chased after the staff, but every time he came close, the staff eluded him.

“Youngling, I will give you some advice. These weapons are sentient beings who will not accept just any master. You must prove to them that you are worthy. You have the power to bend both to your will; however, it’s sad that you don’t know how to activate your abilities.”

Upon hearing this, Riku changed his method of attack. He attempted to harness the power he exhibited earlier. He plopped down searched within himself to see where his power was hidden.

Upon not finding a conduct for power within his body, Riku gave up and attempted to bind the staff using brute force. As he got up, Riku a warm current passed through his body. He moved his arm and pointed it at the staff. An invisible force shot out and fought with the staff; trying to subdue it.

After some time, Riku became fatigued and realized that his becoming weaker was due to his power taking energy from his body. He knew he had to wrap this up fast. If he passed out, he failed. Summoning his remaining energy, Riku condensed everything he had for one final shot.

His surroundings warped and popped. Riku was thrown unceremoniously against the cave wall and fell to the ground. The last thing he remembered before he blacked out was a flash of white light and two weapons shooting straight at him.

“Ugh!” Riku said when he woke up. He slowly moved all the parts of his body to make sure nothing was injured. Groaning, he reached towards the wall to prop himself up. After making sure he was comfortable, Riku looked up and saw the sword and staff lying on the ground in front of him.

He reached out, touched the spear, and flinched. A wealth of information regarding magic and summoning flowed into his mind. To test out his newfound knowledge of magic, Riku snapped his fingers and a spark flew out. His vision blurred as his head throbbed. It was difficult to keep his eyes open.

Curious about whether a similar thing would happen if he touched the sword, Riku grabbed it. Tons of information regarding sword art and footwork rushed into his brain, overwhelming him.

“You have inherited the legacies of both heroes. I am so happy to have saved up enough energy and witnessed the birth of another overlord, who has the potential to shape the world. With my remaining energies, I will help solidify your foundation and teach you some basic concepts.”

“…”

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Riku, the energy blast he released was sensed by mages all over the world. They knew they sensed the birth of a new overlord; one who could change the world if he wanted to.

Sleeping in a castle halfway around the world, Mazark stirred and said, “Not only did the boy manage to survive, but he also picked up some very fun weapons for me to play with when I kill him.”

“Milord, you awoke?” His butler peeped into the room.

“Yes, you halfwit. I am awake. Now go outside, gather my men, and send them to the continent of Asther. Tell them to find the boy and bring him to me, unharmed.”

“It shall be done.”