52 A New Mission

Images, colors and flashing lights disturbed Shura's vision and mind prior to his awakening. They gradually disappeared as his consciousness surfaced from a deep slumber, but the formless feeling of unease persisted after his awakening.

Shura felt horrible all over his body. It was an inexplicable feeling of discomfort. His mind was also disturbed. Both mind and body alike didn't feel all 'right'.

An unfamiliar scenery greeted his sight as he opened his eyes. He was staring at a ceiling, where there should be none...

The ceiling was of made of stone. There were intricate patterns and designs on the ceiling, the kind that took craftsmanship and skill to make. It looked strange and exotic. Shura had never seen such design nor texture before.

The odd appearance of the ceiling wasn't what caught his attention, it was the presence of the ceiling itself. Although his mind didn't feel quite fine at that instant, he still remembered that there shouldn't have been a ceiling here. He simply shouldn't have been staring at a ceiling.

There was supposed to be a sky, a vast and boundless sky that was as free and at ease as his feelings had been when he fell asleep under it. Both the sky and that feeling of ease and freedom were sorely lacking.

Shura closed his eyes and tried to recall what happened. Had he procured some intoxicants somehow and drank an unwise amount to the point where he didn't even know how he got where he was?

He tried to recall his last memories. Like dreams, they came to him in bits and pieces that took more effort the deeper he went. And like dreams, it caused him headaches as he attempted to wrestle some semblance of memory from the deep recesses of his mind.

He remembered being at home, in his room. He wrote a letter to the girl and imbued the last of his soul powers into a sword. The act had completely had rendered his own soul strength inert and useless. He then bade a maid to send it to the girl.

He had regretted his earlier thoughts and decided that this was the best that he could do for the girl. As soon as the maid had left he immediately bolted up and fled from the residence he had been living in for the past eighteen years.

He ran and ran. He didn't know how far, and while he doubted that he had reached the edge of the world, he really was far away from home. All of the unpleasantness of the past was behind him and only the bright future remained, one lived with contentedness and peace of spirit. He closed his eyes just as the sun had set. The right temperature of the haven in the wilderness enveloped his body and he fell asleep to the peaceful sound of the natural world.

That was all that he had remembered, and all that should have been.

Shura immediately got up from the bed. He surveyed his surroundings. Yes, this was most odd and peculiar. Who had brought him here, and where was he?

The room and everything within it was foreign to him. He had never seen such designs, such decorations at all. They weren't present in his present life either, and he had seen much as a cultivator.

There was a table in the corner of the room and on it were a piece of paper and a sheathed long blade. Shura went up to the paper, unfurled it and read it.

It was in a language that he recognized and it read thus:

"I have watched you for some time. I believe that it is a waste of your potential to retire from the world so early and put your talents to waste. A happier fate exists, and I shall give you the chance to pursue it. I truly want to see what you are made of. You've always believed that that which you sought was beyond your reach and grasp. I have put it on a platter in front of you now.

"A grand competition is taking place, the winner will become what you would call a 'Supreme'. You will have no woes or ills when you become such a being. The opportunity that you lamented that was not yours is now before you. Will you take it?

"In order to bring you to this time and place to participate in this grand battle your body had been discarded as only your soul could travel here. I have constructed a new body for you that will nourish your soul and grant you great and mighty strength. I have also provided you with a great weapon. Both will become your assets and make you the equals of any of the great geniuses or those who had powerful backgrounds. You will face no small number of such opponents.

"The tools are before you. The victory you seek can only come from your own efforts. Hurry and get used to your new body and weapon. The time for the beginning of the competition is most near."

Shura continued to hold the letter up long after he was done reading it. He was thinking in silence.

'If what this letter speaks of is true, and I really do have the opportunity to become this 'Supreme' and right all my wrongs and mistakes. Then I will take it!' Shura thought.

Although he had been brought to god knows where unwillingly, now that he knew what it was about, he would definitely do as the man had mentioned. He would win this 'competition' and right all the wrongs and mistakes of the past, and obtain that 'peak'. If he couldn't do it, the option to live the rest of his days in peace was still there.

Shura picked up the sword. The sword was light in his hand. As soon as he touched it he felt a comfortable feeling flowing from the sword into his body. This feeling spread throughout his body. As if it was responding to it, Shura felt his body become warm and very comfortable. He felt unlimited strength coursing through his veins in every beat of his blood.

Never before had he felt this powerful. When he was at his peak strength, he still didn't feel this powerful. This feeling wasn't just in his body. It had transcended the physical and directly touched his soul. He could feel his mind and soul becoming transformed, purer and more sublime, more powerful.

Whoever had brought him here was an all-powerful being the likes of which he cannot even begin to fathom. They had spoken so lightly of the prize of the competition. They had been able to give him such a peerless weapon and this body with such miraculous powers. He could already feel his soul permanently increasing in strength and power.

Whoever they were, he didn't feel any ill-will in them. It was odd, he was only used to malice from people. Whatever the mysterious person's intentions were, he would do as they suggested. If they harbored ill-intentions against him, he feared that they didn't even need to trick him at all. He was quite frankly, powerless. For one who was going to be a hermit, that was fine though. Shura didn't view himself not having great power in a negative light.

Shura unsheathed the sword. As soon as the blade was slightly out of the sheath endless darkness radiated forth and the room instantly dimmed. The became dimmer and dimmer until the room was at its darkest when the blade was fully unsheathed.

The body of the blade was pitch black. It was not the color of the texture, the body of the blade was black like darkness, it was darkness and the void itself, it wasn't physical.

Shura began to exercise his body and practice his swordsmanship in the room.

the letter was quite vague about how he would join in this competition, but as it was a competition, the most important thing was his fighting ability. He needed to get used to his new body and weapon as soon as possible. And that was what Shura sought to do.

Just as he was immersed in his practices and exercises. He felt his body lighting up and turning bright and dazzling, the entire room was lit up.

"Is this teleportation?" Shura said out aloud.

The mystery of how and when he was going to participate was now solved. It seemed like he would be sent there regardless of how he felt or his readiness.

Shura closed his eyes. He could feel the space around him distort. This feeling lasted for only a moment. He felt the space around him change. He was now somewhere else, somewhere open.

Shura opened his eyes, and his guess was right. He was now in a very large and spacious 'room'. The ceiling was very high, and the room was very wide. At the edge of the room were windows. They were walls, but they were clear and window-like. He could see the darkness and blackness outside of it. There were many tiny dots of light interspersed throughout the darkness. It looked like what he last saw before he went to sleep before he was spirited away. Was he in space?

Regardless of whether it was space or not, he couldn't even be certain that he was in the same universe as before. It was fine to not know. Keeping track of all of this knowledge wasn't necessary either. He was where he was.

The scenery outside hinted at being in space, in the endless expanse of the material universe. The dots of light were constantly moving. Was wherever he was constantly moving in relation to the stars?

Many points of lights lit up throughout the room. They then disappeared and people appeared in their place.

Soon the lights disappeared and everyone was present. Shura counted and there was a total of one hundred and one people.

As soon as all the people were present a voice spoke out and everyone heard it with their ears and minds.