Saryn was exhausted.
Not physically, but mentally.
"Attempt one hundred and thirty three."
And it didn't help that every time he failed, Marduk's gloomy voice would erupt out of nowhere, alerting him of what attempt he was on.
But it was somewhat helpful, as he couldn't be asked to keep track anymore.
'I "Doubt this stage can be that difficult", huh?' Saryn chuckled painfully at the irony of his previous words.
It was that difficult.
Saryn looked forward, facing the enemy he had been fighting for so long, and yet if felt like each time he did it, the results wouldn't improve whatsoever.
Every time he "died" in the box of pure void, he'd simply come back from the dead, greeted with the same glowing cyan humanoid, except holding a different weapon each time.
Saryn set his greatsword up against the wall.
'At least they don't attack me until I get near.' He sighed, sitting down against the invisible wall while looking at the opponent.
This one held a long spear, every single opponent he had faced looked the exact same until now.
They had no face, nor hair, they were completely cyan and both they and their weapons flickered like holograms. The weapons were a deep blue in comparison to the individuals wielding them, which indicated the colour of echoes they were made of.
Saryn had seen this same exact spear a couple times before, and it was the one he was most familiar with.
He looked closely, and saw the vibrating sea of echoes which made up the opponent. They were completely created out of cyan echoes, and their weapons made out of blue ones.
'Interesting.' Saryn got up, supporting himself with one arm, before patting himself down out of instinct , despite the lack of dust, or any matter in general, around him.
His right arm grabbed his sword, before he accelerated toward his opponent.
His every step fumbled slightly.
Some retracted back quicker, as if a mysterious force pushed him away.
Some slid past, as if he was stepping on ice.
Some bounced up, as if he hopped onto a trampoline.
And along with these, dozens of other random effects.
'After one hundred and thirty two painstaking attempts, these effects have become minor inconveniences.' Saryn realised as he focused on the opponent at hand, allowing his instincts to handle the floor's effects.
His heartbeat aligned with the rhythmic pulse of the lilac echo in his chest, both of them supporting each other, heavily empowering him.
'From the memories I had received after fighting them the first time, almost all the others who had passed this floor, of whom I could count on one hand, took at least five hundred attempts, meaning I won't starve by then, im assuming the lilac echo will be safe for quite a while.' Saryn began pondering.
'However, one of those candidates… had passed on his fourth attempt.'
Saryn had studied this specific person's memories in depth, watching how masterful his movements were, his precision with the greatblade, and how it flowed like water against his palm.
"Ren…" Saryn muttered the person's name under his breath as he sped forward, entering the hologram's detection range of five meters.
After the thirtieth attempt, Saryn sat down, studying as much as possible from the foreign memories, before stumbling upon this person.
Ren had effortlessly flown by this stage, his time with the stalker was also limited, as his nimble feet simply didn't allow the stalker to touch him. He ended up escaping the stalker while depositing the echo fabrics, then he injured the stalker severely with the greatblade, before escaping through the gateway.
A whistle rang out, as the hologram's spear shot out at an incredible speed, reaching for Saryn's torso.
His body moved like a stream as he attempted to copy Ren's movements, ducking down sharply, before circling around the spear.
Saryn examined Ren's swordsmanship deeply, and guessed he must have been previously trained, before Marduk wiped his memory while keeping his skills in place.
Saryn felt his foot slip slightly, but he pushed down further to negate the lack of friction, before pushing away the hologram's spear lightly.
Ren had landed two hits on the hologram on his first three attempts, and on his fourth try, the hologram only got to make one move before it was decimated.
'And he didn't even have the lilac echo.' Saryn berated himself, before replaying Ren's movements in his head again, trying to replicate them.
His right arm swung round, carrying with it the greatblade he had become so used to wielding.
Ren always made sure he was far from his opponent, at that range, it was only a matter of strength, and what use was the power behind the blade if it didn't strike its mark?
Saryn effortlessly dodged a second spear strike, his greatsword nicking the opponents torso slightly, as a dash of red appeared in the area he had struck, not as blood, but as a simple solid red colour which indicated a successful hit.
His movements were smooth, as he dodged and turned fluidly while burning all of it straight into his muscle memory.
'I'm not far off Ren's level, I'm nearly there.' Saryn imagined he wasn't blessed with amazing tutoring in his previous years, and he didn't shame himself for it, he moved forward with the hand he had been dealt, while using anything else in his disposal to the fullest.
He held no envy toward Ren, nor admiration, Ren's memories were simply a means for him to improve upon himself, this is no longer Ren's trial, it's Saryn's.
The deep blue spear swiped toward him in a horizontal motion, causing him to step back slightly, steadying himself before blocking the spear with his blade.
Sparks flew out of the collision point as both fighters recoiled slightly, Saryn being the first to lunge forward with his sword swinging downward, coming down like an executioner's blade onto the hologram's head.
The hologram tried to maneuver out of the way, but Saryn was simply too fierce.
Another deep gash of red appeared on the hologram, pulling down from its forehead and exiting through its neck.
'Just one more, come on…' A look of impatience appeared on Saryn's face as he frowned deeply.
He had hit the hologram twice multiple times before, yet he never managed to land the final hit.
This was because he had discovered that the holograms get quicker with each consecutive hit he landed on them, meaning, upon the second strike, they would reach their maximum pace.
The spear whistled by Saryn's face, missing him by mere inches, as he turned quickly, stabilizing his footing and blocking yet another swing.
This time, he was overpowered, he stumbled backward one step, leaning to the side as another spear strike flew by.
'Tch.' At this stage, Saryn had to enter an extremely passive state, but he held himself firm.
The images of Ren's movements replayed one final time, as Saryn steeled himself, following accordingly.
He blocked another swing, turning quickly toward the second, which Saryn ducked under before swinging his greatblade at the hologram's thigh.
He didn't need to swing hard, nor fast, nor deep, just one tiny mark, literally anything, and he would finally advance to the next stage.
'Please…' He thought, as the shadow of the spear loomed over him, he knew it was going to land before his strike did.
And in this moment of sheer desperation, it wasn't Ren's movements anymore, it was his.
Saryn planted his right foot in front of him, applying pressure and pushing himself up diagonally. He raised up his left hand, grabbing the shaft of the spear, before twisting his right hand, which held the greatblade, in an angle which caused his strike to shift from horizontal to vertical.
The spear was directed away from him, missing its mark, as his blade contacted the hologram, another red line stretching from the hologram's thigh to its chest dug itself into place.
The hologram froze in place, crackling and distorted, before shattering into millions of tiny cyan and blue fractals, which quickly absorbed themselves into Saryn's body.
He exhaled, realising he had been holding his breath.
But other than that, he had arrived at a different, more meaningful realisation.
His hands trembled, not from fear, but from the weight finally lifting.
Saryn had realised… he didn't need to reach "Ren's level", even Ren had ended up dying someplace in these chambers. He could simply forge a level of his own, where only he stood.