Witchbound: My Power Grows With Every Trial

Ren looked at the newly formed tattoo on his right arm, following with his gaze the black lines as they curled into shapes, trying to make sense of the pattern hidden in them.

"What does it mean?" he asked the girl standing in front of him.

She then looked at him with her usual unfazed yet somehow playful way about her.

"It means you've bound Akariwake to yourself. The ring has become a part of you, and through this bond, it will guide you when you feel lost."

"So what now?" Ren continued asking. "Do I use it to find... what's coming?"

The girl smiled, gentler this time.

"Akariwake won't be of much help to you in your next challenge, since there's no path left for you to find. You have already found it. The difficult part now consists of you walking through it."

She then seemed unsure whether it was right to speak the truth forward or instead let him discover what came next on his own.

"At the end of this path, you will face past, present, and future," she finally continued. "So you will need to decide for yourself what you truly want and what you truly believe in. Without that, the way forward will tear you apart."

Ren looked at the reflection of himself rippling underneath him.

"What I truly want..." he repeated as though anchoring the thought in his mind.

He looked at her again, ready to ask more questions, but none of that ever really had any time to form in his mind, because just a few moments afterwards, the girl's shape started to fade into thin air. Ash lifted from her shoulders, breaking away slowly, until finally, it drifted away from her entire body.

Ren moved forward in an attempt to stop, somehow, whatever was happening.

"Wait!"

But the girl only smiled back gently. She didn't answer or attempt to explain anything. She just let the ash spread, pulling her apart until only her golden eyes remained floating in the air.

"Thank you," Ren said hastily as if he was afraid he might not get the chance to say it at all before she was gone entirely.

And he was sincerely grateful. This Remnant... had been the one single most gentle encounter he had experienced in a really long time. In a way, that gave him the courage and strength to move on.

The eyes lingered for a few moments, and Ren could see the small curve of her smile around them. After that, they too faded away into nothingness.

The place was silent again.

Ren stood still a long while after the girl had scattered away into dust. He wondered about Kagami, whether she knew where he was, and if she was able somehow to see from some invisible spot of hers everything that was taking place with him. He even wondered whether she had ever looked back at what she had left here, or if the Remnant had been nothing more than a forgotten shard from a time when this place still belonged to her.

Then he looked at the tattoo. It was much clearer now, and the pain had completely gone away. He didn't dislike it. In fact, he even found it appealing. Like a marker of something he had achieved on his own. And besides, who wouldn't want to have a real magical compass embedded into their body and delivered in such an artistic way at that?

After a while, the fact that he found himself alone started to weigh on him. He needed to decide how to move forward, since staying there wouldn't be of much use.

Finally, he took a long breath in, settling his thoughts, and got ready. After all, being alone was nothing new for him, so he decided there had to be a way he could overcome this place. Whatever lay at the end of this path held answers, and that was reason enough for him to push forward.

So he started walking. With no markers to guide him, he chose a direction at random, walking carefully and being mindful of any dangers. Minutes turned into what felt like hours, though the darkness made it impossible to measure time.

Then, suddenly, something changed.

With a loud sound, both to the left and the right of the direction he had taken, panels slid into view from the darkness. They stood slightly tilted to the side, allowing light to pass through the openings. It was a blinding white light keeping Ren from seeing what might have been beyond those panels, if anything at all.

As his eyes adjusted, he noticed the panels were painted, each surface bearing the figure of a god dressed in a beautiful silk kimono. Their postures were flawless, frozen in elegant scenes that, under different circumstances, he might have even admired.

One by one, more panels slid open in front of Ren, forming a row on either side of his path.

Then, a rumble came from beneath him as something pushed through the surface of the lake. They were stone platforms rising one after the other in front of him and forming a straight walkway.

Ren stood at the edge of it all, staring in the distance toward where this path was leading. Everything about it felt like an invitation.

And he accepted it. He was tired of the running, the guessing, the endless moments of fear. He stepped onto the first stone and then just kept walking.

Somewhere in the distance ahead, a faint glow sparkled. At first, he mistook it for the same white light coming from beyond the painted panels, but then that light turned to a red tone that reflected into the water, making it look like blood. The further he walked, the stronger it grew, until the white rays of light from behind him were overshadowed entirely.

At last, the walkway widened. The rows of panels ended abruptly, turning into a vast, circular hall that looked deeply ceremonial. It was mostly made of stone with wood panels bordering some of the walls. It also looked surprisingly well-preserved for how old this place should have been. Silk draperies hung from the upper levels, swaying faintly with the wind.

Ren stepped forward with his senses sharpened, prepared for anything that might catch him off guard.

And there, at the exact heart of the hall, someone stood waiting.

The figure was tall, wrapped in layers of cloth that masked any detail of his features. He stood motionless, watching the direction Ren had come from.

"…Takuma."