Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

The pained and unwilling wail of the dissipating enigma echoed in Cedric's ears, causing him to raise a brow.

"They're starting to turn more and more real."

Smoke dissipated from his fingertips as he continued his way up the first mountain. The shadowy enigma just now should be the last one he should deal with before coming to whatever's waiting for him at the first mountaintop. But even if there's still one more, it won't be a big deal; Cedric will handle it all the same as the last ones anyway.

During his hike, he paid attention to the shapes and behaviors of the shadowy enigmas he met. He guessed that these things should've been residues of the challengers who either found this mountain hike very threatening to their lives or straight up failed.

He could sense some kind of enchantment around this area that may or may not be responsible for that. As for how exactly it works, he had no idea. That thing was too advanced and hidden for him to analyze.

Cedric eventually stepped foot on the mountaintop. He paused for a bit and hummed when his guess turned out to be right. No other shadowy remnants appeared here, so he continued.

Interestingly enough, the fog that prevented him from seeing this sight from below dissipated as soon as he stepped foot here, which, he guessed, might've been done on purpose.

An upright rectangular stone steele appeared in his sight as soon as he walked in. Aside from the limited space and very sparse patches of grass growing on top of this mountain, this was the only thing worth attention here.

The rectangular stone had a smooth and shiny surface. It must be at least 10 feet tall and have but one feature that attracted his attention.

"A scar...left by a sword?" Cedric hummed to himself.

He approached the stone and steel closer, and when he did, his eyes became focused on that sword scar.

The sword scar filled his vision and occupied his mind. Cedric became automatically focused on it despite being on guard. Right now, he couldn't care less about anything else aside from this thing.

A vision occurred to him as he continued observing the profundity of the sword scar on the stone steel. He could see a blurry figure, and the longer he stared at it, the clearer the picture got.

Unbeknownst to him, the vision warped in a way as if he were in the same time and space as the person he's watching.

When the vision became clear, he discovered a man practicing his sword swings. That deep purple skin left a deep impression on Cedric, making him realize that this man might look and behave like a human, but he is not. The man was wearing a loose crimson robe with golden hems tied to a black belt. His pants were of a similar color, and he's not wearing any shoes.

The man was similarly immersed, but not in the same way as Cedric. He's immersed in his sword, and Cedric is immersed in his actions. The sword in the man's hand was as ordinary as it could get, but as he used it, Cedric could feel a life-threatening sharpness that was barely concealed in it.

Whoever this is, he just repeatedly and faithfully repeated the same move over and over again. It's an overhead sword swing, as simple as that.

Although this move looks as simple as that, Cedric could sense a profound charm in it that just couldn't be explained with words. The longer he watched, the deeper he fell into his trance.

In his immersion, Cedric forgot about everything else: his name, age, race, his lovers, his world—even the memory of him actually undertaking the trial of mind was forgotten as well. Anything that has nothing to do with what he's currently watching was discarded and forgotten by him temporarily.

He had no idea how much time he had spent here already. It could've been mere minutes or years; whatever it is, he doesn't care either.

After some time, an inexplicable thing happened.

He didn't know when, but he suddenly found himself standing beside the purple-skinned man. He too was holding an ordinary sword and was performing the same overhead swing as him; their movements were so in sync that if you looked through them at a certain angle, you'd see no difference.

But even this discovery has been ruthlessly ignored by Cedric. He just noticed it and completely forgot about it the next second. His mind was resolutely immersed in his performance; anything that didn't have anything to do with it was bound to be ignored or forgotten completely.

In this act, Cedric could feel its profundity the best. The way he gripped the sword, the stance, what muscle groups were engaged while performing the swing, the depth of the technique itself—everything was slowly being revealed to him, and he completely devoted himself to studying it, even going as far as engraving it in his memory.

Eventually, a certain feeling came to him. It was faint at first, but it caused his eyes to brighten up. He latched into that feeling, and soon he completely grasped it.

"Ah...I see. I get it now." He whispered so softly.

As he performed another overhead swing, a mystical scene happened. The ordinary sword in his hand left a trail of silver scars in its path. It became so sharp that it sliced through any possible resistance like a hot knife through butter.

The strange part is that this move seemed innocuous. Like, it wouldn't hurt a fly. It was slow, telegraphed, and very basic. But if anybody were to receive it, their suffering would've been assured in the face of this seemingly innocent sword swing. It doesn't matter if they were prepared for it or not; if this hits them, it is almost guaranteed that they will be injured.

It's because this seemingly slow and basic overhead sword swing slices through all forms of obstacles; it goes through armor, barriers, walls, etc. It defies supernatural forces like invulnerability, conceptual laws, distance, time, and space; it could even defy luck as well.

This was the true hidden edge behind this simple sword swing. One that Cedric couldn't extricate himself out of and wouldn't want to even if he could. Not until he mastered it, at least.

The strangeness didn't end there either...

At some point—who knows how long—Cedric became the sole person in this dimension. He had no idea when the purple-skinned man disappeared, and he couldn't care less either.

He continued performing the sword swing, unaware of anything else aside from his practice.

The longer this went on, the more simple his sword swings got. At some point, his performance became exactly the same as that of that of that purple-skinned man. His sword swings got faster too, but in the eyes of others, it would look like he's performing at the same speed.

With how simple his practice was, this scene could easily be ignored when placed amongst the crowd. Cedric was so focused and devoted to his sword swings that it became his second nature. His immersion caused his actions to resonate and blend with nature, making him part of it in an inexplicable way.

Click!

This sound came out of nowhere. It was so barely audible that if it happened anywhere else, nobody would've heard it. But with how silent everything in here was, it might as well sound like cathedral bells ringing ominously over a city.

Cedric jolted from his immersion. Clarity swarmed in his mind, and he started recalling everything. He sharply inhaled, and his movements have stopped.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in front of the ancient stone structure again. As he stared at the sword scar again, he discovered that the charm he saw earlier wasn't present anymore. It's as if it had never been there to begin with.

Cedric didn't think much of this. He closed his eyes again and reviewed what just happened.

As he recalled how he devotedly swung his sword, he could feel his muscles tensing in a very familiar way. He opened his eyes and discovered that somehow he's actually holding a sword.

'Did I unconsciously practice in reality as well during my immersion?' He asked inwardly.

He stopped hesitating, went into a stance, and was briefly stunned by the familiarity he felt. He took a deep breath and ignored the feeling. He simply allowed himself to ease into it and began performing the same overhead sword swing.

Swish!

To his exhilaration, he actually did it. The feeling, the familiarity, the same exact move—it's as if he had known how to do it for centuries now. The feeling was so miraculous that it caused his heart to thump wildly in his chest.

Only those who went through the same experience as he did would know the sheer might of this seemingly innocuous sword swing. And knowing that he could do it made him extremely happy, of course.

Grumble~

Cedric blinked and rubbed his stomach. He sighed and placed his sword away before inquiring:

"System, how much time passed in my immersion?"

[Your immersion lasted for six months, Dawnbringer.]

"Damn! So that's why I'm hungry."

Cedric unhesitatingly left the trial space, not even noticing the new flight of stairs that leads to the second mountaintop that appeared after he successfully replicated the sword swing just now.