SSS Awakening: Starting With Infinite Soul Copy

"Say it."

She suddenly said, looking right at him, almost like she could listen to his thoughts.

"I don’t believe you’d have me brought all the way here, allow the Umbrawyrs to know of my existence, just to kill me in fear of me taking away your throne."

White said, and she smiled.

"Exactly as I predicted. And yes, I didn’t ask for you to be brought here just to kill you."

"I could have achieved that purpose myself from millions of miles away."

She claimed, and while White knew it should be impossible for someone to kill another from millions of miles away, her neutral expression made him question his own belief.

"So...why am I here then?"

He asked, steering away from the topic of his death.

"My purpose is simple."

She said, and in the next moment, her right hand reached outward, palm spread wide as White watched the void quiver.

Something suddenly appeared out of thin air, floating inches above the center of her palm.

"Is that..."

He mused, peering at the object before completing.

"A grimoire?"

That was exactly what it was.

A massive book with a thick cover seemingly made from an iridescent crimson gem-like material.

There were no runes on its surface, nor did it ooze any sort of power, yet White felt his heartbeat unconsciously thumping harder from its presence. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"This is the Umbrawyrio Grimoire. An artifact of racial power accessible only to those with the greatest affinity to Darkness itself."

"This one is called the Crimsio Umbrawyrio."

She said, and in the next instant, it disappeared as her hand returned to her side.

"So...there are more than one of them, and...you need me to help you find it?"

He asked, slightly confused.

"Wrong and right."

"There are indeed more than one of them, but only two will exist at a time."

"The Crimsio Umbrawyrio belonging to the female Umbrawyr with the greatest affinity to Darkness..."

"And the other one, the Mallory Umbrawyrio, belonging to the male with the greatest affinity to Darkness."

"I don’t need you to help me find it."

She said, then once more stretched out her hand.

"It’s already in you."

She claimed, and White froze.

"I’m...pretty sure I haven’t seen that before."

He said, but then paused and asked,

"Or do you have it?"

He asked, though not to her, but to the Dark White.

The reply came with a single word.

"No."

"Possessing the Umbrawyrio Grimoire doesn’t just mean having a fancy book."

She said, rising to her feet.

"It is what differentiates a Princess from a Queen, and a Prince from a King."

"And to have one, you must prove to Darkness that you’re indeed worthy of it."

"I proved my worthiness years ago. Now, it’s your turn."

She said.

"But..."

White began again.

"Why do you want me to have it? What use is it exactly?"

"Or does the Umbrawyr race simply need a King somehow, and now it’s necessary for me to possess the Grimoire in order to take that position?"

He asked.

She had said she brought him here because he was capable of possessing the Mallory Umbrawyrio Grimoire, but what exactly did she need from it?

"Your current mind is simply incapable of understanding the Umbrawyrio Grimoire."

She said simply, and as disdainful and underestimating as that sounded, her neutral expression, one usually worn by someone stating a simple fact, begged to differ.

"Just know it’s something of utmost importance to me and to every living Umbrawyr that exists."

"Something we would go to any length to possess, and for that..."

"...you must possess it."

She said, cold conviction lingering in her voice.

"Okay. I get it. So how does one get it?"

White asked.

"It’s simple."

She said to him, and once more, reached her hand to the side.

White watched as the entire room suddenly began to change.

All of a sudden, a massive vortex of pitch black appeared in the throne room, spinning with insane force.

The absorption force was so great White’s body lurched forward uncontrollably, but then it paused as he widened his eyes at the dark vortex.

A huge gate was slowly appearing within it.

It radiated an aura beyond White’s imagination, brimming with pitch-black runes that released misty darkness into the air.

A darkness that White found beyond familiar.

It was the same darkness unique to his own shadow.

"This is the Umbrawyrio Realm, where only those of royalty can enter."

"All you have to do is go in and come back out."

She said.

"That...simple?"

White asked, and she grinned.

"Of course."

"Just go in and come back out alive, and you’ll return with the Mallory Umbrawyrio."

"As easy as that."

She repeated, but looking at her wicked grin, he could instantly tell.

"What are you not telling me?"

"That you’ll die in less than a second if you enter as you are now."

She answered, waving her hand as the massive gate sank back into the vortex before disappearing.

"You need training to prepare you for the Trial of the Gates."

She spoke, taking her seat on the throne.

There was a pause from White, one that lasted for nearly ten whole minutes, and she didn’t interrupt him, calmly watching him with slight amusement.

[Your silence is suspicious. Snap out of it.]

The system panel flashed waking him up.

He had been so lost in thought, he had even forgotten he was in a throne room.

"Sorry. I was just trying to piece it all together."

He said to her.

"Go on."

She replied, almost as if she could still see his confusion.

"According to what I understand, the royalty of the Umbrawyr race is determined by their affinity with Darkness. That’s what makes me a Prince."

"But for me to become a King, I need to obtain something called the Mallory Umbrawyrio."

Her silence was enough of an answer.

"I want to know something."

He said.

"And what is that?"

"What does it mean to be..."