(Author: Hello. Late night release due to real life stuff (and dynasty warriors). At last, Elgar is at the final door. I can honestly say that it took me a damn long time to make up Elgar's past memories up to this point. This was how I wanted to write about Elgar's past. The main character has to suffer in order to progress. Been busy playing in Skyrim again. New game and I already have a conjuring spell that raises the dead! Fun. Kill the bandit, bring him bag, kill him again, and he turns to ash. Pretty fun until I ran into a giant. Man it's fun to get killed by him. Your body goes flying and you're all like "What the f*ck happened? How'd he hit me?" Anyway, Elgar faces a trial he doesn't expect in the final door and remembers someone he had known long ago. Enjoy.)

Chapter 15: Nightmare's End

Elgar walked toward the tear in space. Oddly enough, he did not feel pulled toward it and knew that once he put his hand in the tear, the trial would begin. He looked back at the empty corridor once before he put his right hand in the tear in space. He was a little startled as no bright light cam and was sucked inside the door.

"Do you truly desire your freedom so much Zodimat?" the demon said in a soft voice. "You have truly lived a life of sorrow. There are other memories I could have shown. Painful memories. The ones that have made you indifferent to killing. The memories that made you lose some of your compassion and trust in others. Memories of hate and grief beyond measure. You lived for over two hundred thousand years. Why not let down your burdens and end your suffering? Why do you still hunger? Why do you still pursue power? Your soul remains blessed by the First Dragon, but you cannot seek your vengeance in your current body. Even now, your mind remains vulnerable. I have seen the future Necromancer King. If you continue to walk this path.....you would have chosen to stay here. You would have chosen death. You will be born anew after your nightmare ends. You will know I am no ordinary nightmare demon like you believed. Zodimat......Elgar......I only hope that your rebirth will open your eyes."

In the real world, a woman cloaked in darkness kissed the top of Elgar's head before disappearing in the shadows, her magic still holding the three applicants prisoner. She appeared once, in front of the lion turtle with Draxil beside it. They nodded at the woman, knowing who she was. Draxil had been warned by his magical beast of her identity and vowed that he would not reveal Elgar's secret.

Trapped in his own mind, Elgar opened his eyes as he entered the location within the sixth door. He saw another version of himself. This version looked different. His light brown hair had grown past his shoulders and to the center of his back. His right eye had turned from gold to jade. Lava Tyrant had also changed. It had become a double-bladed sword, two blades on both sides of the grip. He radiated mana and was dressed in black and silver armor with the tattered crimson cloak still around his body.

"Hello Elgar. Welcome to the final trial.

Who are you?

I am you. I am what you will become when you awaken. I am the potential you have held back. I am pieces of Zodimat's memories made flesh or at least, that is what I will seem here. The only way to pass the trial is to say the nightmare demon's name. I'll give you a hint: it is not a nightmare demon that sealed you here. Demonic maybe, but not a pure demonic being.

Do I fight you?

No. You do not fight with me. You will fight against yourself. Remember the trials. Remember what you have seen. What you have felt. What you have witnessed. I am you so I know that you can succeed. This is not a trail by blood. It is a trial by soul. What are you, Elgar Maltos? Are you Zodimat? Do you know who you are? Do you know why you still persist in living a life of excitement? What is this boredom you are running away from? Is it reality? Is it really having nothing to do in your life? Do you know the answer? Can you realize the name?

Elgar stared silently at the other 'Elgar.' It said it was himself. The nightmare demon was not what sent him here. His assumption was wrong. But if it wasn't a pure demon, what was it? His memories held the clues and were somehow connected to reveal the name. In the first door, Elgar saw himself surrounded by his dead brothers and sisters as they killed each other. His brood mother had called it the Ritual of Resolve.

The second door was where he killed his younger brother. The one who betrayed him. A memory that brought him much pain and suffering. The third door was when he was blinded and defeated for his arrogance and sent to a prison like no other and met Qingyu. She was his comfort in the darkness besides the chain and stage made of light.

The fourth door was when he last saw his great ancestor, the First Dragon, after he became a Dragon King ranked magical beast. It had warned him of his past mistakes and reminded him about the power of soul energy. The fifth door was his final memory as Zodimat. The day he came to terms with himself to let go of his past, yet still maintained his drive and conviction.

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Lava Tyrant had two blades and the other Elgar had a jade eye. It was a symbol of what he was: one soul living two lives. The jade eye being the divinity of his soul  belonging to what was once a Dragon King ranked magical beast. The longer hair meant a long life. It symbolized the years he had lived before as Zodimat. It was an acceptance of what he was and what he had become. He closed his eyes as he pondered about each door.

Each trial was connected. The first was of dragons and the power of resolve. The second door revealed the resolve of his jealous brother and his resolve to seek vengeance on him and his own relatives who scorned him for what he was. The third door reminded him of his arrogance. He had lost two heads and two wings before and his arrogance in the third door cost him his freedom. It reminded him of his pain as he was comforted by Qingyu during their imprisonment together.

The fourth door was about becoming whole again and moving on from his pain. To learn from his mistakes. To cherish fellow dragons once again. The fifth door had shown his wisdom learned through experience. That the warnings of the First Dragon had come to pass. The sixth door required a name. It was a name he had known once.

You see, you do remember. Tell me the name.

Envy. That is what she had called herself when we met in the Immortal Realm before I descended. We had known each other for centuries. Millenniums. I had told her of these five specific memories once. She said it was the envy of the dead to miss out on living. Envy of love that one could never attain. Envy of power and how easily one could take and spare another life. Envy of the wise for understanding something beyond one's understanding. Envy of challenges as life had become too simple. Her name was Envy. It was what she called herself. She called herself Envy because she had been born a slave between a human and a demon, yet scorned by both. It was the feeling she knew best and one I knew well.

She cannot stay as she will have returned to the Immortal Realm. She wanted you to forget the envy. To move on from your pain. To stop your obsession. Her brother, Pride, is a member of an organization trying to free Qingyu. Do not free Her. You should have known the reason a hero summoning was made. When you wake, the two spies will remain comatose. Kill them and move on. Remember the power of soul energy. The me you see now is prove of that power. I am the final warning to those who walk the path of immortals with human blood in their veins. Envy always meets them. She warns them of immortality. You have lived such a life once. You know the pain of living a long life. Farewell Elgar Maltos. Your time here is over. Awaken now and walk your path with a new resolve.

-----The Nightmare Ends-------------

Elgar groaned as he awoke. He was within a pocket dimension. Behind him was a crack in space where he could see the throat of the lion turtle. He felt his hair brush against his back and Lava Tyrant to his right, two blades now instead of one. Inside the pocket dimension was a black slime and the two spies he brought in. The black slime radiated fear and any life form below the rank of 3 would have been paralyzed with fear, unable to escape as the slime would devour them whole.

Elgar used poison magic and killed the two spies. He didn't care about them anymore. He still wanted to become a king, but a different kind of king than before. He felt as if a burden was lifted from his shoulders and let his demonic wings sprout behind his back, no longer caring to hide them. He put his left hand over his heart and a small jade egg appeared in his hand. It hatched into a small jade scaled snake with dark purple eyes like his blood.

He killed the black slime with Lava Tyrant and fed the spirit core to the baby snake as he left the lion turtle. He saw Draxil as the lion turtle spat out a cube which was likely the source of the dimensional pocket. Draxil picked up the cube and teleported away with the lion turtle.

"The third requirement is satisfied. Only two hundred may leave through the formation barrier in front of the exit and present me with the spirit core of a rank 3 magical beast to pass," Draxil's voice emanated as he left, his voice heard within the mind of every applicant still living.

Chapter 14: Nightmare Part 2 Main Page Chapter 16: Passing the Trials