Chapter 25: The Trial
"Very well then," he replicated my battle stance. "Come forth, child of the moon. Let us begin this futile ceremony with a foregone conclusion."
I flaunted all that bravado, but I'm not actually sure how I'm supposed to beat him. As brief as our initial interaction was, I think it's safe to assume that this guy can do everything I can, especially after witnessing him use my Wood Manipulation.
That alone is relatively problematic, but that's not where the actual issue lies. On top of all that, he's also got the force of a dragon coursing through him. The same one Sebastian and all my predecessors possessed.
The odds are stacked in his favour, overwhelmingly so.
I can't help but wonder, is beating him the actual test I need to conquer? Because I'm not so sure that's feasible. He's basically a superior me.
What did Sebastian say again? Don't lose sight of what I desire most, was it?
"I can more or less tell what's going through that mortal little mind of yours," he snickered, his stance overflowing with unyielding confidence. "You've realized it, haven't you? I'm much too strong for you to handle. Which is why I'm giving you another chance to give up before we begin."
Hah!
I scoffed. Just who did this guy think he was fooling?
"You say that like I'm not just going to deviate after—"
"You won't deviate," he interrupted. "I promise you. As long as you give up now, I'll seal your Buné blood indefinitely. You'll be able to continue your life as normal, and you'll be able to focus on honing your Sallos clan trait as much as you want. Safe and sound. The thought of deviation won't even cross your mind."
How odd… somehow I feel as if he's being genuine, however, that only makes this whole situation more confusing.
Why does he want me to give up so badly? It doesn't even feel like he's trying to make me fail the trial, but rather prevent it from happening in the first place.
"Your purpose is to test if a Buné is worthy to possess Dragonification, isn't that right?" I narrowed my eyes, flush with suspicion.
"It is, but I don't feel the need to test you. I know for a fact you're unworthy, which is why I'm giving you this opportunity to leave as a show of mercy. It's for your own good, Alduin, this path isn't for you."
This bastard…
I clenched my fist, his words frustrated me to no end. It wasn't the words alone that bothered me, but the intent with which they were being conveyed. The emotion each syllable carried.
He's… genuinely worried for me.
"Don't patronize me, it's insulting." I gripped my spear tightly, recalling each and every grueling training session I had been put through. I have faith in my own abilities, sure, he's got the power of a dragon, and I don't. However, that's my power he's wielding.
That power is my rightful property and a necessity. It's far too vital for me to give up on.
"I see," he closed his eyes. "The same mortality that makes you unworthy is also the driving force behind your will to conquer this trial." He inhaled sharply, looking up at the sky with a sentiment I couldn't even begin to comprehend, even though this was my own mind we were in.
"Mortality… you keep mentioning that. Could it be you're referring to—"
"Your life before this one," he confirmed my hypothesis. "A thought process belonging to someone far too simple-minded and naive to embrace an existence like mine. Yet… it would appear that no matter how hard I try to convince you… You'll never understand that this path will only bring you…" He trailed off, neglecting to finish his own sentence. "Sigh… never mind."
I'm not surprised he knows about my past life. Sebastian already made it clear that our "dragon" is something created from our being. There's no question that he possesses all of my memories, start to finish. Knowing that, I'm pretty appalled that he tried to make me give up.
He should be well aware that taking even a single step back is no longer an option for me.
This, right here, is my future. The only one.
"Does it really matter if I'm worthy or not?" I followed his gaze, joining him in admiring the imaginary sky above. "Earlier, you said you needed a reason to let me become a dragon. But… you should already know that I already have one. It's the whole reason I'm here in the first place."
He readjusted his gaze back towards me. "Do you honestly expect me to accept stepping on this path for the sake of another as a valid reason? Dragons are selfish, prideful, absorbent creatures by nature—"
"We both know that's not an absolute truth," this time, it was my turn to interrupt him. "Take Tannin, for example, a bona fide Dragon King who cast all his pride away for the sake of his people. If that's not a testament to a dragon's ability to care for another, then I'm not sure what is."
He sneered, mockingly looking down at me. "Be that as it may, you're no Tannin."
"Yes, of course I'm not." I snickered, a faint smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. "I'm me, and so are you. We exist to merge with one another, not to repel each other. The majority does not define the entirety. Together, we'll become our own dragon. One with our own goals, motivations, and aspirations. We are Alduin, Sallos, and Buné."
He paused, his face pensive as he seemingly began to mull over my words. I wonder, is this a trial that can be conquered with words alone?
"There's so much you don't understand."
All of a sudden, I felt my muscles reflexively tense. A wisp of hostility reached me from an abrupt shift in his demeanor. A cold, disapproving feeling that conveyed a level of frustration that eclipsed mine at least tenfold.
Fuck, I think I just jynxed myself.
"If I'm incapable of saving you by extending an olive branch of mercy, then I have no other choice but to put you down with the same rationale. I'm sorry, Alduin, but you need to perish here. For your own sake."
Fwoosh!
I felt my blood run cold. At a speed my eyes were utterly incapable of keeping up with, he flickered out of sight, causing me to frantically throw my vision around the room, desperate to find out where he had gone.
Bam!
And before I knew it, my sight was reduced to a dizzy, spinning haze. The sensation of wood crashing against my skull, hitting me in full force like a freight train, my body being rag-dolled across the floor in a way it hadn't been in many, many years. Reminding me of when Sebastian first began training me.
"Cough Cough… damn, that hurt like hell."
But I wouldn't relent, pain was just pain, I had experienced it so many times before that it was no longer of any consequence to me. I already knew that this path would be as rocky as they come, and I'm going to prove to my dragon that I belong on it one way or another.
"This is only the beginning." His voice had grown noticeably hollow, as if he were trying to suppress something. Step after step, I could hear him inch closer and closer towards me. "You don't have what it takes to become a dragon. There's nothing you can do to change that."
I planted my palms against the leafy floor, forcing myself upright with one forceful thrust. An idea blinked to life inside of me as I did so, deciphering a possible route to defeating my dragon.
It might be foolish, but considering the circumstances, I think it's worth a shot!
"Heh, I'm starting to wonder who it is you're truly trying to convince?" Elated, I watched as his lip quivered, even if only for a moment. It proved that my idea of trying to beat him with words wasn't entirely baseless, it was only part of the puzzle.
His emotions toward this trial are strong, there's no questioning that.
Which is why I'll take advantage of them.
I'll make him waver. I'll make him deliberate. I'll make him hesitate.
And once I find an opening.
I'll strike.
"Silence! This trial is already over! You've failed!" He spun his spear, aiming for a vertical strike at my torso.
Instead of trying to match a clearly superior version of myself in armed combat, I blanketed my hands in Ki. I prepared to catch the spear in between my palms and attempt to disarm him.
"You insulted my mortality, but that same mortality is the reason you tried to give me a way out—isn't it? You had absolutely no reason to extend any mercy to me, but you did so anyway! Dragon! You're just as naive as I!"
Though I did manage to react in time, I wasn't prepared for the amount of raw physical might he was capable of exuding. No matter how hard I pulled or tugged, I couldn't pry the spear from his hands.
Instead, my feet were dragged through the soil as he effortlessly pushed me back all the way to the base of the tree, slamming my back against the roots and pushing the air right out of my lungs.
Don't give up! He's going to hesitate! I know he will!
"No matter what you try to do, I'll always do it better." He continued to drive the spear further into my abdomen, forcing me to watch as blood gushed out of the gradually widening wound, coating his spear red as weakness assaulted my body. "Face it, Alduin, you're fundamentally incapable of becoming a dragon."
"If that's the case… Cough! Cough! How do you explain your own existence…?" Even as the blood left my body, the confidence that I would succeed persisted.
"What…?"
"If Alduin Buné can never become a dragon… then you shouldn't exist. Your appearance, your memories, your techniques—they all belong to Alduin Buné, don't they? If I'm fundamentally incapable of becoming a dragon, you have no reason to even be here in the first place!"
His eyes widened, and his pupils constricted. Both of them brimming with raw conflict, as my statement appeared to shake him right down to his very core.
Now's my chance!
I tightened my fist to the point where my nails drew blood from my palm, strengthening the coat of Ki to its absolute limit.
Bam!
And without restraint, I drilled my knuckles into his forehead as hard as I physically could. A grotesque cracking noise resounded from the impact, and his body shot across the terrain, gathering a good amount of air time before helplessly crashing onto the leaf-littered soil back-first.
"You were born from my mind, not the other way around. If I can never become a dragon, the one that ought to disappear isn't me—it's you!" The most effective words are usually ones spoken in truth, and I think this is the most honest I've ever been.
I have no intention of wasting this life, therefore, I have no reason to let go of it either. If he's so determined to face ruin, then he can do it on his own, but I'll make him leave that draconic energy with me before his curtain call.
That power is mine. It always has been, and it always will be.
Mine! Not Sebastian's! Not Martha's! Only mine!
"You… hah… have no idea what you're doing…" He said weakly, his physical strength gradually beginning to return by virtue of his draconic composition, but his mental state clearly not as resolute as it was before.
"That's my line," I chuckled darkly. I proceeded to pressure my stomach wound with my hand to prevent further blood loss and channel my Dryadic Blessing to seal the wound.
"I can feel it… Draconic pride has already begun to infect you, someone as empathetic as you… shouldn't touch such a power, all it'll do is corrupt you."
I reeled back, noticing that his tone had undergone a drastic shift. Before, all he had done was talk about my mortality and naivety. However, now he was talking about empathy.
"Alduin…" He hauled himself to his feet, also using our Dryadic Blessing to heal the damage I had dealt to his skull. "Do you think it's worth becoming a dragon, if you have to lose sight of the current you in return? If you have to give up the mindset you cherish so much?"
In that instant, a flash of realization struck me.
He was comparing me to Sebastian.
"That won't happen."
"You can't promise me that."
"I can, and that's exactly what I'm doing."
He snickered ominously. "On what basis? Where's your proof?"
And in return, I met him with a soft, welcoming smile.
"It's right in front of me." Slowly, I raised my index finger, pointing straight at him. "You're my dragonified self, who claims that I can't become you without losing who I am. And because of that, you're a hypocrite."
"A… hypocrite?"
"Remind me, when I arrived here, what was the first thing you did?" My smile widened as I observed his mouth drop agape. I know he knows what my next words are going to be. "That's right, you showed empathy! Compassion! Mercy! You are living proof that what you believe to be an impossibility is, in fact, possible."
With shaky breath, he started to examine himself. It was clear that I had struck a chord deep inside him. At last, the purpose of this trial had finally become clear to me.
I didn't need to be taught by the dragon, I was the one who needed to do the teaching.
I had to teach it— no, I had to teach us not to be afraid of what we are. I had to extinguish a fear that had lingered in the back of my mind ever since I arrived in this wondrous world.
The fear that upon passing my awakening ceremony, I'd become like Sebastian. That my own will would be overwritten by my blood.
But that's not the case.
It's not power itself that changes a person, but what they decide to do with that power.
You understand that, don't you? Dragon, we don't need to be afraid of taking the first step. Not even a little.
I took a deep, sharp breath in order to hone my concentration and adopted one of the numerous hand-to-hand battle stances that Sebastian had ingrained into me. The tension evaporated from my mind, replaced with a firm, knowing sense of assurance. Assurance that I knew precisely what I was doing.
"Let's continue," I proposed, motioning at him in a taunting fashion.
"Continue…?" He repeated, taken aback. "Why?"
"Because some things can only be conveyed with one's fists, we share the same memories, don't we? It should be abundantly clear to you that words have never properly gotten through to me, only actions have. Hehe. I'm a thick-headed fool after all, and so are you."
"Hah…" He groaned, sheepishly scratching his nape. "Yes, I suppose you are right… It was short-sighted of me to even attempt to get through to you with words in the first place." He tossed his spear aside, replicating my stance.
Yeah, this is more like it.
"Indeed, it was."
===
Within the shrine, Sebastian leaned against the cold, hard stone wall with his arms folded. Observing his son's limp body from afar, which lay sideways against the rigid floor.
The Patriarch's brows were knitted together, and his expression exceedingly pensive. His thoughts uncontrollably darted all over the place, incapable of maintaining a steady train.
It had already been more than half an hour since Alduin had begun his trial, at this point, a Buné should have long since revealed whether they had passed or failed their initial test.
However, Alduin remained in his state of slumber. Wisps of bright-green, draconic energy flared around his body like swarming fireflies.
Just what in Lucifer's name is going on inside that head of his? Is it because of his dual bloodline? Is it messing with the trial somehow?
He folded his arms, his fingers tightly gripping his biceps as he eagerly awaited a conclusion. Desperate to know if Alduin had succeeded, or if all the years he and Martha had invested in training him were in vain.
Honestly, I'd rather not have to bed Martha again. For fuck sake brat, don't disapoint me! For better or for worse, he and Martha hadn't "wrestled" in the sheets ever since Alduin was born.
Sebastian bore no affection for her in the first place, and wed her merely out of a sense of necessity.
Once he had obtained what, or rather, who he wanted from her. Their sex life came to a hasty conclusion. After all, there was only one woman Sebastian's heart desired. And to him, Martha could never be that person. She couldn't even come close.
"Are you watching?" He turned to face the statue of House Buné's progenitor. "Hmph. Not that I care, you failed to fix this accursed bloodline. So sit back and watch as I succeed where you pathetically failed. Selvaro."
He redirected his attention to Alduin's sleeping figure, a distinct memory entering his mind each time he did so. The memory of when Ladora was the one in his position, undergoing an awakening ceremony of his own.
He recalled having Gilda right beside him, both of them offering Ladora their unwavering support. Confident that he'd follow in his father's footsteps and successfully obtain his horns.
But that moment never came.
Instead, Ladora fell to a pathetic, hollow shell of the blistering potential Sebastian believed he possessed. Requiring constant treatment from the woman he despised most to remain among the living.
And as if fate relished in his suffering, Gilda would soon follow their child into a similar fire. Falling into a deep sleep that threatened to snuff out the last remains of her lifeforce, just as Ladora's draconic deviation was doing to him.
Nonetheless, he refused to let his story end that way.
He would get them back. He had to.
Ba-dump!
Out of the blue, Sebastian's heart skipped a beat.
His eyes gravitated towards Alduin.
A change had occurred.
The wisps of draconic energy around him transformed from flickering bursts to a group of roaring currents, rushing around Alduin as they slowly began to morph his body.
A gruesome, squelching and cracking sound could be heard as his muscles began to bulge, their mass doubling alongside his height which soon began to increase—continuing until it matched Sebastian. The robe that had once looked unequivocally baggy on him now fit Alduin like a glove.
The signature, spiky, ash-gray hair of the Buné Clan that rested atop his head started to lengthen, going from his shoulders all the way down towards his midsection.
Immediately, Sebastian understood what the metamorphosis unfolding before him signified. It was the polar opposite of what Ladora had experienced when his ceremony came to an end.
He succeeded!
The skin on his upper back started to bulge, protruding through his robes and ripping apart—making way for a pair of jet-black, horn-tipped, draconic wings that much resembled Sebastian's save for the color, which was a shade darker.
Few devils in the Underworld have wings that differ from the traditional bat-like appearance most possess, for example, those of the Phenex Clan, which are composed entirely from their Hell Fire.
The Buné Clan also fell into this category, however, a Buné wouldn't get their true wings until they completed their awakening ceremony.
Sebastian continued to watch with bated breath as the final, and most prized part of a Buné's appearance showed up on Alduin's changing form.
The horns. Four of them, to be exact. Drab in color, slightly curved in shape, and two on either side of his head. One front pair facing forwards, and one back pair facing backwards.
At long last, the Dragon Prince's appearance matched his title.
"GASP!" Alduin's eyes shot wide open, his pupils transforming from circular dots to vertical slits—like a cold-blooded reptile.
Slowly, the fifth Buné in the lineage's history to properly awaken rose to his feet. Taking in his surroundings in a considerably dizzy state of mind, it was evident that his body needed some time to adjust to the drastic changes it had just experienced.
Finding his balance when his height, muscle mass, and biology had experienced such a drastic shift was going to take time.
"Wooooooaaaaaah! Everything's spinning!" He spoke almost drunkenly, rocking from side to side like he was standing on a moving boat—until he managed to stagger his way to one of the walls, allowing him to plant his palm against it in order to support himself. "Ah, there we go. Much better."
"Alduin!" Sebastian called out to him, causing Alduin to squint in the direction of his voice. His vision was still relatively blurry, of course, but once he had time to acclimatize himself, it would be thousands of times sharper than before.
"Old man! Check it out! I passed! I'm all dragony and stuff now! Hahaha!" He unleashed a bout of hearty laughter, his open mouth revealing his now pointy, elongated tongue, alongside his drastically sharpened canines. "Quick! Hand me a mirror!"
"Why would I have a mirror on me? Go use your phone or something," Sebastian huffed. Albeit, he recalled his initial reaction not being all that different from Alduin's when he did his ceremony. Not that he'd ever admit that to him.
"How the hell was I supposed to bring my phone? This robe doesn't have any damn pockets!" He whined, flailing his arms.
"Too bad," Sebastian shrugged. "You'll just have to wait until we get home then."
"I don't wanna! I wanna see it now! Now! Now! Now!"
Sigh, I almost forgot that we experience a temporary shift in attitude once we awaken. Oh well, I'll only have to deal with this for a day. How hard could it be?
Sebastian rolled his eyes, facepalming in second-hand embarrassment as he started to make his departure.
"Oi! Old man! I'm talking to you! Don't ignore me!"
Hehehe! I can't wait to show Thora my horns! Oh! And I'm also going to get to try out Dragonification for the first time!
———
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