“Wall of Comprehension.”
Although there were only three words in front of him, the intent behind them was vast. Sitting in front of these words, Damien was immediately made aware of what he needed to do during this portion of the exam.
‘The wall of comprehension contains countless martial skills dating back centuries or even millennia. As for what skill you will comprehend from it, that is decided by fate. In 3 days’ time, if you have not succeeded in comprehending 25% of the martial skill, you fail.’
The test seemed too simple at a glance, but he knew there had to be some twist to it. Still, he never doubted his comprehension ability, counting it as one of his strongest points. So Damien continued to stare at the words in hope of gleaning something from them.
He was also curious about what a martial skill was exactly, as he had only heard about cultivation techniques, but there was no point in pondering about it. He’d find out soon.
After he understood the underlying intent
behind the three words before him, they once again scattered into the sea of characters. Sometimes these characters would come together as if forming something greater, but the second he focused on them, they’d once again scatter.
It was like the skills in the wall were purposefully evading him. But Damien had just arrived at the wall, so he wasn’t too concerned. With a relaxed attitude, he let himself sink into his meditative state as he stared daggers at the flowing wall.
It only felt like minutes to him, but several hours had passed since Damien began meditation. Yet, he wasn’t able to see anything of value.
‘Wait…if there are thousands of years’ worth of knowledge here, how is it supposed to just randomly give me a skill that’ll reflect my prowess?’
He found the entire concept illogical. If he just sat there and stared at the wall, there was no way it could do anything. It was an inanimate object. Continuing down this line of reasoning, he made another assumption.
‘I have to pick the branch of skill I want to learn?’ Whether it was a skill for his spatial element, his lightning, or his martial arts, each was a different category. It wasn’t an easy decision, though. He had to consciously understand his strengths and weaknesses and figure out what he needed to improve.
Yet, being unbiased in such a situation was difficult for anyone. After some serious thought, he understood what he had to do.
‘The thing I haven’t focused on much is my sword. Although I’ve been developing my sword art, all of those moves are centered around the space element. My raw sword aura hasn’t been polished at all.’
In fact, he had almost completely forgotten about sword aura. It was something that helped him immensely within the dungeon once he had begun grasping it, but once he reached the peak of sword mastery he didn’t put any more attention into it.
‘It’s too conceited to say I’ve gotten to the peak of the sword path. I’ve probably barely scratched the surface.’
Just because the skill was max level didn’t mean his attainments matched it. He had to refine his sword style more, or it would simply become a tool to display his spatial prowess.
‘I want to be like those sword cultivators in the manhwa I read. Those guys could slash planets in half with a single swing.’
Imagining such a scene made Damien’s heart race in anticipation. It might’ve been a bit childish to think that way, but he didn’t care.
Slowly but surely, he released his pure sword aura out of his body. Being something that hadn’t improved since his dungeon days, this aura was different from most other powers he possessed.
It hadn’t been refined yet, and it hadn’t been domesticated. It was an embodiment of the Damien who only knew the inside of a dungeon.
The aura was colorless, but its undulation could still be seen and felt. If someone were to drop a sheet of paper within a 5-meter radius of Damien, it’d get shredded to dust in an instant.
The sword aura surrounding his body was wild, untamed, and uninhibited by such concepts as morality. Its sole drive was to kill, it’s only motivation was survival.
As he basked in this feeling once again, Damien felt reminiscent. Not traumatized or sad about the past, but reminiscent of his days in the dungeon. It wasn’t so obvious externally, as even Damien had subconsciously avoided noticing the fact, but he was still broken.
He never truly took the time to heal from the dungeon, and it was unknown whether he ever would. Something had snapped within him during those years, a core part of his being was convoluted.
Even as he bathed in his own sword aura, momentarily forgetting about the test in front of him, he avoided realizing this fact.
On the wall of characters in front of him, many pieces began clicking together like a puzzle, as if reacting to the aura that had been released upon them. Characters connected to form words, and lines of text layered to become a paragraph.
But this paragraph didn’t last long. The myriad ways outlined in the paragraph condensed upon themselves to create another set of words that contained boundless intent.
There were no more floating characters and no more flashes of scenery. In the empty void, there were only two things. One was Damien, and the other was the text facing him.
When Damien opened his eyes once more, he was enraptured by the scene.
“Void Heart Sword Law.”
The second the words left his mouth, Damien felt his entire world fade to black.
***
Back within the palace, another commotion was taking place.
“The young master of the Long Clan was chosen by 9 Dragons Roaring through the Heavens!”
“Yes! That technique belonged to an ancient dragon that once graced our sect, considering the Long clan’s connection to the dragons, it isn’t surprising that he would receive such a skill!”
“Bai Ren has also received a powerful skill! I heard she is practiced in Sound law!”
“Both the Shi clan twins managed to receive the same skill! How is such a thing possible?! I thought the wall’s effects were unique based on the individual!”
“What about that boy from earlier?” An elder suddenly asked.
“Ah, he just got some random unknown technique. Sadly, his comprehension must not measure up to his talent.” Another elder responded.
However, the old man from before had a completely different outlook. He had been watching Damien the entire time, and he saw the whole process that led to him receiving his technique.
‘The Void Heart Sword Law. Such a skill should have never showed up here.’ He thought to himself.
That specific sword law had a harrowing past in the Cloud Plane, but very few were aware of it. The historians had done everything they could to rid the world of its existence.
‘Yet, it still showed up for that boy. His future…’
The old man didn’t continue his thoughts, but he knew the fate of most who had previously practiced the sword law. With a hardened face that hid endless sorrow behind it, the old man made a decision.
‘Never again. I must take him under my wing and ensure that such a tragedy is never repeated.’