Echoes of the Abyssal Blade: Path to Free Will-Chapter 71: Beliefs

Jonan followed behind Rhydian listlessly, and after some time, they made their way to a place a bit far from the Starfall Family castle. Only after some time of walking did Jonan start feeling as if they were walking towards a direction he was familiar with.

They were walking towards the field, where Jonan would practice his physical exercises and Battle Arts.

After some contemplation, Jonan didn’t feel much surprised, considering his father was already aware of his plan in forming a nucleus. Still, he was curious about their reason for being here in his practice field.

Rhydian turned his face, which was still covered by his mask, and said, "We will be training here until you are ready for the next mission."

Jonan felt a bit irritated now. First, his father and his men had involved him in catastrophic situations, and because of him, many had died. Yet upon returning, they got started with a mission again.

He couldn’t contemplate what kind of training he would have to go through now, when he could not even go past the first grade of the path to power.

Jonan was not the kind of guy to talk back, and he was also someone with low self-esteem. While the recent mission did change him, it would take far more time for him to regain his confidence, which had been dampened inside him for years.

And the worst thing was, he didn’t think that Rhydian was someone easy to talk to; he felt that talking back would only backfire against him.

So without another word, he started following him.

Rhydian stopped once they reached the practice field. It was wide, barren, and ashen under the greyish clouds of early evening. The air held a biting chill, the kind of cold that clung to the skin and got under one’s bones. Jonan shivered involuntarily.

"Do you know what this field was once used for?" Rhydian asked, voice impassive, muffled faintly behind the mask.

Jonan shook his head.

Rhydian stared at him for a while, then said, "Long ago, this was a place where the traitors of the Starfall Family were burnt to ash for their crimes. The reason behind their actions was only their weakness, they couldn’t survive the harsh lifestyle of the Starfall Family, they only wanted to be like those merchants, who get fat in their riches."

Jonan’s stomach twisted; he had spent countless afternoons here, never knowing everything that had occurred here. There were times when he would wonder why such a large field was left empty.

"Unlike the traitors and their weaknesses, I will help you shed your weakness on this same ground."

Jonan’s eyes widened slightly, What will he shed?

Rhydian gestured for him to follow and led him toward a spot where the grass had long died away, and only cracked, sun-bleached earth remained. From beneath his cloak, Rhydian pulled out a scroll, wrapped in dark leather.

He crouched and unfurled it.

The parchment was old, edges tattered, marked with runes Jonan could barely comprehend. At its center was a crude depiction of a figure surrounded by what appeared to be waves of dark, jagged aura.

"This," Rhydian said, tapping the scroll, "is an incomplete copy of the Domineering Baleful Aura technique; it is a secret technique."

Jonan blinked, he had heard of the Starfall Family’s secret technique before; these secret techniques are passed only to the direct bloodlines of his holiness, who had proven themselves worthy with their strength and courage.

He had never heard of the Domineering Baleful Aura, but it was rumored that there were only seven of these, each with a hero, and if a new one were found, there would be chaos all over the Dreavows continent.

So, how could there be another secret technique apart from the ones that are with the heroes, even if it is an incomplete one.

"As you must have known, Secret Techniques are wondrous and mysterious techniques that cannot be understood easily, while many judge their power for their growth, only by practicing this personally, can someone understand their dread."

"Why would you teach me this?" Jonan asked, the words slipping out before he could catch them.

Rhydian looked at him. "Because you lack what it takes to move forward, you linger in weakness, that is rooted in your heart, I have seen it; you resist fear, but you don’t command it, this technique forces one to confront their deepest mental state, and right now, you have too many to confront."

Jonan gasped, he wanted to be angry; he wanted to tell Rhydian he didn’t understand, that he’d watched his comrades die, that the horrors still clawed at him in the dark. But the words caught in his throat, replaced by a cold weight in his chest.

Rhydian continued, "Understand this, The Domineering Baleful Aura was designed to be cultivated through years of slaughter on battlefields, honing your mental state, and finding your inner calling.

It is incomplete because I do not have the full manuscript, where we could learn about all the ’Beliefs’, but what I have will suffice."

He stood, the wind catching the edges of his cloak.

"You will awaken your aura’s latent malice by ’Beliefs’ in it."

Jonan frowned. "I don’t understand."

Rhydian made a sharp gesture. A black mist coiled from his body like a living serpent. It was oppressive, clinging, cold like death.

"Sit, close your eyes, and breathe it in. Do not resist."

Jonan hesitated.

"Now."

The word cracked like a whip. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Teeth clenched, Jonan sat cross-legged, closing his eyes.

The baleful aura touched him. And immediately, his mind recoiled. Images — bloodied fields, twisted faces, hollow eyes — surged into him. It wasn’t imagination. It was memory, not his own, but impressions within the aura’s miasma.

His heart pounded. Breath hitched. He wanted to scream.

"Breathe. Deeper."

Jonan forced the air into his lungs. The aura sank deeper, wrapping around his bones, worming its way into his thoughts.

He saw the beast abomination again. The one in the ritual chamber. Its eyes gleamed, lips stretched into a too-wide grin.

Jonan’s hands shook.

He could see the abomination now in despair in front of the same baleful aura coming out of Rhydian.

He gritted his teeth until his jaw ached, and sweat beaded on his forehead.

The images sharpened, where a soldier could be seen crying out as he was torn apart, Elias’s final words, the sickening squelch of blood pooling under his boots.

The aura was suffocating, and Rhydian didn’t stop.

Jonan lost track of time.

His body trembled violently, yet he stayed seated.

When he opened his eyes, darkness clouded his vision at the edges, the world felt distant.

Rhydian’s voice, low and gravelly, spoke. "Good, now, gather it, feel it, the hatred, the terror, pull it to your core and shape whatever ’Belief’, you could muster."

Jonan closed his eyes again.

The aura was not just pain, it was the echo of every fear he’d suppressed, every humiliation, every death.

He reached inward.

The darkness pulsed.

His own aura responded, faint, flickering, but it was present, for the first time, he felt it move, albeit it was slow.

It coiled like a snail around his heart.

Rhydian’s aura encircled him, and now Jonan’s flickering presence pushed against it, a tiny ember defying the storm.

Jonan felt his throat tighten. His skin felt raw, but he kept drawing the baleful mist into him. It tasted like iron and old bones.

Then, it happened.

A pulse. Not much. But his own aura lashed outward, defying the press of Rhydian’s.

A moment’s rebellion.

Rhydian exhaled through his mask. "Again."

The training continued, each session bleeding into the next. Day blurred into night. Jonan was deprived of sleep, rest, even proper meals.

They trained in silence most of the time. Rhydian would release his aura, Jonan would sit, drown in it, and fight to mold his own presence against it.

He failed miserably every time, he could not form his ’Beliefs’.

Every time his control slipped, the aura would swallow him, drag him into those visions — his fears would manifest, and his regrets were clawing at him.

Jonan tried his best, but he was failing; while he was silent in front of Rhydian, he had the same thought since he came here, why was he losing everything?

Why was he played around like a toy?

Why wasn’t he given any answers he had questions for?

He wanted to beat up Rhydian for ordering him around, he was in despair, couldn’t Rhydian even feel how upset someone must be to have lost the only way to move forward in the Path to Power?

And so what if he were to learn this secret technique, will it change anything, it will change nothing.

The worst part, this is not even his own family’s authentic secret technique.

Before he could know, Jonan started feeling Hatred.

Hatred against everyone, and everything, nothing would go his way, why does he have to be the one to lose everything, his friends, his cohort, and he feared deep inside his heart that he might lose something more in future.