Third-person POV
After solving a mission on the way back from the church, Julian reached the base at night. Everyone had returned to the base by then. For the last few days, he had been having some light headaches which increased as the days went by.
Everyone was fascinated by the bird on his head specially Charmy who wanted to eat her. Julian told her name and that he will take care of her from now on.
While eating Julian was hit with a terrible headache followed by intense weakness, he felt as if he lost control of his body and dropped on the floor. Julian could faintly hear the worried shouts of everyone as his vision blanked. After he dropped mana seeped and formed a thick layer of protection with an oppressing aura seeping out of him.
Vanessa(worried ) – What happened to him?
Yami –I didn't know he had to go through that so soon. He is going through a trial against his power. This is a process everyone who wields the power of mana pressure has to go through someday.
Vanessa: what do you mean by that?
Yami: The people who wield the power of mana pressure special than others. But this power is not equal for everyone. Some can use this power on a small scale but some people can even change the environment with this power. People like me and Julian fall in the strong user category. Among the captains only Fuegoelon and his sister, and finally Nozel fall in the second category.
These people have a stronger soul than others. Every living being has a soul but a person with strong mana pressure gives birth to another soul that has taken a form. This soul is a manifestation of their dream, determination, past, present, trauma all together making it another living being inside us.
When the second soul becomes strong enough, they try to merge. What the brat is going through is the merging of two souls. The second soul has all its memories and might so it sets a trial for the original soul to merge. After merging, the power of mana pressure increases, and their power of law increases.
Vanessa – What happens when the souls didn't manage to merge?
Yami – There are various possibilities, a person can sometimes lose the power to use mana pressure, can take massive mental damage, and in some cases even lose their life. Time flows differently inside the trial, one day here can be equal to 1 month there.
Vanessa- I hope Julian succeeds without any problem.
Yami-Don't worry he is not so weak-willed; he would wake up with greater power.
I had gone through this trail when I was 20 but somehow it came too quick for him. Take him to his room and we can only hope he wakes up soon.
Secre who was worried about Julian sat on his chest.
: Inside the trial:
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a dark sky with red clouds. I found myself laying on a land of sand. The ground all around me started to shake followed by the emergence of tall pillars with red flames on top of them. Each pillar had different inscriptions that defined my character, my dreams and my ambition for power, and everything else that drove me to my dream to become the strongest mage on the continent.
The ground shook again and a large throne of sand materialized in front of me on which light from the blood-red moon fell which emerged from the horizon.
A wisp of light emerged from my body and went beside the throne, the wisp took a form that I was too familiar with. As the figure appeared, I somehow knew why I was here.
"Sit on the throne and my power will be yours ". I took a step forward but suddenly my mind blanked out
I felt like I was sleeping for eternity.
The moment I gained consciousness; I heard a voice I was dying to hear for so long.
"Akira! Arika wake up or you will be late for school "
Huh! This voice! could it be… I opened my eyes and hugged the person in front of my eyes.
" What are you doing Akira, did you have a bad dream? you were blabbering something in your sleep "
"just a bad dream mom, nothing serious "
Yeah, it was just a dream….black clover…grimoire…all just a bad dream.
"That's good, get ready fast your sister is already dressed. "
I fixed my bed and went to the bathroom and took a bath. While brushing I thought about the strange dream I had.
'why was the dream so long as if I spent years. What were people calling me again? Jul.. something. I forgot. Well doesn't matter.
I went for breakfast and greeted my father and sister Hinata. After telling goodbye I and my sister went to our classes. I was in my last year of high school while she was in her second year of university. Both of our institutions were opposite to each other so we went together.
"Did you watch the new episode of black clover? Yami's last spell was soo cool "said my sister who had dark circles under her eyes for staying up late at night.
Yami …this name sounds familiar as if I know him very well.
"I think I did, it was fun, "I said to continue the conversation. My sister was a massive anime fan who got me into anime.
I made some normal conversation and went towards our classes. All the classes felt like I had done them before.
During the lunch break, a boy sat in front of me who felt familiar but I couldn't point out why. He had black hair and striking red eyes that I was seeing for the first time.
He gave me a piece of paper and left.
I confusingly opened the paper that read "Are you satisfied with your life? You can enjoy this as long as you desire. You don't have to suffer anymore"
What the hell is this guy talking about. I found it stupid and threw the paper in the bin.
After the class, I spent some time watching Anime with my sister and prepared my things. My big brother Asuma came home in the evening. He got a job recently so he usually comes home in the evening. He helped me with my studies while telling me about his day.
Bit by bit one month passes as my life went on normally but a feeling of dread remained in me. That night my father came back with the good news that we were going on a trip tomorrow.
The next day I felt like I had seen this day before and remembered everything vividly ... from overboiling of tea to my sister shouting because the dress she ordered turned out to be defective …I felt like I was missing something … something crucial, but I couldn't point out to it.
We set out on our trip in our car but my focus was on remembering what the feeling was. I tried to remember where did I see that guy and somehow the note gave me an unsettling feeling.
We traveled to a picnic in a huge flower garden. We spent our entire day enjoying and those were some of the best moments of my life. We started our return trip when it was evening.
On the highway, I saw our road diverged into three ways one sharp left, one straight ahead, and a tunnel on the right side. The moment we were at the crossroad, I put together all my memories and remembered what I forgot…
Everything I went through in the past 30 days was all lie. This entire reality was made from the fragment of my desires.
STOP the car I wanted to shout but I was too late as a truck running at full speed from the tunnel crashed into our car.
…..
..
My vision was dark but I heard a conversation.
"What is the condition doctor? "
"The adults were spotted dead while the elder siblings passed away while brought to the hospital. The youngest one is in a coma "
The voice became dull but my vision became clearer.
I opened my eyes and found myself in a place worse than a nightmare.
Disfigured bodies of my family lay in front of my eyes with the broken part of the car.
NOOOO! MOM! DAD! BROTHER! SISTER! , I tried to shout but no voice came.
I found myself getting separated from my body and returning to the appearance after reincarnation.
I saw myself getting far away from the scene …. the more I ran towards them farther away they got…
I saw my avatar crying
'don't go ..please don't leave me …don't leave me alone .'
'I don't want to be alone … please don't leave me …take me with you ….i don't want to live while you people are gone. why god? why didn't you kill me with them too .'
I was in an illusion created to experience my best moments and worst nightmare.
This day was the turning point of my life. The day I lost everything, the day I lost the joy of living. I was taken to a hospital but, I had left the will to live I wished to die and get away from this hell. As if to my call a voice responded to me and gave me another chance in life.
Tears fell from my eyes as I gave a last look to my past
"Is this it? " I asked the figure standing beside the throne which was the same as me before reincarnation.
Creation is hard, cheer me up!