A few days later, I found myself gathering what mana I could, as I pulled the obsidian shard from my storage ring.
Settling in a comfortable position with my legs crossed, imitating some sort of a meditating monk from my past life, I spent a few minutes concentrating to gather enough mana to sort of access a mental barrier that seemed to prevent me from truly exploring the nature of the fragment.
Up until now, I hadn't interacted with the fragment at all. There was too much stuff happening for me to properly focus, I felt.
Yuena mentioned that she'd only see me after I got past the first stage of the trial, whatever that meant, as the start of our contract…
That, too, was something I hadn't found myself thinking about very much recently—though it did flash across my mind frequently. How could it not?
But, I decided that there would be a time and place to consider everything that happened within that… soul realm.
One where I wasn't constantly assaulted by the brisk, outdoor winds, sleeping on the forest floor.
I performed the mental equivalent of a sigh. I need to focus for now. I still don't know exactly what I'm getting myself into here.
Father said that it represented a Trial of Inheritance, so this was meant to be some puzzle for me to solve in order to… inherit something, based on the name.
After a while, about half an hour or so, I finally managed to accumulate enough mana in my body to allow it to be absorbed by the Trial.
Since I was a conjurer, I couldn't directly imbue the shard with a continuous amount of mana from my core—which, actually, seemed to be better, considering it would've taken a bit of extra mental strength to keep that process going.
Instead, the shard was allowed to draw on sufficient amounts of mana from my body, without me having to do too much.
But really, it'd sure be nice to have some sort of ability that allowed me to constantly replenish my mana while on the move—something like mana assimilation—that way, I wouldn't have a seemingly limited time in the Trial…
Sighing, I refocused my mind, once again. This should be enough.
Let's begin…
I held the shard in both of my palms tightly, closing my eyes and easing into the sensation of my consciousness being pulled to a different… area.
It wasn't long until that sensation was all that I could feel, and in the blink of an eye, I was no longer on the comfortable bed of my rented room.
Instead, I was now surrounded by complete darkness, with no senses to linger onto.
…What the?
I blinked, but it made no difference.
Surrounding me was a pitch black void so dense and heavy it pressed against my skin in a way that made it hard to tell where my body ended and the space began.
Beneath me, I could feel the push of something solid, a platform of some kind—but it felt unnaturally smooth, like polished obsidian.
I knelt down, running my fingers over its surface, but the sensation was muted, as though the material itself resisted being fully perceived.
A faint shimmer caught the edge of my attention.
It wasn't light exactly, but a subtle glow that seemed to ripple across an unseen surface far below me.
I took slow, measured steps closer to the edge of the platform—well, what I could perceive as the edge—and peered down.
What I saw sent a shiver up my spine.
It was a sea—a vast expanse of liquid darkness stretching endlessly in every direction.
The surface shifted and churned slowly, as though alive, with occasional ripples of faint luminescence breaking through like dying embers in ash.
I backed away from the edge instinctively, my chest tightening at the sight.
That sea… Something about it doesn't sit right with me. It's too eerie, almost ancient, even…
Where even am I, and what was I supposed to be doing?
It's clear that this was the Trial, yet there was no clear objective in sight. No monsters to be fought, no puzzles to be solved—so what?
For a long moment, I stood there, disoriented.
The darkness was absolute, the silence deafening. Even my own breathing felt intrusive.
It wasn't until a few seconds—or minutes, I couldn't tell—of my thoughts churning in silence that something seemed to change.
There was a faint hum resonating through the air around me. Not a sound, but a vibration, something that prickled against my skin like static.
I frowned, turning slowly in place. There was nothing to see—just the void and the sea below—but the sensation grew stronger as I focused on it. A pressure, subtle but persistent, pushing against my chest from multiple directions.
"Just what…"
The words died on my lips, a worm of understanding settling its way into my brain.
Shutting my eyes, I forced myself to concentrate, and very slowly, the hum sharpened into something more defined—a network of energy threads weaving through the air, invisible but undeniably tangible. They pulsed rhythmically, like veins carrying mana through the void.
The longer I focused, the more they seemed to come to life.
And then, as if a veil had been lifted, platforms shifted into view at the edge of the surface I stood on.
Dozens of them, arranged in a 3x3 grid that stretched endlessly ahead.
They were pure white. Not glowing, but faintly luminous, as though carved from moonlight itself.
Their edges blurred into the darkness, making them nearly invisible unless I focused intently.
I stepped closer cautiously, scrutinizing them as I realized why I hadn't seen them at first.
They weren't meant to be seen.
Their presence was hidden beneath layers of mana, seemingly as a minute part of the trial itself.
Each platform was identical in shape and hue, but as I attuned myself to their energy—their unique vibrations—differences emerged.
Some felt more denser under my gaze, their mana threads packed tightly together like coiled springs, while others were lighter, almost ethereal, their energy diffusing outward like mist.
Noticeably, the flows around them varied, too.
Some platforms channeled mana in smooth, steady currents, and others disrupted the air with erratic pulses.
I reached out tentatively—not actually touching the platform, but rather as an extension of myself—letting my senses brush against the nearest platform.
Its density was moderate, its flow stable but faint. The one beside it, however, was the complete opposite.
It vibrated violently, a chaotic knot of mana that made my head ache just by being in its proximity.
A faint smirk curled my lips.
"I think I understand it now…" I muttered, though the words were lost into the void.
If I was right, then, in order to proceed, I'd need to navigate these platforms by sensing their density and mana flow; attributes invisible to the eye but palpable, so long as I could concentrate on them deeply enough.
My brow furrowed as my focus settled to the first row.
Though the white hues blended together, one platform stood out to me.
Its mana threads flowed in harmony with the surrounding currents, neither too dense nor too diffuse, and I hesitated before fully committing to a step.
My foot landed on a nothingness for a heart-stopping moment before the platform solidified beneath me, its surface humming faintly as if confirming my choice.
I sighed, a short-lived relief washing over me.
The platforms on the next row were already shifting, some of their densities fluctuating erratically into a knot of pure mana that defied easy analysis.
Looks like this won't be as easy as I thought…
This is how it usually goes in stories, I should've expected as much.
By the fifth row, my focus began to fray. The platforms' mana threads overlapped and diverged in ways that made my head spin. One platform pulsed with a rhythm that mirrored my heartbeat—too perfect, too inviting—yet when I stepped onto it…
The platform dissolved beneath me, and I fell.
My stomach lurched, panic surging through my chest and clawing at my throat as the dark sea rushed up to meet me.
The descent felt unnaturally long, as if this was a cruel mockery purely intended for me to reflect on the actions I'd taken that led to this moment—all in the presence of a black maw disguised as a calm body of water.
The surface of the sea cracked like ice under my weight, pain lancing through my body,
My chest constricted violently as though the sea had stolen every breath I'd ever taken.
…Reality tore itself apart around me, and then—
I was back.
Abruptly, I was wrenched out of the abyss and slammed back onto the starting platform, before I could even process what'd happened.
I found myself desperately gasping for air as if I'd been drowning, my hands trembling as I clutched the obsidian surface, the jarring impact still echoing in my bones.
The transition was so sudden it left my mind reeling—disoriented and raw.
Did it have to be so painful, dammit…!
It took me a great while before I could even gather the strength to stand.
At least… I know which platforms are right and wrong. Even with these setbacks, it shouldn't take too long to—
…The half-formed thought died.
"...You can't be serious…"
Casting a glance to my left, I saw that the white platforms had vanished, their configurations reset.
Resisting the urge to let go of the connection between myself and this realm, I forced myself upright, sweat dripping down my neck.
I guess this trial wasn't purely testing my ability to sense mana, it also served as a way to test how short my patience is.
Taking a second to calm my vexation, I closed my eyes again, reaching out and feeling for the hum of pure mana in the void.
The white platforms materialized slowly, their densities and flows sharpening into focus as I poured every ounce of concentration into perceiving them.
"Alright," I muttered dryly. "Just what the hell is this…?"
This damned trial…
It was going to take much, much longer than I originally had anticipated.
These two months were going to go by in a flash.
***
[Volume One: Brave New Word - End.]