B.F.HUUPS

Epilogue 2: Darius Nessar

Epilogue 2: Darius Nessar

Seething with anger, Darius had spent little time in the trial store, cursing to himself and quickly flicking through the options. He had received fewer points than he had expected to, and he was unable to purchase everything the Death God had commanded him to. Still, he got the stone of corruption, so it wasn’t a complete failure. 

Nonetheless, the rage bubbling within him made him more determined to succeed than ever. He didn’t know all the details, but it was clear that the annoying man had outperformed him in the trials. But that didn’t mean he would accept anything less than domination.

Darius was born for this. This world was his oyster, and he would suck it dry. Who really cared if the trials simply weren’t where he excelled? He was still the strongest, and he would prove it.

Glancing down, Darius thumbed the rock that pulsed with deathly energy. All he had to do was follow the instructions laid out for him, and this world would become his domain.

All around him stood his army of undead. They had followed him to this world and were now waiting on his command. With a snap of his fingers, they spread out, charging in all directions.

He knew what he had to do, and he sent his undead army in search of his objective as he calmly walked.

He had arrived in the largest canyon he had ever seen. A canyon that would put Earth’s largest to shame, with multiple river systems snaking through it.

Only a few minutes later, he got a message, telepathically relayed by one of his minions, and immediately corrected his path.

“That was quick,” he flashed a toothy grin, chuckling to himself. As expected, this world wouldn’t be too hard to conquer.

Still, it wasn’t the only message sent back to him. Within a few minutes, he had received mixed results. It was painfully obvious this new world possessed far greater dangers than the Tutorial had, and he could feel the deathly energy leaving the corpses as his minions were slain by beasts and monsters.

But their losses were to be expected, and a small price to pay for his victory. After all, he had numbers to spare. And soon, most of the canyon in his vicinity had been scouted, and most importantly, the obelisk had been found.

Casually, he strolled towards it, calling on all his minions to gather. He spotted the ancient-looking structure and the beasts that guarded it. Even before reaching it, he could feel the energy radiating from the obelisk. No doubt the beasts could too, which was why they were drawn to it and chose to nest around it.

Unfortunately, his situation was somewhat complicated. There was a low-level D-grade beast amongst them, and Darius was forced to use caution, waiting for the rest of his undead horde to gather.

Once his army had arrived, he sent them forth. Alone, he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to fight a D-grade beast. He might win, after all; he had grown considerably stronger in the trials. Not to mention, he now possessed a true blessing and new Titles. He had also worked on his taxidermy Profession, giving him many additional Levels and Skills.

But there was no need to risk his own life against powerful beasts when he had a legion of undead to soak up the damage of their attacks.

With a snap of his fingers, they charged. Within seconds, the undead were falling. But it meant little in the long run. They possessed their former powers and could be deadly, but none could progress and get stronger; their paths had been halted, and their long-term value was limited. He had always known that he would need to find new prey and rebuild his army with stronger warriors; his path demanded it.

This army was expendable. And it was doing its job. Little else mattered.

From a distance, he watched as his army fell against the beasts, using necrotic buffs to help them and debuffs to weaken his enemy. And in between it all, blasted destructive necromancy spells, slaying beasts, where his minions provided the opportunity.

It was a slug, and by the time the D-grade beast was staggering and on its last legs, the battlefield was littered by corpses of both beasts and his minions.

But Darius just smiled. His goal was within sight, and his minions had served him well. Not to mention, being the first to claim the treasure would provide a nice Title.

Soon, the massive, bull-like beast could barely lift its head, constantly being battered by attacks from his minions that landed from all directions. Every time it struck back, he lost a couple of his minions, but they were just weaklings that had died in the Tutorial. Soon, he would replace them with far, far stronger warriors.

When he spotted the perfect opening, he joined the fray, blasting it with his strongest spells in quick succession. It didn’t last long. Even D-grade beasts had their limits, and he savored its groans as the last of its life left it.

“I think I’ll make something of you,” he muttered, briefly glancing at the bull corpse, and then turning to the obelisk.

This was what he had come for. The true treasure. 

Walking up to the towering structure, he pressed his pale, bluish hand against it and accepted the prompts. But that wasn’t all, he took the stone of corruption, and poured its power, along with his own necrotic energy into it, just as the Death God had instructed him. Soon, the facade of the obelisk began to change, turning a sickly gray and emanating a foul aura of death that filled the air, choking out life with its unnatural smog.

He had turned the tower into an abomination, but to Darius, it was power. He could already feel it pulsing through the air, granting him additional strength. But it wasn’t just he who was strengthened. He could feel the power seeping into the walking corpses that surrounded him.

Was he as powerful as that bastard from the trials on neutral ground? Darius asked himself. The answer was, maybe not. But he didn’t intend to fight him on neutral ground. He would spread this foul aura across the world, capturing as many obelisks as he could, and with their power, he would become unstoppable.

Don’t you worry, Death God. I will complete that quest. And I will make Aaron Dober one of my puppets!

Epilogue 3: Elmira

It was almost eerie how organized their arrival in their new world was. There was a military-like precision to it, and people were marching around all over the place on orders from their lieutenants, who in turn were acting on Pentival’s behalf.

Then again, it was their entire Tutorial, minus the few who had unfortunately perished during the Tutorial. They had all arrived together, just as the Waypoint promised. And immediately, they had been put to work.

Scouts were sent out with strict orders not to engage anything of a higher level. No lives were to be risked at this early junction. With their numbers, they didn’t need to be, and in a short time, they had found what they were looking for.

It was Pentival that figured it out. Clues in the System store, and items purchased. Mentions here and there of something called a Settlement Obelisk, and he had sent his scouts out looking for something that fit the description.

Luckily for them, they had found one only a short walk away. There had been beasts nearby, though, and even a couple quite strong ones. But they had an entire group of elites who had experienced the Trials together, and a few beasts were of little match for them.

The moment they were slain, Pentival took command of the obelisk, and a small camp began to be erected around it.

Everything was going well. Pentival was once more showing his prowess as a leader, and several tiny groups of wandering people who had spotted them had already decided to join and been put to work.

Their rise to power, led by Pentival, felt inevitable, but of course, not everyone was going to be as receptive.

Had it just been humans from their previous world, Pentival probably could have united the entire world within months, maybe weeks. His achievements spoke for themselves, and his fame as a leader of their old world only served to amplify said achievements, quickly drowning out the doubters.

But their world wasn’t just inhabited by humans.

Within a couple of hours, they had spotted them. Ogres. A group of them was hunting beasts nearby. There had been a few of them in the Shadow Trials, but they mostly kept to themselves, and only one small group had negotiated with Pentival. This group was not that group, meaning that they were an unknown entity. Pentival wasn’t just going to sit by as a potential threat roamed, and sent Elmira and a few other elites to investigate.

That was how she arrived where she did. Staring across at the snarling creatures, holding her party back from immediately attacking. Luckily, she had managed to score herself a Lingua Multiversa Skillbook in the trials, and it seemed likely that she was going to become their interpreter.

“Hello, my name is Elmira,” she waved. “We’re warriors from the nearby settlement, and our leader has a proposal for you.”

She had to admit, they almost reminded her of him when he was large and prepping for a fight, at least. Every single one of them was huge, both in height and width, but despite their enormous girth, they moved around nimbly, showing that beneath all that fat was more than a little muscle. They were not that intimidating, though. The highest level among them was still twenty levels lower than hers.

But she had to remain vigilant. These were strangers, and she didn’t know what their goals were. And while they were at a lower level than her and her party, if there was one thing Aaron had taught her, it was not to underestimate those at lower levels.

“We can understand each other?” A female ogre said, stepping forth with a perplexed expression. “How? Who are you?”

Elmira inwardly sighed with relief. While confused, the ogre in front of her was very clearly not hostile, and she was also clearly the leader of this small group. At level sixty, she was the highest, and based on the glances the other ogres shot at her, they deferred to her. She was also the ugliest of the bunch, her face the color and texture of cottage cheese and almost as wide as it was tall.

“I come from the Empire,” said Elmira with a smile. “Our goal is peace and prosperity. We would like to invite you to join us. We promise that you will not be mistreated.”

“Wait…” said the female ogre, frowning. “Are you the one who was with that human in the Trials?”

“You were in the Trials?”

“Only at the end,” said the female ogre. “But I recognize you. You were with the ogre-like human, right?”

“Aaron?”

“Yes! That was his name! If we come with you, can I meet him?”

“Well, he’s not on this planet…” said Elmira. “But I do plan on reuniting with him again eventually, so I can ask him.”

“Wonderful!” said the ogre woman, grinning and showing off a set of crooked teeth full of food particles. “I am looking forward to it!”

Epilogue 4: Joseph Lefiti

When he first arrived, his magical vessel had slammed straight into the great, expansive ocean that separated the two main continents, and it was vast. The great, seemingly endless ocean put anything found on earth to absolute shame, and when Joseph had crashed against it, he had shot straight to the ocean floor.

At first, he had been glad about this. The archipelago Tutorial he had fought in had prepared him for just this, and he had even chosen water affinity. It was as if the System had blessed him, putting him right where he needed to be. But then he saw them.

They were all around, and he spotted them swimming in every direction. Thal’kesh. Worse still, he hadn’t spotted a single human since arriving, but the eldritch monsters were everywhere, infesting the ocean depths.

But this was Joseph Lefiti, a champion of his Tutorial, and not a man easily cowed. He had never doubted his strength before, and wasn’t about to now, but even he was wise not to take on an entire army of the eldritch monsters. Especially not when their elites might be out there, somewhere. He reminded himself that there were multiple thal’kesh that had completed the Tutorials early and passed many trials.

They were not to be underestimated.

Pressed against a wall of coral, he snuck past a couple as they searched for hunting targets, and then quickly traveled down through an underwater tunnel. For now, he would have to be cautious. He would have to avoid the thal’kesh, at least until he had some form of plan to deal with them.

But he couldn’t let opportunity escape him either. He knew as well as anybody that if he hid away, his enemies would only grow stronger as he lingered behind.

I have to find something to hunt. I have to get stronger!

Joseph swam like a rocket through the water. With any luck, he could avoid the thal’kesh for a while, at least until he grew stronger, and perhaps, he might even find some allies to aid against them.

For he was not willing to just surrender the oceans.

Epilogue 5: Yendal

Yendal frowned as she replayed her apprentice’s battle with the massive asura. She knew she had no right to interfere with his Path, but everything he did was so… inefficient. Wasteful. He was taking after the ogre a bit too much.

When she had him in her divine realm, she tried not to interfere too much with the ogre’s domain, as it was clear it would be an integral part of his style, but she now somewhat regretted not trying to teach him more about efficiency. He was burning through energy far too quickly, and it only barely allowed him to survive.

When I was his level, I could have defeated Mo’han with Stamina to spare, she thought grumpily.

Despite all this, though, she still felt incredibly proud of what he had accomplished. Unlike her, he had only started proper combat training after he got to the Shadow Trials. Given the fact that he had trained for only a year, his progress was indeed immense. And while he had used a bit of a dirty trick, the fact that he had been able to defeat Mo’han at all spoke volumes about his progress. Mo’han was not an opponent that such a trick would be enough to defeat if Aaron was not already strong enough to take advantage of it.

After watching the end of the replay and Aaron’s ultimate victory, she turned the screen off and went to a small arena in her training ground. There, she conjured two avatars, though this time, they were not of herself. The first was of Mo’han, the massive asura, and the second was of her apprentice Aaron. Both were set to have identical stats and Skills as the ones who had dueled, though obviously, they lacked souls and therefore personalities. However, that wasn’t what Yendal was after.

As the Martial God, she had reached a level of martial arts where a single glance was enough to read anyone else’s style, and a single battle was enough for her to be able to perfectly imitate it. Mentally reaching out to both avatars, she programmed the lifeless bodies with the combat styles of the two fighters, including both their strengths and flaws, everything accurate down to the smallest muscle movement. Then, she had them fight.

Since the Aaron avatar did not have access to his scabbard full of food, he was forced to fight without it, and it wasn’t long before he lost. He managed to put up somewhat of a fight, but with his inefficient techniques and overreliance on consumables, he soon ran out of energy.

Then, she reset the avatars, this time making a few minor adjustments to Aaron’s fighting style, and she set them to battle again. This time, Aaron lasted longer and managed to deal a bit more damage to the asura. She repeated the process almost two dozen times before Aaron finally squeaked out a win, and another dozen times after that before he could win with energy to spare.

Each iteration was her estimation of a month of harsh training for Aaron. It would take him nearly two years to be able to defeat Mo’han using pure technique, and close to three to be able to do so relatively easily. There was no such thing as an easy fight against someone like Mo’han, but after those three years, Aaron would be able to win nine battles out of ten. Against this version of Mo’han, at least.

Of course, if she advanced Mo’han by a month alongside Aaron, the results would be different. In fact, she tried just that, and Aaron was never able to win. As he got more efficient, so did the asura, and with the level gap, Aaron would never be able to catch up. If she removed the level difference, though—

“Yendie!” said a voice from nearby. “Playing with dolls again?”

“I thought I told you—!” started Yendal.

“YENDIE!” another voice interrupted. 

Yendal’s eyes widened as she turned around and saw that next to the intrusive Widow was a very familiar figure. Standing at nearly twice Yendal’s height, and with six arms each almost as big as her entire body, the War God cut an imposing figure. And a handsome one.

“H– Hel’dran,” said Yendal. “I thought we agreed on 3 millennia.”

“But I just missed you so much!” he said, scooping her up into a crushing hug.

“Awww, how—” started Widow.

She never finished her sentence because at that moment, Yendal wormed her arm around the war god’s back and flicked a finger at Widow, sending her flying straight out of her divine realm. She gave a quick mental command to lock down her divine realm, double checked that Widow was gone, and only then did she finally return the War God’s embrace.

“Did you miss me too?” asked Hel’dran.

“Perhaps,” said Yendal, her voice muffled as her face was squished against his chest.

A moment later, he finally released her, and she returned to the ground, standing with her arms crossed as she tried to maintain as much dignity as possible.

“Why were you with her?” asked Yendal.

“She said she could show me the way in,” said Hel’dran with a grin. “And look at that! She could!”

“I need to improve my defenses…” Yendal muttered.

Hel’dran laughed loudly at that.

“I see you watched the duel as well,” he said a few seconds later, looking at the avatars.

“Of course I did.”

“What did you think?”

“My disciple has much to work on.”

“Ha!” said Hel’dran. “He does indeed! As does mine! But cut them some slack. They may be lacking, but what a glorious battle it was! So much passion! It reminds me of our old spars.”

“Except you never beat me in those.”

“But I did defeat you eventually. It looks like our disciples’ roles are reversed. This time, it is my disciple who is the insurmountable foe, and yours that is the underdog.”

“Not quite insurmountable.”

“For now. Unlike myself, my disciple is actually talented.”

“You’re plenty talented.”

“Not compared to him.”

“Well, yeah…”

Hel’dran laughed loudly again, then his laugh suddenly stopped as he locked eyes with Yendal. There was an odd gleam in his eyes that was soon reflected in hers.

“It’s been a while since we had a proper spar,” he said.

“It has,” said Yendal.

“I think we’re due for another.”

“I agree.”

“Then let’s—”

“Not here. I don’t want to have to rebuild my divine realm again. Let’s go to the usual spot.”

“Excellent!

***

In a hidden location deep in the void, the two deities faced each other, neither moving a muscle. In a nearby pocket protected by an impossibly complex magical weave, two more gods observed the battle. One was Widow, the Goddess of Stealth and Seduction. The other was a timid woman with blue skin, black hair, and wide white eyes in shock. She was Voghillia Vorg Valvoria, the Goddess of Bubbles.

“Wh– what’s going on?” asked Voghilia.

“Not too loudly, Voggy,” said Widow. “Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.”

Voggy gulped. She did not know what was going on, but Widow was on the same level as the Martial God in terms of reputation. A relatively young deity like Voghilia would not dare to offend such an ancient and powerful being. Still, considering that the duel had yet to start and that Widow was being otherwise calm, she felt safe to ask at least one more question.

“Why am I here?”

“You are about to witness one of the true spectacles of the multiverse, and you’re complaining?”

“N– No!” exclaimed Voggy. “I didn’t mean—!”

“Relax,” said Widow with a chuckle. “I was just kidding.”

She reached a hand out and brushed it down the side of Voggy’s face, making the younger goddess shudder.

“Fate is a funny thing,” said Widow. “It gives and it takes, and even we deities are at its mercy. You, however, are on the lucky end of fate this time. There will be plenty of time for questions later. For now, just enjoy the great gift that you are about to receive.”

Voghilia did not know how to respond to that; she chose to say nothing. Instead, she turned back to the pocket in the void, watching the two deities. They were still staring at each other, doing nothing. It was as though each was waiting for the other to make the first move. They spent almost a full day like this, with Voggy and Widow silently watching the entire time, until finally, one got impatient. Then began an experience that Voggy would never forget for all of eternity.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 71

Having left the trials behind him, Aaron was met with nothing but a notification screen in a sea of darkness. Worst of all, it went on for a while, calculating and blinking.  Then again, he figured a decent amount of compute was required to run a System across an entire multiverse, and perhaps his impatience was unwarranted. Not that it made waiting any better.

Also, he looked around and realized Sooty was nowhere to be seen. That said, he knew that the soot goblin was somehow magically bound to him, and figured he would show up once he returned to Superearth.

I’m pretty sure he’ll be fine…

For a brief moment, he feared the soot goblin getting stuck in a void again and felt bad for the little guy. He was already starved for attention, and a few thousand more years of floating the stars in a void wouldn’t do him any favors.

The Shadow Trials have officially ended, and with them, the time dilation over the newly integrated world has been removed.

Note: The people from your world have now been released to their new world.

Aaron blinked at the notification. It was a little surreal now that it was happening. The trials had been his entire life since Earth was integrated, and this felt like something of a graduation.

Title acquired: Shadow Trials Hall of Famer

Be inducted into the Shadow Trials Hall of Fame.

Reward: +10% All Stats

“Another one. Not bad.”

Totals Calculated!

[ Name: Aaron Dober ]

[ Age: 23 ]

[ Race: Human [ Awoken ]  ]

[ Grade: E ]

Trials Completed:

Endurance (10/10)

Dominance (10/10)

Challenger (10/10)

Travels (9/10)

Magic (6/10)

Wit (4/10)

Survival (4/10)

Companionship (3/10)

Grading:

Trial Completion: S

Time Spent in Trials: SSS

Style: SSS

Improvements: SSS

Blessings Received: SSS

Trial Success Rate: F

Trial Completion Speed: C

Final Score: S

Congratulations! You have unlocked the complete version of the Shadow Trial’s point shop for getting a final grade of S!

Points rewarded:

Bonus points: 350,000

Points rewarded: 978,000

Total points: 1,328,000

“Can’t complain with that. I just wish I could show Douglas.”

As soon as the notifications cleared, they were replaced with a shop menu, leaving Aaron speechless as the massive list of items was displayed before him.

Comparing the item list prices and how many points he had been rewarded, he figured he had a decent amount to spend. Nonetheless, Aaron took his time going through what was available. And while it sounded like everyone was returning to Superearth now,  he wasn’t in a rush. 

What were a few minutes in the grand scheme of things, anyway? Besides, he had gained some newfound confidence after beating Mo’han, and really doubted giving people a tiny headstart would do anything significant to change that, even if they did get a lucky opportunity.

Besides, this shop in and of itself was an opportunity. And so, with that thought in mind, he took his time, going over everything in detail, and musing over what decisions made the most sense.

And it didn’t take him long to find one purchase in particular that stood out to him. He had scrolled all the way to the end of the shop menu to see what the most expensive items on offer were, and he came to a final page with half a dozen million-point items. Of them, it was the Divine Temple that stood out to him.

 This item could be placed in claimed territory from the System screen, and provided a weak link to the user's patron god, as well as a weak divine aura, and a statue. But more than that, it could also be upgraded.

Aaron wasn’t entirely sure what all of it meant, but even if none of the other traits provided him anything useful, having a link to Yendal was. If it allowed him to speak with her, then that alone was invaluable. Her guidance and training were the reason he had gotten to where he was, and it made the decision to purchase the building easy. And if it provided additional boons? Well, there really wasn’t any questioning its value.

A million points cut away at what he had, but he was steadfast in his decision-making and added it to his shopping cart before moving on to the other options available.

There was just about everything he could think of, but with the temple under his belt, he decided to scroll across to the Skills section. In particular, his racial Skills.

There was no limit to the number of racial Skills one could acquire, and whilst they weren’t combat-related, from what he had seen, they could be massively useful, especially since they didn’t take up any Skill slots.

As he scrolled, he noticed Lingua Multiversa—the universal language Skill he got as a trial reward was one of the more expensive ones. He was pleasantly surprised to see he had actually hit the jackpot with that one, considering how many of his trial rewards had turned out to be useless. After scrolling up and down, he decided to settle on the Skill World Map. It wasn’t necessarily the best option available, but most of the really tempting ones were now out of reach, and he wasn’t about to remove the temple from his shopping cart.

However, that didn’t mean it wasn’t a useful Skill. World Map description said that it gave him a System-integrated map that would automatically fill out as he explored. And by exploring, it meant everything. Worlds, dungeons, you name it. If it existed in the muttiverse, this Skill could record it on a map for the user. And since Superearth was an entirely new and unfamiliar world, and it was going to be many, many times larger than Earth, this seemed like a pretty sound purchase.

World Map put him back another 100,000 points, which left him with a solid 228,000 points remaining.

He continued scrolling for a while after that. There were other items that interested him, but many were either too expensive or just not that important. To help him decide, he delved into his memories of Elvanas, since that was his only experience of a post-integration world.

And he immediately got several ideas, and when searching for solutions. 

The reality was, he wouldn’t always be around. His future was that of a warrior and an adventurer, and as such, he would be off fighting and conquering challenges across the multiverse as he chased growth.

But just because he wanted to scale the peaks of the multiverse, he didn’t want to live a life of solitude. He wanted to do all of that whilst hanging on to his humanity, and everything that came with it. And that meant being a part of a community.

However, he couldn’t expect everyone to be as strong as himself; Elvanas’ life had taught him that much. And he certainly didn’t want to come home one day to find everyone he knew and loved slaughtered.

And that meant he needed a means of keeping them safe whilst he wasn’t around.

It took a while of searching back and forth for appropriate options, but finally under the building tap, he found something that ticked the boxes. For 150,000 points, he could purchase a D-grade barrier pylon. It wouldn’t do much against the freaks of the multiverse, but based on its description, it sounded as if it would be able to keep some wandering D-grade beasts from slaughtering a settlement… at least for a few days, which would hopefully be long enough for him to return.

It wasn’t a perfect solution. There were more versatile options, like death bots, as well as more powerful barriers, but they were all well out of budget. For example, a C-grade barrier would have put him back 750,000 points, and he wasn’t giving up the temple for a barrier. From what he could gather, the D-grade barrier was about as good as it was going to get, and so he added it to his shopping cart.

He had just 78,000 points left, but there were still a decent number of items he could purchase with that, albeit weaker ones.

After another hour or so of back and forth, there were several ingredient packages and others that sounded useful. But ultimately, they were either well out of budget or just not that good. In the end, he settled on the resources tab. Within it, he found purified high-quality soil for 50,000 points. There were some other better options, but nothing that stood out enough to remove any of the other items he had chosen, although he did come close to surrendering his World Map. However, it just sounded too handy to just give up. Settling for the soil, he added the thousand cubic meters of purified soil to his cart. Just like the temple, it could be placed straight into the territory he controlled from the System page.

This seemed like a perfect purchase for him. Sure, if he killed a beast, he’d probably collect the meat. But he didn’t want to be stuck hunting and gathering all day long just so he could cook. What he needed was reliable and sustainable sources of ingredients, if he was going to keep his spatial storage stocked at all times, and that was going to need some kind of farming, which was what the soil was for.

But he needed more than just soil for a farm. However, most of the equipment didn’t need to be anything spectacularly valuable. And so, he used his remaining 28,000 points on various equipment to turn the soil into a useful farm. He wasn’t getting super rare items with that many points, but he could get plenty of Common, and also a few Uncommon pieces of equipment, which seemed good enough for their intended purposes.

Of course, he didn’t buy all of this because he, himself, intended to become a farmer. No, he certainly didn’t plan on settling down on a plot of land. But he knew enough about what awaited them on Superearth to know that there would be plenty of people looking for safe work within settlements, and was fairly certain he could get someone to work his farm. Probably a few somebodies.

He kinda wished he had completed the Tutorial, as the trial points could be added to the Tutorial points. But there wasn’t any point lingering on the thought.

Going over his shopping cart selections a final time, he felt pretty happy with the selections he had made. And perhaps more importantly, thankful most of them remained in the System construction tab, waiting to be placed, as his spatial storage certainly wouldn’t have stood a chance at holding everything he had just bought.

However, his umming and ahhing over the huge list of options had taken a while, and a good few hours had passed by as he went back and forth through his options.

Eh, it was worth it.

He mentally clicked check-out and felt the System’s power warp around him, and an incredible force dragged him through the void.

Within seconds, he could see it. A new world. Through some kind of magical vessel, he was shooting through the cosmos, aimed at a star-sized world that looked rather similar to Earth, except the continents were completely different.

“Well, at least we won’t have to call it Aquatica,” he smiled as flames whipped around the magical barrier, and he passed through the atmosphere.

Epilogue 1: Mo’han Khan

Mo’han clenched his fists as he watched the notifications pass by in the shadowy, post-trial abyss.

He was frustrated with himself. He had missed his chance to ask Aaron what he had won from completing his patron god’s quest.

Annoying.

He gritted his teeth and wondered what exactly the tournament ticket was all about. It wasn’t just because they both had similar quests that he wanted to ask Aaron about it, but his patron god’s peculiar comments about Yendal. But it seemed he would have to wait until a later date to get an explanation.

It is what it is. 

Shaking his head, he refocused on what he was doing and flicked through the trial point store options. With a grading of SS, he had a decent number of points to spend, and he was thankful for it, as the Divine Temple sounded too good to pass up.

A million points… but how can I say no to such a purchase?

Confirming his selection and adding it to his cart, he was left with just 250,000 points, which was, coincidentally, exactly what he needed to purchase a wormhole gate building.

This store turned out surprisingly fruitful. I hope it serves you as well as it has me, A-ran! I would hate for my good friend and rival to fall behind.

A smile creased his lips as he went to check out. He was in no rush, but he also saw no point in sitting around once he had already selected obvious choices. He needed what he needed, and he had it.

“Time to see what this new world has in store for me,” Mo’han murmured as he mentally selected check-out.

Chapter 70

Aaron was catching a few concerned and disgusted sideways glances. But he hadn’t a choice. There was less than fifteen minutes remaining, and he needed to eat as much and as fast as he could, which made for a rather unpleasant sight, even for his standards. But he didn’t care; he needed to store as much energy as he could before his fight with Mo’han.

Mo’han, on the other hand, was taking the opportunity to say his goodbyes. He had finished their first bout in a relatively decent stage, and while he had taken damage, he had been able to recover relatively quickly on his own.

“Okay, that should do,” Aaron said, rubbing his belly and forcing down one last shrunken serving. “Alright, big fella. Let’s do this!”

“Big fella? You’re one to speak. But as you wish, A-ran. And in case this fight drags on until the end of the trials, I want you to know that it has been a pleasure meeting all of you!”

“Yeah, what he said,” Aaron smiled as his gaze swept across the small crowd. “With any luck, we’ll have a minute or two for words after this duel,” he added with a wink.

“Okay, let’s get this done,” Mo’han said and took to his corner of the arena. “And A-ran, if we don’t get a chance to speak again, you’ve become like a brother to me. I can’t wait to see how far you’ve come when we meet again. And I pray for those who make enemies with you.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself, big guy. To reunions in the multiverse,” he replied, raising a fist as he lowered into a fighting stance. 

With a shared nod of acknowledgement, the fight was on. 

Aaron didn’t really change too much. He was perfecting his style every time they clashed, not reinventing it. However, this time, he had a novel idea on how to find that elusive opening he needed.

The two rushed forward and met with a frantic clash, and explosions and fists flying all over the place. He dodged and countered as he waited for his opportunity, one he had seen through the threads of fate.

He dragged Mo’han’s attacks out, looking to unbalance and overwhelm him. It was this early engagement where he had his chance. While the asura was still warming up, and saving his best for last.

He planned his attack many, many steps in advance, and when he was ready, he sprung his trap.

It was hidden behind a dizzying array of feints and probing strikes. He wanted to confuse the big guy, using a combination chain, only to follow it by hiding in the shadows, then reappearing at Mo’han’s flank and peppering him with spectral punches.

The string of attacks was huge and all over the place, designed to confuse and make it difficult for anyone to follow. And it was all a setup for just one moment. A complex maze of attacks all to create a single opening, he had spotted several seconds into the future when looking through fate.

Without pausing for even a second, as he continued to throw attacks, he activated [ Spirit Hands ] and dipped into his scabbard. Mo’han was strong, even managing to unlock some kind of aether ability, but that alone didn’t grant him the ability to see spirits as Aaron did, and the same went for his spirit hand. The invisible ghostly hand dipped into the spatial container, slipped out a shrunken dish, and hid it within itself.

This was no easy task, though. Aaron's concentration was split between fighting Mo’han and using his spirit hand, but it was more than that. It required energy to not just hold something in the ghostly hand, but also aether to conceal it within its grasp. 

With his ace up his sleeve, he desperately held onto his focus and closed in on his prey. If his concentration lapsed for even one second, the ghostly hand could drop what it held, or it might become visible.

His mind training had set him up for this very moment. Without splitting his focus like he could, this would have been impossible. And as he closed in on Mo’han, he unleashed a devastating series of high-powered attacks, further increasing the difficulty of what he was doing, and draining his adipose reserves. 

But it had to look real. His attacks needed to be powered up enough for Mo’han to take them seriously and avoid them accordingly. Otherwise, his plan would fail.

It was a costly deception, but it worked, and he moved within inches of his target, and then in the blink of an eye, his spirit hand shot forward, and flew straight into Mo’han’s mouth as he gasped for air mid-engagement.

In an instant, the asura’s face reddened, and he recoiled from battle. But whatever pain he had felt, it was short-lived. The revolution of having to eat the food quickly passed, and his features bent into a bad expression.

Aaron had used a dish on Mo’han that he had discovered some time back. It was strong, providing a decent buff to all Stats and fueling the user with an intense berserker rage. However, since the effects only lasted for two minutes, he hadn’t found much use for it. His style was more designed around endurance and outlasting his opponents, and as such, he hadn’t had any desire to use a dish that would give him a rather big, yet short outburst of power.

But that seemed perfect for this. He had less than fifteen minutes, and he needed to feed Mo’han something that would wear off quickly and set in with the aftereffects.

But seeing the way Mo’han’s brow bent, his muscles rippled, and a sheen over red that came over him, concerned him. Not only that, but he could sense his energy overflowing as if it were about to explode.

Oh shit. I might have messed up.

Aaron was worried, but then again, he only needed to survive for a couple of minutes. The dish had the aftereffect of death, though it wouldn’t actually kill Mo’han. The Aftereffects listed on a dish’s description were only accurate for an ordinary person with perfectly average stats and no Skills or Traits to help them resist. Mo’han was about as far from average as possible, so death was not on the table for him, but it would still be quite debilitating. It had been a while since he made it, but he remembered it being a bit more foul than his usual dishes, using the colons of a few different animals.

Aaron felt a pang of guilt at forcing the asura to eat something like that, but the guilt only lasted a split second before the huge asura blitzed forward, surrounded by angry flames. 

Suddenly, Aaron wasn’t so sure about his plan. Surviving this, even for two minutes, would be no easy task.

In an instant, Mo’han flashed before him, and three fists slammed into his chest in unison, too fast for his eyes to even see. The attack sent Aaron flying, but before he even hit the wall, Mo’han blinked above him and slammed into him with a downward punch that sent him crashing down. 

It all happened so fast, and Aaron’s mind couldn’t even keep pace. And before he even hit the ground,  Mo’han was once more beneath him, and six fists came flying up, bashing into his back and sending him hurtling up into the air again.

The speed, power, and ferocity of Mo’han’s attack were tremendous, and Aaron died three times before he was able to break free from the ridiculous rampage. Using a combination of [ Spectral Rush ] and his cape to hide in the shadows, he managed to interrupt the seemingly never-ending combination of strikes. Then, he appeared and landed a [ Soul Shattering Strike ] as Mo’han came in for the kill again.

His attack mightn’t have done any real damage against the enraged asura, but it did mess with his energy just enough to stagger Mo’han and give him a second or two of reprieve, which he used to create distance and eat.

But the infuriated asura wasn’t far behind, blowing up the arena as Aaron was forced to repetitively use [ Spectral Rush ] just to stay alive.

As he escaped another flurry of attacks and ran for his life, Mo’han raised his hands above his head, and a ball of molten power resembling a sun crackled into existence above him.

Flames lashed across the impressive Skill’s surface, and Aaron got the impression that if Mo’han got the chance to use this world-breaking Skill, nothing within the arena would survive. Nothing besides Mo’han, anyway.

As the asura brought his hands down and aimed the terrifying fireball at him, Aaron was forced to use [ Equal and Opposite ], draining the last of his energy reserves as he countered the Skill before it incinerated him.

Nonetheless, the massive use of energy put him in a dangerous position, and he desperately needed to kite Mo’han as he recovered.

Flashing across the arena, he tried to hide in the shadows for a second, but Mo’han relentlessly chased him down, only breaking from melee to repetitively fire explosive fireballs at him.

Eating whatever he could, Aaron dodged the endless attacks with [ Spectral Rush ], causing the fireballs to pass straight through him and taking only a little damage in the process.

He realized how lucky he was that he had increased Vitality and Fortitude as much as he had. Without those Stats being what they were, he likely would have died when using [ Spectral Rush ] to send Mo’han fireballs passing through him.

Still, the Skill was eating up his meagre amount of remaining mana, which would have completely run dry if he wasn’t sneaking in a bite of food here and there.

But even though he was dragged to the edge, he somehow managed to just barely survive. And nonetheless, as several seconds went by, Mo'han's endless stream of attacks managed to catch Aaron once more, killing him again and dragging his aether dangerously low. 

However, the absurd outpour of energy actually forced Mo’han to stop for a second. It seemed there was an added bonus to the dish he had picked that he hadn’t considered. The berserker rage provided by the dish had sent Mo’han into an uncontrolled fury, and that had led him to drain a stupid amount of energy, even by his own standards.

This wouldn’t have mattered in most fights. Against anyone else, the stupid number of powerful attacks he used would have resulted in his opponent’s death, but Aaron wasn’t anyone else. He was ridiculously hard to put down, and now Mo’han was panting and heaving as he tried to recover a little energy.

But it was only a short reprieve from the deadly rage, and the moment Mo’han recovered a little energy, he flew into another attack. 

It was absolute desperation. Aaron had to use every trick and skill he had, as well as read fate to kite the destructive monster bearing down on him as he skirted the edge of the arena.

He was still in an impossibly difficult situation, but he could see his chance. If Mo’han kept draining ridiculous amounts of energy as he was, maybe he would be able to turn the tide as he had hoped.

Once more, Aaron bounced out of melee range, and Mo’han formed a fireball, but just as he was about to fire it at him, the asura staggered forward, disrupting his Skill, and clutching at his chest.

Finally, the aftereffects!

Mo’han grunted and frowned, and the fiery sheen that had covered him dissipated. But he didn’t remain bent over for long and straightened with a grunt.

Oookay, well, it certainly didn’t kill him.

He was a little disappointed, if he was completely honest. Mo’han was standing straight and didn’t appear to have taken too much damage from the aftereffects. However, it was obvious that he was still very drained, and there could be little doubt that he had taken some damage.

This was it. The opportunity he had hoped for, and he would need to act fast to capitalize on it.

Shoving the last of the food in his hand down his throat, Aaron rushed forward, using [ Spectral Rush ] as Mo’han attempted to break his charge with an attack.

In an instant, he was within range, and his fists flew out to meet the asura with deadly accuracy, breaking into a combo chain that rattled his massive frame. Disrupting and damaging what little energy he had left, his strikes continued to blast away at him, and after a second, sent the asura stumbling backward as he struggled with the overwhelming number of attacks coming at him.

But this was Mo’han Khan, and even with his reserves drained, his body weakened, and having eaten strikes that would have ended other lives many times over, he wasn’t done.

Roaring, a flickering light began to brighten from within Mo’han, and within less than a second, an explosion erupted outward, sending Aaron’s charcoal remains shooting across the arena, and slamming into the forcefield that surrounded it.

“Ooww. Okay, that fucking sucked,” Aaron groaned as he got to his feet.

As life poured back into his body, he felt his aether drained down to nothing, but Mo’han had been forced to dig deep for that attack. He was on the ropes, and time was ticking. Aaron knew that this might be his last chance to press his attack, and so, despite having no backup, he rushed forward into the fray.

This was his last chance. His final opportunity to exploit Mo’han’s weakened state and clutch a victory, or die trying and fail the quest.

He came to Mo’han with everything he had. A [ Soul Shattering Strike ] led into a deadly combination, and as his opponent was backstepping against the pressure, he unleashed the attack again, and again, draining everything he had.

He felt his cells hunger for energy. His body drained down to an emaciated and diminished version of himself, but he willed it on. He gritted his teeth and drew on everything he had: Energy organs, [ Reverse Cycle Faux Core ], and pure stubbornness to fuel his attacks. And not for a second did he stop punching. Again, and again, and again.

And while his normal punches wouldn’t have done damage to Mo’han under normal circumstances, these weren’t normal circumstances. The asura had been drained of all his energy, with his energy organs offline, and his defenses all broken down. Not only that, but he was also in a weakened state thanks to the aftereffects, and this accumulation of debuffs had finally broken the indestructible asura down.

“Just. Fucking. Die. Already!” Aaron grunted as he continued to swing.

The asura was bloodied and bruised, beaten down and pummeled to the point that Aaron’s body itself was breaking against Mo’han’s skin, but finally, as Aaron felt himself about to fall apart, the asura gasped his last breath.

“Ha… haha… did I actually do it?”

He fell to his knees, shaking his head. What an incredible challenge Mo’han had been. 

Several seconds later, Mo’han respawned in the hallway. He was a little woozy, but despite Aaron’s underhanded tactics, he smiled as Aaron walked out from the arena, the rest in tow, and their gazes.

“You… you actually beat me, A-ran. I’m… I’m not sure what to think.”

“Sorry about the… You know.”

“No,” Mo’han shook his head. “It’s fine. I’m well aware of how you fight. It’s in your blood. The level gap… the power difference. Incredible. It’s not how I would have fought, but it’s amazing nonetheless. Besides, it’s not like I let you get away with such an underhanded trick. You used your Skills and found an opening. You deserve this win as much as any.”

“Thanks.”

The others crowded around, congratulating and embracing both of them.

Quest Completed! Defeat Mo’han Khan

Quest Rewards: Yendal’s Token [ Common ], Nexus Tournament Entry Ticket [ Unique ]

Experience rewarded for completing a quest!

[ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

43 → 44

Aaron had hoped to see Yendal once more when completing the quest, but as the notifications faded, he accepted that it wasn’t happening. 

Oh well, I’m sure she’ll show up at some point.

The ticket and the ordinary-looking token appeared, and Aaron quickly snatched them up and threw them into his scabbard. He hadn’t had time to inspect rewards. He had a couple of minutes left to spend with the friends he’d made during his time in the trials, and he wasn’t going to waste it.

Talia and Elmira came in for hugs, whilst Voidrin muttered about his clones, and how he would have handled Mo’han.

“I still can’t believe you actually beat Mo’han,” Talia said. “That was amazing.”

“Well, I kinda did. That said, I’m pretty sure there’s no way that trick would work a second time.”

“So? You did it! I know you have that stubborn drive of yours, but you actually beat Mo’han! Besides, most fights don’t happen a second time. The fact that you can win at all against someone that strong is huge.”

“Yeah…” Aaron scratched at the back of his head. “But a second chance was the only reason I won.”

“It’s never good enough for this guy, is it?” Elmira said.

“You two bastards are scary,” Mal shook his head, and his boys nodded along in agreement.

Aaron glanced across at Mo’han, who was being congratulated, and they shared a knowing nod. Both had gained more respect for one another than they already had. He already knew Mo’han was incredibly strong, but experiencing it firsthand was something else entirely.

“Well, I don’t care. I’m happy for you. I’m sure you’ll be more than a challenge for the monsters threatening our camp. Lucky, I got this!” Talia said, pulling the Waypoint from her spatial container as the final countdown began. “Wait…”

“What is it?” Aaron asked, seeing her eyes widen.

“Shit!” she exclaimed.

She rummaged in her spatial container for a few seconds, eventually pulling out a wooden compass that looked straight out of a pirate movie.

“Take this! Quick!”

“What is it?” asked Aaron, grabbing it.

“One of my trial rewards, but you can check it for yourself,” she said. “I just read the waypoint description again. It says it can summon people who survived my Tutorial, so—”

Aaron didn’t hear the rest of her sentence because at that moment, suddenly, the lights went out, and he found himself in complete darkness.

Please standby, calculating trial performance and rewards…

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 69

As Aaron got back to his feet, neither wasted any time, flying forward and clashing at the center of the arena. Mo’han was like an indestructible wrecking ball, destroying everything in its path, and Aaron was an undying menace, looking for opportunities to chip away at the massive asura.

He had to be careful, though. Just about everything Mo’han threw at him could have deadly consequences. Then again, there was no reason to be surprised. The asura had gained at least three Titles since they last fought, thanks to beating three trials. His Stats had been incredible to begin with, and such bonuses were only going to make matters worse. 

Aaron was no mathematician, but he knew enough about percentages to know that Mo’han gaining Titles was bad. Bad enough that it countered much of his Fortitude gains.

However, Mo’han was not invincible, and as they clashed, his energy reserves were showing that they did indeed have limits. That said, within a minute of a frantic back and forth, which pitted Aaron’s combo chains against Mo’han’s explosive powers, he had died three more times, and things were starting to get desperate.

Mo’han opened a palm, and explosive energy rippled out, blanketing the walls of the arena as the protective forcefield was erected around it to save the onlookers from the cataclysmic attack. 

But Aaron passed straight through it, closing the distance between them with [ Spectral Rush ]. His Skill didn’t save him from all of the damage, but a good portion of explosive power was negated—enough for him to survive, anyway—and Aaron appeared in striking distance, covered in wounds.

A lightning-fast combination peppered the asura and had Mo’han staggering backward, but the well of energy within the asura was gigantic. Unlike most, Mo’han could take a few hits like this. He was something else entirely. He could shake off blows to his energy organs. He could have his energy flow disrupted and still hit back harder than any non-god Aaron had ever fought.

And that was exactly what the indomitable asura did.

Aaron could sense that Mo’han was worse for wear after his combo, but it didn’t stop the asura from leveling yet another devastating strike at him. Stepping forward, Mo’han swung with all three left hands, each pulsing with more energy than most trial takers had in their bodies. Aaron leapt back out of the range of the fists, but the shockwave from the strike still rippled out. He cancelled it with [ Equal and Opposite ], but even just stopping the shockwave ate through a painful amount of his reserves. 

He leapt back further, shoving more food in his face to replenish as Mo’han shot forward as well to keep up the offensive. Aaron managed to use [ Spectral Rush ] to avoid the first and second strikes, and on the third, Mo’han over-committed. Thinking he had Aaron cornered, he lunged forward, using some kind of Skill that accelerated his fists, but Aaron had seen the attack before, and had long seen it coming through the threads of Fate.

An opening! Thought Aaron excitedly.

Just before Mo’han’s hyperspeed attack flew at him, Aaron stepped to the side, simultaneously activating both [ Equal and Opposite ] and [ Soul Shattering Strike ]. Everything went according to plan for a moment as Mohan’s fists flew right past Aaron. Then, the residual energy surrounding his fists hit Aaron’s body. Aaron’s defensive Skill kept him from faltering, but it left his energy reserves dangerously low. 

Against another foe, he might have tried to pull back and recover, but he knew it would be no use against Mo’han. Instead, he gathered all the energy he had left into his fist. As Mo’han drew his own fists back from his failed attack, for a brief second, there was an opening. A gap between his arms. Without hesitation, Aaron’s fist shot through it, hitting the massive asura on the chest, right above his Vitality Heart.

The attack punched through Mo’han's defenses, and the force of the strike sent Mohan flying backward, landing a dozen meters away on one knee. Aaron wanted to press his advantage, but that strike had taken everything he had, so he needed to replenish his reserves first, and in that moment, Mo’han got to his feet after spitting out a mouthful of blood. 

“Not bad, friend,” said Mo’han with a bloody grin.

Aaron did not respond, still stuffing his face. His energy was rapidly regenerating, and he was pleased to see that Mo’han’s Vitality Heart was on the verge of failing entirely. Grinning, Aaron wiped his mouth to prepare for the next round, but then the unthinkable happened.

Like an enormous vacuum, Mo’han's chest suddenly took in a massive amount of aether, and a moment later, there was a loud thump as his Vitality Heart started beating strongly again. Aaron’s jaw dropped, and his shocked expression made Mo’han start laughing loudly.

“A trick I learned from you, my friend,” said Mo’han. “I saw the way you disregarded your own safety to challenge trials beyond your means. I admire that resolve of yours. I tried to emulate it. I ignored the pain, charging back into a particularly difficult trial until I had it done, and I was rewarded for my efforts.”

He pounded his chest with his three left fists. 

“My self-healing Skill mutated. Not only can it now heal my soul, it can heal my energy organs! The aether cost is tremendous, but I can afford it a few times, especially in a particularly desperate fight. And you, my friend, are the first to force me to use it! Even the tenth stage of the Trial of the Challenger did not push me so far! You are indeed a worthy opponent!”

Aaron’s frown deepened as Mo’han spoke. He finally thought he had an advantage, but the asura was simply too absurd. Against anyone else, that strike would have spelled the end of the fight. Against Mo’han, it only signified the beginning of the second round. A second round where Aaron was low on energy and had just watched his opponent shrug off his most powerful attack.

At that thought, his frown vanished, turning into a maniacal grin. 

It wouldn’t be any fun if it were easy.

“Enough talking,” he said, beckoning Mo'han with a single finger. “Come at me.”

Laughing, Mo’han charged forward, and the two began the next stage of the fight. This time, Aaron adjusted his style. Or at least, he tried to. His usual tactics of abusing his regeneration were clearly not working. Mo’han was simply too powerful. Even glancing blows were a tremendous drain on Aaron’s reserves.

He thought back to how Yendal fought. Despite being a god, when she fought Aaron, she hardly used any energy at all. She completely demolished him with almost no effort expended. Aaron had trained under her and had even imitated her style, but with his energy reserves, he had never had a need to go quite so far into efficiency until now.

Now, the difference in energy was insurmountable. He didn’t have a choice. One hit meant death, so he couldn’t even take one hit. A hit of his own did nothing unless powerful and perfectly placed, so he couldn’t afford to waste his energy on glancing blows in a battle of attrition.

The fight went on, and slowly, Aaron’s skill grew. He internalized the lessons that Yendal had taught him. He figured out how far he needed to dodge to avoid Mo’han’s attacks entirely, and made micro-adjustments to his positioning to negate the shockwaves as much as possible. In the following two minutes, under the pressure of such a tremendous foe, he grew more in skill than he had in many a trial.

But it still wasn’t enough.

Aaron wasn’t the only one improving. Mo’han wasn’t just a brute with enormous amounts of energy. He was a prodigy of battle. A king of war. As Aaron grew, he grew too. He got used to Aaron’s abilities, learned to gauge Aaron’s range better, scaled down his energy use to conserve it, and not run out. Aaron was getting better, but it still wasn’t enough to win.

Soon, he was on the verge of running out of energy and attempted to disengage to recharge. He leapt backward, using everything he had left on a [ Spectral Rush ] as he reached into his scabbard. However, Mo’han had predicted this, and before Aaron could get his hand to his mouth, Mo’han’s unstoppable fists were flying at his face. 

Staring his fourth death in the face, Aaron instinctively threw the thing in his hand at Mo’han. The miniaturized chunk of trolorblin was no better than a piece of paper in front of the asura, but as soon as Mo’han saw it, his eyes widened, and he had a moment of hesitation. The moment of hesitation was not enough for Aaron to survive, but Aaron definitely saw it.

When he reconstituted himself, he found Mo’han a few meters back, frantically wiping the trolorblin juice off his face and trying not to retch.

Hold on a second, thought Aaron.

He did not waste the brief respite and started shoveling food into his face, but while he ate, a new plan formulated in his mind. 

**Mo’han**

“Don’t you touch that scabbard, you fiend!” Mo’han roared as he spotted Aaron’s hand reaching down, and his eyes widened as he plucked another insidious dish from his spatial container.

This was not an honorable strategy; that said, he held immense respect for his friend. If there was one thing he understood about the human, it was that his unwavering determination and will to win were what had driven him this far.

If he had lacked even an ounce of his determination and stubbornness, Mo’han knew that Aaron wouldn’t have been able to succeed under the circumstances he had been placed within, and he could respect that. He was a warrior, after all, and warriors oft had to rise above impossible circumstances.

This was what made him special, and Mo’han couldn’t shame him for that. His attacks might have been unconventional, but they were what allowed him to stand toe to toe with him in such a way that he doubted any others could within the entire sector. And while he did not care for the cheap tactics Aaron currently employed, he did respect the dogged nature of the human before him. This was a man who would face any challenge and keep going until he found a way to break through it.

But he wasn’t just another trial to be overcome. He was Mo’han Khan, the strongest in the sector, and maybe their entire universe. And he certainly wasn’t going to lose this fight, even if he did call Aaron a friend. For friends held each other up. There would be no greater shame than going easy on a friend, and out of respect for that very friendship, he would show Aaron everything he was capable of.

You fought well, my friend, but this ends now!

Energy rushed out of Mo’han as he flooded himself with tremendous power, increasing his speed and pummeling toward Aaron with a stupid number of attacks that seemed to fracture and create tiny ripples through space.

The power on display was mindblowing and absolutely impossible to follow for most spectators. Explosions and fists were flying all over the place, and the ghostly form of Aaron appeared here and there as the human tried to escape the endless attack, appearing with more wounds every time he materialized.

The human even disappeared a few times, seeming to hide in the shadows somehow. That was a side of Aaron Mo’han that he hadn’t seen before, but as long as he could sense his energy, he could just blow the entire area up, forcing the human to reveal himself and flee the attack.

He had to admit, though, Aaron was even more persistent than he had realized. And he started to understand why his patron god had asked him to defeat him. The series of attacks he had sent the human’s way had made short work of several avatars, even at relatively high stages within the Trial of the Challenger, and yet Aaron was still standing.

Incredible resilience. Like a magnificent cockroach, he survives everything!

But that wasn’t all of it. The attacks that Aaroun countered with when he found an opportunity were truly quite scary. A few times, Mo’han had even felt himself waver a little after being in it. An unusual and unwelcome fear was bubbling within him, and it made him deadly curious about what exactly Aaron was doing with his strikes.

He believed most others would falter, even if they could survive the attacks outright. Because Mo’han had spent an entire life as an apex warrior, and those ingrained memories were invaluable for fighting back against such a connivingly fear-inducing attack.

All Mo’han had to do was remind himself of every challenge he had blasted his way through and how he had beaten so many with so little effort. How he the strongest. The one standing up atop the hill. The one everyone else wanted to beat. And when he drew on such memories, he suddenly felt confident, and the fear fled from him. But what kind of effect would the human’s punches have against someone who didn’t have such experiences to lean on? Against someone who had failed, and felt real fear?

Moh’han shuddered to imagine. It truly was a powerful attack, and it made clear that Aaron wasn’t one to underestimate. Not only that, but he wondered how this fight would go if they were at an equal level. Could he win?

Mo’han certainly wasn’t about to count himself out. Even if Aaron was at an equal level with himself, he had a mountain of advantages to fall back upon, but he couldn’t deny that the fight would be close. Too close.

A truly worthy dueling partner you are, but I will make you suffer for putting that foul food anywhere near my mouth!

**Aaron**

Unfortunately, despite his many attempts, Aaron was never quite able to replicate the trolorblin incident. He managed to throw a few more dishes at Mo’han, but without the element of surprise, the asura saw it coming and avoided it. 

Aaron frantically tried everything he could, from feints to counters, and even to just running away and trying to replenish, but no matter what he did, Mo’han had an answer. His fifth death came swiftly, and as he retreated after reviving, he knew the end was near. He would not be able to resurrect again. 

Suddenly, he had an idea. A way he might be able to defeat Mo’han. It was risky, perhaps more so than anything he had already tried, but at this point, what did he have to lose?

The plan revolved around his Profession Skills. Given that they were Profession Skills, he had generally not used them for combat much, but there was nothing stopping him from doing it. There was no reason he couldn’t use those Skills in a fight. It was not what they were designed for, but using Skills in unintended ways was exactly how he caused Skill Mutations, so he saw no issue with it.

He and Mo’han stopped across the arena. Mo’han was a bit battered, but otherwise still very much unharmed. He was simply too powerful for the current Aaron. Perhaps if he had fifty more levels, or fifty more years to train with Yendal, but as he was, there was no hope of winning in a straight fight. All he could try was this one last desperate tactic, hoping to pull off a miracle.

He made eye contact with Mo’han, and simultaneously, the two of them nodded. Exactly one second later, both of them lunged forward for a final clash. Aaron grinned, despite knowing that he would likely die as he prepared to enact his strategy. 

Then, he woke up in the trial hallway. Mo’han was not beside him. He pushed himself up to a sitting position, then sighed. He had lost. He didn’t even get a chance to try his tactic. He had underestimated Mo’han, and overestimated himself, and waited too long to start.

“Here, you are!” Talia shouted as they ran over.

“What are you doing on the ground?” Elmira said. 

“Hey, A-ran! What an incredible fight that was! Even my patron god was impressed! He sent me a missive to congratulate me alongside my reward. And he also mentioned you! Also, something about Yendal, which was odd… Anyway, you are truly something else! I am proud to have dueled you, my friend!”

“Am I?” Aaron raised. “I still lost.”

“Really?” Elmira tilted her head. “Stop moping. Even if Talia and I tag-teamed you, you’d be able to finish us a dozen times before we could finish you once! Be proud of what you achieved!”

“Eerr–ahh, anyway,” Talia coughed. “What about your quest? Is there a failure penalty?” 

“Failure penalty?” Aaron blinked and then remembered the conditions, quickly bringing them up.

His eyes lit up as he realized it wasn’t gone. And why would it have disappeared? Its condition was to be completed before the trials ended, and they hadn’t ended yet. 

But did he even stand a chance against Mo’han? The answer was no. Not if he fought him fairly… but when did he ever fight fair?

He doubted his devilish plan would be enough to win on its own, but if he pulled it off just right, then maybe, just maybe, it would be enough to create the openings he needed.

“ANNOUNCEMENT, TRIAL TAKERS!!!” A loud booming voice sounded over the Shadow Trials, echoing throughout every room. “YOU ALL HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES UNTIL THE TRIALS ARE OVER. THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING! IF YOU HAVE ANY UNFINISHED BUSINESS, BEST GET MOVING!!!”

Aaron blinked. His back and forth with Mo’han had lasted quite a while, far longer than fifteen minutes. Both of them were so damn hard to kill that no fight was simple and easily won. But he couldn't just give up. Not when he had a sliver of hope.

“You ready for round two, big fella?”

“You want to fight again? With just fifteen minutes remaining, A-ran?”

“It’s me, Mo’han. Of course I fucking do. You know I’ll keep fighting until I win, dammit!”

An eager smile creased the asura’s mouth, which almost made Aaron feel bad for what he planned to do.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 68

Aaron limbered up and fed himself in the privacy of a private dining hall instance after saying his goodbyes. He hoped he’d get another chance to talk to everyone before leaving, but couldn’t hang around any longer. He needed to properly prepare for the duel. Besides, he was fairly certain they were all coming to watch anyway.

He considered barring some of those he didn’t know quite so well, especially if Johan was spying on him, but decided not to. He was unsure of the cult leader, but wasn’t ready to give him any reason to suspect him of distrusting him. After all, as long as the death god didn’t learn too much about him, he doubted it would matter all that much.

Besides, he had a feeling Johan’s deceptive methods were of a more diplomatic nature, and didn’t expect the guy to come looking for a fight.

Fattening up, he consumed a serving of Ichor Braised Bison Meat Pie and used its buff, activating True Girth, which allowed him to store far more energy. But dense adipose tissue wasn’t going to slow Aaron’s eating; it just meant that he could fit more in, and he continued to balloon up for the fight.

He had to be perfect. To make all of the right decisions if he wanted a chance of beating Mo’han, and he went to remove his new ring. The last thing he needed was something draining his energy, but when he went to, the damn thing wouldn’t come off.

He could feel its little teeth digging into him, and even a little blood poured out when he pulled too hard. Nothing was working. The teeth were well and truly entrenched.

“Ahhh, you little bugger. Get off my bloody finger! Dammit, you made me do this!”

With a quick karate chop, he severed his finger, and then poured energy into the stub to grow it back, but his brow twitched in irritation as his newly formed finger still had the ring. He then looked at the severed finger on the ground, which was quickly disintegrating thanks to some kind of trial magic, and sure enough, there was no ring on it.

“Seriously? Alright then, try this!”

Another karate chop severed his arm down to his elbow. But whatever magic bound the ring to him, it had limitations. He could see the ring on his finger on the ground as the flesh melted away.

Once his severed arm had disintegrated, he leaned forward and retrieved the ring, throwing it in the scabbard for safekeeping as he regrew his arm.

“Damn, you were a stubborn bastard,” he muttered as the ring disappeared in his spatial storage.

His arm that had regrown was skinny now, and he plumped it back up, eating various items off the dining hall table until he was ready.

“That should just about do it,” he said, stretching his arm.

But before leaving, he turned to the end of the table and rang the service bell.

A moment later, Douglas arrived.

“Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”

“Nothing much,” Aaron said, stretching his massive form. He puffed up massively when eating, but it wasn’t just fat. At his level, in E-grade, his body had turned into a sea of rippling muscle, and some of that still came through on his oversized physique, which he showed off.

“Well, I guess I shall see myself out in that case,” Douglas snorted and turned for the exit.

“Wait.”

“Oh?” Douglas turned back to him, a thin brow raised on his gaunt face.

“Pretty impressive, huh? Three full trials.”

“Oh, I should have known you would call me in here to gloat. Fine. Yes, it’s impressive. Happy now?”

“Not really,” Aaron slumped. “I thought I’d get a little more out of you. After all, it’s only me and the big guy that managed to knock out so many trials.”

“It pains me to say this, but you’re right. Three trials put you in our hall of fame,” Douglas sighed. “You’ll get scored quite highly for that effort. Though I doubt you’ll rank too high. Not in the top thousand, at least.”

“Wait, there’s a ranking system?”

“Yes. The gods, in particular, like to show off their trial ranking. It’s one of the few things you can achieve at the start of your ascension that will stick with you for, well, ever.”

“Huh. That’s kinda cool. If only I’d managed to knock out another.”

“You’re good, I’ll give you that. But don’t shove your head too far up your own behind. Defeating three trials is an amazing achievement. Try to stay at least a little grounded. You’ll live longer. Now, if that was all, I had best be going. I’ve an endless list of tasks I need to get through before this thing wraps up.”

“Alright, bye,” Aaron waved. 

In the end, he had gotten Douglas to reluctantly admit he was good. He could leave the trials with a smile thanks to that. But screw him for saying he wasn’t grounded. He thought he was plenty grounded. Nothing more humbling than dying thousands of times, and Aaron knew that better than anybody.

With his warm-up completed, he decided it was time to make his way over to the training grounds, where he found Mo’han and the others waiting for him.

He smiled and waved at the small crowd that had formed and walked up to the arena.

“Good luck, Aaron,” Talia patted his back as he passed.

He got cheers and wishes of luck from most people, but not Clementine. The rabbit girl simply watched with a smug grin, arms crossed. It had crossed him as peculiar ever since she had put down a bet on him to win. Could she see something the others couldn’t? He wondered.

Something tells me I definitely have to keep an eye on that one.

By eye, he didn’t mean he distrusted Clem. Just that he felt she was destined for more than it seemed.

“A-ran, there you are!” Mo’han boomed, all six arms extended, and took him in for a bear hug, but even the asura’s huge arms couldn’t reach around Aaron when he had fully filled out. “I’ll miss you, friend! But now we must fight. Let us prove ourselves in the heat of battle! For the sake of our ancestors!”

“Yeah, you too, big fella. Gonna be a little dull without you around. But I’m sure we’ll catch up soon enough.”

“That we will, A-ran! I’ll build a portal myself once the barriers are down and come visit your world! I’m dying to learn more about humans! You are fascinating creatures!”

“Sounds great. I’d like to see the asura world too, at some point.”

“Then it is a plan! We shall visit each other’s worlds once the time allows!”

“Sounds good to me.”

The two clasped hands and nodded appreciatively at each other, and then separated, strolling to two corners of the arena.

“When you’re ready, A-ran!”

“Maybe someone else should call the start of this thing? It’d only be fair that way.”

They both looked across to the arena edge, and Voidrin quickly took the opportunity to push himself into the limelight.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” He hollared, stepping up to the arena’s edge. “The event you’ve all been waiting for. Man against mountain. However, that seems a little off now that the man is of such monstrous proportions. Hehe. Maybe it should be mound versus mountain? But I digress! We have here perhaps the two strongest warriors in our sector. The only two to complete three full trials! An impressive achievement indeed. But how do such impressive warriors match up against one another? Well, you’re in luck! Now, with the final hours of the Shadow Trials ticking down, we shall answer that very question!” He said, staring out and pausing for dramatic effect, and then suddenly turning toward the arena.

“FIGHT!” He shouted at the top of his lungs and threw his hands up into the air.

As the fight finally began, Aaron had already buffed himself and was using [ Soul Vortex ], which he had discovered in the Trial of Travels could not just improve his inspection ability, but also sense the smallest fluctuations of energy. He could read attacks and defenses with it up, and when working in concert with his fate-bending, it provided a four-dimensional defensive screen that was impossible to deceive.

But Mo’han wasn’t in a rush. He stood there and summoned an aura of rushing blue energy that covered him. [ Soul Vortex ] told him that the aura both helped his energy regeneration, but also empowered his attacks by empowering everything the asura sent through the aura.

Okay, so he’s got some buffs.

Aaron's brow bent. It was time to get some proper reads, and he shot forward, peppering Mo’han with [ Spectral Bullet Punch ]. As expected, the lightning-fast bullet-like attacks did little damage to the powerful asura. If they were to do any real damage, he would first need to bring his defenses down, but the attack did force him to act.

The Skill wasn’t particularly strong, but it had grown strong enough that his enemy couldn’t simply ignore it, like he would’ve been able to do against the unevolved version.

As Mo’han dashed from side to side, trying to create his own openings, Aaron was carefully reading fate and exploring the possible attacks the asura had planned for him.

This was what he had wanted from the start, and the more he got Mo’han to react, the more he could see and figure out. Since his fate-bending only allowed him to see a few seconds into the future, he needed to push his opponents to a point where they were close to acting and ready to do something.

But even as he got reads on the impressive asura, he wasn’t ready to attack just yet, avoiding the threads of fate that led him into melee with Mo’han.

The longer he could stall out and get reads on Mo’han, the better. But it seemed the asura had caught on, as all the threads of fate began to converge on a single attack. 

It was going to be devastating, and he wasn’t ready for that just yet. So, he tried to use Fate Bender. He tried to shift fate, to pull it, but Mo’han was just so damn powerful, and even with all of his mental effort, he was only able to shift fate an inch or two. That wasn’t going to help, not against the powerful and overwhelming Skills at Mo’han’s disposal. 

He had no choice. He was going to have to meet the attack head-on.

Mo’han flew forward, his fists, all six of them, glowed brightly like meteors charging toward him, and Aaron knew that this was a different Mo’han. The asura he had fought the first time had let him off easy, but this time, he meant to go all out.

Luckily, so did Aaron.

Activating [ Gorgon’s Time Dilation ], he met the asura in the middle of the arena, and in a sudden and surprising twist, he pulled in absurd amounts of energy from his adipose tissue, almost instantly shrinking down, and using time dilation to perfectly thread the narrow gaps between the six fists soaring toward him. Like a contortionist, he bent around Mo’han’s fists to land his own counter.

He was drawing on a stupid amount of energy and funneling it all into a single attack, but he had no choice. If he had remained at his ogre size, Mo’han would have landed his attack, and there was no doubt that he would have come out the worse of the two.

But this way, he threaded the needle of Mo’han’s furious attack and landed a [ Soul Shattering Strike ] against the asura’s chest, sending all of his energy into it. But that wasn’t all. On top of the disabling attack, he threw his combo chain.

The attack was something else. First, the soul attack pummeled through the asura’s defenses, first breaking down his energy barriers, then knocking his energy organs offline. And then, with nothing to stop it, his fully powered haymaker sailed through his opponent’s layers of defenses and landed with a heavy, reverberating blast. But, of course, that wasn’t it. The combination was finished with a burst fire of spectral punches that sent the two of them careening away from one another.

The attack was absolutely devastating, and would have killed most then and there. The asura flew through the air, a stream of purple blood cascading out of his mouth, but in a terrifying instant, his eyes rolled back and locked onto Aaron’s.

Oh fuck!

The asura’s meteor-like fists seemed to defy gravity as he was still hurtling backward and exploded outward. Luckily for Aaron, Skill blasted off some distance away. His eyes widened as a fiery shockwave traveled out from where they exploded, covering the distance between them in an instant.

The blast hit Aaron like a train, smacking him back and sending him flying into the far wall of the arena like a human cannonball.

Aaron had grown so much stronger, and he was tough enough now to tank a hit from most within the E-grade, but this attack was on another level.

Gasping as he broke bones back into shape, he pulled himself out of the hole he had created and fell to his knees as life poured back into his veins.

It was his first death, but it wouldn’t be his last.

With bloodshot eyes, he looked up at the asura across from him. 

Huh, that’s good news.

The exchange of attacks hadn’t been without reward. Mo’han stood opposite him, sweating and heaving.

He didn’t like that, did he?

Pushing himself back up onto his feet, Aaron’s lips curled into a toothy grin. They were just getting started, and he couldn’t have asked for a better dance partner.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 67

Passing through the portal, the group appeared in the man-pad Aaron and Mo’han had hung out in several months earlier. It was quite nice to be visiting the place again after everything he had been through, and he was beaming from ear to ear as he stepped into the room.

The group crowded around the bar, and beers, amongst other drinks, were handed out. A short round of small talk followed, and shortly after, he found himself standing around a snooker table with Elmira, Cairon, and Mo’han, playing doubles.

The game was a little bit of a mess, since he was the only one who knew the rules. But it didn’t take too long to explain the basics, and being superpowered meant that they all picked it up rather quickly. After all, high Stats like Dexterity and Perception essentially made them considerably more gifted than even peak-level athletes. And Intelligence gave a nice boost when picking up new concepts, like mental lubricant.

“So, how’d you go, A-ran? Finish any more trials?” Mo’han asked as he carefully lined up a ball. Slowly, he tried to rein himself in, tapping the ball. But it was hopeless, and he sent it flying off the table like a bullet. “Oh… my bad. Looks like I’ll have to dial back my power even more for this game. A true test of one’s ability to control themselves, I see.”

“Err, not exactly,” Aaron said, but he couldn’t be bothered explaining in detail. “Anyway, to your question, yeah, I did alright. I managed to knock out three in the end. I’m pretty happy,” Aaron lied.

He was happy, in a sense. But his joy at winning was soured by having to give up on the Trial of Travels somewhat.

“Three?” Mo’han said as he straightened. “Amazing, as I expected of you! And guess what? I did the same, A-ran! Like brothers we are!” He added, extending a fist, which Aaron gleefully bumped.

He could tell the asura held back as their fists clashed, but he also didn’t feel like his arm was almost broken. That was good news going into their duel, and was evidence of how much he had managed to close the incredible gap that had been between them. In some ways, even more so than the fact that they had completed the same number of trials, since Aaron had a clear edge in dying, which was a massive cheat when it came to clearing trials.

“You two completed three full trials?” Elmira groaned.

“Hmph, impressive,” Cairon growled as his eyes swept over Aaron. “Not only did you beat that cyclops, but to complete so many trials… impressive.”

His tone was a little harsh, and Aaron got a feeling he held some resentment.

“Hey, fellas and females,” Voidrin said as he sauntered over, arms wide. “Come check this out. Clem here is cooking something up in the bar. Y’know, I think she knows a thing or two about this alchemy stuff.”

Over at the bar, Clementine was mixing potions and drinks with some protective goggles, looking almost as mad as Aaron as she concocted something.

“Should we be worried?” Talia asked, wincing as she watched fumes and hissing sounds coming from the other side of the bar.

“Why would we be worried? Don’t tell me… she doesn’t expect us to try whatever she’s making, does she?” Joseph said with a nervous quiver.

“Hey Clem, need a hand?” Aaron said, waving as he strolled over. “I can go get my pot—”

“No!” Talia interjected. “Whatever happens, keep Aaron out of the kitchen!”

He slumped a little at the rebuke. After feeding them a good meal, he had hoped the perception of his cooking would have changed. Unfortunately, it seemed that the dish was seen as more of a lucky break, and not indicative of his regular cooking, as several others agreed, Mo’han being the most emphatic.

A minute later, as the group watched on, vials of bubbling green tonics were lined up on the table, and after several minutes spent convincing everyone to give them a try, they were consumed with apprehension by everyone except Aaron. And if not for the inspection windows proving that they were going to survive the ordeal, many probably would have declined.

However, Clem knew what she was doing when it came to mixing potions. Not only did they taste like a tropical island, with a little sweetness, some hints of coconut, and fruity flavors dancing around one another, but they actually gave him a buzz. But it wasn’t a normal tipsy buzz; it made him feel amazing. Euphoric, even.

It was a nice way to celebrate, as alcohol wasn’t what it had once been. He still enjoyed drinking it, but barely felt anything. And it wasn’t just Aaron who was barely affected by the stuff. 

Luckily, these little vials Clem cooked up gave a nice, light buzz and loosened the atmosphere, all the while loosening lips. And soon, the room was filled with conversations going every which way, sometimes even passing right across one another as the chaotic cacophony escalated.

Everyone in attendance probably had a more temperate approach to taking on the trials than Aaron, but nonetheless, they had still been working hard. Everyone had been fighting and trying to improve since the integration, and having an entire day to just unwind without even thinking about all the other stuff was very clearly therapeutic.

And soon, the conversations drifted from retelling trials and Tutorial quests to stories about their pre-integration lives. Aaron found himself sitting at the edge of the bar, Talia to his left, and Emmy left of her, who sat within ear shot, while the rest of the group were drowned out by the chatter filling the room.

Talia was talking with Emmy, trying to get information about the young girl’s own Tutorial, but she wasn’t having much luck. Emmy was like ADHD on crack, and it was worsened by Clem’s drinks. She couldn’t stay on one topic for more than a few seconds before suddenly remembering something somewhat relevant and jumping to a new topic. At some point, Talia gave up and turned away from Emmy, and Aaron took the opportunity to jump in with a conversation of his own.

“So, you still planning on making that settlement when we get back?” he asked.

“Huh?” asked Talia. “Oh, yeah. Some of the others from my Tutorial made it in at the final week, and we talked it over in a bit more detail. We want to at least make a fortified town so that the weaker members of the Tutorial can live in peace. After that, I’m not sure. I definitely want to keep progressing. I got a Blessing last week, so I know at least one god is expecting big things from me.”

“A Blessing?” said Aaron. “No shit. Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” she said with a small smile. “Not much compared to you with your two Blessings, but it’s definitely something.”

Aaron hesitated for a moment before responding.

“I know I might not be the best person to say this, but they say that comparison is the thief of joy. You got a Blessing, and that’s great. Even if other people got more, that doesn’t make your accomplishments any less impressive.”

“Yeah…” she said. “You’re right… I just– Nevermind. What about you? What are you gonna do when you get back?”

Aaron wasn’t sure if he should try to press more on the previous topic, but after a few seconds, he decided against it. Maybe she needed to hear some encouragement, but that encouragement coming from him probably wouldn’t help.

“Well, I guess I’ll help you out a bit while I hunt and try to catch up in levels, and then… I dunno.”

“Help me out? What do you mean? You’re going to come find me?”

“Well, you’ve got a Waypoint, right?”

“Yeah…” she said, staring at him like he had said something stupid. “That’s only for people from my Tutorial, though.”

“Yeah,” said Aaron. “Wait. Shit. Did I never tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“We’re from the same Tutorial.”

“What?!”

“Yeah. I found out in the Viewing Room. When I asked to see people from Earth, Rudolf mentioned that you were the highest ranker in my Tutorial.”

Talia stared at him for a few seconds incredulously, then shook her head and took another sip of her drink.

“Right, I suppose that makes sense,” she said. “I did think it was odd when I heard your accent the first time. Honestly, I was pretty surprised when I met you. Can you imagine? Rocking up in the trials only to find that out of the two other humans from Earth who had arrived, one of them was another Australian? Let me tell you, I was not expecting that.”

“Haha, yeah, I can imagine. Small world, huh?”

“That said, you never did tell me the details about how you got here,” Talia craned forward and narrowed her shifting gaze on him. “You arrived at the very start of the trials, right? That’s what I heard at least. There are all kinds of rumors going about in here… It’s hard to know what’s worth listening to. So, what happened exactly?”

“Yeah, you’re mostly right. As for the exact details, I can’t say I know exactly what happened, but I can comfortably say that skydiving before the world ends is probably a bad idea.”

“Skydiving?” Talia’s eyes blinked and widened.

“Yeah? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“What do you mean, skydiving?”

“You never heard of skydiving before? You know, like you put on a suit, and jumping out of a plane?”

“I know what skydiving is.”

“Right… anyway,” Aaron mumbled, a little taken aback by the insistent glare Talia was giving him. “All I can say is it happened really quickly. I was falling, and then… Well, I died. It happened so fast, I didn’t even realize until I got to the Trials. Then, I was greeted by an annoyingly evasive conversation with Douglas. Through perseverance, I managed to get him to fill me in on the gaps.”

“Y-you died skydiving?” She swallowed. “And? W-why did you end up here instead of just dying?”

“Something about a god saving me,” Aaron shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure why, if I'm being honest. But I can't complain with results, can I? Douglas said something about rules, but he didn’t exactly lay out their motivations.”

Talia looked lost for words, as if something was churning away in her head.

“What is it?  You look… odd.”

“It’s just that… back when I entered the Tutorial, there was a corpse. It was… dressed in a skydiving suit. Helmet and all. It was gory, and I didn’t get a look at the face… I’m not sure if I would have been able to recognize you or not, but I was a different person back then. I knew it was a corpse, and it certainly wasn’t alive, and I didn’t particularly want to touch the thing…”

“The thing? That’s my corpse you’re talking about.”

“Sorry…”

“Don’t be. Pretty cool story. What a coincidence, though, huh? To think, you’re the one who found my corpse. Blimey. Well, I suppose it’s good to know what happened to me.”

“I should probably thank you. I… I…”

“What?”

“I looted you.”

“You what?”

“Yeah,” Talia grimaced. “Everyone who enters the Tutorial gets two health potions. You also get gear, but you have to select it from the armory after entering, and I guess you didn’t get the chance. It was only two potions, but they worked quite well for the early fights. Helped me get a head start, and once I was ahead of the pack, I could take advantage of overflowing hunting grounds that were too high level for others.”

“Really? That’s… that’s awesome. You didn’t have any competition because of my corpse? Who’d have thought my death helped someone? Thanks, Talia. You kinda made my day.”

“I did?”

“Of course,” Aaron sipped a beer. “I hate things going to waste. And honestly, I feel pretty lucky for how things turned out. I got to know myself better coming here from the start. If I had come here as a level 80 or 90, I probably wouldn’t have gained Yendal’s blessing and would be on an entirely different path. Things happen for a reason, you know? And I’m pretty happy with the path I walk.”

“That’s good to hear,” Talia smiled.

“I have a good feeling about all this. It feels like fate. We can build a base and take care of Superearth together!”

“Superearth?” Emmy leaned forward. “Is that what you call our new world?”

“Yeah? What’s wrong?”

“That sounds soooo stupid.”

“Well, you come up with a better name then!”

“How? We haven’t even been there yet. How am I supposed to name it? What if it's a water world? Then it’ll probably be called something like Aquatica, but if it's a desert world? That’s going to sound soooo stupid. It’d need a desert name. What would a desert name even sound like? It would have to end with a vowel, I think. Oh, speaking of words that end in vowels…”

Aaron blinked. Why was he having an argument over the name of their new world with this little girl? Also, she seemed to have already forgotten about the naming thing and was now loudly musing about some kind of monster she fought in order to get a fruit that he assumed ended with a vowel, but he would be shocked if the story actually made it that far, as she was already getting distracted by explaining her Skills.

“So, you want to build a settlement with me?” Talia asked, talking loudly to be heard over Emmy.

“Yeah, I don’t see why not,” said Aaron, shrugging. “I mean, I’m no builder, and I’m not good with people either, but I’d be happy to do some hunting for food or exploring or other things like that. I need the levels anyway, and having a home base for the future would definitely be nice. Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No reason,” she said, shaking her head. “I just kinda thought I’d never see you again. Or at least that it’d take a while. You’d be off in the multiverse, fighting and dying and reviving and gaining fame and power while I was back on Earth trying to get my feet under me. I thought we’d be saying our goodbyes, but now you’re saying you want to build a home with me.”

“Woah, hey, slow down there, Elmira,” said Aaron.

Talia let out a small snort that soon turned into full-blown laughter.

“Sorry for bringing the mood down,” she said when she recovered. “I always get gloomy when I drink. I should probably–”

“Are you guys talking about me?”

Suddenly, Aaron and Talia both lurched forward as Elmira clapped a hand on both of their backs. Aaron looked up to see that she was a bit red in the face, probably having drunk a bit too much.

“I’m gonna miss you guys,” she said, her voice slightly slurred. “You guys are— You guys are good friends! Great friends! Remember that time we did that three-way?”

Aaron and Talia shared a mirthful glance as Elmira continued her drunken rambling about friendship, nodding along until the tan woman got pulled away by someone else who wanted her attention.

“Alright, so when we get back, we’re building a settlement,” said Talia.

Aaron was pleased to see that her mood had brightened.

“Yup!” said Aaron.

“We should get the other humans to join us. Emmy, you should come?

Emmy was still rambling and had moved on to aliens and spaceships, but perked up when she heard her name. 

“Huh? Oh, right. Sure. I guess. I kind of do my own thing, though. But you guys seem cool enough. We can work together, I guess. If that’s what you really want.”

Talia continued listing other people she had to talk to, and a short moment later, Voidrin took everyone’s attention, entertaining the entire group at once with his clones. It was mostly harmless pranks and the odd joke. The guy was a lot of fun, although he definitely thought he was a good bit funnier than he really was. Still, his antics got a laugh out of everyone.

After that, the conversation shifted to Aaron and Mo’han’s duel. It was good fun, a few playful jabs here and there, but in truth, regardless of what they said, everyone respected both of them.

And as the conversation continued, it was revealed that out of all of them, Voidrin had been the only other person to actually finish an entire trial, completing the Trial of Magic. The revelation made clear that he had more tricks up his sleeve than Aaron had originally thought or seen in their duel, which raised a curious brow as Voidrin boasted.

Hiding styles and exploiting enemy weaknesses was kind of Voidrin’s thing, he realized. It was how he had beaten Cairon, and what he attempted to do against Aaron back when they dueled. And at that moment, he realized that the sneaky cyclops might have been holding back during their fight. Not because he didn’t want to win, but because he wanted to avoid showing off any more skills or strategies.

As he continued to talk about the Trial of Magic, Aaron knew something was up. There were gaps in the information. And he was fairly certain that Voidrin had fought exactly as he had against Cairon, not because that was the only way he could fight, but because he wanted to keep a few secrets hidden.

Voidrin, you sneak. 

It was an interesting peek into who the cyclops was. After all, while people could follow others in the viewing room, there were limits to the room’s power. It couldn’t see within the trials, and it couldn’t see trial takers once they had reached the trials. 

This all meant that if you didn’t know who a potential sector elite was before they reached the trials, you couldn’t go investigating them in the viewing room. And it would have taken a lot of time to go researching every single potential elite, which wasn’t something most people would do when trials and rewards were on the line.

However, Aaron did remember seeing one of Pentival’s guys hanging around the viewing room. He had seen the guy enter on many occasions. It had been a casual observation he had made while passing through the hallway, and he had never thought too much of it.

But he knew Pentival was a smart and quite conniving man. What were the chances that he asked one of his followers to take one for the team and spend their time in the trials investigating all the top elites? 

All they would have needed to do was pass a few stages of the Trial of Travels, and then they could have focused the rest of their time on getting insights within the viewing room. 

It wouldn’t have been a help against Aaron and other early arrivals, but Pentival and his group had shown up fairly early, and they would have been able to get a lot of information on the others. And since thousands of elites had arrived, that provided a heap of potential information they could have gathered.

It was an interesting thought, but ultimately not particularly important in the present. If anything, the god Lenriel’s relation with Pentival was far more troubling.

Aaron’s thoughts briefly touched on some of the warnings he had received. He had a bad feeling that wars would be heading their way in the future, but it wasn’t something to get stuck worrying about. If Lenriel or this Death God wanted to duke it out in his universe, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

As the night wound down, Aaron took the chance to speak with Emmy and Joseph more. He wished more humans from Earth had joined, but apparently, Johan had his own gathering, and the rest had chosen to visit it instead.

He was surprised at hearing that, since Emmy and Joseph had been the ones who agreed to Johan’s terms and accepted the System-ordained contracts.

Wait, they’re not spies, are they?

Both looked rather innocent, and Aaron didn’t have anything more than a hunch to hold against Johan. But still, it seemed like an odd coincidence that there were the only two who agreed to his terms—besides the two people he hadn’t recognized—and they had just so happened to decide to join their group.

“Did that Ernest guy seriously join Johan’s end-of-trials party?” Aaron probed, trying to get a better sense of this party Johan was throwing.

Not only that, but Ernest had a serious roguish trait to him, and he found it impossible to imagine him joining some going-away party hosted by Johan of all people.

“Ernest?” Emmy echoed. “Actually, you got a point. I don’t think he was in the group, after all.”

Aaron couldn’t be sure if they had intentionally held that information back or not, but it was an intriguing discovery.

“And you’re sure all the other humans from Earth went?”

“Pretty sure,” Joseph said. “More could have come through the gate, though. It’s not like I’m keeping tabs on everyone.”

Aaron nodded. It was a little odd. Still, he didn’t actually believe that Emmy and Joseph had subjugated themselves to Johan. They both seemed too independent. Whatever was going on, he had a feeling that these two were innocent, and if they were involved, they had been dragged into it. After all, the charismatic leader had a way with words, and he could see Johan convincing them that getting the inside scoop on this little gathering was somehow beneficial for Superearth.

And Aaron didn’t really care too much. They were really just a bunch of friends hanging out. He didn’t see how spying on them would really provide any useful information. 

With that thought, he decided to drop the topic. He didn’t want to be involved in Johan’s politics. But he also got the feeling that if he just did his own thing, and didn’t try to muddy the waters, and keep out of it all, those who had some kind of grand ambitions for the world might just leave him be, at least for a while. After all, people like Johan would have bigger fish to fry when they reached Superearth.

Also, he was supposed to be relaxing. And Aaron was the kind of guy who’d rather be grinding and getting killed in a trial than talking politics.

As the night dragged on, a few people placed bets on the fight. Most put credits on Mo'han to win, although interestingly, Clem was among the few to bet on Aaron. He wondered why, but didn’t get a chance to ask her. She was quite popular, after all.

He had talked enough, and with the final day drawing nearer, he needed to recover a little. Not sleep, though. He barely needed any of that anymore, especially since he had not so long ago died in a trial and was refreshed.

He did, however, need to eat. And he needed to do a lot of that if he was going to properly prepare for this fight.

His overconsumption had already garnered a few sideways glances in the past, and so he decided to take a little privacy in the lead-up to the fight because he was going to get big. Really big.

Waving goodbye, a devilish grin creased his face. This was it. Everything he had worked for. And he was going to make it count, regardless of the outcome.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 66

Panting, Aaron drained adipose tissue and cycled energy all whilst eating as he spammed [ Spectral Rush ] through the Trial of Travels. The speed increase of his new Skill was nice, and what he truly appreciated was his ability to shift into an incorporeal, ghostly state, since it was surprisingly handy for the Trial of Travels.

After all, it wasn’t just about speed. There were exploding obstacles flying at him, and all manner of projectiles filled the air, but thanks to his new Skill, only their mana-based damage actually did anything, most of which he could tank.

Still, it took a few hours and a couple of deaths to finally push him through the eighth stage of the trial. 

For his troubles, he was rewarded a quest token that said it would grant access and teleport him to a communal dungeon that would open three months after the trials ended. 

He was immediately intrigued by the token, placing it in his scabbard with a satisfied grin. He figured there would be many dungeons and quests after the trials, but if one required a special token, it would probably be more valuable, he figured, and was instantly glad that he had pressed on against the Trial of Travels. 

However, that excitement quickly turned to frustration. Aaron was fast, but he wasn’t a speedster. His speed was an element of his combat style, designed to be utilized with perfect footwork and fate-bending, which he was great at. But when pressed up against a pure high-speed build, it simply wasn’t up to par. At least not when attempting trials designed to challenge Tutorial elites.

That wasn’t to say Aaron was weak, not anymore at least. Between his Class and Profession levels, elevated by his Titles, achievements, gear, and food buffs, he was likely at least as strong, or maybe even stronger than an average peak E-grade stat-wise, assuming either their Profession or Class was lacking. But this trial wasn’t designed for average people to pass, and that was quickly making itself evident.

Nonetheless, he threw himself against the ninth stage of the Trial of Travels with the same grit and determination that he had shown in everything.

The trial was deep underground in a collapsing, molten hot course that had lava and other obstacles to avoid. Not just that, though. There were these fire elemental things, and burning imps that shot streams of lava at him, and some even took chase.

Worse still, almost all of their attacks carried mana, and while the ghostly form he took when using [ Spectral Rush ] did manage to save him from some of the fire damage, most of it still landed.

This made racing through the level rather difficult, especially when his version of the Skill probably wasn’t the fastest one available.

Still, this was Aaron Dober, and he wasn’t about to just give up. Dying was of little concern to him, and he continuously threw himself against the extraordinarily difficult trial, racing through the lava-covered underground.

It was hard, though, and he died several times relatively quickly. And he couldn’t help but check the time between attempts. Hours were sliding past quickly, and he could feel himself getting closer and closer to missing his opportunity at another Title. But he believed that if there were any remaining trials he could finish, this was the one.

He had briefly considered smashing out some easier trials, but decided against it. Some extra loot and maybe a level or two would have been nice, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t get later, after the trials. The Title, however, was something he could only claim here, and so it made sense to keep pushing for the Trial of Travels, even if it took every last minute he had.

And so that’s what he did, racing against lava and fire as he bit down and sped for the finish, only to be killed time and time again.

There was only so far stubbornness and determination could take someone, however. Luckily for Aaron, he had bucket loads of both, and after countless hours, with incredibly hot flames licking at his behind, he managed to burst through the final leg of the challenge and come out the other end victorious.

Stage nine of [ Trial of Travels ] COMPLETED!

You have tested your speed and agility against the collapsing fire world forgotten to history, and managed to reach the finish line alive. 

Quest Rewards: Mana Heart [ Legendary ], Viewing Room upgraded to level 9. 

Experience rewarded for completing a quest stage!

Ding!

[ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

42 → 43

As nice as beating a trial was, the ninth stage wasn’t what he had come for. However, he couldn’t complain about another level. If nothing else, he had a few extra Stat points for his fight against Mo’han.

Dismissing the notification as he raced back to the dial, he quickly inspected his reward.

Mana Heart [ Legendary ]

These amazing artifacts pulse with mana, infecting all around with their energy. There are many uses for such items, from burying them in the ground to infuse plants with mana, to using them to fuel powerful constructs; the only limit is one’s imagination.

He had no idea what he would do with the Mana Heart, but he had to admit that it sounded pretty neat.

Pocketing his reward, he stepped up to the dial, and… there was no option to select a god. Aaron’s brow arched, and he wondered if he would be up against himself again, not that it mattered. Regardless of what he faced, he would find a means of defeating it.

Slapping down on the dial, he found himself on another course, but he wasn’t facing himself down. No, he was facing down what he could only imagine to be a god avatar.

“Greetings, mortal. I am the avatar of Torfus, God of Quickness,” the lanky avatar said, tipping his winged helm and thumping his chest. “And you are my sparring partner today!”

Besides the god avatar, the level was remarkably average. Just a normal, circular running track in a shadowy arena. Unlike the arena with the crow, this appeared to be very much within the trials, and he saw no audience, and the seating disappeared into the darkness of shadows.

“Get ready!” The avatar said, and only a second later, a gunshot sounded.

Aaron wasn’t ready, and he wasn’t sure it would have made any difference. Because Torfus was more than just quick, he flew through the race course within a blink, flying around so fast that Aaron still felt the gust of wind coming off his previous pass as he passed him again, almost sending him spinning as a tornado formed around the racing avatar.

There was no energy in the wind, though. It wasn’t a Skill, but simply a wind vortex appearing thanks to how fast Torfus was moving.

And at the end of the race, Torfus slammed straight through Aaron, turning him into meat confetti as some kind of punishment for losing.

It was no surprise that the avatar had decided to seemingly unnecessarily kill him. After all, death was one and one with the trials, and for most people, it sucked. It was the punishment that made dealing with the place difficult, so you couldn’t just keep trying over and over again with no drawbacks. But that wasn’t true for Aaron, and he threw himself back into the trial, his determination set stronger than ever.

But the staggering difference between them only became more and more apparent as he tried to throw himself against the trial.

Torfus was simply too fast. If Yendal was the perfect martial artist, Torfus was the perfect speedster. However, there was one glaring difference. Aaron had spent the better part of a year perfecting his martial skill, and not only that, but Yendal was his patron god. She actually had reason to want to see him succeed.

Torfus, on the other hand, had no such desires and was equally skilled in his own realm.

Several hours passed, and the truth was, he didn’t even get close. No matter what he tried, or how much energy he funneled into it, Torfus lapped him over and over again.

A day passed as Aaron threw himself against the hopeless struggle, and it wasn’t until he managed to shake himself free from an unintentional trance that he realized how much time he had spent bashing his head against the wall.

There wasn’t even a line for the dial anymore. Sure, there were still a few people desperately trying to knock out a trial or two, but for the most part, the hallway had cleared out.

Groups were scattered about, talking and planning for what happened after the trials were finished. The crafting station was abuzz, and he spotted many people coming and going from it. There were also groups walking in and out of the other rooms as they made the most of their remaining time.

And he realized why when he checked the time on his pocket watch. There were only two days remaining.

Shit, the meet up!

It seemed he wouldn’t be beating the Trial of Travels no matter how hard he tried. Torfus was simply too fast for him. To beat him would have required Aaron focusing purely on his speed for a while, and that wasn’t something he could do in a day.

Somewhat reluctantly, he raced to the crafting station. He desperately wanted to see everyone again before they left the trails, and their meeting certainly wasn’t why he was reluctant to go. No, that was something deep within him. Because no matter how much sense it made, there would always be a part of him that was frustrated beyond belief, having to walk away from a challenge. It was his antithesis, and it brought him pain. 

If anything, he was lucky it was only a single tenth-stage trial he had to walk away from. If he managed to reach the end of multiple trials only to find himself stuck against the final stage, unable to defeat them, he might have driven himself mad with frustration.

It was a sensation he had to shake free. Determination was his fuel, but there were times when he needed to refuse it.

Running through the crafting station, making his way through the crowds, he hoped desperately that he wasn’t too late. It would be a sad ending to his trials if his friends had already passed through Mo’han’s portal and left him by himself.

And when he reached the portal crafting station, his jaw dropped, and he skidded to an unceremonious halt. It was empty, not a soul in sight.

“Fuck! I’m an idiot!” Aaron face-palmed, and his shoulders sank. He had wasted too much time. Sure, overworking himself and throwing himself endlessly at challenges was something he loved, but he enjoyed the company of others as well. He had just been trying to do what he thought was right. To gather as much strength and power as he could. But this truly sucked. He had shared many moments with these people and had no idea when they would see each other again.

Kicking the ground, he ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. He had told himself not to enter a trance, but when pushed up against a seemingly impossible challenge, that just wasn’t something he could easily avoid.

It was in his blood. He was a dogged battler who would throw himself against anything, no matter the odds. If anything, he should have known better, and it pissed him off to know that he had essentially pointlessly missed out, and now he was left to himself. To mope about until his fight with Mo’han, and for what? He had never stood a chance against Torfus, and he should have been able to see that.

Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Why do I always have to be so thick-headed and stubborn!

“Hey, Aaron!”

He opened his eyes and turned around.

They were all there. Mo’han, Voidrin, Talia, Elmira, Clem. There were even a couple from Earth he hadn’t spent much time around, like Joseph Lefiti and Emmy Sharp. Even Mal and his boys were there too, and Elmira had brought along Cairon, who looked like an out-of-place sour grape. 

It was a bigger group than he had expected, but what was a final party to see out the trials without company?

“Wow, I’ve never seen you smile so much, A-ran!”

“Hah, yeah, big fella,” Aaron grinned, holding back the wells in his eyes.

The journey had been long and painful, and it was coming to a close, but there was no finer group of people to see it off with.

Now was the time for beers and a chance to kick back. To enjoy the second last day, and take it easy before facing off against Mo’han, and leaving for Superearth.

He greeted everyone, and Mo’han created the portal, lining up the group. They entered one by one, growing rowdier and rowdier by the second, like a bunch of sailors on shore leave.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 65

Standing in the hallway, Aaron realized it wasn’t just leaving Yendal’s divine realm that made him feel so strong. Jumping to his feet, he relished the feeling. He felt… very good. Then again, he had gotten the biggest single Stat upgrade since arriving, and so it wasn’t too surprising that it felt as good as it did. He’d get used to new points, of course, but it was nice to appreciate the gains whilst they were fresh. 

+100 all Stats wouldn’t scale as well long-term as his percent bonuses that came through Titles, but that little achievement he had gotten for his hat trick was a huge boon for where he currently was, and it couldn’t have come at a better moment.

Maybe I can beat Mo’han, he thought as he flexed his muscles.

After that, he threw all the common loot from his rewards into the scabbard. He wasn’t sure what he planned to do with them, but he wasn’t about to just throw things that Yendal gave him away.

Then, he checked out his new ring.

Ring of Energy Shackling [ Mythical ]

An incredible item that was originally designed to allow for even the most troublesome of criminals to be detained, this ring constantly drained the user of their energies, leaving them with only the bare minimum needed for survival. It has since been modified by the Martial God to be somewhat more forgiving, turning it into the perfect training tool for anyone below C Grade.

Aaron sighed as he read the description. At first, he was disappointed, but the disappointment soon faded as he realized that the ring sounded exactly like something Yendal would give him. An item that would drain him and make him weaker, forcing him to work harder for his gains. He thought the rarity was a little odd, though. Surely an item didn’t need such a high rarity just to drain the energy of someone who willfully wore it?

Maybe if it drained the energy of his enemies and gave it to him, it’d make sense. But as it stood, the rarity seemed far too high for such an item. Was it just because Yendal had personally modified it? Had her involvement increased the rarity by that much?

He didn’t know the answer to this thought, but threaded the ring onto his finger nonetheless, and felt a bite as tiny teeth seemed to plunge into his finger from the ring.

“Ow, you little bugger.”

A ruby at the silver ring’s center pulsed with sangrine light as it seemed to feed on him. Aaron had half a mind to rip the thing off, but decided to leave it for now. Yendal had chosen to give it to him, after all. And that meant it was most likely useful, even if it wasn’t yet clear just how useful.

That said, he was likely to remove it before fighting Mo’han. He needed every boon he could get for that fight, and didn’t need a ring siphoning his power.

Yendal’s divine realm had given him a few ideas to toy with for some of his equipment. And how he was distracted thinking about how he could use some of the gear once he reached Superearth. One such idea revolved around his Cosmic Training Cube. 

The device was said to amplify the user’s training methods and to mold itself to its users' needs. That had given him an idea, and he already had a few things he wanted to test with it. But they would have to wait for later. Time was short, and his attention needed to be focused.

For now, he had to tie off the last of his loose ends and get ready to fight the indomitable asura that was Mo’han Khan.

Checking his Stats, he threw his 12 free points into Fortitude again.  Whilst the Stat was already by far his strongest, he thought it best to stick to the plan he had. He could balance himself out more later if he felt it necessary. But surviving Mo’han’s attacks was the most important challenge he currently faced. 

And with that thought, he opened his status page.

[ Name: Aaron Dober ]

[ Age: 23 ]

[ Race: Human [ Awoken ]  ]

[ Grade: E ]

[ HP: 65500 ]

[ MP: 34100 ]

[ SP: 83900 ]

[ AP: 3000 ]

[ Class: Empty-Handed Energy Monk, lvl 42 ]

[ Profession: Ogre Gastronomist, lvl 46 ]

[ Stats ]

[ Strength: 548 (+325) ]

[ Vitality: 655 (+380) ]

[ Fortitude: 839 (+472) ]

[ Dexterity: 370 (+231) ]

[ Agility: 582 (+336) ]

[ Intelligence: 420 (+245) ]

[ Willpower: 341 (+223) ]

[ Charisma: 307 (+228) ]

[ Perception: 485 (+266) ]

[ Titles: Shadow Trials Trailblazer, Stamina Control Prodigy, Mana Control Prodigy,  Vitality Control Prodigy, Holder of a True Blessing, In the Eyes of the Gods, Aether Wielder, World Overlord, Endurer, Dominator, Challenger ]

[ Traits: Fate Weaver (Alpha), Major Blessing of Oozagh the Rotund, True Blessing of Yendal the Empty-Handed, Herald of a God, Death Cheat ]

[ Racial Skills: Inspect, Lingua Multiversa ]

[ Profession Passive Skills (3/3): Mass Produced Cooking!, Conductive Gut, Adipose Fusion ]

[ Profession Active Skills (6/6): Spirit Toes, Oozagh’s Breath, Foul Ichor, Unsightly Degustation, Perfect Measurements, Spirit Hands  ]

[ Class Passive Skills (3/3): Reverse Cycle Faux Core, Equal and Opposite, Soul Vortex ]

[ Class Active Skills (6/6): Soul Shattering Strike, Relentless Scourge, Gorgon’s Time Dilation, Turbocharged Haymaker,  Spectral Rush, Spectral Bullet Punch ]

“Not bad,” Aaron nodded to himself with a grin as he eyed his Stats. It was a little surreal that he was finally going to be leaving this place, and to think Douglas had so little faith in him when he first arrived.

I’m going to have to give that guy a visit before I leave… to say bye and all that.

Aaron was lying to himself. He just wanted to gloat and remind Douglas of what he had told him when first arriving. 

Unfortunately, ever since the trials had gotten as busy as they were, tracking Douglas down wasn’t so easy, even though he had copied himself with some kind of mirror image Skill. Seeing several Douglas’ running around together had been discomforting the first time he had seen it, but it made sense. The place was basically a large town, or small city at this point, and the assistants needed all the help they could get to keep the place running.

But whilst there were likely tens of thousands of people crowding the place now, when he considered the populations they were drawn from, he was reminded just how exclusive this club was. Earth alone had hundreds of millions of people, if not billions, still alive, and there were countless other planets throughout the sector.

Breaking his thoughts, a couple of unfamiliar asuras wandered by, and he waved at them. They might not be Mo’han strong, but given their race, there was a decent chance they’d be powerhouses amongst the sector, and it didn’t hurt to leave a good impression.

His thoughts were quickly taking him somewhere, though, and he shifted through the crowds toward the viewing room.

The Tutorial was long since finished, and soon the trial would be too. But he could still get the same information from the room, even if the population was either in the trials or in stasis.

Entering, he waved to Rudolf and asked for a population count. This wasn’t a feature that would be readily available once he left, and he wanted a rough idea of what kind of world he was heading into.

Total human population remaining: 1,883,924,066

Total goblin population remaining: 2,795,655,985

Total thal’kesh population remaining: 624,724,437

Aaron blinked in disbelief. Billions had died since he last checked. Even with the addition of two more races, this huge world they would be heading into would be significantly less populated than Earth had been before the integration. That was something else and hard to fathom.

However, his thoughts drifted. If people kept evolving and living for extraordinary lengths of time, and whilst doing so, kept reproducing, then Superearth’s population could explode. If people were living for thousands of years, it wasn’t unthinkable that they could have dozens, if not hundreds, of children.

That’s if we survive the beasts and monsters.

Aaron remembered Elvanas’ experience again and shuddered. That also reminded him of his Waypoint sitting in his scabbard. He remembered Talia mentioning once that she had bought one, and since she was from the same Tutorial as him, that meant he didn’t need his. It was too valuable to just let sit around, though, and there were only a few days until the Trials ended. He needed a buyer, and he needed one now.

Thankfully, there was essentially a market in the main hallway now, with stalls all lined up beside one another. There had been many trial takers who had long given up on the trials themselves, and if they had Professions, they were selling their goods. And those who didn’t were likely working on their Professions.

There was a problem, though. Aaron didn’t exactly know what he wanted. He was pretty good, gear-wise, and whilst he could upgrade his padded robes, he didn’t really care to unless he found a superb option to do it with. Buying some mediocre armor that he would just need to upgrade again in short order didn’t really appeal to him. Not unless there was nothing else.

In the end, he found a trader who was willing to exchange the Waypoint for a spatial bag that was filled with various building materials. It might have seemed like a strange choice, but ever since visiting Yendal’s divine realm, he couldn’t stop thinking about how useful it would be to have something similar. And within the bag, there was everything you could think of; piles of stone, concrete powder, steel rods, and much more.

This… will come in handy, I think.

Also, while Aaron hadn’t changed his mind about being a ruler, he had quite a few items that would do nicely in a base of his own. And whilst he didn’t really want to rule the world or anything, he didn’t particularly like the idea of taking orders, either. So having his own place where he could do his own thing was quite an attractive option.

That and the fact that he was undeniably strong now, which meant that he shouldn’t have too much issue convincing a few Tutorial takers to work for him. He had seen what happened to Elvanas and his people, and he knew what kind of world he was stepping into. 

The sad truth was that a lot of people were going to die, and many of them would be desperate for any kind of security they could get for themselves. And he could be that security, after all, it beat having to do the mundane jobs that came with looking after a small settlement.

Then, once he had a base, he could set it up with all his shiny loot from the trials and have somewhere to rest between grinding. Maybe even a waterfall, he thought, and some hot springs.

“Oh, hey!” Elmira called out and waved through the crowd as she ducked and dipped toward him. “There you are! I was starting to worry you’d be gone until the trials finished!”

“Hey, El! Nahh, not happening. Not when I’ve got my big duel against Mo'han coming up. No way I’m missing that.”

“Of course, you’d just be thinking about fighting. Shouldn’t have expected anything more. You’re not still grinding away at it, are you? You can take a minute for yourself. There are only five days left, after all. I’m sure you’ve gone and achieved something else incredible since we spoke.”

“Five days? Shit! No bloody way! Maybe I can still get another trial completely finished,” he muttered, a slight panic in his voice.

“Another? How many have you done?” Elmira blinked.

“Three completed, in total. Even got an achievement. That begs the question, though, do I get another if I complete four?”

“You’re insane. You know that, right?”

“Me?” Aaron thumbed his chest. “Actually… yeah, that kind of tracks,” he mumbled, thinking about all the times he had lost himself to trances, and the entirely mad way in which he faced pain.

“And I thought I might be able to catch up. I really thought I might be able to at least finish the Trial of Companionship,” Elmira sighed and deflated. “And there you go, beating three while I haven’t even got one under my belt.”

“Oh? What happened?”

“It’s the final stage… It’s different. You need a party of six to complete it. I’ve been grinding away at the trial whilst you were gone, and attempted the final stage alongside Pentival, Cairon, and a few others, including Talia.”

“Oh? Talia did it with you?”

“She wanted to experience a six-way for herself. It didn’t turn out so well. The thing is, you have to take turns against increasingly impossible challenges. There are a few rules, like you can swap each other out, and take your teammate’s challenge if it’s better suited for your skills. But you have to be careful, as everyone needs to defeat the same number of challenges by the end of the stage. We tried three times before we got sick of dying. Anyway, the point is, it’s basically impossible unless you can get a group of six top talents together. And that ain’t easy. Especially since Mo’han has been AWOL for the last few days.”

Aaron wondered for a moment where Mo’han had gone, but he figured he was just trying to power up before the duel. The asura was not taking it any less seriously than Aaron was, and he was bound to be spending every second getting stronger.

He nodded along as Elmira spoke, trying not to get distracted in his thoughts.

She was right, of course. The Trial of Companionship sounded too hard to bother with. He could no doubt count on Mo’han to do it with him if he were around, but he wasn’t. And even if he showed up, he wasn’t sure who else would fill the team.

Maybe he could count on Talia, Voidrin, and Elmira, but that still left one spot, assuming Mo’han returned, and two if he didn’t. And the more he thought about it, the harder it was to come up with an additional potential partner. After all, he knew how hard the final stages were, and anybody not supremely powerful wasn’t going to be up for it.

Maybe Pentival or another earthling, he considered. But they couldn’t just be strong, but the best of the best. Not only that, but he had only completed three stages himself, and finishing the trial and building a team was a lot of logistics to figure out in a very short period of time.

“I guess the Trial of Companionship is off the list,” he sighed as she finished speaking.

“Wait, you really think you can knock out another trial with the time remaining?”

“I don’t see why not? I’ve gotten a lot stronger. Maybe I can finally finish off the Trial of Travels. I'd better go. Time is running out.”

“Wait, one more thing!” Elmira said as he turned for the trial line.

“What is it?”

“A few of us are catching up, like one last hurrah before the trials end. We’ve planned it for the second last day. We’re meeting in the crafting station. Mo’han is going to take us somewhere in his portals. It’d be great if you joined.”

“Seriously? Of course I’ll be there. Who knows when we’ll all see each other again? And don’t worry, I’ll rein myself in. No going all crazy trance-like. I’m just going to give these trials the best crack I can with the remaining time. Then, I’ll meet you all there.”

“Awesome! Sounds like a plan!”

Aaron shot a thumbs-up and made his way to the dial. The line moved quickly and was getting smaller now as more people gave up on trials, hitting bottlenecks and deciding they didn’t want to keep punishing their souls by dying repetitively.

Reach the dial quickly, he slapped down on it and picked Yendal as his partner to take on the eighth stage of the Trial of Travels. With any luck, he could claim one last Title before it was all over.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 64

As Aaron clashed with the clone, he immediately realized that this fight was different from the previous ones. When forcing his [ Spectral Fist ] to mutate, he had gone at it rather stubbornly, and basically just brute-forced his way into mutating the Skill.

This time, however, he had a very strong sense of what he wanted to achieve, and he felt his inspiration bubbling over and seeping into his [ Gust Step] every time he used it. 

He understood why Yendal called it inspiration. It felt like an idea was trying to pop out of him and into the real world. It was far more than just an idea; he felt like he had something material floating around within, just waiting for the right opportunity to be released in his expression.

The curious part about all of this was that Yendal had let him mutate the first Skill through brute force and hadn’t pushed him toward meditation until after. Was it her way of showing him both methods? He supposed that made sense, and it was valuable that he didn’t just understand that both methods were viable, but had experienced both, and knew the difference. By doing so, she had empowered him to make informed decisions regarding such things in the future.

As they clashed and broke apart, he shot back into range with a [ Gust Step ] and struck with a flurry of quick, peppering attacks, and then shot off out of range again. He ate a terrible strike for his efforts, but he was able to heal from the damage and continue the fight.

These little skirmishes weren’t unusual when facing off against the D-grade version of Yendal, as he could barely survive several seconds against her, but that was perfect for this training session.

The entire fight was about using his [ Gust Step ] in hopes of mutating it, and the more he used it, the more he found the inspiration that he had cultivated seeping into the Skill, and soon he could feel something starting to change within it.

It was a starkly different experience from his thick-headed approach. The fight was but a catalyst for what he had already achieved, providing him a means to weave his thoughts into the Skill as he used it in combat, almost like a blacksmith, the meditation was his carbon, and the battle shaping and folding it into his Skill.

To help power this, he called on his aether and willed it into the Skill, which further agitated it.

The Skill was wind-based and not designed to be used with aether. It was incompatible, but that was perfect. Pushing aether into the Skill only urged it to mutate more, and he could feel it getting closer and closer to the edge.

But that wasn’t all. As he did this, he pictured the Skill he wanted. He imagined himself flying through the sky, avoiding and surviving enemy attacks as he dodged and returned attacks of his own.

This last part was important, as Aaron had never used the Skill merely as a transportation Skill, and it was extremely important that his concept of its mutation was combat-related. He wanted it to be molded for battle. 

Dashing through the air around the clone, he pushed all of this into his bubbling Skill, and he could feel it about to burst into something new.

Was the meditation a faster method for mutating Skills? He wasn’t sure, but he could tell that it was definitely more deliberate, and it wasn’t any slower.

Skill Mutated: [ Gust Step ] = [ Spectral Rush ]

Unlike before, he felt the Skill mutate and change as he was using it. The brutish nature of forcing a mutation made the concept far more abstract in his mind, whereas this felt natural.

He was already flying away as it mutated, and the rushing wind around him began to ripple and take on an ethereal whitish-blue, as if spectral energy had infected it.

Yendal golf-clapped, but Aaron barely took note, swinging around in mid-air and turning back toward the clone. 

He wanted to test out his new Skill. 

Activating [ Spectral Rush ] for the first time, his body shimmered and went partially transparent as he used a burst of mana and aether to take him back into melee range, and then, he realized something rather amazing.

Soaring toward the clone, he passed through one of its punches, came to a skidding halt behind the clone, and returned with a counter.

He had avoided the physical damage of the clone’s punch, passing straight through it. Still, some of the mana surrounding the punch had landed, and he felt the pain as it hit him. But nonetheless, this was a remarkable revelation, and Aaron shot back out of range to quickly inspect his Skill and confirm his beliefs about it.

Spectral Rush [ Epic ] Taking on a ghostly form, you charge your enemies. When activated, Spectral Rush uses both aether and mana to send the user flying at high speeds in whichever direction they please. The user takes on a partially transparent and incorporeal ghostly state during activation, rendering physical attacks useless.

The Skill did just what he had expected it to do. The speed and distance increase wasn’t as amazing as he would have liked, but how could he complain? Also, he had been trying to tie the Skill into his spirit and aether usage, and if the Skill ended up taking on attributes that were in line with spirit powers, that was his own fault.

He also got the feeling that mutating [ Gust Step ] into a more powerful wind-based Skill would have ended up faster. But speed wasn’t all he was concerned about.

Ultimately, he had wanted a movement Skill that was effective in combat, and making himself incorporeal as he dodged attacks was undeniably useful. Not to mention, it was going to make it even harder to kill the persistent warrior.

Perhaps he was already hard enough to kill. But why change up his strategy? It was working so far, so he figured he might as well min-max and make himself as impossible to kill as he could.

But he had to return his attention to the matter at hand. The fight wasn’t over, and the clone wasn’t done yet. It had taken chase, but that was perfect, because Aaron still needed to test a few things out, and his brow bent as they clashed.

It was actually rather incredible how long he could survive exchanges with the D-grade Yendal clone, and he got the feeling even the god herself was a little surprised by it.

Dodging around the clone's blows, he was drifting in and out between physical and ghostly, and his ectoplasmic speed bursts allowed him to survive punches that flew straight through him.

Still, he had to be careful not to get too reliant on it. If the clone threw out attacks filled with mana, they could still do quite a bit of damage.

But his incorporeal form didn’t need to be immune to all damage types. Either way, it was a considerable upgrade and would force melee combatants to rely more on mana during their fights.

“Not bad,” Yendal said. “Not the kind of Skill I would have chosen, but it suits you. A ghost that uses the empty hand and calls upon ogre-like energy reserves? Quite something, you are.”

“Thanks,” Aaron grinned at the unusually blunt compliment.

“However, you have no time to slack. That meditation session lasted over a day.”

“Wait, it did?!”

“Yes. We’re heading into your final week of trials. You’ve come far and achieved a great deal. But you’ll have to return soon. I think your time spent here was worthwhile. But it is quickly coming to an end. However…”

“Yeah?”

“You still have to prove that you deserve to complete the final stage of the Trial of the Challenger. I can reward you a win without completely losing, as beating my clone is very much impossible for you. But I can’t just give you a free win. There are rules in place, and the divine retribution handed out for gods who don’t follow them is quite painful. If you want the rewards of winning and the title that goes along with it, you will have to earn it. So, with that being said, get ready.”

Aaron nodded and faced down the clone. He didn’t know what divine retribution thing was about, but he had never expected Yendal to just hand him a win either way.

That said, what the hell was he going to do against a D-grade version of the Martial God? Well, he had been surviving okay so far. So it wasn’t that big of a deal. He just needed to land a hit, right?

“Ready? I’m going to take the clone’s limitations away. You’ll be fighting a true version of myself at D-grade.”

“Wait, limitations?”

Aaron didn’t need his question answered. He could feel the power flowing from the clone the moment she finished her sentence, and it flashed toward him in an instant, and he barely managed to activate [ Spectral Rush ] just in time to carry him back out of range just in time for him to survive.

He had felt the D-grade fist flying towards his chin as he dodged backward, and if not for his new Skill, he was certain he would have died.

Okay, we’re getting serious now.

It was time to show Yendal what he had learned, and he flew straight toward the clone, passing through it and launching an attack at its flank. Of course, Yendal’s clone wasn’t so easy to take off guard and riposted with its own attack.

When the two came to blows, it was Aaron who ate the worst of it. But thanks to all his efforts to strengthen himself, he actually survived the first hit. The second one came fast, but sailed through him with another use of [ Spectral Rush ]. A third strike wasn’t far behind, and this one was absolutely filled with mana, more than enough to destroy him in his incorporeal state, so he used [ Equal and Opposite ], canceling the attack out and surviving.

Yendal’s brow arched as she watched the exchange, clearly intrigued by something she saw.

Aaron, on the other hand, was too engrossed and desperately flew away as he did his best to survive. His only chance was to create distance between them if he wanted to survive for more than a few seconds.

Not only that, but he already needed to recover energy thanks to using Yendal’s powerful defensive Skill. It was undeniably useful and supremely powerful, but the drain it had on him was extreme.

Hot on his heels as he tried to recover, the D-grade clone was never far behind. It didn’t seem to matter what he tried, Yendal’s D-grade form couldn’t be tricked or outrun, and it was only a few seconds later that he experienced his first death.

Nonetheless, he had lasted surprisingly long. And the following skirmishes that blasted across the arena floor saw Aaron surviving several encounters before the clone managed to kill him again.

He couldn’t really do anything, but that wasn’t the end of the world. Even against the supremely powerful Mo’han, Aaron was fairly certain that Yendal’s D-grade clone would obliterate him. So not being able to mount his own offense wasn’t such a big deal, and it certainly didn’t prove that he couldn’t beat the asura.

His sturdiness, his evasiveness, and his damn stubborn refusal to die created an amazing trio, and even the D-grade version of one of the multiverse's most powerful beings had to put in some effort to put him down. That in and of itself was nothing short of amazing.

Being on par with Yendal meant that you were bound for greatness, and whilst he didn’t get close to doing any damage, he was still a much lower level than the clone, and hadn’t received the boons provided for breaking through the D-grade bottleneck, like the clone had. And as such, the simple fact that he could survive for as long as he could was evidence of his progress.

**Yendal**

Yendal nodded approvingly as she watched. His use of [ Equal and Opposite ] was novel, but she couldn’t expect much else. He was still a mortal, after all, and a young one at that. He was still quite far from being able to access its true potential.

She knew one thing for sure, though: watching the fight, Aaron was going to be annoyingly difficult to kill as he progressed through the grades and claimed greater power.

He had proven himself enough just surviving as long as he had. But still, Yendal let the fight carry on for a long moment, killing him a total of six times before she could tell that his aether was entirely drained, and another death would end it all. A fraction of a second before that happened, when her clone’s fist was sailing towards his unguarded face, she halted the duel with a raised hand.

“Incredible,” she whispered too quietly for Aaron to hear. “Not bad. You’ve come far, but you have a long way to go.”

“Tell me about it,” Aaron groaned and spat blood as he started to eat and recover.

“You’re strong enough now. I believe you can defeat the asura… if you do everything perfectly, that is.”

“No pressure, huh?”

“He’s the strongest in your sector, and likely to remain that way until you close the level gap between you two. But you have an incredible set of Skills, and you’ve been trained by me. Thanks to that, you have the ability to break him down and beat him, but it will not be easy.”

“Nothing ever is,” he sighed

“I’m sure you’ll manage.”

“I always do. Hey, by the way, I was wondering the other day. Why is Equal and Opposite listed as a Passive Skill when it’s an Active Skill?”

“Because it’s a Passive Skill, and not an Active Skill,” replied Yendal evenly.

“Wait, what?”

Behind her neutral expression, she found it highly amusing to discover that Aaron’s unusual use of the Skill stemmed from a fundamental misunderstanding about its nature. As sharp as he was sometimes when it came to improving in combat, he also had a boneheaded side and a disregard for reading between the lines.

“Equal and Opposite is a Passive Skill,” she explained. “You simply cannot use it passively yet. It is a divine Skill, after all, and a much more complex one than the foolish ogre’s. You need not worry about it, though. Simply continue to battle and grow, and you will understand how to apply it properly in time.”

“Damn…” he muttered.

“Well, it has been interesting, but we are out of time. My clone is rather unique when it comes to the Trial of the Challenger. Uniquely powerful, that is. The System acknowledges this, so rather than needing to fully defeat my clone to pass the trial, it sets other requirements. For this stage, it was to survive for a full minute, which you did. Barely. I stopped the System from pulling you back immediately, but I cannot hold it back forever.

“I’ve selected a reward that will be a great boon to you in the future. It will certainly be more useful than that ogre’s pot. Now go, prove your worth and complete my quest. I look forward to catching up with you again once you’ve returned to your world.”

**Aaron**

It felt a little rude that she ended the trial without even giving him a chance to reply and say goodbye, and he was sent twisting and spinning as the trial's warp magic dragged him back, but he had a feeling she wanted it that way.

Stage tenth of [ Trial of the Challenger ] COMPLETED!

Trial of the Challenger COMPLETED!

You have tested yourself in one-on-one combat against a weakened shadow avatar of a god and have emerged victorious.  Rewards chosen by your patron god.

Quest Rewards: Ring of Energy Shackling [ Mythical], Bundle of Stretched Leather [ Common ], Dining Hall upgraded to level 10.

Experience rewarded for completing a quest stage!

Ding!

[ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

41 → 42

Title acquired: Challenger.

Complete all stages of the Trial of the Challenger

Reward: +10% to Strength, Dexterity, and Agility

Achievement: Trial Hat Trick.

DING DING DING! You did it! You completed three entire trials of the Shadow Trials.

Reward: +100 All Stats

Still spinning as he landed on the hallway tiles, Aaron gasped as he suddenly felt much lighter.

“That feels… actually freaking amazing.”

He was clearly not ready to be walking around in divine realms, and every inch of his body felt better now that he was out.

Glancing over the fading notifications, he nodded thoughtfully. “Parasite ring? Leather?”

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 63

Panting and taking a moment to admire his new loot, Aaron straightened. The Well of Truths sounded pretty cryptic. The description said that it helped the truths of its beholder, and he wondered what exactly that meant.

“Have you recovered yet?” Yendal said.

“Getting there,” Aaron said. “One more Rattus con Caramel and I should be good. By the way, what’s a Well of Truths?” he said, gulping down the chunky milkshake he had fished from his scabbard and smiling.

“Something you’d best figure out for yourself. Truths are delicate things. Concepts that govern how you understand the world. Something as simple as an explanation could influence your understanding of the object—” Yendal coughed. “I’ve already said too much.”

Aaron’s brow arched. What a curious answer, he thought. Were truths so delicate that someone explaining theirs could alter one’s own? Or was it the power difference between them? After all, Aaron was but an infant looking at a god.

“Fine. I get it, or at least I think I do. Anyway, I’m down,” Aaron said, scooping out the last of his chunky shake from the cup with his finger.

The shake was one of the lesser recipes he had come up with, and didn’t provide worthwhile boons. However, it still filled his stomach, and there was no point in wasting good food..

“Wipe your mouth.”

“Oh, my bad.”

“Better,” she sighed. “Okay, before we jump back into training, I wanted to talk. You did well with that Skill mutation, but we have limited time, and soon enough, you’ll need to head back to the trials.”

“You’re right about that.”

“We want to make the most of your time here, but that doesn’t mean you have to rush things. Unless there’s another Title you think you can grab within the trials, we might as well focus on delving deeper into your path. The inspiration within my divine realm is unlike anything you’ll experience for quite some time.”

“Right… I might be able to grab another Title. I’m not entirely sure. There’s none that particularly stands out, but I haven’t put as much effort into it as I probably can.”

“I see. Titles are some of the most valuable assets you can pick up in the multiverse, and the trials are one of the best places to get them. That being said, there’s no point in missing out on both. For now, we focus on training, see how far you can push. If you work hard enough, you should be able to return to the trials with a few days remaining. And if you train here with that title in mind, your progress toward achieving it will be much quicker than it would be in the trials.”

“Makes sense,” said Aaron, nodding

“Now onto the important stuff. As I mentioned, divine realms are filled with inspiration. They are an embodiment of god, after all. I’m sure you’ve felt it by now. My truths and the inspirations from my ascension are what hold this place together.”

“Building blocks that date back to the very start of it all. The ideas that took me all the way from a clueless mortal to godhood, so many eons ago. My divine realm is an accumulation of all my ideas—a record of my Path. In a way, you could say my divine realm is a much truer representation of the Martial God than I am.”

Aaron nodded with fascination as she spoke, eyes locked on hers the entire time.

“This is what makes training in a divine realm so valuable for someone such as yourself. Even I myself am affected by the power of this place. So, you can probably grasp some understanding of its ability to supercharge your inspiration and help propel you toward progressing Skill mutations. If you had more time, perhaps it would help you reach even greater achievements.” 

“Wait, so being here isn’t going to mess with my own truths? Also, why now? Why bring me here with such limited time? Why not after the trials, or something?”

“Firstly, no. As long as you’re only using my divine realm for inspiration, it shouldn’t have any negative effects. And secondly, because I can’t. The barrier around your universe will block most things, and whilst there are limited means of getting around it, I won’t be able to bring you here. Perhaps I could have attempted bringing you here earlier in the trials, but you had to convince me it was worth it. After all, you’re the first mortal I’ve brought here in eons.”

Aaron’s eyes widened at that. Yendal taking his training seriously wasn't new to him, but was entering her divine realm as a mortal, really that rare? That surely meant something, but he tried to hide shock from his face. Now wasn’t the time for distractions. He had to train.

“Don’t worry about all that,” Yendal continued. “What I want you to do is take some time and think about your progress. To consider which Skill you might want to improve, and focus on it. With your focus concentrated, the inspiration in this place will coalesce and empower your drive more than you have ever experienced. This is how we’ll drag out another mutation before you have to leave.”

Aaron nodded. That sounded like something he could do.

With that thought in mind, he considered his options. First, he began by excluding the Skills that he wasn’t ready to mutate. For example, his Reverse Cycle Faux Core had already mutated and was neither sure where to take it from there nor confident he could mutate it a second time so soon. The same could be said about Turbocharged Haymaker and Spectral Bullet Punch. Whilst Equal and Opposite was an extraordinary divine Skill passed down from Yendal, and he doubted he could create anything better, and so it too was crossed off the list.

As for Soul Vortex, he had only just received it and hadn’t even had a proper chance to test it out. Even if he could mutate it already, he had no idea what he wanted to do with it until he could test it out properly.

Next up was Soul Shattering Strike, which was already OP as it was. Could it get stronger? Maybe, but that wasn’t a risk he wanted to take. The last thing Aaron wanted to do was to go messing around with his strongest Skill and screw things up. Especially not when he didn’t have a clear idea of how to improve it. 

He also crossed off Gorgon's Time Dilation. The main reason was that he didn’t know how it worked, let alone how he would go about improving it. The only obvious option was a version that required less mana to use. And whilst time dilation was undoubtedly useful, he wasn’t entirely sure how he would use it to beat Mo’han. It was a powerful Skill, sure, but against someone like Mo’han, it would only give him marginal improvements to his reaction time and would otherwise just let him watch in slow motion as Mo’han punched a hole through his chest. Although a version of the Skill that more seamlessly integrated with the rest of his style did seem like an interesting upgrade for a later date.

As for his Profession Skills, he crossed them all off the list. And whilst Adipose Fusion and Conductive Gut were undoubtedly powerful Skills that were useful in combat, he felt fiddling with them would be best done under Oozagh’s guidance. He also wasn’t entirely sure how he wanted to improve them beyond just making them better.

Which left him with something he had wanted to upgrade for a very long time. Gust Step.

The rather simple yet effective Skill had become a cornerstone of his style. And furthermore, it wasn’t even a Skill he had unlocked through his Class, but something he had been rewarded in the trials.

Not only that, but he could also think of countless ways to improve it. Lower energy cost was an obvious answer, but he had to choose; he would make it faster and propel himself over greater distances. He already used it as a speed boost, so if he could delve deeper into that aspect of the Skill, it would be a great boon.

But there was more to it than just that. He wanted the Skill to be his own. Something that matched his path more intimately than the current Skill did.

“I have a Skill called Gust Step,” he finally spoke up, breaking the long silence that had formed.

“Very well. Come, let’s meditate. Find your foundation, and then test it against the clones when you’re ready.”

“Sounds good to me.”

They made their way to a calming room, and a monkey gently banged a gong as Aaron lowered himself to sit cross-legged opposite Yendal.

“You’ll find that meditation here within my divine realm is supremely more powerful than anywhere else. Just close your eyes and forget about everything but the Skill you want to focus on. Let your inner truths guide you. The ambient power of this place will subconsciously aid you.”

Aaron did as he was told, closing his eyes and almost instantly drifting away. He hadn’t expected that. For a hot-headed thrill seeker, he had gotten awfully good at meditation. However, doing it within Yendal’s divine realm was on a completely different level from the meditation room in the trials.

It was as if something were guiding him, and his inner mind wandered off on an adventure of self-exploration almost as soon as he had closed his eyes.

The destination he took was a dreamy blur, but it somehow made sense. As if a greater tapestry was gradually forming within. Something that meant something profound, but was yet to understand itself.

This was the concept behind his path, Aaron realized. It was disjointed and confused, but that was synonymous with where he was in his journey, and it was of little surprise to him.

Wandering through this murky and mysterious place, his meditation dragged on for hours, and gradually, he started to comprehend the foundations that he had started to lay.

Almost immediately, he understood his desire to mutate Gust Step more than ever before. In truth, it wasn’t a terrible Skill, but it wasn’t him, or at least the way it formed wasn’t.

At its heart, Gust Step was a wind-based Skill, and as he delved into it, letting his inner mind feel the Skill as if he were one with it, he found himself soaring through cloudy skies at breakneck speeds.

He felt the wind rushing around him, and tornadoes forming as the sound barrier burst around him.

He felt himself delving deeper into the truths of the sky itself. The rushing wind and the gentle breeze. The relationship between temperature and pressure. 

The sensation was utterly amazing, and for a moment, he had forgotten what he had come to do, basking in the swirling wind all around, but suddenly, it all felt very wrong.

Aaron gritted his teeth and willed himself back from the metaphorical edge, and his eyes sprang open.

He had let his mind wander too much, with too few constraints, and he had felt himself at a precipice, close to making a very big mistake.  

However, as dangerous as it was, it had come with a realization. He could feel it. The truths gathering within. He had come very close to accidentally embracing an affinity. 

He wasn’t sure why exactly he had come so close to embracing wind when Gust Step was his only connection to it. He was meditating about Gust Step, but embracing an affinity shouldn’t have been that easy unless… 

Was the divine realm truly that powerful? So powerful that it could bring on a breakthrough with an affinity that he had little connection to? The answer was probably yes, he thought. And it hit home for him just how much of an advantage coming here was.

He considered for a moment changing what he was meditating about. If he could do it with wind, it seemed very likely he could find another affinity, but he restrained himself. An affinity would no doubt be powerful, but as powerful as affinities were, they were also restrictive. Adding an affinity would forever alter his mana, and he wasn’t yet ready to take that step. 

With a reluctant sigh, Aaron strained himself. He needed to understand his path more before deciding which affinity suited him, as it wasn’t something he could just change on a whim.

Also, if Yendal had considered it a good idea, she likely would have mentioned it.

Returning to his meditation, his close call made him a little wary of delving too deeply into his Gust Step, but then he got an idea. Part of his problem was that Gust Step was a wind-based Skill.

He wanted to make it his own, right? Well, then that needed to change.

His brow bent as he wrangled his inner eye. This time, he didn’t let himself wander aimlessly, but pressed his spirit into his thoughts. He focused on himself and what made him powerful, drawing from his spirit and aether as he envisioned himself flying through the sky, powered by his own soul.

The lucidity of the vision grew as the meditation session dragged on, and he stubbornly molded the Skill to his own desires. The wind called to him, but he rejected it, instead forcing his mind to focus on the mobility aspect and how it would merge more closely with himself. Combined with the fact that he was drawing on his aether as he meditated, a new version of the Skill soon began to form in his mind.

This was what he wanted, he realized. This was what had been bothering him. A chink in his armor that needed repairing.

Aaron mightn’t have been ready to pick an affinity, at least not until he knew more of what that entailed, but he was ready to embrace spirit power over wind power when it came to his Gust Step.

Several hours passed as he was lost in meditation before Yendal broke it with a snap of her fingers that resounded like a boom.

“I can feel it. Inspiration. You’re overflowing with it. We should make our way to the training grounds.”

Aaron smiled as his eyes peeled open and nodded. It was time.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 62

Spectral Bullet Punch [ Epic ] This mutated version of Spectral Fist has transformed the ranged attack from a spectral fist missile of mana and stamina into something far more streamlined. Like bullets, the user can shoot these spectral attacks from their fists at remarkable speed, creating the perfect vessels for mana, stamina, and aether to be flung at their enemies from afar.

Aaron honestly hadn’t really known whether his idea to mutate his spectral attack was going to work or not, so when he got the mutation prompt, he had been overjoyed. And seeing the Skill description before his eyes only made him more excited to test it out.

Was it just hard work, or was it related to training here in Yendal’s divine realm?

He pondered on that thought for a brief moment. There was definitely something special about training here, and whilst he had already mutated a Skill within the trials, he hadn’t done it in the same way.

Not only that, but he had been using [ Faux Core ] for much longer before he managed to mutate it. He didn’t really understand it, but he felt certain that the divine realm did something to him that allowed him to speed through insights, and that stubbornly planting his feet down and willing his Skills to mutate wouldn’t work anywhere near as well elsewhere.

A tapping boot dragged him from his thoughts and alerted him to Yendal’s glare that was resting on him.

**Yendal**

“What are you grinning about?” Yendal said, eyeing Aaron, who was still crushed against the wall, his body twisted and bloodied. “Did I say stop?”

“Gimme a minute,” he groaned, struggling to draw enough energy to heal himself as he climbed to his feet.

“It looks like you need a moment,” she exhaled. Perhaps she was being a little harsh. He was still an E-grade infant, after all. “Come, let us eat. You should recover properly before—”

Yendal’s words were cut short as Aaron started stuffing his mouth with food from his scabbard. It was quite the sight, especially considering the kinds of food he chose to eat, including what she could have sworn was the body part of a troll.

“So unsightly,” she grimaced.

“I only need a minute,” Aaron raised his index. “Almost there.”

This was by far one of the most disturbing sides of Aaron, and a constant reminder of the ogre’s influence on him. But she would’ve been lying if she said she wasn’t impressed.

His recovery was beyond inhuman; then again, recovery and endless energy had always been one of that brute’s strengths. And so it stood to reason that his pupil would inherit similar strengths.

Yendal was different in that regard. She didn’t need all that energy. Her path was about supreme efficiency, and at her current level, she never used all the energy she had. What would she do with more? She had found her own way without it, but at the same time, she had to acknowledge that Aaron’s path was equally valid. Perhaps he would never reach quite the same level of efficiency as she would, but Yendal was Yendal, and Aaron was Aaron. She could not judge him by how well he imitated her. Though she still wanted him to be more efficient, as every path could benefit from more efficiency.

But his ability to heal and recover so quickly wasn't really what impressed her. She already knew he could heal and survive death, and knew how far he could push it. She was much less familiar with his newfound durability, so when she saw him survive a direct hit from her D-grade avatar, she couldn’t help but nod with approval.

This was a massive improvement in his durability, and whilst Yendal had never been known for landing the strongest hits imaginable, she was no slouch. It was quite frankly astonishing that he had managed to toughen himself up so much since the last meeting.

Then again, with all the Titles and boons he was earning in the trials, it wasn’t too surprising. At the rate he was going, he wouldn’t just be skilled and hard to kill. It was only a matter of time until his Stats caught up.

It was inevitable.

If he completed three full trials, he would enter the Shadow Trials Hall of Fame. It was a remarkable achievement that few ever reached, and even though circumstances had brought him there early, Yendal doubted it mattered.

If anything, turning up early had hindered him. If Aaron had been able to complete the trials as per normal and enter as a high level, he would have cleaned up.

And now, he was on track to overachieve in the trials and became what was known throughout the multiverse as a progenitor.

She dismissed the thoughts and sighed. Aaron becoming strong on his own was great, but she had wanted to cook for him again. But it seemed that wasn’t going to happen; he had already stuffed himself. 

In a short moment, he had gone past healing himself and continued on to storing energy, and there was little purpose in stopping for a meal.

It mattered little, Yendal told herself. He was well on his way to creating something unique for his Profession anyway, and there was little to be gained from trying to influence it further.

In fact, the entire thought seemed so silly in retrospect. It had annoyed her that Oozagh had influenced his Class, and she had swung back. But it was beyond obvious now that Aaron had always been his own person and was never going to remain a mere disciple. Not that her influence on his Profession was necessarily bad, and she was pleased that he was at least capable of making edible food now, but it had been rather petty of her.

He would carve his own path, picking and choosing what to use from both gods, and with it, he would forge his own techniques. Those who remained stuck, unable to change, and mindlessly following in the steps of others were destined to mediocrity. As the most pure and most powerful paths in the multiverse, were an individual's own, as everyone was unique, and so must their path be.

Yendal had always known this, of course. But the eons came and went, and so rarely did those worthy enough to forge their own paths to godhood emerge. Most were simple sheep, destined to follow, and were best treated as such by their shepherds. However, he was never going to reach godhood following her path alone.

“Okay, ready.”

She watched as Aaron got up and dusted himself off like the beating he had just taken was nothing.

“What are you waiting for, Yendie? Let’s get start—”

“What did you call me?” She hissed, brow twitching.

“What? You mean, Yendie?”

Before Aaron mustered a proper response, his face still twisted with confusion, the D-grade clone of Yendal was upon him.

Yendal maintained her angry demeanor, but internally, she was quite pleased. She was not a goddess who moved on impulse. She saw through what he was trying to do. He was just trying to have some friendly banter and provoke her to raise the difficulty. Friendly banter was something she had no interest in, but someone who sought out ever-increasing challenges was all she could ask for in a disciple. Still, the anger was not entirely feigned. It was just not directed at Aaron.

Widow will pay for this.

However, her anger was soon forgotten as she watched the fight escalate. She was impressed by his speed, his ability to avoid strikes, and even his pointless counters. She had been watching him train these exact skills, but seeing him do it in person, and even actively improve under the influence of her divine realm, was something else.

Then, he started using his brand-new Skill. It was quite amazing that he had managed to mutate his Skill so quickly, even if her divine realm had done much of the heavy lifting. 

It wasn’t even the Skill itself that impressed her. It was the ability to grow. The vision required to direct one’s path to new truths and to grow stronger in the process.

Maybe if I push him hard enough, he’ll be able to do it again before leaving.

A smile played on her lips at that thought. It would be a long time before Aaron got access to a place so rich in truths and inspiration as her divine realm, and it was wise to make the most of it while they could. 

After all, she had drained her divine power to bring him here. Luckily, she had few other followers to worry about, and there would be few consequences for her actions. Still, it was no small cost, and not one she would be able to pay again anytime soon. It was one of the drawbacks of her solitude; without followers and prayer, her divine power was lacking, even if her inherent powers placed her amongst the strongest deities in the multiverse.

**Aaron**

Bouncing out of range from another deadly attack from the clone, Aaron continued to test out the new Skill. Unfortunately, Yendal’s clone didn’t make it easy for him. 

The D-grade clone could kill him far too easily, and that forced him to remain on his toes, constantly moving and, for the most part, running away. It almost made him regret provoking her like that. However, pressed against the impossible was exactly where Aaron wanted to be.

Not only that, but [ Spectral Bullet Punch ] was kind of perfect for just this kind of fight. As he ran away, he peppered the clone with spectral attacks, circling the arena.

And while the quick-fire attacks didn’t do huge damage, it didn’t matter, as they weren’t going to land anyway. What they did do, on the other hand, was force the clone to dodge. 

Eating hits to land her own simply wasn’t Yendal’s style, and therefore, it wasn’t her clone's style. And so whilst the attacks were weak, they were somewhat effective at keeping her at bay and distracting the clone.

He still died, of course. He was up against D-grade Yendal, after all.

But he was getting his reads, practicing his new Skill, and making plans. 

Despite not being anywhere near as strong as his haymaker, the new Skill was still stronger than what it had been. The addition of aether into the mix undoubtedly increased its power.

But what he really wanted to gauge was whether or not it was a good choice for the free slot in his combo chain. He wouldn’t just throw it in there without being sure.

And so, he continued. Shooting spectral attacks at rapid fire, one after another, at times filling the sky between him and the clone.

As he trained with the Skill, he noticed something curious. When he pushed the right amount of energy into the attack, it shot like burst fire, and he realized he could dial the Skill between different modes. There was a slower, more precise mode, a rapid-fire one, and a burst-fire mode. And it was this last mode that excited him the most.

He could only add a single Skill use to his combo chain, and so having a relatively weak Skill seemed like a waste of a slot, but if he could use [ Spectral Bullet Punch ] once, but as a burst of attacks, then that changed everything.

This better work!

Reopening his combination window, he checked the options and ran through the selections available to him.

[ Soul Shattering Strike ]

One additional combo slot is available in the combo chain.

Mentally, he turned the mode to burst fire,  [ Spectral Bullet Punch ], prayed that his little theory worked, and slotted it into the free spot. 

One combo chain slot available.

Link selected Skill to the chain slot?

Y/N?

Aaron mentally selected yes, and immediately realized he had a freaking god standing nearby, and he probably should have asked her if his little idea was going to work.

He face-palmed, but his mood suddenly brightened again as the next screen appeared.

Soul Shattering Strike [ Legendary ] [ Combo Starter ]

First combo slot [ Turbocharged Haymaker ] +15% Power

Second combo slot [ Spectral Bullet Punch [ Burst Fire Mode ] ] + Dazing Effect

It had worked exactly as he had hoped it would. But there was more. His brow perked as he read the details of his new combination. A dazing effect? Would that multiply depending on how many times he struck his enemy? If so, he might have just created something very nasty.

“Are you just going to sit around all day?” Yendal called out.

Her clone had stopped its relentless attack as Aaron’s thoughts clearly drifted from the fight. 

“Not a chance,” he grinned back. “Just had to make a few adjustments, that’s all.”

“Oh?”

He had caught her attention, but Aaron didn’t respond; instead, he decided to throw himself back into battle against the clone.

However, it was kind of annoying. He had to spend an irritatingly long amount of time setting himself up against Yendal’s clone if he wanted any hope of landing something against her. This was rather annoying because he just wanted to test the damn attack. But nonetheless, it was what it was, and it was exactly this formidable opponent that had pushed him to get to where he was.

With great care, he planned his attack and followed through. When he found the perfect opening, he started his combo with a grazing soul strike that barely shook the clone’s energy. It was almost impossible for him to hit the clone, so even rippling past it and shaking its energy reserves a little in the process was quite the achievement.

But that wasn’t all. The attack was immediately followed up with a haymaker that was powered up by the combo chain. Which harmlessly flew past the clone as it dodged, and returned with its own counter that blasted a hole straight through Aaron.

However, blowing a hole through Aaron wasn’t enough to get him to back off, and he finished his combination with a burst of what seemed like a dozen spectral fists shot out within a second of one another.

The clone was fast, but it was also in the middle of its own attack, and not expecting such a large burst of counters to come at it all at once, and several spectral punches managed to land.

The damage was nonexistent, but the dazing effect was. For less than a second, the clone stood still, dazed from his attack. Unfortunately for Aaron, he couldn’t capitalize on this, as he had been killed in the clone’s attack.

Gasping, he returned to life, by which point the clone was well and truly recovered, and it struck him again before he even knew what was happening, sending him sailing across the arena, and dying again as he crashed into the wall with a reverberating thud and a shockwave.

“Was that necessary?” Aaron groaned as he returned to life again.

“Your attack… it was impressive.”

Aaron noted the curve to her brow. She wasn’t lying. He had actually impressed her with his little combination.

“You managed to stun my clone. Amazing. For that, it’s only fair you’re rewarded.”

Stage nine of [ Trial of the Challenger ] COMPLETED!

You have tested yourself in one-on-one combat against a weakened shadow avatar of a god and have emerged victorious. 

Quest Rewards: Well of Truths [ Legendary ], Dining Hall upgraded to level 9. 

Experience rewarded for completing a quest stage!

Ding!

[ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

40 → 41

“But wait, we’re not done here… not yet,” Yendal said with an eerily large smile painted on her face. “I have you for another trial.”

Oh, this doesn’t look good.

But whatever fear Aaron felt at Yendal’s unusual expression, it was quickly drained out by the reminder of all he had achieved. 

Today had been a good day.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 61

The two avatars came fast, speeding across the arena and ducking and diving between one another as they took turns throwing their entire bodies into deadly combinations that pressed Aaron to his limit. He was on the back foot and struggling to even return a single strike, but that was exactly how he wanted it.

If he wasn’t being challenged, what point was there? And even though the clones he fought weren’t the strongest versions of Yendal’s avatars he had been up against, fending off the two as they expertly wove combinations into one another was an extraordinarily difficult task. And one that was new to him.

Aaron was no stranger to taking on multiple foes, but when they were both extraordinarily skilled, it transformed the experience into something new.

Bouncing off one another, they gave him not an ounce of breathing room, and every attack was followed up with something. A finished combination was simply an opportunity for the other avatar to throw their own attacks at him, and it took everything just to keep himself from being beaten up.

But progress wasn’t earned without struggle, and Aaron was harnessing his spirit and pondering his techniques as he threw [ Spectral Fist ]. He felt closer than ever to the truths of martial prowess in here, and he was going to make the most of it.

He realized that he had gotten used to storing Stamina in the Mana-based Skill for additional power, but that was selling it short. Why limit himself? That wasn’t his style, and so he dabbled with dipping into other concepts. Namely, fueling the Skill with aether.

But this wasn’t anything extraordinary. An additional energy form within the ghostly fist missiles provided extra bang for his buck, but it wasn’t revolutionary. Nor did it necessarily alter the attack as he wanted. It was still the same attack, just with a little more energy. And he wasn’t putting all this work in just for that.

Which begged the question, what did he want to turn [ Spectral Fist ] into? It was his only ranged attack, and even though it didn’t do huge amounts of damage, it was still useful. If he focused purely on damage, it might be useful as an additional attack in his combo chain, but then it might lose usefulness outside of it. After all, he already had [ Turbocharged Haymaker ] for when he wanted a powerful punch. There was little point in making all of his Skills copies of one another.

But perhaps there were other ways of improving its effectiveness in combat without depriving it of what made it useful, he thought.

As the duel continued, and hours drained in a relentless back and forth, Aaron doggedly tested hundreds of ideas until resting on one that seemed promising.

The idea was to use his spirit to double the attack. Using his spirit as he fought, he summoned aether to fire off a copycat fake version of [ Spectral Fist ] at the same time that he used the real version. 

Of course, the real version was an actual Skill, and the other, simply a copy he created by forming aether, shaping it to appear the same. This made the spirit version far, far weaker, but this was just a training exercise, and it was the promise that the idea showed that interested him.

As he dueled, he practiced throwing both strikes out in unison and doing so at a very fast rate. The result allowed him to shower the avatars in lightning-fast flying fists whenever he could create even a little separation between them.

Nonetheless, the relentless avatars pressed him, forcing him to be faster and better. They left absolutely no breathing room, and that pressed Aaron to reflexively shoot off the ghostly punches at microseconds a piece, and with every engagement, he improved a little.

During this back and forth, Yendal watched from the arena’s side, sitting in a chair and sipping some kind of tea.

As focused as he was, occasionally, Aaron's gaze caught a glimpse of her. If he was being honest, it was pretty distracting having her just sitting there watching. Then again, he realized it probably wasn’t any different from the other trials, as she was watching through her avatars. It just felt different seeing her in person.

But he wouldn’t let it get to him and focused his attention on the concept of his new strike forming in his head as he tried to call on the divine truths within Yendal’s realm.

After about a day or so of this back and forth, Yendal finally got up. Sitting in place for over a day watching someone train might have seemed ridiculous to a mortal, but it was of no consequence to a god, and her understanding of time was far removed from a mortal's, so that it was impossible to comprehend.

He didn’t even see her move. In an instant, she was on the arena floor, cutting between her avatars and him. Without a word, her hands came down in slicing arcs that rippled through the air.

He had died a couple of times over the last day as he pushed himself for breakthroughs, but this was different. It almost felt like she was trying to punish him, although it was clear that she gave him many opportunities to fix whatever issues she was trying to point out. After all, she was a god, and she could end him with a thought if she really wanted to.

However, whatever corrections she was trying to point out, he didn’t get it, and he was shortly cut down by the edge of her hand, which opened a gnarly wound across his entire chest.

“So many openings. Have I taught you nothing?”

“Blech!” Aaron coughed blood as he returned to life and healed. “Sorry.”

“Sorry? There’s no room around here for sorry. Just be better.”

“Right. Okay, being better,” he grunted and pulled himself upright.

“Okay, then show me! Show me better!”

Aaron powered himself up as best he could, calling on all of his buffing Skills and even [ Gorgon’s Time Dilation ] as he rushed forward. 

He threw out a variety of attacks and feints. It was a dazzling display, and most would have at least struggled to see themselves through it, but not Yendal. Honestly, it was completely unfair. He was now facing off against an actual god. But that clearly wasn’t the point. She was trying to show him something, but he just didn’t get it. 

Nonetheless, Aaron went alone with the fight in his usual stubborn fashion. If there were a means of making his way through it and clutching some form of victory, however that looked, he would see it done.

After a failed attack that saw him killed again, he even tried testing out his new cape and turning into a shadow. But it was entirely useless against Yendal. She saw through everything, and some minor buffs made no real difference when the power gap was as immense as it was.

There was only one way to get through this, and that was to prove himself to her.

He continued to press the action, only resting when Yendal killed him too many times and he had to wait for his aether to recover. He wasn’t in the trials, after all, and whilst a god had the ability to heal a dead mortal if they were quick enough, it was safer not to risk it.

Aaron’s frustration built as he wasn’t sure what she wanted from him, but that only forced him to work harder. The more irritated he got, the more effort he threw into his attacks.

What followed was a massive combination with countless feints. Not that it mattered all too much. Yendal was yawning and looking bored as she effortlessly avoided his attacks. 

However, things weren’t as straightforward as they seemed. She had trained him incredibly well, and throughout the last day or so of training, he had been thinking about his tells.

He wanted to throw invisible strikes that gave his opponents no ability to read him, even if they possessed supreme levels of perception. And he had secretly been formulating a means of doing just that. And when she provided the slimmest of openings through sheer boredom, he seized on it.

He started with a [ Soul Shattering Strike ] combo chain and followed it up with a mirrored combo in the spirit plane. It was a devious attack, and whilst it lacked the strength of his mortal strikes, it was impossible to see until the energy had accumulated in the attack, by which point, it would be impossible to dodge for most.

But Yendal wasn’t most. Her expression did change, though. However, she seemed to allow the attack to hit her, despite looking directly at it and clearly seeing it before it landed.

Aaron got a bad feeling, but he didn’t expect what happened next.

Yendal nonchalantly punched his spirit.

Instantly, despite not actually being touched, Aaron fell to the ground coughing. His entire body tremored and shook, and it felt like all the oxygen had been stolen from him. He felt weak deep within himself, like his very core had been slammed against a wall.

“You ought to be careful about how you use your spirit to attack. Most people can’t see it, but for those who can, it’s a nice squishy target.”

“Ah–bloody fucking hell. This sucks,” he groaned.

Is this what Talia felt when I hit her with Soul Shattering Strike?

“How did you see it?” He finally muttered as he started to recover. The sensation absolutely sucked, but unlike Talia, Aaron’s mastery over his spirit meant that he recovered from the attack rather quicker than she had.

“I’m a god, Aaron. Do you really think I’m incapable of seeing such things? However, anyone who walks a similar path as you should be able to as well. Those who master aether, or other spirit-related crafts, will gain these traits sooner or later as you did. You can’t get careless. If I had wanted to, I could have destroyed your soul, and you’d be no more. There’s no resurrection without a soul. Furthermore, your soul has none of the defensive measures you have. Not unless you start to cultivate defenses for it.”

Aaron thought about what she said. But he wasn’t sure it was a good idea to start focusing on soul defense. After all, he still fought with his fists, and he didn’t want to spread himself too thinly. At least not yet. Maybe it was something to consider in the future.

“I wasn’t suggesting you actually do that now. Just making a point. Using your spirit in combat can be a great cheat. But you have to be absolutely careful. Against the wrong opponent, it could be your death. Even those who can’t see it might be able to formulate a counter to it. Or a defensive Skill might activate against all enemy attacks, including your spirit. If that were to happen and trigger some kind of defensive trap that caused damage to your undefended spirit, it could be lethal for you.”

Okay, he had to admit that was a scary thought. If something like that happened, would he even be able to do anything about it?

“Okay, I understand.”

“Good. I haven’t invested this much time into you just to see you get yourself killed doing something stupid.”

“A bit late for that,” Aaron chuckled, and Yendal’s gaze narrowed and brow bent. “Relax, I’m only joking. I’ll be careful.”

“Go again,” she demanded, her voice suddenly cold.

Aaron did as he was commanded. But he realized that she didn’t tell him not to use his spirit, just to be careful when he did.

After all, what was the point in having a cheat ability if he wasn’t going to use it? He just had to be a little more careful, he realized.

The duel continued for several long hours, and Aaron’s body was starting to buckle under the pressure. He was sweating all over, and everything felt tight. No matter how much he ate, or how much energy he cycled, it was getting harder and harder to push himself within the divine realm.

It wasn’t just that. He had gotten used to being reset by the trials when dying, and fighting for so long pushed him in different ways, ways that were amplified by the pressure of the divine realm, which, despite the pillars holding the bulk of it back, was still rather heavy.

But he wouldn’t show up short against his master. If she wanted him to go all out and show her what he was capable of, then he would do just that. And he would do it with endless perseverance, as that was who he was.

Forcing his body to follow his wishes, Aaron threw everything he had into their fight, trying to push the odds in his direction by even the slightest amount. Ultimately, though, it would be up to Yendal whether or not she saw what she was looking for.

“Here,” she said abruptly, pausing the fight, and a towel materialized in her hand. “Clean yourself up.”

“Thanks,” Aaron said, took the towel, and wiped his face. “That was some workout.”

“You’re not finished. You haven’t made me sweat, not even a drip.”

“And how exactly am I meant to make a god sweat?” Aaron sighed.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, so, this is where you’ve been hiding with your new toy boy.”

Aaron turned and saw the source of the voice. A slender silver-haired vixen with huge, curling spider legs protruding from her back was walking toward them.

Who the hell is she? I thought this was Yendal’s divine realm? 

When he turned to Yendal, he saw creases of anger in her brow that he had never seen before, and got the feeling this guest wasn’t invited.

“What are you doing here, Widow?”

“I can never find you these days. And when I finally do, you’re hidden away with this succulent human mortal,” she said, licking her lips. “Is he living up to the hype? I can always take him off your hands if you’ve gotten bored.”

Yendal’s fists balled up, and the spider woman seemed to take note, freezing in place.

“It’s just a bit of fun. No need to take things so seriously, Yendie,” Widow raised her hands defensively and took a step back.

“I told you not to enter without my permission!” Yendal snapped, and with an angry wave of her hand, Widow’s face widened, and she was shot out from the divine realm with a blast that hit her chest.

“Is she going to be okay?”

“Worry about yourself!” Yendal grunted and turned to him with a bent brow. Then, with a click of her fingers, one of her avatars flew toward him.

Aaron was slammed back furiously, and it was obvious that she had turned the power right up on her avatar. It felt like he was fighting a D-grade Yendal, and it was incredible. After all, while he had been going up against her true form, she hadn’t been trying in the slightest. To do so would have atomized Aaron. However, her D-grade avatar absolutely could go all out against him, and it made him hurt.

He felt like he had unwittingly been turned into a punching bag for Yendal’s irritation, and the battle that followed was fierce and very, very painful.

He was thrown all over the arena, bruised, battered, and bashed. But he wasn’t one to just take a beating lying down, and the fierceness of the fight only drove him harder, and he met her anger with a manic grin, for it was the perfect force to throw his own unbreakable will against.

The action was dialed up to eleven, and Aaron threw everything he had into it, blurring the lines between life and death as he refused to die, forgetting even about his dwindling aether reserves and throwing everything on the line.

He had never been scared of death, even when he couldn’t resurrect, and now was no different. If Yendal was going to bring the fight to him, he was going to meet it head-on and brutally blast his way through it one way or another. And that was exactly what he did, throwing all of the concepts he had been working on into an orchestra of deadly destruction, blasting her avatar with everything he could muster.

Throwing everything he had, faster and faster. Blurring between the spirit and the mortal planes, to further increase his output of spectral punches, until he was filling the entire arena with the flying punches, and draining significant amounts of energy in the process.

Skill Mutated: [ Spectral Fist ] = [ Spectral Bullet Punch ]

Aaron blinked and promptly ate a face-crushing fist as his concentration on Yendal’s avatar was broken. But even as he was sent flying and slammed into the wall hard enough to liquify his insides, he grinned.

Would you look at that!

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 60

Reality seemed to twist and bend around Aaron as space warped, and suddenly his breath grew tight, and an incredible weight pressed down upon him.

He was no longer in space but standing on white tiles. However, perhaps this was worse. Much, much worse.

Stubbornly, he gritted his teeth and tried to bear the insufferable force crushing down on him, but no amount of willpower would suffice, and he dropped to his knees.

What is this force?

Sweat poured, soaking his clothing, and muscles rippled across his superhuman body as he grunted and tried to fight back against the incredible power overwhelming him.

“Bah!” He gasped, body trembling.

It was as if the entire world were trying to hold him down. It was an indomitable sensation, but despite the mounting fatigue and his violently shaking body, he commanded himself to overcome the titanic force. For this was Aaron Dober, not some man who simply surrendered when faced against impossible odds.

“Standing?” 

“Huh?’ He turned, the world around him shaky and shimmering, and snorted as he thinned his gaze in search of the voice.

It was Yendal standing several meters away across the grand, marble foyer. 

“Gah!”

“Quite impressive to stand in my divine realm at only E grade.”

Aaron looked like a complete mess. Covered in sweat, energy draining stupidly fast, and shaking all over. His vision was blurred, and his body ached. But he was standing, albeit with every ounce of his determination being thrown into keeping himself upright.

“Yeah, what of it?” he growled as if fighting back death itself, eyes watery, red, and aflame.

“Not bad,” Yendal remarked, her gaze washing over him, and she snapped her fingers. Suddenly, the immense pressure lightened, although it didn’t completely recede. 

Aaron wasn’t sure if it was intentional to keep him on his toes or if she simply couldn’t completely nullify the effect of her divine realm. Nonetheless, he was glad that she had weakened the force bearing down on him. At least he might be able to walk now.

Okay, focus! Don’t let her get to you!

“So, this is your realm?” Aaron said, forcing himself to straighten and doing his best to muster a blank expression. However, he couldn’t do much to hide the sweat pouring down his forehead.

“Yes, do you like it?”

Despite the luxurious marble floors, it wasn’t as grandiose as he had imagined a divine realm would be. The walls appeared to be stretched leather, as if to give the impression that they were within an absolutely ginormous tent, and the furniture he spotted in the distance of the grand chamber was simple, looking like plain cedar and humble cushions.

“It’s… umm…”

“What’s that?” Yendal arched a brow.

“Nothing,” Aaron smiled. “I love it. You did wonders with the place.”

“I see. No matter. I didn’t bring you here to talk about my decorations. Do you need a towel?”

A puddle had formed beneath Aaron, and no amount of playing it cool could hide it.

“I’m fine.”

“Really… So, how are the trials treating you?”

“Good. But… I haven’t beaten Mo’han yet. However, I—”

“I know,” Yendal cut him off. “That god of his decided to stick his nose into it. But no matter. I believe it is an obstacle you can overcome. In fact, your unwillingness to die has caught the attention of several nosy gods. Quite the achievement for an E-grade. It does add a degree of urgency, though. All the more reason I train you up. 

“Some of what I say might not make a whole lot of sense to you, but there are limitations to what us gods can do. I won’t be able to save you from every situation. In fact, even if I could, I wouldn’t want to. If you rely on me, you will never achieve true strength. You’ll need to look after yourself, and while you may be somewhat skilled for your level, you are not invulnerable. Even against those of your planet, you will be at risk, let alone when those outside your universe are allowed inside. What will you do when a multiversal prodigy raised with resources worth more than a galaxy decides they want your planet?”

Aaron’s attention was caught. He wasn’t looking for a guardian angel, but it sounded a lot like external threats might come to hound Superearth sooner than he had expected.

“Are you referring to someone in particular?”

“At this moment, no, but it happens every Integration, so there’s bound to be one at some point. However, there is one particular threat I am keeping my eyes on. He’s a cursed god who has taken interest in another close to you.”

“Wait, Oozagh mentioned something like that. Who are they?”

“Did he? Not surprising. The Death God isn’t to be taken lightly. Most deities like to let new universes develop more naturally, but some, like the Death God, prefer a more… hands-on approach. He and a few others.”

“Like Lenriel the Sovereign?”

“Yes. The two of them will likely come to blows in your universe at some point, unless one of them is stopped before then. They are always at each others’ throats.”

“Yeah, makes sense…” said Aaron.

He couldn’t imagine Darius and Pentival getting along, and he could only assume that whatever psycho decided to bless Darius wouldn’t get along with Lenriel either.

“Yeah, that reminds me: Lenriel said to ask you about him.”

“Did he? What did he say to ask?”

“Whether he was really benevolent.”

“He is as benevolent as a conqueror can be,” said Yendal dismissively. “Especially toward the strong. Lenriel is not in the habit of making unnecessary enemies. If you ally with him, his nation will be the safest place for your friends and family to live, so long as you continue to grow and advance. My own family lived out their years in his domain, and I had no complaints.”

“So you’re allied with him?”

“No. We simply have goals that do not interfere. He does not bother me. I don’t bother him. It is not always peaceful, especially when I take on apprentices, but we have never truly been enemies.”

“I see,” said Aaron, nodding.

Her words definitely went a long way to make him feel a bit better about Lenriel. Not that he was ready to cede Earth over to an outsider, but if Yendal confirmed that the guy was reasonable enough, that was enough for Aaron not to think of Pentival and his group as an immediate threat. However, that made Darius all the more worrying. Pentival had a group of subordinates and would look to expand his kingdom, while Darius was a lone man, but Yendal seemed to put Darius and the Death God on the same level as Pentival and Lenriel. And unlike Pentival, Darius would be starting on Aaron’s planet.

“Regardless of your world’s politics. Though, we have more important things to worry about. Let us begin your training, shall we?”

Aaron nodded, although in truth, confrontation between monstrous gods sounded pretty important. However, he believed Yendal had his best interests in mind, and if she thought training was the most important way to spend his time, it probably was.

Unfortunately, he had no idea how he was meant to duel Yendal under the current conditions. It wasn’t as bad as before, but still, even just standing put a great strain on him.

“Follow. I have much to show you.”

Yendal led him through a corridor, dressed in numerous hunting trophies of all kinds of magnificent beasts and monsters. There were even a few humanoid heads mounted on it that made Aaron a little squeamish. Killing people in the heat of combat was one thing, but he wasn’t so sure of taxidermizing their heads and mounting them in a trophy hall.

Beyond the corridor, they stepped out into a massive arena, and Yendal led him to the center, then swung around to face him.

“Okay. Show me what you’ve learned.”

Aaron blinked. That was it? Was she really expecting him to fight like this? He still felt exhausted just walking around, but the blank expression on her face told him he was probably going to be punished if he questioned her instructions.

He had little choice but to cycle massive amounts of energy just to relieve the strain of the divine realm, and he could feel his reserves shrinking at a fast rate just so that he could move his body somewhat normally.

Unfortunately, it seemed that he wouldn’t be able to test out his new Skill, [ Soul Vortex ], either. It was passively active, but it returned no information as it came into contact with the world around him. That wasn’t hugely surprising, though. He couldn’t inspect gods either, and the divine realm was so heavy on him that it came as little surprise that his Skills wouldn’t be able to dissect and delve into the secrets of such a place.

It wasn’t just that, though. Even fate reading was useless. He couldn’t see the fate of a true god, even if he had been able to see that of her avatar. However, he did wonder if it was a simple limitation of the trait itself or limitations of his strength. Would he be able to read the fates of gods when he was stronger?

Nonetheless, he wasn’t going to just roll over and give up, either. If Yendal wanted him to show her what he was capable of, he would do just that.

And so, with a burst of power, he sailed toward her… embarrassingly slowly. The fight appeared in slow motion as Yendal yawned and avoided Aaron’s strikes.

He looked like he was underwater, and his punches and kicks came impossibly slow. Still, he wanted to show her what he could do, and he used a burst of energy, calling on aether, mana, and stamina to give himself a short boost of power, increasing his speed in the hopes of landing a [ Soul Shattering Strike ].

And to Aaron’s complete surprise, Yendal didn’t just let the punch strike her, but also the follow-up haymaker.

A blast of divine energy rippled out as his soul punch attempted and failed miserably to damage her energy sources. Neither attack appeared to do any damage whatsoever, including to her energy reserves, not that Aaron could detect the energy of a divine being.

“Impressive. That attack is quite something. I suspect it will even harm the asura substantially if used correctly. Still, you've got a long way to go. But at least I have an idea of how to train you. Now, let’s make this a little more fair.”

Yendal began to shimmer, and a shadow stepped away from her. “This one is a little different from those you’ve fought before. The avatars in the trials are created by the trials themselves, and granted our powers, whereas this is a simple clone created by me. It is not as advanced or powerful, but it should still be more than enough for your training.”

Yendal stepped aside, walking to the edge of the arena as pillars crashed down around, forming a kind of barrier that weakened the effects of the divine realm. Whilst the divine realm’s forces weren’t completely nullified, with the aid of the pillars, Aaron could once again move relatively normally.

“So, you want me to fight that thing?”

“Yes. I want you to practice that strike of yours. It’s lacking. This realm isn’t just my divine realm. It’s the divine realm of the Martial God. Here, you will feel more at one with the concepts that uphold my divine path more than anywhere else in the multiverse. Your time is limited here, so make the most of it.”

Divine realm of the Martial God?

Aaron’s brow bent. That sounded like a challenge, and if anybody was up for a challenge, it was him.

“Ha, I think I can do that.”

Without further delay, Aaron flung himself into battle, and the fight began. But it was different from the fights he had been in previously. Whenever he got reckless and relied on energy to overpower the clones, Yendal scolded him, and sometimes even jumped into the fight to smack him away herself, sending him barreling into the walls.

It was a hard learned lesson, and getting hit by an actual god really hurt. But he probably should have expected as much delving into her divine realm. She wasn’t just going to sit idly by as he fought like an ogre.

However, after several hours and being scolded and batted away countless times, he was starting to understand why she was so dogged in her methods.

He felt a profound connection between himself and his strikes. His techniques were transcending their mere physical boundaries, and his mind was subconsciously dipping into the deeper concepts of his style as he fought.

He could feel the power of his Skills wrapping around his fists as he threw them at his opponent, and strikes rolling from one to another. His body felt in perfect harmony as he rolled through battle, using every inch of his person, and never missing a beat.

This wasn’t new to him, though. This was what he had learned from Yendal throughout their fights. However, this duel wasn’t just a reminder, either. It was a chance to see the truths behind the path that Yendal walked, and they were laid out before him bare through the power of her divine realm, which in and of itself was a great treasure to behold.

And when he finally, after many hours of difficult combat, managed to land a full combination against the shadow, Yendal snapped her fingers, and a second appeared.

“Maybe I made that one too easy for you. Let’s see how you do against two of them.”

“Seriously?”

“You do feel it, don’t you? The reason I brought you here?”

Aaron looked across at Yendal and nodded. “I think so.”

“Then stop complaining and harness it. Feel the power, for it will do you great favors, even if you don’t follow the path of the empty-handed exactly as I do.”

“Yeah, gotcha.”

Following the instructions of his master, he once more threw himself against the two shadows, and whilst doing so, he focused on the feeling that filled the air with electrifying power.

He wanted to do right by her, but he also wanted to do right by himself, and he knew that this was the place to bridge the final gaps and propel himself to greater heights before the trials finally ended.

But it wouldn’t be easy, and the deadly battle became a back-and-forth, but amazingly, despite their strength, Aaron was actually landing strikes.

Unfortunately for him, all it took from Yendal was a snap of her fingers, and the power possessed by the clones increased, and once more, he was on the ropes. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.

It was as if he were fighting all stages of Yendal’s avatars from the beginning, and it was as brutal as he remembered it being.

But then something unexpected happened, and his face lit up with excitement.

[ Soul Shattering Strike ]

Combination mastery improved.

Mastery increased from none to minor.

One additional slot added to combo chain.

Aaron blinked. This was new and very welcome. Unfortunately, he wasn’t entirely sure what Skill he wanted to add to his combo chain.

Spectral Fist was the only real attacking Skill he had, and whilst it was a decent enough Skill, it didn’t really suit his combo… or did it?

He looked at the combination slot and expanded the information window. The new combo slot came after [ Turbocharged Haymaker ] as expected, but as he thought about it, he remembered Skill mutations.

I wonder…

“Hey, Yendal, turn up the difficulty, I got an idea I wanna try.”

“Oh?” Her brow curled, and a thin smile tugged at her lips.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 59

Tying his cape around his neck and adjusting it, Aaron played around for a short moment before getting serious again. He caught a few gazes in the hallway for doing so, but he was essentially a local celebrity by now, and the respect he had earned outweighed any judgment. In fact, a couple of people took notes, as if playing around with capes was the magic ingredient to completing trials.

I can work with this.

Thanks to the additional experience provided by the final trial stages, level 40 had come quicker than Aaron had expected. Nonetheless, he was quite interested to see what the System would offer him now that his Class Skill slots were all full, and collected Sooty immediately, and rushed through the hallway with the soot goblin and took a private instance of the dining hall.

It was time to select a Skill.

Seismic Clap [ Rare ] Want everyone and everything to know where you are? Well, pick this Skill! When activated, Seismic Clap sends a sudden burst of energy rippling outward that creates a powerful shockwave with seismic implications. It’s also quite loud.

Skill Upgrade [ Relentless Scourge ] = [ Indomitable Nightmare ]  [ Epic ] Unrelenting is an understatement for what you are. You have evolved from that into an unescapable nightmare that haunts your victims. When activated, the user’s movement speed is increased by 15%, damage reduction is increased by 10%, and the user gains resistance to any Skills that would prevent their movement.

Skill Upgrade [ Gust Step ] = [ Spirit Jump ] [ Epic ] Don’t just soar through the air, fly. When activated, Spirit Jump uses small amounts of either mana or aether to propel the user at great speed through the air, sending them flying both faster and further than the original Gust Step. 

Soul Vortex [ Epic ] Imperceptible to most, this vortex swirls around you, providing a protective blanket of soul energy. Passively creates a vortex-fueled field around the user that can detect entities, both spiritual and living, whilst also providing additional identification qualities thanks to its spiritual nature, delving beyond the surface and probing beyond. 

Lightning Jab [ Epic ] This punch might not be the most powerful, but what it lacks in power, it makes up for in speed and lightning damage. When activated, the user can throw one of the fastest punches in the multiverse. Comes with additional lightning damage.

Whistling, Aaron knew what he wanted, but also found himself in a little bit of a dilemma, as there were multiple Skills he wanted.

“Skill rarities are not as good as they’ve been, but ye got some good options here, bossman. I think we all know what ye want, though.”

“Tell me about it. Indomitable Nightmare might only increase speed by another five percent, but along with damage reduction? It’s just a downright better version of Relentless Scourge,” Aaron sighed.

“Aye. And ye were using Gust Step quite a bit in ye duels. Spirit Jump might not be the best Skill, but considering how much ye use it… not a bad option.”

Sooty wasn’t wrong. In fact, he didn’t know half of it. Aaron used the Skill repeatedly in every fight during his trials. Increasing his speed and how far he could fly would be a considerable boon. In fact, it was up there in utility as one of the better options he had been offered.

But how could he just scroll past an opportunity to fill out his last Passive? Especially when the Skill was as juicy as it was.

“Not gonna lie, bossman. Ole’ Sooty doesn’t know spirit powers very well. That said, Soul Vortex sounds powerful. Very powerful,” the soot goblin said, nodding thoughtfully. “Detection fields are one of those things that are just kind of standard for elites. Ye can only get so strong if all it takes is a dagger in the back to end ye.”

“So you’re saying I should pick Soul Vortex?”

“Aye, and I don’t think there’s a close second.”

Aaron rubbed his chin as he thought. No matter what he chose, he would be replacing an old Skill for one of the new ones. Indomitable Nightmare and Spirit Jump were certainly tempting, but he could definitely understand Sooty’s reasoning on Soul Vortex. Plus, his own fighting style was often a Perception-focused one, so giving him a wider range of detection would only make him that much stronger.

The only problem was that he would have to lose one of his Passive Skills to do it. And by that, he meant he would have to lose Blurred Image to do it, because there was zero chance he was swapping out Reverse Cycle Faux Core or Equal and Opposite. 

Wait, Equal and Opposite is a Passive Skill?

He hadn’t really paid much attention to where it slotted in when he got it, but now that he finally had to decide between swapping Skills out, he found it extremely odd that it was a Passive Skill and not an Active Skill. It certainly didn’t function like a Passive Skill, and he definitely had to actively think about it to use it.

He pushed those thoughts aside, though, since it didn’t matter at the moment, and returned to pondering his Skill selection. To take Soul Vortex, he would have to lose Blurred Image, which was a much bigger decision than a simple Skill upgrade. Then again, he had hardly noticed Blurred Image’s effects. When he selected it, he hoped it would be useful, but it honestly was barely noticeable with how slippery he already was.

“You’re not wrong. This sucks. Dammit!” Aaron groaned. “I really wanted Spirit Jump, but there’s no way around it.”

“You’ll get another upgrade for Gust Step sooner or later if you keep using it…. Hopefully.”

“You’re not helping Sooty.”

“Didn’t know I was supposed to be ye moral support.”

Aaron stared at him for a moment and then returned to his Skill selection.

“Here goes nothing,” Aaron moped as he confirmed his selection and felt power both leave and enter him as Blurred Image was replaced by Soul Vortex.

He wasn’t sad about the Skill, though. It did sound good. Very good. That’s why he had to pick it, after all. It was essentially a Skill version of his mana forcefield, something he had wanted for a while now. But there was little doubt it was even better than what he had expected to unlock. Being real Skill made it better to begin with, but being soul-related and using aether? Well, it fit his build better, but he also knew that spirits were able to delve past normal mortal barriers, and as such, he had a feeling the identification benefits would be much more useful than what mana could provide.

It was just… he just knew how much he would make use of Spirit Jump, and so even though he knew he made the right decision, it was bittersweet.

“Okay, done.”

“What now, bossman?”

“Decide what’s next, I suppose. Only got like a couple of weeks left. Better make the most of it. Besides, if I can get a few more titles before this is all done, it’d be foolish not to push every ounce of effort I can into doing so.”

“Gotta a point. Titles don’t come by so easily. The trials can create progenitors that go on to amazing things.”

“Yep. Alright, time to work. Catch you around, Sooty.”

Walking into the hallway, Aaron was soon accosted by a group of trial takers. Apparently, word had gotten out that he had beaten entire trials, and as the only other person to do so besides Mo’han, he got more attention than he wanted.

But his focus drifted. Through the crowds, he spotted Darius, who huffed and snorted as their eyes caught for a second.

The necromancer had been walking away from the trial dial, but when he spotted Aaron, he turned straight back to it, entering a trial only a short moment later as the fast-moving line reached the front.

I’m not inspiring earth’s psychopaths to work even harder, am I?

Scaring Darius to work harder wasn’t ideal, but it also meant that he was ahead of Darius, even if the necromaner was still at a higher level. 

The reality was that Darius had been given enough time to beat a trial by now, and the fact that he hadn’t meant that he was clearly struggling at least a little.

Still, he wasn’t in a position to take his foot off the gas, Aaron knew. As long as he was as far behind other elites level-wise as he was, he was going to have to keep pushing himself.

I need a break. A moment to myself. Hopefully, things won’t be so constantly hectic once the trials are over.

Exhaling, he weaved his way through the crowd, thanking those who cheered him on, and giving basic ass advice to those who asked for it. He wasn’t here to waste time giving pointers, but he’d say some genetically useful words if pressed.

The race toward the trial’s finish felt like a non-stop grind, but he couldn’t relax. If pushing himself to the very end resulted in even one more Title, then it was absolutely worth doing.

With this thought, he decided to check out a few other trials and gauge how likely he was to be able to finish them in the quickly evaporating time.

First, he jumped into the trial of magic and actually managed to beat another stage before getting stuck on the following one. 

Several hours passed without progress, and he decided to move on. He still needed to complete the last two stages of the Trial of the Challenger, and didn’t care enough about magic to risk getting stuck.

It was purely a test to see how difficult the trials were. And he walked away with some experience and a rod of camouflage. The rod of camouflage could apparently be used in a settlement to camouflage it, which sounded pretty useful for the future. Being able to have a good night’s sleep would be nice, and he remembered what it was like to live under the stars as Elvanas. Constantly watching his back. Not to mention the powerful monsters that roamed the world beyond the trials.

A shiver traced his spine, remembering his other life. The world was going to be dangerous, and having a secure camp would be far, far more valuable than he had thought prior to his elven experience.

With that thought, he raced back to the trials without pause, threw himself into the Trial of Travels, and managed to blast through two stages over several hours before getting stuck for the rest of the day.

For a moment, he had thought he’d push himself all the way through the eight stages, but toward the trial stage’s end, it had gotten impossibly hard. Perhaps he would have stood a chance at completing it with Spirit Jump, but he couldn’t linger on such distracting thoughts.

Regardless, though, he doubted he would have been able to finish the trial with the remaining time he had. The Trial of Travels was getting extraordinarily hard for him, and he doubted anything but the fastest, and properly leveled trial takers would stand even the slightest chance of beating stages nine and ten.

Still, he was rewarded with experience and two items. Speedster goggles, which provided some small stat bonuses, but not enough for Aaron to wear the ridiculous gear, especially not with his bleached hair. The look was a step too far, and he’d rather an ogre’s appearance over the comically large speedster goggles.

However, the second item was more promising. He got a pair of Galactic Boots of the Messenger from completing the seventh stage, and they were a lot more impressive.

Galactic Boots of the Messenger [ Epic - E grade ]

Made for maximum speed by galactic messengers who cross the stars, relaying secrets to powerful entities across the multiverse.

Provides: +10% Running Speed, +20 Strength, +20 Agility

Aaron removed his tabi shoes and put on his new boots. It was a decent upgrade, but even with them, he still couldn’t break through the final leg of the stage, and spent several more hours hopelessly banging his head against the wall before he had to use every ounce of his willpower to pull himself away from it.

And it still pissed him off. He was beyond grumpy, kicking at the ground as he walked the hallway, grumbling to himself. 

Giving up even when it made sense simply wasn’t his style, and doing so annoyed him to no end. But he had to be smart. 

No matter how much he wanted to stubbornly throw himself against the irritatingly hard trials until he found a means of overcoming them, he knew he had more important things to see finished.

And so, he made his way back to the trial dial again, annoyance painfully written on his face.

It was finally time for a reunion with his mentor. It was finally time to show her what he had been doing this entire time and how far he had come.

As he made the final walk, his irritation melted away, and a mad grin took its place. It was impossible to remain grumpy knowing he was going to see Yendal again, even if she did terrify him to a degree. 

He knew he was going to get the ever-living shit beaten out of him countless times, and for some insane reason, he was looking forward to it.

C’mon Yendal. Let’s see what you’ve got installed for me this time!

He selected the goddess and slapped down on the dial.

True Blessing from authorized deity detected. Sugar Baby Protocol in effect. Contacting deity.

What the hell? thought Aaron. Sugar Baby Protocol?!

Contact established. Offer accepted. Stage 9 of the Trial of the Challenger has been altered.

Warning! Brace yourself, trial taker!!! Temporary space dilation in process!!! Transportation to a divine realm underway!

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 58

A sudden pang of self-consciousness hit Aaron as his eyes swept over his shadow avatar. He knew he puffed out when energizing his adipose tissue, but seeing the size of himself in person… it made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Breaking eye contact with his shadow avatar, he looked around. What he saw was… nothing. An endless expanse of nothing. There was ambient light, but no source. The ground was a reflective black, and when he looked down, he saw himself looking back up at him. The only sounds were the sounds of his own breathing and heartbeat. It was just him and his shadow.

A strange feeling settled into him, and he suddenly thought that this final trial of Dominance was very fitting. He had conquered tribes, cities, monsters, and more, and now, at the end of it all, there was only one thing left to overcome: himself.

He slid his right leg back, getting into a fighting stance, and the shadowy version of himself mirrored him. He took a few cautious steps, circling around, and it did the same. The whole time, he thought about how he would win. He had spent plenty of time thinking of his own weaknesses so that he could make up for them and make sure they were covered, but he had never thought of it in this context. How would he beat himself?

The most obvious answer was overwhelming power. He was fast, agile, and had decent power of his own, but he was underleveled, and his raw power was nothing compared to Mo’han or even the weaker trial takers with similar styles. It didn’t matter how well Aaron dodged if all it took was one slip-up for his opponent to obliterate him. And even if he could resurrect, if his opponent could do it again right when he revived, he was screwed.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t really take advantage of that weakness of his because… Well, he was himself. He had the same lack of overwhelming power that would allow him to overcome himself. 

Could he outmaneuver the shadow? Not if it had all the same skills as him. Could he outlast it? No. Could he beat it on raw skill? If the shadow was an exact copy of him, then probably not. 

But there was one thing that he had that blank-faced shadow didn’t. His willpower. No matter how well the trials copied Aaron’s abilities, they couldn’t copy his ego. And even if it could imitate his stubborn perseverance, then Aaron would just have to stubbornly persevere even harder to overcome it. In the end, even if he didn’t have any tactical advantage over the shadow, his victory was all but assured.

Let’s go!

Overflowing with confidence, he stepped forward and activated Fate Weaver to prepare for the fight. But the strangest thing happened when he tried to figure out how he wanted to fight his shadow. He peered into the threads of fate, but he couldn’t make sense of them. They were all shimmering and shifting constantly, never remaining in place for more than a second or two.

“Oookay… that’s not a lot of help.”

If the threads of fate were constantly changing, there was little use in reading them.

“So, looks like I’m gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way, don't I?”

However, just because he couldn’t read fate didn’t mean he didn’t want to gauge his enemy, or rather, himself. Of course, he knew what he was capable of, but that was one thing, and it was another to actually face off against himself.

Carefully, he shot forward with [ Gust Step ], and peppered the avatar with [ Spectral Fist ] as he kept his range, looking for reads.

To little surprise, his avatar was as light on his feet as Aaron was, and easily avoided the test barrage, and flew forward to counter with his own.

A short combination was exchanged between the two, but neither landed anything impactful, and they disengaged with a shockwave that pushed both back as they made their reads.

There was no immediate path to victory, but Aaron was already formulating plans in his head. With any luck, fate-bending was as useless for the shadow as it was for him. If that were true, large combinations should work. Hitting himself wouldn’t be easy, but as long as the avatar couldn’t see fate, strikes would get through eventually.

That just meant he had to save his best for last.

But as they clashed again, and again, he found himself drawn into his shadow’s plans far more than he had hoped. Perhaps it made sense as the challenge wouldn’t mean much if the shadow was but a mediocre version of himself.

This was the final stage of the Trial of Dominance, after all. The Shadow Trials weren’t going to make it easy.

And it was obvious that his shadow avatar was anything but mediocre. The shadow always knew which attack to throw, and Aaron’s fists came up short against high guards, and strikes missed their targets repetitively as a maelstrom of action took place across the expansive arena. 

As the battle raged on, it became more and more clear that the shadow was not an inferior version, or even an exact copy of himself. No, it was a superior version. Not so superior that Aaron was completely overwhelmed, but it was obvious that in every category, the shadow was beating him. It had more Stats, a more refined technique, and a quicker reaction time. Aaron was holding his own, but he was losing ground. 

He gave the battle his all, but it wasn’t long before he had completely deflated while the shadow was still carrying a bit of weight, and soon after that, he died. He resurrected multiple times, but the shadow was always waiting to end him as soon as he returned, and just a few seconds later, he woke up back in the hallway. 

No one got in his way as he went back to the dial. He heard a few comments, and even one angry shout, but they were quickly hushed. He had built up a reputation, for better or worse, and too many people wanted to see how he would do for any to dare get in his way.

As the second attempt raged on, Aaron had a somewhat sobering thought. Mo’han said that this trial had him facing off against a D-rank. That meant he was facing a D-rank version of himself. And not only that, he had won on the second attempt. Aaron felt a chill run down his spine as he began to fully comprehend the monstrous talent of the asura. He was not a multiversal prodigy for nothing. And Aaron had to defeat him.

His moment of distraction cost him a heavy blow to the stomach, but he grinned even as his energy roiled within. This shadow was tough, but it wasn’t even the toughest opponent he would have to face. He could win. He would win.

…Just not this time. It wasn’t long before he found himself back out in the hallway and had to re-enter.

A half dozen attempts followed, and as they went on, Aaron was reminded of his spars with Yendal. It quickly became clear that brute force wasn’t going to let him win against himself. He needed to be better. More perfect. More refined. As much of an upgrade as his avatar was from him, it still wasn’t perfect. It had flaws, and as he fought, Aaron realized those flaws were as much his own as they were the shadow’s.

For example, while his feints were very good, they were also nearly identical every time. Until then, his opponents had been too overwhelmed to notice and take advantage, but now that he was facing himself, it was obvious. His feints had him looking harder in the direction he was pretending to attack than when he was actually attacking, and once he noticed that, it was incredibly easy to pick apart the shadow’s own feints.

Even so, it was only on his eighth attempt that he finally managed to kill his shadow. Once. Of course, just like him, his shadow could resurrect, and Aaron was already on his last legs when he managed it. He was soon back in the hallway again, but this time he was grinning. 

Unlike him, the shadow version of himself did not grow between attempts. Each fight, the shadow was exactly the same as the last, seemingly having been set permanently on his first attempt. None of the improvements he made were mirrored in the shadow, so each time he went in, he was able to do better than the last. The shadow was still just as adaptable as he was himself, so even when he found a weakness, it was soon covered, but as he found more and more weaknesses, he did better and better.

After noticing the issue with his feints, he next noticed that he had a really distinct tell when he was using [ Turbocharged Haymaker ]. His nostrils would flare, and his eyes would widen. Not only did this make it easy to see it coming, but when he managed to reduce those signs himself, he found himself able to hit the shadow more easily, since it was less prepared. The tell only came a split second before the gathering of energy, but that split second was a huge boon in such an intense and precise fight.

Next, it was his [ Soul Shattering Strike ]. It made sense that he hadn’t fully mastered it, since it was his newest Skill, but seeing himself using it, it became extremely obvious exactly how far he had to go. The attack was by far his slowest, and his body almost went on autopilot when he did it, his attention sucked away by his spirit. When his shadow used the attack, as long as Aaron dodged, it made for a perfect window to counter-attack.

On the fifteenth attempt, Aaron managed to kill the shadow four times. He ran out of gas himself, failing once again, but he knew he was right on the verge of success. He himself could only revive 5 or 6 times, depending on the aether, and the shadow was not that much stronger than him that it could do more. This next attempt could be his last one if he did it right.

No, it will be my last one, he told himself, entering the trial. I can do it.

That statement wasn’t much, but when he found himself back in the empty space standing across from his shadow, he felt an odd sense of serenity. When the battle began, everything suddenly felt slower. He was in a flow state, and all of his moves felt perfect. When he dodged, the shadow’s fists passed by so close they brushed his clothes. His own strikes hit exactly where he aimed for with perfect precision every time. 

Calmly, and almost casually, he dismantled his own fighting style. His shadow tried a feint, and Aaron ignored it and punched it in the face. It charged up a haymaker, and Aaron charged up [ Equal and Opposite ] to block it. It tried a [ Soul Shattering Strike ] and he leaped to the side and delivered one of his own while it was still pulling its fist back.

As the battle went on, he found himself wondering how he had struggled so much in the last few attempts. He felt he could have done this a few attempts ago. He had the information. He had the skill. The shadow wasn’t evolving with him. Why couldn’t he have done it? Did he just lack the resolve?

He scoffed at himself. Aaron Dober lacking resolve? Not likely. No, it was not resolved, but confidence. Before, he had still been uncertain. He had the time, so he was taking things slower and trying to make sure he had everything under control. Now, though, he actually had things under control, and it wasn’t because he was going slow. No, it was because he was acting with confidence. 

He always had confidence, but this time, it was of a different sort. His confidence previously had been in his resolve. His ability to bounce back no matter what. His ability to emerge victorious no matter the odds, as long as he kept trying. This time, though, it was different. It was not a confidence in his resolve he had, but instead a confidence in his skills. 

He had all the tools he needed to beat the shadow. In fact, he had probably had them after the first attempt when he got used to his own fighting style. Instead of trusting those tools, though, he spent his time observing and waiting. Somehow, despite all the effort he was putting in, it was like he was looking for the easy way out. A trick or a cheat to allow him to best the superior shadow. 

But who was he? He was Aaron Dober, the man who died thousands of times to master his skills. The man who had been personally trained by the Martial God herself. The man who had impressed the Martial God enough to earn her true blessing. The man who carried the blessing of the ogre god. He didn’t need a cheat to win. He just needed to be more confident in his own skills.

Is that what makes Mo’han so strong? He wondered as he casually evaded the shadow’s attack and countered again.

The battle was not a perfect one for him, but even when he got hit, he never doubted that he would win. He maintained his confidence, knowing that even if the shadow wouldn’t go down easily, it would go down. Each blow he took or punch he missed was just a minor setback on his inevitable path to victory.

When he killed the shadow the first time, he still had a quarter of his reserves left. He waited for it to resurrect, then killed it again. Then again. Then again. The fifth time he killed it, it struggled to reform, and Aaron knew it was the end. The shadow struggled to its feet after resurrecting, showing a resolve that Aaron had to respect. He nodded to it, then delivered one final [ Soul Shattering Strike ] to its head, and it was over. The shadow disintegrated into nothingness, leaving Aaron alone with no company but his own reflection on the black ground.

Stage tenth of [ Trial of Dominance ] COMPLETED!

Trial of Dominance COMPLETED!

You have tested yourself against your perfect shadow and emerged victorious. Reward chosen by the crowd.

Quest Rewards: Cape of Shadows [ Mythical], Crafting Station upgraded to level 10! 

Experience rewarded for completing a quest!

Ding!

[ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

38 → 39

Ding!

[ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

39 → 40

Title acquired: Dominator.

Complete all stages of the Trial of Dominance

Reward: +10% to Strength, Intelligence, and Charisma

“Wait, they want me to wear a cape?” Aaron felt like groaning. His look was extra enough as it was; it really didn’t need a cape to top it off.

However, it was mythical, and his brows perked, and he opened the inspection window.

Cape of Shadows [ Mythical - E grade [ Adaptive ] ]

Flowing through the wind at your back, this cape is a testament to your domination within the Shadow Trials.

Provides: When wrapped around the user, they become a shadow. In low light, the user becomes blurred and blends in with the shadows, providing a significant dodge and evasion bonus.

“Oookay, not what I had in mind. But it does sound pretty useful.”

NEXT CHAPTER

I'll be late again. I won't bother making this announcement going forward. I don't plan on missing releases, so if it's late, it'll still be coming. And if something comes up that actually will make me miss a day, I'll let you know.

Chapter 57

Aaron had to admit, Orrigomo was extraordinarily fast. He was quite strong, too. And one hardy bastard. However, compared to Yendal, he was weak. He didn’t have Yendal’s casual precision, and while he was fast, Aaron could tell he was pushing himself to move that fast, and was on the verge of losing control, making him very predictable. Even without being able to read the threads of fate, Aaron felt he could have seen where his enemy would be.

Sonic booms echoed out across the land every time Orrigomo burst off into one of its rampaging attacks, and explosive shockwaves cracked, crumbled, and rippled through the ground when it landed. It was quite devastating. But if Aaron was careful, and he read fate correctly, he could avoid direct hits and unleash his own counters.

But the black beetle was far more than just a speedster. When he first hit its onyx carapace, his incredibly powerful tungsten spikes didn’t even pierce it, but that only caused a smile to crease his face. He had worried slightly that this level would provide little practical experience he could use against Mo’han. But seeing his armored fist bounce off Orrigomo's formidable shell filled him with delight.

This will do just fine.

Of course, Orrigomo was far less impressed and returned fire with hundreds of lightning-fast strikes. Aaron did well to avoid much of the initial barrage, but the attacks were simply too fast to dodge them all, even with near-perfect coordination, and knowing where they would land.

Bladed arms slipped through his defenses, cutting his body up with deadly efficiency. Once upon a time, a single one of Orrigomo’s serrated strikes would have completely shredded Aaron and left him for dead. But now he was surviving the onslaught surprisingly well. Though in truth, he wouldn’t last long if he weren’t able to dodge the majority of strikes coming his way. Toughness and Vitality were definitely doing some heavy lifting, but he wasn’t at the point where he could be considered a real tank when skipping a tier and going up against a D-grade.

But it was enough to keep him alive long enough to counter with his own attacks, and when [ Soul Shattering Strike ] was combo-chained into [ Turbocharged Haymaker ], not even a D-grade monster like the formidable Orrigomo could shrug off his assault.

The beetle staggered on the first soul-crushing strike and was thrown back with a spray of black ichor when the haymaker landed.

“You hurt me! One of the Thirteen. Impossible!”

The beetle’s hardened brow bent, and it shot straight back toward him with a sonic boom, clearly unimpressed.

It wasn’t a D-grade for nothing, though. And what followed was a display of incredible Skills. First, a deadly miasma filled the air that choked up the lungs and slowed its prey down. That was followed by a blanket of thorns that covered the landscape and burst into thorny shrapnel whenever Aaron stepped on one. And to top it all off, the beetle summoned an angry storm that lingered above the battlefield, and periodically sent lightning crashing down, which would have been a deadly combination if Aaron couldn’t see the lightning strikes before they landed.

Not only that, but Orrigomo seemed to grow larger and angrier as the fight went on. It unleashed incredible amounts of power, although still below what he expected of Mo’han. And it was made even deadlier, as its sonic booms started to carry poisonous barbs that shot out in all directions whenever it sent one of the booms bursting outward.

The fight must have been absolutely annoying for the beetle, because the poison in the barbs was really very deadly. But Aaron had a method of surviving the horrendous attack—dying.

He was actually very impressed when he first got hit by one, as he watched his HP drain away before his eyes. It was very fast, and he figured few could survive it without some kind of cure. Unfortunately for the beetle, death was but a minor concern for the mad human before it.

A burst of energy rippled out as Aaron resurrected himself, sending a wave of the miasma fleeing, and he even managed to catch the beetle off guard, returning to life with a clean combo chain against the unprepared Orrigomo.

The beetle likely wouldn’t be surprised twice by Aaron’s dying act, but he didn’t need cheap tricks to win a fight anymore. 

However, the battle was far from over, and like all strong enemies, the beetle could kickstart its energy organs back into gear and get them going again. Nonetheless, [ Soul Shattering Strike ] both drained a massive amount of its energy and at least temporarily disabled regeneration.

Taking a single hit wasn’t fight-ending, but it did risk a snowballing effect that benefited Aaron.

This was a massive problem to overcome, and it was made so much worse for his enemies, as Aaron’s bulbous form was drained of energy slower than ever after eating the meat pie. But worst of all for the beetle was the fact that the poison effect was disabled on his death.

Not all status effects were treated equally when Aaron died. Whilst his food buffs did reset when he was returned to the hallway, for the most part, they lasted through his aether-powered resurrections. There appeared to be some kind of cooldown that affected how long a status effect could last during death, and it seemed to be relative to the effect's total duration. An effect that would last a day could last over ten seconds during his death, whilst something that had a duration of a minute wouldn’t even last a second.

And the deadly poison from the barbs had a very short life. Not that it would have needed a long one under most circumstances. Most people struck by the attack would be doomed to their fate,  especially if they didn’t have powerful cures or heals with them.

Still, despite neutralizing one of Orrigomo’s most powerful attacks, the battle was still extremely difficult. And thanks to its incredible speed, Orrigomo even pushed Aaron to use [ Gorgon’s Time Dilation ], which was quite the accomplishment, since he rarely used the Skill unless being ganged up on by many enemies.

However, for every challenge he faced, there was a monstrous cheat his enemies had to overcome, and it was only getting worse. The 2% energy leech he had gained from his gauntlets wasn’t anything amazing against weaker opponents, especially when striking them with mediocre attacks. But when hitting a D-grade like Orrigomo with an extra powerful combination? Well, it provided quite a nice energy boost to himself.

Enraged as the battle tilted in the wrong direction, Orrigomo screamed, and energy burst all around it. In a flash, it was on him, smashing him so hard he skimmed across the landscape, and followed up with a series of lightning bursts that turned skin to ash.

But again, Aaron was back to his feet in seconds, having resurrected for the third time in their little back-and-forth skirmish.

However, his persistence did not dissuade the beetle, and it gave him no time for reprieve, attacking with barbs and blindingly fast attacks. But this was Aaron, and he was more than just too stubborn to die, and he placed his feet perfectly, as he counted. Like an oracle, he weaved a path through the impossible myriad of attacks smashing down upon him, eating only grazing strikes as he returned a [ Soul Shattering Strike ] below the beetle’s chin, and followed up with a haymaker to its mid-section. A kick across its face followed, and then another soul strike to the body, and in quick succession, haymakers blasted across Orrigomo’s chin.

The flurry of attacks all happened in a flash, far too quickly for ordinary eyes to follow, and the result was pieces of shell and onyx ichor bursting across the land, and Orrigomo being tossed like a child into rocky rubble.

The D-grade monster tried to recover, but could barely stand on shaky legs, and it was all too easy when Aaron followed up with another combination that crushed it back into the earth, and a fountain of black ichor spurted up.

“H-how?” Orrigomo spat black blood. “Your level… how are you so strong? Is this the might that enslaved our people? Or is it an illusion? More tricks from the System? You can’t be E-grade… It’s not possible. Those fools! I told them not to take that damn quest!”

Suddenly, Aaron was reminded of the circumstances that had brought him to the trial. The damn System had imprinted him as their enemy into their minds somehow.

“I swear, I’m not your enemy. I’m just some bloke trying to get stronger.”

“Bah! Lies! Invader! Enslaver! Murderer! But it won’t be so easy for you! You see, I’m only the weakest of The Thirteen. You’ll see. They’ll make you suffer for everything you’ve done! It may take a millennium, but our people will have vengeance against the great monster. The great enslaver!” The beetle coughed up a chunk of crystallized ichor and groaned in agony. “We’ll have our vengeance against you!”

With another gargling choke, it coughed and died.

Aaron sighed. It seemed he had yet more enemies. It wasn’t an ideal outcome, but there was little point in worrying about it now. He doubted there was a single thing he could do to overcome the tricks imposed by the System. But he did wonder who this monster really was.

After all, Orrigomo at the very least seemed aware and conscious. Surely the System couldn’t trick the beetle so easily, unless this monster character was truly real, and the System had simply tricked them into believing that Aaron was this monster.

That thought also begged the question as to whether or not Orrigomo was even dead. Perhaps the beetle would awake from this dream, and if it did, would it come looking for him?

Chain Quest: The Shadow Trials

Stage nine of [ Trial of Dominance] COMPLETED!

You have tested yourself against the countless enslaved of Hellfire world #330037 and emerged victorious. 

Quest Rewards: Obelisk of Dominance [ Epic ], Unique System Store upgraded to level 9. 

Experience rewarded for completing a quest stage!

“Well, at least it’s done,” Aaron sighed as he reappeared in the hallway. It was kind of bittersweet. He was used to killing things by now, but he didn’t want to be known as a slaver. 

Nothing to be done about it.

His attention turned to the quest reward, and he curled a brow as he inspected it.

Obelisk of Dominance [ Epic ]

When placed on a settlement’s throne, the Obelisk of Dominance claims the settlement for the dominator. Unlike normal territory conquest, the obelisk drains energy and resources from the subjects and channels them into their overlord’s primary territories.

Okay, that sounds just delightful.

Aaron realized he was probably going to have to do some trading before the trials were over. He also had the Waypoint he wasn’t intending to use, and now this… Well, at least he could hang onto the obelisk and potentially use it in the future. Still, if he found himself in a situation to take over another settlement, he wasn’t sure this was how he would want to go about it.

He also wanted to figure out what his plan for the pot was. He could use a helmet. However, he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to eat while wearing it, and had made the decision that at least for now, eating mid-fight was more important than whatever buffs it might provide.

Looking around, he took note of the crowds. The hallway was as busy as ever. 

Time was running short, and whilst there were a few other things he wanted to get done before leaving, he turned straight back for the dial, but not before stuffing his face.

There were certain priorities he had in mind, and first came first. He needed to finish the Trial of Dominance as soon as possible. After all, his bare minimum desire for the trials was also completing the Trial of the Challenger, and he wanted to have as much time for that as possible, just in case Yendal made him really work for it.

Making his way to the dial, he slapped down on it and went to select Yendal for his godly companion. If dominance was anything like the Trial of Endurance, he thought it might be fun to see a scene from her ascension, like he had Oozagh’s.

But his brow crinkled as he looked at the display. There was no option to pick a shadow avatar.

“What?”

Curiously, he continued through the prompts and started the trial. In a flash, he was standing in an arena, but the shadowy figure standing before him was not what he had expected to see. The robed figure was sporting a fade that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a football field, and was standing before him wearing large, chunky, oversized, and very spiked gauntlets. It was also incredibly fat.  

“Wait, is that supposed to be me? I’m not that big, am I?”

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 56

Looking out across the land from his throne of skulls, Aaron mused that the gathering crowd of chain-bound slaves really did look angry. Hundreds of them were crowding up by the base of the hill, preparing to attack. 

It was quite impressive, actually. There appeared to be all kinds of enslaved on this world, including several races Aaron recognized, and many he didn’t.

I guess this is some kind of prison world.

He wondered what that meant long term, considering they all believed he was the reason for their misery. But it was a problem for another day. After all, his universe had a hundred full years before it was even fully integrated. It still kind of sucked that the trials were taking the liberty to create more enemies for him across the multiverse.

Oh well. It should be a good bit of training, at least.

He had eaten a serving of his new bison pie before entering, and couldn’t wait to see how it worked alongside all of his other gains. It had also tasted knee-shakingly good.

He sat and watched as the first enslaved stepped forward and started climbing up toward him. These prisoners were some of the biggest amongst the crowd and looked quite confident in their martial prowess. They were a combination of huge men with knotted and scarred faces marching beside insectoids with hard carapaces, and a few minotaurs.

“Well, at least there’s variety,” Aaron shrugged as he jumped to his feet and started his warm-up.

His warm-up wasn’t all about stretching or showing off, though. The calm before the storm gave him a perfect moment to read fate and consider his plan of attack.

It was a mighty good cheat, being able to see what your enemies were capable of before the fight actually started, even if it were only several seconds into the future.

Scanning the crowd, he didn’t spot any asuras amongst them, but there were a decent number of impressively big guys that were comparable in size to Mo’han. However, none were above level 80, which led him to believe the worst was still to come. It was a ninth-stage trial, after all.

Picking a thread of fate that suited him, Aaron finally shot forward and got to work.

There were a few things he intended to practice against this first wave of attackers before things got too hectic. Reaching them, he picked out the weakest in the group and peppered them with [ Spectral Fist ]. The ranged attacks weren’t the strongest, but they were a nice means of gauging his enemies before he reached them for the real melee.

However, to his surprise, the spectral attacks were doing real damage to the level 50s and level 60s members of the group.

Aaron was actually rather surprised at how strong he had gotten. He was at level 38 now, though, and with almost a hundred and fifty additional strength provided through Titles and other bonuses, it wasn’t that surprising that he could now easily hurt enemies, not to mention his ludicrous amounts of energy he could stuff into his attacks. And so, now he was doing real damage even with his weaker attacks.

Some of the lower-level enslaved were even dropping to zero and crashing to the ground after just a few precise hits of the spectral attack. He wasn’t even trying that hard.

And so, by the time he actually reached the enemy, the true devastating power of his attacks was unleashed with extreme prejudice.

Regular punches blasted through weak defenses and broke bones, sending enemies flying back. While stronger opponents were hit by haymakers, causing devastating damage that left wounds across their bodies.

Then, he singled out one guy who looked like a small giant. Lining the giant up, he hit him with [ Soul Shattering Strike ], combo chaining the strike with [ Overclocked Haymaker ], and the results were unreal.

The first strike blasted away the giant’s defenses, and the second sailed straight through, landing with all of its power and literally blowing the giant’s jaw away.

After that, dozens of the weaker ones fled, charging straight back through the portals they had come through.

However, the job was far from done, and new, bigger, and meaner-looking warriors were streaming out of the portals all around him to take the places of those who had fled.

He spotted a few level 90s throughout the surrounding horde, but he had fought stronger and was eager to test himself against more powerful enemies.

What followed was an absolutely chaotic battle that exploded across the cracked and dry landscape. Enslaved prisoners threw themselves at Aaron with a myriad of attacks. Powerful beams, wind blades, asteroids, and so much more cascaded across the landscape, exploding every which way, and causing mayhem in their path. But half of the attacks killed other enslaved as Aaron expertly evaded, always seeming to know exactly where he needed to be.

Not only that, but with every evasion, he was countering with his own devastating attacks, and those who survived his [ Soul Shattering Strike ] more often than not, lost all will to fight, and immediately turned to flee.

The gauntlets, too, showed their worth. Spikes stabbed straight through impossibly hard armor, carapaces, and hides, and when empowered by haymakers, the energy traveling down the tungsten spikes occasionally sent so much energy pouring into his enemy’s bodies that they literally exploded into ribbons of burnt flesh.

But the raw power of his attacks was only the beginning. Several minutes had already passed, and corpses were lining up all across the landscape. And yet, Aaron had barely shrunk in size.

The density of his energy absorption had increased radically thanks to the bison pie. But even though it had increased the density of his adipose storage, he had continued eating anyway, stuffing more and more food down his throat prior to the fight. Like the madman he was, he continued to enlarge himself beyond what was safe, pushing himself close to exploding, and when he had stepped into the trial, he was absolutely massive.

It almost seemed unfair. He was pouring such stupid amounts of energy into his attacks. Because the truth was, he simply had so much of it on hand that he could continue with such magnificent output for quite some time.

And he was going to need to, as more and more powerful warriors were pouring out of the portals with deranged expressions on their bent and scarred faces.

They wanted revenge for their torture, but if anybody could handle torture, it was the mad human before them.

Aaron wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. What more could he have asked for? The ninth stage was the perfect place to sharpen his blade before facing Yendal again, and the more warriors they sent at him, the better the opportunity was.

His gains were quite incredible already, though. He was already amazing at dodging and evasion. Already supremely accurate, capable of leveling incredible combinations that pushed his enemies to their limits. But raw power had been his bottleneck.

Sure, he had the means to do damage, but he had to plan everything out perfectly when up against much stronger opponents. This had been a prime reason he had struggled against stage eight of this same trial.

But that had all changed now. The difference was night and day, and he no longer struggled to land real damage against level 90 foes.

Even if the combination of his gauntlets and haymaker was not enough to cause serious damage alone, he could simply whack them with a [ Soul Shattering Strike], destroying energy reserves, defenses, and lowering morale, and thus, opening them up to further attacks. And as if this wasn’t already overpowered enough, the combo effect meant that hitting them with a haymaker immediately after empowered the attack to greater heights than it was already.

It truly was a devastating combination, and large, robust enemies well into their 90s were beaten down after only a few strikes.

But that was only the beginning of what made him powerful. When combined with his energy regeneration, food consumption, and quite frankly, absurd amounts of energy storage, he could continue this astronomical outpour of power for quite some time.

In fact, the cheat had been pushed even further thanks to his new gauntlets, as he was now actually leeching a little energy every time he struck an enemy.

He still wasn’t entirely sure whether or not all of this was enough to overcome the absolutely ridiculous amount of power that Mo’han possessed, but at least he knew that when pressed against superior numbers, he had the perfect build to outlast them.

Still, despite the seemingly one-sided slaughter that was taking place across the battlefield, he was learning a lot. He was getting better at chaining his combinations and learned the sweet spots for throwing them for maximum damage output.

And whilst Aaron was generally more concerned with his output, it was hardly the only aspect of his growth that had seen enormous amounts of improvement.

With the absolutely titanic amount of attacks flying his way, even near-perfect evasion wasn’t enough to avoid every attack, and sometimes he needed to simply tank an attack to gain a good opportunity to return with his own.

And this was how he realized just how far his defense had come. The combination of Fortitude and Vitality gains meant that not only was he taking significantly less damage when struck by an enemy, but he was able to both absorb and heal ridiculous amounts of damage mid-fight.

This durability was further magnified by his energy storage and regeneration. He had so much energy that he could easily spare enough for healing, and wounds were repairing and closing up across his hardy body within seconds of being caused, barely slowing down his relentless assault.

It was clear that he was now in a place where numbers simply weren’t enough to overcome his fighting style. His opponents were both less skilled than he was, and now no longer held an edge in power, and if trying to rely on endurance to win against Aaron, one might as well simply surrender.

It was an incredible feeling. He no longer had to land a hundred strikes for everyone he took. Every strike he landed counted, blasting serious damage into his enemies, and if that failed, he could simply sap away their energy until it worked.

“Is this all you got?” He taunted and jumped straight into a flurry of attacks that left several dead, including a level 90 and a couple of level 80s. “C’mon! Look at me? I’m weak! You can do better!”

“Foul creature!” A minotaur roared, but its head was beaten in the moment it stepped into range, and it collapsed.

“Seriously? I expected more!”

As if responding to his taunts, a pack of peak E-grade ettins was next to step through the portals. The two-headed giants were incredibly strong, and every strike of their massive clubs sent shockwaves blasting through the land that upended rocks and created deadly fields of destructive shrapnel.

But even they were a little against Aaron’s power and persistence. They did manage to kill him once, at least. A far cry better than their allies. But even that had been thanks to a dozen of them all attacking at once with a cascading series of massively powerful attacks that killed several hundred weaker enslaved prisoners in the process, and turned several acres of land into crumbled and jagged rock.

The battlefield was utterly destroyed time and time again as they continued to fight, and to their absolute shock and horror, Aaron flew straight out of a crater they had blasted him down into. His head was still dangling to the side as it healed, but he paid it no attention, flying through the air with [ Gust Step ].

He barely even needed the terror-inducing effects of [ Soul Shattering Strike ] when he reached the ettins, as they were already bent with fear at the sight of him somehow surviving their accumulated power.

The ettin skin was impossibly powerful and would put leather to shame; it was so thick and durable. But against the empowered, and now spiky fists of Aaron, that meant little. His punches slammed into them and pierced holes, blowing flesh into ribbons and filling the air with sanguine mist.

But more enemies were already pouring out to fill the ranks of the fallen. It was obvious that the trial was a supremely difficult challenge for any ordinary trial taker, and he doubted few could withstand such enormous numbers, even if they were considerably stronger than any individual enemy he faced.

But this was Aaron Dober, and more numbers simply meant more training practice.

Soon, rivers of blood flowed across the land as the slaughter continued. An hour later, a particularly strong series of attacks set up by several of the stronger opponents killed him again, but it wasn’t anything more than a delaying tactic, and he had already recovered the aether from his first death.

However, as the land itself cracked and cried beneath the massacre that took place across its hellish landscape, a true horror stepped through the portal.

As the monstrous creature stepped out, the remaining enslaved fighters looked back upon its fear-inducing gaze and fled back into the portals. None wanted to be near when these two monsters clashed; that much was obvious.

The enemy that had sent all the others fleeing looked like a giant beetle, antenna and all. The black beetle stood about ten feet tall, with four serrated arms that glimmered with an onyx sheen beneath the red sun.

Beaming red eyes glared out from its hardened carapace, and it floated in the air, wings buzzing at its back too fast for the eyes to capture.

Orrigomo the Death Bringer [ Level 101 ]

Titles: [ Enslaved ] [ Behemoth Slayer ]

“Oh, so I guess you’re the bo—”

It happened in a flash. A puff of black smoke, and Orrigomo was in front of Aaron, with two serrated arms stabbed straight through his chest. The insectoid’s face twitched, and it kicked him off its arms, sending him pummeling down to the ground.

A cloud of dust burst up into the air as Aaron landed hard.

“Ah, shit. Not bad, mate,” Aaron rubbed his head as he climbed out of the crater he had just been kicked into. “You’re gonna be a tough bastard, aren’t ya?”

The beetle’s antenna twitched angrily. It wasn’t impressed.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 55

Grill Master [ Elite ] Who likes Indoor kitchens anyway? They are such a bore. Go outside, grab a beer, and work the grill! Passively improves the quality of dishes cooked by the user outdoors. Note: any form of roof will render this Skill useless.

Spirit Meat Handler [ Elite ] Wrangling fresh meat can be a dangerous job, even more so when you’re dealing with ghost meat. Passively provides minor increases in aether absorption when cooking with meat and aether.

Skill Upgrade [ Questionable Recipes ] = Spirit Recipes [ Epic ] Your cooking goes a step beyond questionable, and dips into the realm of spirits. Passively expands the concept of questionable recipes to include spirit-touched food, making it easier to create new recipes.

Mass Produced Cooking! [ Epic ] Cooking for friends and family is so yesterday. The glimmer of coin reflects in your glassy eyes, and the promise of wealth lies beyond. Passively, this Skill ensures perfect reproduction of food goods, reducing waste and increasing serving output relative to ingredient use.

Delicate Touch [  Epic ] It isn’t just cooking for you. It’s expression, it’s art, it’s a way of life. When activated, this Skill allows the user a finer touch when cooking, resulting in not just more precise outcomes for their dishes they cook, but creating stunningly beautiful meals that can impress even kings.

Sooty was already nodding over the options. “Aye, bossman, Skills are Skills, but these? Hmm, it’s kind of a mid selection, to be honest. Nothing really stands out, but nothing is particularly bad either.”

Aaron nodded. He wasn’t quite disappointed, but didn’t entirely disagree either. He probably could have been a little more purposeful as he ground out his levels. But it was what it was, and he didn’t hate the options available to him; they were just a little underwhelming.

Then again, I probably have to get used to not unlocking Legendary Skills every time.

“Maybe just go with Mass Produced Cooking,” Sooty said. “The others aren’t bad, but it’s probably the best option you have.”

“Yeah. To be honest, I was thinking the same,” Aaron replied.

There were multiple Skills that were half decent, but just didn’t quite cut it. For example, the Skill Upgrade for Questionable Recipes wasn’t half bad and was clearly an improvement on what he had. But Aaron didn’t really need a lot of help discovering recipes anyway. And the first two Skills were decent again, but also conditional. Skills with conditions were fine, but he was going to be limited in how he used a Skill; he wanted the payoff to be worthwhile, and both skills just sounded kind of average.

On the other hand, Yendal would have no doubt liked him to pick Delicate Touch, but at the end of the day, he was still an ogre cook first and foremost. He wasn’t against picking up tips from Yendal and using them to balance his Profession. But he wasn’t going to steer too far in that direction unless it made sense. And Delicate Touch wasn’t quite there.

“Alright, Mass Produced Cooking it is.”

No additional Profession [ Passive ] Skill slots available.

Discard [ Passive ] Profession Skill: Y/N?

Aaron accepted the prompt and discarded [ Questionable Recipes ]. It was a Uncommon Skill gained a long time ago, and had used almost since taking the Profession, and as such, was happy to see it go.

The moment he was done with his Skill selection, he went and placed all 32 free points into Fortitude. With any luck, he might be able to survive some of Mo’han’s attacks by the time they finally fought.

“Ye getting strong, bossman.”

“I’m not half bad, I suppose,” he shrugged and opened his status page.

[ Name: Aaron Dober ]

[ Age: 23 ]

[ Race: Human [ Awoken ]  ]

[ Grade: E ]

[ HP: 54700 ]

[ MP: 23300 ]

[ SP: 66700 ]

[ AP: 3000 ]

[ Class: Empty-Handed Energy Monk, lvl 38 ]

[ Profession: Ogre Gastronomist, lvl 46 ]

[ Stats ]

[ Strength: 350 (+147) ]

[ Vitality: 547 (+276) ]

[ Fortitude: 667 (+336) ]

[ Dexterity: 254 (+119) ]

[ Agility: 409 (+183) ]

[ Intelligence: 295 (+124) ]

[ Willpower: 233 (+119) ]

[ Charisma: 192 (+117) ]

[ Perception: 377 (+162) ]

[ Titles: Shadow Trials Trailblazer, Stamina Control Prodigy, Mana Control Prodigy,  Vitality Control Prodigy, Holder of a True Blessing, In the Eyes of the Gods, Aether Wielder, World Overlord, Endurer ]

[ Traits: Fate Weaver (Alpha), Major Blessing of Oozagh the Rotund, True Blessing of Yendal the Empty-Handed, Herald of a God, Death Cheat ]

[ Racial Skills: Inspect, Lingua Multiversa ]

[ Profession Passive Skills (3/3): Mass Produced Cooking!, Conductive Gut, Adipose Fusion ]

[ Profession Active Skills (6/6): Spirit Toes, Oozagh’s Breath, Foul Ichor, Unsightly Degustation, Perfect Measurements, Spirit Hands  ]

[ Class Passive Skills (2/3): Reverse Cycle Faux Core, Equal and Opposite ]

[ Class Active Skills (6/6): Soul Shattering Strike, Relentless Scourge, Gorgon’s Time Dilation, Turbocharged Haymaker, Gust Step, Spectral Fist ]

He still felt like he had a lot of work to do, but he was getting pretty tanky, he had to admit, even before accounting for his ability to resurrect.

I have a feeling people are going to have a hard time killing me.

With that thought, Aaron grinned and turned to leave. It was time to jump into a trial.

But before he left, he waved goodbye to Clem and thanked her again. Not that it was necessary. She was clearly getting enough out of their relationship for it to be well and truly worth her while. 

Entering the hallway, the crowds were bigger than ever. But it wasn’t just crowds. Stalls had begun to line the hallway, with people trying to sell all manner of goods to people as they shuffled forward into the trials.

There was a surprising number of Profession-focused people in the trials, and it seemed to be worse now than ever. Probably due to the additional challenges provided by the Tutorials, allowing Profession-heavy builds to enter the trials without beating their Tutorial bosses.

Not only that, but he noticed that many stood around in groups, like they were organizing amongst themselves. There was talking and trading, but Aaron was fairly certain it went beyond that. 

Pentival’s people even had somewhat of a section of the hallway carved out for themselves, and received regular guests. 

Aaron could only imagine what kinds of agreements and alliances were being drafted throughout the hallway. These were the most powerful people of the sector, and what he saw now was no doubt the foundations of what alliances might rule the sector in the future, or fight for their right to. 

But in truth, it all seemed so tiresome to him. But he wasn’t the only one who wanted to avoid politics. There were a good number of trial takers who were focused almost entirely on beating trials, ignoring what was going on around them.

For example, he barely ever saw Darius. And when he did, it was almost exclusively near the dial. And coincidentally, he spotted him just as he lined up. Just in time to see him jumping back into another trial.

Somewhat troublesomely, he had also noticed that the thal’kesh were similarly minded. They barely spent any time in the hallway or rooms, jumping in and out of trials.

At least neither Darius nor the thal’kesh seemed likely to have grand alliances, but they were unlikely to be weak pushovers either, if they were grinding trials as much as they were.

However, the weaker thal’kesh had dropped off, and he had spotted them taking to grinding their Professions. No amount of drive and persistence could overcome the difficulty of dying for most. Even with soul recovery items, there was only one person who seemed entirely unbothered by dying.

Returning from his wandering thoughts, he realized the person standing before him was quite small and oddly familiar. They wore a pointy wizard’s hat that rose about six feet. However, the person beneath the hat probably wasn’t even five feet tall.

“Hey, do I know you?” Aaron said, tapping the small figure on the shoulder.

“Oh, it’s you,” she said, turning to frown at Aaron. “What do you want?”

“You’re from Earth, aren’t you?” he pointed at her as he traced back through his thoughts.

“Yes. How astute of you. It’s Emmy Sharp,” she sighed. “How can I help?”

“Help? I was just saying hi…”

“Oh, I see. Well, hi,” she said, and turned back around.

I guess she doesn’t want to be friends. Oh well.

Aaron wasn’t too bothered either way. He just felt weird ignoring others from Earth. The sensible part of him, even though he often ignored it, told him to spread his wings and at least try to be social.

But it seemed silence was in order, and a long, kind of awkward moment went by as they shuffled toward the dial. 

The line was actually very fast, but there were just so many people now that it still took a few minutes to reach the dial.

“Umm,” Emmy murmured, breaking the silence. It sounded kind of forced, as if she didn’t want to talk, but felt it necessary.

“Yes?” Aaron raised a brow.

So, she wants to talk now?

“I have just one question.”

“Shoot. Whatever you want.”

“The Trial of the Challenger. You’ve completed them, haven’t you?”

“All of them? No way. I’m hoping to, though. We’ll see, though.”

“You have a blessing, though, don’t you?”

Aaron inched closer and whispered. “Yeah, why?”

“Look, don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t need help,” she huffed and crossed her arms. “I just want to know how many attempts it took you to get a blessing. That’s it. I’ve been trying to get this genie to notice me, but he's one stubborn bastard, and it's starting to get on my nerves.”

“Oh… well, have you tried beating him?”

“What do you think? Of course I have. A couple of times. That’s what’s so infuriating about it. I beat him, and he still won’t bless me. Not only that, but it's actually starting to get kind of hard.”

“I mean, why would he bless you if he hasn’t challenged you yet?” Aaron hummed. “Makes sense to me. Probably just wants to see how far you can push yourself. If you can beat the low levels easily, he probably wants to see you at a higher level, one where he can really push you. Hell, I can’t even beat my patron goddess. She let me have a blessing just because I managed to hit her.”

“Really?” Emmy’s eyes lit up knowingly. “I see.”

“Oh, look, we’re at the front of the line,” Aaron pointed ahead.

“Thanks a lot, Aaron,” she smiled and ran up and slapped the dial. “See ya around!”

She seems nice.

Following Emmy's steps, Aaron started his own trial, and of course, he picked Trial of Dominance alongside Oozagh.

In less than a second, he found himself standing atop a throne of skulls atop a huge mountain in a hellish landscape.

“Oookay. This is something.”

Oozagh looked across at him and nodded. “Nice gauntlets you have, little man. I see you’ve taken my words to heart. I’m sure you’ll impress many ogre ladies with such fine accessories like those.”

“Wait, that’s not–”

“Focus on the trial! We talk after, little man! Bahaha!”

Aaron’s brow twitched. He wanted to set the record straight, but Oozagh wasn’t wrong. Little red eyeballs had lit up across the landscape, and he had a feeling they were looking at him.

As they stepped forward, he spotted hundreds, maybe even thousands of mutated humanoids bound by chains. They snarled and huffed as they looked up at him, clearly more than a little agitated.

“I have a feeling they don’t like me.”

“Thaaat’s right! You’ve found him, enslaved mutants! The seemingly nonchalant man at the top of the mountain is your enslaver and torturer! The destroyer of your worlds! The man who stole your mommy and made her his own! And maybe your daddy, too. But don’t quote me on that!” Blasted a voice that sounded like it was coming from a megaphone across the land.

“HEY! What the hell? Are you talking about me? None of that is true!” Aaron insisted as all the red eyes glared at him.

“Are you going to let him get away with it? Or are you going to make him suffer? The portals of hell where the tortured lay have been opened, and you have but one target to claim your vengeance against!”

As the voice spoke, red flaming portals opened up across the land below, and hundreds more of the disfigured and disgruntled mutants walked out.

“As for you, little man. All you have to do is hold this hill against the waves of hell tortured until the bell sounds! Be careful, though! They really, really hate you! Oh, and for the record, your face has been imprinted in the minds of all who are enslaved on Hellfire world #330037. Like for real. Not just in the trial. These guys are not going to be forgetting about you anytime soon. Good luck, trial taker!”

“Wait, like forever?”

Great, more enemies throughout the multiverse!

NEXT CHAPTER

Going to be another late chapter. Probably about an hour away

Chapter 54

Host-Bound Spiked Gauntlets of the Spectral Horror [ Legendary - E-grade [ Adaptive ] ]

These magnificent gauntlets have been crafted of vampire iron and are at one with the person who provided their blood for their creation. At the heart of each gauntlet is a shining and shimmering white gem, known as a shimmer stone, that works as a conduit for spiritual energy, or aether, allowing these gauntlets to channel the spectral energy as well as traditional energy types. The gauntlets are also lined with tungsten spikes capable of penetrating the hardest armors and hides.

[ Adaptive ] This Trait, when applied to an item, indicates that with proper care, attention, and resources, the item can continue to grow alongside its user.

Provides: +1000 AP, +30% Armor Piercing, chance to induce fear on hit, 2% Energy Leech on hit, and +100 attraction to ogres

Aaron’s eyes glimmered as he read over the impressive gauntlets, until he got to the end, that was.

“Wait a fucking minute. Attraction to ogres? Why? Why was that necessary?”

Sooty had come by and was cackling at his side. “Aye, bossman! Ogres are gonna think ye a fine rump steak with those on. Ye gonna be swatting them away!”

“Not helping,” Aaron growled. It wasn’t the worst thing he could think of, but he really didn’t want ogres finding him attractive… not any more than they might naturally be when he was at his plumpest.

Shaking his head, a bad feeling swelled up in his gut. Vampire iron took traits from whoever provided it with their blood, didn’t it? He wondered if this was Oozagh's blessing? Or maybe the work of his [ Foul Ichor ]? Either way, it was undoubtedly linked to his relationship with Oozagh in one way or another.

“Fuck me. I really, really hope this doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass.”

“Something wrong?” Tog said, worry in his words. “Does my work not impress you? I’m terribly sorry if I have failed in this regard.”

Tog’s reaction was a far cry from what it had been when they first met, and Aaron briefly wondered if it had something to do with what he did, but dismissed the thought. There were more pressing matters to concern himself with.

“No. They’re great. In fact, they’re better than great. These gauntlets are nothing short of amazing. It’s just… no, never mind. You do an amazing job. Worth every credit.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you like them. You can find me here most of the time, if you require any more jobs completed before the trials end,” Tog beamed.

“Cheers, mate. But I doubt it. I’m all work from here on out,” Aaron said, waving and turning. “You might not even see me again.”

“If we don’t, good luck in the multiverse!”

“You too, mate!”

“Happy?” Clem smiled, bobbing alongside Aaron as he walked. “I told you I have all the best contacts. Tog is easily the best blacksmith in here.”

“Yeah, they’re great.”

“Sooo….”

“You want more soul-strengthening food, right?”

Clem nodded, and her bunny ears twitched.

“I really should have been more careful when I got to know you,” Aaron sighed.

“Whaaaat?”

She liked to play cute and innocent, but he had seen her true colors. Clementine was nothing short of a shrewd business mogul, and he had a feeling she was going to earn herself quite the reputation.

“Kidding. I’ll cook you up something.”

“Well, you’re probably right,” she grinned. “I have a habit of getting good deals.”

“Tell me about it,” he muttered to himself, and they exchanged a few more words as they made their way back to their respective workstations.

In truth, Aaron really wasn’t bothered. He was thankful for everything, but he didn’t want to get stuck in the kitchen for too long. It was hard to focus with how itchy he was to get back into a trial. 

He really wanted to test his new gauntlets out. Hell, he had barely had a chance to test out [ Soul Shattering Strike ], or use it as a combo properly, and was dying to do so. Not only that, but between the Skill and the new pair of gauntlets, he had a feeling he was going to be causing some trial mobs a lot of pain.

Oh man, I need to knock out a Trial of Dominance. Also, I wonder what Yendal is gonna think about all of this?

But he had to stop himself short of running off. He still had the last of his ingredients to cook out, and they were his best ingredients. And whilst he was in a hurry, he figured he might as well get his cooking done first. After all, if he applied himself, it should provide him with some nice advantages and buffs. Once that was done, then he could focus all of his attention and remaining trial time and clear as many trials as possible.

Stepping into his kitchen, Aaron got to work with a devilish grin. There had been a specific dish he had wanted to make for some time now, and he had just the ingredients to do it justice.

Of course, he was still terrified that the ogre side of his cooking would come out in it. It wasn’t the end of the world, but he did like the idea of others being able to eat his food, even if he was cooking for himself. But he could hide behind his fear of cooking grotesque dishes forever.

Like a madman, he got to work throwing together all kinds of incredible ingredients. He used more care than he had previously, but it wasn’t as if he ever intended to just disregard what he had learned from Oozagh.

Throwing stupidly powerful ingredients together for the best buffs possible was a cornerstone of Oozagh’s style, and he included it in his own as he got to work, using the best of everything he had, including his Legendary Astral Bison Chuck Steak.

As he weaved all these ingredients together, he used both his spirit touch and regular cooking methods. He even measured some ingredients and took care when adding them.

With the bison, he slow-cooked the Legendary meat in his new Mythical pot, which he filled with his energy-rich [ Foul Ichor ], and threw a literal treasure trove of rare herbs and spices into it.

The fumes were incredibly powerful, even forcing Aaron to shy away from the boiling pot at times. 

He stoked the flames with [ Oozagh’s Breath ], infusing mana and aether into the Skill. The flames grew brighter, sparkling even, and he could sense that some of the energy from his breath had seeped into the food itself.

His goal was to create the perfect dish that would help push him over the line, and hopefully beat several trials in a row. And as such, he used everything within his disposal, pouring it all into one mindblowing meal.

He had to think this through, as the Legendary meat wasn’t respawning anytime soon, and the rarer ingredients always took longer. But it was big enough that he could comfortably cook several serves with it. He just wanted to make sure they were the best serves he had ever cooked.

Continuing to cook, his eyes turned white, and he poured more and more of his energy into the food as he did. He had actually had a small insight as he helped Tog craft the gauntlets with his aether. The golem was constantly pouring energy into his work as he crafted, and Aaron realized just by watching him how much it improved the quality of his work.

But unlike the golem, Aaron wasn’t just pouring mana into his cooking. He was pouring aether in as well, and thanks to the gauntlets, he had even more aether to use in his cooking. Although, the metal gloves that extended down over his forearms were a little chunky to use in the kitchen.

Oh well, probably best I get used to wearing them.

Luckily, his Perception and Dexterity were inhuman, so he could avoid knocking things over with the tungsten spikes protruding from his fists as he cooked.

And gradually, his meal was coming together. The meat was so very soft and tender, falling apart as he jabbed it with a spoon. 

He even used the skills he learned from Yendal, as he measured with the help of [ Perfect Measurements ], getting not just the absolutely perfect volume, but also weight. This Skill was used to delicately craft the perfect shortcrust, and he folded Epic rarity butter into the deliciously smooth pastry. It was a masterpiece. Everything was coming together so perfectly, and he grinned like a madman as he put the final delicate touches on his pièce de ré·sis·tance.

“A-a-amazing. So beautiful…”

He stared in awe and, with feverish hands, picked up the baking tray and inserted it into the oven.

He watched over it like a concerned parent as it baked. Soon his mouth was watering like Niagara at the sight of the pastry puffing up and turning golden.

It was as if he had seen a vision, and now the pieces were falling into place, and he couldn’t be happier with the result.

This was something else. Something incredible. Something beyond normal human comprehension. 

A pie worthy of divinity.

“Now that’s a fucking pie, mate.”

Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

Ichor Braised Bison Meat Pie [ Legendary — E-grade ]

So deliciously soft and tender, this is a pie of the ages. When you bite into the flaky, buttery crust, you are met with a rich, herb-infused gravy that works as the perfect vessel for the hearty, yet moist and umami-rich bison meat. For a moment, the world stands still for anyone who tastes this perfect dish, for it is a masterpiece that is truly mindblowing, and few can even comprehend it. Buffs and bonuses? Heh, they mean little in the face of such culinary art as this. This is a dish cooked by and for ogres who have transcended their tribal roots and taken on something far more delicate. However, caution is advised, as the sheer richness of precious herbs and spices still makes it dangerous for most species to consume.

Provides: Special Effect—True Girth.

Aftereffects: Death.

Conditional: Requires all active energy organs.

Ding!

[ Ogre Gastronomist ] has LEVELED UP!

44 → 46

Purchasable Skill Available!

“True Girth?” Aaron muttered, a slight wavering concern in his words. “What’s that…”

True Girth.

A special condition devised by rebellious ogres who wanted to store additional energy within their bodies without growing too much larger. When perfected, True Girth can allow the user to store energy in adipose tissue without growing as large as ogres normally do. This condition also increases the density of energy stored significantly, but some ogres see it as sacrilege.

“I have a feeling Oozagh isn’t going to like this…”

However, despite the fact that his patron god was likely to be unimpressed, Aaron saw the dish for what it was. A significant improvement in his energy storage.

He had made five servings, and at least one had to be saved for Mo’han. Sure, he had considered a dish that would buff up his Stats against the asura, but he dismissed that thought.

Ultimately, Mo’han was always going to be stronger based on pure Stat power. If he wanted to beat him, he had to do it his own way. And having a shit ton of extra energy sounded just right.

Of course, Mo’han also had a lot of energy, but his build was quickly coming together, and he had a feeling that if he played his cards right, he could drag the fight out and turn it into his own.

“This is going to be fun,” he grinned and turned toward the trial dial.

It was time for some proper training, but first things first—a new Profession Skill, and time to spend his free points.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 53

“Hold on. Hold your horses,” Aaron raised his hands and attempted to calm the crowd. It had gotten a little large and rowdy. “You’ll all get your turn.”

Well, maybe… hopefully…

He was already running low on soul-repairing food, but they didn’t need to know that. Not yet, at least.

“How much for the Rejuvenating Spirit Touched Slug Sashimi?” A man said, waving his arms.

“That one? Ahh… I… umm…”

“One hundred thousand SC!” Clem interjected.

“A bit steep, isn’t it? It’s just one meal! How do you expect me to pay a price like that?”

“Do you want your soul to recover or not? We’re running a business here! Besides, the trials aren’t going to last forever. It’s up to you, though. But this could be the difference between completing more trials and not. I’m sure missing out on a Title isn’t that big of a deal, right, Aaron?”

“Ahh, well, I’m–”

Clem elbowed Aaron’s side.

“Right, Aaron?”

“Yeah, right,” he nodded.

“Fine. You’re a bunch of thieves,” the man growled, but transferred the SC nonetheless.

“Pleasure doing business with you, too,” Clem smiled.

“Is that wise?”

“Meh,” Clem shrugged. “Probably never see them again anyway.”

Aaron wasn’t sure if that was true, but he couldn’t really argue with the results. He was earning significantly more than he had expected to.

“You know, I never expected my cooking to be in such demand. I figured only ogres would be game enough to eat this stuff.”

“Well, not everyone can do what you can. But you should probably keep the feet stuff to yourself. If people knew you stirred the broth with your toes, then maybe they’d be less likely to buy.”

“You do what?” Someone in the crowd said.

“I said, if only people knew you purred the cloth with your nodes!” Clem smiled. 

“What does that even mean?” The person said, looking confused.

“Next!” Clem called, ignoring their utter bewilderment.

“You have quite the way with people, don’t you?”

“I’ve been doing this for a while. How can I help you?” She continued as a lizard person stepped up.

“Soul recovery. Preferably something for dizziness, if you have it.”

Clem handed over another dish and charged accordingly.

They continued serving the remaining customers until Aaron was out of spirit-touched food to sell, and were forced to wave away the remainders.

“Thanks for your help, Clem. I really owe you. I’m new to selling things, as you can probably tell. Having your expert help really made things a lot easier.”

“Well, my door is always open for soul-strengthening dishes,” she whistled.

“I should’ve seen that coming. But sure, I’ll cook you up something when I can.”

He knew he had to be a little careful when it came to making such promises. Soul-strengthening food was rare, and he wasn’t entirely sure how easy it would be to get on the outside. After all, he still needed to push toward his D grade racial evolution himself. But he had some time to worry about that. It would make him somewhat stronger, but as long as he reached it before the Class and Profession bottlenecks, he wasn’t overly concerned.

Either way, thanks to Clem’s help, he was sitting pretty with a little over two and a half million SC after selling through all of his stock. And he still had the best ingredients saved for himself.

However, he was planning on using said ingredients to make new and powerful dishes that could help him grind out the remaining trials, and as such, he probably wasn’t making any more credits anytime soon.

Still, he had plenty to work with, and his System store was already at level 8. Since it was upgraded with the Trial of Dominance, he wanted to fully upgrade it anyway, but since he hadn’t visited it since first unlocking it, he was desperate to check it out.

Stepping into the System store, the purple elephant behind the counter waved.

“Hey, umm.”

“It’s Nigel,” the assistant smiled.

“Oh, right. Sorry, it’s been a while.”

“No worries. How may I assist you?”

“I got some credits to spend. I was wondering if I could take a look around.”

“Of course. I will warn you, though. The catalogue is quite extensive. It’ll be a lot easier for you if you tell me your price range and what you’re looking for.”

“Umm, okay. I guess my price range is around 2.5 million SC, and… actually, well, I’m not entirely sure what I want.”

“I see. Well, we have the usual. Weapons, armor, recipes, blueprints. Domination items, even spaceships, if you want to go sightseeing in the stars. Anything take your fancy?”

“Um, all of it, to be honest.”

“Well, how about just telling me where you’d like to start?”

“Weapons, I suppose,” Aaron shrugged. He hadn’t come planning to get a weapon, but it seemed like the most obvious answer.

Nigel glanced at the plated gloves on Aaron’s hands. “Fist weapons, huh? I’ve got a few pairs that are better than what you have. Unfortunately, they’re nothing particularly special. There is one exceptional pair, but they’re not available to you yet, and are very expensive. However, I do have some nice materials. Maybe you could make your own pair? Say, do you have an affinity? I’ve got a lot of materials. I can find something perfect for you.”

He didn’t have an affinity, but Aaron had thought about them recently. He knew he wasn’t ready for one just yet, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t pick materials that might help his specific style of fighting.

Leaning over the counter, he whispered. “Spirits are kind of my thing. Got anything like that?”

Nigel’s brows perked. “Oh, spirits, huh? Don’t get many of your kind in here. But actually, I do. I got this healthy chunk of shimmer stone. It’ll set you back two million, but it's the good stuff and should make you at least one item. Good for armor or weapons, and perfect for anybody who uses spirits and their power.”

Aaron hummed over it. If he could make weapons or armor with something spirit-related, that was certainly something he wanted. But he would still need it crafted for him, and he wasn’t sure how much that would cost. Besides, he didn’t want to just pick the first thing he was offered. That felt a little too impulsive.

“Let me think about it. What else do you have?”

There were many, many items for sale. Including some very interesting ones, but many of them fell into the realm of not knowing when exactly they would become useful.

For example, he didn’t even have a settlement yet, and didn’t know if he would even go that route, so buying stuff for one seemed kind of silly. He felt similarly about space-related stuff. It was cool, but not immediately useful.

In fact, he quickly found himself dismissing anything that wasn’t immediately useful within the trials. Sure, he wouldn’t be here much longer, but buying things for after the trials felt a little like he was skipping a step. After all, right now, he was focused on beating Mo’han. And anything else was a distraction from that.

“Just give me the shimmer stone,” Aaron finally said.

“Here you go, valued customer.”

Smiling, he took the stone. It had punched a serious hole in his savings, but hopefully it would prove its worth.

The shimmer stone looked as one might imagine it to. It was basically a big rock that shimmered and was partially transparent.

“One moment,” Nigel said as Aaron turned to leave.

“You’ll need a metal to bind that to.”

“Wait, seriously? Couldn’t you have said that before I bought this?”

He was a little annoyed that he had spent so much on something that was useless without more materials, but quickly calmed down. 

It turned out metal wasn’t as expensive, and whilst he couldn’t afford the absolutely best metals in the multiverse, he could afford a particularly useful one. For 300k, he purchased a few ingots of vampire iron.

Even though vampire iron wasn’t the strongest metal around, it was famous for giving items crafted with it a unique link to the person whose blood they consumed.

All Aaron had to do was cut his hand open and pour blood onto the metal. When he did, ichor poured out, making the bonding even more unique, and it bubbled for several seconds before being absorbed by the metal.

“That’s something,” he murmured, eyeing the strange metal.

It seemed to call to him now, like he had marked it as his own, and he felt strangely connected to the metal.

Alright, let’s go see if I can’t find a blacksmith.

There were undoubtedly enough blacksmiths in the trials that he was confident about finding one. But there was no need to go asking around when he had someone who likely knew exactly who to go to.

Making friends with Clem proved more and more useful, as she was permanently in the crafting station, and the moment he asked her, she led him straight to a smith she was friendly with.

Tog was a golem with a flat face and thick, stony chin. He wielded a hammer like none other, and seemed entirely unbothered by the radiating heat coming from his forge..

“This is my friend. He’s looking for a smith. Reckon you could give him a hand?” Clem asked with Aaron in tow.

Tog looked up at Clem as he hammered a red-hot stick of steel. “Hey, don’t I know you? Yeah! You’re that guy who dies all the time, aren’t you?”

Wait, that’s the reputation I have around here?

“Yeah,” Aaron groaned. “That’s me.”

“Pleasure to meet you. How can I help?”

“I got some materials. I was kind of hoping to get a new pair of fist weapons.”

The golem looked at Aaron’s fists. “Yeah, those gloves are pretty weak-looking. I could make you something that will last a little longer. It’ll cost you a fair bit. Unless you bring your own materials, then I can work something out with you.”

“Lucky me, then,” Aaron said, and pulled the materials out of his scabbard. “I got a shimmer stone and some vampire iron.”

“Oh? Good stuff. There’s a problem, though,” Tog said.

“And that is?”

“Shimmer stone is odd… It seems to require absurd amounts of energy to properly bind with other materials. I can’t just hammer them together. If I try to use it, the recipe would almost certainly fail and waste the materials.”

Aaron tilted his head. If energy was needed, he was fairly certain he could handle that aspect of the job. Besides, he had bought this to help him complete the trials and beat Mo’han.

If it failed, and he wasted the materials, that would suck. But what if it didn’t? What was the risk he was taking? If he got some powerful weapon, maybe it would help him knock out another trial or two?

It’s a risk worth taking.

He wasn’t the richest, but playing it safe was dumb, especially with Titles on the line.

***

Tog had tried repeatedly to talk the stubborn human out of it, but he simply wouldn’t take no for an answer. The risk seemed stupid to him. Shimmer stone was quite valuable. Sure, he didn’t know how to work with it, but he was still E grade, and barely knew how the multiverse worked.

In Tog’s mind, it made sense to hang onto it. Surely once everyone returned to their worlds, plenty of smiths would figure out how to use materials like shimmer stone, and such valuables wouldn’t go to waste.

It wasn’t just a theory, either. Tog knew it was almost certainly going to ruin good materials. But the human was insistent and had offered to pay 200k SC, not a figure he could just turn down so easily.

He looked up at the human again, who blasted back with two thumbs up, and reluctantly got to work.

First, he heated up the vampire iron and began to hammer it into position, ready for the shimmer stones. 

The human had also provided a recipe, Majestic Gauntlets of the Cosmic Horror, which was Legendary rarity, and Mana Sensitive Tungsten Spikes, of Epic rarity, further increasing the risk of failure.

The problem was that all these things weren’t meant to go together. It was a big risk, but with any luck, combining them wouldn’t ruin the original recipe. 

Still, Tog was the big winner. He had to consume the recipe to use it, and having a Legendary recipe was worth a huge amount in and of itself. But still, he didn’t want to create bad work.

As he hammered the vampire iron, he folded it into place, prepared it for the shimmer stone, and placed the tungsten spikes nearby. 

Tog really didn’t understand how the shimmer stone worked. He had worked with a much smaller shard of it previously. Someone in his Tutorial had gotten their hands on it, and he had attempted to craft it into something.

But nothing took. He could feel the shard’s demand for energy, as was common when crafting with rare materials. But no matter how much mana he poured into it, nothing happened.

In the end, it shattered and was a complete waste of materials. It was frustrating, and the arrogant human thinking that somehow he could change the outcome irritated him further.

The human watched over his work and seemed to believe he could somehow provide help, despite not knowing the first thing about smithing. But it was his materials, and his credits, so Tog went along with it. Reminding himself that it was just business.

If it had only been 200k, he might have refused for the sake of his reputation, but the recipe was simply too great to refuse.

“We doing it now?” The human asked, and Tog sourly nodded.

“Yep. Get ready.”

It was a formality. He knew this wasn’t going to work. But if the human wanted to try, then so be it.

Taking the shimmer stone, he placed it into the heart of the metal he was molding into the gauntlets, and began to hammer it into it, all the while pouring his mana into the item.

But as he worked, something strange happened. The air around him began to shimmer, and not because of the stone.

He glanced over, and the human’s eyes had gone completely white. He could feel something in the air as well, though he wasn’t certain what it was exactly.

But then suddenly, to his utter surprise, the shimmer stone thudded with energy as if activated, and his eyes widened.

He had no idea how it was possible, but it was humming with weird energy he could not comprehend. But if Tog knew one thing, it was smithing, and he knew he had to take advantage of the rich energy rippling through the stone and the metal, and he began furiously hammering.

And bit by bit, to his absolutely bewildered amazement, the shimmer stone was binding to the vampire iron of the metal gauntlets. Then, when he hit it again, a flash of blinding light shot out, almost sending him toppling backward.

The stone had actually split, but it hadn’t lost an ounce of power. No, it was even stronger than before. But now there were two perfect white, shimmering oval stones cast into the center of the metal.

“How… incredible…”

He had to shake the amazement away. The metal and the stones were overflowing with energy, and he had to work fast to make the most of it.

Nodding to himself, Tog got to work, bending and forming the metal. He hammered, heated, and cooled. The forge roared hotter and hotter as he pumped the bellows. The metal was split in two and shaped into form.

When it was starting to resemble iron gauntlets, he cast the tungsten spikes into it and folded the metal around them.

Hours passed as he continued to shape it to perfection, and throughout the entire process, the human never left his side, and pupils never returned to his eyes. It was a little creepy, but somehow Tog knew that the human was helping him.

He had no idea what the human truly was, but he couldn’t deny that he was impressed.

And finally, the finishing touches were complete, and Tog lifted the gauntlets up above his head. The results were better than expected.

“This… these are amazing. Human, what in the mountain’s pits did you do?”

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 52

“Enjoy the rewards, bahaha!” Oozagh rocked back and forth. “Especially that one. That issue there is my favorite. I’m sure you’ll find it particularly good. You should see the fold-out, it is something else. Anyway,” Oozagh said, attempting to calm his quickened voice. “It’ll help you understand what you’re missing out on by not having a good ogre wife!”

“I’m… I think I’m good,” Aaron said, grimacing as he picked the magazine up between his index and thumb, and dropped it in his scabbard.

I’m scared to even know what’s in this thing! He’d have discarded it, but Oozagh looked so giddy, and he didn’t want to insult his divine patron.

“The pot isn’t bad either. I had one just like it when I was younger. It should serve you well. Take care now. You’re getting close to the finish. Don’t waste a minute. Not unless you’re eating. Those bones of yours are still so skinny.”

And with that, Oozagh’s avatar dissipated, and only a second later, Aaron was returned to the hallway.

“This thing is kinda heavy,” Aaron said, swaying the pot in his hands. He had gotten so incredibly stronger since arriving in the trials, and feeling such weight in the pot was unusual.

Supreme Ogre Pot [ Mythical]

This supreme ogre pot is a true ogre treasure. Such items are often crafted for tribal leaders by the greatest crafters using the most valuable materials they can procure. Ogres are known for light armor, usually using nothing more than thick furs, and as such, they sometimes also use the heavy metal of their pots as helmets, and enchant them with powers accordingly.

Provides: Made of near-unbreakable steel, this pot can not only withstand being used to cook almost any ingredients, but can also withstand almost any attack. Enchantments also allow those following the ogre way to perfectly see through the pot when used as a helmet. Not only that, but the pot absorbs buffs from the ingredients cooked within it, further amplifying their effects on the user when worn.

“Wow, bloody hell,” he nodded appreciatively. “Not exactly the kind of helmet I was after, but… well, it’s not like I’m a fashionista.”

Besides, at least it’ll hide my hair…

“New pot? Elmira said, waded through the crowd as she spotted him in the hallway.

“Oh, yeah. Like it?”

“Looks like a normal cast-iron pot. But sure, it’s nice, I suppose.”

“That sounded forced. But I’ll take it. So, what are you doing here?”

“Just came to see the gates close,” she said.

Aaron glanced around. She wasn’t the only one crowding into the hallway. There were many, in fact, it was the most crowded he had ever seen it.

“I heard your trial with Pentival went well.”

“He said that? I suppose it wasn’t bad. Did you know about Lenriel?”

“Not much. But I trust Pentival’s judgment.”

“Fair enough. So, what’s this about the gate closing? Why are so many people crowded around?”

“You don’t know. How long were you gone for? Oh, it doesn’t matter. Look,” she pointed.

People were absolutely pouring through the entrance into the trials now. It had turned into a stream about five or six wide of warriors from across the sector marching into the trials in a constant stream.

“Wow, there are a lot of them, aren’t there?”

“It’s the last minute or two of the Tutorial. Then we’re down to bonus time. Everyone across the entire sector who can reach the trials is currently doing so. So, as you can imagine, there are quite a few of them. Anyway, the rest of us are here to watch the gates close.”

Right, so once those things close, no more Tutorial takers are getting in here.

The month of bonus time in the trials was another example of how valuable the trials really were. Tutorial takers would be stuck in stasis until the trials were over, although thanks to time dilation, that wasn’t a very long time.

Still, with Mythical rewards and unique Titles on the line, getting as much time in the trials as possible was an invaluable reward. In fact, it was so valuable that it was a key source of what created progenitors and separated them from the rest.

Even if the Tutorial provided the opportunity to gain levels quicker, that would mean little in the long term. And since the monsters and beasts in the Tutorial were limited in level, the gains would plateau, but worse than that, fighting enemies that weren’t a challenge would also provide worse Skills, and so it quickly became blindingly obvious how valuable the trials were.

10% bonus Stats might not seem like that big of a deal to an F grade, or even E grade, but at higher grades, such Titles represented massive boons, and with all the bonus Stat Aaron had, he was already going to be massively strong for State wise for his level. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that the people he was meeting within the trials weren’t generational talents themselves, then the difference would be even less pronounced. A regular level 80-90 was probably only marginally stronger than Aaron at this point, especially if they slacked on their Profession. Heck, when Skills were accounted for, they might even be weaker than he was, and then there was his persistence and natural skill to account for.

And for the first time, he was also spotting lower-level Tutorial takers pouring in. People at around level 50 and 60. It was quite the achievement, actually. But then again, from his understanding, as the final days ticked down, the Tutorial provided additional quests to Tutorial takers to finish the Tutorial without having to beat the boss.

There was no way level 50s or 60s were beating the Tutorial boss, unless they were special like Aaron. But if they were, they wouldn’t have been stuck on level 50 or 60 within the Tutorial. Meaning that whatever those additional challenges were, they were considerably easier than the Tutorial bosses were.

“Look, they’re closing now,” Elmira pointed out, and sure enough, the gates had begun to grind shut.

“Looks like we’re on the home stretch. Anyway, I’m off,” Aaron waved.

“Wait, already?”

“Yeah, I’m running out of time, after all.”

Elmira groaned. “Dammit, you’re making me feel like a slacker. I guess I'd better go beat something as well.”

If anything, Aaron’s urgency had only gotten worse. The Title and Stat bonuses he had gained from the trial only hit home the importance of beating more trials. If he could knock out more trials, it would provide a huge long-term boon, and he couldn’t waste even a second. 

But his plan wasn’t just to slam his head against them. That could easily drain time. But if he could gain a few more Profession levels first? Well, maybe he could speed the grind up a bit, not to mention the boons he could gain from some better dishes.

“Hey, bossman!” Sooty yelled and waved as he rushed toward him, weaving between people’s legs like a small child in a crowd.

“Oh, you’re looking for me now?”

“Of course. I was just minding me own Sooty business, when all these amazing ingredients kept pouring into ye kitchen. I gathered everything up, but the storage pouch ye gave me is full!”

“Shit. That much stuff?”

“Yep! Especially that last level ye passed. It must’ve been important.”

“Yeah, I suppose it was. I finished the Trial of Endurance, after all.”

“All of it?”

“Yep,” Aaron beamed.

“Impressive, that would’ve done it, alright. Ye might almost be as strong as Mo’man now. Maybe.”

Great… oh well, at least I’m moving up to almost as strong. Better than nothing.

“Anyway,” Aaron sighed. “I’m heading to the kitchen right now. Gonna join me?”

Sooty skipped alongside him. “Of course. Until you start cooking, that is.”

“Fine by me.”

In the kitchen, Aaron laid out the pot, and Sooty emptied the pouch. There really was a heap of ingredients inside, and Aaron had almost too much to work with, and didn’t know where to start.

But he had to slow himself down and think things through for a moment before getting started. What were his goals?

Spirit food was great, but it wasn’t necessarily the only thing he wanted, especially since he had his [ Soul Shattering Strike ] now. 

Levels were important, and so were good Skill options, so obviously, he wanted to throw incredible ingredients together as he cooked, hoping for the best bonuses.

“Heya!” 

Aaron turned to the squeaky voice.

“Oh, Clem. How are you?”

“Good, yourself?” Clem said, ears twitching. “Looks like you have a lot of rare ingredients there. Any soul stuff?” Her brows bounced suggestively.

“Of course you’re after that. Well, I might have something for you. If you make it worth my while. By the way, do you just hang out in here? It’s like you’re always here.”

“Well, it’s kind of my thing. Alchemy that is. It’s what got me here in the first place. My Class is more my side thing, if I’m honest.”

She wasn’t lying. Alchemy seemed to be the only thing she cared about, and Aaron inspected her once more.

Clementine Astral [ Level 93 ]

Titlies: [ Tutorial Champion ] [ Potion Master ]

Level 93? That’s high, isn’t it? If her Class is a side thing…

“Wait, is your Profession level 93?”

“Ah, yeah? Why do you ask?”

Aaron just realized something. The level provided in the Inspect window was the highest level the person currently had, and so he currently looked like a level 40 to anyone who inspected him.

Interesting.

“That ichor of yours is pretty handy, too. You know, I’d pay for it if you’ve got more to sell. Along with your soul-strengthening food.”

“You’re going to pay me now?” Aaron’s face lit up.

“Surprised? I’m not sure if you realized, but I’m the best alchemist in here,” Clem crossed her arms and smiled smugly. “I have an endless list of jobs, and my bank account is starting to overflow. Trial takers are really desperate for the good stuff. Especially any soul-related stuff, it eases the mind and body after dying. Makes retrying trials much easier.”

“Does it now?”

I'd better get on that!

“Yep. You can pretty much sell it for whatever you want.”

He felt like a little bit of an idiot for not considering that, but now wasn’t the time to moan and groan, and Aaron got straight to work. 

Busting into a cooking frenzy, he was making things for both Clem and himself as he threw ingredients together for soul recovery dishes. 

He focused on purity and strength, trying to push the boundaries of what he could achieve..

The goal was to make the best soul recovery dishes he could, inventing new recipes, leveling up, and having a stock of items to sell.

With any luck, he could buy a few things from the store he had spent all this time leveling up before leaving the trials.

He threw high-rarity ingredients together like a madman, checking with Clem occasionally, who was boiling cauldrons, and pouring recipes together in the next workstation over.

Minutes turned into hours, and hours turned into days, but the progress was undeniable, and Aaron grinned as his insane combinations came together in scary fashion.

It was a slightly different process than his previous cooking sessions, as he wasn’t trying to strengthen the soul, but repair it with his dishes. Such dishes might not be particularly valuable to him, but that was a secondary concern at that moment.

And whilst Clem was no doubt more skilled in alchemy than he was in cooking, when it came to creating things that mended the soul, he was unchallenged.

After all, she couldn’t spirit touch her ingredients, like he could. This was a gift few others had, and a unique opportunity for Aaron.

Soon, he had created a variety of dishes for the soul, and finding buyers was not hard.

Before he had even finished, people were gathering around. They could inspect the dishes he had made, and were desperate to get their hands on whatever they could.

But as much as he wanted to sell his stock and go on a shopping spree, it was the experience of discovering so many dishes that truly lit up his eyes.

Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

Experience rewarded for discovering a recipe!

Ding!

[ Ogre Gastronomist ] has LEVELED UP!

40 → 44

Best of all, he still had the very best of his new ingredients remaining.

This has been quite productive, hasn’t it?

In particular, there was the Legendary Astral Bison Chuck Steak, the crown jewel of the ingredients he had been rewarded, and he knew just the dish he wanted to create.

A devilish gleam filled his eyes. The rush toward the end was gonna be a blast.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 51

Passing through the hallway, Aaron made his way up to the trial dial and selected Oozagh. It was fitting, as the ogre had accompanied him on the vast majority of the Trial of Endurance stages, and they had even led to his patronage so many trials ago.

Checking for trial compatibility…

Prerequisites met: Challenger has a divine blessing.

Trial starting… 

I wonder if he knows Lenriel?

The trial transported him outside an unsuspecting cave, with Oozagh beside him. It kind of felt like graduation, as Oozagh’s avatar materialized, looking like a proud father. And surprisingly, Oozagh’s avatar was not a shadow. For the first time, it had appeared full of color and life. But also, it looked… younger? And also a little smaller, especially the gut.

“Don’t look at my belly, tiny man! It’s embarrassing. Up until now, my avatar has been but a weakened version of my true self, but took this likeness…” Oozagh sighed. “For this trial, my avatar resembles what I actually looked like at this stage of my ascension.”

“So that’s young man Oozagh?” Aaron said, eyeing the young ogre.

“Yes. That is correct. Have your fun. Mock my tiny body, and my disappointing gut. It is only fair.”

Aaron looked at the avatar. Oozagh still looked like an eight-foot sumo.

Small, yeah, right.

“Hey, by the way, Oozagh. Do you know Lenriel?”

“Why do you speak that name?”

“I met him. Said he’s going to take over my universe. Told me to comply, and a bunch of other stuff. Said you’d agree that he was mostly benevolent, and that I should accept his offer.”

Aaron continued explaining the conversation he had with Oozagh.

“I agree that his word is good. That much is true. I also cannot help you against such an adversary, not anytime soon. The nature of his divine purview dictates his interest, which is an ever-expanding empire. Just as mine does, my unending desire for delicious treats.”

“So, I should submit to him?”

“Bahah! That’s for you to decide. But he will not surrender this idea. For now, I recommend that you do not go creating enemies. Continue on your path. He gave you no deadline. Make use of that. You have a hundred years before the barriers around your universe come down. Though if he had a lieutenant in your sector, that would be a more pressing matter. Either way, you still have at least a year after the trials to understand the multiverse before making a decision.”

“A year?”

“Yes,” Oozagh nodded. “World barriers last a year. Sector barriers take ten years, and one hundred years for your universe barrier. If this Pentival character has been tasked with bringing the sector under his control, conflict will no doubt come quickly to your sector once the barrier has fallen. But until then, you have time to grow and learn.”

“For now, focus on yourself. But when you get time, try to learn a little more about the multiverse at large. This will take time and context to truly understand, so do not force it. I believe that a competent man like you can figure it out. Even if you are a tiny, delicate human.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Oozagh.”

“Now, back to the trial. You’re about to experience a great challenge I once undertook. A progenitor of my world, I found myself in many difficult situations. This was a dungeon I found myself in not long after returning to my world from the Tutorial.”

“It… it changed me. Inside is where I strengthened myself against powerful forces. Good luck, puny man. For I, the Great Oozagh, will not be joining you on this one. You must overcome this challenge alone.”

“Is it hard?”

“It was. Very, very hard. I would have confidence sending a few others into that cave alone.”

Aaron blinked at that. He was going to have to defeat a challenge that was difficult for a D-grade progenitor who went on to become a god? Then again, it was the tenth stage of the trial. But if Mo’han could beat a tenth-stage trial, so could he. 

Aaron stepped into the cave as the youthful Oozagh waved him goodbye.

“Wish me luck.”

“You don’t need luck, puny human. You have that incredibly stubborn noggin of yours.”

Inside the cave was dark, but a single hellish red flame burned in a metal saucer, suspended from the ceiling. The red flames created ominous shadows around the damp cave and a chilling effect.

“Positively creepy,” Aaron muttered as he made his way inside.

At the far end of the cave was a pool of impenetrably dark water. Light from the flames was completely absorbed by the darkness of the pool, and it looked to disappear into perfect black.

Furthermore, the shadows seemed to dance around him as he walked closer. When he was looking ahead at the pool, the shadows appeared like humanoid figures moving around his periphery, but when he turned to them, they returned to featureless shadows.

“Okay… that’s a little odd,” he murmured, continuing toward the pool. 

He tried to focus on them without looking, but it was extraordinarily hard. The more attention he paid the shadows, the more evasive they were. But they didn’t attack, nor could he sense any energy or life within them, and so he continued.

Well, I suppose it wouldn’t be a Shadow Trial without something odd.

Reaching the pool, he looked down where his reflection should be. He had thought it was water, but now he wasn’t so sure. It seemed thicker, denser, almost metallic like, and when he stared at it for too long, he got vertigo, and felt like his vision was zooming in, and his peripherals were spinning. 

“Fuck,” Aaron grunted and stepped back, but held himself from walking around.

He got a strange feeling from the pool, but it wasn’t energy as he had felt in people and on constructs, but something different. Was it testing him somehow?

Forcing himself to be composed, he knelt beside it and extended a hand.

“What is this stuff? It feels like the universe is compacted into a tiny space…”

He wanted to reach out and touch the strange pool, but had no idea what it was. Neither his mana barrier nor his spirit touch provided any answer, either. All he knew was that it was incredibly dense, and any attempts at trying to sense its nature were repelled with an extraordinarily nauseating effect.

Rising to his feet, he glanced around again. But no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to pick up anything else within the room. Something told him that the shadows were somehow related to the pool, but that also meant that the pool was undoubtedly the target of his trial.

“I’m going to have to touch that thing, aren’t I?

Well, it wasn’t like he had death to fear, and even though he felt incredibly uneasy around the pool of mysterious liquid, he wasn’t about to just walk away. If the trial could be completed, he was going to do it.

“Why do I hesitate?”

There was something deep, ancient, and instinctual telling him to stay away from the foreboding liquid.

But what was hardcoded evolutionary fear in the face of one determined, very hard-to-kill young man? Of course, he dipped his hand into it.

Suddenly, a thudding sensation rushed into him, and Aaron almost jerked back, but he resisted and anchored himself in place. Then, the incredibly dense fluid pulled on him, and he actually felt like it was dragging him into it.

Aaron's eyes widened in realization. He wasn’t sure how he knew what he knew, but he knew this to be the void. A dark power at the corners of the multiverse that filled the gaps.

A power to be feared.

His initial reaction was to resist, but then something greater came over him, and he relaxed, giving into the power that pulled him.

At that moment, he entered a deep meditation at one with the void. And the dark secrets of the multiverse were revealed to him in that moment.

He understood that this dark energy was important in the multiverse. A divider between the mortal and the divine. But it was more than that. A building block, and he came to realize that it was also linked to the trials.

Were the assistants somehow related to the void? Perhaps they were crafted of the stuff. And if so, did that mean that the trials and all those who operated them were somehow existing within a realm between the mortal and the divine?

He could not truly understand or comprehend what he was seeing, but he knew there was a truth to it. It made sense. The assistants were no normal species, and the communication room led him to believe that they had some greater purpose beyond the trials.

But how was any of that linked to the divine? That wasn’t an answer he would be receiving, not now at least. But this introduction to the void was priceless, and it widened his understanding of the multiverse, even if it created more questions than it answered.

Greater powers were at play, and there was a tapestry that brought it all together, a tapestry he was desperate to understand.

But he wasn’t ready, and suddenly he felt great pain overcome every inch of him. It was as if the void itself was tearing at his limbs, and a sense deep within pinged with danger.

The void was of the same energy used to create the trials, and suddenly, he realized that he had made a grave error. This energy could destroy him, as could divine energy.

The resurrecting abilities of either the trial or his own trait were nothing in the eyes of these greater powers, and if they wished, they could snuff out his persistent life with a flick of a finger.

But even as turmoil threatened to overwhelm him, he gritted his teeth and willed his mind to remain in control. Something as mundane as fear couldn’t defeat Aaron Dober.

But it was eye-opening. Perhaps he had become too complacent with his near indestructible nature, because the void made him understand true fear once more.

He was but an ant looking up a staircase that titans climbed on the way to the heavens. He was nothing. It wasn’t even gods, he realized. There was a vastness out there to the multiverse his little primate brain couldn’t even hope to grasp.

It wasn’t Lenriel himself who threatened his universe. He commanded countless warriors at higher grades within the mortal realms that could conquer entire sectors without breaking a sweat.

This was true power, and it shook at his core to even gaze upon them through the limitless bonds of void energy that connected them all together.

He was trembling now, but he understood. It was trying to put him in his place, but even as it tried, his overwhelming willpower pushed back.

“My place? Never!”

Suddenly, the void energy around him rippled with anger. An ant was refusing his place in the multiverse, and that simply wasn’t allowed.

But Aaron had remembered Oozagh in a moment of clarity. Not only had the god overcome this himself, but he had let him enter. If this pool of void was truly as deadly as it had tricked him into believing, then there was no way Oozagh would have let him attempt the challenge without more information, was there?

A new resolve came over him, and he stubbornly delved deeper into the void, despite its protests and constant reminders that he was neither deserving nor able.

“What… what do you hide from me?!”

And as he delved deeper and deeper still, hours and then days passed, and he traveled down into the lightless depths.

In protest, the void offered him all kinds of powers, but he could feel the sinister desires within. The thinly veiled threats. The compromises and sacrifices he would have to make in return, and he scoffed.

The void offered power, incredible power, but it wanted to change him, to alter him at his core in return.

What an insult.

He cared little for offers of power so great that he would be able to fight off divine entities that threatened both Earth and the sector. For he would not let this void corrupt who he was at his core. As it wanted to change the very essence of who he was.

“Fuck off!” He roared as he swam deeper. “I am not your toy!”

His eyes turned fully white, and he had entered a trance once more, but this time he was not battling against death, but the intrusive offers granted by the void itself.

And several days later, he resurfaced with a gasp. The impenetrable black water had turned color, purified to spotless white, and bubbling with raw aether.

“You survived,” Oozagh’s avatar stood over him, agape as he emerged from the pool. “ And you’re not void tarnished… how, though? The void… It’s purified.

“Wait, hold on a fucking moment there. I could have gotten void tarnished for going in that thing? Why didn’t you say something, mate? I thought you had my back?”

“Bahaha. This was your trial to pass. And you did so with flying colors. You even turned the void-touched water into spirit water somehow. Quite fascinating indeed. Even I couldn’t purify the void until much, much further along my path. That is quite the impressive gift.”

“A warning would’ve been nice. But I suppose I kind of understand,” Aaron sighed, and then looked at the water. “So, what does that mean?”

“Not much, to be honest. It’s impressive, but D-grades don’t really have to deal with the void anyway.”

“Oh well. At least I beat the thing.”

Looking around, Aaron realized that even the shadows had changed and now resembled spirits as he knew them.

He wondered what the implications for his powers were, and if there even were any. Was the void something that people regularly had to deal with in the multiverse at a certain stage? Was being able to purify it important?

“So, when does this void purifying stuff come in handy?”

“Not for a long time. But you never know for certain. Sometimes it appears unexpectedly.”

“Right,” Aaron groaned. “Why so cryptic?”

“We gods play by certain rules. And some things we don’t just tell mortals, even if they are blessed by us. Some things are a rite of passage you just have to figure out for yourself.”

“I thought you might say something like that. Well, thanks anyway.”

It might have taken a little while, but he had beaten the tenth stage, and that was reward enough. Besides, at least this would be handy in the future, even if he had no immediate use for it.

Stage tenth of [ Trial of Endurance ] COMPLETED!

Trial of Endurance COMPLETED!

You have tested yourself against a great obstacle once faced by one of your patron gods and have overcome its challenge. Rewards chosen by patron.

Quest Rewards: Supreme Ogre Pot [ Mythical], Playogre magazine issue #81501837 The Bigger the Better [ Common ], Crafting Station upgraded to level 10! 

Experience rewarded for completing a quest!

Ding!

[ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

36 → 37

Ding!

[ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

37 → 38

Title acquired: Endurer.

Complete all stages of the Trial of Endurance.

Reward: +10% to Fortitude, Willpower, and Vitality

“Okay, that’s not half bad, is it?” he said, seeing the Mythical item in his rewards.

Wait, Oozagh gets to choose my reward?

Aaron narrowed his eyes at the second reward, then turned to the smirking ogre avatar beside him.

Oh no…

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 50

It was a peculiar level they found themselves in. The dragon heads were huge, craning over what looked like a little settlement, but it was completely out of place. It was a medieval-looking town plopped down and surrounded by a barrier of rock, which created a path directly to it from the tunnel passages.

Their goal was simple: to keep the one hundred villagers who were just standing around doing nothing in the town square from dying.

And seconds later, they were introduced to who they had to keep from killing the villagers. They were humanoid swine species called porklings, and carried simple weapons.

They were only level 40, but there were hundreds of them pouring out of the tunnels, and down the stone-walled passage toward the town.

But there was another catch to the trial. They weren’t actually able to directly attack the porklings and had to rely on the dragon heads to destroy the attackers before they reached the town.

“I’ll blow the flames, you pick off the survivors with your dragon’s maw,” Pentival said.

Each of them controlled one dragon head and had to agree on which powers to command; otherwise, they would get none.

As Aaron considered what Pentival said, he glanced across at the avatar hovering nearby. He looked like a rather unsuspecting human in long, flowing robes and a bald head. But it was Pentival’s thinly veiled insistence that they pick him that bothered him.

Focus on the trial, idiot!

He turned back and tried to lock in on the task at hand. At least Pentival’s idea wasn’t a bad one. Aaron’s precision was insane, even though his Dexterity could be higher. It was a result of fine-tuning over countless battles against Yendal, and as such, his fine control over his body, and therefore his Stats, provided far more accuracy than the average person.

Aaron agreed to Pentival’s suggestion, and their dragon heads changed colors. Pentival’s was red, and Aaron’s was gold.

Not only that, but Aaron had sensed the barrier around them, stopping them from using their powers. A part of him wanted to try to disable it with a spirit punch and cheat his way through the trial. But Pentival already knew enough about him. He didn’t need to go letting the guy see his new Skill, not when he might be able to complete the trial through normal means. However, he did sigh at the thought of it. Following the rules was just kind of annoying at this point.

But he didn’t have long to think about it. The little porklings were streaming out of the caves and toward the town. 

Suddenly, the path was set alight as the dragon's head that Pentival commanded doused them in flames. But of course, the attack was far from perfect, and many of the little monsters managed to escape destruction.

However, many were also set aflame, and Aaron cursed his ogre gut as the smell of sizzling pork made him incredibly hungry.

Forcing himself to focus on the trial, he swooped down with the dragon's head and scooped them up within its jaws, and then munching down on the little guys. The dragon's head even burped and moaned in pleasure occasionally as it fed. And even though Aaron had to force himself from fantasizing about eating their cooked brethren, he thought this to be grotesque. After all, the dragon was eating raw humanoid pigs. The least it could do was cook them first.

It was quite the relentless battle, and the little porklings kept coming in, steaming out near endlessly. If not for how weak they were, it would have been impossible.

Still, overwhelming numbers were a struggle to deal with, and within minutes of the hordes of porklings increasing in number, a couple of them managed to get through.

To their surprise, when the porklings reached the villagers, they exploded in blood, killing one each and leaving no sign of either besides a puddle of blood.

“Gross.”

But that wasn't all. A large counter above the town flicked down, and 100 became 98.

“Careful, Aaron!” Pentival shouted. “It might not seem like much, but we don’t know how many stages of this thing there are! And I’d rather not fail!”

“I got you!”

But within seconds, the wave had begun to thin, and the two of them killed the last of the porklings, and a timer appeared. They had an entire minute until the next wave, and Pentival swayed his dragon head toward Aaron so that they could talk between waves.

“So, do you have any plan for what comes next?”

“Me,” Aaron thumbed his chest. “I mean, kinda? Get strong and deal with anyone who threatens Earth.”

A bemused smile played on Pentival. “I see. I doubt it’ll be so easy, but I can’t deny that I find your answer refreshingly straightforward.”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s my style.”

When the timer was up, the bell sounded again, and another wave of monsters poured out. But these ones weren’t just higher level, they were also twice the size of their porky pals, and considerably more hardy. They were also covered in fur with curling horns.

Pentival began shooting flames again, and his hand glowed as he activated a Skill. Aaron wasn’t sure what it was, but figured it was some kind of buff. They couldn’t directly attack the monsters streaming out, but the dragon's head suddenly got faster and more furious.

The guy was some kind of Leader Class evolution, and so Aaron figured it wasn’t particularly surprising that he had buffs and Skills on hand that he could use on the dragon head.

Aaron, on the other hand, relied on skill mostly; however, [ Gorgon’s Time Dilation ] came in handy. Between his additional energy reserves, his stored adipose energy, and additional aether he could convert, he could now use [ Gorgon’s Time Dilation ] for quite a long time, especially when he wasn’t using other Skills. In fact, the only reason he didn’t use it more was because it got rather boring to slow the trial down so much. And he saved it for when there was a large bunch of monsters nearing the town.

[ Gust Step ] could also be used to speed the dragon head up a little, but it was only marginal. Aaron would have needed real buffing Skills to aid it properly, and so he was limited in what he could do. Ultimately, Skill alone wasn’t enough to best the trial perfectly, and a handful of monsters were able to get past him, so overwhelmingly large that the waves were.

The bell sounded again, and the one-minute timer started. However, this time, after the wave passed and Pentival swung his dragon head over to Aaron, the god’s shadow drifted down toward them.

“Have you given any more thought to my proposal?” asked Pentival.

“What? You mean the ‘work for me or die’ one?”

“That… was not what I said,” said Pentival. “But yes, that proposal. I will admit that I was naive when I entered the trial. I was a big fish in a small pond and believed I knew more than I actually did. My initial proposal was crude, and I can see why you took it the way you did. I now see that I was foolish, and right here and now, this is part of my attempt to make amends.”

Aaron raised a suspicious eyebrow at Pentival.

“Of course, that is not my only intention,” Pentival continued. “My goal is unchanged. I still want to unite the sector, and later, the universe, but my methods have changed. Let me introduce you to somebody important.”

Pentival gestured to the side as the divine avatar floated down toward them, gaining color to indicate that the deity himself was speaking through it.

“Greetings, Fate Weaver.”

“Fate—what?!”

“There is no need to attempt to hide yourself in my presence. I am one of the Greats. Lenriel the Sovereign, god of leadership and conquest. Very few things slip past the eyes of my people.”

“I see… and what has this got to do with me?”

“I rule the Empire Expanse. One of the greatest powers in the multiverse. Countless trillions serve under me, including gods. Pentival here has been tasked with bringing your sector into our great empire. But it won’t be easy, as talented as he is. He’ll need allies. And you could be one such ally, if you were to see reason, that is.”

“Is that so?”

“I see that you are not convinced, but I do not expect you to be,” continued Lenriel. “What I propose requires nothing from you beyond an agreement of non-interference. And this is not something that I offer to only you. It is the Empire’s policy when dealing with unique individuals. Given the nature of the System, it is impossible to truly subjugate such individuals, and trying only creates enemies. Instead, we prefer to negotiate peacefully whenever possible, especially when the individual in question is the disciple of the Martial God.

“The Empire’s goals for your universe are not sinister. You are free to ask your patrons. While many disagree with our goals, and some disagree with our methods, there are very few who disagree with our intentions. Our goal is to create a place where the weak and strong can live in peace. It is a simple law of nature that the strong will rise above the weak, but that does not mean that the weak lose their right to live freely. By enforcing law and order on our planets, we can ensure the safety of those too weak to defend themselves.

“We do not ask our citizens to give up their freedom. Under the Empire, you would not be obligated to do anything. Your only obligation will be to obey our laws, which, to my understanding, are the same as the ones you are already familiar with. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not destroy the property of others. Things like that

“It seems that the trial is about to continue, so I will leave it at that for now, but as you fight, think it over. It would be a life similar to the one you had before, under a government with similar principles. The only difference is that you would have the backing of one of the multiverse’s most powerful forces to prevent any unnecessary conflict and to protect from the… less savory overlords.”

The bell sounded again, and a new species of mutated boar-men charged out of the tunnels, even bigger than the ones before. Lenriel’s avatar faded back to being shadow as Aaron refocused his attention on the trial.

The dragon head couldn’t even kill these ones in a single bite, and trying to eat them got one of the big, porky fellows stuck in the jaws of Aaron’s dragon head. 

It was struggling and squirming, and took way too long to dislodge. He could still attack with the dragon’s teeth, but he wouldn’t be able to gobble these ones down in single bites.

He wasn’t sure how many waves there were, but this little tactical screw-up cost them twenty-two lives, and Pentival was quite alarmed.

“We’re not going to make it at this rate,” Pentival sighed. “So be it.”

It looked like he delved into a System page, and suddenly, additional dragon heads appeared overlooking the town.

“What did you do?”

“You can spend system credits to purchase additional defenses. It’s all part of the trial.”

“Oh,” Aaron grimaced. He was still broke and felt a little bad that the guy was spending his own cash to help them get through the trial.

“Don’t worry about it. I can easily recover the SC through my followers. Let’s just get this done, okay?”

“Okay.”

With the three additional dragon heads backing them up, the next wave was easily slaughtered before it reached the end, and no more lives were lost.

The bell sounded, and once more the timer started.

“So, what do you think, human?” Lenriel said, his form regaining its color. “Does my proposal interest you?”

Aaron thought for a few seconds. “Non-interference” sounded a lot like “look the other way while we conquer your people.” At the same time, if everything Lenriel said was true, and the Empire truly was as benevolent as he wanted Aaron to believe it was, it wasn’t the worst offer in the world. Aaron didn’t know much about the multiverse, but if people like Darius could reach the top of the rankings in the Tutorial, he wouldn’t have been surprised if similar people could create powerful forces. A deity like Darius commanding legions of undead sounded terrifying, and if the Empire could help defend against that, it was definitely a good thing. But still…

“It’s not that I’m not interested…” He muttered as he thought through his thoughts.

“Be reasonable, Aaron,” Pentival said. “The multiverse is impossibly vast. Lenriel has shown me but a glimpse of it, and even after one hundred years, our little corner of it won’t stand a chance against the true powers residing amongst the stars. Subjugation will come in one form or another. Best it be at the hand of an ally.”

Why’d he have to say subjugation?

It made the entire deal so much less attractive. He could have just lied and called it an alliance.

“He speaks truly,” said Lenriel. “The integration of a new universe is not a common occurrence. There are many forces in the multiverse that will be vying for a foothold, or possibly total dominion. No matter what kind of defenses you try to mount here, your budding universe cannot hope to stand against the full might of an empire that has been around for eons. 

“I encourage you to speak to your patron gods. I cannot say I am on the best of terms with either of them, but I am not their enemy either, and I don’t think that either of them would disagree that, among all the forces in the multiverse, the Empire is one of the most benevolent. Of all the forces trying to conquer your universe, we are the most benevolent.”

Aaron frowned. Nothing the two were saying was unreasonable, but the “we’re the least of many evils” approach still rubbed him the wrong way. Like they were trying to come off as being honest and not sugarcoating anything, but in doing so, they just made themselves look like pricks. It was as if they were saying, “Look, we may be evil, but have you seen the other guys?” Not that Aaron thought they were completely evil or anything, but he wasn’t about to agree to anything when the pitch was so unconvincing.

Before he could respond, the bell sounded again, cutting their conversation short, and another wave poured out. The dragon heads snapped and blew flames against the increasingly large boars, but were able to stop most of the wave. A few got through, but they still had over seventy lives remaining.

However, things got worse over the following three waves, and they lost another twenty lives. Sighing again, Pentival bought three more dragon heads to protect their remaining lives. 

Aaron kind of wanted to check out how much he had spent, but decided not to. If it were an egregiously large number, he was going to feel a little bad about it. Then again, he kind of felt like he was here to be recruited, so maybe Pentival had expected possible costs, and it wasn’t for him to worry about.

Before the final wave came, Aaron was still in turmoil about Lenriel and Pentival’s proposal. He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t really find any major faults with it. If it truly wasn’t possible to be independent in the multiverse, then the Empire was probably the best option, even if he didn’t like it. He definitely would need to see if he could talk to Yendal and Oozagh before he decided anything.

“I see you are conflicted,” said Lenriel. “You do not need to decide now. You don’t even need to decide before the trials end. There may yet be many years before you need to make a decision. But even if it takes years, know that eventually, a decision must be made. 

“True neutrality is only possible for the strong. Your patrons are indeed powerful, but the multiverse is vast. The Martial God may be the most individually skilled person in the multiverse, but her forces are minimal. The God of Cooking and Gluttony is one of the leaders of the ogre race, but ogres by nature do not work well together in large groups. His forces are fragmented and scattered. Compared to organizations like the Empire, he is no threat.

“Their backing may be enough to protect you individually, but what about those around you? Your friends and family, your fellow countrymen, or even your planet as a whole? There are many forces in the multiverse that would not think twice about challenging your patrons, but few would dare to attack an established outpost of the Empire and risk our wrath.”

“Is the empire one of those forces that wouldn’t think twice about challenging them?”

Lenriel fixed him with a long, cold stare.

“This conversation is me thinking twice,” he said. “I prefer peace when possible, and even if you don’t agree, the Empire will not come after you, but should you stand in our way, your backers are not enough to make us hesitate for even a second. My intent is not to threaten you. I have no grudge against you. I do not want to control you. I simply believe it is in your best interest to avoid making enemies of us.

“And don’t think that your decision is solely a personal one. You may not realize it yet, but you are one of the forerunners of your planet. Whether you like it or not, where you go, others will follow. If you ally with the Empire, they will too. If you stubbornly refuse, they will join in your defiance.”

Aaron frowned. Regardless of Lenriel’s intentions, that was definitely a threat. And a nasty, guilt-tripping one too. Aaron wasn’t sure how to respond, so he was thankful when the bell sounded, indicating the start of the final wave. Despite not having his head completely in the game, he and Pentival cleared it with ease, and the System message announcing their success arrived promptly.

Chain Quest: The Shadow Trials

Stage three of [ Trial of Companionship ] COMPLETED!

You have tested your teamwork against the relentless waves of boar-kind and saved the defenseless people of the town. 

Quest Rewards:  Recipe: Faction Regalia [ Epic ], Communications Room upgrade to stage 3!

Experience rewarded for completing a quest stage!

Ding!

[ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

35 → 36

“It’s important what we have spoken about today,” Pentival said as they were warped back to the hallway. “Don’t forget about it.”

Aaron nodded, but he honestly didn’t entirely know what to think. Still, a level was welcomed, and regardless of what he decided in the end, it was good to gain a better understanding of what was out there in the multiverse.

That said, he was Aaron Dober, and as important as the little discussion was, his mind quickly raced forward to the possibility of completing the Trial of Endurance.

Hey! I didn’t ask Mo’han if he got another Title for being the first to beat an entire trial!

Aaron slumped a little at that thought. He could still be the second trial taker to complete a full trial, but that was hardly as impressive as coming first.

He also remembered characters like Mandor and even Ikran Teshk Ungari, or Darius, and realized that they would likely reach the point of finishing a tenth-stage trial sooner or later.

Yeah, I gotta hurry. It’s one thing to lose to Mo’han, but no way I’m going to be third, or worse.

He swung back around toward the trial dial. It was time to work.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 49

Hunched over in the dining hall, Aaron swirled his finger around the edge of his cup. He needed to take a short break after his previous trial. Unfortunately, a few drinks didn’t work to take his mind off something like they once did. He could probably down a few dozen beers before he got a good buzz now, and he didn’t have time for that. 

However, it wasn’t all bad. It turned out that he had only spent about an hour in the trial. Once he had gotten over the shock of it all, he had feared draining all his remaining trial time, so when Talia had looked surprised as he told her he had finished the trial stage, he was greatly relieved.

He also received a Waypoint, which was a very fascinating item, but from the sounds of it, it was completely useless to him. It was a unique item only usable for Tutorial takers.

He didn't know anybody from his Tutorial. Heck, he didn’t even know who was in his Tutorial. And so transporting himself to the same place seemed entirely redundant. But perhaps he could trade it with someone else.

She was looking at him now from across the table as Voidrin nudged her with his elbow. 

She’s gonna make me talk, isn’t she? Aaron groaned internally. For the most part, he would consider himself a fairly modern guy… except when it came to opening up. He sucked at that.

So, instead of giving in, he dived into the food he had. Sooty had stocked up on a few low-grade soul-strengthening ingredients he had cooked up, and he happily chowed down about half of them, pocketed the rest for Clem, and potentially for other trades. 

“You okay?” Talia said, struggling to keep Aaron's gaze as he ate like an escaped bear. 

She had spotted him looking gloomy in the hallway and followed him to the dining hall. Voidrin had then spotted the two of them and joined them. He was between trials and seemed to be looking for an audience for his dumb jokes, which wasn’t unusual.

“C’mon, that was funny,” he said, nudging Talia.

“Ha-ha. Hilarious.”

“Fine,” Voidrin slumped. “What about you, eight eyes?” he continued, turning to a humanoid spider thing eating beside them.

“Von tell a joke?” The spider said. “Mein kind are not known for the comedies.”

“Ohoh, all you need to do is listen, little buddy,” Voidrin wrapped an arm around the spider and started yapping.

“So?” Talia craned over the table, trying to secure Aaron’s elusive gaze. “What could possibly have happened to cause the Great Aaron Dober to look so down?”

“It’s nothing, really. I’m fine. I just needed a little time for reflection, that’s all. The ninth stage of the Trial of Endurance is a real mind fuck,” he sighed and took another drink.

“It was that bad?”

“Well… maybe it’ll be different for you. Also, it’s me, Talia. A little self-reflection isn’t going to stop me from smashing my head against the trials and dying an absurd amount of times. In fact, maybe this is good for me.”

She nodded soberly, but didn’t look entirely convinced.

“Hey!” Elmira called, interrupting the conversation and running over. “I got that meeting for you. Pentival swears he isn’t going around telling anybody about your Skills. And not because you asked, he calls it chivalry. I’m not sure if that concept exists in your world, but it's like an honor thing. However, like I said, he still wants to speak with you again. Thinks you got off on the wrong foot.”

“Elmira.”

“Yeah, I know. But hear him out. He’s not this tyrant you think he is. He’s an arrogant asshole who thinks he knows better than everyone else. But that’s kind of what life has taught him. He conquered a world, and has been proven right a lot.”

Aaron remembered a story she had told him between trials only a few days prior. Elmira had explained how their world was ravaged by constant war, and none of the nations could work together. The wars had devastated their world, leaving it fractured and divided.

It wasn’t until Pentival rose to power that things started to change. He had used an iron fist to unite several small, bickering kingdoms. But it wasn’t just warfare that he employed. A combination of scheming politics, ruthless diplomacy, and careful maneuvering had allowed him to outplay his rivals.

Before long, he had taken some backwater town and made it the capital of the predominant power in their world. But he didn’t stop there; he kept going until he brought the entire world under his rule. 

But what really fascinated him was that after all his hard work, bending empires and kingdoms to their knees, he disappeared.

It wasn’t quite that abrupt in reality. Pentival first built up powerful institutions, and made sure that the united empire wasn’t a house of cards. Then, once everything was in line, he stepped away, turning it into a grand republic that stretched across the entire planet.

Sadly, that was only a couple of years before the integration. And Aaron had to admit, putting all that effort into uniting an entire world just to have it all fucked up by the System a couple of years later was probably enough to drive anybody a little mad. And so he couldn’t totally blame him for having an attitude.

Elmira had explained how she hadn’t believed her eyes when she first met him in the Tutorial, and despite his infamous abrasiveness, she gave him a chance. Not because she wanted to bow to somebody, but because she knew who he was and his history. And more importantly, what he was capable of.

It was a fascinating story, but Aaron still had his reservations. The guy had basically ordered everyone to join his empire and declared himself the ruler of the entire sector. It was a bit much, and he struggled to get over the absurdity of it all.

Even if Pentival's end goal was to form some kind of democratic republic and step away from power, he still wasn’t entirely sure he was ready to trust someone who was essentially an alien, even if they were technically human. 

Also, if Aaron was being completely honest, he struggled to see how any form of legitimate democracy would even work. It had been a struggle even before the integration, and adding a wide variety of alien races and superpowers was likely to completely turn the concept on its head.

That said, he couldn’t allow his stubbornness to get in the way of making amends with someone who potentially had great influence in their sector. After all, his secrets were also at risk, even if Pentival was bound to some concept of chivalry.

 Especially since Mal and his boys had been easy to talk to, Aaron liked the guy. He was a decent bloke and easy to talk to. He had basically just told Mal why he didn’t want him talking about his powers, and the guy threw out his hand.

It was one of those real honest handshakes. The kind you get from one of those smily chaps who’s been on the tools their entire life, and you just know they take it seriously.

So, it seemed that his secrets were as well kept as was in his power. And so, he had to decide whether or not he wanted to speak with Pentival for other reasons.

With a reluctant sigh, he nodded and agreed to the meeting.

“Good. I’ll let him know. For some reason, he really wanted to do the next stage of the Trial of Companionship with you. He’ll be stoked that you agreed. Pity we can’t have a threesome.”

“Wait, you never mentioned doing a trial with him!”

“I didn’t?” Elmira tapped her lip, but Aaron saw through the feigned ignorance.

“You, you did this on purpose!”

“Oh, come on, Aaron. He’s not so bad, and it’s not like I’m asking you to be his friend. Besides, he has already seen what you’re capable of. Just hear him out, and then you can move on and make whatever decisions you want. You did ask me to talk to him for you, didn’t you? Well, I did,” she crossed her arms. “And now it’s your turn to do something for me!”

“Fine, fine,” Aaron sighed. “I guess I’m doing a trial with Pentival, the wannabe emperor."

Elmira led them to Pentival. There was a group formed around them, and apparently, there had been a few people in the trials who had actually come around to his way of thinking and had formed agreements with him.

Aaron wasn’t entirely sure if they had subjugated themselves to him or formed alliances. Perhaps Pentival had reworked his speech a little to be more accommodating, after all, everyone here was a top talent, at least within their respective Tutorials. It was unlikely he was going to find many willing to just bow.

His followers formed a circle around them as Pentival strolled up to Aaron and extended a hand.

Aaron eyed him suspiciously, but took it.

“I’ve been waiting for this. I realize I didn’t give you the proper credit you deserve when we first met. But I’ve come to realize that you are quite an impressive person, Aaron Dober. Please, speak with me. I’m sure we can find common ground.”

“I’m all ears.”

He was going to have to do his best impression as a diplomat, because Aaron's suspicions were still running as high as ever. Going from would-be emperor to this much ass kissing was a bit too much, and he had never trusted politicians to begin with. And that was exactly the personality archetype that Pentival radiated.

But he wasn’t an idiot. Pentival immediately took notice of the defensive expression.

“Please, Aaron. I understand that you might not trust me, but at least keep an open mind to what I have to say.”

“Sure, I’ll do my best.”

“Good,” Pentival smiled. “See, I have come to a realization that perhaps one power can’t dominate the entire sector, let alone the universe, as my nation once did on my old world. But that isn’t to say that peace can’t be found. You know, I spoke to one from your world. A Johan Svensson. He has some interesting ideas. I believe we can work together. But I have a feeling you’re going to play a more important role in all of this than some currently realize.”

“You like that guy?” Aaron said, trying not to sound too obviously distrustful of him.

“Oh?” Pentival’s brow perked. “So, you’ve seen it too, have you? Yes, you’re right to be wary of that man. I can’t say I know exactly what he has planned. But his insistence on signing contracts sent a chill down my spine. But perhaps here isn’t the best place to speak about it? He has a decent number of followers in here, and I’m not sure my people recognize them all. Shall we?” He continued, turning and pointing toward the trial dial.

“Might as well,” Aaron shrugged and walked beside the man.

Well, if nothing else came from their little chat, at least he would knock out another trial, and perhaps learn a little more about Johan.

Dammit. I was really looking forward to finishing the final stage of the Trial of Endurance. I hope this one is quick.

“After you,” Pentival said, gesturing Aaron toward the dial.

The leader had a couple of his people in line holding a spot for them. Aaron didn’t like the idea of line hopping unless people did it voluntarily, which might have seemed silly to some since he literally went around beating things to death, but it was in his blood. Line skipping wasn’t cool in Aaron’s eyes. But the guys holding their spots stepped out and went back to the end. So it wasn’t like they were affecting anybody.

Glancing back at Pentival once more before stepping up to the dial, he did a quick Inspect. He had checked the guy out briefly when he arrived, but checking again didn’t hurt.  

Pentival Mortheim [ Level 87 ]

Titles: [ Sector Lieutenant ] [ Tutorial Unifier ]

Sector Lieutenant? I’m fairly certain that’s new… The title was a curious one. Mostly because Pentival didn’t control the sector, and Lieutenant was indicative that he wasn’t the top dog, he also remembered that the rank was linked to dominions in the multiverse. 

Had Pentival started working for somebody else since arriving in the trials? And if so, they were probably a god, since those were the only people capable of talking to them here.

Okay, that makes things a little more interesting.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Aaron said, and they both slapped down on the dial.

In a flash, they were dragged to another world and found themselves riding atop a two-headed dragon with reins in their hands.

Aaron looked across at Pentival. Each of them appeared to be in control of one of the dragon’s heads. And below them looked like some kind of mine, with countless little tunnel entrances.

This looks interesting.

NEXT CHAPTER

Epub for Book 1 is here!

Hey all, I'd like to thank everyone who has supported me and this story.

I've also added the unfinished artwork for book 1.

Chapter 48

The ninth stage of the Trial of Endurance began with the repetitive thuds of helicopter blades sounding above his head.

Blinking repetitively, Aaron looked around. He’d seen a lot, but this wasn’t what he expected. Why was he aboard a military helicopter? Furthermore, why was everything a little off about it?

Overly stylish gray camo, pointed ears, and surfaces that seemed just a little too slick. Then he noticed the weapons held by the other passengers. They looked like something out of a science fiction film, all slick and stylish, and everyone had perfectly straight, blonde hair.

Wait… these are fucking elves!

He looked down at his own hands and noticed they were more slender and delicate than he remembered. Turning, he spotted his reflection in the sleek metal of their chopper.

Long, blonde hair. Well, fuck me and call me Legolas.

But before he had any chance to acclimatize to his new surroundings, they all disappeared, and a status window appeared.

Welcome to the Tutorial!

Aaron blinked again. What the actual fuck? The Tutorial? What was going on? He thought about it, and remembered that it was the Trial of Endurance. Still, was this the test? It wasn’t going to make him do the entire Tutorial, was it?

That was surely a test of endurance, but it was also a little much, wasn’t it?

It didn’t just call itself the Tutorial, though. The notifications came with countless pages and pages of explanations and hints. He got excited for a moment, but calmed shortly after. 

It would have been beyond helpful to get this help everything started, and there was likely still a bunch he could learn from the Tutorial, and he was somewhat tempted to spot and read it all. But after a couple of minutes of reading, he realized how much of a chore it would be. Aaron knew far, far more than the recently integrated, and as such, the Tutorial instructions were filled with information he already knew. To find the new stuff, he would have to read through pages and pages of information he already knew, and he just didn’t want to do that.

Sighing, he looked around. It wasn’t just notifications. He was in the armory room that he remembered hearing about. The place you went before going to the actual Tutorial.

But that wasn’t all. He wasn’t himself. He didn’t have his levels or Skills. He was just some guy called Elvanas Silverleaf with pointy ears.

In fact, he didn’t even have a Class yet, but he had the option to pick one. It was kind of interesting. Sure, he wasn’t thrilled about the idea of actually doing the entire Tutorial, but seeing what it was like would be fun.

He knew how to be a brawler, but if he was going to be forced by the trial to start again, he might as well reroll and try something else, he figured.

Neither leader nor acolyte really appealed, and so he just stuck to fighter. Perhaps it was a slightly boring option, all things considered. But he still felt like getting up close and dirty was his style. 

With his class picked, he grabbed a shiny new sword, armor, and shield from the armory. There was actually a point system that dictated how much you could take, which was interesting, as Aaron hadn’t actually heard about that.

With all his equipment on, he entered the Tutorial.

He started out in a pleasant-looking forest, and it wasn’t long before he came across a few giant rats. They were between level 1 and level 5, and while he was as weak as he ever remembered being, he slaughtered them with ease. It was actually funny how easy it was, but then again, he still had his memories and skills, and he had gone through so much worse.

Within a short time, he had cleared an entire patch of forest, leaving dozens of corpses behind and grabbing a couple of quick levels, and was feeling pretty good about himself. But his thoughts were quickly hijacked by screams echoing in the distance.

He swung around. Everything felt very real, as trials normally did, like he was actually in the Tutorial. 

He couldn’t see the source of the screams, and wasn’t sure if running out into the forest was wise, but he hadn’t yet felt any real danger from the Tutorial, and so he shrugged and went to investigate.

It wasn’t long before he found a couple of elves facing off against some low-level beasts. Two of them were standing, and a third was face down, covered in blood.

Perhaps this isn’t so easy for most.

He lunged to their assistance, and they were beyond thankful as he cut the beasts down. Unfortunately, the one lying face down was too far gone. 

Short introductions were made, and he found himself venturing forth with the two that survived.

It was quite the novel experience for Aaron. He had never gotten the chance to work in a party, besides the Trials of Companionship. But it was rather nice having an acolyte that could kite enemies away with mana blast, and a ranger who could mark their enemies for everyone within their party, making them very easy to keep track of.

Hours passed as they leaned upon one another to kill beasts and find loot. Soon, Aaron’s thoughts had drifted from the trials, and he was entirely invested in the Tutorial.

But as the first night came and they set up camp, he pondered on his life. Hopefully, time wasn’t the same within this trial as it was within the rest of the trials. Surely the System designed it better than to let him waste all of his remaining time here. But he couldn’t know for certain.

He wondered if he should just kill himself and go back. Even if it meant missing out on completing the trial, it was better than spending all of his remaining time to complete a single trial. But before he could settle on a decision, he fell asleep under the stars, beside his new companions.

Awoken by his companions, Aaron didn’t even get a chance to return to his thoughts. Beasts had attacked in the foggy morning, and defending their makeshift camp came first.

But this was still just the starter zone, and low-level beasts didn’t stand a chance, even when attacking in ambush. Aaron was simply too far above such things.

However, his companions were not quite the same. The female elf with flowing blond hair, Elena Duskwood, had taken a wound in the battle. Their eyes caught as he ran to her, and her thick lashes fluttered as he brought a vial to her lips.

“Take this,” he said as he pushed the potion to her mouth. 

Of course, she had her own potion, but took the one offered.

“Thank you,” she murmured and drank the potion, and recovered before his eyes.

But there was little time to rest in the Tutorial. Every inch of the place was teeming with beasts, and before long, they were hunting once more.

In the following battles, he caught Elena’s eyes several times. And found himself glancing across at her whenever they were resting.

Aaron shook his head. Why was he thinking about a shadow in the trials? None of this was real, and soon he would be gone, he reminded himself.

But when he lay his head to rest the following night, he did not think about the trials. No, he thought of Elena until he drifted away for the night, much to his internal protest.

Days of hunting and looting followed, and their levels were racking up quickly as they battled monsters day and night, resting only once exhaustion got too much.

Kelan Moonshire, the acolyte of their group, became a real friend on the fifth day, and Aaron found himself looking forward to their conversations.

A week later, when they were gathered around their camp, Aaron told a story about growing up in Nefwood and the trips he would take with his brothers to the world tree before joining the Marines.

Wait, what?

He shook his head as blurry visions of Earth and the trials drifted in and out of his thoughts.

“Is something wrong, Elvanas?” Elena rested her hand on his arm.

“No, it’s nothing,” Aaron murmured as he raised his eyes up to meet hers.

He knew it was a terrible idea, but that night was the first they spent together. He held her until morning, and even then it was hard to let go. He almost killed himself then and there. This dream was getting too real, but something held his hand.

Several days later, they came across another Tutorial taker and added a leader to their growing squad. On that same day, they received a System quest to take out a powerful, local monster.

It was a hard-fought battle, and Elvanas did most of the heavy lifting, but they managed to overcome the challenge, and that monster pushed all of them over the edge, and they leveled up into E-grade for their Class.

Elvanas Silverleaf evolved into a Moon Blade and gained a Skill that could negate armor.

He was much stronger, and the gap between himself and the others only grew larger as he leveled.

A week later, as he was lying on a bedroll with Elena nestled against his arm, he looked up at the stars and felt something strange poke at him. Like it was trying to tell him something that he had forgotten.

He narrowed his gaze and tried to understand what it was, but could make no sense of it.

“Something wrong? You always look so troubled when you look up at the stars,” she asked.

“No. It’s nothing. Just an errant thought.”

“Not about me?” She smiled and pulled him closer.

“No. It wouldn’t be nothing if it were,” he whispered as he embraced her.

A few days later, they came across a small settlement of others from the Tutorial. It became painfully obvious that many hadn’t fared as well as they had. People were desperate, and many didn’t even dare leave the little settlement for fear of beasts and monsters.

Kelan was quick to remind Elvanas that if it were not for him, both he and Elena would likely be in a similar situation as those poor folk. 

Nodding to his friends, he declared that they would help the settlement. And from that day on, they assisted by killing the most dangerous monsters around, and collecting materials for those unable or unwilling to hunt.

Professions were becoming available, and there was no need to risk the lives of those who couldn’t fight. But by killing the strongest monsters himself, the gap between Elvanas and the others continued to widen.

Soon, there were hunts that not even Kelan and Elena were able to keep up with, and he was once again alone. Although not as he had once been, for he constantly returned to the settlement, and constantly took time to remind Elena of their growing bond.

He had seen much death and killed untold numbers of monsters over the following weeks. But somehow, he was feeling more and more at home than he ever had before.

He had always been a warrior. He remembered his squad. 105th Airborne. Even before the integration, he had been thrown into the most dangerous places on the planet, and he had come out stronger every time. It was of little surprise to him that he found the Tutorial so much easier than everyone else.

And it was also that same warrior’s pledge he had taken back then that drove him to want to protect everyone. There had been enough death, and if he could help it, he would ensure there was no more.

But there was still the Tutorial boss ahead of them, and whilst he was strong, he was running out of time to finish it.

The following weeks were spent grinding and getting new weapons crafted as they prepared for the final assault.

It had been months since the Tutorial began, and Elvanas had pushed himself to level 80. However, he had fought beasts around the edges of the boss’ lair, and they were strong. No doubt, the boss was considerably stronger still, and so he took his time grinding out a few more levels.

Once their preparations were finally nearing completion, he held Elena once more and said his goodbyes, sealing them with a kiss. Neither she nor Kelan was near his level and would only make the boss fight more difficult. But they joined him alongside the other elites for the ascent up the mountain, and to wave him off.

But that was okay, that they couldn’t join him for this fight. They had a plan. A way forward. Elvanas would kill the boss, and claim all the Tutorial points available, then he could purchase a Waypoint, and they could move their settlement to their new world together. And there, they could lean upon each other once more and build something bigger.

However, as things usually do, nothing was so easy. There had always been two major camps in their Tutorial, and whilst their competition had remained somewhat friendly, it wasn’t to remain so.

An ambush was set for Elvanas as he approached the boss; apparently, the other camp had been given a quest to complete the boss first, and this was their method to complete it.

Unfortunately, for his attackers, Elvanas had already risen to such a level that he was by far and away the strongest in the Tutorial. Even four against one, he barely had light wounds by the time his moon blade had bisected his enemies.

But Kelan was not so lucky. Tears traced his cheeks as he held his friend in his dying moments. Over almost three months, they had fought side by side almost every day, save when Elvanas had gone off on his own.

Such an experience had bonded them like few others, and he saw him as more than a friend. They were like brothers. He couldn’t believe it after all the dangers they had gone through together, just to have his life stolen when they were so close to the finish.

The retribution was harsh, but Elvanas thought it fair. He killed all of the warriors from the other camp and forced the crafters to take a knee and join his camp. They did so under threat of violence, but it wasn’t like there was anything much else left for them now.

He hadn’t wanted to do it this way, but in the end, he had united the entire Tutorial under him. And a crowd saw him off as he left once more for the boss fight.

It had by far been the most difficult fight he had ever experienced, harder still than even the ambush against the other camp’s strongest fighters. But through sheer stubbornness and grit, he had found a way to prevail, and he was the only one to complete his Tutorial.

At level 85, he had come so very far and managed to beat the boss just moments before the Tutorial timer expired. He had bested every challenge placed before him, and now he had the opportunity to give his people a new life. To give them security and hope. For what other reason had he pushed himself so far and hard for?

And it worked. As promised, the Waypoint transported him and everyone in his camp to the same location.

It seemed a dream had come true, and he was overjoyed when Elena informed him that she carried his child.

How could such a dream be born from such misery? He did not know. But this was his home now, and he would do everything within his power to defend it.

But things weren’t all they were promised to be. It wasn’t long before the beast attacks began, and soon losses began to mount.

It wasn’t just that their floundering settlement was under near constant attack from seemingly everything, but Elvanas quickly realized that there was no time to rest. 

The beasts attacking them were constantly growing stronger, and if his growth plateaued, it was only a matter of time until they were overrun. His warriors were getting stronger, too. But ultimately, the hardest challenges were for him to overcome.

And so he continued as he had in the Tutorials, going out and finding bigger and stronger prey to slay, and growing stronger in the process.

He grew stronger still, and further did the gap grow between himself and most of his followers.

But little did he know that the beasts, too, had rulers. And his slaughter of their kind hadn’t gone unnoticed. 

The king of the region was infuriated and led an army against his little settlement.

But the horde of weak beast warriors wasn’t the real threat. They soaked up attacks from him and his own followers, but it was the D-grade dire wolf leading them that was to be feared.

Elvanas himself was close to D-grade, at level 92, but he knew there was a considerable leap in power, and could not risk underestimating the dire wolf.

A great battle took place, and he killed many beasts as they endlessly funneled into their settlement. But the dire wolf was different.

Wounds bubbled with red ichor whenever he landed a strike with his moon blade and quickly healed. Within seconds, it was obvious he stood no chance and was knocked away with a grievous wound.

He was left there, wounded and unable to move, as the settlement was overrun, and his people were slaughtered.

Harpies in cahoots with the direwolf swooped down, picking off their ranged defenders, and he gasped with horror as he watched them sail away with Elena and his unborn child.

His hand trembled as he reached out for them hopelessly. It was so pointless. All of his effort, and yet, everything he worked for was destroyed.

Elvanas gritted his teeth in rage. There was no way he would just give up. He didn’t care if the situation was hopeless. He would drag the dire wolf down to hell with him if he had to.

Launching himself at the massive, D-grade beast, he downed his last potion and threw everything he had left at it.

And still he came up short.

Limbs were torn from his body, and he landed on the ground a bloodied pulp of gory, mutated flesh.

“I’ll fucking kill you,” he spat, blood as the last of his life drained away to the laughter of the dire wolf.

But he didn’t die. No, he floated up as a spirit above his corpse, and in an instant, a lifetime of memories came flooding back.

“What the actual fuck,” Aaron said. 

He couldn’t believe it. Those three months… it felt like an entire life, and yet it was nothing but a fantasy created by the trials. His friends, his lover, his child… All fake.

Stage nine of [ Trial of Endurance ] COMPLETED!

You have tested yourself against the memories of a broken warrior and emerged whole. 

Quest Rewards: Waypoint [ Epic ], Crafting Station upgraded to level 9! 

Experience rewarded for completing a quest stage!

“What the fuck just happened? How did I clear the trial? What even was that trial? What was it testing?”

Usually, he was quite happy when he cleared the trial, but this time, there was no smile. The things he had experienced felt far too real to just get over like that.

“For fuck’s sake. I’m gonna need therapy for this shit.”

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 47

Entering the Trial of Endurance beside Oozagh’s avatar, Aaron began the eighth stage trial, and immediately, he was subjected to unspeakable pain.

It hit him within literal seconds. His vision blurred, the world shook around him, and he felt as if his entire body was to be ripped apart.

The pain seemed to have no limit to what it could force upon him, and before he knew it, he was on the ground. He didn’t even have a chance to figure out what was going on before he passed, and he was looking down at his corpse from his spirit form.

To die without even having a chance to fight back was something else, but it was an eighth stage trial, after all.

Unlike most people, though, who might have found themselves in quite the quagmire, dying was kind of Aaron’s thing. In his spirit form, he could take a few seconds to look around before resurrecting. Thus, he had the opportunity to scout the impossibly hard trial before he was assaulted by it again.

And his ghostly jaw dropped as he looked up to the sky. There was an impossibly huge eye that stretched on for as far as he could see. And it was looking directly at him.

Oh, so you’re the culprit?

But even as the thought swirled in his mind, he found himself shying away. To his amazement, even in his spirit form, it was difficult to gaze upon the eye’s grandeur, and he found himself compelled to look away. But he needed to figure out how to beat the thing, and so he stubbornly forced his gaze to lock upon the titan in the sky.

And something he didn’t believe even possible happened. He began to feel pain. His body was sprawled out across the ground dead, and he was a literal spirit, and yet this thing was able to hurt him.

But even that wasn’t what made the scenario truly strange. No, that was the fact that it wasn’t actually damaging his soul. Somehow, the eye was simply causing him pain despite the fact that he no longer possessed a mortal shell. It didn’t make a lot of sense, but he knew it spoke volumes of the power that the eye possessed, whatever it was.

And it was a whatever, because Inspect didn’t work on the thing, either. Perhaps it was a construct, he figured. There were few other explanations for his Inspect Skill not working.

The entire thing was both impressive, and curious. Unfortunately, Aaron couldn’t hold on any longer, and he resurrected to extreme pain, and died shortly after once more.

Again, once returned to his spirit form, he attempted to learn what he could of the eye, but fell short of any impactful insights as he was resurrected and promptly killed again.

The pain was incredible. Strangely, though, he realized that the eye caused his body no actual damage. Somehow, it was able to kill him through pain alone. However, that was a revelation that prompted more questions than it answered. 

He might not have thought too hard about it prior to the integration, but now? How was it possible to die without draining one’s HP? As far as he could tell his Stats had looked fine up until the last moment, which only served to confuse him further.

He simply didn’t believe such a thing was possible, and yet here he was. Not only that, but he had suffered immense pain on countless occasions, and was able to ignore said pain with resounding resolve. 

In fact, some might go as far as to call Aaron’s pain resilience one of his gifts that set him apart from most people. Yet none of that incredible willpower seemed to provide any assistance against the eye.

Again he was subjected to the extraordinary pain that attacked him from all sides. It shook every inch of his body and made him feel like screaming as he endured it. But he did endure. After all, how could something as immaterial as pain stop the stubborn warrior that was Aaron Dober?

Such a silly thought almost made him laugh, if not for the fact that the eye could still kill him regardless. He had believed himself above pain, but this trial proved otherwise. And he had no riposte to its power as he was returned to the hallway.

Not everyone recognized him. There were far too many people around for that, but his return to the hallway caught several eyes, and they began clearing the line for him. That was nice. 

He still wasn’t entirely sure if they cleared the line out of respect, or pity, since he died so much. Either way, he wasn’t about to complain about a free boon. However, he wouldn’t use it this time.

“Thanks, but not yet. I’ll be back,” he said, and several people took note.

Turning, Aaron made his way to the meditation chamber. Thoughts had been swirling through his mind ever since the eye killed him with pain, and he needed a moment to gather said thoughts.

Searching for profound insights into something as ordinary as pain might have seemed somewhat silly to some, but to Aaron it was a realm of great interest. After all, how could pain that, whilst excruciatingly terrible, be enough on its own to kill him?

Crossing his legs, he sat. Water trickled lightly down a water feature, and incense burned. He was fairly certain the incense in his upgraded meditation room wasn’t normal, either, as he felt himself delving into an inner realm without even trying.

I have a feeling this stuff would have been contraband before the integration.

Falling within himself, he rode streams of his inner mind, trying to make sense of fractured thoughts. For someone who wasn’t into meditation and all that stuff prior to the integration, Aaron had come far.

He searched for answers, and found himself adrift toward a pillar of his inner self. It was his death defying trait.

Immediately, he realized that he had missed something obvious. The trait had a condition related to pain, although that was simply the resurrection side of things. 

Could that really be used against him, he pondered?

Had despite the fact that he hadn’t actually died, the eye managed to force his trait to trigger?

Aaron shook his head. That didn’t make sense, either. The trait fueled his resurrection, not his spirit. All it did was essentially draw in aether from the atmosphere, and use it to heal his body just enough as to kickstart it back to life. In fact, he wasn’t even entirely sure that its powers affected his spirit. Perhaps the trait would be useless if the person who unlocked it couldn’t control their spirit, if that were even possible.

But despite that, he knew he was onto something. Somehow, the eye’s power was linked to his spirit, and his ability to cheat death.

He pondered on that for some time, before realizing something else. Perhaps it wasn’t that it had a link to his spirit, or his cheating death, but that it could draw abilities out of people?

Wait… that’s it, isn’t it?

Perhaps what the eye actually did, was to gaze within him, and discover what his greatest gift was, and to use it against him?

But if that were so, how would one overcome such a thing?

He almost wanted to groan, but had a realization. There was more to him than just his spirit, and his ability to survive death. Perhaps that was the answer. Perhaps he had to throw everything at the wall, and see what stuck?

Not entirely certain of his thoughts, Aaron passed back through the hallway, scratching his chin. He felt like he was onto something, but not quite there yet. However, perhaps he could fill the gaps bashing his head against the wall for a while.

However, as he strolled through the hallway, he pumped into a familiar face.

“Clementine? Voidrin? Are you two friends?”

“Oh, hey! It’s the food guy!”

She forgot my name?

“Here,” Voidrin said, but he wasn’t actually doing anything. “Credits in full. Potions?”

“Oh, right. Here you go!”

The potions were pulled from Clementine’s spatial container, and passed to Voidrin’s, but the credits were never seen. However, Aaron remembered that System Credits were directly integrated into the interface.

“What are you up to?” Voidrin said as the deal was concluded.

“Err, just thinking on a trial. Trying to figure out how to beat it.”

“And you came to me to find the answer? You’re smarter than you look, y’know?”

“Actually,” grimaced. “Clem.”

“Huh?” Clementine’s rabbit ears twitched as she looked up from her spacial bag. She appeared to be organizing it. “Need something?

“Yeah, I was thinking about making more of my Spirit Cloud Berry Stack. I have a plan, but I could use your help.”

“Oh. Sure thing.”

For whatever reason, Voidrin followed them to the crafting station, and watched as they worked alongside one another to create Aaron’s dish.

“Wait, so you’re gonna try and use that to overcome the pain?” Voidrin said, tapping his sword as he spoke. 

“Yeah, is there a problem with that?”

“I thought you said that you believe its power is to take advantage of your own powers.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, why are you trying to make your own power stronger?”

“What do you mean?” Aaron’s brow perked.

“Oh my,” Voidrin sighed. “Think about it, dumbass. If your strongest powers are even stronger, isn’t that just going to make the eye’s Skill even stronger? Shouldn’t you try and do something else? Something that isn’t you?”

Aaron tilted his head. The cyclops kind of had a point. 

“Can I take some of your ichor? I think it’ll come in handy,” Clem said, not paying attention as she played around with some vials, pouring them into one another. Apparently she had a Skill called Dilute, which allowed her to dilute a potion, weakening it, but in the possess making multiple copies. It was apparently very profitable, and it appeared she was testing it on Aaron’s ichor.

“I mean, you might be right. But do you have any idea how to do that?” Aaron asked Voidrin, ignoring her.

“Me?” Voidrin shrugged. “Bro, it’s your trial. But since you asked so nicely… hmm. Well, what if you could attack it with a Skill whilst it hits you?”

“Can’t. I die immediately. I don’t even know how hardy it is.”

“Hmm, I got my clones. Maybe you could do something similar?”

“What do you mean, Voidrin? I don’t have clones.”

“I could dilute you,” Clem said lackadaisically.

“You could what?” Aaron said and both of them turned to her.

“Dilute. You two have hearing issues? The special version I have can be turned into a potion. It doesn’t last long, though. About thirty seconds tops.”

“And what does it do?” Aaron probed.

“Dilutes you. Basically makes copies. It’s weird… not anywhere near as fancy as Voido’s Skill, but it is a good little potion for escaping danger. I sell them for quite a bit.”

“And I can have one?”

“If you return the favor with more soul strengthening food,” she grinned.

Aaron wasn’t in the habit of relying on others to beat trials, but time was running short. If this potion helped him figure the trial out, then he’d have more time to spend on other things. Besides, he wanted to smash through two stages of the Trial of Endurance before he went on a cooking spree, and really didn’t want to get stuck here for long.

“It’s a deal!”

Returning to the trial, he eyed the potion as he was fast tracked to the front of the line.

He was going to need to act quickly, and timed it so he drank the potion just as he slapped down on the trial, and shimmered into copies of himself as he was transported.

The magnificent eye looked down upon him, but then its massive lid flickered, as if confused.

A second later, one of his diluted clones fell to the ground. Then another, and another.

It was probably confused because there was no difference between them. Even when Aaron tried to control the clones, he realized that all of their movements were mirrored, as if they were all apart of him still, but just split into many copies.

It was quite the mind fuck, sine he also felt and looked through all of their eyes simultaneously, and had no idea how anyone would use such a potion to flee a battle without practicing many times. Then again, if they did, it would be quite profitable for Clem.

Come to think of it, this is a pretty neat potion.

He hadn’t thought too much about her at first, but maybe the rabbit humanoid was destined to be some kind of sage alchemist within their sector, after all, she was in the trials.

Within about ten seconds, it had killed all of his diluted copies, and then he was in spirit form again.

This was majorly annoying. Aaron had thought he figured it out, and in a rage, expelled all of his aether instantly, springing himself back to life.

And to his surprise, he wasn’t just resurrected, but so were his clones. The potion hadn’t worn off yet, and so his clones were brought back with him.

Of course, the eye continued to do what the eye did, but when he was down to his last couple of diluted clones, his eyes widened.

The quest completion notification appeared. It seemed that whilst the eye had incredible power, the timer for enduring the quest was very short. It made sense, otherwise it would be impossible.

And it wasn’t like just anybody could do what he did. It was a combination of Clem’s potion and his resurrection ability that allowed him to pass it. Without them, he had no idea how one would go about beating this cheat of a trial, but he was sure there were plenty of methods if one were to apply themselves.

Stage eight of [ Trial of Endurance ] COMPLETED!

You have tested yourself against the all seeing eye and managed to survive.

Quest Rewards: Portable Cosmic Kitchen [ Epic ], Crafting Station upgraded to level 8! 

Experience rewarded for completing a quest stage!

He grinned as the rewards were presented. He had completed that trial quicker than expected, and that tasted better than ever since it was an eight stage trial. And with free time on his hands, he wanted to get straight into the ninth stage knocked it out as well before he got to cooking.

Returning immediately to the line, he madly rubbed his hands together, and prepared for what was to come.

With any luck, he could grind the next one out with similar speed, although perhaps he was getting a little ahead of himself.

As he stepped up to the line, he noticed something though. A crowd had formed around Mo’han.

“What’s going on?” Aaron asked someone in the crowd.

“It’s the asura. He beat the tenth stage of the Trial of Dominance. He’s the first person in the sector to complete an entire trial.”

Aaron looked at his friend as he passed through the crowd.

Mo’han Khan [ Level 99 ]

Titles: [ Dominator ] [ Sector Prodigy ]

That’s possible?! thought Aaron.

“A-ran!” Mo’han boomed, spotting Aaron through the crowd. 

“Hey, Mo’han,” said Aaron. “What’s this about completing an entire trial?”

“I completed the Trial of Dominance!” said Mo’han happily. “I won’t spoil the surprise too much, but I had to defeat a D-grade. It was difficult! I died the first time.”

“A D-grade…” Aaron repeated.

“Yes. It was strong too. It was no weakling like many of the other trial monsters. Have you battled a D-grade yet, A-ran?”

“Kinda…”

“Impressive,” said Mo’han. “As expected of my rival. Well, good luck in your trials, A-ran. It seems that I need to keep training if I want to defeat you!”

“Seeya.”

Aaron was deep in thought as he watched Mo’han walk away. He had technically defeated 2 D-grades, but he couldn’t really call what he did to the eels “defeating” them. He would most definitely have died if not for the world core. Beating a D-grade in a straight-up fight was likely not within his means unless he had an extreme stylistic advantage. The fact that Mo’han had done it, and on his second try, no less, was concerning. And exciting.

It seemed that whenever Aaron took a stride forward, Mo’han did the same. Aaron had to die many times and often rely on his Profession to complete trials, while Mo’han was outpacing him while hardly trying. He had shown up 7 months later than Aaron and had already pushed further than him in almost every single trial. 

However, rather than making him despair, this only filled Aaron with energy. Mo’han was his friend, but had also become his rival, and it wouldn’t be any fun if his rival was weak. Mo’han was really living up to his title as a multiversal prodigy, and Aaron wasn’t going to fall behind. He needed to be stronger. Mo’han was working hard to improve, so Aaron just had to work harder and improve more. 

He glanced back at the trial dial with a grin. If Mo’han had completed a trial, Aaron needed to match him. He was already in the middle of grinding out Endurance to upgrade his cooking ingredients. There was no reason not to go all the way. 

Whether out of respect for Aaron himself or the words that Mo’han had just said, the crowd around parted as he made his way forward. It felt a little strange that everyone was treating him that way, but he wasn’t going to complain. He turned the dial to Endurance and slammed his hand down, his grin widening as he was pulled inside.

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter 46

Tutorial days elapsed: 84 (336 Days in Trial time)

With the end of the Tutorial drawing nearer and nearer, the hallway had turned into a crowded mess of commotion. With so many people around, Aaron had figured spotting more people from Earth was likely sooner or later, but hadn’t expected to run into the scene he did on his way to the trial dial.

However, there was still quite a bit of time remaining in the trials themselves, since there was an extra month after the Tutorial finished.

There were a lot of faces he didn’t recognize, and it was easy to miss people. But he couldn’t mistake Johan Svensson, the leader he had seen in the Tutorials. The man sounded a little too culty for his liking, and as such, his face had stuck in his head. But it wasn’t just Johan. The cult leader was talking to several others. 

However, what caught his eye was mostly the goblin. It was mostly because he hadn't actually seen any other goblins within the trials. If there were others through the sector, they hadn’t made it here yet, and immediately upon seeing her, he assumed it was the one who would be heading to Superearth.

That’s, that’s Foulbreath something, right? She’s the one I saw being carried around, I’m sure of it.

He wondered if he should avoid the group or introduce himself, but he wasn’t given an option, as a thick arm wrapped around his shoulder and yelled, “Hey!”

It was Joseph Lefiti. He didn’t know where the big guy had come from, but he figured it was pretty hard these days to go completely incognito in the trials. He was going to have to get used to people spotting him and stopping him. Luckily, there wasn’t too much time left of the trials anyway.

“You’re all from Earth, aren’t you?” Joseph said as he dragged Aaron toward the group. “I swear I recognize some of you from the Viewing Room.”

“What are you two supposed to be, boy band brothers or something?” A small girl draped in oversized robes and a massive wizard’s hat said.

Aaron groaned. He really wished Joseph hadn’t gotten the same cut. It was bad enough that he had to wear it.

“Best fade I’ve ever had,” Joseph said with a beaming smile as he ran a hand through his hair. “There’s a hairdresser here. She’s amazing.”

“You two are humans from Earth, I take it?” Johan interrupted, steering the conversation to more important matters.

“We are,” Aaron said. He hadn’t been looking for a conversation, but anything was better than glazing his haircut.

“How fortunate. We were just discussing important matters related to what comes next after all of this. Care to join us?”

Aaron felt like groaning as he had planned on jumping straight into the next trial, but he had to be a little smarter than that. He couldn’t exactly just turn up the opportunity to meet the top-ranking humans of Earth. Not to mention the goblin. Were they friends? He wanted to know.

“Yeah, I suppose. But there’s another with us. We should probably go fetch her first.”

“Another human from Earth?” Johan probed.

“Yeah.”

“Lead the way, stranger,” a dark-haired man with a revolver hanging from one side of his belt and a dagger on the other said.

With that, they all followed Aaron, making him slightly uncomfortable from all the attention.

Once they had grabbed Talia and all gathered in one spot, Aaron discovered that there was yet another room he had no idea about. It was the Party Room, and all it required to enter was a group of over six. Which was handy as multiple members of their little group had yet to complete more than a trial or two, and hadn’t unlocked enough to share any of the standard rooms.

In total, there were eleven of them gathered within the Party Room. Aaron, Talia, Joseph, Johan, Ernest Sheridan, Erdek Foulbreath the goblin, Kim Soohyun, the pint-sized Emmy Sharp, and three others Aaron didn’t remember seeing in the Viewing Room.

They explained to Aaron and the others that some of them had been here for as long as a couple of weeks, counted in trial time, whilst others had only arrived in the last couple of days.

The design of the Tutorial and trials meant that those who had been lagging level-wise in the Tutorial got a chance to catch up, since grinding within the Tutorial provided far more experience for Class levels than the trials.

However, most of those who focused on their Class within the Tutorial had either a low Profession level or hadn’t even chosen their Profession. So, in truth, the trials provided quite the opportunity for those people to balance themselves out before the Tutorial finished.

In fact, the Tutorial didn’t sound all that great for grinding Profession levels at all, and it made Aaron wonder what scarcity might be like after the trials were over.

Thinking about it, Aaron realized that even if he had come to the trials halfway through, but at a decent level, he could have easily ground out a few Trial of Endurance stages, and then spent all his time grinding his Profession. With all those ingredients at his fingertips, hitting a high Profession level would be rather easy in the trials. And that wasn’t to mention the other rewards available, like god patronage, and whatever the trial points could be used for.

Even if hanging out in the Tutorial for longer made it easier to hit a high Class level, the benefits of hitting the trials were plain to see. Hell, even a little casual discussion revealed how good the trial reward items were compared to what most got within the Tutorial.

“More may arrive before the Tutorial ends,” Johan spoke, interrupting Aaron's wandering thoughts. “But we have gathered here a pretty good representation of the talent that is likely to help usher our world into the multiverse. And as such, I believe it is prudent that we arrive at some kind of agreement between ourselves. A framework that will allow us to work together with whatever comes next. If we get this right, we can have a massive advantage over others who leave this place to fight against one another. Our world could end up at the peak of the sector if we can work together.”

“And what about the squids?” Ernest said, stroking his thick mustache. “Don’t see any of them around?”

The group had already briefly mentioned Darius, and it was clear that several had attempted to talk to the necromancer with no luck. After that, some tales of his exploits had been shared, and nobody had any interest working with him. In fact, his existance had only made Johan's speaches that much more impactful.

“We tried talking to them,” Johan sighed. “Suffice it to say, they don’t have much banter on them.”

“Maybe this’ll work,” Erdek Foulbreath said in her grinding, high-pitched voice. “But as long as everyone recognizes my right to rule the gobbos. Otherwise, you can get bent.”

“Like we already said, Erdek, that isn’t what this is about.”

“Then what’s it about? I thought you said there’ll be a framework? My framework is boss of the gobbos!”

“So stupid,” Emmy Sharp groaned beneath her giant wizard’s hat. “We went over this like ten times or something. We agreed not to attack, steal, or make incursions into each other's territory. What’s so hard to understand?”

“Thanks, but that’s enough, Emmy,” Johan raised a hand. “The Tutorial gave us some glimpses into what we would face when we leave this place. And like Emmy said, this agreement is simply to respect each other’s territory, and to aid each other against those who don’t.”

“All good and well until somebody breaks the balance of power,” Ernest said. “And still, nobody has told me what our plans are for the squids? They don’t seem too keen on working with us.”

“It depends where they land. Most of us here have Waypoints and at least some kind of plan for how we intend to set up on the other side. How that turns out will determine how we deal with others outside of our little agreement. I also recommend setting up a communication network for those with relay stones, but I’m aware not everyone has enough Tutorial Points to purchase such luxuries,” Johan said.

Aaron nodded along as they spoke, but he was starting to feel a little like an imposter. It seemed all the top rankers of earth had at least some kind of plan for what they would do after the trials, and how they would handle life after they returned to their world, or whatever was left of it.

As for Aaron? Sure, he had collected a bunch of loot, but he was really just trying to get stronger and hadn’t put too much thought into anything else.

He had thought about allies, but it was more because he figured he probably should, rather than because it was something he particularly wanted to do. It was more like a guilt thing.

“Here, this is mine,” Johan continued, drawing a relay stone from a spatial bracelet he had around his wrist. “Anyone who wants to keep in contact, all we have to do is touch stones, and they will be linked for communication.”

Aaron went along with it, pulling out his own stone and touching Johan’s. Then he did the same with Talia’s, Emmy’s, and Soohyun’s relay stones. None of the others in attendance offered up their stones. He believed that Joseph didn’t have one, and probably most of the others didn’t either. But Erdek seemed suspicious of the entire thing, and he couldn’t get a good read on Ernest.

“Great. I shall make contact with all of you as soon as I have some kind of base up and running. As most of you should know, I entered the trials with a raiding party. As the nominal leader of our group, I have attended this meeting alone. But they are around, and I welcome any and all of you to introduce yourselves should you meet any. My people and I want to create something bigger than ourselves. An open invitation will always be available for anyone who wishes to join our project. Together, we can bring peace, harmony, and stability to whatever we face next. But divided, we are weak,” Johan said, making sure to capture everyone’s gazes and hold them for at least a second or two.

“So, that’s it? We just pinky promise not to attack each other?” Ernest said.

“I have a Sphere of Binding, and will be happy to form contracts with anybody who is interested,” Johan said. “This way, we can ensure that real peace is formed.”

“I like you,” Joseph said, and Aaron tried to object, but got drowned out in the commotion.

However, despite the big guy signing the contract, most others refused on their own. Aaron felt a little bad. If he were wrong about Johan, he would be missing quite the opportunity. But there was no way he was signing a contract barring him from attacking someone he knew nothing about with the power of the entire System backing it up.

“Disappointing,” Johan sighed. Only four people signed his contract. Joseph, Emmy, and two of the others he didn’t recognize. “I hope the rest of us can still come to an agreement before the trials end.”

“Perhaps,” Ernest said, and turned to leave.

Some slightly more casual chatter followed, but Erdek Foulbreath didn’t hang around for long either. He wasn’t entirely sure if that meant she had deadly intentions for humans, or if she just didn’t trust them. Neither of which he would blame her for, since Johan’s proposal came on too strong for even him.

Not only that, but the more Aaron thought about it, the more he realized how difficult a position she was in. As far as he was aware, she was the only goblin to reach the trials so far, whilst there were many humans, and a decent number of thal’kesh around the place.

In her eyes, things likely weren't looking good. And he understood why she would want to rule all of the goblins herself. Divided, they were almost guaranteed to end up as the weakest of the three races.

And while humans also outnumbered the thal’kesh, there were still many of their elites in the trials, and they were still mostly at a high level. Not only that, but multiple thal’kesh had been in the trials for some time now. They also carried themselves with confidence, so if they were worried, they certainly didn’t show it.

However, it was very easy to miss people from Earth, and Aaron couldn’t be too sure of anything. The trials were gathering the greatest warriors from across the entire sector, and there were hundreds, if not thousands, already within them, creating crowds you could easily get lost in.

In fact, the only reason that the place seemed to hold so many people was that the hallway grew larger as more arrived, and yet it was still crowded. Not only that, but the arrival gate had essentially turned into a constant stream of new arrivals marching into the hallway.

Aaron actually stopped to watch it for a while. All kinds of aliens walked through, dressed in all manner of fantastic gear. It was quite the sight.

It shouldn’t have been too surprising, though. There was only a week of Tutorial time left. Anyone who believed themselves capable of taking out the Tutorial boss was probably going to take a crack at it by now. After all, there wasn’t too much point in trying to reach the trials if you weren’t going to have at least a little time to make something of it.

He checked on Talia once more as they walked down the hallway, but she seemed fine now. Then, he waved a couple of others who had followed them out of the room, and said his goodbyes before heading back to the dial.

Even with the improved speed of the line, it still took a little while to reach the dial. There were simply too many people now.

As he approached the dial, he took a moment to consider the other trials. Perhaps it was worth trying to fit in at least one more Trial of Companionship. After all, it could be an opportunity to get to know someone else headed to Superearth.

However, it was now time to earn some more tasty ingredients for his kitchen and grind out some Profession levels.

NEXT CHAPTER