Advance.
The word came to him in a whisper, as though carried on the wind.
Advance? How was he supposed to do that if he hadn’t passed the test?
“You can’t keep hiding forever, freak!” Koya shrieked, his voice sounding unnaturally high pitched and manic.
The next pair of blades that hit the spire shook the entire thing with such force that it sent Roy staggering away.
That was way more power than Koya should have had, Roy realized when he was forced to roll away as the spire came crashing down.
The trial must be coming to a close, and if he didn’t do something soon, he wouldn’t pass.
Advance.
The voice came once again, louder this time, as Roy felt a sharp pain in his neck. The blade of water sliced clean through an artery, and blood spurted out from the wound. Letting out a pained cry, Roy clamped a hand to the side of his neck in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. He knew it was no good though. With one of his arteries cut in the way it was, he would bleed out within a couple of minutes. That was if he survived long enough to do so.
Advance.
The voice came yet again, sounding much more insistent.
“How?!” he finally yelled, diving forward and landing awkwardly as another spire crumbled under Koya’s attacks.
Surprisingly enough, Roy actually got an answer. As he picked himself up off the stony, rain-soaked ground, the voice came once again.
Pull all the Essence into your core, then, let it go.
The spire next to Roy shattered, sending a spray of stone into the air. Roy looked frantically around for more cover but found that all the spires in the vicinity had been destroyed.
Shah Koya stood on the other side of the battlefield, a manic and insane smile stretching from ear to ear. He didn’t look quite like himself, though. He was taller, wider, and his skin was a dark red, as though he was so angry that all the blood in his body had rushed to his face.
Nearly a dozen Water Blades danced and whirled around his body, reflecting the light of the lightning every time it flashed across the sky.
“Nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide,” Koya said, his voice sounding deeper than it ever had. “Now I’m going to do what the clan should have done years ago. Ridding the world of a cripple and a freak.”
Koya’s lips twisted into an ugly grin, and he gestured with his hand, sending the dozen Water Blades flying right at him.
There was nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide, just as Koya had said. Roy now only had one option remaining to him; advance or die. He didn’t know whether he actually would die during a test, or whether he would fail when the perceived deathblow hit, but he wasn’t willing to take that chance. He could feel the Power Essence surging through his veins, urging him on. He could feel the blood pumping between his fingers and the sound of his heartbeat, even over the storm around him.
Letting go of his neck, Roy turned to face the oncoming Water Blades with calm certainty. He took one last deep breath, the world seeming to slow around him. He pulled all his Essence into his core, condensing it as far as it would go. Then, he forced it all out at once in a massive explosion.
38
Time froze as Roy felt the Essence shatter his core, all of the gathered energy, leaving him in a massive bubble of force. The golden Power Essence then condensed into a sphere around him, spinning around in ever-faster rotations.
Roy felt his wounds closing, the lost blood restored, and his body revitalized. He could feel his muscles strengthening, his senses sharpening, and his very nerves tingling with power. In the wall of Essence, he could see something. The beginnings of a Path that he would follow for the rest of his life, perhaps even to immortality.
It was only a glimpse, but that single look was enough to bring tears to his eyes. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. His hopes and dreams made tangible. Now all he had to do was reach out and take it!
The Essence swirled ever faster, condensing and closing in around him until it finally touched his skin. Instead of the burning sensation he’d been expecting, the Power Essence merely sank back into him, all of it condensing back into a core at his center, pulsing brightly with barely suppressed energy.
That wasn’t the end of it, though. Roy felt as though he could do…more. He reached for his core, even as it was settling back into place and pushed. Pushed as hard as he could imagine doing, then pushed even harder. His core expanded three times in rapid succession, and soon, he was straining at the bonds of advancement once again.
When he could push no more, Roy’s eyes snapped open. He gasped, his entire body feeling electric as his core settled down, now shining a more brilliant shade of gold, nearly twice the size as it had been before.
“3rd Dan Yellow-Belt. Now that’s a serious accomplishment.”
Roy nearly jumped as a voice unexpectedly sounded in his head, as though it had never gone at all.
“Geon? Is that…you?” he asked, feeling his voice catching in his throat.
“Of course it’s me, and I don’t mean to rush you or anything, but you might want to duck.”
“Why would I want to…” Roy’s head whipped up.
He’d been staring at the Yellow-Belt, with three slashes of Orange at one end, and had completely forgotten that he was in the middle of a test. Geon’s sudden reappearance hadn’t helped either, and now the Water Blades were mere inches from his face.
Roy was actually surprised that they hadn’t already hit him. Just how fast had his advancement been?
Having no time to dodge, Roy threw both arms up before him in a cross block, cycling Essence through his body to reinforce it. The feeling was like nothing he’d experienced before. The Essence rushed to obey him, moving through his body in an instant. The quality of the Essence had somehow increased as well, as though the process of advancing had given him the means to purify it further.
He braced himself as a dozen blades slammed into him, driving him back a few steps and leaving shallow cuts along his arms.
“Wow. I’m surprised that construct managed to hurt you,” Geon said as Roy lowered his arms with a wince.
He was right, though. Koya was only a Base Yellow, and at his new level of advancement, he shouldn’t have been able to hurt him. Then again, the trial seemed to be able to make Koya as strong as it wanted, so maybe it wasn’t that surprising.
“Geon, I’m glad you’re back,” Roy said, rolling to one side as another barrage of blades flew at him. “But how are you even here? I thought that you couldn’t show up in trials?”
“Hmm, I honestly don’t know. The last thing I remember is some sort of bowl, or was it a plate…” Geon trailed off as Roy dodged yet another attack.
“What are you talking about?” Roy asked, feeling very confused. This conversation was completely throwing him off. It wasn’t easy to talk and fight at the same time.
Then again, why was he still on the defensive? He was sure he could at least match the Koya clone now, so why run?
“I have no idea. All I remember was the old monkey saying something about a plate, or bowl. Then something about a…”
“Maybe we can talk about this later?” Roy asked, as he weaved from side to side, closing the distance with Koya, who was shouting obscenities and hurling Water Blades.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. You can tell me all about the plate later. Right now, you have a test to pass. How did we end up here anyway?”