Anonime did not lead Rintal toward the central fissure.
Instead, he led him to the side.
— "Come with me. We have wasted enough time with contemplation and rest."
In the wall of the cathedral, a low opening stretched out, as if it had been cut not as a door, but as a wound.
— "What is this? Are you planning to kill me already?" Rintal asked mockingly.
Anonime did not answer.
They stepped inside.
The room was simple.
Circular.
The walls were made of bare stone, but their surface was not smooth — it looked as though they had been clawed by fingernails for centuries.
The ceiling was lower than it should have been.
It did not crush the occupant.
But it made its presence felt.
The floor was made of black ash.
Not dust.
Not earth.
A finely ground, dark substance.
In the center of the room, there was no altar.
There was no symbol.
Only a stone pillar.
On it were hundreds of shallow gashes.
As if someone had been striking it for years.
The air was cold.
And too quiet.
It did not echo.
Sound died before it could truly be born.
— "What is this?" Rintal asked softly.
— "The place where faith peels away from a man," Anonime replied.
— "And where we shall see how much your friend’s suffering truly meant to you..."
— "On the astral path, I saw every memory linked to you from the island. So now we will see the strength of the will of a thief who can barely even be called petty."
Rintal slowly turned around.
— "And what will be left of me afterward?" he asked.
— "That which is real."
Anonime stepped further in. The ash did not sink beneath him. It left no footprints.
Rintal’s did.
Every step he took left a darker mark behind, as if the room were remembering where he walked.
— "Attack," Anonime said.
— "Let us see what you are worth without your Seal."
Rintal did not ask questions.
He moved.
His strike was fast, angry, tense.The Seal glowed faintly on his arm.
With a single movement, Anonime brushed the blade aside.
Rintal hit the ground.
The ash seemed soft — yet it struck hard.
— "You are not attacking me," Anonime said.
Rintal propped himself up on his elbows.
— "Then who?"
— "The void within you, perhaps?"
— "You are not cold or objective enough."
Rintal attacked again.
Faster this time.
Suddenly, the ash loosened beneath his feet.
He slipped.
Anonime did not strike him.
He let him fall.
— "The room is reacting."
— "To what?"
— "To what you do not dare to speak aloud."
— "That you are a fratricide."
Rintal’s teeth clenched.
The ash grew darker around him.
The Seal throbbed more violently.
Anonime spoke softly:
— "Do not use it."
— "I’m not using it!" Rintal answered irritably, nearly shouting, as his eyes began to tear up.
— "You are already using it. Are you not paying attention to your surroundings, boy?" Anonime shouted back.
Rintal looked down at his arm.
The mark was glowing.
Not by will.
By reflex.
The ash beneath his soles undulated gently, as if breathing.
Anonime stepped closer slowly.
— "Do you feel it?"
Rintal did not answer.
— "The room reacts to the same things as the Seal."
— "To negative emotions."
— "Here, you must precisely calculate your every thought and master yourself."
Suddenly, the ash became denser around Rintal.
The Seal throbbed harder.
— "Anger. Guilt. Loss."— "Both amplify it."
Rintal attacked again huddely, out of rage.
The ash gave way beneath him.
As if it wanted to swallow him.
The Seal turned red.
With a swift motion, Anonime kicked him in the jaw and brought him to the ground.
Rintal spat blood and struggled.
— "This is not strength."— "This is an echo."
Anonime threw a heavy iron ring in front of Rintal.
— "Pick it up."
The ring was cold.Too heavy for a simple exercise.
— "Today, you do not attack. You move."
He had to run along the walls of the room.
The ash changed with every step.
When Rintal thought of the grave — the ground slipped.When he grew angry at the Sons of the Dawn — it thickened.When he saw Areday’s face before him — it grew heavy.
The Seal reacted to every emotional wave.
Heat.Tingling.Throbbing.
Anonime watched coldly.
— "The Seal itself is evil."— "And it magnifies."— "We are corrupt, and our flesh and bodies are weak."— "Only our will can overcome everything."
Rintal fell for the fourth time.
The ash entered his mouth.
It was bitter.
— "You will run until the room stops changing."— "Also, you shouldn't be eating the ashes of dead people, though as a thief, who knows how low your kind can sink."
Hours passed.
After the fiftieth lap, Rintal no longer thought of anything.
Only the next step.
The ash smoothed out.
The Seal faded.
Anonime nodded.
— "That is the first rule."— "Do not feed it."— "You sleep here tonight," Anonime declared firmly.
— "I don’t believe you’ll need to eat anymore, as far as I know, the Seal will take care of you."
— "If not, rest assured, I won't let you die just yet."
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
— "Good night."
Anonime stepped out.
The opening gaped darkly for a moment, then the silence of the room closed back in.
Rintal remained alone.
The ash slowly settled around him.
There was no bed.No blanket.No water.
Only the circular wall, the stone pillar…and the dark, fine ash.
Rintal leaned against the wall.
The Seal began a low, steady throb.
It did not burn.It did not hurt.
It only reminded him.
His stomach did not growl.
His throat did not go dry.
Anonime had not lied.
The Seal truly kept him alive.
Rintal slowly closed his eyes.
The ash moved gently beneath him.
It did not attack.
It only watched.
Anonime returned before dawn.
He did not speak.
He dumped a bucket of water over Rintal.
The water was ice-cold.
— "Up."
Rintal scrambled to his feet.
His body was stiff.His muscles ached.
— "Today will hurt," Anonime said indifferently.
He stood him in front of the stone pillar.
Rintal stood there, startled, only watching.
— "Five hundred strikes."— "Every tenth, think of the friend you killed."— "Every twentieth, think of Rayuka, whom you couldn't even touch."— "Every fiftieth, think of yourself, whose life is worthless anyway."
Rintal’s eyes narrowed.
— "Why?" he asked in a trembling voice, his eyes welling up.
— "Because under pain, it is revealed who is in control."
By the three-hundredth strike, blood was flowing from his hands.At the five-hundredth, the stone cracked.
He stopped for a moment, but Anonime immediately kicked him in the stomach.
Rintal knelt on the ground, and Anonime began to kick him.
The Seal glowed red.
"WANT IT AND FIGHT AGAINST IT, OR PERHAPS YOU CAN'T?"
Then, after kicking Rintal in the head, he let him stand up slowly.
"Continue," Anonime told him coldly.
The ash sank him up to his knees.
Anonime did not help.
— "If you call upon the power now…"— "you lose control."
Rintal wheezed.
He did not call it.
His hands were bloody, as were his nose and mouth.
The five-hundredth strike produced a dull snap.
The stone pillar cracked a hair deeper.
The ash smoothed out.
The Seal grew dark.
Anonime looked at it for a long time.
— "Better."
It was not a compliment.An observation.
Anonime gave no time for rest.
He turned from the stone pillar and pointed to the center of the room.
— "It is not over yet."
Rintal could barely stand on his feet.
His hands were bleeding.His fingers were numb.
— "Kneel."
Rintal knelt in the black ash.
Anonime walked around him.
— "Now you cannot move."— "You cannot defend yourself."— "You cannot react."
Rintal looked up.
— "Against what?"
Anonime did not answer.
The ash slowly moved.
At first, just gently.
Then it began to swirl around Rintal.
Tiny, sharp grains struck his skin.
Like a sandstorm.
It went into his eyes.Into his mouth.It stuck to his wounds.
The Seal began to throb.
Rintal would have stood up instinctively.
Anonime’s foot pressed down on his shoulder.
— "Stay."
The ash lashed against his chest.
Rintal wheezed.
The pain was unbearable.
And constant.
Nerve-wracking.
— "This is hatred," Anonime said indifferently.— "It does not kill you instantly."— "It only eats you slowly."
The Seal turned red.
Rintal’s teeth clenched.
The ash struck even harder.
His eyes became bloodshot.
Minutes passed.
Or hours.
Then the ash suddenly fell back.
Anonime removed his foot.
— "That is enough for today."
Rintal collapsed.
Anonime did not help.
He did not speak.
He stepped out.
The opening remained dark.
Rintal lay in the ash.
His stomach hurt.
The Seal did not help.
And his stomach cramped.
His throat was dry.
The Seal remained cold.
Dark.
As if it didn't even exist.
Rintal slowly sat up.
— "Why now…?"
The answer did not come.
The hunger was sharp.
Real.
Not an illusion.
Thirst scratched his throat.
The taste of ash was still in his mouth.
This time, the Seal did not provide for him.
Rintal spent most of the night awake.
His stomach ached.
His head throbbed.
The ash was cold beneath him.
Anonime returned at dawn again.
He did not speak.
Another bucket of water splashed into Rintal’s face.
This time, the water was not just cold.
It hurt.
— "Up."
Rintal stood up with more difficulty than the day before.
— "The Seal is not your servant," Anonime said dryly.— "Yesterday, you used it too much."
— "I didn’t use it," Rintal’s voice was hoarse and bitter.
— "You felt it."— "And that is enough."
Anonime threw a piece of dry bread in front of him.
A tiny piece.
No more.
— "Today you learn that power is not free."
Rintal picked it up.
His hand trembled.
— "And if I don’t eat?"
— "Then you will be weaker."
— "And if you are weak, you simply die."
Silence.
— "And today you must be faster."
Anonime drew his sword.
He did not warn him.
The first strike came immediately.
Rintal could barely parry it.
His body was slower.
His stomach cramped.
Light flashed before his eyes.
The ash reacted.
To every weakness of his.
He slipped.
He fell.
Anonime pressed the blade to his throat.
— "Hunger is no excuse."
He withdrew it.
— "Again."
And Rintal stood up again.
Weaker.
Thirsty.
But now…
he did not count on the Seal.
But on his own will.
The room watched.
Anonime watched.
And for the first time —
Rintal also watched himself.
— "Again."
Anonime did not wait.
The second strike was faster.
Rintal barely raised his blade.
The metal clanged.
The vibration ran through his arm.
His stomach cramped.
The ash slipped under his feet.
Anonime was not strong.
He was precise.
Every hit landed where the fatigue lived.
Shoulder.Ribs.Wrist.
— "Your body is weak."— "The flesh is perishable."— "The will is not."
Rintal rolled to the side.
The ash did not sink this time.
It only slid.
The Seal glowed faintly.
Immediately.
By reflex.
Anonime’s blade stopped an inch from his face.
— "No."
Rintal closed his eyes.
The Seal slowly darkened.
He parried the next strike.
Not with strength.
With angle.
With movement.
Anonime did not speak.
But he did not stop him either.
Rintal was already raising his sword.
Anonime attacked immediately.
His blade plowed through Rintal’s forearm.
Blood splashed into the ash.
— "Why do you live?"
Rintal struck back.
Anonime stepped aside.
The tip of the sword scratched along Rintal’s ribs.
Infuriated, Rintal attacked like someone wanting to kill Anonime.
Anonime’s elbow slammed into his stomach.
The air was torn from Rintal’s lungs.
Another strike.
The blade ripped open Rintal’s shoulder.
— "Why do you live?"
Rintal attacked.
Wildly.
Imprecisely.
Anonime’s blade drew across his face.
Blood trickled into his eyes.
— "Guilt…"
Anonime kicked his knee.
Rintal fell to his knees.
— "What is the goal?"
The blade stopped at his throat.
— "Why do you live?"
Rintal wheezed.
The Seal throbbed red.
— "I don’t know!"
Anonime did not stop.
His sword struck again.
A cut on the chest.
Rintal screamed.
— "Why do you live?"
— "I don’t know!" he roared.
The sword fell from his hand.
The ash surged around him.
Rintal collapsed onto the ground, crying.
— "Everyone is dead…"
His voice broke.
— "Areday is dead…"— "And I’m still here…"
Anonime did not attack anymore.
He just stood over him.
— "Suffering has no reason."
Rintal looked up.
— "I hate you."
Anonime’s voice was cold.
— "Because that is how you give a reason to the suffering you must endure."
Silence.
— "Now you hate me because it hurts to face what I confront you with; it hurts that your life is not just in ruins and you have no one."
— "And that you will be hunted like a mangy dog for the rest of your life, you won't have a single quiet moment from now on, and you know it too."
— "But you have a choice to do something about it."
Anonime thrust his sword into the ground.
— "Break the system."
The ash slowly calmed.
— "And then all pain… gains meaning."
With a trembling hand, Rintal picked up his sword.
Anonime nodded.
— "Now the real work begins."
Anonime left him alone again.
This time he did not say "good night."
The opening closed.
Rintal remained alone.
The hunger was stronger now.
The thirst was almost pain.
The Seal was silent.
It did not help.
It did not ease.
Rintal leaned against the wall.
The ash was cool.
Not hostile.
Just indifferent.
In the middle of the night, he started awake.
Stomach in a cramp.
Throat parched.
— "Why…?"
The Seal answered with a low, dull throb.
Not power.
A warning.
Rintal slowly realized.
The Seal does not always give.
Sometimes it only watches.
If he always relies on it —he will never be more than a carrier and a vessel.
Water.
Cold.
This time, Anonime did not pour it on him.
He just set the bucket down beside him.
— "Drink."
Rintal looked up.
This was new.
He drank.
Anonime watched him.
— "Yesterday you were weak."
Rintal did not argue.
— "You will be today, too."
Silence.
— "But yesterday you did not use the Seal."
Rintal was surprised.
Anonime shrugged.
— "That is progress."
Not warmth.
But no longer pure indifference.
Anonime drew his sword.
— "Now, more seriously."
This time his movements were faster.
Rintal was weaker.
At the first hit, his shoulder was ripped open.
At the second, he fell to his knees.
Anonime did not bring him to the ground.
He waited.
— "Up."
Rintal stood up.
The Seal throbbed softly.
Not violently.
As if asking:
"Shall I help?"
Rintal slowly shook his head.
He did not speak.
He only attacked.
Not out of rage.
Not out of revenge.
Out of movement.
The ash did not react.
Anonime parried.
But this time, he stepped back.
A single step.
Something that had not happened until now.
For a moment, recognition flashed in his eyes.
— "You are learning."
Rintal wheezed.
— "What?"
— "That you are not important."
A pause.
— "But you can be dangerous."
And that was the first timethat there was not just hardness in Anonime’s voice.
But… hope.
