"Earn your right to be a Pillar."
As he said those words, I turned back to face the very pillars he wanted me to be as well...
I could feel it.
As if every pillar itself was unique. Each support had a name, a story to tell...a will to follow by.
"...What do you want me to do?" I asked him.
As I asked this question, he in turn looked to his hand that held a scabbard. A simple black leather scabbard and then he passed it to me.
"...this will be your Pillar."
He handed me the scabbard and I willingly accepted it.
"....!"
the moment I touched the scabbard, a sense of emptiness filled my mind...and I returned back. it was just a second of Eternal calmness but...I wanted to keep that moment.
It wasn't the same sensation the dark void gave to me, no....it was welcoming, forgiving and...it made me wanna stay. It almost had the Same sensation as the White empty space I went through when I died.
It was a sense of freedom.
"....w-wait."
"What?"
"It's just the Scabbard?" I asked him
"As I've said before....You must yearn for the sword." He replied
"I... nevermind. I got it." I said to him.
I mean I gonna be honest with myself here, in truth these Ruler themselves will never tell me the answer right away... everything just needs to be a frickin riddle
I'll probably get the gist of this Challenge as I time goes by with.... whatever I'm about to do.
"Ok....so to make things clear, all I have to do is earn my right to be a pillar and yearn for the sword, right?"
As I asked this question, he slowly looked to my way and instead of answering it directly, he answered it with a question himself.
"Do you know what it means to be a pillar?"
"...it means to act as the support that will keep everything in condition." I suggestively said.
"To yearn for a sword...that will be your pillar."
"Find your Sword...and you will be able to hold your pillar."
"Swing your sword...and you will be able to place your pillar."
'Oh god, his like master Oogway but more on swords...' i thought to myself.
As he said those three quotes, he raised his left hand and spoke his final say.
"Render your Challenge, become more than what you are today...survive with the intent to learn."
"Wait survive?" just as i finished asking those words, the sand began to sink my feet and not long after , the reincarnation of hands pulled me in deeper and deeper into the sand. as a last subtle attempt in surviving, I grasp for air one last time before darkness settled in.
I awoke, and I found myself in a place...a place I could only describe as hell.
Souls...thousand of them fused to the very walls surrounding me. trying to reach out to me, looking for a soul drag with them down into deeper desperation. their screams sounding unbearable, as if they were tormented with no hope for it to end but with a promise of mercy...
The Temperature was cold as if I was living inside a freezer, yet I could see flames erupting from the gaps of some cracks in the walls.
The Floor however was clean. it was layed out with Marble...the highest and purest marble ever formed.
everything surrounding this place was surreal.
The road only lead to one direction. and with nothing to do, I followed the road until it would lead me to something.
As I walked further on the marbled road, some of it was later covered in layed out black sand and then as it passes on further, ground dirt. The ground dirt didn't change after that and at this point I at least traveled over 20 km of just walking.
But everything change when I encountered the first ever living being who wasn't stuck to the wall. He was the same as me, walked through this one lane road. but unlike me, he carried a sword with no scabbard.
Will...living was an understatement. he was barely hanging on with his organs out and about just dragging on the floor while he was completely bruised in every parts of his body. I could hear his jagged breathing from every step he made. At this point, I might as well consider him to be a zombie.
I tried introducing myself first, but all he gave me in return was a look filled with lost hope and a request for water...
"w~water...." he spoke with his raspy voice.
"I...I don't have water...I'm sorry." I tried apologizing to him but for a quick glimpse of a second, I saw the grip of his hand tighten for a little bit.
"T-that's fine, y-your b-blood will do." he said in return but still with his raspy voice, which I could till he was dehydrated to the bone.
~Swoosh~
He swings his sword at a speed I couldn't believe any normal man could do and aimed at my stomach.
"!!" I immediately tried blocking with the scabbard in my hand.
"!!" but as it clashed against the scabbard, I found myself being pushed back.
Then veins started popping out of every inch of his body. and I was immediately thrown back to the other side of a wall filled with those fused bodies.
*BOOM!* as the sound of my back went against the wall of fused souls.
I couldn't believe it, he was stronger than I thought. it was perplexing knowing that he looked like a dried out twig.
He said he wanted my blood...was he going to drink my blood instead?
He's willing to kill me if it means to just quench his thirst.
if it's gonna be that way then I'll have to fight back...even if it means I have to kill him...this feels unsettling.
I pushed myself out of the wall and immediately readied my scabbard as the only weapon I had.
He ran straight at me with full of vigor and bloodlust, the organs although unsettling to look at, swayed in midair as he came running at me.
".…God, I hope you'll forgive me for doing this."
I watched him run at a pace I could say was manageable. He wasn't as fast as the monster I fought before nor was it as strong but he was just as gruesome. Although he was weaker, I still had to have my guard up, one slip of mistake and I'm dead.
"HAAAA!!" he screamed with all his might as he thrusted the very point of his sword at me…it was filled with killing intent.
Despite his wish for some water, I just simply tilted my head to the side and dodge the very tip of his sword and in return, I thrust my scabbard right into the open wound of his and gave it my all.
"!!" his eyes were caught in disarray as he felt that something went through his stomach. And then blood came pouring out…
".…" he dropped to the floor and licked the blood off his mouth and stomach.
*Cough* *Cough* "Boy….thank you, please take my sword in return for making me drink…you won't survive here without a proper weapon."
"!!" I was shocked. He didn't care that I punched a hole right through body and instead, he gave me his weapon as thanks…
"Aren't you mad?" I asked him…
"No…don't worry, this isn't the worst thing to happen to a man in here…in a couple of hours, I'll finally be able to…get back up my feet…"
"But why give me your weapon?"
"It's because, you're the very first person ever to….have a conversation with me...I have to repay in kindness of your act…its the most human thing I can only ever do to another human in such a long time…*Cough* *Cough*"
"I'm sorry." I apologized the the man.
"Don't be…I figured with your clean clothes and healthy body, it seems that your new around here…"
"I am."
"That must mean that you are a new lost soul…"
"Lost soul?"
"This realm we reside ourselves in is owned by an omniscient being, a Demigod who rules over each soul and controls the very Fate we face in the future journeys in this domain…"
"What is this place called?" I asked.
"...Randull's Prophecy…"
"!!" I was shocked to hear the name….Randull's Prophecy. A Disastrous place written in the novel as one of the Most Hellish domain ever made.
Randull's Prophecy is a place ruled by Randull, the Great Divine. An immortal who mastered the very prospects of magic and has a hobby in looking into people's Fate. Just as the old man describes, this was a place for people to find themselves…either by their future or by their fate. Randull has the capability to look into this and control as his own wishes.
The Randull's Prophecy is a Place set in the Thoughts of the person who yearns for his wish of a lifetime. As any wish goes, either you wanna know if you can be king or you want to gain knowledge of your Future, everything is gained here in Randull's Prophecy.
And if I'm correct, I am know sleeping in the dessert I was in before…The Resolute Ruler must have done this, the question is how…
It is stated in the novel, you can only enter this domain by the invitation of Randull, the Divine himself. He first must take an interest in the fate of a certain lad and make deals with him that will greatly benefit the Demigod. Either by self entertainment or a Fate bigger than himself, he must take action…
"Can I ask you a question?" The man spoke.
"What is it?"
"Have you found your Fate?"
"...No, I don't think so…but I do know what I'm doing here…"
"Oh? And what is it?" ask the man in a curious tone.
"...I.." For some reason, the tone he gave out was a little bit weird, as if he wasn't hurt at all…
"To earn my pillar….."
"I see…" as he said those words, his tone suddenly changed and smoke started coming out of his open wounds…
"!!" Oh shit! I had a bad feeling about this.
~FUUUUUUUSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!~~
He's body started fuming smoke gases and it suddenly explodes, creating a smoke screen that covered every corner…
"Well well well, looks like another competitor yearns for a sword! AM I RIGHT!!" Shouted the man who strangely now sounds like a hostess in a Talk show.
The smoke still floated everywhere so I couldn't see anything but I could guess on who the person was…
"Well…I think an Introduction is in order." *Snap*
I heard a snap on the other side ans soon after, the smoke started forming a small whirlwind and scatters right in front of me.
Before me was a man who wore the sickest design of a magician anyone would wear…a black suit with a purple bow tie, a tail coat that reached up the heels of his black pointy shoes, five monocles that was hanging by his five suit pockets and a cane with a red and black swirly design. his head was the shape of a fully intertwined yarn ball…this Demigod was Randull the Divine.
"I am Randull and welcome to my Prophecy." he said that as he spread his arms wide as a welcome.
As a sign of greetings I bowed my head and introduced myself…
"I am Hamil Crux…" that was all I could say since my identity wasn't fully formed yet and that most of the things I already have are things I plan to keep secret. Like me being summoned to the Hero's Gate and being picked as a Future Ruler or that I was Reincarnated person.
"Tell me boy…how come you are here and without invitation."
"..."
"I'll tell you how."
"...?"
"You are here to earn your right as a pillar…. now, there is only a few thousand people I knew who once uttered that sentence…they've already left. And that was a thousand years ago…"
".…*GULP*"
".…now, tell me warrior…Which Ruler sent you here? And tell me…HOW ARE THEY ALIVE!!?" His voice was threatening. It was filled with blood lust.
And I was ready to piss my pants.
***ARTHUR'S POV
Up a top the sky was a flying griffin and on top of him was a boy who sat with his legs crossed.
His palms was open and his face was as pale as salt that day….he was struggling to control he's new found ability to touch air…
"Now again! Concentrate!" said the griffin named Emur.
"I almost got it….just a bit more…~~~Swoosh~~~ ~~FUU~~"
The wind staggered and it resulted in his fingers breaking.
"!!"
"It happened again…didn't it."
"yes….but don't land yet, I can't still do this…"
"fine…"
"haaaa….."
"Remember, to touch and control air…is by the flow of the air…..don't try to control it but instead..manipulate it."
".…!!" ~~~Swoosh~~~ ~~FUU~~"
This time his whole arm broke…
"I'm landing."
"fine."