Zhao Luo’s Mental World, The Dark Space.

Zhao Luo and his nine apparitions were beating the drums. 

The group on the left ring.

Their goal was to increase the endurance of the body by taking in the damage from the first drum of the fourth row again and again.

For that, they would have to rack up the echoes from the first drum of the first row till the fifth drum of the third row. So they kept on doing that.

These apparitions felt like a boomerang. Zhao Luo in a sense had thrown them inside the ring and the first drum of the fourth row would throw them out of the ring. There was no way that the apparitions could just adjust to this as they would be thrown out of the ring because of the intensity of the attack by the first drum of the fourth row. Then they would be going back up as Zhao Luo hadn’t told them to stop, well not yet.

The first time they were sent flying by that drum, it was by a good distance from the ring. 

The second time they fell a step less than their last fall. 

The third time the distance had lessened by another step. 

This continued.

Zhao Luo hadn’t noticed but that distance was reduced but even after the distance had reduced it was still by a very little margin. Almost by 10 steps.

That is the upgraded apparition would have their endurance increased every time they would take the drum’s attack. They were getting stronger than how they were when Zhao Luo had summoned them.

If they were summoned with ‘1 endurance point’ now they were at 10 endurance points.

Every time their endurance increased, their strength would increase to just half of the increase in their insurance.

So by now, these apparitions had already increased their strength and endurance which was very much related to ‘their stamina and the force which was the counting factor in their defensive ability.

Whereas Zhao Luo and the other apparitions on the other ring were still going through the strength controlling training.

They would hit the drums just hard enough to get only three echoes. No one had made a mistake yet.

The attack these apparitions would face by the first drum of the fourth row was only half as powerful as the attack that the apparitions on the other ring were facing. But still, it was enough to send them flying.

Zhao Luo who was already beating the third drum of the fourth row looked at his two apparitions that were sent flying one after another.

‘Are they improving?’

Zhao Luo questioned himself as this was already their eleventh try. And yet these apparitions were still stuck at the first drum of the fourth row.

“Are you guys slacking? Do you guys want to run around the rings instead?” 

Zhao Luo shouted at them.

He had to admit that it wasn’t a fun feeling to shout at himself.

As Zhao Luo shouted at the apparitions that were with him, the apparitions on the other ring started beating the drum even more wildly than before.

While the apparition on the ring Zhao Luo was on, tried their best to take the attack of the drum without falling back.

‘They have definitely improved.’

Zhao Luo’s earlier questioned was answered as he smiled while looking at his hardworking apparitions.

‘How strong will I become once I assimilate them?’

Zhao Luo pondered. 

As he may already be strong enough to clear the Drums of Bellum.

Zhao Luo became quiet for a moment and then solely focused on beating the drum in front of him.

He was trying to get the sound of the drum to echo ten times after he beats it.

Zhao Luo was also on his eleventh try but he still hadn’t given up.

The third drum of this row was like a cursed number for Zhao Luo. He would always end up getting 8 or 9 echoes on this drum. Always falling by a single or two echoes.

Every time Zhao Luo failed at the third drum he would go back to the first drum of the first row and start it over. But this time, the eleventh turn, Zhao Luo could feel it. 

This was the moment that he gets ten echoes on all the five drums of the fourth row.

‘AHH~.’

Zhao Luo screamed as he hit the drum stick on the drumhead with all his might and with perfect form.

“BO~OM.”

The sound produced by the drum was heard by everyone in the dark space. That sound dispersed in the surrounding.

‘Mhmm.’

Zhao Luo felt nervous as the echoes of that sound started coming back.

‘Boom.’

‘Boom.’

.

.

.

“That’s eight. Give me two more. Please.”

Zhao Luo thought as the eighth echo sounded out.

He wished that he could get the last two too so he would finally move onto the fourth drum and clear it too.

‘Boom.’

Another Echo came back. 

Even the other abbreviations had stopped while they were looking at Zhao Luo, who had his eyes closed.

‘That’s Nine.’

Zhao Luo thought.

Right after which another Echo resounded.

“Hahaha, even the cursed drum couldn’t stop me.”

Zhao Luo said while laughing weirdly.

There was no such thing as a curse. It was just Zhao Luo being bad at putting out his full power while hitting the drum.

After that Zhao Luo cleared the fourth and fifth drum of row four quite easily. As he had already mastered the control over his strength.

The real problem started in the fifth row.

There were five drums in the fifth row too but the problem was that these drums were just regular.

‘Hmm.’

Zhao Luo wondered as to what he should do now. As he couldn’t create something without even experiencing it or knowing about it perfectly.

‘How long has it been since I have been here?’

Zhao Luo questioned himself.

While training here he had lost the perception of time. 

‘Maybe an hour has passed already.’

Zhao Luo speculated as for him it felt like a short time since he had started.

Unfortunately for Zhao Luo, he didn’t know that it was already the morning of the second day. That is, he had been training in his dark space for around 8 hours of the outer world.

While thinking Zhao Luo got down from the ring and walked a little away as his face was filled with sweat. Even though he could have rested while his apparition did all the work but he didn’t.

Instead, Zhao Luo worked harder than his apparitions.

Zhao Luo looked at his apparitions which were split into two groups who were still beating the drums as they were told to.

‘Now.’

Zhao Luo thought.

There came a time when Zhao Luo thought that it was time for him to let his apparitions stop the training.

“Gather round.”

Zhao Luo announced as one after another the apparitions finished their set after getting thrown out of the ring by the drum’s attack.

They all gathered in front of Zhao Luo.

Looking at Zhao Luo with pride as they had completed their tasks multiple times.

As Zhao Luo looked at them he couldn’t help but shed a single tear for all of their hard work. 

In the end, even though they were just apparitions, they were still a part of Zhao Luo.

Zhao Luo smiled with teary eyes as he looked at the nine apparitions.

“You all did well.”

Zhao Luo complimented them as he touched them one after another and absorbed them back into his body.

Zhao Luo closed his eyes as he started assimilating these multiple-upgraded apparitions in his body.

After he started assimilating them into his body, Zhao Luo could feel tremendous changes building up in his body.

Zhao Luo could feel a building being built in his body. A brick after another brick was being added to the structure of this building. Zhao Luo just had to assimilate these apparitions to complete this building.

The bowl in his body was filling up continuously.

As the assimilation process ended and Zhao Luo exhaled.

‘Ha~.’

Zhao Luo opened his eyes and stared into the dark space. Then he looked down towards himself. 

Zhao Luo raised his arms and brought them in his vision as he closed them to make a fist.

Zhao Luo felt the changes in his body. After a few moments, Zhao Luo couldn’t control himself as he tilted his head upwards and placed half of his right hand on his forehead and half of it covering his eyes.

“Hahahaha.”

Zhao Luo started laughing as if he had finally gone insane.

In another space inside Zhao Luo’s body.

The space inside Heaven’s Tomb had the egos of the Ancient Emperas.

“Looks like the kid has gone mad, haha.”

One of the Emperas said while making fun of Zhao Luo.

“We were all like that when we became a little powerful. I still remember the day when you ascended to Godhood.” 

Another ego interrupted. This was the ego of the same Empera who had once made fun of Zhao Luo for talking to their Goddess.

He was now taking Zhao Luo’s side.

“You danced in the rain with your completely ripped clothes for five days and nights.”

The Empera didn’t leave any details behind.

‘Haha.’

The crimson eyes of the Empera in the middle started shining as her melodious laugh filled the space when she remembered that scene from the past.

Coming back to Zhao Luo’s dark space.

Zhao Luo shuddered as he felt someone watching over him.

He already knew that it may be the Emperas but the reason behind his shuddering was the melodious laugh that entered his ears a moment ago.

“Let’s return.”

Zhao Luo thought as he could already feel enough power to conquer the Drums of Bellum.