The Unvanquished: Child of Nihility-Chapter 67: Class Override: CATALYST FLAGGED

And without looking back, Morca walked toward the final trial.

---

As promised second bonus Chapter – (Final Trial: Comprehension)

The moment Morca stepped into the chamber, it felt like the world stopped breathing.

No metallic scent. No sterile hum. Only the cold embrace of endless violet mist coiling over obsidian stone. Silence reigned. Not emptiness – but anticipation. The kind that settled deep in the bones.

Before him, a glowing glyph floated mid-air, slowly rotating like a dying star.

Then the system voice echoed – sharp, cold, final.

-----

[System Adjustment: Candidate Genetic Structure Exceeds Standard Parameters]

[Standard Skill Identification Trial Terminated]

[New Protocol: Rere Skill Comprehension – Root Phase Initiated]

-----

Morca frowned.

’Terminated?’

’This wasn’t what Maya described. She said I would identify classes of skills – mortal, rare, epic, legendary, divine.’

’But this... this was something else.’

A ripple passed through the chamber. The glyph shattered, its pieces drifting upward like ash. From the fragments, a ghostly figure projection took form with a blade in hand – a single motion repeating again and again.

A blade slash.

Simple. Clean. Diagonal from shoulder to hip.

-----

[Skill Manifestation: First Slash – Rere Grade]

[Objective: Comprehend its Mystery]

[Current Access: Basic Layer]

-----

Morca took a breath, eyes narrowing. The phantom slash moved again – slower this time, clearer. Yet still elusive.

His instincts twitched. It felt too ordinary. But it wasn’t. Not here.

Comprehend... not imitate. Understand.

He dropped into a cross-legged position, right hand resting on his knee, the other over his chest where his heart beat calmly beneath pale skin.

Inside, two rivers stirred.

Infinity Nihility whispered silence.

Crimson Battle Moon throbbed with rhythm and echo.

They did not clash this time – they spiraled, syncing.

Morca focused.

The projected blade slash repeated, again and again.

And slowly, the layers began to part.

---

At first, Morca’s thoughts scattered.

The slash is too slow. Too basic. There’s no power behind it. Just a form, like a movie playing without substance.

’Wrong. It can’t just be that basic. There’s something I just can’t grasp... something...’

Suddenly, his right crimson eye opened wider in aspiration. Crimson light bloomed within it. He could now see it clearly – like a reflection of himself in a mirror. Though not real, there was life. Because he, too, had life.

The world changed.

The trajectory, once flat, now trembled with data.

His eye began to deconstruct the movement. Every shift of weight, every minor pivot of the ghost’s heel, the angle of the blade edge – details layered like threads in a web.

Morca calmly stood. His black blade, Avoc, materialized in his hand. With one final glance at the projection, he closed his eyes, replaying the ghostly warrior’s movement.

Everything felt alive then.

Swissss...

(That unplaceable sound of a blade cutting through air.)

Morca continued swinging his blade, mirroring the ghostly warrior’s projection perfectly.

-----

[Basic Mystery Comprehension Reached]

----

After hearing that, he paused. And after a long breath, he muttered, "I will call that... the First Slash – Blade Dance."

The screen changed, but this time–

The slash suddenly shimmered with clarity. He saw now how it used simplicity as a disguise. It wasn’t just a downward arc – it was the ideal angle of energy transfer. A strike that balanced reach, speed, and post-strike recoil.

That’s why it’s called the First Slash. It’s the foundation of all blade dance.

Morca’s breathing deepened. Sweat pearled on his forehead. He sat back down, gaze fixed on the ghostly figure projection.

Once again, after a moment, he stood up.

Swisss...

His movement, swing, body balance, and blade all moved in perfect sync – flawlessly.

"I will call you the First Slash – Foundation Flawless."

-----

[Comprehension Depth Expanding... Advanced Mystery Initiated]

-----

The projection once again changed.

It slowed further, and now – the ghostly warrior wasn’t alone. Echoes of resistance formed before him. Shadows of enemies. The First Slash now moved through them – adapting to shape, distance, resistance.

It evolves, Morca realized. Not a fixed movement – but a principle that adapts mid-flow.

His left eye – a swirling abyss – swam with flickering lights. It responded to the deeper rhythm, devouring the essence. Not just physical insight anymore – but conceptual comprehension.

Each swing of the ghost revealed new truths: leverage over defense, the subtle rollback of a shoulder to hide intent, the shift in breath to mislead an opponent’s rhythm.

-----

[Advanced Mystery Reached – Efficiency, Deception, Adaptability]

-----

This time, he didn’t need to display the move, as the blade aura around him already expressed what he had comprehended.

"I will name this... the First Slash – Illusion Blade"

Because this move is unpredictable, misleading the opponent’s senses.

---

Then the pain struck.

A pulse slammed into his skull like a spike of ice. His body stiffened. The chamber shivered.

-----

[WARNING: Candidate Cognitive Strain 72%]

[Limit Approaching. Recommend Termination of Trial.]

-----

The system didn’t want him to go further.

His vision blurred – but only for a moment. His right eye flared brighter. A ring of symbols ignited around the pupil, one by one, glowing crimson.

I’ve wielded blades since I could walk. I’ve used skills that eclipse this a hundredfold. This slash–

– isn’t too simple.

It’s too honest.

The mist shifted. The blade projection rose once more.

This time, Morca rose with it.

He mimicked the motion, slowly. Matching the ghost – frame for frame.

Not just observing now. Feeling it. Letting the mysteries enter his bones.

The mist wrapped around his arms. His back straightened. His stance rooted.

-----

[Master Mystery Comprehension Threshold Breached]

-----

Time fractured.

He felt it.

The First Slash was not about technique. It was about intention – the will to end a battle before it began. A principle of purity. The first truth of violence.

It demanded precision.

It embodied resolve.

It left no room for second chances.

The final projection appeared before him.

This time – no ghostly warrior. Only a single sword suspended in light, unmoving.

His mind fell silent.

Then, the world cracked open.

His hand moved.

Not to mimic.

But to become.

And in that swing – he saw everything.

The Perfect Mystery unfolded like a lotus.

Not just the slash—but the world’s response. Wind curving with the blade. Space bending around intent. Time softening at the edge. In this motion – there was no blade. There was no enemy. Only the act itself.

Perfect Mystery: First Slash – Soul Echo

[Perfect Mystery Attained: First Slash – Soul Echo Synced]

[Candidate has exceeded trial parameters.]

[Recording Locked. Trial Concluded.]

Morca stood still, breath held, eyes wide.

He exhaled.

And the projection vanished.

The obsidian beneath him lit with a golden line. A path leading back to the portal.

Behind him, the system voice returned – quieter this time.

-----

Candidate: Morca Sherman – Trial Complete

Result: Perfect Mystery of rere Skill Comprehended

Evaluation: Forbidden Tier Insight

Status: Comprehension Trial – Cleared

-----

The pressure faded. The mist retreated.

And Morca walked forward – his expression unreadable, the knowledge of that single slash still ringing in his bones like the aftermath of a divine bell. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

As the shimmering light of the trial faded behind him, Morca emerged once more into the golden-hued Physique Trial Hall.

The hall felt... quieter. Still.

Maya’s gaze was already locked on him. Her arms had dropped to her sides, and the usual unreadable expression she wore was nowhere to be found. In its place – quiet disbelief.

His steps were slow, yet steady. The sweat on his skin had cooled, the weight of insight lingering on his shoulders like an invisible mantle.

Then, it happened.

The golden lights of the trial hall dimmed – just for a moment.

A vibration passed through the floor. A hum.

The Monument Tower ...

Outside the hall, above the very heart of Eden Domineer Academy, the ancient monolith began to pulse.

The tower – tall enough to pierce the clouds, made of smooth black stone veined with silver circuitry – lit up. Lines of glowing runes spiraled up its body in sequence, and at the peak, a dome-shaped crystal beacon radiated blinding light.

And then – it lit up a projection.

A colossal screen of light unfolded in the sky above the academy grounds, so vast that it could be seen from every region of EDA – training fields, dormitories, lecture halls, and private practice chambers.

Students and instructors alike froze, turning their eyes upward.

Even ongoing combat trials halted as voices fell silent.

The projection stabilized – and a name appeared.

-----

Candidate: Morca Sherman

Trial: Comprehension – Completed

Result: Perfect Mystery of Rere Skill Achieved

Skill: First Slash (Rere Grade)

Mystery Tier: Perfect

Bloodline Insight Level: Forbidden Tier Compatibility

-----

Silence followed.

Then–

Gasps. Shouts. Disbelief.

"Perfect Mystery?"

"That’s impossible – he’s not even a first-year yet!"

"What does Forbidden Tier Compatibility mean?!"

Maya’s head slowly tilted up to look at the projection. Her heartbeat skipped.

’The system broadcasted it... why? Why would it display something meant to be confidential?’ Her mind raced. ’Unless –’

Unless something forced the tower.

She turned to Morca.

He was standing still. Not surprised. Not proud.

Just... watching.

Like he already knew.

And then, from within the tower itself – something stirred.

---

Within the Monument Tower – Inner Core

Beneath the layers of data, beneath the visible circuits and system vaults, there was a core – untouched by any hand, unreadable by any administrator.

Only the Principal and a few others knew it existed.

A place of pure, locked silence.

But now... it breathed.

Within the heart of the core, a presence awakened.

It did not move. It did not speak.

It simply watched.

A thousand crystalline data threads lit up in sequence. The core scanned the name now pulsing across every skyboard.

Morca Sherman.

A waveform pulsed. A command decoded.

-----

[Observation Class Override: CATALYST FLAGGED]

[Trigger Source: Perfect Mystery Comprehension – Unauthorized Depth]

[System Integrity Sync... 97%... 98%... 99%...]

[Awakening Key: Denied. Delay Protocol Engaged.]

-----

Yet the presence continued watching. It saw the convergence of bloodlines. It saw Infinity Nihility. It saw Crimson Battle Moon.

And it remembered.

This one was not part of the original cycle.

It had not selected him.

Yet here he stood, fracturing the system from within.

The presence pulsed once, releasing a wave of invisible data. No one felt it.

No one but Morca.

---

Back in the Trial Hall

Morca stiffened.

The hairs on his skin lifted. For a heartbeat, the air around him grew heavy. He felt... observed.

Not by Maya. Not by the instructors.

But by something beyond the walls. Something older than the academy itself.

His left eye swirled slowly.

It remembered this feeling.

He had felt it twice before.

Once – right before he entered the Strength Trial, in that dark space. The strange presence, the sense of being tested beyond the norm, had filled his body.

Again – during the Reflexes Trial, when he had activated Blank, and a sensation swept through the corridor as if something had taken note.

Now, it returned. Stronger, Colder and, familiar.

"It’s watching again," Morca whispered to himself.