Ember Hall Trial Part 12- Forging a New Path

'I thought I wouldn't be able to finish this trial. I thought I was going to die.'

Tyler gritted his teeth as he blocked the blunt force from the sword. His legs trembled a little as he slowly stood up on his foot. He began to push back the sword.

'But thanks to you, I feel like I can fight back once again. I must fight back because if I die, everything ends right now.'

Tyler's eyes glowed with the light coming into his eyes and the Sword Aura covered his body. The blooming red Sword Aura seemed quite ferocious. His Sword Aura had mutated because of the previous incident.

It was now deep red, almost like blood. He held the sword in his right hand and stared at the two giant statues in front of him.

His foot pressed against the ground and released an intense force, pushing him toward them. The sword in his hand got covered with Sword Aura and an intense amount of Sword Essence flowed into the sword.

[Swift Snake Strike]

Whoosh!

Tyler reached behind the statue and his sword slashed the statue's leg. When he turned around, he saw a small crack on its leg. It was so small that it could almost be ignored.

'Damn it! The power of my strikes isn't strong enough. I need more power.'

When he thought that, an immense wave of Sword Essence flowed into his sword.

'No, this is not it. I am missing. My powers are so inferior compared to when I had those powers. It wasn't boosting my physical strength or spiritual energy. It was just doing something with my sword.'

'I need to find what exactly it did.'

Suddenly, his right arm buzzed. He raised his head and saw the leg of the statue stomping at him.

'Shit!'

Tyler immediately jumped to the side but the statue's leg still managed to smash his leg. His body flung for a moment since he was almost like a kite in front of those statues.

Thud!

"Argh! This bastard... I can't lose my focus. How can I focus on my sword and my opponent at the same time?" Tyler asked himself as he felt extreme pain in his leg.

Suddenly, he received another signal in his head.

"Master, I can help you dodge it."

"Whoa! Really? Howwwwww?"

Just when he was about to ask, his right hand rose, and suddenly a branch sprouted out of his palm. It pierced the wall and then, grew mini branches inside the wall.

Suddenly, the long branch started to shorten as it took Tyler flying away from another stomp of a giant thirty feet statue.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"

Tyler felt hard controlling his foot since he was almost dragged to the side. Although there were many steps, it felt like it was done instantly.

"Did the branch come out of my wrist?" Tyler didn't feel it properly so he couldn't help but ask.

"No, Master! It came out of your palm. How was it? Did you like it?"

"Yeah! I didn't expect I could escape the attack like that. By the way, I feel like you are intelligent but when we met, you were acting cute and amateur to the point where you couldn't even remember how you healed us."

"What's going on with you?" Tyler asked.

"Master, I share my wisdom with you. If you are intelligent, I will be intelligent. If you are dumb, I will be dumb."

"Wait, how is that even possible?" Tyler couldn't help but widened his eyes. Suddenly, his right arm buzzed once again and pulled him away.

Bang!

The sword struck the ground and the dust rose.

"I don't know. But, I can do this." The sapling once again sent his words meaning into his mind. The next moment, the sapling extended itself from his right arm to his left chest. It covered his left hand with wooden apart.

"Wow! It feels like I am wearing wooden armor." Tyler was surprised and very much excited about wearing the armor. It was the first time he has ever worn even a part of the armor.

Suddenly, he sensed the powerful energy flowing through his veins. And, a strong motivation to finish this trial reappeared in his eyes. He didn't move though.

He just closed his eyes. For the first time, he was willing to bet his life on someone except for himself. He promised himself even if he dies, he won't regret it.

Because he wasn't putting his life on just some random person. It was the thing that saved him and his mother in the first place. When he closed his eyes, he started to recollect his memories of the time when he went wild.

It was quite a disturbing memory. After all, he nearly killed his mother and the rabbit. It was also because of him, Miao was injured. It was truly disturbing for him who finally had started to respect and treat Miao as someone close to him.

But, this also allowed him to peak into the power that he used during that time. It was devastating. A powerful energy slash that could tear up the ground, and air.

The darkness shrouded the bloody energy and the energy itself boiled like lava. It was quite a powerful energy. On the other hand, his Sword Essence was quite silent.

It was more like silent water in the river. Suddenly, he paused his thoughts.

'If my Sword Essence is like the river, can't I just increase its pace to create more impact? But, I don't know how to do it. Even in my life inside the simulator, I never used the Sword Essence like that.'

'I only used Sword Essence for Sword Art. I don't know how to do such a thing. Think Tyler Think. There must be a way to increase the power of my strike.'

'Wait, what if I combine my lightning energy with sword essence? Lightning Energy has a destructive nature. So, if I merge the destructive energy with silent energy, can't I make a new kind of energy that is both silent and destructive?'

'But, is that even possible?'

When he asked himself that question, he only came to a single conclusion.

'Tyler, you need to do this. You may have been born without talent or background. But now, you have a talent for Sword and Lightning. You have the knowledge and experience of both.'

'It's time you stop doubting yourself. It's time you take a step forward and get a new kind of strength. It's time to forge my own path. For your mother, for your goal….. and for yourself.'

The next moment, he opened his eyes and the lightning energy surged out of them.