「You have egressed the [101st] [Asylum].」
Just as he read the updates, he also happened to scrutinize the entirety of his Tower.
From up there, below the sky ceiling, with floating cotton clouds, was a sun with its eight tails rotating statically in its position.
What surrounded the sun was an arched wall, as though the sun, despite the presence of artificial heaven itself, had been abstractly plastered upon the ceiling itself. In fact, it was not merely an arch that enclosed it, but the cylindrical body of the tower itself, and the likes of him stood in its highest room, the uppermost space such a structure could allow. Such tower was fashioned from chalky clay, baked bricks bound together with bitumen.
Before Blodeuwedd stretched a narrow terrace, its perimeter guarded by cold stone balustrades worn smooth by an age that refused to speak of itself. Beyond those edges lay nothing but open air, with no stairs descending and no paths leading outward.
He had realized that he was standing at the doorway for a while.
He stepped outside and onto the terrace.
When Blodeuwedd looked across it, he could only perceive the tower stretching endlessly around him.
It was only when he leaned forward and glanced downward that he noticed it.
Another terrace.
Its structure was the same. The difference lay not in form, but in placement. It stood on the opposite side of the tower, suspended at a lower height, misaligned with his level as though the tower itself had rejected symmetry.
Blodeuwedd knew what was supposed to be done, at this point.
So he climbed on the balustrades and jumped.
Then darkness enveloped him.
'One of the Phantasms ludicrous lesson is this. To live is to fall!' Blodeuwedd clenched his jaw as the wind pressure was almost tearing his garments. 'The only way to go to a trial is through a Sequence, and such Sequence is gap between asylums, also known as rooms. Since the 101st Asylum is the Highest Asylum, the only way to descend to another asylum is the trial completion. I won't fall again in the next trials, so I don't need to worry.'
Suddenly, the gray fog formed in the dark and lurked around him, thickening in a swift manner.
When it thinned, it revealed the area of his trial.
The Handscroll rolled as he received new messages.
「The [Sequence] is revealing its value.」
「The [Gap] is revealing its value.」
「The [Sequence] is the [100th] [Sequence].」
「The [Gap] is the [777th] out of [777] [Gap].」
「You are now arriving at the [100th] [Sequence] on the [777th] [Gap].」
Beneath him, there was a vast structure composed of four hemispheres positioned at the cardinal points such as the north, south, east, and west. Between them lay triangular sectors, each filled with a forest shaped to match its confines. Bridges connected each side of the hemispheres to the adjacent sectors, while additional bridges extended from the front of each hemisphere to a central, shell-like dome.
Underneath the hemispheres, sectors, and bridges gaped chasms filled with darkness. Most unsettling were the gaps in the central hemisphere because something about those four shadowed voids gnawed at him, drawing his gaze again and again.
The intense wind ripped his breath away, while the crushing force of acceleration pinned his body downward more, and more, and more. Vision slowly blurring, then tunneling, that he could sense how his lungs were now burning, unable to draw air against the pressure. He was a madman flying while free falling at the same time.
「Choose your area of landing.」
Blodeuwedd read the introduction per area. 'The North where Death lurks. The South where Hope stills. The West where Sufferance grieves. The East where Time chases. They're laying it bare, like it's obvious what makes sense. Hope's the only introduction that doesn't sound hostile. But . . . is it safe? Can I really pick a side without getting myself killed for slipping in?'
He could only take a deep breath as he shook his head. He didn't have to think about such matter for now, or else, his heavy eyelids would betray him had he loiter in his thoughts deeply for some time.
"I choose . . ." he relieved his dry throat as his sluggish fall was making it easier for him to ensure his awakeness, "the South where Hope stills."
Before Blodeuwedd could register his astonishment, a quick pull had already seized him. In the span of a breath, he was already situated in front of the threshold of Hope, behind him was the bridge to the central hemisphere.
His vision blurred, the world tilting sideways as nausea surged. His knees trembled, muscles weak and unresponsive, as if Blodeuwedd's body was surrendering to the void. Every sense spun out of control, and he still clung to consciousness, jaw clenched, fighting the darkness that threatened to swallow him whole. Barely holding his reality, he fixed his composure and blinked a few times.
「You have safely arrived at the [100th Sequence] on the [777th] [Gap]. 」
「Welcome to the Ceremony of Patrimony.」
From this moment on, he would receive his three Substitute Traits that would be accumulated from his Slumbering. They were borrowed skills that could only exist in a given trial he would face.
「Your [Substitute Traits] are being accumulated from your [Slumbering].」
'I wonder what my borrowed skills would be.' Just as he was thinking that, Blodeuwedd happened to think about his dream. Since Substitute Traits were accumulated from it, the system would then find three unique things that happened to exist there. Though the idea of finding was pretty vague from him, he sure was hopeful there was something unique in his dream that was somehow useful.
Fwip! Just as the scroll expanded once more, he noticed his first skill.
「You have acquired your first subtrait [Ship of Two Personas]!」
His brows furrowed.
「You have acquired your second subtrait [Existential Drift]!」
Then his lips twitched partially.
「Yo have acquired your third subtrait [Mind of the Messiah]!」
Because a feeble-minded man like him might not understand this entirely.