Celestial Eyes Of Light

"I need to get strong. Strong enough to defeat Takashi and even Sota. If I can, then I'll be able to fight an Infernal!!"

Those words served as his motivation, while he advanced into Takashi's territory. In Takashi's eyes were the fear of death radiating into his surroundings.

Akira ran further, but with a slide below a fallen plank, he felt a surge. His senses tinkled, and his muscles twitched.

He stopped his chase and observed his body. He couldn't seem to find any difference until his gaze aligned with Takashi's.

Immediately, fear sprung up. The room turned dark, and his throat tightened. His skin contracted as he circled the area dumbfounded.

"What's this?" he stuttered, already in another battle against fear.

His heart pounded as he remembered the unusual feeling he obtained after seeing Sota for the first time. A different kind of fear, not the kind that sends chills, but the kind that immediately shuts off brain functions.

He stepped back looking blankly at a dark space. It was almost a complete replica of the Shadow Realm -but, without Goblins. He turned his head around, searching for suspicious entities.

His head and body still quivered in fear, but he felt an unusual sensation of excitement. But, his excitement was not enough to overcome his fear. While he searched, his eyes came across a pair of bright red eyes.

They glowed but somehow didn't illuminate their environment. They looked like the eyes of a human, not of a Goblin. Suddenly, they disappeared.

"What happened? Did it blink?" he asked himself receding from the scene.

A brief moment passed, and the eyes reappeared. The fear implanted in his heart grew, leaving him with a low probability of overcoming it. Whilst, quivering and shouting in fear, a strange voice echoed,

"This is what you will face once you exit this world. No, things are even worse and scarier than this. You have to buckle up and face me!!"

"Isn't that Takashi's voice," he thought.

He retained his stance, although phased by fear. The eyes occasionally appeared at different locations, a similar phenomenon to teleportation.

Akira took a deep breath and exhaled unsteadily. Continuously, he breathed until his throat ceased its vibration due to fear, and then, he glanced at the eyes as they teleported around him.

The unwavering fear instilled within his heart had slowly begun to fade. Akira's eyes glowed with even more confidence than they had as a child.

The eyes of confidence. The eyes that expel any form of darkness. All vessels of the Void Orb possessed the ability to overcome darkness.

[Skill Obtained!

Name: Celestial Eyes Of Light

Effect: Expell darkness and its effects by its level.

Hone: 2

Note: As a vessel of the ['void orb'], you have been rewarded with ['hone'] +1!]

Akira was both confused and joyous at the emergence of the message. How did he get such a skill? To what degree is its strength?

He thought wisely, creating multiple instances in his head.

"I don't trust the void orb, neither do I trust this skill that came from. Plus, how am I gonna handle a skill that has been honed to 2?"

Although ambivalence stood dominant in his mind and heart, he persuaded himself to utilize the skill without question. He closed his eyes, while exhaling, stretched his limbs, and stopped movement.

"Okay, I have the skill, but how'll I use it?" he questioned, seeking a prompt response from the system.

"System,"

He eagerly waited, pressing his eyelids further upon each other. He squinted with his eyes closed as though he tried to view a distant item.

During his series of actions, the system made a response.

[Activate skill!]

"Activate skill? Isn't it already activated... Oh, this is a new version. Now, another question, how to activate?"

He gave up on the system and stretched out his palms.

"This seems to be the only way I can think of."

He kept his intention in mind, while slowly and calmly voicing it out. He stood, open-armed for a few minutes until he was marveled by the unexpected event that occurred after.

In his head, he saw a strange blue glow, filling everywhere with light. The soles of his feet shone dark blue, while his other body parts took up a bright hue of blue.

Was the power manifesting? Of course, all those events occurred in his head, while reality remained as dark as the night sky without a moon or stars.

The visualization continued, with Akira being hyped. His fear suddenly vanished, and his quivering body kept steady.

"Eyes of confidence," a calm voice said again.

"The eyes of confidence, huh? That's why I'm no longer scared."

Immediately, he opened his eyes, letting a sharp ray of light hit them. Everywhere seemed bright, even brighter than a clear noon sky. He looked upon himself and saw himself fully enveloped in a strange blue robe.

He was surprised at the strange glow that clung to his body. Little sparks of dark flames emerged occasionally on different parts of his body. He immediately remembered the orb.

Although he had decided to rely on the skill, he didn't fully place his trust in it. Anything of dark flames never spells joy or blessings.

The same ideology kept Akira against the idea of learning about the orb.

He walked forward, still adapting to his new environment. His eyes ached from the sudden appearance of light rays, but his body told a different story - he jittered in happiness and vibrated from head to toe.

Swiftly, he rushed towards the red-eyed entity that had ceased motion and rested at a distant section of the room. Akira ran, unaware of the distance he would travel.

The boxy shape of the room had faded, and it took a shapeless form. Its distance was unpredictable, filled with darkness that seemed to stretch endlessly even with Akira's newly found skill.

While he ran speedily to the eyes, he quickly observed his environment, taking nothing more than a glance at surrounding structures with each step he took.