Witchbound: My Power Grows With Every Trial

"Keep it open," Kagami urged Ren, as she stepped closer to the forming gate. "It will collapse the moment you lose focus."

Ren gritted his teeth and concentrated on the energy streaming from his hand and then into the air. A glyph had formed behind him, flowing new energy into Ren's arm as he kept the link open.

Kagami slipped through first with an elegant jump toward the other side. By the time Ren stepped forward as well, the tear had started to shake and collapse onto itself bit by bit. He crossed just as it sealed completely, leaving no trace behind except for a few sparks drifting into the air.

As soon as he was on the other side of it, Ren's legs started to give way from the effort. He pressed a hand against the wall beside him to steady himself, but he felt his stamina failing him.

"You burned through too much focus," Kagami said, looking down at him without any attempt at comfort whatsoever. "The spell was raw, and you let it take too much from you."

Ren looked at his hands. His fingers still trembled while faint gold sparks continued to emit from their extremities.

"It did get us out, though," he countered, still processing the new experience that had just ended.

"For now," she replied. "If you learn to control it, though, you could navigate through places like this in a fraction of your current time. Not to mention it could mean the difference between life and death during fights as well."

He exhaled, pressing his palm against his forehead to quiet the buzzing.

"One trial left, right?"

Kagami's tail flicked to the side as she turned to inspect the place.

"If the Sanctum above is as it should be, yes. But after what we've seen…"

"Right..."

Ren glanced toward the patch of ground on top of which the portal had formed minutes earlier. That new ability he had just gained, Glyph Sense as Kagami called it, was definitely not an easy one to control, maybe even harder and more dangerous than his Kindling. But it was his now, and if mastering it meant surviving what was coming, then it was worth every drop of energy it asked for.

----

The garden level felt different with Shiori gone. Ren had expected the same overgrown vegetation and narrow streams winding across the ground that he had previously seen here. Instead, he was greeted with a muted and empty environment.

"I guess the Sanctum does reset every time," Ren said, glancing left and right at the gardens and hallways as he was passing them.

Kagami peeked over her shoulder.

"The Sanctum doesn't like lingering over anything. Once a trial ends, it resets the stage. There's no point in dwelling on what's already done."

They crossed toward the edge of the central garden, where the path curved back toward the stairs leading upward or downward. Here, Ren noticed that the walls, floor, and ceiling were covered in places with symbols and glyphs he hadn't previously seen. He slowed to inspect them properly.

"I can still see some of these," he murmured almost to himself.

Kagami stopped.

"Some of what?"

Ren lifted his hand, pointing to one of the walls next to him.

"These marks. I kept seeing these earlier when I conjured the portal, but also back when I first met you, back then, in that tunnel. After you pulled... your spooky, eerie tricks on me... I kept seeing all these glowing symbols scattered throughout the city. And I was the only one seeing them. No one else seemed to notice them at all."

"You're not imagining it, they are there, yes." She came closer to where Ren was, inspecting the wall as well. "Your Glyph Sense is raw still. Think of it as a raw wound that is healing itself into something that will push your body and your senses further."

Ren rubbed the back of his neck and tried to catalogue all of that as actually normal. As best he could.

They climbed toward the next level.

The path curved again, leading into a darkened archway that opened onto a vertical chamber, narrow at the base but rising to an immense height. Its inner walls were curved in places and had ramps running upward in spirals, reaching toward something at the top. The space here was dark, so the only elements illuminating it were the symbols scattered on the ramps themselves. Seen from a distance, they resembled a vast field of stars scattered across the dark.

"Eerily beautiful," Ren remarked.

As he studied the spiraling ramps ahead, he felt Akariwake stir on his finger. When he glanced down, faint trails of light were already drifting from it, scattering into particles that pointed toward one ramp in particular. It didn't seem to have anything special other than the rest, but then again, he had no idea where either of them was leading. So for now, he chose to trust it.

When they finally reached the top, the space opened into a long rectangular hall. Shoji-style panels framed the walls, diffusing a light that reminded Ren of the fake sky he had seen on Shiori's underground level. All the while, a clean style tatami floor lay bare in front of them.

Kagami moved ahead of him, making no sound as she advanced into the hall.

"Don't look at the figures too long," she said without turning.

"What do you mean?"

But she didn't care to reply.

Ren glanced past her and saw two monumental doors, side by side, each one with its distinct design. They rose higher than anything else in the chamber, easily ten times Ren's height.

The engravings on them were the first thing he noticed. They both bore symbols in opposing patterns but could not tell what they meant.

Kagami stopped halfway across the chamber.

"This is the Dividing Gate," she explained. "And those are its keepers."

Ren followed her gaze toward where two figures had appeared without sound or movement next to each of the doors.

The figure on the left wore a formal kimono of grey silk, marked with geometric patterns. A white noh mask covered its face. It was clean and polished, except for one line separating it into two sections, where its mouth should have been.

The figure on the right wore layered robes colored in gold and pale blue. Its face was concealed behind a porcelain, featureless mask, except for the faintest suggestion of eyes.

For a brief moment, no one said anything, allowing Ren to take everything in. Then, the first one to break the silence was the figure to the left.

"You have reached the final trial. You will choose the path that brings you to the final rite. Choose with reason, and the way will be stable and clean."

But before Ren could say anything at all, the figure on the right spoke as well, offering a warmer tone in its voice than the previous one.

"You may choose instead with all your heart. Step forward with everything you are and walk the fire as your truest self."

"What if I don't choose at all?" Ren asked.

Neither answered immediately, but then, just like before, the figure to the left was the one to break the silence first.

"The rite will forever remain closed to you."

Then the figure to the right finished the thought.

"And you will remain here until death chooses to find you."

"Right..." Ren mumbled.