Edmund's heart was beating in his throat as the shadowy figure continued to hover and come closer to him.
"Move, Move!" he thought to himself, but his body refused to, and all the hair on his neck stood up.
"T-This thing commands enough pressure to make me not want to move an inch???" Edmund thought to himself as his body remained frozen in place like a deer freezing in front of its predator.
The figure closed the distance, and as Edmund's body started to shiver in place his mind conflicted on what to do.
It reached out a hand, getting to his cheek, and caught it. Edmund could feel the cold, but firm embrace of the hand.
Part of him wanted to reach for the sword that was attached to his belt, and part of him just wanted to drop everything and run.
The figure came close to his face, their noses almost touching.
"Edmund Reinhart. What is it that drives you?" In a raspy and almost worn-out voice.
Right then, an image of Mae floated into Edmund's head.
"Papa." He heard a tiny girl's voice echo, and he was startled.
Before Edmund realized it, he was transported back to a thatched hut in a tiny village.
The background sound of rain permeated the scene, and in front of him, lying in a comfy-looking bed, was his wife.
Edmund's eyes widened, and his voice wavered with disbelief as he stammered, "R-Rhea?"
His grip tightened around something small and substantial. Nestled in his hands was a tiny infant, wrapped in the same white bedsheet.
A pair of amber eyes looked up at him, and a feeling that he quite couldn't place.
"What do you want to name her?" He said, moving closer to her, to show the baby.
Edmund felt a sense of calm as this day was etched in his memory forever.
But something wasn't right.
Edmund couldn't quite point out what it was, perhaps it was the color of the wall, the tone of the candle, or the sound of the rain. It all felt like it was just a little bit off.
And just as he entertained the mere thought of all of this being a bit altered from reality, everything seemed to stop.
"My, my, I must admit. You realized a lot sooner than I expected," The same raspy voice echoed throughout, seemingly omnidirectional.
"Ah, yes. A father's love. So adorable, so noble, but so..."
Edmund turned back, a bewildered look on his face as he saw the black figure walk towards him.
"What the hell is this?" Edmund's mind raced to comprehend what was happening before him.
Everything around them seemed to be static, but as he moved, the raindrops gave way, and he walked right through the window to the right side of the still woman sitting on the bed.
"So Boring." He finished, in a mocking tone.
Edmund quickly recomposed himself "I think this is a part of his technique, and it appears that I can't control any of it, so let's just play along and see where this goes." He thought to himself as the figure walked around him in a circle.
"Is this your power?" Edmund asked the figure in an inquisitive tone, as his hand gripped the handle of the sword attached to his belt.
"Yes." The figure replied. "My powers allow me to peer into one's memories, and manifest them into reality."
"This may not be the only technique he has, eh? I have to be real careful," Edmund's mind raced at just entertaining the possibility of having such an advanced technique.
"So what is this, some sort of barrier technique?" Edmund asked, continuing the conversation as he had no other option.
"Ah yes, barrier techniques are pretty common. You make a predetermined barrier, and with proper connotation, you can imbue whatever technique you can into it, as long as you have enough magic in you to cover the immense amount it consumes." The shadowy figure began.
"You are kind of correct." He continued. "This is a barrier, but it isn't one I put up, it's your mind."
Edmund was confused by this. "My mind? What do you mean? Won't most barriers require some sort of pattern engraved in the world to work?"
"Yes, but in this case, not necessarily. Those barriers indicate the position of an imbued technique and its effective range, and I realized something revolutionary some time back."
Edmund's heart was pounding in his chest as he mused at the only other possible answer.
"You use... the person's body, as their barrier?" He asked, dumbfounded. "H-how is that possible?"
"Well, I thought of the same thing, and it just happened to work. Spectacularly, I must add." The voice said, sounding a little bit less raspy.
Edmund finally realized he was also able to move freely in this place. "So correct me if I'm wrong, but does the technique's effectiveness have something to do with willpower and the awareness of the technique's target?"
Just as Edmund said that the scenery started to glitch, and he could see fleeting glimpses of the real world around them.
"Not bad for a diplomat, you know?" The voice said with an upward inflection, clearly interested.
"Let's get this over with, shall we?" Edmund said, as he started to walk towards the figure, his hand still shaking and hesitant to grab the sword.
"You don't have to go anywhere, Mae. Father will take care of it." unknowingly, his own words had come back to haunt him.
"It's not that I can, It's that I have to" Edmund's hand finally reached for the sword, and with one swift and elegant motion, he dashed toward the figure and appeared to slash it.
The figure met him with equal ferocity, their swords clashing, and they finally glitched back into the real world.
"I'm not just a diplomat, before I was one, I was known as Edmund Reinhart, winner of the ascension trial!" He said, a brilliant aura of light forming around him before the figure disengaged.
The hood finally fell, revealing black hair, and the face was nothing but a black mask that had two eye holes in it.
"I know the power gap is huge, but somehow, I have to make this work." He thought to himself as he stared down this mysterious figure.
"Before we clash, state your name," Edmund called out.
"Hudat Mann. Show me what you can do, Edmund."
"Hudat Mann? Is he real? I thought he was just a made-up name to reserve the number one spot on the leaderboard, but he does exist..." Edmund thought to himself.