CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The Final Test: Entering the Martial Path

One week before their stay ended, Apprentice Ken gathered the top ten in a dark chamber beneath the training grounds. The room was vast and eerily silent, its walls smooth and black as if carved from obsidian. A single torch burned at the center, casting long shadows. The air was thick with something unexplainable—pressure, expectation, the weight of what was to come.

Apprentice stood before them, arms crossed, his presence as imposing as ever. His voice was calm but carried a chilling authority.

"You have all fought well, but none of you have truly stepped onto the martial path," he said. His cold gaze swept over them, lingering on each competitor for a moment before moving on. "You may have trained, fought, and won battles, but that does not mean you understand what it truly means to cultivate martial arts. Until now, you have merely been imitating strength."

Kaïdën listened carefully, his muscles tense. Something about the way Apprentice ken spoke made him uneasy.

"The true martial path does not begin with technique," Apprentice continued. "It begins with will. The will to fight. The will to survive. The will to carve your existence into the world. Without this, all the strength in the world is meaningless."

A few of the nobles exchanged glances, unsure of where this was going. Selena, standing tall at the front, didn't react, her sharp eyes locked on Apprentice ken. Darius, beside her, tightened his fists, already prepared for whatever was coming.

Apprentice raised a hand, and the single torch in the center flickered. "To step into the true martial path—the Apprentice Realm—you must fulfill two conditions."

Silence fell over the group as they awaited his words.

"First," he said, "you must send your body to the absolute will. This means pushing past your limits, surpassing fear, and standing firm against what you believe to be impossible."

He took a slow step forward, letting his words sink in.

"Second, you must create your Martial Heart Will—the embodiment of your chosen path. Without it, your martial arts are just empty movements. A sword with no edge. A blade with no intent. A life with no purpose."

Kaïdën felt something stir in his chest. He had already started to understand his path—the way of survival, of assassination, of striking unseen. But hearing it put into words solidified it even further.

"And now," Apprentice said, lowering his hand, "you will face your test."

Without warning, the torchlight extinguished.

Darkness.

For a moment, there was nothing. No sound, no sight, no sense of time. Then, suddenly—A presence.

It was unlike anything Kaïdën had ever felt before. A deep, suffocating pressure settled over him, as if unseen eyes were staring straight into his soul. He felt his breath hitch, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Then—whispers.

Not in words, but in emotions. Doubt. Fear. Weakness.

The illusion had begun.

---

Kaïdën found himself standing in an endless void, cold and empty. But he wasn't alone. Shadows flickered at the edges of his vision, shifting like living creatures. They had no form, but they felt real. He could feel them watching.

Then, one of them lunged.

He barely had time to react before he felt a searing pain in his side. He staggered back, clutching at his ribs—but there was no wound. No blood. Just pain.

More figures moved. He tried to fight them, striking out with everything he had, but his attacks passed through them like mist. Their attacks, however, landed.

Every strike, every hit made his body feel weaker.A voice echoed in his mind. "You are not strong enough."

Another blow to his chest.

"You do not belong here."

His vision blurred.

"You will fail."

Kaïdën fell to one knee, panting. Was this real? Was he actually dying? Or was this just the illusion? The line between reality and nightmare had already begun to blur.

But then—something shifted.

A realization.

This was not a fight of strength. This was a fight of will.

And he refused to lose.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself up. The pain didn't matter. The fear didn't matter. None of it was real.

What was real… was his will.

In that moment, something inside him ignited. The fear that had gripped him shattered, replaced by something cold, focused, and absolute. The shadows no longer seemed invincible.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Then—he moved.Like an assassin in the night, he weaved through the shadows, dodging effortlessly. His strikes, once ineffective, now landed. The moment his will solidified, the illusion weakened. The enemies were not real—they were nothing more than the doubts and fears that had always lingered within him.

And he refused to be bound by them.

With one final step, he broke through.

---

Kaïdën gasped as he awoke, his body drenched in sweat. The illusion was gone. He was back in the dark chamber, lying on the cold stone floor. Around him, the other nine competitors were slowly regaining consciousness. Some were still shaking. Others had tears in their eyes.

But all of them had survived.

Apprentice ken stood over them, his expression unreadable.

"You have passed," he said. "Each of you has now awakened your Martial Heart Will."

Kaïdën's breathing steadied as he felt something new within him. A small, almost imperceptible sensation in his chest—like a seed that had been planted deep inside him.

"You all now carry the Seed of Martial Arts within you," Apprentice continued. "It is your foundation. But a seed is useless if left to wither. To truly step into the Apprentice Realm, you must nourish it. And to do that, you must absorb your first breath of life energy from the atmosphere."

The challenge was clear.

"Before we meet again, you must each succeed in drawing in life energy," Apprentice ken said. "Only then will you truly be recognized as martial artists."

Kaïdën clenched his fists, his mind racing.

This was it.

The real journey was just beginning.