It was all quiet, nobody was around to interact with or even witness. Benimaru simply hung on the wall as an ornament. The years being dormant were terrible, for he wasn't dormant mentally, he witnessed time passing, and now he was stuck in the same situation. He began to wonder if he'll ever see Brone or Lumikki again, to see Kaito pop into the guild hall in the blink of an area whenever he felt like visiting, or ever see Yuurei fly around with his angelic wings.
"Discarded again?" a voice came from across the room. Beni's eyes darted to where he could have sworn he heard the voice from, but didn't see anyone, "Once again, you find a group of people and mistaken them for family, only to be thrown away again" the voice came from a mirror that hung on the opposing wall. The reflection shown the room, but what stood out was the purplish flames that flickered in the eyes of Benimaru's reflection. It was the reflection that was speaking to him, using his voice.
"You know as much as I do... which is nothing" Benimaru replied in a low angered tone. He didn't want to entertain the subject, because he didn't know whether the reflection was right or not, he didn't want it to be, "Who are you, and how do I get out of here?"
"You're partially right, we both know as much as the other, but that's why I'm here, to remind you what we do know" The mirror Benimaru said, his eyes burning the purple flames. They stared at one another, though they shared the same voice, the tones were different, the reflection more confident and the true Beni more irritable.
"I wasn't discarded, this isn't real, it's some illusion the monks made" Benimaru had suddenly remembered where he was, recalling the recent memory of walking through the monastery. This brought him bit of relief, but he couldn't escape the conversation with the mirror.
"You're partially right, maybe you haven't been discarded yet, but what makes you think you'll remain with them?" with that, the real Beni remained silent, choosing not to answer because he didn't want to entertain the faux oni, but also because he didn't want to give into the doubt, "Why? Because you're family? A lot of bull; Brone has you around because you're a tool, a weapon and shield to be used in combat, nothing more"
"And what the hell are you? A reflection! An thought and nothing more!" Beni lost his patience and yelled out in anger, tired of the harassment.
"Once again, you're partially right, I am a thought, specifically your inner thoughts, the part of you that knows the truth, but was tucked away, remember, you're an item, because of what the Starlights made you" The reflection's voice echoed, the mirror began to ooze darkness that began to spread along the wall behind the mirror. Then a purple magic circle appeared in the middle of the room. Beni knew this, it was the seal placed upon him, locking him in the shield and sword.
* * *
Gnicholas sat there, looking at all the books he had opened and had scattered all along the room. None of the writing there was readable to him. It was a terrible thing; he had went through his life learning so much of the world and of life through reading, and now he won't be able to do so.
The gnome sat there in silence. Eventually he ran out of ideas of how he would be able to gain his ability back. He first thought he would relearn to read, but judging how difficult it was to him at this moment even with the most basic of letters, he figured he might have been cursed, making this permanent. He realized he was in the room still at the monastery, this all being an illusion, but the ability to read might have truly been taken from him. There was though a possibility that once the illusion stops and he leaves the room, then he'll get his ability back, but the thought of the possibility of him never learning to read again was truly scary. He wondered, what would he do?
Then it came to him: Brone doesn't spend his time reading, but he learned a lot in his time. His skills in crafting came from his father teaching him, his skills of survival came from his uncle, his cooking came from his mother, and even to this day, he's learning not only the gnome himself, but of his young niece, who began to teach him of the obscura world. Yuurei, Kaito, and the rest of the guild are there for him. And from his time with the dwarf, the gnome came to learn that Brone was there if he needed help.
So if it's true his lost his ability to read, he can still rely on Brone and the others to help him still learn about life. This realization brought him back. He blinked and the next thing Gnicholas knew was that he was in the room again, the library was gone, but Brone and Benimaru were there. The dwarf laid on the floor snoring loudly while the shield and sword were lifeless on the floor. Brone wasn't a concern, but the gnome was worried whether or not the magic that generated the tests will have some kind of negative effect on Benimaru, given that the monks weren't aware of the oni, and if they did, it probably wouldn't be promising, for they've had their bad blood with them.
* * *
Brone's panicking slowed due to thinking back to when his mother had told him something important... as well as the fact he ended up becoming bored of falling in this endless pit. When he was a child, he was nervous go to the forge and craft his first item. The intense heat, the hot melted iron, and the possibility of disappointing his father, but his father wanted him to take his first step as an adult. When he rushed to his mother, she sat him down and explained to him that everyone's fearful of something, when that happens, you can just let it stay, but if that happens, then nothing gets done.
"do ye want to do it ye yerself, or do you want ye want yer cousins to help? There's no shame in asking for help every now in then" her stern but warm voice came him comfort as she smiled brightly.
"I don't want te upset da" A young Brone said through teary eyes.
"Don't worry about him, I'll handle him" She pulled him into a rough hug and pressed her lips against his forehead.
"Ma! I'm too old for that!" He pulled away from her, embarrassed. He wiped his head before rubbing his chin that had nothing more than a little peachfuzz, pretending to stroke a beard he had yet to have. She smiled at him and he softened and smile back, "If my cousins are ok to help me, then It doesn't too scary, especially knowing help is there for me, besides I don't want my cousins to get the credit" .
"So do ye want to do this yeself? Or do ye want Yuurei to help?" His mother asked before the dream faded.
Brone was back to the present day, still falling in the neverending pit, "I don't want Yuurei to get the credit" His grown voice was but a rough whisper as he pulled an arm across his chest before roughly swinging his arm as if he was striking with a weapon with all his strength, causing him to propel him to the side. Within a few seconds, he reached one of the walls. He slammed his four fists into the wall, slowing his descent, he gripped onto it, causing it to tear away for a few meters before he fully came to a stop.
The heart in his chest was pounding less now. Brone chuckled with laughter in between deep breaths. Then in the next moment, he was sitting up in the middle of the floor of the testing room.
"Wonderful, now we're just waiting for Benimaru" Gnicholas was awake and seem to have been waiting for some time by how he was sitting. Brone looked over to the shield and sword on the ground and noticed a floating magic circle elevated above him. "Not sure what the spell is exactly, but it's runes seem to indicate a limiter, like a jinx or a curse".
Brone raised an eyebrow at the gnome, who had returned the expression. He then looked over to the magic circle and walked over to it. Then he pulled out his Spellcleaver, both him and Gnicholas understood what this may be.
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