Cycles, Passing, Forms

Heian Ciemnosc walked forward until he was standing before the Water door. Its color was obsidian. It had a few line marks and a cord-shaped design going around everywhere. When Heian Ciemnosc drew a narrow distance. Picking a stone from the ground, naturally made of ice, Heian Ciemnosc threw it to the door. It passed through it without making much of a noise. But when it touched the Water door, the stone slowed down as if having entered a different space altogether, slowing down and forming a dent, drawing backwards, within the door. A few seconds later, it had become free again, returned to the Semi-Dimension, and landed on the icy floor a few meters behind.

Wasting no more time, Heian Ciemnosc walked forward, placing his left palm on the Water door. Immediately, he felt the varying sequences, the differences between this one and the Fire door. It was watery, sometimes slippery, tangible, and easy to pass through. Inside his mind, everything concerning this Water door engrossed Heian Ciemnosc as he compared it to the Fire door. He couldn’t tell, just yet, if they were equal. But he felt the Water door as marvelous as the former.

Thud. After analyzing the door, Heian Ciemnosc sat cross-legged, extended his arms, and placed his palm on it as he closed his eyes and started meditating. He didn’t see, nor sensed, any living being nearby that was seemingly protecting it. Since it was basically impossible that anyone would be nearby, Heian Ciemnosc halted from meditation, stood up, and sliced open his right palm. When a bout of his dark blood essence gathered, he let it fall onto the icy floor as it went through and disappeared underneath.

Thud. Not even 3 seconds after Heian Ciemnosc ‘shared’ his dark blood essence with the floor, he once again sat cross-legged before the Water door before resuming his meditation with his palms placed on the Water door. Heian Ciemnosc no longer needed to make physical contact after going through the Fire element’s trial. He had gained enough insight for this. However, he still wanted to put his skin against the door. It felt incomparably wondrous, and it soothed him somehow.

… Heian Ciemnosc would’ve wanted to rest until the following morning if it wasn’t because he managed to pass the Fire element’s trial after donating his seemingly precious, dark blood essence. Thus, after less than 2 hours passed, Heian Ciemnosc stood up and looked at the Water door face to face. It was taller than him, and he looked straight ahead. With his right hand, using his bodily strength to open it, he rapidly saw what was behind this door’s strange place.

Slide~, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle~.

Barely opening the door, Heian Ciemnosc also felt a strange sensation. As his darkest eyes glanced upon an empty space with a blue cornflower color, his body felt like watery tentacles, turning into simple water, touched his body’s front, and slowly pulled him in. It felt like he was being dragged and distorted into another reality. But before Heian Ciemnosc could do anything or realize more about this feeling, he was suddenly warped forwards and appeared in that place.

Brrp- warp. Gurgleeee~... “!” Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes widened as he felt his body slow to move. It wasn’t that he was becoming paralyzed, sucked out of his capabilities, or dying. He felt the heaviness everywhere around him. When he moved his arms, it was as if a force wanted them to aimlessly float stagnantly. His legs felt as if a heavy weight was attached to them, a ribbon or support holding onto the side in the direction he moved them. The easiest thing he could move was his head.

Dark Power Energy came out of his body on its own, so to speak. A cultivator’s energy was themselves, so it could be said that this place stimulated his body so much that he started leaking bits of dark Power Energy, looking like tendrils as they spread around him. Thinner than a baby’s arms, several drifted about as Heian Ciemnosc was slowly brought somewhere. This ‘somewhere’ had a strange ring, looking like a serpent chasing its tail, but was simply a pristine, crystal cereal, light blue water coursing in a circle.

His body came to float stagnantly before it. Heian Ciemnosc’s face was a few inches from this endlessly cycling watery ring. This water ring stood out far too much, and when placed right before one’s eyes, it was detrimental even for a cultivator. Heian Ciemnosc felt as he underwent such, as if any cultivator looking at this cycle, even from far away, might turn crazy from it. Meanwhile, his face was some inches away…

… wong… … …wong… … … wong… … …. … wong…

Heian Ciemnosc’s ears ringed every few minutes, even though he could no longer feel what a minute, a second, a millisecond was, and much less an hour. He started feeling himself lost in this strange place, watching this even more enigmatic water ring. But unlike what any other cultivator would feel, Heian Ciemnosc was calm, not anxious, and feeling alarmed. Even though he should be. He discerned himself too immersed in this ring’s movements.

His darkest eyes engrossed and focused on it, Heian Ciemnosc slowly came to see different things. Similarly, his ears started ringing with that one sound slightly more often. He saw this water ring, previously smooth with its immeasurable speed visible to the naked eye, suddenly turn into a rippled ring with several uniform protrusions as it went in circles. Suddenly, he saw every little wave on its surface from any side.

Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes widened slightly more as he felt soft-soaped to hear more about this ringing sound. His everything visualized the water ring as it became slower and more explicitly, with every passing… something. Before long, Heian Ciemnosc felt as if the water ring was no longer just before him but directly within his eyes and slowly starting to take shape inside his mind. His dark Soul seemed to throb each time he went through such sensations.

… wong… wong… wong… wong… wong… wong… wong… wong…

Heian Ciemnosc’s ears felt incredibly good when the sound became more consistent. The water ring was no longer just a sight to behold as he wanted to touch it. And so did his hands. They were lifted through the place’s heaviness, but although they moved slowly, they were no longer heavy. Smoothly moving at his own pace and excitement, Heian Ciemnosc placed his fingertips on the water ring. His eyes widened a little more yet again, and he started experimenting with it, plunging his fingers into it and tracing it with his nails and fingertips.

… Who knew how much of a long time had passed before Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes gained focus, and he suddenly jerked his head back and slightly upwards. He looked to his front, then below, up, and to the sides, but he couldn’t find the water ring anywhere. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t grow panicked, however, and he entered his inner self momentarily. As soon as he closed his eyelids, watery, tiny, and thin currents seemed to seep out as if he was made of water entirely. The dark Power Energy tendrils disappeared, leaving only those streams left.

‘Hohh~.’ Heian Ciemnosc opened his eyes just a few short seconds after observing his inner self. There was a water ring, fully dark, cycling amidst the endless pure darkness. His dark Soul fluctuated contentedly as his dark flame swayed someplace in the same pure darkness. His whole inner self seemed a bit more… complete.

Reopening his eyes to the blue cornflower place he had been for… only about an hour, which Heian Ciemnosc deduced after waking up, Heian Ciemnosc felt his body empty and… unrestrained within. Looking around for a few more minutes, moving like a fish in the water and maneuvering his body without even making a move, Heian Ciemnosc sat cross-legged in midair, intertwined and semi-intertwined his fingers, his hands placed together, and began a session of meditation since there didn’t seem anything else to do.

His mind was no longer filled with the previous pristine light blue water ring but his own dark water ring. It spun however he wanted it and even disassembled in various parts or formed a line with it. Heian Ciemnosc experimented and theoretically experimented numerous times before deciding to open his eyes again. However, when he did, he was no longer in that blue cornflower place but lying with the left side of his body against the soft, grassy ground.

Heian Ciemnosc felt gravity and other laws of reality in this ‘place’ where his physical body seemed but wasn’t the authentic one. The dark green, clear, and visible grass blades were everything he could see besides the dark blue, starry sky far into the distance. As he pushed his body against the ground, Heian Ciemnosc’s eyesight quickly welcomed a lovely, peaceful, quiet plains with semi-tall grass everywhere.

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The grass wasn’t all standing. Most were bent or lying floppy on the ground, but a good portion here and there were perked up, aiming directly above. Heian Ciemnosc sat up in a lazy position. If he had a beer belly, it would have been the perfect time to show it. He looked everywhere in a daze and couldn’t help but feel endlessly peaceful. In fact, it was so much that Heian Ciemnosc felt compelled to lay on the left side of his body again with his eyes open to contemplate.

Thud, rustle, rustle… … … Enjoying the sensation, Heian Ciemnosc suddenly felt as if he was being moved through the world in a way only beings and existences might be able of comprehending. Then, with a splash of the lightest, glowy of azures, an explosion left several strands of it in the universe, stranding as the stars were superimposed by a face, enshrouded by the same color from behind.

It wasn’t a face he knew, but the sensations he felt came from someone he would destroy everything for.

‘Mother.’ Heian Ciemnosc thought inside his head. When the thought arrived at his head, despite his abrupt frown, the face within the light azure painting in the universe warmly smiled. Motherly intent in her hearty eyes, she gazed sideways upon Heian Ciemnosc with cherishment. Heian Ciemnosc’s eyebrows slowly eased up as he continued to look at the face. It looked elvish, had curly hair, was adorable, heartwarming, and was an everything-topping beauty.

“My son-” - “You’re not my Mother.” The face separated her lips, about to give him some words. But Heian Ciemnosc interrupted them with an ultimately cold pair of eyes and a similar voice. However, contrary to his expectation, she spoke again with damn-serious eyes and a warm smile. “You’re right. I’m not.”

She spoke rapidly, clearly not taking her ‘failure’ as vital. She looked at Heian Ciemnosc, still with care and tenderness, as Heian Ciemnosc continued to lay on the ground in comfort and feeling relaxed. After a minute, she spoke again. This time, she didn’t try anything and said to him unfazedly. “Do you not feel glad you can feel like this completely? Not just when you’re making yourself feel calm or placated with someone else, your wives or not. But directly… as if feeling like this due to nature and not emotions?”

“...” Heian Ciemnosc offered no words and continued to stare at the beauty. When he blinked once, his eyes weren’t as ultimately cold, but his visage was the same. She continued, her eyes narrowing in glee as if pleased. “Who is to say I’m not who you want me to be? It’s sure I’m not her, but what makes you think there’s no way you could talk with her through me? Maybe, in the end, I am indeed her. Wouldn’t you have wished you didn’t waste this time, then?”

“Who knows, maybe there are things of the world that not even Lords knew about in their prime. Not even the last Lord... Those who could ever know about it have long been gone, and those worthy have never been a thing to begin with. Who knows~?” She spoke, her eyes dangerously narrowed by the end of her words. But Heian Ciemnosc interrupted again, albeit more ‘politely’ this time. “Maybe there are methods, too.”

“...” - “...” Both parties turned silent after Heian Ciemnosc spoke his words. They maintained this status quo for a long time until she shook her head adoringly while facing Heian Ciemnosc as if she was eskimo kissing him with deep endearment. Heian Ciemnosc looked on as she opened her mouth. From it, watery currents came out of her mouth. Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes violently widened as this happened… he noticed… there were millions of such currents!

And every one of these seemingly became stronger, larger, and more terrifying with each few minutes passing! Heian Ciemnosc still lay on the ground, not paralyzed or immobile, but simply not wanting to move an inch. He wasn’t bewitched… instead, he felt inspired as the world’s end neared him. Millions and millions of water currents formed everywhere, surrounding Heian Ciemnosc’s eyesight, but they didn’t take the light away. The ground below, grass, dirt, and the pale young man were illuminated as perfectly as before. Above, the water currents were entirely visible. Each of their twirls and gushing water could be seen spotlessly.

Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes widened as he was already being downpoured by droplets, like rain and a deluge starting. But the earth drank all of the water, denying the world he was in from becoming flooded. It was strange. The liquid was everywhere above, but the solid ate and drank from its remnants as they fell on it. And as for where they went to or how they became what, it wasn’t in Heian Ciemnosc’s mindset to figure out even if he wanted to.

SPLUUUUUUSH, SPLAAAAAAAAASHH…!!!!!!

Heian Ciemnosc looked as if the world’s sound barrier was seemingly attacked and broke apart first. Heian Ciemnosc saw the water currents finally come crashing down as if being given permission, as if… returning to the origin. His darkest eyelids widened to a full, and his pupils shrank. The earth trembled as the water currents all dueled in the elongated height of the world to be the one to first reach Heian Ciemnosc’s lying body.

In one single moment, his body was hammered with millions of water currents, each one the size of the Sinvonnia Kingdom’s Region, which Heian Ciemnosc spent most of his early years in. The world broke apart slowly yet abruptly. Like debris from flooring, they broke into irregular shapes as the world was turned into a muddy swamp, slowly minced into nothing but water, becoming part of it and continuing to travel through the universe.

As for that impossible beauty’s face or Heian Ciemnosc’s whereabouts? They were far too long from reality.

. . .

“!!!... HUFF HUFF, HA- HUFF HUFF HUFF…” Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes pried wide open. He looked at the ceiling from wherever the hell he was and opened his mouth. Suddenly, rough and constant, broken but quickly coming ragged breaths in and out happened through his mouth and nostrils simultaneously as he stood up in a hurry and looked at the ground wide-eyed. His hands went to his sternum, almost grasping his wettened uniform but seemingly not even having enough strength for that.

After several minutes, he finally calmed down, dried his uniform, jacket, and dark coat with his dark Power Energy, and meditated with his eyes open and mind active. As he stood still, his body seemed thinner now, but he was simply weakened, nothing else. Once he recovered, he looked to his sides with the corner of his eyes. He was in a similar place to when he woke up with his body in a cave filled with molting rocks and stone walls and ceiling.

Confirming this was his body and that they were wet with water, which was wholly lacking in this room, Heian Ciemnosc sat down and supported his body as he leaned backwards. His breathing resumed to standard, but his body still felt exhausted even though only his mind was actually so. Momentarily resting, he let his thoughts drift as he sensed some biting coldness seep into his skin and even hair as he slowly let his body fall back on this room’s floor.

… Tap, step, step. After a few minutes, with the cold growing to the point Heian Ciemnosc’s shoes were turning icy blue, he stood back up and looked around. This wasn’t a cave, but comically enough, it seemed like an igloo, with a length of about 400 meters and 250 meters wide. It wasn’t too tall, merely about 40 meters, but it seemed like an endless space if one didn’t look carefully. Heian Ciemnosc’s Spirit Sense, however, was foolproof and didn’t fall in that category. Even without his Spirit Sense, in fact, but that didn’t matter to him.

Heian Ciemnosc lightly frowned and spun twice to see everything around him, ensuring he wasn’t missing something. When he discovered a tiny egg the size of his foot somewhere in the middle of the 400 meters length, coated with a golden mantle atop with a starfish shape, that golden mantle suddenly jumped, floating above the egg and revealing its pearly whiteness.

‘What is this?’ Heian Ciemnosc frowned, leaving aside the thoughts and experiences from the trial’s second stage. His Spirit Sens and dark Soul energy focused so he could analyze the egg more clearly. However, as they traveled through the air, the pearly white egg suddenly exploded. The snowy ceiling, walls, and ceiling were decorated with gold stains as if a painter was giving the last strokes and thrusts into their masterpiece.

Splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash…

He also didn’t have time to think about this Water trial, not giving him any heads up or chances to prepare as he went through things, one after the other. He was now facing similar tests and the culmination of this trial, analogous to the Fire trial. Heian Ciemnosc felt his Spirit Sense and dark Soul energy dissipate and burst away for the first time in his dear life, incapable of scanning over what that egg had hatched.

TSHIIIING~. A golden glow, blinding even to his darkest eyes, emanated from where the pearly white egg used to be, 20 meters in height and as wide as the igloo. Heian Ciemnosc could only wait to see until the glow receded. As it did, his nose caught off the scent of a living being, one very peculiar and not majestic or astonishing. His Spirit Sense entered the golden glow light first, finally meeting the creature hidden within as it eventually dissipated, exposing its appearance.

Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes shone as he felt baffled and immeasurably grateful for this trial’s fortuitous events. Because Heian Ciemnosc himself had just witnessed… the evolution of a Fauna into a Beast.

However, this Beast Race member was not authentic. Their mind and thoughts could be developed, but communication and emotions and similar wouldn’t formulate successfully throughout their life. In other words, this ‘person’ was but an organism without enough intelligence. Still, putting it more bluntly, it was made to kill or be killed, here and now.

Crack. Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes became cold, ultimately cold, and his fists clenched, drawing powerful ripples around his knuckles and the back of his fingers. He didn’t like that. However, since this living being would die after a few years, first becoming weak, then deteriorating until perishing. He set his goal to not only pass the trial but also to end this Beast life form.

…