It had been a week that we were prisoners inside the ring. During that time, the three brothers never stopped feeding the ring with their mana.

Kyle's strength had reached the Grandmaster level. Just a little more time and he would become an Awakened.

He was gaining strength at the cost of his sanity as I had made the process of inserting mana into his body painful enough for him to scream like a dying man. Not knowing when the Magus Gods would become suspicious of something, I had to increase Kyle's strength as fast as I could.

One day later, he became an Awakened Hallowed Swordsman. His eyes became pitch black and dark elements appeared around his body.

It was the sign that he had awakened a Runic Law. He only needed to comprehend it further to reach the Ascendant level and finally inscribe the Rune on his body to reach the Primus level.

Reaching the Primus level would finally allow him to use the Runic Law whenever he felt like using it.

"What is this power that I feel but can't use?" Kyle asked.

I answered, "Hum... You probably awakened a Runic Law related to the darkness element. Hallowed Swordsmen acquire their Runic Law by awakening to it. Magicians have to comprehend it by themselves or steal it..." I stopped to think about the best course of action I could take and a certain spell came to my mind. I continued," I'm going to put you into a deep sleep but your mind will stay awake in your dream. I'm also going to accelerate the time you spend in your dream. You're going to dream for thousands of years but in reality, a few hours would have passed. You can only wake up when you've comprehended your Runic Law. It won't be easy...in the meantime, I'm going to keep pouring mana into your body and purifying your essence, advancing your physical strength...Good luck."

I cast the Timeless Sleep spell on him and watched him close his eyes.

Since he was in a deep sleep and couldn't feel pain anymore, I increased the rate at which I was feeding his body mana. That way it would take several hours before he reached the limit of the physical strength he should have as a Primus Hallowed Swordsman.

Hallowed Swordsmen could become Primus in name with their physical strength without comprehending a Runic Law. They acquired that strength when their essence had been purified to a point where no amount of mana could purify it further.

A few hours after he went to sleep, I decided to spy on his dream to see if he was making any progress. I was also curious about what kind of Runic Law of darkness he had awakened.

"His dream should have lasted a few thousand years by now..." I said as I closed my eyes and entered his dream.

What I saw when I arrived in his dream could've sent chills down my spine if I had one.

I saw body parts scattered everywhere on a plain filled with black flowers.

Kyle...what was left of him, was pinned to a black pillar with two black spikes. One spike in the middle of his chest, the other in his abdomen.

He didn't have any limbs left and those two spikes were the only thing holding him together.

In front of him was a humanoid shadow.

From the looks of it, Kyle appeared to be terrified of the shadow and was even begging it to be left alone.

When I had just arrived, the shadow turned around and then said: "hehe...if it's not the almighty magician. I knew you'd come here eventually."

"Who...what are you?" I asked.

The shadow shook its head and then started to transform. It took Kyle's form and even Kyle's voice as it said, "Don't you recognize me now?" Its pupils were red and the usual white of the eyes was now black.

"I see...he awakened his Dark Form...an evil alter ego. You're his power but you belong only to yourself and he can't use you. What a debacle...but you should prove to be useful in our crisis. What I want now is for you to leave him be." I said.

The shadow then shrugged and another black spike materialized in front of him. He waved his hand and the spike flew and embedded itself in Kyle's head. Kyle then screamed in pain.

The shadow then said: "You see this? He can't even be bothered to fight back in his own dreamscape. How can I share a body with such a wuss? No...I must kill him and keep this body for myself."