A blur of dreamlike, seemingly fake scenes crossed Liam's vision, confusing and jumbled, disconnected and stretching over a timeline Liam had no way of tracking or studying.
When the darkness of Liam's mind receded, he found himself in the same hall where he had killed the two kids, his knuckles bleeding as he delivered precise punches at one of the many wooden pillars in the area.
"I belong to the Divine Cult," The white-masked man's voice resounded through the hall, and, for some reason, Liam felt the urge to echo it.
"I belong to the Divine Cult!" Liam shouted, delivering another precise punch, abiding by a fighting stance he didn't know he could perform, identical cries from the other kids reaching his ears.
"I'm a weapon of the Divine Cult," The white-masked man's voice resounded again, and the same happened.
"I'm a weapon of the Divine Cult!" Liam shouted, his bleeding knuckles hitting the wooden pillar again, leaving red stains on its shallow grooves while the voices from the other kids echoed with his.
The darkness receded even further at that point, making room for confusion.
"The Divine Cult's will is my will," The white-masked man's voice resounded for the third time, and Liam shouted those words once more, but his confusion made him stop his punch before it could hit the thick pillar.
'What am I doing?' Liam thought, his mind awakening as he brought his bleeding fists to his face, only for a cane to hit them.
Liam grunted in pain, lowering his hands and bringing them to his stomach. He frowned, lifting his gaze in the direction of the cane, only to find a hooded man standing beside him.
"Again?" The hooded man sighed, drawing something from inside his robe before smearing it on Liam's face.
And Liam felt warmth spreading on his face before darkness took over his mind.
When the darkness receded again, Liam found himself half-squatting with his arms spread at his sides. Heavy buckets hung from his wrists and stood on his thighs, water filling them to the brim.
Liam barely had the time to notice the kids around him in a similar stance when something hit his back, making him suppress a grunt, his fading confusion urging him to remain as still as possible to avoid spilling any water.
"The Divine Cult's weapons know no pain," The white-masked man's voice echoed, and Liam shouted those words alongside the other kids.
But Liam was recovering in the meantime. As his awareness returned, pain assaulted him from everywhere. Every inch of his body seemed to hurt, so he lowered his arms and fell, the four buckets crashing with him.
"The Divine Cult's weapons know no fear," The white-masked man's voice resounded, and the kids echoed it, but Liam remained silent, inspecting the hall instead.
Despite following the first voice's source, Liam couldn't see the white-masked man. He wasn't in the hall. Instead, Liam only found an open scroll hanging from the wall in that spot, the intricate symbols inside shining with dim, blue light.
Liam frowned, only for a dark figure to fill his vision. A hooded man had crouched before him, already smearing something warm on his face that made his mind go dark.
The next time the darkness receded, Liam felt tremors running through his arms while he lifted them. He even half-turned, exposing his abdomen to the wooden hammer that soon slammed into it.
"The Divine Cult is my life," The white-masked man's voice resounded, and Liam spotted the scroll with bright symbols from which it came, but echoed those words anyway.
"The Divine Cult is my life!" Liam cried, his ears submerged by the other kids' shouts, while he lowered his arms, noticing a wooden hammer in his hands.
Then, a foreign drive made Liam swing the hammer to his right with all the strength he could muster. A kid was standing beside him, half-turned and ready to receive the blow, which he did without uttering a single sound.
The same tremors from earlier ran through Liam's arms, but a frown appeared on his face now. His mind was awakening, only for something to claim its attention.
Liam's sparring partner was already on the move, lowering his arms and turning to prepare himself to strike. Yet, blood leaked from his mouth as his whole body started to tremble.
"I give my life to the Divine Cult," The white-masked man's voice resounded.
"I give my life to the Divine Cult!" Everyone but Liam shouted. Even the kid in front of him cried those words, droplets of blood spitting out of his mouth and ending on his face.
The blood and tremors didn't stop the kid from trying to strike Liam, but his body gave up before he could. The boy fell, struggling to stand up and abide by foreign orders while clinging desperately to his wooden hammer.
However, the internal bleeding seemed to be too widespread, and the tremors eventually subsided. Life abandoned the boy's eyes. He died right under Liam's awakening mind, his hands still clung to the wooden hammer.
"I will die for the Divine Cult," The white-masked man's voice echoed once again, but Liam barely heard it now.
Something boiled inside Liam, deep, cold, and boundless. Strength and confidence spread through his body as everything returned to him, the experience making him ignore the other kids' shouts.
"This one broke," Another voice Liam recognized resounded behind him. "We are down to seven."
Liam gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the hammer, waiting for a footstep to resound and give him a clear idea of where his hooded jailer was. Then, he swung the weapon behind him, but the attack was cut short.
"You learned not to shout," The hooded man chuckled, his hand firmly grasping one of Liam's wrists. "That's progress."
Liam let go of the hammer and tried to deliver a swing at the man's torso with his free hand. Yet, the jailer was faster once again, slamming his palm on Liam's chest, sending him to the floor.
Liam's body froze, but only for a second. He tried to snap to his feet as soon as he recovered, but a foot had landed on his chest by then and kept him down.
"You are developing faster than the other seeds," The hooded man said from above Liam, reaching for his face to smear something warm on it. "I can't pair you with them anymore. I'll be your practice partner from now on."
"I'll kill you!" Liam cried, only to hear the hooded man's chuckle as darkness started to take over his mind.
Yet, while Liam's gaze lost focus, barely managing to capture the green in the hooded man's eyes, his brain delivered a happy realization. He had seen the jailer's palm strike that time.
Then, before Liam's realizations could go any further, his mind went dark, and the cycle resumed.