Chapter 5: The Impossible Trial
The darkness exploded.
BOOM!!
Zion barely managed to raise his sword before an overwhelming force crashed into it.
The impact was beyond anything he had ever imagined.
His arms screamed.
His bones groaned.
Then...
The sword slipped.
"No!"
The Awakened Beast's claw smashed into his chest.
BANG!
Zion was sent flying like a broken doll.
His body tumbled across the Independent Trial Space, bouncing violently before finally skidding to a stop.
A sharp pain erupted from his ribs.
He coughed violently.
"Kh...!"
Warm blood splattered onto the invisible ground.
His breathing became ragged.
Every breath felt like knives piercing his lungs.
"...Too strong..."
His fingers trembled as he struggled to tighten his grip around the sword.
For the first time since entering the Trial...
Fear settled deep within his heart.
Not fear of pain.
Fear of death.
The Awakened Beast didn't rush toward him.
Instead, it walked.
One step.
Boom.
Another step.
Boom.
Each footfall shook the Trial Space.
It wasn't being cautious.
It simply didn't believe Zion could escape.
To it...
The battle had already ended.
Zion forced himself onto one knee.
His left arm hung limply.
Broken.
His ribs burned every time he inhaled.
Blood dripped steadily from the corner of his mouth.
"...Stand..."
His legs shook violently.
"Stand!"
With a roar, Zion forced himself upright.
The Awakened Beast stopped walking.
Its crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
For the first time...
It acknowledged him.
The monster disappeared.
Zion's pupils shrank.
Too fast!
Instinct screamed.
His body moved before his mind could think.
He twisted sideways.
A gigantic claw swept past his face, missing by less than an inch.
The pressure alone carved a deep gash across his cheek.
Blood flowed instantly.
Before Zion could recover...
A massive tail struck his side.
CRACK!
Something broke.
Pain exploded throughout his body.
He crashed onto the invisible ground once again.
His sword slipped from his grasp and spun away into the darkness.
"No..."
Zion reached toward it.
His fingertips stopped just short.
The blade lay several meters away.
Too far.
The Awakened Beast slowly approached.
Its footsteps echoed like a death sentence.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Zion's vision blurred.
His body refused to move.
"So..."
"This..."
"...is how I die."
Silence answered him.
Then...
A familiar voice echoed within his memories.
"Again."
A younger Zion collapsed onto the forge floor, his arms swollen after swinging a wooden sword thousands of times.
"I can't..."
Smack!
Granny Iya struck the back of his head.
"Again."
Another memory.
Heavy rain poured from the sky.
Fourteen-year-old Zion could barely stand.
His clothes were soaked.
His hands bled from gripping the practice sword too tightly.
"I've trained all day!"
Granny Iya folded her arms.
"The enemy won't care."
"Again."
Another memory.
The blazing heat of the forge.
A glowing iron ingot rested upon the anvil.
Zion hammered it over and over until his vision spun.
His arms felt as though they would fall off.
"I'm hungry..."
"Good."
Granny Iya didn't even look up.
"A hungry man learns faster than a comfortable fool."
"Again."
Another memory.
His palms had split open.
Every swing sent blood onto the hammer's handle.
He wanted to stop.
He wanted to sleep.
Instead...
"Again."
Day after day.
Month after month.
Year after year.
No praise.
No rewards.
Only one word.
"Again."
Back in the Trial Space...
Zion slowly laughed.
It was weak.
Hoarse.
Almost broken.
"So..."
"...this..."
"...was why."
His trembling fingers slowly dug into the invisible ground.
Granny...
You weren't teaching me to become a blacksmith.
You were teaching me...
How to survive.
A warmth spread through his exhausted heart.
Not power.
Resolve.
The Awakened Beast stood directly before him now.
It raised one enormous claw.
A single strike.
That was all it would take.
Zion slowly lifted his head.
Blood trickled down his face.
His breathing was uneven.
His body was broken.
Yet...
His eyes still burned with determination.
He smiled.
Not because he thought he could win.
But because he finally understood.
Granny Iya had never expected him to defeat stronger enemies through strength alone.
She had taught him something far more valuable.
Observe.
Endure.
Wait.
A blacksmith never forced metal into shape.
He studied it.
He understood it.
Then...
He struck exactly where it would change.
Zion's gaze locked onto the Awakened Beast.
Its breathing.
Its posture.
The shifting weight beneath its armored limbs.
Every tiny movement.
Every rhythm.
Every habit.
"If..."
He whispered.
"...I only need one opening..."
He slowly reached toward the sword lying several meters away.
The Awakened Beast moved.
Like lightning.
Its claw descended from above.
Zion didn't dodge.
He ran straight toward it.
The Awakened Beast's claw crashed downward.
BOOM!!
The invisible ground exploded beneath the impact.
A shockwave tore through the Trial Space.
But Zion wasn't there.
At the very last instant, he shifted his weight and slid beneath the descending claw.
Not fast enough to avoid it completely.
Three razor-sharp talons tore across his left shoulder.
RIP!
Blood sprayed into the darkness.
The pain nearly made him black out.
Yet Zion didn't stop.
He gritted his teeth and pushed forward.
His fingertips wrapped around the hilt of his fallen sword.
The familiar weight returned to his hand.
The Awakened Beast turned with frightening speed.
Its massive tail whipped toward him like a steel pillar.
Zion raised his sword.
CLANG!
The impact threw him backward once again.
His wrists went numb.
His vision blurred.
A thin crack appeared along the blade.
"...!"
Zion's heart skipped a beat.
The sword had been forged with ordinary iron.
It had reached its limit.
The beast didn't give him time to think.
It attacked again.
One claw.
One tail strike.
One shoulder charge.
Each attack carried enough force to kill him instantly.
Zion no longer tried to counter.
He endured.
He dodged when he could.
Blocked when he had no choice.
And accepted every injury that bought him another heartbeat.
Minutes passed.
Or perhaps only seconds.
Time no longer meant anything.
His breathing became ragged.
Blood covered his clothes.
One eye had swollen nearly shut.
His legs felt as heavy as mountains.
Still...
He refused to fall.
The Awakened Beast suddenly stopped.
It stared at him.
Its crimson eyes held something new.
Confusion.
This insignificant human...
Should have died already.
Yet he continued standing.
Zion smiled weakly.
"You finally noticed?"
His voice was barely audible.
"I'm still here."
The beast roared.
The sound shook the Independent Trial Space.
Its aura erupted outward like a violent storm.
For the first time...
It became serious.
Its body blurred.
Then vanished.
Zion closed his eyes.
He didn't chase the movement.
He chased the rhythm.
Granny Iya's words echoed once more.
"Every weapon has a pattern."
"Every creature has a habit."
"Find it."
"Break it."
His heartbeat slowed.
The world grew quiet.
Then...
There.
A faint disturbance.
Not behind him.
Above.
Zion's eyes snapped open.
The Awakened Beast descended from the darkness like a falling mountain.
There was no escape.
No space to dodge.
No chance to survive.
Unless...
He stepped forward.
The instant before the claw reached him...
Zion thrust himself into its attack.
CRACK!
The claws tore through his left shoulder.
Agonizing pain flooded his body.
His arm went completely numb.
But he had gained exactly what he wanted.
Distance.
He was now directly beneath the monster's head.
Its chest was exposed for less than a heartbeat.
One heartbeat...
Was enough.
Zion gripped his sword with both hands.
His muscles screamed.
His broken ribs protested.
His vision darkened.
He ignored all of it.
"This..."
He roared.
"...is my answer!"
Every lesson.
Every bruise.
Every sleepless night.
Every hammer strike.
Every time Granny Iya forced him to stand again.
Everything flowed into this single attack.
The sword shot upward.
Straight beneath the beast's jaw.
Toward the tiny gap where the black armor plates overlapped.
The only imperfection in its seemingly flawless defense.
THRUST!!
Time froze.
The blade pierced.
For a brief moment...
Nothing happened.
Then...
A single golden crack appeared.
Another followed.
Then another.
The cracks spread across the Awakened Beast's body like lightning racing through the sky.
Its crimson eyes widened.
For the first time...
Fear appeared within them.
The giant beast staggered backward.
A deep, mournful roar escaped its throat.
Then...
Its body shattered into countless fragments of brilliant golden light.
The fragments drifted upward before dissolving into the endless darkness.
Silence returned.
Complete.
Absolute.
Zion remained standing for one second.
Then another.
His sword slipped from his fingers.
His knees buckled.
He collapsed onto the invisible ground with a dull thud.
His body refused to respond.
His breathing was shallow.
Every inch of him burned.
"...Did..."
He coughed violently.
"...I win?"
No answer came.
Only silence.
Then...
The black panel appeared once more.
This time...
Its golden light was brighter than before.
Brighter than the stars themselves.
The Voice of the Void echoed through the Independent Trial Space with the same ancient indifference as before
— *_Impossible Trial... Complete._*
The Independent Trial Space fell silent.
There was no wind.
No sound.
Only Zion's ragged breathing echoed through the endless darkness.
His body refused to move.
Every bone ached.
His torn shoulder burned.
His broken ribs screamed with every breath he took.
Yet...
He was alive.
The black panel slowly descended before him.
Unlike before, its golden light carried an indescribable pressure.
New words carved themselves across its surface.
═══════════════════════
TRIAL COMPLETE
Difficulty: IMPOSSIBLE
Evaluation: Perfect Completion
Calculating Rewards...
═══════════════════════
Zion let out a weak laugh.
"So... I really survived..."
The panel flickered once.
Then the first reward appeared.
═══════════════════════
AWAKENING RESULT
Ability Group: Eyes
Talent: Seam Sight
Rank: Supreme
"You perceive the seams hidden within all existence."
═══════════════════════
"...Supreme?"
Zion frowned weakly.
He had heard countless stories growing up.
Low Rank.
Common Rank.
Rare Rank.
Epic Rank.
Legendary Rank.
Never...
Not once...
Had anyone ever mentioned a Supreme Rank.
Before he could process it, the panel changed again.
═══════════════════════
Ability Group: Bloodline
Bloodline: Abyssforged Chimera Bloodline
Rank: Unranked
"A bloodline capable of endless evolution through tempering."
═══════════════════════
"Unranked..."
Was that good?
Or bad?
Zion had no idea.
The Voice of the Void offered no explanation.
The panel remained silent for several long moments.
Then...
New words appeared.
Slower than before.
As if even the system hesitated.
═══════════════════════
Ability Group: Soul
Status...
...
...
LOCKED
Attempting analysis. . . .
Failed
═══════════════════════
Nothing else.
No explanation.
No rank.
No description.
Only one word.
LOCKED.
Zion stared at it.
"What does that even mean...?"
The panel offered no answer.
Instead...
It dissolved into countless streams of golden light.
The light surged toward Zion.
His eyes widened.
"No—"
The light entered his body.
Every nerve ignited.
His blood became molten fire.
His bones rang like iron struck upon an anvil.
His muscles twisted.
His veins burned.
"AAAGHHHH!!"
Zion screamed.
The pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
It wasn't merely flesh.
It reached deeper.
Far deeper.
It felt as though every part of his existence was being broken apart...
...only to be forged anew.
His vision faded into brilliant white.
Then...
Darkness.
...
When Zion opened his eyes again...
He was lying on the stone floor of the smithy.
The familiar smell of charcoal entered his nose.
The dying forge still glowed faintly.
His sword lay nearby.
Everything looked exactly as he remembered.
Yet...
Nothing was the same.
Slowly, Zion pushed himself upright.
Pain shot through his body.
His injuries remained.
The trial hadn't healed him.
It had merely kept him alive.
His gaze drifted toward the anvil.
Then he froze.
Thin golden lines covered its surface.
Hundreds of them.
Some straight.
Some curved.
Some so faint they were almost invisible.
"...What..."
He blinked.
The lines remained.
He looked toward the forge.
The flames also possessed countless glowing seams.
The hammer.
The walls.
The floor.
Even the drifting smoke carried delicate threads of light.
Zion slowly reached toward the anvil.
His fingers stopped just before touching one of the glowing lines.
An instinct emerged from somewhere deep within him.
Absolute.
Certain.
If he struck that exact seam...
The anvil would split perfectly in two.
Not through force.
Not through power.
But because he had found the place where its existence was weakest.
A chill ran through his body.
He slowly lowered his hand.
"So..."
He whispered.
"This..."
"...is Seam Sight."
The Veil resting against his chest pulsed once.
Cold.
Steady.
Almost...
Satisfied.
Outside the smithy...
The first rays of dawn climbed over the horizon.
Blue Star welcomed a new day.
No one in the quiet town knew that a sixteen-year-old blacksmith had survived an Impossible Trial.
No one knew that the boy they overlooked had awakened a Supreme Talent.
No one knew that the Veil still hid an existence that should never have been allowed to live.
Far beyond Blue Star...
Beyond galaxies.
Beyond universes.
Beyond the countless layers of reality.
In the endless Chaos Expanse...
Something opened its eyes.
For the briefest moment...
Its ancient gaze turned toward a forgotten corner of existence.
Then...
It closed its eyes once more