Mmm getting some offers to paywall this story. Luckily for you guys, I didn't start NPOA all those years ago just to block you guys before the ending. What's the point of all this if only a few of you would actually get to come with me in the end battle?
Lineir took his time walking into the endless darkness. He felt vaguely that he had entered another world. The gate had not simply been guarding the area, but had actually been maintaining a spacial connection with a completely different place or so it seemed. His eye's wandered the darkness, adjusting to the low light. After a few more steps he realized that things in this place were not so simple at all!
"Is that...is that the moon?" Lineir stopped in his tracks as he had realized there was light in here and had looked up only to catch sight of a vast night sky and a grand pearly white orb hanging above the horizon. As he adjusted to the light he realized that dim ghostly lamps were hung along strings along the length of the place. However, he was no longer in a hallway, under a mountain but instead at a long winding trail, perhaps upon some secluded mountain ridge. This was a place of rare beauty. Above was the sky, filled with ephemeral lanterns gently guiding the way. To both the left and the right of the trail, which wandered gently upwards, was a surging river. It was like someone had simply dropped the trail directly in the middle of a mighty river, separating its waters and creating two bodies of water from the original. The most ancient method of creation, one begets two. There was something odd about the water on the side of the trail however. Instead of surging down the way Lineir had came, which would be downhill, it was following his path up the hill. The stream was running against gravity!
"This place is most likely an alternate area in space and time. I am not sure, my knowledge of those Laws is not at a level where I could comprehend the area." Yu was also baffled when he came but he urged Lineir to accept it. There was no point wondering at the schemes of someone at the level of The Midnight King.
Shuaaaaaaaaaaa
The running running water on either side gently burbled and created a pleasant atmosphere with the lanterns. This place would have been a perfect place for a Lunar Festival if it existed in the outside world. However here it sat alone...desolate and forgotten until now. Even in his depression Lineir felt a moment of reverence for such a place. To be forgotten throughout the ages, one could imagine the loneliness of such a scene. Though the place was not living, Lineir almost felt sorrow at such a thing.
"Walk along the path. But beware, illusions and a strange aura will assault your soul as you walk. You will need to distinguish between what is real and what is not as you go. Once you get closer to the trial area then the real danger will start." Yu's warning was worrying for Lineir. Normally he would not fear any illusions as his Madness Eyes could see through all such things but right now he dared not activate them. If he did what he would experience would no doubt be worse than an illusion.
"Let us hope that my will is stronger than I think." Lineir clenched his jaws into an empty smirk. It didn't reach his eyes but he strode forward nevertheless. If he was to walk this lonely path alone without Madness or Master then so be it! He would walk the darker path!
*********************
Lineir was walking along the scenic path, keeping an alert gaze for several hours. Suddenly the hair on his neck stood up.
"Danger." He crouched down his broken bone scythes sliding out without his bidding. They were not terribly useful in their current state but it was not something entirely within his conscious control at this point. The black blade materialized in his hand, swirling into existence from his blood. Now that Mei was no longer present, Lineir himself controlled the blade. He noticed something odd. Even though she was gone, the black blade had not returned to its naturally perfect edge. He remembered when he first met Mei that she had stated that she would dull the infinitely sharp edge to allow him to experience real life or death situations and to prevent him from relying on the sword while he was developing. Now that she was...not here any longer, he felt the blade should have been released into its natural state. He didn't think about it much though. He was used to the edge the way it was. It was still the strongest weapon in his possession by far. Sweeping the surroundings with both eyes and Divine Sense Lineir awaited the coming danger.
The skies were clear. The water was still running. The land was made of imperturbably metal. He waited and he waited. Nothing came and yet his senses constantly danced and shouted danger!
"This feeling. Could it be an illusion?" Lineir suddenly had a chilling thought. He had been waiting for so long and was even feeling some slight sweat running down his back yet no actual danger had appeared. "What a strange illusion. I see now, is it designed to wear down who walk this road?"
"I told you, there were no real dangers on this road when I walked it. Whether anything in this world is real, even this road I have no idea. Just take care not to lose yourself along the way..." Yu reminded Lineir and he relaxed slightly though part of him was still poised and ready to take action at any moment. He felt safer hearing that Yu had not experienced any real dangers in this place, but he was also weirded out by the strangeness of this place. Normally when an illusion formation was activated it would affect one of the five senses, sight, smell, taste, touch, or hearing. In doing so, it would create a misleading or untrue representation of the real world which could be used to influence the target. But this place was different! It did not appear to influence the five senses but instead it could actually directly influence the emotions and feelings in one's mind! How terrifying was that? To not be able to trust your own feelings, it was enough to cause one to even doubt their own thoughts! For someone like Lineir who was particularly susceptible to Madness, it was quite terrifying indeed.
"Hehehe...this is something alright. But at the same time, if there is no danger then what do I have to fear! If I choose to walk this darker path then what have I to fear?" Lineir declared boldly into the waiting darkness. He ignored his feelings and continued along the path. One step, two steps, three steps, he experienced all manner of feelings and emotions which attempted to shatter his mindset but he ignored them all! "At the very least, even without my Madness Eyes, I can always walk forwards, you cannot stop me with such simple tricks!"
Toc...Tap...Toc...
Resolutely he pressed on, at some points even closing his eyes for a time to ignore the strange and disturbing signals he received from the outside world. He entered a timeless illusion where he wandered the path alone. Following the gravity defying waters he became one with the path. He could not say how long he walked, but in this strange alternate world he stopped caring about such simple things as time. There was just him...and the next step. The land sloped up and up as the road rose up into a small mountain. He continued to follow the winding waters on each side. He had become sure that there was a reason he was walking this road though he could not say what it was. Something at the top called to him. Finally after an indeterminate amount of time he arrived at a peak and there was a long bridge illuminated by the ephemeral lanterns strung up upon the sides. At regular intervals along the bridge which spanned a great distance, were altars upon which were aged and worn tablets. Lineir felt an immense power from each tablet, he knew immediately that each one was special in some way, an ancient treasure which Sects would lust after. The waters on each side lapped against the great bridge and in the silver moonlight, their turbid depths became less like clear spring-water and more deep. He felt a foreboding sense of unease from the waters. At the very end of the bridge Lineir saw the land continued to rise, much more sharply to the mountain peak. The bridge transitioned seamlessly into a white marble staircase which rose up with the waters on each side out of sight.
"Alright stop. I need to explain how this will work before you step onto the bridge." Yu began,
"Do you see those altars along the bridge? Each of them contains a legacy of immense power. The farther along the bridge you go the stronger they become. The Hematoma is a technique derived from the legacy on that third altar on the right. As you know, it is already quite powerful, but further along the path they no doubt get even stronger. All you have to do is walk up and meditate upon them. If you have sufficient comprehension and are suited for the technique then it is yours. There is a catch however! Notice the waters on each side of the bridge have become deep and fathomless. In their depths are many phantom sea creatures of great power. As you go deeper upon the bridge the water grows deeper and the monsters more dangerous. They will detect you as you walk upon the bridge and attack! Only if you can defeat the phantom monster which corresponds to that section of the bridge will you be able to meditate freely and gain comprehension of the technique. Do you understand?"
Lineir nodded his head as he prepared to step forwards onto the bridge. He had suspected there would be a catch of some sort.
"Keep quiet while I fight. I don't want to be distracted." Lineir said and Yu gave his assent. He took the first step and then exploded into action aiming for the first altar!