After a walk that seemed to last an eternity, Professor Oda led the group to a clearing in the heart of the forest. There, a natural sanctuary revealed itself before their eyes, a small lake of crystal-clear waters surrounded by enormous trees. The sun, at its zenith, rose above the horizon, pouring its radiant rays onto the water’s surface, generating flashes of light that danced in the air like shimmering fairies.
Although the view was beautiful, Oda looked around with deep suspicion.
“SEATED!” he suddenly barked, making several students jump. “IN A SEMICIRCLE! AND DON’T TURN YOUR BACK TO THE FOREST!” He let out a maniacal laugh. “You never know what might be watching us from the shadows!”
Everyone obeyed, but the man remained standing in front of them, with his cane in hand.
“I’ve told you that the rank exam will be with real combat BECAUSE IN REAL COMBAT THERE ARE NO SECOND CHANCES! A moment of doubt and CRACK! Goodbye leg! An instant of hesitation and BOOM! Goodbye eye!” he began to say in a severe voice. “But that doesn’t mean you can laze around until then. There’s much to learn before facing your rivals. And I don’t mean memorizing old, dusty scrolls. No.”
He paused and looked at them one by one.
“I mean knowing yourselves. Your strengths and weaknesses. Your fears and desires. Your reiki and your spirit. Only then can you unleash your full potential in combat.”
Some of the boys nodded, others frowned. Katsuo scoffed.
“What nonsense is this, professor?” he asked sarcastically. “Do you want us to meditate like monks? Or confess our most intimate secrets? What does that have to do with combat?”
The movement was so fast that no one saw it coming. In an instant, Oda was in front of Katsuo, his scarred face inches from the student, and his eye spinning so fast it looked like a whirlpool. Professor Oda glared at him with his good eye.
“INSOLENT BRAT!” he roared, spraying Katsuo with saliva. “DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME?! I’ve seen reikan stronger than me devoured by their own fears! LITERALLY DEVOURED!” He let out a hysterical laugh. “Reiki is like a rabid dog! If you don’t know it, if you don’t master it, IT BITES YOU! And when it bites you...!” He left the sentence hanging, laughing like a madman.
He walked away limping, but stopped abruptly and spun on his wooden leg with supernatural speed.
“Combat is not just a matter of strength or technique,” he replied harshly. “It’s a matter of will. Of determination. Of confidence. If you don’t know your own reiki, how do you expect to control it? If you don’t know your own spirit, how do you expect to resist your enemy’s attack? If you don’t know your own heart, HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO OVERCOME YOUR FEAR?”
Katsuo remained silent, but his expression was one of disdain.
“I’m not afraid of anything, professor,” he said arrogantly. “Not of this forest, nor of these beasts, nor of these insects.”
Professor Oda smiled ironically.
“Everyone is afraid of something, brat! And this forest...!” his voice lowered to a whisper. “It doesn’t just have insects. This forest has ways of finding YOUR deepest fears...”
He reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a carved wooden box. It was small, just the right size to fit in the palm of a hand. On the lid was engraved a cherry blossom, whose petals seemed to sway in an imaginary breeze.
Oda placed the box on the ground, next to the shore. Then he extended a hand over it and released a thread of reiki. Immediately, the box came to life. The lid lifted by itself and a melody began to emerge from inside.
It was a popular song, sweet and catchy, but sung with the clear and vibrant voice of a girl. They watched in wonder as the box filled completely with this evocative music.
“What is that, professor?” asked one of the students, curious.
“It’s a gift a friend gave me a long time ago,” he replied, smiling nostalgically. “It’s an enchanted music box that can sing any song you ask it to. It’s a marvel, isn’t it?”
They nodded, impressed. The voice from the box was so clear and pure that it seemed as if there was a girl hidden inside.
“But don’t be fooled by its beauty,” continued Professor Oda, lowering his voice to a whisper. “This box has another purpose. A much more dangerous one.”
Without warning, the professor released a wave of reiki that enveloped them all with its icy caress. It felt like sinking into the depths of a frozen lake, then emerging amid scorching flames licking their skin.
It was a strange, unsettling sensation. Something stirred in the depths of their souls. When the torrent of energy dissipated, they looked at each other stunned, with goosebumps on their skin.
Ritsu, in particular, felt a tingling running through every fiber of his body. Then, he felt dizzy. The world spun around him like a top, with shapes and colors merging into an indistinguishable mass.
He noticed cold sweat sticking his hair to his forehead, soaking his skin like morning dew when the sun hadn’t risen yet. He raised a trembling hand to wipe his face, found it wet and slippery. Sweat covered his skin like a second layer, thick, abundant. It smelled of fear, of confusion.
“What have you done to us, professor?” asked Shinji, alarmed.
“I’ve given you a gift, boys,” replied Professor Oda, with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “That reiki will protect you from what’s coming. Because now I’ve given you the opportunity to face one of the greatest atrocities of this forest. Something that has awakened with the sound of the box. Something that’s coming for us.”
At that moment, a screech resonated among the trees, a screeching and unnatural sound that seemed to come from everywhere at once. They startled, their eyes frantically searching for the source of that horrifying lament.
And then they saw it. A huge shadow moving among the trees, approaching.
It was enormous, larger than anything they had ever seen before.
The screech grew louder, closer, and the ground rumbled beneath their feet with each step the creature took.
“D... don’t be... don’t be afraid,” whispered a guttural and inhuman voice, coming from that monstrous shadow. “I’ll... I’ll give... I’ll give you what you desire.”
“Wh... what is that?” stammered Tsuyoshi Ueda, one of their classmates. His face was as pale as snow and his eyes exuded terror.
In an instant, a gust of wind pushed them back with overwhelming force. Ritsu instinctively closed his eyes, protecting himself from the dust and leaves. When he opened them again, a nightmare materialized before him.
Just meters away from Tsuyoshi, a giant spider was staring at them intently. No, not a spider. It was a monster in the shape of a spider, the size of a house, with legs like tree trunks that sank deep into the earth. It had no face, only a white and expressionless mask where its jaws should be. And behind that white mask, two red dots glowed like burning embers.
Oda contemplated the creature calmly, almost with indifference.
“That, boys, is what you’re going to face,” he said in a serene voice.
His words seemed to float in the air, slow and grave like a death sentence. Everyone held their breath; many had their faces contorted in expressions of horror as the monstrous silhouette drew ever closer.
“It’s the soul-stealer,” Oda continued, “the greatest of the horrors in this forest. It’s a very powerful creature that feeds on the reiki of the living. It’s capable of reading your minds, of knowing your secrets, of offering you your dreams.”
Ritsu felt a shiver run down his spine. He had read about the soul-stealer in the ancient scrolls of the library. A ruthless demon, a creature as ancient as evil itself, that fed on the souls of the living to prolong its repulsive existence.
It was said to be capable of adopting any form, of insinuating itself into the minds of its victims and tearing out their most hidden secrets. That it offered the sweetest dreams, only to devour the spirit completely.
Oda’s voice echoed again in the silence of the forest.
“But don’t be fooled. It’s all a trap. This beast only wants one thing: your souls.”
The guttural screech of the monster was transforming before their eyes, adopting a sweet and melodious tone, like the song of a maiden.
“Please, don’t fear me. Come with me.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The words slid like silk on the skin, they were a caress, a promise whispered in the ear.
It was a beautiful, seductive voice.
It invited surrender.
For a moment, he felt the urge to step forward, to surrender completely to that beautiful voice.
But then, the beast contorted with inhuman violence, making its bones and joints crackle. Its eight legs bent and twisted in directions that defied logic and anatomy. Its mask opened in a sharp and penetrating scream that made their eardrums throb.
Terror seized his heart, freezing his blood and paralyzing his muscles.
With a dull and viscous burst, the beast’s body broke into pieces, splattering everyone with a rain of blood and viscera. The smell was nauseating, a mixture of rot and blood. But what they saw next was even more horrible, more incomprehensible, more disturbing.
The beast had not died. It had transformed.
In the place where a monstrosity of nature once lay, there was now a woman. She was young and beautiful, with delicate features and an innocent expression. Her black hair fell over her shoulders like a silk waterfall. Her skin was white and soft, without a single blemish or scar. She wore a pink kimono, which contrasted with the red of the blood that covered her.
She looked like a maiden lost in the forest, scared and confused.
Professor Oda stepped forward, with a firm step and serene face. He was the only one who didn’t seem affected by the scene. He was the only one who knew what was happening.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said in a calm voice. “It can’t harm us. It’s just an illusion.”
The others looked at him in disbelief.
An illusion? How could it be possible? How could it be so real?
The professor turned to Tsuyoshi, the youngest and most frightened of them all. He grabbed him by the collar of his robe and dragged him until he was in front of the woman. The boy resisted, sobbing and pleading.
“No, no, please, no,” he whimpered.
“COWARD!” roared Oda, shaking him like a rag doll. “LOOK HER IN THE EYES!” Oda ordered him. “LOOK AT HER WELL, BOY! Or would you prefer her to look at you first? For her to get into your head and devour your dreams? LOOK AT HERRR! TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE!”
Tsuyoshi looked up, trembling. The woman looked at him with a sweet and kind smile. Her eyes were large and black, like two bottomless wells.
“What do you see, Tsuyoshi?” Oda insisted, whispering with a venomous voice and his lips brushing the boy’s ear. “What promises does she whisper to your weak mind? What sweet lies is she selling you?”
“I see... I see...” the boy stammered.
“You see a lie,” the professor sentenced. “You see a lie created to deceive you, to manipulate you, to weaken you. You see a farce that you must challenge, that you must reject, that you must destroy. If you can’t do something as simple as that, how do you expect to face your comrades in the rank exam? How do you expect to become a real man? The weak die, Tsuyoshi! The cowards are devoured! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT TO BE? FOOD FOR DEMONS?”
The woman smiled maliciously and let out a sadistic laugh. Her body tensed and shook, as if something wanted to come out of it. With a heart-rending scream, her form vanished and transformed into something else.
It was a black wolf, huge and terrifying. Its fur was as dark as night, its fangs were white as bone. It roared with fury and launched itself towards them, ready to tear them apart.
Everyone threw themselves to the ground, terrified. Everyone, except Tsuyoshi and the professor. The professor stood firm, holding the boy by the neck. Tsuyoshi shrank, about to cry.
“LOOK AT ITTTT!” Oda howled with delight. “LOOK HOW IT DANCES! How it changes its masks!” he let out a laugh, explaining the situation. “Isn’t it beautiful? It couldn’t seduce you and now it’s trying to DEVOUR YOU with your worst fear!” he got closer to the boy’s ear, whispering maliciously. “Tell me, little coward... what do you see in your nightmares? What makes you wet the bed at night?”
Tsuyoshi didn’t respond. He just looked at the wolf with panic. The wolf came closer, growling and drooling.
“Is it the wolf that terrifies you?” Oda asked. “Or is it what it represents? Is it power, strength, violence? Is it nature, life, death? Is it fate, chance, uncertainty?”
Tsuyoshi still didn’t respond. He just trembled and panted. The wolf was just a few meters away from them, ready to attack.
“Or is it failure that terrifies you?” the professor insinuated. “The failure of not being able to overcome this test? The failure of not being worthy of being a man? The failure of disappointing your parents, your friends, yourself?”
Tsuyoshi let out a squeal. The wolf jumped on them, opening its jaws.
“Stupid!” exclaimed the professor, slapping him on the cheek. “Use your reiki, damn it! Use your reiki and find the way to undo the illusion!”
Tsuyoshi seemed to react to the blow, then he acted.
With a cry of determination, he extended his hand towards the wolf and uttered a word.
“Break!”
A white light came out of his hand. The wolf stopped in mid-air, as if it had hit an invisible wall. Its body disintegrated into a thousand pieces, which vanished like smoke.
The illusion had been broken.
Tsuyoshi was left open-mouthed. The professor smiled, satisfied.
“Well done, Tsuyoshi,” he congratulated him. “Well done. You’ve passed the test.”
The professor let him go and threw him to the ground, as if he were an old rag. Then he turned and looked at the other students, who were still trembling and soaked in blood.
“I need another volunteer!” he exclaimed in a powerful voice. “Who wants to be the next to face the beast?”
No one volunteered. They all lowered their heads, avoiding his gaze. No one wanted to go through the same as Tsuyoshi. No one wanted to see their worst fear come true.
“You!” the professor pointed to one of them, at random, to him. “Come here.”
Ritsu pointed to himself, incredulous.
“Me?” he asked in a weak voice.
“Yes, yes, you,” the professor confirmed, impatient. “Come quickly, we don’t have all day.”
Ritsu got up with difficulty and approached the professor with a hesitant step. He didn’t know what to expect.
The professor took him to the place where the creature had vanished. On the ground, barely visible among the grass, there was a small spider. It was black and hairy, with eight legs and two fangs.
It seemed harmless, but he knew it wasn’t.
“This is the true form of the soul-stealer,” the professor revealed to him, bending down to carefully pick it up. “When someone defeats its illusion, it cowers and turns into a tiny spider to flee. But don’t underestimate it. It still has the power to create terror in your mind.”
The professor stood up and showed the spider to Ritsu, who looked at it with repulsion. The spider writhed in the professor’s hand, as if it wanted to escape.
“What do you see, Ritsu?” the professor asked him. “What do you see in this spider?”
He didn’t know what to answer. He just saw a spider. Disgusting and repulsive, but just a spider... no image came to his mind.
“I don’t see anything,” he said at last.
“Well, you should,” the professor replied. “You should see the reflection of your fear. You should see what terrifies you more than anything in the world.”
Ritsu became thoughtful.
What was he most afraid of?
He had never considered it. He had never faced anything truly terrifying.
What could it be?
Then, another scream was heard. A scream that chilled his blood. A scream that he recognized instantly.
It was the scream of his cousin Miyako.
Everything around him darkened. The sun disappeared, leaving only a gray shadow. The forest transformed into a wasteland, with charred trees and ashes everywhere. The air filled with a burning smell that made him cough.
And suddenly, in front of him, appeared his cousin Miyako. She was dying, her body full of wounds and burns. Her clothes were in tatters, her hair was a mess of blood and ash. She crawled towards them, sobbing and moaning.
“Cousin...” she said in a broken voice. “Cousin... mother... she... she...”
Ritsu was left breathless at the sight of Miyako’s bloodied body on the ground. He couldn’t believe what his eyes were showing him. Miyako was his cousin, but she was also much more than that. She was his best friend. He loved her like no one else in the world. And now he was losing her.
“Miyako...” he murmured, approaching her with faltering steps. His voice and hands were trembling. He caressed her face carefully, as if it were made of glass. “Miyako... what happened to you? Who did this to you?”
“The war,” replied a deep and tired voice behind him. It was the professor. Ritsu turned and saw him leaning on a cane, with a sad look. “Listen, boy, there are SIMPLE fears... ha! Monsters, ghosts, beasts... GARBAGE!” he spat on the ground. “Then there are DEEP fears... love, death, oblivion...” his voice became a conspiratorial whisper. “But there’s something WORSE, a fear that surpasses all others. A fear that can’t be explained with words, only with blood and fire... something that rots you from the inside... THE WAR! This is what you see is war! The war that devours souls! The war that rots hearts! But it’s just another TRICK... another DECEPTION of the soul-stealer! Don’t let yourself be fooled! Remember that it’s nothing but an illusion!”
Ritsu looked at him in disbelief.
An illusion? How could what he felt in his heart be an illusion?
The pain, the anger, the helplessness.
How could what he saw in his eyes be an illusion?
The fear, the anguish, the farewell.
“It’s not an illusion,” he protested, hugging Miyako again. He thought he felt a faint heartbeat in her chest. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe he could still save her. “It’s not an illusion. It’s real. She is real. And I love her.”
The professor sighed and approached him. He put a hand on his shoulder and spoke to him softly.
“Don’t you remember what happened a moment ago? Or has the soul-stealer already rotted your brain? THINK, YOU IDIOT!” he hit him on the head with a finger. “Your memory! Your mind! Everything is being MANIPULATED! The soul-stealer can alter your memory, make you see what isn’t there. But its power... Its power isn’t infinite... Search in the depths of your being... search for your reiki... BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!”
Something in the professor’s voice made Ritsu doubt.
A shiver ran down his spine as his chest twisted, as if something inside him was trying to emerge, ready to protect him. Suddenly, the image of Tsuyoshi facing the black wolf returned to his mind with clarity.
He repeated the professor’s words in his mind.
“The soul-stealer can alter your memory; make you see what isn’t there.”
It was an illusion.
But he, he had something to destroy it, he had reiki. That resonated in his mind like thunder.
He felt how the power flowed through his veins, filling him with energy and courage. It was the force that had allowed him to learn everything he knew. It was the spark that had allowed him to light a candle with a breath. It was the light that had allowed him to see in the darkness. It was reiki. And it was his.
He felt how the reiki concentrated in his throat, forming a word.
“Break!”
From his body emerged a bright beam of light, a jet of pure energy that crashed against the illusion like a battering ram. The false Miyako began to writhe and howl, raising her arms in a vain attempt to protect herself.
Ritsu felt the reiki flowing through him like an overflowing river, igniting every corner of his being. He didn’t know what he was doing, he was acting on pure instinct. He only knew that he had to continue, intensify that luminous attack until he ended the nightmare.
The world turned to fire around him. A white, blinding fire that consumed everything. The creature’s screams pierced his ears like red-hot needles, but he didn’t give in. He continued releasing waves of that scorching energy, until the last vestige of shadow vanished among the immaculate glow.
Suddenly, a tremendous force hit him, throwing him to the ground like a rag doll. He rolled on the floor, prey to an infernal pain, to a cold so intense that it seemed to burn. He screamed until his throat was raw, writhing, feeling like he was breaking into pieces.
And then, as suddenly as it had started, everything ceased. The pain, the flames, the darkness... they vanished.
Ritsu opened his eyes, panting. Before him was Professor Oda, applauding with a broad smile.
“That was impressive, Ritsu,” he said. “It seems you’ve passed the test!”
He blinked, disoriented. Fatigue invaded him completely, but there was a spark of pride in his chest.
Whatever had just happened, he had succeeded.
He had won.