Ashuras awoke to the strike of a staff crashing down on his shoulder.
He opened his eyes in pain, shouting:
"What's wrong with you, old man? Have you lost your mind?"
Shin stood over him, silent, his eyes knowing no mercy.
At last, he spoke:
"You have training today. An important one."
Ashuras rubbed his eyes, yawning from lack of sleep, and muttered:
"Training? At dawn? For hell's sake…"
But Shin ignored his protest. He simply turned and said:
"Five minutes. Meet me at the base of the mountain."
Ashuras blinked in confusion:
"The base…? But we always train up here!"
Shin's reply was flat, cold:
"This is a different kind of training."
The boy smirked sarcastically:
"Fine, whatever you say…"
---
They reached the foot of the mountain, where the endless stone staircase stretched upward toward the distant temple.
The path seemed to climb into the sky itself, its end swallowed by mist.
Ashuras groaned:
"And now what? I'm already exhausted just coming down these stairs. This training better be worth it."
Shin remained silent, walking ahead without a word.
Ashuras followed reluctantly, until they reached a clearing not far away—where a pile of massive boulders lay, some three or four times his own size.
Ashuras stared in shock:
"What is this? Are we going to build something?"
Shin's voice was calm but sharp as a blade:
"You will carry these rocks… and deliver them to the temple at the mountain's peak."
Ashuras's jaw dropped, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"Are you insane?! How can I carry boulders that big all the way up there? If you want to kill me, just say it!"
Shin's gaze hardened, his tone cutting the air:
"You will not reach the temple without them. Fail… and the consequences will be severe."
The aura that poured from him froze Ashuras's legs in place. For a moment, it felt as though he stood before a mountain even greater than the one behind them. Shin was not joking this time—he was more ruthless, more unyielding than ever.
Then, without another word, Shin turned his back. With a single leap, he vanished upward into the fog, leaving Ashuras alone with his brutal trial.
---
The boulder pressed down on his back, heavier than his own body.
Sweat burned his eyes, blurring each step like a storm.
Every step on the stone staircase was like walking across the edges of blades.
From above, Shin stood in silence, watching with those cold eyes that weighed weakness more than strength.
Ashuras staggered, his knees buckling. He wanted to scream that he could not go on…
But the command cut through the air, sharp and merciless:
"Rise."
And in that instant, Ashuras understood—
This was not ordinary training.
It was another kind of trial.