"This is...the 'Origin of Life'!"

The pure white world was dead silent, and there was nothing to indicate the difference between left and right. Utilizing his 'Mana Sense', Asura could sense that the pure white world was densely filled with mana, as if the air was composed of mana alone.

"Next step is..."

Asura got into a cross-legged sitting position, placing both his hands on his knee caps and fell into a deep meditative state.

After what felt like an hour, the area right in front of him warped, as if the mana was taking shape in the form of a human. However, the forming process was extremely slow. Starting from the ground up, leg muscle tissues and bones were starting to appear, followed by the upper body, where all sorts of body organs were being formed. Finally, the body was almost completely formed at the head, forming the face and brain.

Soon, the process was finally completed. Opening his eyes, Asura could see himself standing right in front of him. A clone. To his surprise, he found that he could easily control the clone's movements, just like the black gas and the Demon Avatar.

The clone assumed the same sitting position as Asura, and he too fell into a deep meditative state. Asura followed suit. In front of them, two new bodies were being formed.

"I have to this until there's a thousand of me?"

Just creating the first body took around an hour, and Asura needed to do this until he had a thousand bodies. It was a test of patience and perseverance. Thankfully, the clones could also help to create more clones or else Asura would have gone mad from the time it would take to finish creating a thousand clones minus one by himself.

After what felt like a day, Asura finally completed creating his other 999 bodies. It was a strange feeling, seeing so many of himself standing right in front of him, their eyes lifeless and unfeeling.....and naked.

"Kinda reminds me of that 'I,Robot' movie, except the robots are me..." Asura scratched his chin, even though he wasn't feeling itchy. It was a habit he had every time he was deep in thought. "The last step..."

The thousand Asuras sat down simultaneously, all of them in a meditative position. Asura was tempted to create more bodies, but the scroll had repeatedly warned in bold letters that it was forbidden to create more than that, though the reason was not stated.

It was now the most crucial part of the 'Thousand Essences Absorption'.

This time, all of his bodies were to absorb the mana from outside the 'Origin of Life'. Expanding his senses, Asura could barely feel the wall between the 'Origin of Life' and the real world, where his real body was meditating. As his bodies absorbed the mana from the real world, he screamed. No, they screamed.

The influx of mana entering into the 'Origin of Life' could be felt by all of them, and it was almost too much. Almost. Finally realizing the reason why the scroll had expressly forbidden the user from creating more than a thousand bodies, Asura willed himself and the other Asuras to calm down, and reduced the rate of absorption of mana. Soon, there was a pleasant feeling within himself, as if warm gases were flowing into his chest.

I could get used to this.

Soon, Asura could feel the mana density within his 'Origin of Life' approaching a wall - a limiter, one that he was quite familiar with. His heart was starting to beat faster from the anticipation. For the past two years after reaching the 3rd Level a a magus, no matter how much Asura meditated, he could not break through to the 4th Level as a magus. What he didn't know was that most geniuses took half a decade to reach the fourth level! Right after he got his little power up from Choronzon, he would have taken a decade to reach the 5th Level!

"Finally, just a bit more!"

After several hours of slow progress, Asura could finally feel himself pushing against the 'wall', like a hatchling pushing against the shell of its egg, struggling to get out. He could now feel the tiny cracks appearing on the 'wall'.

At long last, the 'wall' shattered, and Asura could immediately feel the density of his mana increase by five times!

"5th Level Magus!" Asura woke up from his 'Thousand Essences Absorption' state, and activated his 'Mana Sense'. Instantly, a sphere of 250 metres in diameter spread out, encompassing the entire mansion!

Looking at the window, Asura could see that the moon had barely moved from its position since the time he went into the 'Origin of Life' meditative state.

"It only took a moment of meditation for me to break through to the 5th Level. This scroll is like a godly cheat! Well, I don't need this scroll anymore," Asura thought, and the scroll instantly burst into flames, and the ashes flew out of the window.

Three down, three to go!

Reaching into his robes, Asura could feel the remaining three scrolls. Taking another one out at random, he unrolled it on the bed, the words written on it illuminated by the moonlight shining through the windows.

"T-this is..."

.....

A boy opened his eyes with a start and gasped for air. Where was he? He looked around the stone chamber, and two faces filled his vision as his eyes came to focus. Both people were dressed in black. One was a short, gaunt old man. He had grey hair and a sinister smile.

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The youth felt that he had been sleeping for a long, long time. He then noticed a woman standing beside the gaunt old man. She appeared to be just as old as Yong, perhaps no older than eighteen. Her red hair flowed down her small face, causing shadows to create an illusion of dancing strings in the scant light.

"We welcome you to our little family," the gaunt old man said. His high-pitched voice was at odds with his aging face. His sinister smile was disturbing, but not quite as disturbing as the girl's. Her grin carried madness, a deeply etched insanity that chilled him to the bone.

"For the time being, you will refer to me as Redemption, and you shall refer to my daughter here as Requiem." They were odd names, but the boy didn't press the point.

The youth looked around the room. It was some sort of an underground shelter, ones that was build in case of a magical beast attack, except this one seems to be a lot bigger. It was just like a dungeon, dark, with rows upon rows of empty wine racks.

The boy had no recollection of how he had gotten there. In fact, he could not recall anything, other vague memories of himself standing at a temple, sparring with a plain-looking boy.

"Who am I?" The boy asked, his voice hoarse.

"You are Ruin." The gaunt old man smiled, and gave the boy a small piece of paper. "Now, read it out loud."

"...Ruin? My name....is Ruin?" Ruin thought. His memories still felt fuzzy, and his heart, empty. He held up the piece of paper, and read the words written on it.

"I am here because of my right, the one that God has given me. I am here because the three of us, as well as those who will join, will reshape the world." Ruin looked around at the unchanged faces of the two. Did he say the proper words?

Requiem was the first to speak. She slowly licked her bottom lip. Her madness did little to betray her beauty. "Excellent answer, Darling."

Redemption nodded. "But before you can join us in changing the world, before you can possess the greatness we offer, you must first be cleansed." Redemption's smile grew until his yellow teeth were visible.

"It is already dark," he continued. "Tonight, you must kill three people. Any three you wish. Bring to us something personal from each, and your admittance will be complete."

A shudder spread throughout Ruin's spine. "Kill people? Is it really okay to kill people?"

Requiem sighed and met his eyes. "We, as superior beings, have the God-given right to take life from any we please. Don't forget that, ever."

Ruin's eyes fluttered around the room before answering. "But...shouldn't we kill people that deserve to die? How do I know if they deserve to die?"

"Ah, but the people who deserves to die are the ones you pick," Redemption said. "You have these abilities because you are great. Your strength gives you the right to choose."

Requiem placed a hand on Ruin's knee. "Ah, my poor baby, you still don't get it, do you?" It is because you want them dead that they deserve to die." A look of something resembling sadness crossed her fiercely beautiful face. "These gifts we have allow us to make choices others cannot. And one of these choices can be made at this very moment. Are you a frightened sixteen year old boy? Or are you a great man, capable of great things? We will leave you to think on it, but I do hope you think quickly, Darling."

Ruin was entranced by the soft, soothing sound of her voice. Even with her madness, he felt an instant attraction towards her.

"I understand."

"I knew you would, Darling. I knew you would."

Redemption and Requiem stood up from their chairs and then climbed the dirt-filled stone steps to the door.

"Go, and accomplish your task," Redemption said. There was a surprising touch of sympathy in his voice. "And know this. What we're asking you to do, we're not asking out of cruelty. This kind of business was difficult at first for us, as well. Ruin, you are my son, and we will be the only family you need. But first, you have to prove to us, really prove to us, that you will do anything to change this wicked world we live in. And for that, it takes three."

Ruin heard the creaking door open and close, leaving him alone in the dark stone chamber. He could feel great power coursing through his veins, and hear sounds that penetrated through the stone walls. He picked up a steel sword that was lying on the stone bed. One hour, that was when he would begin.

[Author's Note: Still having a sore throat and headache, so I could only release this one chapter today, though I think it's a pretty good one. Shit's getting real, boys. Well, imma head to bed. Oh, and if you loved this chapter, I'd appreciate it if you took a moment of your time to rate and review. Thanks!]

Edit: Slapped myself for forgetting about Asura's powerup from Choronzon. Many thanks to Bioman2411 for pointing that out.

Chapter 36: White Serenity Sword Style