Meanwhile, within the darkness, Damien was seated motionless, his eyes closed. All his senses were shut off from the outside world as his mind was transported elsewhere.
When he opened his eyes, Damien was still within darkness, but something felt different about it. The darkness of the trial room was just that, dark. However, this darkness was much more abyssal.
Damien didn’t move. He had no idea where he was, and his mind was still focused on the sensation he got from the words earlier. Even within this abyssal space, he concentrated on comprehending those words.
‘Void Heart Sword Law’
He didn’t know what it meant, but its name was overbearing enough to leave a great first impression. He did his best to delve into the mysteries of this sword law, but every insight he had was fleeting.
The original sensation he received was disappearing quickly. When he tried to remember the feeling he got from those words, it’d only vanish faster. Before long, he could barely remember it at all.
“You aren’t doing it right.”
A cold voice echoed through the void. No matter how Damien attempted to locate its source, it was futile.
“Don’t waste your time trying to find me. I ceased to exist long ago.” The voice once again spoke. Despite the fact that it was talking about its own death, the voice remained emotionless.
“Then, what am I doing wrong?” Damien responded.
“Everything.”
The casualness of the voice’s response irked him, but he said nothing.
“When you hear the words Void Heart Sword Law, what do you think of?” The voice questioned.
Damien thought for a moment. The name of the skill was unique, as it could be interpreted in many ways. The inflection of each word should clue him in on how to correctly interpret it, but the voice was so stoic and emotionless that such inflections were neglected.
‘Void Heart Sword Law. What does it mean?’
From a first glance, he could only understand that it was a sword move, which was what he had already expected after releasing his sword aura. Still, he didn’t think that’s what the voice was referring to.
“You really are an idiot.” The voice continued. “Do not focus on the sword yet, for you have not even met the basic requirements to learn it.”
‘Do not focus on the sword.’ Damien didn’t quite understand what it meant, so he took it at face value. ‘Void Heart. What is void heart?’
Damien had plenty of connections to the word ‘void’. Not to mention his last name, even the physique that kept him alive at his weakest point was named void. But even with this, he didn’t know much about the concept.
‘I have my space element, but space doesn’t seem to be the same thing as void.’
To Damien, space was an all-encompassing concept. Everything existed within space and space existed within everything. Void, however…
‘The void is all-consuming.’
It was either a part of space or space was a part of it, but Damien felt that their purpose was completely different. When he imagined the void, he imagined emptiness or a black hole that swallowed everything.
‘If I put that concept with the word heart, does the meaning change?’
Heart wasn’t as elusive as void, at least not in Damien’s mind. It was either a biological aspect or an emotional one. And judging simply on instinct, Damien felt it was the latter.
‘All-consuming and emotions. If I put those two together…’
There was a major clue in front of him the entire time, and when he got to this point in his thinking, he finally realized it.
‘Emotionless.’
“That’s correct.” The voice said. “Void Heart is emotionless, but that is simply the surface. A true void heart is free of anything. Desire, ambition, emotion, attachment, morality. It all becomes irrelevant in front of a truly void heart.”
The concept was terrifying. Someone who cared for nothing, someone who had nothing to lose, that was the scariest kind of opponent. That kind of person could do anything to achieve their goals, using even their own body as a tool.
“The Void Heart Sword Law is an embodiment of this concept. Your sword will be swung without hesitance. Free and unfettered from all restrictions. For you to arrive here means you have shown compatibility with this ideal.”
Was he compatible though? Damien didn’t think so. He had plenty of attachments and things he cared about that he couldn’t just sacrifice.
‘But this sword law could be a game-changer in battle.’
If he could shut out any distractions and focus solely on what needed to be done…
The benefits were unimaginable. Plus, something was steering him towards accepting.
“And how do I free myself of emotion?” He asked.
“I am not here to mentor you. Figure it out yourself. However, I shall show you what it means to practice this art.”
The void was lit as the surroundings changed. Suddenly, Damien found himself on an expansive battlefield.
On one side, a massive army adorned in all black, and on the other, an even larger army adorned in white. At first glance, they seemed like opposing forces.
Yet, this wasn’t the case. As he observed, Damien noticed that both armies were working in tandem against a third party.
‘A single person?!’
At the forefront of the battlefield stood a single man. His long black hair cascaded down his back like a midnight waterfall and his eyes were like a deep abyss that could steal one’s soul.
His body wasn’t large, but it was clear he had experienced his own share of battles. The man held a single sword in his hand as he faced both armies.
The man raised his sword and swung. Without warning, thousands of black lines appeared on the battlefield, intersecting with each other countless times to create intricate patterns. As quickly as they came, they disappeared. But the effect they had was catastrophic.
Anyone caught within those black lines was shredded to pieces, thinly sliced chunks of their bodies thumping onto the ground. Just like that, thousands of soldiers died.
“Why must you do this to us?!”
“We have wives, children, people we love! Why must you force us into death?!”
The armies couldn’t take it anymore. A similar scene had played out before them countless times, but they were never able to stop it. They pleaded and begged, hoping to be spared, but the man paid it no mind.
“You were in my way.” It was his only response to their cries before he slashed out once more.
The scene soon faded and Damien arrived back in the void, reflecting on what he had just seen.
It was true ruthlessness. Uncaring about circumstance and uncaring about consequence.
Although he was frightened at the prospect, it also somewhat excited him. That scene…there was something familiar about it.
He thought back to a certain scene he had once witnessed. A man standing before an army, simply raising his hand to cause a mass slaughter.
That was the level of power he wished to achieve. And this Void Heart Sword Law could give him that power. After many minutes of silence, Damien finally spoke.
“This sword law, I want it.”
