429 Aptitude Exams 1.3 (1/2)
A loud shattering sound occurred on Raven's surroundings. Booming sounds and a storm of shards occurred with him at its eye.
Raven calmly watched as all of this occurred, for some reason he was completely aware that this event of the illusion shattering won't hurt him in the slightest, therefore he didn't even bother to move.
A bright light exploded out of nowhere, momentarily causing Raven to be blinded. The sensation lasted for a few breaths of time, and when he regained his vision, he found himself in an entirely different place.
He wasn't back at the first illusion where it showed him the devastation of his home and the death of his loved ones, neither he woke up and found himself exiting the curtain of light on which the exams where happening.
Raven arrived at separate place. It was a large hall, filled with ancient and heavy atmosphere. He stood at the center of the hall. He looked around him briefly and saw that no one else is with him, he was all alone. Raven also noticed that the hall was filled with signs of battle from the past.
He could see many scars of different weapons, he could see cracks and damages around him which caused the hall to seem like it was dilapidated but in truth it is not.
There is an altar in front of him. The altar seems to be made out of materials that has a golden glow on it, making it look divine. There are a few steps of stairs on the altar, on top of it, there is a stout chalice which appears to be made out of precious materials, causing it to radiate a violet-golden glow. What's really eye-catching is that, there is black bamboo slip floating in the middle of the chalice.
'Hmm, let's see. That guy said something about a 'nightmare, forced to learn something, and killing a hundred times'. If my guess is correct, then this should be the second part of the Aptitude Exams - Test of Knowledge. And that bamboo slip should be the thing that I have to learn.'
As Raven was about to walk forward and retrieve the bamboo slip, an ancient and solemn voice boomed on his ears.
”Champion, you passed the first part of the Aptitude Exams which is the Test of Courage. You've faced your worst fears and didn't retreat nor lost yourself in it, thus you've proven yourself worthy to continue this exams.”
”You are at the place where the second part of the first exam will take place. Your task here is to learn whatever the contents of that bamboo slip you see has. In order to pass the Test of Knowledge, you must reach the 3rd Stage of whatever technique you receive.”
”You will be given 9 days to comprehend the first stage. If you can't learn it within that time period, then there's no use for you to remain here. If you can do that, then you will earn 19 days to learn the 2nd Stage. 29 days will be given to you in order to reach the 3rd Stage and so on.”
The ancient voice disappeared after saying that sentence, leaving Raven to ponder over things.
'So my initial guesses were correct. This really is the second part of the exams. Test of Knowledge huh? I wonder what kind of technique I'll receive from here.'
Raven stopped hesitating and started moving towards the altar. He arrived in front of the chalice shortly after and saw that the chalice was actually empty, it only serves as a mount for the bamboo slip which contained the technique that Raven has to learn.
He raised his arm and picked up the bamboo slip, as soon as he had the bamboo slip on his fingers, the ancient voice sounded within the halls once more.
”The 9 days time limit has begun. Good luck young Champion.”
However, Raven doesn't seem to hear this at all. Instead, as soon as he grasped the bamboo slip, its contents were already flowing towards his psyche without pause, somehow surprising Raven.
Needless to say, Raven immediately recovered from this started gathering the intact flow of energy, condensing them in one place until the transference ends. Once the bamboo slip stops relaying its contents to him, it instantly lost its luster and turned into flying ashes shortly after.
Raven then began studying the recent information he received. It took five minutes of scanning and the technique was now part of his memory. He then opened his eyes, revealing a faint glint of surprise within them.
”This technique…[Allheaven Sealing Scripture]. Interesting, very interesting! How come that guy said he was forced to learn a useless technique? Did he learn a different one or maybe he didn't understand the essence of the technique at all.”
[Allheaven Sealing Scripture] is something that really piqued Raven's interest. The premise of the technique is actually quite simple. It all focuses in the word 'Sealing'.
The 'Sealing' here means to be in control. To control means exercising one's will onto something and ruling over its functions. According to the information he received, once someone cultivated this technique to its acme, they will be able to seal all manner of things, allowing them to exercise control over its movements.
The first stage of the [Allheaven Sealing Scripture] is called 'All Forces Seal'. Once this seal appears, then every forces that contains a different signature from its user shall cease.