"Mineself shall know"
As the seemingly divine being approached closer, it extended its right arm, pointing directly at me. Then, with a deliberate motion, it pressed its finger against my chest. Immediately, I felt a sensation—like something was being drawn out of me.
The longer I remained in this position, the more difficult it became to think.
'Ho…'
Thoughts kept drifting away. But it all stopped when the being released their touch from myself and now looked down upon me.
Its voice resonated once more, echoing through the void—an overwhelming blend of countless voices. It was both majestic and terrifying.
"Thou inner self has no connection…."
A pressure that had been there only slightly suddenly increased by the second. As what seemed to be the being's eye, kept growing and growing. As if penetrating through my whole vision, the shining orb in the faceless being's head started shaking more and more.
'It somehow seems... liberating...'
If the feeling from earlier had felt like something was being pulled out of me, the feeling now was different. It was more like something started pushing itself inside my body, as lightly translucent golden threats connected to every part of my body.
"Mineself shall try and make thee compatible…. if thy physical form has the will to stay intact…"
Suddenly a pain crept up from my inside, but not even a sound left my body. It was like I simply had no control over it, as more and more threads connected to it.
The pain suddenly started to rush up to the region where my heart was and then I realized, I had no clothes seemingly on right now. My body was laid bare.
My skin and muscles began to turn translucent, and within, I saw it—my heart, once red, slowly darkening to black. Golden cracks spiderwebbed across its surface like fragile glass.
The space around me also started to pulse with the same rhythm as my heart did.
"Thy waiting shan't be in vain."
After hearing its voice, the entire world came to a stillstand, with everything turning into a white space on which one could walk.
However, nothing else besides me seemed to be there. At least so I thought…
"What the?"
No sound came forth, even when speaking. As if the concept didn't exist.
In shock, I touched my mouth and tried speaking again but nothing, although I felt it moving.
I looked around in distress and then I saw something, a small dot that seemed to be growing closer more and more.
The closer it got, the darker the surroundings became until all I saw was…
Darkness
Everything was black but again, way in the back was a small white point that kept growing more and more, turning my surroundings brighter again. And with each change in brightness, it kept getting fast and faster.
Till all I could see was white and black, changing each second.
"Stop"
Then all of a sudden, a voice reached my ears and the entire space split into 2 halves'. One being white and the other being pitch black.
As I stood on the white side, I looked at my body and saw that it had turned entirely black but when looking ahead, I saw another figure that was entirely white.
'Who are you?'
Slowly taking steps back, the figure adjacent of me however started clapping slowly.
"Let's not care about who I am for now. More importantly, congratulations, you have cleared the first phase without even knowing what to do."
The figure had a male voice and talked seemingly as if amused.
"First phase? What are you talking about?"
Confused I looked at the white figure.
"Did nobody explain? Oh well, thinking about who most likely gave you this, it seems normal."
'He knows father?'
"Well let me start by telling you one thing. Your body is currently undergoing changes—several, in fact. You're in the Trial of Purity."
'Trial of Purity? What in the world…'
"I bet you know what Mana is, well in a way you are currently getting something similar. Pure Mana."
"P... Pure Mana?"
"Yes, Pure Mana, basically the original Mana. You see, even though gods themselves have Mana, but it still has an origin and well, the god you are currently under trial with is that so called origin."
Questions came up my mind but I decided to suppress them for now, as the man in front of me seemed to have considerable knowledge. The only thing that kept coming back was the question who he was…
'Who is he?'
"Oh, who I am you ask?"
I looked impressed as the man seemi9ngly had the ability to read my mind.
"Well let's say I am your senior. I took this guys trial myself and succeeded but everything has its price. Mine was staying in this space for the rest of my afterlife."
"Anyway, nobody could normally have Pure Mana, it simply doesn't work but when undergoing this Trial your body is adapted to it. And one requirement to be able to get Pure Mana, is to have the inability to generate Mana oneself."
The man chuckled for a moment.
"And well you are the prime example of being unable to do it, as you are lacking your Mana vault."
'Wait, I read about that…that's the organ which creates and stores Mana in the human body…. So that is the reason why Wendel couldn't use Mana and has grey skin…'
"Anyway, it seems you have gotten through the First Phase of the trial by reaching the physical requirements to be blessed, however you are now in the 2nd of 3 phases. Now what you have to do is fairly simple…. What do you desire the most. If you tell me the right answer, the big guy from before will have you pass on to the 3rd phase."
"What I desire most?"
I tilted my head a bit to the side as the man explained in what situation I was in. I basically stood at a crossroad. Get it right and pass or get it wrong.
And from what I could gather, if I didn't pass then there wouldn't be much hope for a 2nd life… However, another question was on my mind that I needed to get answered.
"Wait, do you know Father?"
"Yeah, a pain in the ass but that's not important. What is important is, that time is ticking… So go on and tell me, we don't have all day long…"
The white man started tapping his foot on the ground, seemingly waiting.
The fact that he knew Father seemed to tell me enough, as it became apparent that I was the replacement for this guy. However, it seemed now was not the time to contemplate this.
'What do I desire most….'
The second trial seemed to have the desire to have me reveal my inner most wish…
If I thought about it, it seemed pretty much not all too hard. An easy life, a fulfilled life, but the thing that would be most fitting would be…
"Peace of mind…. what I wish for… is inner peace…."
"Lame…. but seems like it isn't too bad of a thing to wish fo- "
As the man talked, he simply disappeared and slowly both sides started to merge, turning the surrounding space slowly light grey.
Then from one moment to another, I was again in the position I had found myself earlier in. With thousands of golden threats latched onto my body and the God of Purity it seems floating before me.
"Thou has passed. Therefore, the last judgement shall be enacted by mineself."
Raising a gleaming spear high above its head, the being moved with divine purpose. The space around us pulsed in perfect unison with my heart.
"This shall seal thy fate"
It then stabbed my head with it, penetrating through one of my eyes, nonetheless I felt no pain. All I felt was a tingling sensation.
Then it began—knowledge surged into me.
Magic circles, unlike any I'd ever seen, flooded my mind. They shimmered with patterns beyond comprehension. One word echoed above all others:
'Arcane'
Then the spear slowly started to dissipate and integrate itself in my body.
"Thou shall achieve what mineself could not."
A chorus of millions of voices thundered around me as radiant light consumed my vision.
And then, I understood.
'I did it…'
I finished the trial.