I entered the dojo’s courtyard with a frown firmly etched on my lips. This was definitely the place.

The 'Grand Darkness Dojo,' loomed menacingly before me.

I knew that this was the one that everyone had whispered about with fear just by the sheer mass of absolutely terrifying energy that emanated from it.

I walked into the building that seemed to swallow people whole, never to be seen again.

The atmosphere within was thick with a foreboding silence.

Reality itself felt strange.

The place was filled with some kind of energy that made the air I was breathing feel heavier and like the space I was walking through feel like water.

The greeter was an unsettling figure.

I watched as his gaze barely moved from a fixed point somewhere behind me while his body remained unmoving.

His eyes vaguely began to track my movement, but there was no life in them.

I noticed he had no recognition when looking at me.

It was as if he was looking through me rather than at me.

"How do I go about joining this place?" I asked with my voice that was now somehow echoing slightly with a weird reverberation.

It felt even weirder in the eerily quiet room.

Even though this place gave me the damn creeps, I needed to make a name for myself.

This was the way to do it and to prove my worth to that damn recruiter.

I needed to progress in this godforsaken loop.

The thing, because, no, that was not a person turned around with movements that were too stiff.

It moved in a way that was too mechanical and felt fake.

It waved jerkily, "I'll get the grandmaster," it declared in a voice that was more hollow than a tree that had been named ‘Creepy Hollow’ for how long it had been dead and empty.

As it moved, I noticed something on its head.

A seam and a hook, barely perceptible beneath its hair.

My enhanced perception that had been sharpened by the relentless training and life-and-death struggles Kirin had shoved into me over the last seven days, caught it instantly.

This was a clue.

I remembered the book on Witchery basics and types that kirin had shoved in my face.

The witchery magic crafting system had many categories, but one was known as 'puppetry.'

But this wasn't puppetry, it was its malevolent cousin.

'Necromancy.' How the hell wasn't this entire city overrun then?

What was happening here?

I hesitantly followed the creature, my mind racing with questions and dread. The dojo's interior was a labyrinth.

I noticed how shadows moved and the walls adorned with weapons that seemed to drink in the light rather than reflect it.

Each step felt like walking into the maw of some ancient beast that devours hope itself.

Considering the thing we had to deal with all the damn time, I wouldn’t put it past the world to have at least one of those lurking somewhere.

The silence was broken only by the soft, disturbing clack of the dead, former man’s movements.

It echoed as a sound that should have belonged to a marionette rather than a living being.

Because even if this was a man at some point, he was actually a goddamn puppet now.

I wondered what bastard I would have to kill in order to get revenge for whoever else this guy had stolen away.

We passed through a series of dimly lit corridors, each more oppressive than the last. The air was thick with the scent of incense.

Perhaps it was something meant to mask another more sinister smell.

As we approached what I assumed was the grandmasters chamber, my hand rested on the hilt of my set of daisho and as choice paralysis and sheer terror set in I looked up.

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Its weight was a comforting reminder of my readiness for whatever awaited.

My mind refused to comprehend what I was looking at.

Except the chattering of my teeth and the widening of my eyes in existential dread hit me full force.

My mind began to fray into different streams.

The door was an ominous affair, carved with symbols that didn't match any language or magic I knew, yet they whispered of power, of death, and of control over the very essence of life in a way that was inherently wrong.

MOVE MOVE MOVE! RUN!

The creature pushed open the door without knocking and I followed dully as my mind refused to comprehend what was happening.

A Room that was wrong.

When had we even entered?!

Revealing a room that was both grand and grotesque.

The walls were lined with shelves and books.

not of books, but of jars containing... I didn't want to know. Blood? Organs?

In the center, a man.

That THING is a devourer! What even?!

What appeared to be a man.

He.

It.

Sat with his back to us.

His hair was long and black, Grey like death.

similar to Kirin's, With no vitality and devoured life around it.

but where Kirin's hair spoke of vitality, Not comparable to anything living.

This man's hair seemed to thing in the place an form of a man absorbed everything. light, to drain life from the room. Reality itself.

“ASHAKUSHAIGHDYGTQ”

"Another seeker of the dark arts, or perhaps just lost?" His It’s voice was like smooth a shriek of absolute nonsense and tearing death. cold steel, cutting through the stillness. He turned slowly, his eyes glowing drinking in light with an unnaturally light, not unlike the eyes of the Devourers bore into me with madness of a devourer. but without the madness. Instead, there was a cold, calculating intelligence.

“…” I tried to scream and beg but reality moved ahead without my input.

"I seek to join your dojo to train, to learn whatever techniques you offer," I said, keeping my voice steady. My eyes continued to scan the room, noting the slight movements in the shadows, the whisper of a presence that wasn't quite there. This was no ordinary dojo; this was a den of necromancy, perhaps even a foothold for the Devourers' influence.

“…” Whatever fantasyland bullshit was happening in front of me wasn’t me! What is going on?!

He smirked, a chilling expression that didn't reach his eyes. "You think you can handle the darkness here, boy? Many have come seeking power, but few leave with their souls intact."

“......”

I knew then I had to tread carefully. This wasn't just about making a name for myself; this was about uncovering the rot beneath this city, about understanding how such dark magic could exist so openly. I needed to know if this was another piece of the puzzle in my fight against the Devourers, or if it was a trap, a way for them to harvest more souls, more power, for the coming of the Prime Devourer.

"I've faced darkness before," I replied, my tone firm. "I'm ready to face whatever you throw at me."

“........”

His smile widened, revealing teeth that were too sharp, too perfect. "Very well. Let's see if you can endure the first lesson."

“......”

As he stood, the room seemed to shift, the shadows growing denser, the air chilling further. I prepared myself, not just for a lesson in swordsmanship but for a battle against something far more insidious. This was insanity, and I was willingly diving into its heart to find answers, to grow stronger, to protect those I loved from a fate worse than death.

“...”

I felt a splitting for a moment, and I knew once that splitting began I wouldn’t like what happened next and there would be no more looping and no more chances.

“.”

A feeling of being yanked through time and space hit me as his words barely finished. The world twisted, reality bending and snapping back like a rubber band stretched too far. I looked up to see Kirin Edo scowling down at me, his golden eyes blazing with a fury that could rival the sun.

"Are you a goddamn moron, successor?!" He roared with a fury in his voice that I had never heard from him before echoing through the ethereal training ground that was our meeting place between loops.

"I didn't save you from oblivion so you could get your soul yanked out and your body puppeted by a champion class threat that had turned himself into a goddamn devourer who you poked out of ignorance! That bastard is not meant for YOU to deal with at your current level! He was living out his stupid ‘sealed master’ fantasy that sealed monsters like to play at and you jumped in like a moron! Your soul could have been trapped in THAT SPECIFIC timeline forever while your body shambled around doing busywork for a goddamn senile nutcase who would only wake up upon prime-devourer calling him! What the hell, successor?!"

His words were like physical blows, each one punctuated with a wave of his hand that sent ripples through the air.

I felt the weight of my miscalculation.

I hadn’t realized the danger I had been dancing with.

I could have been stuck there permanently.

I looked behind him, my heart sinking further.

Anna was there, her scowl mirroring Kirin's disapproval, her violet hair shimmering with an almost angry light that somehow matched her furious expression.

Beside her, Jessa had her palm firmly across her face as her amethyst eyes avoided mine.

Her typical sarcasm was replaced by a palpable sense of disappointment.

"I needed to know," I managed, my voice sounding weak even to my own ears. "I thought if I could just uncover what was happening there, I could stop it and get an in with the military. If I uncovered-"

"Uncover what? Your own damn permanent death?" Kirin cut me off, his tone softening slightly but still edged with frustration. "You think you're ready to face a necromancer-turned-devourer of that caliber? You've got spirit, Darren, but maybe gain a sense of GODDAMN SCALE!”

Anna stepped forward as her expression crumpled but her voice was gentle, and that hurt even more. "Darren. I am furious with you. You should have listened to your instincts and turned right around when you felt the weight of the room. You weren't even close to the nexus and you could have just left the domain by walking outside. Did you even read the book on witchery that Kirin made us all study? We were watching you from Kirin’s perspective divination technique the whole time. What if He hadn’t noticed you were in real danger?"

Her words hit harder than any blade could. I had been so focused on proving myself, on gathering information, that I'd lost sight of the bigger picture. The thought of being trapped, my soul lost to some dark magic while my body was used as a puppet, chilled me to the core.

Jessa finally looked at me, her face a mix of concern and exasperation. "We're in this together, remember? We can't do this if you're off playing hero and getting yourself killed for real. Use your head, Darren. Not just your swords. Just think." Her face crumpled into an expression of absolute agony, then. "I love you, and you promised to try to love me. So stop. Stop. Just STOP!"

She stormed off and started swinging her wakazashi in her new style that she had adapted from two styles. A hidden blade and a loud katana.

She still hadn’t named it, but it was elegantly deceptive.

I clenched my fists, the reality of my folly settling in. "I'm sorry," I said, looking at each of them in turn. "I didn't think... I won't make that mistake again.”

Kirin's scowl eased into a more contemplative frown. "You better not. Because next time, I might not be able to pull you out. You need to learn when to fight, and when to gather intelligence in safer ways. But also when to leave the hell alone until you can handle something, even if that’s goddamn never because it can be handled in a better way. We'll work on that but for now, go through your forms."

He then turned, his chains clinking softly they had loosened for some reason. I noticed as he noticed and then they yanked them with will back into their cracked armor form.

I nodded, feeling the weight of their disappointment and the gravity of my near-fatal error.

As I prepared to resume training, I pondered on what I did wrong.

The main thing was that I was treating the loops as a get out of jail free card.

I now knew that it wasn't an invincible armor and some things couldn't be fixed once broken.