The clash of steel, the crack of bone, the roar of pain. These were the sounds that filled the air as Dawn faced the impossible.
Twelve.
Twelve reflections, each mirroring his every movement, each striking like a flawless predator, each pushing him to the very edge of his limits. Every blow landed like a heavy stone on his body, a relentless rhythm of despair that sought to break his spirit.
He was spent. His breath came in ragged gasps, his body sagging under the weight of the battle. Blood stained the cracked earth beneath him, and his mind, once sharp, had become clouded with exhaustion.
---
In the distance, the Grand Instructor remained silent, watching from afar. His eyes narrowed as the scene unfolded before him. Dawn, beaten and broken, was on the brink of collapse. But there was something else — something he had not anticipated.
---
Dawn felt it in his chest — a gnawing emptiness.
This wasn't enough.
The pain, the brutality of the battle, the relentless pressure — it all began to blur together. His body, so worn and battered, screamed for respite, but his mind refused to submit. Every part of him cried out for peace, for an end to the suffering, yet one thing remained clear above it all:
His Desire.
His Desire to Ascend. To become more than what he was. To prove that his existence — his fight — meant something. That his soul could transcend this prison of flesh, this cage of limitations.
---
With a growl of frustration, Dawn rose to his feet, shaking, but not defeated. His reflection, the one standing before him — the one that was him — did not move. It only watched him with cold, mirrored eyes.
There was no escaping. No victory through simple strength. He knew that now. No trick, no technique. No grand strategy would save him. But there was one thing — one primal thing — left.
---
Desire.
It burned within him like a fire that could never be extinguished. His body, tired and battered, trembled as he called on it, not just with his mind or his spirit, but with the very core of his being. His Primal Origin, his very essence — the foundation of who he was — surged up from within him. He wasn't just trying to fight anymore.
He was trying to survive.
---
His halos — the markers of his path, his ascension — began to flicker. Each one trembled in the face of his overwhelming desire, unable to hold against the force building within him.
He didn't know how it would feel. He didn't know what it would cost.
But Dawn was beyond fear now. He had no choice.
---
With a scream that shattered the silence of the realm, Dawn pushed. He forced his Desire forward, through every limit, every barrier that stood before him. His body screamed in protest, his muscles stretched beyond their breaking point, his mind unraveling in the heat of the moment. But it didn't matter.
It didn't matter.
---
The first halo collapsed.
A blinding light exploded from it, and for the briefest moment, Dawn saw everything. His reflection shattered — it was no longer a perfect replica of him. It was a distorted version, splintering as the halo fell. The light it released shattered, fragments of it falling to the ground like stars dying in slow motion.
Dawn gasped, his legs buckling, his vision swimming. But there was no time to rest. The Desire was too strong. Too powerful.
---
The second halo trembled.
The reflection before him shifted — the figure grew more perfect, more familiar. But it was still wrong. It had no Desire, no hunger for Ascension. It was only a reflection, a pale copy.
---
Dawn reached deep into himself, into the very core of his being, and forced it. The second halo shattered, followed by a surge of blinding light. His knees buckled under the weight of the collapse, but he stayed upright, held together only by the fire that burned within him.
---
The battle raged on.
The reflections advanced.
Each one struck.
And each time, a piece of him — his very soul — gave way.
---
The third halo fractured.
Then the fourth.
The fifth.
Each one torn away by his primal Desire, collapsing, cracking, breaking into pieces of light.
The reflections fell, one by one. Each time a halo fell, a reflection shattered, the mirror fragmenting into shards of glass and light, slowly crumbling into nothingness.
Dawn's body was giving out. His limbs were shaking uncontrollably. His skin was seared, his bones groaning under the pressure. But still, he did not stop.
He couldn't.
Not now. Not ever.
---
With one final, desperate cry, Dawn forced his Desire into the last halo, and it broke. The world around him exploded in a blinding brilliance.
---
Twelve reflections stood in the arena.
But not for long.
One by one, they fell, turning to shards, disintegrating into light.
And in that final moment, as the last reflection shattered, Dawn collapsed to his knees, panting, broken.
---
He had done it. He had won. But the cost was steep. His halos, the very symbols of his potential, had fallen. Crushed beneath the weight of his own desire.
---
Time seemed to stop.
The battle was over.
But the price remained.
---
Dawn's chest heaved as he knelt, still trying to catch his breath. His body ached with every fiber of his being. But amidst the pain, amidst the wreckage of his mind and soul, one thing was certain: he had taken the first step toward his true Ascension.
And though his body had been broken, his Desire would never die.
---
[To be continued...]
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