There were a total of thirteen pillars. On the highest stood a huntress, her arm entangled with the shadow of an unknown being, who seemed both hollow and the most complete out of all the other shadows.
Each of the twelve pillars held a shadow of sorts, whilst the thirteenth had housed Ethan when he came to this strange realm. He had no idea what it was, but the shadows challenged him one by one.
The strange man at the twelfth, the brute at the eleventh, and the swift assassin at the tenth. He had defeated the three with relative ease. He had been surprised, of course, but it wasn't difficult.
Ethan had been training all his life to be an upstanding and great Knight; he wouldn't fall to some shadows conjured by a wicked witch. But then again, what was this odd feeling?
'...'
As Ethan climbed the tenth pillar, it gnawed on his mind. He had been getting this strange sense of familiarity from the shadows. He had no way of explaining it, but it existed.
Was it a hex used by the witch? If it was, he couldn't sense it with his Ki. So what was it? Was the style of fighting something a previous opponent had used? Some of his sparring mates back at the estate or the academy?
No, it wasn't like that. Hell, for all he knew, the Huntress could be using a hex far above his level, leaving him unable to detect it. But then again, why go through all that trouble?
If she were truly a being so beyond his level, why go through all this? Why leave him alive back at the clearing? Why make him see such an illusion... just why?
Was he merely the object of a weird sense of amusement? Was this her kink? If so, it only made Ethan's blood boil. He isn't someone who should be reduced to something like this.
Ethan dismissed the feeling of familiarity and climbed to the surface of the tenth pillar, where another shadow waited for him.
"...!"
But this one, this one was different. Ethan could feel it as soon as he laid his eyes on it. A man with long hair, an elevated gaze, and a goatee. He seemed familiar to Ethan; he tried to recall where he had seen someone like that, but ultimately, the sword lunging at his throat took priority. Ethan deflected the blade and moved towards the center of the pillar, leaving the shadow towards the edge.
The wound he had suffered was not serious; it wouldn't disturb his movement. Ethan took a deep breath and charged at the shadow; his speed was simply insane.
He had always put his all into speed and endurance. But the Shadow was swift as well, raising his sword and assuming a defensive stance.
The two blades collided, ushering in sparks as Ethan and the Shadow eyed each other. Ethan kept the deadlock and kicked the shin of the shadow, intending to make him trip.
But his feet were planted firmly in the ground, and his efforts were useless. Ethan smirked and backed off.
The Shadow pursued, thrusting its sword at Ethan, who promptly deflected the strikes.
'Fast and precise.'
Ethan thought, as he ducked. The Shadow had performed a wide swing and immediately followed through with a kick. He gave Ethan no opportunity to counter.
"Haa..."
The boy took in a deep breath. The Shadow was different than the three he had just fought; it didn't follow any pattern, but rather acted more like a normal human being. It was like Ethan was actually fighting something, instead of a robot.
Which did complicate things, however. He had no problem fighting a robot, but an actual summon that could think and respond independently was different.
Not in the sense that it would be difficult in terms of skill, but rather, energy consumption. Ethan simply did not have the reserves for such a prolonged fight. He didn't want to fight eight more of these guys, especially if they were as skilled as this one.
The stalemate continued for a while. The Shadow repeatedly launched attacks while Ethan either avoided or parried them. All the while, he was merely thinking of how to get out of this place.
He didn't have the reserves to fight all those shadows, and that was if they were of the same skill level as this one. On the likely assumption that they were not, he had to do something risky.
As Ethan deflected the Shadow's blade, his eyes looked up, not at the other shadows on the other pillars, but at the very top.
At the Huntress, the one who made this realm, the lofty ruler, pretending to be a bride and watching Ethan's struggle. He had to take her down, and he had to take a significant risk to do something like that.
Ignore the other shadows on the pillars, and go straight for the top.
Ethan turned back to the shadow he was fighting and took a deep breath. He relaxed his body for but a moment and assumed a stance.
"HA!"
With a shout, his body was enhanced with all his Ki for three seconds, a short amount of time, but enough for him to disarm the shadow and cleave his body in two.
Ethan looked up, knelt, and shouted once more.
"HA!"
Once more, his Ki surged forth, but not throughout the entire body, rather focused on the legs for only three seconds. The pillar beneath his feet cracked and eventually fell apart as Ethan took to the skies.
His figure instantly shot past the eighth and the seventh shadow, and Ethan was on a perfect trajectory until...