[Giyu x Reader] My World Is at Peace With You

Chapter 54

Y/n's pov

You run, the ground splitting with every step as you rush through the woods, the hot flames surging towards you from the cracking soil below. You feel the burning stares of the invisible spirits within the forest, quiet as the darkness but menacing enough that you feel the chills down your back. Trying to catch your breath, you inhale the air, the constant movement forcing the air out of your spirit, the balance of inner peace cracking under pressure.

Thought the ancient spirit breath users knew the answers to everything?

Pathetic child.

The length of time in which humans have existed...

...are only a tiny fraction of the time spirits roamed the world.

The knowledge of the humans...

...are only at the beginning.

You hear the phoenix spirit screech in your head, the deer spirit nowhere to be reached as you run through the spirit forest as the ground splits, the fire underneath spewing out from the soil every time your foot touches the space.

Not only the body must suffer for one to grow...

...their spirit must be crushed...

...and only those who are worthy...

...will survive.

And thus...

...that will be your trial.

Clawing your hand at the soil as you fall, your foot stuck in the tree branch as the hot flames surge from the crack on the ground, you drag yourself forward, the heat blazing against your spirit. You feel the skin on your palms rip as you feel the adrenalin rush through, the splitting ground pulling you in further before you grab a root of the tree from the other side, pulling yourself onto the soil. The wound on your palm regenerates as you force your feet back onto the intact ground, the surface cracking in an instant just as you move forward.

Lunging forward, the white spirit dimension envelops the surrounding, the flame-filled spirit forest disappearing into nothingness. Stopping on your spot, you look back, the white aura only spreading outwards as you stand in the middle, your heaving breath growing louder in your own ears.

Y/n!

You hear something from a corner, nobody standing in the space as you look around your surroundings trying to locate the sound, the ground only cracking further as the hot fire flows upwards. Quickly jumping over the splitting soil, you start running once more, the distant voices starting to blur out into the background.

Don't forget-

The voice says again, the sound becoming clearer once more as you feel the wound on your shin close just as the sharp tree branches rip through your spirit.

Don't forget?

Don't forget what?

The link to the material world?

The people I care about?

The scene clears, the sunshine falling over the garden of the spirit estate, the birds chirping as the winter wind blows over the snow filled pond. You try to focus your vision, a practice wooden sword in your hand as you find yourself sitting on the engawa, the frozen petals of the cherry blossom landing onto the pond in the distance.

What was that forest?

How long have I even been inside it...?

A day?