It didn't even take two minutes for Kayden to reach floor 29, once again impressing everyone watching. A 9-year-old boy was ahead of everyone and still had a good margin of time.
The best had barely made it to floor 20. Could Kayden make it to the top floors? That was the question on everyone's mind, but against all expectations, Kayden simply stopped.
He froze and couldn't take a step forward. All of his memories were being replayed before his eyes. Even though he spent years in limbo, he hadn't completely overcome it.
There was no longer any hatred towards his uncle or any remaining remnants of that period. He didn't even have emotions for Nicholas, but he finally realized something he should have understood a long time ago.
Limbo prepared him to be able to live his life normally. He never got over his traumas. They were hiding, ready to come out at the first sign. Until today, he had never received any encouragement in this regard.
He had. In one of his first battles at school, he faced a magician who messed with his feelings. At that time, he had already become beside himself and should have realized it.
The minutes began to pass. Little by little, most of the mages began to pass Kayden.
He still had his foot raised in the same position.
'What did this kid go through to not be able to set foot on the next floor?' That was everyone's thought, especially Han, who didn't remember him having such a traumatic event in his life before. The old man made a mental note to pay more attention to the boy's life from now on.
'Come on, Kayden, it's just memories' The boy said to himself, but he couldn't take the step he needed. He had been in the same position for more than 10 minutes, practically everyone had already surpassed him.
"Your fear condemns you to mediocrity" A voice appeared near Kayden. As soon as the boy turned around, he came across Astolfo, one of the people he least expected to be there.
His phrase... was what he said to his old teammates in the city championship. One small sentence made Kayden look down and go into thought.
How long would he run? Hasn't he faced everything once? Why run from your ghosts? Wouldn't they haunt him forever like this? The boy sighed and made a decision.
"Thank you, Astolfo" He didn't even ask his friend anything. This could be done another time.
The boy went up to the next floor.
Instantly, he found himself where he feared most: lying in a hospital bed. His heart started to race, and after taking several deep breaths, he managed to calm down a little.
Every second he spent in there made it easier to deal with the situation. Little by little, he lost his emotions about the situation. It seemed like just a normal day at the hospital.
Completely boring and with nothing to do, during this time the boy began to notice how well made this illusion was. Even the nurses' speeches were identical to those in his previous life.
For a second, he was afraid that the academy had control and could see what was going on in his memory. But after some thought, he simply left it aside. The nobles would never allow something like that.
'Ah, shit' Kayden recognized the day he was in. It was the first time his uncle had beaten him mercilessly. Much of his days were limited to vague memories, with only remarkable scenes being remembered by him.
But that day, he remembered perfectly everything that had happened. Everything, every meal, from the beginning to the end of that day, everything was recorded in his memory, the minutes turned into hours.
Finally, the final moment came, everything was as he remembered it, his uncle started hitting things while he was drunk and threw himself on the chair next to him.
"Hello, big guy." An endless hatred, an uncontrollable rage, that was what Kayden expected to feel, but there was nothing, only pity, he couldn't feel anything beyond that.
"Hi, Uncle." Even so, he continued with the theater. "Why are you here?" His calm tone seemed to surprise the fake Max.
"Today I came to tell you the truth..." The same pathetic phrases as last time. "Now you will pay because the courts are seeking me." Until now Kayden didn't even flinch, his mind was calmer than ever before.
The spanking began and...it just seemed annoying next to the pain of improving his core, there was simply no comparison. Once again his only emotion was pity, in the end, his uncle was the one he most feared becoming.
A mediocre person controlled by worldly and animalistic desires, without ever really achieving anything relevant in life. Pathetic.
"Come on, kill me at once." Kayden had a crazy smile on his face and before he could receive a response from Max, the illusion fell apart in front of him.
He found himself back on floor 30 and with Astolfo still behind him, it seemed like the illusion had been instantly realized in his mind, smiling at the boy, he thanked him again.
He quickly headed to the next floor which was only on step 40, he already knew which memory it would be and perhaps this one would be much worse than the last time. Taking courage, he went ahead and entered the next illusion.
The same hospital scene repeated itself, and because Kayden hated being right, his memory prevented him from lying to himself, he knew he was on the day of his death. Everything was identical to how he remembered.
This time he just waited patiently, and his emotions remained stable, this time he took the time to learn about the spell, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't feel anything.
It was as if this was his reality from now on, for a few moments, a sick fear settled in his heart: what if he never made it back? Fortunately, this only lasted a short time in his mind.
A few hours later, he saw Nicholas again, his mind went blank for a few seconds, he thought he wouldn't have any strong feelings, but even after years, when he looked at his friend, his only thought was happiness.
All the hours they spent talking together, all that time had been fun in his dark world, maybe that was the only thing that kept him from going crazy, well, totally at least.
The boy had already accepted that he was not normal, his mind did not work similarly to healthy people, and things that were acceptable for him to have a small improvement in his cultivation were unimaginable for most normal people.
"Hello, Kayden."
"Hello, Nicholas." Again he heard the same conversation about choosing his friend's daughter's name and how happy he was to be a father, all of which was slowly making Kayden feel uneasy.
Finally, the time came, his uncle came in knocking on everything like in his memory, it didn't take long and after a little conversation, he started laughing while telling him his plans.
"You know, idiots? I'm simply finished and nothing better than fulfilling my last wish, right? Now, who will die first?" He took a gun from his waistband while laughing himself to death.