The airship brought them to one of Akatsuki Clan's private-owned island.
From there, Akio and Fumi, along with the clan's children were brought to a massive formation.
They were told that by meditating inside the formation, their soul will be able to enter the Rite of Passage's realm. They are also advised not to cause trouble, as there will be children from the all across the world participating in this trial. After wishing them good luck, they started the formation.
The trial-takers including Akio and Fumi soon entered the formation and started to meditate.
The formation lit up, and the trial-takers entered the trial realm.
When Akio opened his eyes again, he was already in the Rite of Passage's mysterious realm.
He inspected his surroundings, and was astonished by the number of trial takers. There were even old people among the trial takers!
'Age was never a requirement for the rite of passage. Only skill, courage and a bit of luck. It seems this saying is indeed true.'
Akio then inspected the space they were in. The ground they were standing on is pure white in color. It was faintly emitting bright light.
The sky, on the other hard, seemed dark enough to swallow his soul, should he dare to continue to gaze at it.
"Welcome, trial takers, to the mysterious realm of the Rite of Passage of Fuin Mark Masters!"
An ethereal voice sounded in his mind.
The voice seemed familiar to Akio, but he can't remember where he heard the voice. Finally, he gave up pondering the issue any further as the voice started speaking again.
All the trial takers instantly perked up and started listening carefully.
"Fuin Mark differs from person to person, dependent on their experiences, personality and character. As such, the content of the trial will differ from individual to individual, based on their own understanding of the world, and their desires.
Note that the trial realm is constructed based on your own soul realm. If you die inside the trial realm, your soul will be damaged, resulting in either death or permanent incapacity. Don't forget that fact and take caution.
The trial will start from the moment you enter the portals. We wish you good luck!"
After the voice finished speaking, portals started appearing everywhere in this mysterious realm.
"Are you nervous?", Fumi asked Akio.
"Nope. I'm sure I'll get the power up." Akio answered with indifference and utmost confidence.
"Did I tell you how much I envy your useless sense of overconfidence?". Never once did Fumi see Akio with a poor mood. He was always full of enthusiasm and confidence in whatever he did.
"It's not overconfidence. I'm just strong. It's as simple as that."
Akio is confident in his strength and hard work. But that's not where his confidence from. Akio's confidence stems from his deep-rooted chuunibyou. He never once doubted himself, and never let others influence his beliefs. He sees the world as a game, and looks at everyone as the characters of the game, including himself. From how he sees things, everyone is a main character of their own game. And letting his powers get to his head is a surefire way to become a villain.
Even in his past life, this deep-rooted chuunibyou is what churned Akio to take action when he saw a the little girl and the speeding truck, as he believed that to be his chance to get isekai'd. He firmly believed that isekai truly existed, and acted on that belief without hesitation. Even when death was near, he was only ecstatic that his chance has finally come.
He was not relieved when he got isekai'd but instead accepted it as a forgone conclusion. Excitement for wielding supernatural powers was the only thing in his mind.
He used that excitement for training as hard as he can. He knows it will be a training arc until he gets the Fuin Mark. So he never once slacked off. So that he can unlock more maps and explore the world, adventure more dungeons aka realms, combat powerful raid bosses aka spirits, he knows strength is necessary. That was why, he has been waiting and training diligently.
"No game is undefeatable. If you use your resources correctly and practically, it's possible to defeat even an almost-impossible game. I used my resources as best as I can and prepared for the upcoming raid. Why should I be nervous?"
"Stop comparing this to a game. You might die for real, you know? Aren't you at least a bit nervous?"
"Why would I? The boss monster is not undefeatable. Didn't mother say that there is ten percent chance for the raid to be successful? I've played games with worse chances."
"Sigh, why am stuck with such a weird ass chuuni? Your explanations don't make it any better for me."
Akio ignored her and entered the portal. He can't control his excitement anymore.
"Well, see you later.", Akio said one last line before entering the portal.
"...dumbass."
It was unknown who she was referring to, but Fumi followed after him and entered the portal.
Akio opened his eyes.
"I see. So this is that type of setting. A flashback to the past, huh?"
"Precisely. Isn't it melancholic?" A voice sounded from behind him.
This was his past life's home. A lonely home.
When Akio turned around, he was greeted with a familiar face. It was his past self.
"Are you the Boss? Is it enough if I just defeat you? Or maybe, is this the plot where you are supposed to be some alternate self of mine, where I have to defeat you to 'conquer myself'?"
"Well, I won't deny-"
And the alternate self was promptly punched by Akio.
Due to applying mana in his punch, a huge hole was made in this place, destroying everything a few hundred meters in front of him.
But soon, the alternate self somehow reappeared in the same place, with not a single hair out of place.
"Don't you know it's proper manners to allow the boss to say his monologue?"
"It's already a common plot to not allow the boss to finish his monologue. Now, it seems my second assumption is more accurate. Should I conquer my fears or something?"
"Sigh, these days, the plots are getting so overused that it's frankly boring. Don't you agree?"
"I agree. But even if that is so, every plot, however overused, deserves to have a place and be read."
"Umu. You are right."
With that, the location changed.
They are now floating in the air, a few kilometers above the Earth, his past life's planet.
"You are now strong, Akio. Don't you want to show the world what true power is?"
"No. I need to conquer the final boss. You are just the mid boss, aren't you?"
"Fufu, why are you so sure there must be a final boss?"
"Aren't you supposed to be me? Surely, you know why. You are just here to give me a power up to fight the final boss."
"Why are you so eager to get powerful? You have worked hard enough to get near death many times. Wouldn't your mother and your step-sisters help you should you need it?"
"Useless question. Would you ignore leveling up the main character and just increase your allies' strength? Even your allies' strength will stop leveling up at some point due to the main character's level cap. In that case, the player will drag both the main character and his allies into game over. I would never make sure a noob mistake."
"...What would happen if those people die because you are busy leveling yourself up?"
"Then that only means it's an inevitable plot. Those are fairly common. Would you stop playing just because your favorite character dies in the game? It would be a shame, yes. And I would sad, of course. But not moving forward and getting more powerful is just idiotic. Trusting the teammates to follow is just basic. If they can't, it's just inevitable."
" At some point, they can't catch up with you. You will be alone. Slowly but surely, the rift between you will grow further and further."
"The difference between the main character's and the teammates' strength doesn't mean that the teammates are useless. They exist for plot. For a reason. There will surely be a way to increase the teammates' strength again. If I don't find it, it only means that I'm not strong enough for doing that yet."
"What would you do if you truly become the strongest there is, and there is no way to get stronger?"
"Even if I max out my level, there will be other things I can unlock. This is a sandbox type game. I will never run out of stuff to do."
"...what would you do if you actually become the strongest person there is?"
"I don't know. Rather, it's useless to think about that before becoming the strongest. It's a common plot that if the main character didn't start to get stronger with a goal in mind, after enough plot happens, he'd find his goal. I'm sure that this is that type of story."
"Do you consider yourself as the main character of a story?"
"Who knows? It's possible. But isn't everyone the same? Everyone is the main character of their own story. The way they play the game determines their end. Right now, it's only the training arc. It's still too soon to determine what my character is. I first have to finish the tutorial and play the game for a while before determining my role in the plot."
"Even if you are just a mob character?"
"Even mob characters get to become the main characters in many plots these days."
"Fufu, you are interesting."
"You stopped acting as my alter ego a while ago."
"Well, I never said I was your alter ego. My form is determined by the person closest to you. It seems you consider yourself to be the closest to you. What a lonely life you are leading. Sigh, I wonder what they are teaching kids these days.
"Then who are you? Are you the boss? Or are you not?" Akio asked.
"I'm just here on the request of the trial grounds. The first boss, so to speak. Since your resolve was firm and you didn't doubt yourself, you've passed with flying colors.
The next trial will be designed to make you understand what you didn't about the Fuin Mark, but it seems that you've already understood it clear enough, and passed automatically. Well, it's fairly common, since those who came here have already come prepared.
Next, will be the test of strength. Defeat a clone of yourself to pass. You need to have a thorough understanding of your own strength and weaknesses to be able to defeat the clone.
I wish you good luck!"
With that, in the place of his past self lookalike, his current-self lookalike appeared.
Akio instantly started the battle.
Cursed techniques, supernatural spells, Taijutsu. He used all techniques he knew of.
Akio battled his clone for an unknown amount of time.
While he was battling the clone, he saw many flaws in his techniques through the Six Eyes. Inconsistent techniques, wasteful moves, improper use of energy, and all sorts of things were seen through and continuously improved.
He knows this is a rare opportunity to improve himself, so even when he saw a few opportunities to defeat the clone, he simply ignored them.
He continued to improve, and improve, and improve, until he wasn't able to .
He can't learn anymore from this clone. So he killed it without wasting any more time.
Then everything became black.
Akio entered a strange state of mind.
He felt as if he experienced a kind of dream. But he can't recall it clearly.
An unknown how much time passed in his dream.
By the time he opened his eyes, he was in front of the same fake alter ego person.
"Congratulations! You successfully passed the trial and obtained your own Fuin Mark!"
Akio nodded and looked at his right hand. There was a seven-pointed star on the back of his right hand. It is his own Fuin Mark.
He can feel it. All his stats have undergone a drastic change. Especially his mana. He can feel that its' increase is very, very significant. To get a good idea, he looked at his status.
[Health: 25,000/25,000(⬆15,000)
Mana: 55,000/55,000(⬆30,000)
Spiritual power: 10,000/10,000(⬆7,500)]
When he looked at the figures, Akio was slightly astonished. The boost that the Fuin Mark provided is very significant.
His health and mana have more than doubled. Especially his spiritual power. It increased by four times!
He didn't know if this is normal, but judging by the fact that the fake alter ego isn't saying anything, it seemed normal.
"Every Fuin Mark is distinct. It is based on their own understanding of the world and themselves. With the growth of the Master, the Fuin Mark itself undergoes changes.
From what I see, the boost you've received seemed to be in the upper end of the spectrum.
Be sure to remember, no matter how strong you become, you are, in the end, a Fuin Mark Master. Someone whose duty is to maintain the balance between the spirit realm and the human realm. Never forget this fact. Well then-"
"Wait, there's one more thing."
"Hmm? Do you want to ask something? You should already know the Fuin Mark's functions, right? You passed the second trial, after all."
"No, I'd like to try something."
Akarui quickly used his One-Time Skill Upgrade he received from the starter pack on the Fuin Mark skill in his status page.
He was then plunged into darkness again, into that dream world
"When the spirits cross over to the human realm, they are no more restrained by the rules of the spirit realm.
As such, after a certain amount of time passes, they become mindless and insane.
But here's the problem. If the number of spirits in the human realm increases, the balance between the two worlds become off.
If the balance collapses completely, then it would lead to mutual destruction of both the realms."
Akio felt as if someone was speaking, but he can't hear it clearly. It seemed the voice talked about balance? Is this about the Fuin Mark Masters?
"He~, isn't that the just the generally accepted explanation? The Fuin Mark Masters exist to restrain the spirits, restore their sanity and allow them to exist in the human world without becoming mindless monsters. 'The Keepers of Balance', so to speak. Why are you telling me this?"
It was another voice. Akio tried to listen clearly. He felt as if he understood something, and he also felt as if he didn't understand anything. As soon as he thought about what the speaker talked about, the memories seemed to disperse into nothingness. He is perplexed and was wondering if this is a lucid dream, but the voice continued to talk without heeding his internal dilemma.
"It's because I have a new theory about the realms. We are always concerned about the balance between the 'two realms', but what if, instead of just two realms, there are an even more number of realms? I think that it's more possible than not."
"It'll be scary if that is truly the case. The Fuin Mark Masters have their hands full maintaining the balance between just two realms. If more realms are added into the picture, I don't know if the world will survive the breaking balance."
"Haha, here's an even more interesting theory. It's about the Fuin Mark's rite of passage trial realm. We all know that it came to be as a result of the weakening boundary between the two realms, to produce a balance keeping mechanism. I think, if some other realm starts to get entangled in the balance between the two worlds, another balance keeping mechanism will be born. In other words, -"
Akio wanted to listen to the explanation more. But that thought was soon replaced with confusion.
'Eh? What were they talking about before?'
The voice started becoming distant, along with his memories.
Akio was greeted with a system alert as soon as he woke up.
[Ding! Upgrade completed! Congratulations, host, for getting a Nine Heavenly Bodies Fuin Mark!]
Akio looked at the back of his right hand. His Fuin Mark changed into a solar system-looking Mark. There was the sun at the center, surround which there were eight planets.
"It seems you woke up. You somehow entered the state of Fuin Mark comprehension again."
'It seems that what happened isn't normal. Well, figure. Not everyone has a system like me.'
"Is it normal?", Akio asked, just in case he needs to hide the information in the real world.
Standing before him is a spirit, and is bound by the rules of the Rite of Passage trial realm, so he wouldn't be able to disclose his information. If what happened is not normal, Akio should avoid talking about it so as to not attract unwanted attention. That was what all main characters do, and Akio decided to follow the tradition.
"Well, it's not impossible to enter that state, but generally, the new Fuin Mark would never be as stable as the old one. Of course, it's possible to get a stable Fuin Mark too, but it was only heard of to happen in legends. Compared to before, your new Fuin Mark seems more stable and powerful. How did you do it?"
"I just wished for an skill upgrade to happen, and it did."
He looked at Akio for a while and spoke.
"... It seems you are speaking the truth.... This is ridiculous.... You know what, it doesn't matter. My job is already done. Here, the exit. Go on."
A portal appeared in front of Akio.
"Well then, until next time. I wish you good luck in your endeavors, Irregular-san."
Before he was able to reply, the portal sucked Akio in.
Akio found himself standing in the Rite of Passage's realm.
"Congratulations, trial taker! You've successfully passed the Rite of Passage and are now considered a full-fledged Fuin Mark Master!"
He heard the ethereal voice again. This time, he remembered that he heard the voice in the dream he had in the trial, but as soon as that thought came to him, he seemed to forget about that. He just looked at his status page.
[Health: 50,000/50,000(⬆25,000)
Mana: 110,000/110,000(⬆55,000)
Spiritual power: 25,000/25,000(⬆15,000)]
After looking at the stats, Akio is very satisfied. His stats have increased very significantly!
His previous Fuin Mark increased his health and mana by two times, and spiritual power by four times. Compared to that, his new Fuin Mark increased his health and mana by more than four times, and spiritual power by ten times!
'As expected of a System's gift. It's extraordinary as expected.
"In addition to giving a boost to your defense, attack and health, the Fuin Mark also has a lot of functions. What functions the Fuin Mark has, differs from individual to individual. You need explore the Fuin Mark in your mindscape to find out about those functions."
Akio decided to check those functions later, but first, he concentrated on what the voice said.
"After becoming a Fuin Mark Master, you are now eligible to receive a Fuin Armament. The Fuin Armament resonates with your Fuin Mark, and amplifies the functions of your Fuin Mark. When you are ready to receive your Fuin Armament, please proceed to the portal before you."
A new portal appeared before Akio.
Without hesitation, Akio entered the portal.
After entering the portal, Akio is greeted by what seemed to be armory.
There are all sorts of weapons here. From swords, spears, bows and arrow, to modern weapons such as handguns, shotguns, and even badass looking missile launchers.
But they were all grey in color.
While Akio was looking at the new place, his Fuin Mark seemed to resonate with something.
Akio felt as if something was calling him.
'He~, so fantasy-like. As expected of a supernatural world.'
Akio followed the feeling, and soon reached the place where he is getting the feeling.
It was a crown, floating in the air. It's black in color, and has shining blue gems embedded in it.
Just it's mere existence seemed to be screaming 'I'm the king!'.
'Well, it seems it's not a weapon. Considering that I have the Taijutsu skill, a weapon will only be a hindrance. Good for me, I guess?'
Akio reached out to the crown and injected his mana into his armament.
Then he absorbed it into his Fuin Mark.
With just a thought, the armament came out from the Fuin Mark, and fit perfectly on his head.
'Fufu, I've become more cool.'
Akio did all sorts of mysterious poses before being satisfied and making his way to the exit portal.
"Congratulations on getting your own Fuin Armament!"
As soon as Akio re-entered the Rite of Passage's realm, he was greeted by the ethereal voice in his head.
"The Fuin Armament is something that solely belongs to you. It is bound to you, and will grow alongside you. Of course, as long as you have your Fuin Mark, the Fuin Armament can regenerate indefinitely even if it's destroyed temporarily.
With the Fuin Armament as a medium, the Fuin Mark will be able to create a separate mirror space, called the 'instance realm', where any damage done will not be reflected in reality, and also allows for summoning spirits without the risk of them going insane.
The Fuin Armament also helps in sending the spirits back to the spirit realm through the instance realm, which is necessary to maintain the balance of the human and spirit realms. As such, with the Fuin Armament as a medium, the Fuin Mark will be able to execute its' true purpose.
Well then, that will be all the explanation. Don't forget to check your Fuin Mark's new functions through your mindscape after returning to reality.
Your Rite of Passage trial will end now."
Akio's Rite of Passage ended in such note, and he was sent back to reality.
PlusDog· Jul 31, 2022
Lynch· Oct 27, 2021
