The figure who called herself Melioris stood facing Shija. Her smile was the same mask of kind anticipation, but her heterochromatic eyes glowed with an intense and genuine curiosity.

"Now then, dear guide, is that what you call yourself...?"

Melioris paused, observing the downed swordsman with the same fascination that one would dedicate to a rare, resilient insect.

"Do you wish to continue?"

Her question, articulated with the overlaid melody of a child and a mature woman, did not seek surrender. It was an invitation, made with expectation, for Shija to show her how far his determination would go.

(WSSHHHHH!)

Immediately afterward, without moving a single muscle, Melioris released a monstrous quantity of aura.

(FUUUUUUUUM!)

It was not an explosion of energy, but a tide as the aura expanded in the air, manifesting as a dense, eternal ocean.

(DOOOOONNN!)

"!!"

Then, incalculable pressure descended upon Shija.

(What pressure!!)

It was not only physical force; it was an existential coercion intended to measure and, if possible, crush the will.

"Gaghh...!"

The pressure was such that a forced guttural groan escaped the swordsman's lips.

(KRAAAAAAASH!)

Thus, a cascade of energy fell upon Shija, who tried to use the pommel of his katana, which he still held, to support himself and stand up.

(CRRRRKKK!)

However, despite his muscles straining to the limit, his efforts were useless.

"Hng...hng!"

Covered in cold sweat that soaked his bandages, he could not move a single muscle.

"Ugh!"

The pressure held him pinned to the earth as if the weight of a continent had fallen upon his shoulders.

"Grrr..."

Nevertheless, despite his immobility, Shija’s eyes, fixed on the figure of Melioris, filled with a cold and absolute determination.

"How amusing you are, 'guide'."

Melioris, perceiving the unbreakable will that Shija was trying to project under that pressure, slightly tilted her head, her smile unaltered.

"However..."

But despite that, Melioris soon let out a slow, perfectly formed sigh, a sound that conveyed a quiet, profound disappointment.

"You are doing it wrong."

Melioris pronounced condemnatorily as the pressure on Shija increased slowly, inexorably.

(KABOOOOM!)

It was not a sudden peak, but the quiet weight of a mountain settling.

"Gggggg!"

Shija groaned, the pressure crushing him further against the ground as he felt his plates and ribs groan under the load.

(CRRRRKKK!)

The pain of his previous wound was magnified a hundredfold. His face contorted into a grimace of agony as he desperately tried to move, if only a finger.

"Did all your training up to this point teach you nothing, dear guide?"

It was in this situation that Melioris tilted her head a bit more, her smile remaining intact.

"You cling to the sword, to your form, to your pulse. It is a beautiful defense, but useless."

The overlaid voice turned condescending, almost maternal in its mockery.

"Why do you cling to brute force?"

Melioris remained still, curiously watching the swordsman's futile struggle under the oppression of her aura.

"Despite having everything you need..."

The overlaid voice became clearer, colder.

"Even when I myself gave you a hint."

That single sentence resonated in Shija's shattered mind with the clarity of a bell toll.

(What does that mean?!)

On the threshold of life and death, Shija felt his thoughts spinning in a spiral, desperately searching for the truth.

(No matter how fast or precise my cut was, no matter how much speed or power I applied!)

His mind projected the memories of his exhausting training sessions.

(Against Silver and Goldie, my attacks always failed! I was unable to hit them!)

But while Shija was drowning in his memories...

"If you cannot overcome your limits here and now..."

Melioris intensified the punishment, her overlaid voice resonating directly in the swordsman's consciousness.

(VRRRRUMMM!!)

"AARGHH!"

The pressure sank him further and further into the earth.

"If you cannot see the answer in front of you... Then... You should die."

Shija's muscles screamed, and dark blood flowed more profusely with every moment.

(My attacks always failed by an infinitesimal margin! Why?)

He was at the point of no return.

(I cannot die!!)

But under the intense pressure where his thoughts accelerated as death approached.

(I made an oath!!)

Shija finally found a clue.

(CONCENTRATE!!)

His mind, on the verge of collapse, became sharp in a way he had never known before.

(FOCUS!!)

Through the phenomenon of experiencing the threshold between life and death, Shija's survival instinct—the most primary and pure of reflexes—began to act.

"Well, well..."

His senses, which had always been sharp, sharpened exponentially.

"But how interesting."

Suddenly, Shija could feel, with a superior depth and complexity, the energetic flow that surrounded Melioris.

"Not bad at all~!"

Not only the oppression, but the invisible pulse of the figure's synchronization, the way her consciousness altered the physical laws around her.

"HAAAA...!!"

Under the crushing pressure, Shija’s mind, sharpened by the proximity of death, broke free.

"It's about time!"

Suddenly, his amplified vision registered not only the oppression but the nature of the aura that composed it through Ki.

(RUUUUOOOOSH!)

Then Shija saw it...

(KAAAAAWOOOM!)

Melioris’s aura was like a gigantic ocean.

"What are you waiting for...?"

But even an ocean hides currents and points of lesser density.

"!!"

Shija felt how the pressure concentrated in certain places, leaving small voids or energetic fissures.

(Slash!!)

He seized the opportunity to evade the pressure that was holding him, launching a cut by centering all his will, not on pushing against the force, but on channeling his own Ki through those weak points.

"Your rhythm improved!"

The invisible cutting wave rushed toward the figure who, for the first time since her appearance, tilted her head, not for amusement, but out of necessity.

(Zas!)

Melioris thus finally moved, taking a single step backward.

"Haaaah... Haaa!!"

That single, minuscule movement, performed with a speed that Shija's trained eye could barely register, was the greatest victory he had obtained as the oceanic pressure suddenly dissipated.

(PLAF, PLAF, PLAF, PLAF!!)

At the same time, Melioris brought both hands forward, clapping happily.

"Congratulations!"

Fragment 8 – The Test is Over

Thus Melioris stopped clapping, her smile becoming wide and satisfied again.

"In that moment...!"

Melioris then pointed to the ground from which Shija had freed himself.

"You took your first step to overcome your limits!"

Saying that, Melioris calmly walked away, strolling relaxed toward the inn.

"...."

Hearing that, Shija remained immobile and incredulous, his body aching, but his mind alert, while the adrenaline rush that had sustained him faded before the words and relaxed behavior of the figure named Melioris, who was leaving without looking back at him.

Without understanding the situation, but still keeping his guard up, Shija demanded, his voice deep and heavy with resentment:

"What... what are you playing at? Who the hell are you, really?"

"Huh...? Didn't you hear my introduction?!"

Melioris, with her tranquil smile, tilted her head in confusion, feigning panic at the revelation.

"Stop playing games!"

In response, Shija gritted his teeth, pointing the tip of his katana at her.

"I will scream, if I have to! Tell me what you are playing at!"

"Playing...?"

Hearing the question, Melioris slowly tilted her head, then began to levitate, rising into the air effortlessly.

"Nothing in particular. Well, Brownie, you can come out now!"

And in response to her words, a liquid Bronze mass emerged from the neck of her dress, taking the form of headphones as it settled on her ears.

"I was only testing you. Your development is so, so slow. But you've finally taken a small step."

Melioris then reclined in the air with utter nonchalance, crossing her arms over her chest, ignoring the katana pointing at her.

"..."

In response to her behavior, Shija did not lower his guard, even with the sword held high in a battle stance.

"Although with all the excitement, I definitely attracted attention..."

But Melioris completely ignored Shija's tense figure. Her heterochromatic eyes looked toward the sky, a calm and relaxed monologue escaping her lips, as if she were conversing with the air.

"They'll probably arrive in about. Three... two... one..."

And right at the end of Melioris's silent countdown, the horizon of the rustic inn came to life.

("Mom!!")

("!!")

(Mom!) (Mom!) (Mom!) (Mom!)

From the inn, a swarm of thousands of straw dolls led by a small silver armor and a levitating golden variant with a cape advanced cheerfully.

"That reaction..."

Seeing the scene before him, Shija, his body still sore from the punishment, finally understood upon watching Melioris immediately be swallowed by a stampede that rushed toward her in such a way, what her true identity was.

"You... do you have something to do with Mireya?"

"What a curious question!"

Hearing the question, Melioris poked her head out of the cheerful tumult of dolls, her silver hair with vibrant green streaks messy from the outpouring of affection.

"To answer you: in part, I am Mireya, and yet I am not~"

Her heterochromatic eyes landed on Shija as she answered, lowering her shoulders, downplaying the complex nature of her own being.

"That's why there's no problem..."

Then, her smile transformed, becoming one of kind and serene motherhood as she turned her head toward a nearby tree.

"You can come out now, dear. Introductions are less fun if you hide."

In response, a fairy timidly emerged from the tree trunk, looking in confusion.

"M-Mom...?"

"Hehehe... Yes, yes, that's right."

In that way, Melioris let out a soft laugh and approached the little fairy while the crowd of Straw Dolls moved with her, accompanying her. Melioris crouched slightly in the air and gently rubbed the fairy against her cheek.

"It's nice to meet you this way."

"Mom~!"

In that way, seeing the scene and the tests, Shija finally calmed down, lowering his guard....

"Ugh..."

(PLAF!)

... Collapsing to the ground immediately, breathless after sighing.

"Well, are you still conscious...?"

"...."

Shija, having no strength left to reply, remained silent, unable to move his body.

However, the figure in the straitjacket and the dark gothic dress straightened up in the air, her heterochromatic eyes shining with excitement.

"Hey, hey, guide, now that introductions are done, there's something I need to ask you!"

"There's a place I want to go."

Saying that, Melioris smiled... Without anyone yet knowing her true intention...