Trials of the Path: [Poursuit of Wisdom]

The messages shimmered before his eyes.

Yet, he still appeared confused and distant. Only a few minutes later did he begin to regain his senses.

The intangible screen before him served as a stark reminder that this was far from an illusion.

The scene of his last battle continued to replay in his mind. He had nearly died and was still in shock from the experience.

He trembled, not only from the intense cold that numbed the nape of his neck but also from the fear that consumed him.

When he touched his neck, he felt pain; no, it was merely an illusion born of his terror. He had never known such fear. Despite all his resolutions and growing strength, he had never managed to overcome his deepest fears.

He was afraid of death, of the darkness he had glimpsed when his body was on the brink of giving in, when his heart had nearly stopped.

This experience made him realize that it was not a game but the harsh reality of this world.

Dreams were not so easily realized. Hope was a fragile seed that the conditions of the world prevented from thriving, while the despair he felt was like a nettle—tenacious and persistent, so easy to endure.

He longed to give up, to lie down on the ground and escape the pains of this world. He wanted to...

"NO!"

With a swift motion, he slapped himself and regained his composure.

Rising from the ground, he declared, "I will never surrender without a fight." Perhaps the path he would take would not be as magnificent as he had hoped, but it was the path he chose for himself, for his life, and for his freedom.

He steeled his resolve and focused on the strange messages before him. Every hint he could glean would serve him in the future.

Yet, he couldn't shake the thought as he read what lay before him:

"Why… why does this feel so much like a narrative?"

From the first time he had seen this window, he had felt like a character in a story. This tower of trials, this status window with details about himself, but especially this narration, and the fact that every time he completed a trial, the powerful inscription [Your story shine brighter] appeared.

He suspected, perhaps rightly, that the acquisition of divinity could only be achieved through a narrative.

Setting aside these thoughts, he continued reading until he paused at:

"Resurgence of the Soul."

It seemed this enhancement ability he had developed finally had a name. For a moment, he tried to decipher more clues but found none.

"No point in wasting more time on what I don't understand right now," he muttered. "Better to move forward."

He quickly headed toward the next door that awaited him. It took him five minutes to reach it, so vast was the room he found himself in.

He stood before a door, as imposing as the last, adorned with strange and mesmerizing runes, as if it concealed mysteries within.He pushed the door open and entered an enormous chamber, so vast he hesitated to call it a room.

A hundred orbs of various colors, too numerous to enumerate, hung in the void, forming a giant circle that illuminated the space.

Before he could take them in, messages appeared before him:

[Beginning of the 4th Trial]

[Trials of the Path]

[Trials of the Path: Pursuit of Wisdom]

[Omnipotence and Omniscience are not merely separate forces: they form an inseparable whole. Absolute knowledge entails the power to accomplish anything, just as absolute power encompasses total understanding. They are not opposing states, but two aspects of a single essence, merging to represent the infinite, where knowledge and power blend into one force.]

[You have sketched your own path, a road that winds through the shadows of your ambitions. Yet, you still lack the strength to follow it to the end. You have shaped it in your thoughts, dreamed it in your visions, but it remains a mirage, an idea without form, an aspiration without momentum.]

[Knowledge is power. Immerse yourself in the infinite truth of existence and mold it into your strength, for wisdom also carries omnipotence within it.]

[Observe, understand the aspects of existence to control reality.]

[Your wisdom will root your path.]

As the last message faded, the chamber trembled. The suspended orbs began to glow brilliantly, rotating at increasingly high speeds.

Then, they moved, still spinning, until they hovered two meters from Maximus, where they remained suspended in a vertical formation. They continued their circular rotation, reaching unimaginable speeds, to the point where they became unrecognizable. The different colors blended until they formed an intense white light that forced Maximus to shield his eyes.

As soon as he reopened them, a sort of portal formed before him.

The space around this portal was distorted, and strange runes surrounded it. Cautiously, Maximus touched the portal with the tips of his fingers to test its effects.

However, what awaited him was a force of attraction so strong that he was drawn inside.

As soon as he blinked, he found himself in a vibrant, colorful spatial tunnel, moving at a breakneck speed.

A moment later, he was in the void, where a red flame danced before him. He watched it with fascination.

An instant later, he stood before it. Finding this strange, he tried to recall everything he knew about flames: their ability to burn, their need for oxygen.

Suddenly, the flame changed color, turning blue. Seeing this, he hurried to reflect further on his knowledge, but despite his efforts, he achieved nothing.

When he gave up, he was once again swept away by a portal, hurtling toward a waterfall in a secluded nature scene within the void.

The next moment, he found himself before it as well. He repeated the same process, recalling everything he knew about water, from its chemical composition to its necessity for life.

The waterfall suddenly accelerated, and the surrounding nature bloomed, but nothing more. He was disappointed and, as was customary, swept away to his next destination.

For a considerable time, everything repeated with different elements. Be it wind, earth, or lightning, he merely expressed slight, rudimentary knowledge without being able to manipulate or control them.

It was far worse when he confronted energy and matter.

For energy, he watched as it transformed into various forms, animating everything. He understood slightly the principle of conversion, like everyone else, but could explain nothing. And for matter, he saw atoms, which he assumed they were, resembling solar systems without actually being one.

Despite this realization, nothing happened.

Then, he witnessed a massive explosion that scattered energy throughout the void, a significant portion of which transformed into matter.

Yet again, something he couldn't comprehend, let alone a kind of energy and matter he had no awareness of.

What followed was different. He faced forces such as gravity and many others, which he grasped only superficially, along with concepts like space and various models that bore no resemblance to what could be achieved on Earth, as if four structures were stacked upon one another, which he assumed were dimensions.

It continued at such a speed that the concepts presented became absurd, and he gave up as soon as he caught sight of them.

"Well, I'm a great fool," he murmured.

After this event, Maximus found himself transported to a realm where light and darkness coexisted.

On one side, a golden light bathed the environment, while on the other, abyssal shadows stretched endlessly.

There was neither land nor sky, only two opposing sides, separated by an empty path that Maximus could not discern.

This emptiness was so peculiar that he chose to ignore it.

At the end of this path stood a sphere where light and darkness intertwined, mingling and blending together.

These spheres seemed to dance in an enchanting choreography, a rare spectacle that was difficult to behold in his lifetime.

Maximus began to advance, but the concept of distance felt non-existent

He could see this sphere yet could never reach it, as if something infinite lay between them. Its attainment was not governed by his will.

He lifted his hand and reached into the luminous space.

In that instant, a warm, comforting sensation enveloped him, nearly submerging him in a soothing ecstasy.

The light nourished his hope and dreams. The particles that enveloped his hand did not require understanding or analysis; he grasped only the feelings they conveyed: warmth, innocence, a purity he had never before experienced, and thus he could control them.

"No, it's not about manipulating them…" he thought, realizing that these lights seemed to be drawn to him like a magnet. "They are following me."

Yes, it was as if these lights were alive in a way, testifying to an inexplicable affinity.

After a moment, he withdrew his hand and turned his gaze to the other side, the space filled with darkness.

This sight did not frighten him either; he felt a closeness akin to that of the light. He raised his hand again and ventured into the dark expanse.

As soon as he did, a comforting feeling washed over him. The darkness enveloped his hand, welcoming him into a gentle peace.

Unlike the energetic warmth of the light, this true darkness resembled a soothing sleep.

Compared to a mother's embrace, it was both solitary and inviting for those who accepted its nature.

Maximus sought to convey this feeling of peace. The darkness around his arm intensified.

Unlike the light, which seemed animated by various thoughts, the darkness formed a whole, a unity.

They were solitary yet true companions for those who embraced their essence.

He closed his eyes to savor the experience further.

Then his gaze settled upon the sphere, a symbol of an improbable union between two opposing elements.

It was not a duality, as he had initially thought.

No, it was their common origin. Where did this idea come from that light and darkness shared a single source?

He knew, from the sensations he felt, that they did not hate each other; on the contrary, they were drawn to one another, longing to unite.

But something prevented them from returning to their original essence. In the center of this sphere, he began to glimpse a point, but it grew increasingly difficult to concentrate.

"What is happening?" he wondered.

He forced himself to remain focused, but the point vanished from his sight. Suddenly, a portal opened behind him.

"Wait…" Before he could finish his thought, he was drawn in.

In the next instant, he found himself back in the same chamber as before.

A portal appeared, and from an immaterial point, Maximus emerged. Immediately, a screen materialized before him:

[In your quest for wisdom, your lack of knowledge and understanding has been revealed.]

Before he could voice his indignation, another message appeared:

[However, in this quest, you have discovered the resonance of your story with Darkness and Light.]

[You, who have come from the deepest obscurity, who have experienced the evil and despair of this world. You share the solitude and comfort of the Darkness.]

[You, who maintain hope despite all the evil, who desire to experience happiness and feel the warmth of the world, and share it with others. You share the innocence and dreams of the Light.]

[You, who embrace the sentiments of opposing elements, are capable of grasping their source and origin.]

[You are a candidate for Lucentis.]

[Your path takes root.]

[Your story is defined.]

[End of the 4th trial.]

"That's rather disappointing," he sighed.

He was accustomed to finishing on a positive note in trials, even if he had no one to compare himself with.

Yet, for the first time, he felt as if he had somehow failed, even if that wasn't entirely the case. It hurt to feel treated like a fool who had only succeeded based on his emotions.

What left a bitter taste was that his story was not clarifying but defining, as if his shortcomings had been illuminated. Nevertheless, he realized at least one thing.

"Lucenti…"

He did not know what it meant, but he guessed it was what he had discovered in the end, that origin he could not quite grasp.

Without further ado, he made his way toward the next door, determined to perform better in the next trial.