Chereads / Preeminence / Chapter 23 - Confronting Fears 2

Chapter 23 - Confronting Fears 2

Denzel is alone in the Colosseum, emotionless and unfazed, as a loud and violent rumbling can be heard from the darkness.

Denzel tilts his head slightly towards the shadows with an impassive expression. Denzel twists his body towards the pitch black and begins to gaze down at the darkness.

Denzel begins to go slowly towards the darkness, fearless.

Denzel directs his fingers at the shadow, begins to form a silver energetic spinning triangle in the darkness, and chants, "Twirling Trigon." And shoots it into the darkness.

As 'Twirling Trigon' delivers into the darkness, the entire atmosphere glows with silver light. 

Denzel is looking at the darkness as it lights up with glittering energy. But Denzel cannot see any figure or object that triggered the rumbling.

Denzel tilts his head back, and notices a swarm of spiders staring at him. 

Denzel tries to locate the spiders he recently fought but can't find them.

As Denzel attempts to take a step forward, he receives a clear cut on his face. Denzel's eyes expand while remaining emotionless.

Denzel slowly tilts his head towards spiders. And Lunges forward instantly.

Denzel intends to strike one of the spiders in the middle of the body, but as he leaps into the air, one of the spiders smacks Denzel directly with its claw. Denzel blocks the claw with his sword, but Impact knocks him backwards.

Denzel slowly gets up from the ground and smirks at the spider.

Denzel raises his sword into the sky, emitting Silver Energy and creating a powerful energy force that pushes everything away.

All spiders begin to be pushed backward. However, one spider utilizes force to overcome energy and leaps into the air, aiming its blow at Denzel with incredible speed.

Denzel instantly aims his sword down, parrying spider's blow with enough force to knock spider to the ground.

Denzel swiftly swings his sword at Spider. Spider simply evade by taking a side stride.

Denzel swings his sword at the spider again. Spider then pauses Denzel's blade in midair with an intense glare.

Denzel's eyes widen as he notices his blade stopped in mid-air, catching him off guard.

Spider swiftly smacks Denzel in the stomach, throwing him into the air. 

Spider begins to fire energy beams at Denzel, who is currently airborne. Hitting them all.

Spider prevents Denzel from falling to the ground by shooting its web, holding him in midair.

All spiders jump into the air at the same time. And begins to strike him in the air from all directions for a few moments.

The majority of the spiders land easily on the ground, but one spider strikes Denzel in the stomach, launching him back to the ground while dribbling off.

Denzel struggled to stand up. But he emerges from the ground, holding his sword and breaking the web, with a serious expression.

Denzel begins to power up the beam from his sword, aiming toward spiders.

Denzel looks down at the spiders that are approaching him, slightly angry, and says, "Be gone." He states coldly and menacingly.

As he charges the energy beam, all of the spiders begin to run at him. Denzel quickly unleashes an energy beam at them.

Spiders, in response, begin to build an energy barrier capable of stopping an energy beam midway.

Denzel appears airborne behind the spiders, smirking, and shoots another beam of energy at the spiders before they can react.

One of the spiders is able to establish an energy barrier, preventing Denzel from delivering another beam of energy.

Denzel narrows his eyes, grinning, as he focuses on the spider's energy barrier.

After a few moments, Denzel calmly chants "Reversal". Causing the energy barrier to shift against spiders.

With this, both energy beams strike all of the spiders at once, utilizing the force of their own energy barrier against them.

A crest of vertical white light erupts, as energy beams strike all spiders at once, and white light touches the sky. Denzel landed on the ground easily, smirking.

Smoke engulfs everything in its path, causing ruin.

Denzel regains his original consciousness and notices smoke.

As the smoke cleared, he noticed a group of injured spiders staring at him.

Denzel begins to feel fear again. Denzel begins to step backwards as all spiders begin to approach him cautiously.

Denzel's eyes begin to expand wide, but he musters the strength to confront his arachnophobia.

Denzel stops His body shakes with anxiety, but he remains in one spot, curious about what will happen if he gives up while spiders approach him.

Denzel drops his blade to the ground.

Spiders confront him face to face.

Denzel is scared, but he does not demonstrate it.

Denzel notices that he no longer feels fear. 

Denzel also notes that as soon as he is free of fear, Spiders begin to drift away from the Colosseum as smoke engulfs them.

Denzel realizes this and begins to feel happier as the spiders fade away.

As Spider fades away, Denzel finally feels relieved that he has overcome his arachnophobia. However, Denzel is perplexed as to why the atmosphere remains gothic even after he has overcome his fears.

As Denzel was contemplating, he heard a clear rumbling from the darkness.

Denzel glups in horror and gently tilts his head into the darkness.

As Denzel stares fearfully into the darkness, the rumbling grows louder and sharper. Denzel's heart begins to beat quickly as he hears rumbling.

Denzel begins to hear hissing as the rumbling becomes louder. Denzel's eyes widen in panic, and he nervously smiles, "Ain't... No... Way."

Glowing eyes emerge from the darkness. Denzel looks into the eyes.

A massive serpent emerges from the shadows, hissing and staring down at him.

Denzel cautiously glances up at the massive serpent.

Serpent begins to gently slither towards Denzel. Denzel begins to take small steps backwards.

Denzel hastily retrieves the blade from the ground and threatens Serpent.

Serpent continues to hiss at Denzel while crawling forward.

Denzel gathers his bravery and throws his blade at Serpent's face. But, to his surprise, the blade does no damage to the serpent, so he swiftly withdraws his weapon in his hand, through his mind.

Denzel glances at the serpent, closes his eyes, takes a long breath, and stands still. 

Denzel seems to have figured out how to deal with his concerns. 

Serpent crawls forward and forcefully opens its mouth toward Denzel. But Denzel's eyes widen in surprise, but he does not allow fear to overcome him.

Serpent gently moves its head backwards after noticing Denzel standing close there.

Denzel glances at the serpent, who begins to slip away.

Denzel lets out a loud sigh of relief as Serpent fades away completely.

As soon as he sighs, he finds himself staring down a deep, dark pit. Denzel had a heart attack when he realizes he is on the edge of a deep, black pit, leading him to trip backwards.

Denzel is terrified by what he saw. He slowly attempts to rise up and dares to look down, making him uncomfortable.

He quickly learns that this time, two of his greatest fears have fused into one.

Denzel attempts to slow his heart, but the view makes him uncomfortable.

Denzel looks to the heavens and wonders, "What am I supposed to do now?" Denzel inquires, eliciting a moment of stillness.

After a while, the moment of quiet ends as the voice from the sky says, "Jump." Denzel hears the answer and immediately begins to panic from fear, breathing heavily.

Denzel reacts fearfully and nervously: "T-There has to be another way to do it right. right?" A voice reverberate throughout the dream world, saying, "There is no other route, therefore plunge."

Denzel becomes frightened by the answer, and he gets scared even more than previously. The look of terror on his face indicates that Spider and Serpent was not always as frightening as it is presently.

Denzel responds with a frightened expression, "W-What if I die here, Or, What if I feel tremendous and excruciating pain?" A brief moment of quiet is followed by a voice from the sky saying, "You're wasting your precious time, so just plunge into the pitch-black abyss in front of you. This path is not for the faint of heart; you must be courageous to conquer the obstacles on this journey. If you are afraid, go back to your mortal existence and never return here unless you are prepared. Choose your path right now."

Denzel becomes silent as he listens for the voice's response. Denzel continues to consider if he ought to leave right now or continue on his route.

Denzel begins to select his path, closing his eyes and focusing on his energy to gain the courage to confront his greatest fears.

Denzel opens his eyes, smirks, and falls blindly into the pitch-black abyss. 

Denzel feels the wind blowing in his face as he slides down. Denzel's face remains unaffected by the falling sensation and fear, and he enjoys the fall with a smirk.

Denzel notices the ground approaching and decides to back flip to ensure a clean landing.

As Denzel lands smoothly on the ground, he discovers he hadn't experienced any pain, making him happy with it.

Denzel responds proudly, "Overthinking might have been the biggest enemy I had, and I thought that enemy was my friend." 

The voice from the sky says, "In the end, you discovered the truth about overthinking. Removing the 'Overthinking' factor from your head will make the journey more enjoyable and easier."

Denzel says, "Seems like it." The atmosphere begins to shift from Gothic to crystal bright sky.]

In the present moment, Denzel slowly opens his eyes and begins to stand up from his meditation stance.

Denzel looks at the sky and says, "Hey, I successfully visualized the previous day's training. What now?" After a few seconds, the voice says, "If you truly were able to visualize your past training, without any thoughts interrupting, Then, Congratulations, You completed your training."

Denzel replies, "Huh, so that's it for training?" To which voice responds, "Don't worry, You will learn other stuff slowly, But this training enough to make you get victory in the upcoming battle."

In Response, Denzel Grunts in pleased and proud.