3 bar menu

Return of the Fallen Volume 5 Chapter 77

Author: Blue_Rat

ch77

(“It doesn’t”)

Glacious saw the stunned expressions on everyone’s faces but didn’t care.

(“This will not make you all of the sudden become 4th stage Mages, no, this will only open the path for you. By going beyond your limits and expanding them, you will have a slightly higher chance of stepping into the 4th stage on your own.”)

Shin and everyone else was lost.

(“Teacher, can you please stop with the jokes and just tell us straight up. How do we become 4th stage Mages?”)

Glacious scoffed but because they were in the special room within the mountain, no sound escaped his mouth.

(“I never made this a joke nor would I joke about this. I warned you all of the dangers that may befall you if you fail this test. This is no laughing matter I assure you young Shin. You wish for me to be straight with you, listen up, because you know I loathe repeating myself. Once this room is fully activated, you and the test of your mind starts, your mind will endure a great many horrors. Only by overcoming such horrors will you be able to increase the endurance and power of your mind. This room will put your mind under constant pressure, the more you resist it, the more it will grow. At the same time, you too will grow. I will be here just in case you can not endure it. If you can’t then I will reach into your mind and pull you out of the abyss. In doing so though, you will suffer.”)

Kimi grew nervous again and asked through her mind.

(“Suffer, how?”)

(“The things you will see, the fears that plague you now will only grow stronger if you can’t overcome them. For example, if you were only mildly afraid of the dark now after you fail, you would most likely flinch at the slightest shadow. Fear becomes stronger when one gives in to it and that weakens you, holds you back in many different ways in life. If you fail today, this memory will be etched into you forever and the chances of you entering the 4th stage at a later date become nearly impossible. This is one of the main reason’s why enduring and overcoming this test is one of the most important obstacles in your way.”)

The silent room, even though it was impossible for it to grow quieter the atmosphere seemed to make it so.

Glacious turned his attention to Shin and went back to his original question.

(“Shin you asked me a moment ago how one becomes a 4th stage Mage, I’ll answer that now. The Mind-body stage, the 4th stage as the name itself implies is the state in which the mind and body become connected. Before one steps into the 4th stage, their mind and body are separated and for good reason. For example, your mind will not allow the body to use 100% of its strength. If it did, the body would use far too much power, power that it couldn’t fully handle and one would forcefully break their own bones with a punch, snap their tendons and tear their muscles with a kick. These are the limiters the mind has over the body. They are put in place by the mind to protect the body from self-harm. However, when a life and death situation arrives, those limiters are shut off as survival mode kicks in. To enter the 4th stage, you must be able to feel your body in its entirety. You must be able to feel your breath, feel your blood pumping throughout your body, feel every muscle, and every single cell that makes up your structure. You must be able to feel everything at an individual level as well as one entity. By increasing the power of your mind today, your self of sense will grow. You will be able to detect minute things that you could never have perceived before today. Only after your mind becomes stronger and more sensitive to itself and the body, can you aim for the 4th stage. Once you can though, once you can perceive yourself in its entirety, the body will naturally step into the 4ht stage, for at that moment your mind and body will be connected and your limits will go beyond.”)

A memory from Glacious’s past seemed to fall into place within Kazuki’s mind and he realized something.

(“Senior is this one of the reasons why we suffered through the cauldron. By constantly enhancing our bodies, our sense grew with it and we had to constantly readjust and adapt to our new stronger senses. This in itself allows us to sense our bodies better than a regular Mage ever could.”)

Glacious nodded.

(“Right. Besides growing in strength, as you say young Kazuki, the constant growth allows you to understand as well as sense your bodies far greater then a regular Mage that only follows the path of magic could understand. This is an advantage you all will have over other Mages trying to step into the 4th stage. This is also another reason why Mages at the 3rd stage tend to get stuck and never advance for the rest of their lives. How can someone who’s never tested their own bodies limit’s ever come to understand it? Don’t get me wrong, there are still outliers like Garn for example. He is no warrior but he understands his body perfectly well. Because of that, he was able to advance to the 4th stage and later into the 5th. However, he also took many decades to reach that stage. Had he endured the cauldron as many times as you all had and then stepped into this magic room, there’s no doubt he could have done it even faster than all of you here.”)

As Glacious mentioned the 5th stage more memories began to fall into place in Kazuki’s mind and he couldn’t help but ask.

(“Senior, if the 4th stage is connecting the mind and the body, then the 5th…?”)

Glacious raised a curious brow.

(“Are my memories fully coming forth, right at this moment. You sure have timing don’t you?”)

Kazuki simply rubbed his own head and smiled not denying it in the least.

(“The 5th stage is much simpler then 4th yet is many times harder to achieve for the simple fact that it requires a mass amount of energy as well as purification. You have to absorb an enormous amount of energy into your Mage core and solidify it. Expand it, absorb more energy, purify it, and solidify it again. You repeat this until your body reaches its limit and can no longer hold any more energy in the core itself. This also becomes a problem for you humans. To absorb so much energy, it’s already incredibly difficult for a regular body. Only if someone is a genius like Garn or has enhanced their bodies several times can they contain so much energy within them? This all in itself is rare beyond rare. You can see this for fact throughout the Feya continent as there are only a handful of 5th stage Mages roaming about. For them to reach that level, they have to make it past the 4th stage then find someplace that has an abundance of magical energy that isn’t already occupied by some expert or kingdom, then they have to absorb said energy without dying in the process whilst expanding and purifying, some luck has to be involved for sure.”)

Everyone was surprised by Glacious. Even though Glacious clearly detested Garn and most humans for that matter, he still respected the fact that Garn became a 5th stage Mage. To reach that level being a human, Glacious applauded such talent and new how much work must have been put in to achieve it.

Glacious ignored the perplexed looks and placed a palm on the ground.

(“Enough with the idleness. I’ve answered question after question and if my mind had a mouth it would be tired and sore right now. I will activate this room and you’re minds will go through the grinder. The longer you endure, the stronger your mind will grow and the higher chance you will have of entering the 4th stage. When you can’t handle things any longer simply call out to me and I will take you to safety. While inside, things will seem real and your mind may believe it is so and that could affect your body. To die within this test, could permanently scar your mind, the shock alone could cause your body to perceive it as real and you could have a heart attack and die. Remember, endure. To have the best results, try to withstand it for at least 10hrs.”)

Shin and Kimi both felt terror in their heart and Shin shouted out but no sound escaped his lips. So instead he shouted in his mind.

(“Wait you were serious about the whole death thing!? Isn’t this shit like that Freddy movie!? To actually die in a dream isn’t that too messed up! And to do it for 10 hrs, are you crazy!?”)

Glacious nodded.

(“Your right it is messed up.”)

That was the only thing Glacious thought before he turned his palm on the floor and the inscriptions on the wall all lit up at once. At the same time, Kazuki and the others all felt their consciousness grow hazy, and then all at once they all fell over limply on the ground, they were out cold.

A large hourglass fell out of Glacious’s storage ring, this one held enough sand for 10 hours. Turning it over the sand began to trickle away.

(“Good Luck!”)

—————————————————————————-

A pair of eyes watched the side of the mountain patiently. It had been a few minutes since the doors to the mountain and shut and there was no sign of anyone leaving. Tilly had waited and waited and she eventually overheard a conversation about this place between Glacious and Etora. Once she learned of what it was and what it did, She finally saw her chance. With sound and senses not being able to penetrate outwardly nor inwardly of that place, Tilly found an opportunity. With no movement from the mountain she knew…

(Glacious and the others are inside the mountain and they will be none the wiser. Etora is at the lake and can’t take his attention away from Nunully. Tsura won’t be a problem and Mei may indeed be incredibly strong but she won’t understand what I’m doing and she won’t interfere. I’ll be out of sight anyway so she’ll know nothing is out of place. It’s time.)

Tilly jumped off a nearby tree and flew toward the depths of the forest. A greedy grin stretched across her wrinkled old face.