The voice of the spell awoke my slumbering consciousness.
[You have slain Fallen Beast: Iron Spider Matriarch]
[You have received a Memory: Arachne's Band]
Memory Name: [Arachne's Band]
Type: Charm
Rank: awakened
Description: [Any fabric worn with this charm equipped will become as hard as steel while retaining its normal properties.]
The aura suppressing my senses came undone, the rancid stench of death permeating the air.
I poured starlight into my malnourished body, the platinum light providing it with much-needed nutrients.
[You have acquired a new Attribute.]
Oh?
Summoning my runes, I took a look at the results of my insane training methods.
**********************************
Name: Audun (Alfmalfa Olsen).
True Name: Star of Solitude
Rank: Dreamer
Star count: 1
Memories: [Skeletal Chain], [Bones of the Forest], [Arachnid's Kiss], [Arachne's Band], ...
Echoes: -----
Attributes: [Blessed by the Sword], [One who Stood at the peak], [Mark of the Stars], [Perfect Harmony]
Attributes: [Perfect Harmony]
Attribute description: [Your will and actions have become one and the same.]
Aspect: [Constellation]
Aspect Rank: Divine
Innate Ability: [Sword Expert]
Aspect Ability: [Star Formation]
Flaw: [The Weight of their Stares]
*************************************
Interesting.
The spell was able to grasp the principle behind my technique.
Truthfully, I had barely stepped upon the threshold of mastery, but it didn't really matter.
As long as I kept this training up, I'd eventually reach the supreme harmonization of mind, technique, and body.
My processing power had quadrupled, reaching about 40% of my peak.
At this level, I could handle the authority of four stars and use sword intent effectively during combat.
With this, I'd be able to react to attacks one realm higher than my current level, and possibly fight back.
I took off the blindfold I had wrapped around my eyes.
Looking around the cave I had spent the last two weeks training in, I felt a sudden sense of regret.
The corpse of the Iron Spider Matriarch stood in front of me, the loyal training partner dying of exhaustion.
I guess even nightmare creatures couldn't fight continuously.
I had assumed that they were anatomically similar to demons, untiring, unkillable, abominations of profane origins.
No matter, I'd just need to find a new sparring partner, there should be something just as strong, if not stronger, in the labyrinth, right?
Gathering whatever belongings I had left strewn around the cavern, I made my way to the entrance, exiting back into the vast cave network of the labyrinth.
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Months have passed since I exited the spider cavern.
I didn't know how long I've been in here up till this point, the days blurring together as I traversed the maze.
I've slaughtered every nightmare creature that I've come across, be it spiders, some kind of Canine creature, or skeletal fiends.
I'd gathered quite the extensive list of memories, the corpses of the abominations I've killed littered like trash around the caves and tunnels.
I was basically on auto farm mode, my body subconsciously slaying any creature dumb enough to attack, while my mind focused on memorizing the twisting paths of the labyrinth.
At this point, I had an extremely detailed map of the vast network of caves that made up the labyrinth.
I had seen nearly everything that this vast maze had to offer, whether it be abominations, corpses, or odd flora and endemic life.
It was about time I left the labyrinth.
Honestly, I'd spent a lot more time here than I originally intended.
What was an innocent venture into some caves turned into a full-blown expedition, the hours blurring into days and the days quickly turning into months.
I had spent about 9ish months here already, nearly a full year, and I have yet to explore the vast majority of this forgotten land.
The time I spent within the caves hadn't been a waste by any means, but this vast land has so much more to offer.
Before I ventured outside, I still had to do one more thing.
Now that I had reached the threshold, accessing perfect harmony, there was no reason for me not to undergo metamorphosis.
I was standing in a large cavern, reminiscent of the spider cave just with significantly more corpses strewn all over the floor.
Drawing my sword memory, the particles of light flowing from my soul forming a lusterless Aikuchi, I let my aura flow.
The air grew heavy under the weight of my purple light, violent torrents of aura bursting from my heart.
A cocoon of aura manifested around me, a large dense mass of brilliant amethyst coloring the entirety of the cave in its regal glow.
I had achieved a pseudo metamorphosis against the tree spirit in my first nightmare, using the star of memory to temporarily draw upon a portion of my completed inner world.
The star of memory had allowed me to boot up a save file, using a recollection of my completed inner world as a blueprint to force metamorphosis.
Through this method, I had been able to bypass all the steps of evolution and achieve a temporary boost in power.
This time, I had to achieve metamorphosis for real, construct my inner world and manifest it, letting the sentiments seep into my sword aura.
The inner world is what set the sword seeker apart from a sword expert.
The Inner world of a warrior carriers many meanings, and it's through the strengthening of this inner world that one approaches transcendence.
When you manifest your inner world and start metamorphosis, you have to be honest.
You have to understand what events have shaped you into the person you are today, what kind of ideology you possess; in other words you must have an identity.
Through this understanding, you construct a mental landscape that encapsulates your history, a symbolic representation of who you are.
There was no room for dishonesty, no disguises, no regrets.
You have to accept who you are, to not deny any aspect of your being.
To be true to oneself, to be at peace, to be a swordsman whose sword is a reflection of the life they've lived, that's what a sword seeker is.
I am the Star of Solitude
One who has walked the transcendent path alone.
My memories and emotions became my paint, my sword transformed into my brush.
The cocoon of Aura shattered, the very world had become the canvas of my self-portrait.
I remembered it, the suffocating loneliness, the utter isolation, the helplessness.
My sword moved, a vast ocean manifested itself, it's endless depths a reminder of how pitifully small I truly was.
I remembered faces, people who had shaped me, people who I considered precious to me.
They were unreachable, everdistant.
My sword moved like a brush, manifesting another part of me into the world.
An endless night sky, dotted with gleaming stars spread out above me.
The stars were too high, too far, for me to reach.
Each and every one of the glittering lights was a reminder, a reminder of mistakes that had cost me everything.
I took in the scene before me, the endless expanse of my inner world completely filling my vision.
This world was "me".
A lonely isolated world, a world that taunted me with memories of better days.
It was a reflection of my life, and no matter how bleak or dreary it was, I accepted it as a part of my identity.
I was after all called the Star of Solitude.
I was a lonely star.
A star that was always alone.
My shattered purple aura reconstructed itself, now bearing the weight of my sentiments.
Gleaming pearls of incandescent light shone within my aura, a reflection of my inner world.
My eyes shone a shade of regal purple as I smiled somberly.
I had ascended to the realm of sword seeker.
The spell spoke softly in my ear.
[Your innate ability has evolved.]
[You have awakened your Aspect Legacy]
[Would you like to claim it?]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(A/N: GUYS I MADE A MASSIVE VOCAB ERROR
so apparently, solidarity means: unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.
Which means, I had mixed up the definitions of my own OC's Title.
Diabolical work to say the least, but at least I caught my mistake early.
I'm going to change his true name as the "Star of Solidarity" to the "Star of Solitude", if you guys have any other name suggestions feel free to comment too, if I find a name I like better I might use it instead.
Ima go fix all the mistakes, which might take a lil while so bear with me for a bit, but by tomorrow I'll have everything fixed.
Honestly, I really didn't know what else to write for this chapter, because it literally made no sense for him to continue holding back his metamorphosis when it's literally an all encompassing boost to ones strength.
The author of IPOTE actually has some illustrations of what metamorphosis looks like, so I'll probably include it here:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
I'm probably gonna finish the one year training arc within the next couple of chapters, so we can move onto the main events of the story.
I might take a day or two off just to read through all the source material so I can have accurate character interactions.
Anyways, Thanks for reading and for all the support!)