There is no such thing as a flawless human; this is the beauty and the nature of being human. The mundane's major flaw is their inability to use ether. The Brave, also known as Dormant Artists, are humans who have chosen to challenge the first recording. They can use ether. Then, does that mean that they're flawless? No, they are flawed upon entering the first recording, awakening their innate ability, and forming their ether core. This was called 'The Flaw of the Brave'. There is also 'The Flaw of The Art', which awakens alongside the first Art ability when the Brave triumphs over the First Recording, becoming an Artist.
The snow crunched with each step I took with my bare foot. Each time my foot made contact with the cold snow, I felt as if cold spicks shot into my body from the point of contact. I have been walking in the cold for about five minutes now. Not a long period of time, yet the cold was, unlike the bearable cold in the uncanny forest, in the recording, it was so fucking extreme!
So extreme in fact, that I started feeling drowsy and confused, my body started shivering, my skin became cold and even paler. All of these were clear signs of hypothermia.
I still haven't figured out what my flaw was. The knowledge was etched into my mind when the rune responsible for the understanding of the flaw was carved on the upper part of my spine, just like the innate ability, Mirror Manipulation, and the rune holding its understanding. But unlike Mirror Manipulation, the knowledge was fuzzy and unclear.
That…That frustrated me quite a lot. It was already a miracle that I didn't get attacked by some Hollow Creature once I entered the Recording, more so in the minutes I started my wandering. The reason for my frustration was that while I haven't been attacked yet, I will eventually encounter a Hollow Creature. And if that happens, while I don't even have a clue about what my flaw is, even about…
"I don't even want to think about it."
From the corner of my eye, I glanced at Regret, which I held, clenched tightly with my right hand.
I wonder.
Not stopping, I let go of Regret, commanding it to hover an arm's length in front of me. Staring at the floating needle-like sword, I couldn't help but wonder:
"What if I could change its shape and size?"
The reason I wanted to do so was, drumroll…nothing. There wasn't any particular reason at all, just dumb curiosity.
I half extended my hand towards the sword, closing my pointer finger onto my thumb slowly while willing the sliver to shift. After playing with the hovering sword for the first few moments of my wandering, I concluded that using your hand, while not vital to control the reflective surface, does make it easier.
It rippled like liquid, its size decreased from that of a long sword into that of a dagger…kunai? I don't know.
I guided the once sword, now more of a kunai, towards me and caught it before it hit me square in the face. It weighed the same as it did when it was in its original size, but was also easier to hold.
The attempt was successful, but useless.
From the corner of my eye, I could see that the great white plain of snow was disturbed by grey. I stopped, shifting my body towards the grey spots and squinting my eyes to get a better look. I had thought at first that it was an irregularity in the snow, or a traveling cavern. But as I gazed at it more closely, and as it drew closer, I was proven wrong, significantly.
Because the grey spots weren't a human cavern, or even snow irregularities. It was a Hallow Creature—a felidae, to be precise, with white fur blending with the snowy beneath almost perfectly. Decorating said white fur were grey spots, the same spots I had originally noticed. Two long, sharp, metal fangs poked out of its mouth from the upper jaw even when closed. Behind it were four long white tails almost as long as its body, which was as long as a fully grown man lying on his back, ending with grey spots. Two jet-black eyes glowed faintly, even the sclera, breaking its pristine white face and giving it a haunting look.
Worst of all, it was charging at me with full speed.