"A test?" I asked for. I could already feel my body and also move it, so I looked at the monster and spoke to it.
"That's right, human. The test is whether you can take the Sword of Darkness, a magical sword," the monster mentioned.
"But I'm a wizard, so why do I need a sword? It doesn't make sense. Originally, wizards can't use swords because a wizard's body is very weak. Compared to a knight, their bodies are trained to the limit of strength; they are even able to use their body as a weapon without hurting themselves. But in magicians, the body is very weak compared to knights.
History has always been like this, or so it is believed.
I looked at the monster. I don't understand why I should do a test. Would it be a difficult or easy test? But why should I do it if I'm just a magician? Although I have experience from my past life, being only 25 years old, in this new life I have no experience at all, and even less in combat with magic or, worse still, with the sword.
"Sigh"
I sighed, thought about it, and decided I should really do this test. But what happens if I don't want to do it? Would this monster kill me or would I just let it pass? But what if I do it and get the reward for passing that test? What could I receive? Was it some power or that sword the monster mentioned? I wasn't completely decided.
"..."
"Okay, I'll give it a try," I said.
"Very well," he said.
Suddenly, the monster moved from his position, revealing a door. The monster pushed the door open, revealing a new room and, as he expected, it was a dark room.
I walked and entered the room, but before leaving the monster spoke to me.
"There will be traps and monsters. Be careful, especially with the bigger ones," he told me before he closed the door.
I was left in complete darkness. When the ceiling suddenly lit up, there were crystals, the same crystals that were in the dining room.
I looked ahead. It was a large and long room, the floor was very well leveled. There weren't any kind of needle traps on the floor or any platform where people step on and then a trap is triggered. I continued my walk, but there was nothing. The lights from the windows helped me see much better. There were no monsters or traps. The situation was very strange, but I continued walking without thinking about it so much.
"Dry sound"
Footsteps echoed in front of my steps. I stood still and listened more clearly...
"Deaf sound"
Footsteps were heard again. They were far away, but the sound was louder. I continued like this for a longer time, but the sounds did not return. What happened? I couldn't see much ahead because the light crystals were running out. There were fewer crystals as I went further and there were no more light crystals.
"There is silence, this is dangerous," I thought as my mana began to take a round shape on my forearm.
I created a shield of darkness. It was round in shape and the same black color and the same purple rays that emanated from every spell he used. I walked slower. The noise decreased dramatically; I coudn't see anything. If I were in my past life, I could see this darkness very well. I was trained to be able to see even a little in the dark and not be lost, but now I am no longer in my body from my past life. All my strength and abilities I no longer have.
I continued forward when a steel sword collided with my shield of darkness.
"Shriek"
Sparks flew everywhere as the sword hit my shield. I jumped back and tried to see my opponent. My mana ran through my arm and an arrow of darkness appeared. I held her and got ready. I looked everywhere while turning in the same position. I closed my eyes and tried to generate a field so I could see my opponent's mana.
"I found you."
I threw the fire arrow and it exploded when it hit something. I lunged with all my might and quickly created a fireball and threw it towards the monster.
"Boom!!"
"Kuaaaar"
The monster screamed and when I got closer, I saw that half of his body was human-shaped, but he had no hair. He had four arms: two of them spear-shaped and the other two like those of a human. The color of this monster was dark, similar to my mana.
"Dry sound"
Suddenly, several sounds of footsteps echoed. They came running, they were more monsters. Quickly, I created several darkness arrows while holding my darkness shield. I shot arrows in all directions; some hit the monsters, while others did not.
"Kroar"
One of the monsters lunged. I created a ball of darkness and when the monster approached, the ball of darkness hit its body. I continued with more arrow attacks.
"Bam!!"
"Deaf sound."
I spun around and this time created a much larger fireball. Then, more monsters arrived. Quickly, I prepared my attack and launched it in the direction of the monsters.
"Boom!!"
The explosion was so big that I even covered myself with my shield. The purple color of the rays illuminated much of the place. The monsters came from a single entrance. I ran towards that place, prepared more arrows of darkness and went deeper. I ran and as expected, more monsters arrived. I released all the arrows and created more at the same time. My mana began to decrease drastically; I had very little left.
"Shit, if I keep this up I'll run out of mana. I have to find a safe place," I thought as I ran.
"Bam!!"
The arrows hit the monsters and I finally reached an exit. There seemed to be no more monsters. There was a new room, which was dark like the others. I kept walking.
"Bam!!"
I hit a wall. I closed my eyes and tried to search the surroundings for mana, trying to find monsters, but there was nothing. I touched the walls and suddenly stumbled.
"It appears to be an entrance to another room," I thought. The place seemed like a complete labyrinth, so it was very difficult to find an exit in each room I came to.
I walked down the hallway. A light began to come out at the end of the hallway. I came to the light and there was a large solid stone, filled with mana that seemed infinite. She was tall. I looked around: there were two waterfalls, one on each side of the stone in front of me. It was a small room with two waterfalls and a large stone that looked like a small mountain in front of me.
"I feel like something is calling me."
I looked up and felt like something was trying to call me. I decided to climb the stone in front of me. Although I was tired and beads of sweat fell to the ground, I climbed the big stone.
"Panting"
I took a deep breath and then started climbing. The stone was about ten meters high. With all my strength, I began to climb. My fingers were bleeding, as the stone was so sharp that it tore them easily. I couldn't use mana to strengthen myself since it was only a first circle, but this pain in my fingers didn't compare to the pain I felt when I had died.
"Panting"
I finally climbed to the top. I looked up and there was a black and purple sword embedded in the ground. It was thin, the blade was very well sharpened, with some incredible purple and black designs. But this sword had no mana; It was like a normal sword.
"Hold me... Hold me... Hold me."
A voice echoed in my head. I looked around, but there was nothing. Then I looked at the sword, exactly the hilt, which had an incredible design. My hand went to the handle and then I grabbed it and lifted it off the ground.
"Deaf sound"
My vision darkened and suddenly a different place appeared: large dark plains and blood everywhere. Dark purple colored mana was everywhere.
"Boom!!"
A huge explosion echoed in the distance. Then I looked at the sky: it was night and the moon was shining. But there was something, in the moonlight a human figure seemed to be coming towards me. I quickly ran in another direction, I didn't know what was coming.
"Shit, where the hell am I and what is that? It looks like a person," I thought as I ran.
"Boom!!"
Something fell a few meters behind me. I stopped and looked at what it was. A curtain of dust enveloped everything, but something flashed and the curtain of dust disappeared. I looked at a man in a black outfit: it looked like a jacket, but like a light suit with a collar and long sleeves. The jacket looked like an office jacket, with buttons, a black belt, and very light black pants. The man looked at me with a smile and started walking.
"You are my successor, but you are still a child and you are already a first circle. Impressive, even I was not a first circle at that age."
"..."
I looked at him confused. This man mentioned something about being a successor, was it some kind of trap or hallucination? I didn't know what it was, but I decided to calm down and pay attention to what he was telling me.
His eyes were purple and his hair was black, illuminated by the moonlight. His face, although emotionless, showed a cheerful smile for some reason.
"What's this successor thing?" I asked for.
"What, you don't know that? Well, anyway, I introduce myself: I am a mage from the age of darkness, the mage of darkness Encrid Frostblade, and I am your ancestor," the man said.
Ancestor? But if it is the ancestor of this body, then why is my hair silver and my eyes red like blood?
"I know what you think. It's because of the darkness that my hair changed, as did my eyes, but that only happens if you want it or not," he replied without even asking.
So is it possible to change my hair color? But this color is unique to me; It is the original color of this body and what is now my body.
"Well, there's not much time, so I liked meeting you, but now I'm a sword. If you stay with me, I'll tell you a lot of things," Encrid said.
When he said that, I lost my vision and was back in front of the sword. He had it in his hands, but suddenly a light began to come out of it.
The sword materialized in the form of energy and headed towards my arm, marking the shape of a dark moon on it. It looked like a tattoo of a black moon. And something changed: a voice was heard in my head.
"When you decide to use me as your magic sword, just move your mana towards the moon in your arm," the voice told me. It was the same voice as the guy called Encrid.
"How do I get out of here, and are you really someone trustworthy? I don't think you're my ancestor."
"Hahaha, I knew you would say that, but I won't hurt you and the exit is right here. Just put mana on the ground and you will be taken to the starting place," said Encrid.
I placed my hand on the ground and mana began to flow out rapidly. A pillar of light appeared and my body felt the same as before, light, and then I disappeared.
***
-Change of scene.
"Boom!!"
I appeared on the round platform where Gloriana and Luna were. They were both asleep, but with the noise I caused, they woke up. They looked at me and then spoke.
"Asher, where were you?" Gloriana asked worriedly.
"I was in a maze, but there was nothing and I managed to get out of there," I replied deceitfully.
I couldn't let the two of them know about the book and the successor. Now I had a voice in my head and a tattoo on my arm, of a sword that, inside it, was the ancestor of this body. It was all very strange, but in the end I managed to get out.
"We should go," Luna said.
It seemed like a long time had passed and if we were still in this place it would be very suspicious, or so I thought.
"Dry sound."
When we were close to arriving, sounds of horse footsteps echoed in the distance. He was the swordsman who had sent us to this place and because of him many children died.
"W-we must not let him see us or we might die," Luna murmured.
The swordsman was getting closer when he shouted:
"You think I don't know where you are, brats! Get out now, because of you the gentlemen invaded my business," he shouted.
Luna quickly responded to what he meant when I looked into her eyes.
"The knights of the royal family would come today, but I never thought that this swordsman would escape and come here," Luna mentioned with a strained voice.
We hid behind the trees while the swordsman, riding his horse, was about five meters away from us. The situation became complicated when Encrid spoke in my mind.
"Kid, don't worry, even if he thinks you are a magician, he will let his guard down and at that moment you can attack," he said something that made no sense.
"I am just a 10-year-old boy with a weak body. And you want me to face a swordsman with such stamina and great strength while I am a first circle?" I responded incredulously.
"…"
Encrid did not answer me when the swordsman's voice echoed a meter right next to me.
"Are here. There is also Princess Gloriana. Because of you my business was ruined. I should have killed you in the castle and not brought you back," he shouted with suppressed fury.
"Today all three will die here," he exclaimed as his sword swung menacingly toward us…