It was truly outstanding; my soul was burning with energy. It was a type of energy that I had never seen before; warm and bright energy emanating from my soul. Even though it had a very aggressive flow, it didn't seem to have any bad intentions, so to speak.
This was something I had never seen before, as the previous times I did this, my white and flowing soul was very calm and serene, and no energy whatsoever poured out of it.
Another world-shockingly obvious change was the presence of the viscous black matter that came out of the cage during the flash; it was my anomaly, Ai.
"I'm sorry, 'anomaly'?! Do you want me to take control of your body? "– "Sorry, sorry. I don't know any other words to describe you."
Much like the gracefulness of the Yin-yang, the almost tangible darkness circling around my soul was surprisingly calm. It somehow looked like it was working in harmony with it.
"That's me, my soul! The last time I came out, the darkness corrupted your whole from how aggressive it was… "Ai said, while somberly lowering her tone in the last sentence.
This was true, when Ai last came out, my soul and mind almost got completely corrupted by her. It was definitely not a pleasant memory.
"Don't worry, I promise it won't happen again, not without your wish to do so." she dimly said.
While trying to think of what to say, I spotted something inside the chamber. From far away, it looked like invisible strings were tightly holding on to my soul, forming grip marks around it.
Yet as I concentrated and glared deeper into the chamber, it wasn't strings that were gripping it, they were strange and ephemeral chains. "This is it! I sense that these chains are the ones holding the warm energy back. Can you try to break them?" Ai said excitedly.
I hadn't even finished taking in the mountain of information that was poured into me when she finished talking, so I once again deeply concentrated into my chamber. It was as Ai had said, it was as if the energy that filled my soul was yearning to break free from the confines of those chains.
"I haven't understood anything that has happened since the flash, but there's nothing to lose, so I guess I'll give it a try!" I said, a little excited.
I corrected my posture and once again gave way for the oxygen to flow inside me, allowing my soul to cleanse itself. In a way, I also felt trapped by the chains, since the soul that was being held back was mine.
With every deep breath, my soul pulsed, trying to break free from its prison. After hours of continuous and arduous trying, I failed. I wasn't able to so much as loosen the suffocating grip of the chains.
Since I figured that no matter how much time I spent trying to break free from my cage, I recovered from the state of deep trance I was in and opened my eyes, this made the ever so familiar moonshine fill them. I sighed and unpleasantly said "Shit… I can't even budge these things. I wonder what we need to break them. Okay, I guess it's time to get out of this wretched room, huh?"
I rose from the floor, backside sore from the long hours of sitting, and started walking to the door when I remembered something that would be essential to my trip and thought to myself, 'Maybe I will finally be able to use it after all these years.'
"I guess it would be wise to be prepared for a long trip to the outside world, I expect not to return for a very long time. Wouldn't you agree, Ai?!", "Oh, for sure. I'm never returning to this woeful place, even if I were offered the whole world!", "Perfect, let's get started, then!"
I turned around, glanced at the closet door which was on the far end of the room and hesitantly started walking towards it. The closet was easily the room in which I felt most uncomfortable. Something was just not right about it; I always felt watched when I entered it, which is why I moved most of my most comfortable clothes outside, next to my bed.
I reached the door and opened it. The same eerie sensation that was common when entering the room flowed through me, making me shamefully alert. "I think I get why you're so on edge about entering this room in specific. It does feel like we're being watched from every single angle," said Ai with a slight nervous tone in her voice.
The closet was a big, white room with oak wood for floor and terrible cold white lights hung along the ceiling all the way towards the end of it. It was currently filled with mounds of extravagant clothes which regularly seemed to change. In the middle of the big white room was the only reason why I ever visited the closet; in the middle of a rectangular counter space regularly used for kitchens was an obi and my most prized possession.
A plain black sword stand which held only one object; a silver steel saya (scabbard) decorated with engravings of vines, thorns and plants, with a tsuka (hilt) sticking out of it, also silver in color and a purple colored sageo (scabbard cord).
As I walked towards it, I felt relieved and worried at the same time. This would be the last time I ever stepped foot inside my closet and the last time I would ever see my room again. It was a terrifying thought, yet the thrill of finally going out into the world was overwhelming.
I tied the obi that was on the counter to my waist before grabbing the sword and attached the cord to it, making sure it was securely placed before I quickly walked out of the room.
"Woah, that was definitely not here when I last entered the closet with you! Are you going to show me, or what?! I urgently need to see what's inside that saya," Ai excitedly said.
Granting her request, I carefully removed the sword from its saya and placed it in front of me; a slightly curved and long obsidian colored blade made from hardened Damascus steel. The color came from a dyeing technique unknown to me at the time. I took a mat used for sword training and placed it on a stand that was close to the closet door. I then got into position in front of the stand and flawlessly cut through the mat a record number of times; 27 to be exact.
I said ecstatically, "Wow! I've never been that precise with my slicing. Maybe it has to do with my soul having a strange overload of energy?", "It probably is. That's truly impressive Sy! Yet I still think that you're capable of improving much more… That will remain to be seen, I guess!", "You really think I can improve more than I already have? You're as crazy as ever, Ai. But I do agree, that remains to be seen."