Chapter 29: Trial of the Spirit
When the voice finally echoed, "Trial completed," everything around Philip dissolved.
The room, the walls, the bed—vanished like ashes scattered by the wind.
He stood alone in a swirling emptiness.
Everything had been an illusion.
And yet, in his hands, the book remained.
It pulsed with ancient energy. Its leather cover, impossibly aged and impossibly whole, felt warm—alive.
The pages turned of their own accord. Symbols glowed faintly as if the book had been recording him all along. The contents written inside felt alien and intimate all at once. A thousand years of thought, agony, awakening, and clarity—all bound in ink, memory, and will.
He held it close, uncertain.
Had that time truly passed?
Was it real?
Or had the mind trial warped perception to feel like eternity?
Philip could still feel the trace of power he had acquired. But it was fading—vanishing like steam. His body had been strengthened during the trial, but he now realized it was spiritual reinforcement, not physical. The strength wasn't his, not anymore. Only what clung to his soul remained.
He clenched his fists. He regretted not training his soul more deliberately.
His elemental masteries endured, but the raw energy to power them—gone.
He would have to rebuild. Grind. Circulate mana again from scratch.
No shortcuts now.
He looked down at the book one last time as it displayed his recorded state:
[Book Entry: Subject #0001]CORE STATUS
Name: Philip Tobechukwu Egboluche
Title: Unknown (Emperor Candidate Detected)
Trial Name:Forging the Mind (Ended)
Time Elapsed: ∞ (Localized Time Collapse Equivalent: 1,520 Earth Years)
BODY CONDITIONVitality: Immortalized (Stasis-locked during trial – 500 Years)
Physical Strength: Grandmaster
Speed: Grandmaster
Endurance: Grandmaster Combat Reflexes: Autonomous-tier (Muscle memory executes before conscious thought)
ENERGY CENTERS Mana Core (Navel):Elemental Affinities: Fire – Sage Water – Sage Earth – Sage Air – Sage Light – Sage Darkness – Sage Plant – Sage Space – Sage Time – [Adept] Void – [Locked]
Soul Core (Mind):
Read/Write: Full Conscious Memory Access Clairvoyance: Activated (Short-range future prediction during duress)
Memory Compression: Perfect Recall
Soul Capacity: Demigod
Ather Core (Chest):Status: Divine Seed Detected Awakening Progress: 15%
Emotional Compression: Stable
Dominant Emotion: Serenity
Adaptive Energy:[Locked]
Resonance: Syncing with Emperor-Class Artifact (Crimson Crown)
ACTIVE ABILITIES LEARNED
Mana Manipulation – Mastered
Elemental Conjuring – Adaptive (Up to 7 types simultaneously)
Flight / Levitation – Combat-viable, Multi-vector control Spatial Manipulation – Silent Cast Enabled Energy Absorption – Passive (Gem-assisted)
Weapon Conjuration – Custom, 90% Structural Stability Astral Projection – Stable (5-minute limit)
Reality Anchoring – Linked to Soul Mark
Mental Defense – Immune to standard illusion/mind-control spells
Temporal Sensitivity – Micro-future detection (3 microseconds during crises)
Telepathy
Basic Creation
ARTIFACTItem Detected: Crimson Gem of the Emperor Status: Active Catalyst
Current Sync:2%
Artifact Effects:
Auto-absorption of ambient energy
Auto-defense activation on unconscious threat Harmonizes all energy types
Unlocks nearby relics (Range: 5 km)
Stores latent energy (Pocket Dimension)
SOUL CONDITION
Soul Stability: 100%
Lucidity: High
Willpower: Sage
Spirit Constructs: Inner Shadow: Tamed Thoughtform: Philosopher-Modeled (Self-aware)
Meditation Avatar: Fully Autonomous (Operates during sleep)
AWAKENED ABILITIES
Creation – Primordial Tier Potential Detected
And then—
The book dissolved into motes of light, vanishing from his grasp.
Philip exhaled. The fatigue hit all at once. He collapsed backward, his breath heavy.
A nap, he decided. He needed a long one. He'd train again soon.
He'd rebuild.
But for now—*
The next trial began.
He was dragged from sleep, violently, his spirit hurled into a new realm.
A void.
No light. No floor. No gravity. No ceiling.
Just an infinite abyss.
A wind came first.
Cold. Relentless.
It tore at him like a thousand claws, stripping not just his body but his soul. His chest caved under the pressure, his skin cracked, and his bones groaned. But he stood, breath shallow, spine straight. Only his will held him there.
Then fire followed.
It surged up from beneath, licking his body and spirit. He screamed, but there was no sound. It wasn't just heat—it was refinement. He remembered the giant at the anvil. This pain was familiar, but it didn't hurt less. His soul burned and boiled, becoming more malleable, more pure.
Then came the lightning.
It struck like divine judgment. One bolt, and it felt as if reality itself wanted to erase him. His vision flickered. His thoughts broke apart. In that moment, Philip understood what it meant to stand at the edge of existence and stare into the possibility of non-being.
But he stood.
He endured.
The wind cut deeper. The fire burned hotter. The lightning crashed again and again. And yet, he remained standing—because to fall was to lose everything. Because the strength of his will—the belief that he could overcome anything—was now a living force.
Time no longer mattered.
His body began to absorb the elements—wind, fire, lightning. They became part of him. They no longer eroded him, but forged him further. His soul core, blazed with power as it protected him.
And then—
"Trial completed."
The storm stopped.
The void faded.
And hovering before him, the gem embedded in his forehead pulsed—no longer red, but glowing a deep, radiant purple. It vibrated with Soul Force, dense and potent. He reached for it mentally and felt something shift. A whisper echoed through his thoughts:
"The next stage has been unlocked."
He didn't know what that meant yet,