[A few weeks before Sylvia's death]
Night was tired from the endless sparing with master. On the other hand, ren was still practicing.
Sylvia was quiet as usual, resting on the other side of the cave. Her hair let loose and her sword resting beside her.
The silence was something he was accustomed to, but what came next was something he never expected.
Sylvia asked just one sentence.
"Who is he to you ?".
Night knew without a doubt who she was referring to but replied with a question in return.
"What do you think he is ?".
Silence flooded in immediately, she never expected it. Night respected her completely but that question had a hidden agenda.
She waited briefly before saying something, cutting through the silence once more.
"From what I feel, he's you but you aren't him."
Night was expecting that answer since he already knew It. He thought the conversation had ended, until she said.
"Regardless of that, what is he to you".
---
[Back to the present]
He looked rugged. His eyes were lifeless, but his mind felt quiet.
Far too quiet than it was supposed to be.
He was holding a long sword. He remembered it the moment he saw it.
He took a step forward, then another.
And in the next moment, he was right in front of him.
His sword was at my neck .
Night pushed it back with the cleaver.
He tried to talk to him mentally but the moment he did.
Runes appeared right in front of him.
[Thought infection seeps into your mind]
Night blocked off the link instantly. It was clear he wasn't himself at the moment.
The other person vanished without a trace. Ren put in lethality into his attacks.
Night had no intention of killing him, but ren on the other hand had other intentions in mind.
Their blades struck fast.
Night was outmatched in strength and skill.
The worst part was ren was basically relying on mainly his own skill, not a single trait was activated....
Recovering from his last attack, night made as much room as possible from him.
Even at that moment, it was hard to even think of fighting him.
Maybe it was because of how hollow he felt at the moment, he couldn't help but remembering what his master said about him.
What was ren to him.
Cutting through all his thoughts, ren used sorrow art.
The obsidian sword, glimmered a weird glow, as he prepared for a perfect use of the first form.
[Falling tear]
Night's side was brutally sliced by his blade. Night managed to deflect it from his heart, but it was too fast for him to react, leading to the injury.
Night used the opportunity to attack, but the moment he got even a bit close. Ren's shroud shot alive, nearly ending him .
Night felt shocked, his shroud and ren's were the same, yet, he couldn't do what he just did.
Night backed up , as much as he could.
The fight was hopeless, ren was far too skilled for him to beat.
The only way out, was to go all out and kill...
The moment he even thought about it, several figures flashed before his eye.
Master, silver, and one who had never been shown since the beginning....
Asuna
He couldn't remember her appearance, but he was sure it was her. Why did he feel this way.
He knew he cared for them , but, what were they to him .
Sylvia was his master, he respected her as much as he cared for her.
Silver was the closest thing to what he ever thought as a friend and..... asuna.
All of those people were who he thought as .....the moment the words formed in his head.
Ren popped up in front of him...his long sword plunging into his chest.
His eyes felt cold and unmoving.
The cut off word echoed through the silence that filled everything at that moment.
"Family".
Ren's cold emotionless eyes shakes a bit..
Night pushed him as far as he could, allowing him to remove the blade stuck in his chest.
He was severely injured but somehow, his heart was alright. Ren missed by an inch. But .....
The bleeding was enough to kill him....
The pain was so much he could barely move. Ren was getting ready to finish him off.
Night had no intention of dying like that. He searched through his mind, trying to know it there was even one trait that could help him.
Shadow kin
Shadow devour
Shadow manipulation
Night piece
Shadowless
Black flame
Adaptation
[???]
Divine light
Everything seemed to slow down in that moment, not the world, but rather his own mind. It was hopeless.
Night thought of using the flame, to kill him, but what would it be for.
Night's few memories flashed before his eye.
He was lost in his own mind.
Ren was his family, everyone else died for him, so why couldn't he die for him.
Saying that, runes popped up in front of him.
[The trait [Divine light] reacts to your words]
[Divine light is blooming]
.
.
[Blooming failed]
The next moment an even greater pain flooded my senses. My eyes bled heavily, my aen went berserk and so did my mind.
Ignoring everything, I charged forward like a mad man, my attacks were blunt, barely meant to kill.
My thrusts, slashes and even my movements were far too weak from what I could have done before. .
I was at the edge. To be honest, I had been expecting it for a long time.
Since I was always destined to fall.
Ren lunged through my madness, his blade on my neck.
Even if anyone helped me, I was far from saving.
Pushing him as far as he could, he regained a bit of sanity.
The moment he got close enough again, night abandoned his dagger and went in for a blow to his chest. Night muttered in desperation.
"Wake up idiot, because, If I lose you too, I might lose all will to move on".
Night fell to the ground, ren regained his senses, walking back as he stared at him, with tears brimming his eyes..
Night down looked with lifeless eyes, the sword was plunged straight into his stomach.
He was already losing so much blood from the first wound, now he was going really going to die.
But, even in that moment, he could vividly feel a bit of fulfilment.
The next moment, the sound of the hex whispering in his head, made him regain all his sanity.
Night fell down to his knees...a pool of blood was beneath, him. Ren was still intent on killing him.
Then the hex echoed:
[A mysterious energy seeps into the world]
[A trial is beginning]
[Key doesn't meet the qualifications for an ascension trial]
[Another form of trial will begin]
.
.
.
The moment it stopped, everything suddenly changed. Night's mind went blank. As a new world opened.