Free Web NovelChapter 15: The Second Trial II
[You have arrived at the second trial of the sanctuary!]
[You have amassed enough evolution points to evolve your rank!]
[Ding! You have gained the title of a Soul-Hunter!]
Rentaro glanced around quietly as flashes of light appeared across the vast open field. One after another, Awakeners materialized from the glowing portals, their figures emerging beneath the wide sky.
Some looked confused, others calm, while a few released faint waves of energy that brushed across the grass. Within moments, the once empty field was filled with hundreds of people.
"Princess! Princess!" From afar, two voices suddenly called out to Princess Sylvaria. Rentaro turned as two men with pointed ears rushed across the field toward her.
Both wore silver elf guard uniforms lined with green markings, and each carried a long green spear in their hands. Relief and urgency filled their faces as they quickly approached her, they were the guards assigned to protect her, and after the first trial of the sanctuary separated virtually every gathering, they couldn’t help but fear for her safety.
"Are you alright princess!?" They surrounded her quickly, then started examining her to make sure nothing was out of place.
"I’m alright Lorian, Eldrin."
"Thank Gaia." Lorian, her right hand guard sighed in relief. Her torn clothes at her stomach region highlighted her injury, but thankfully the healing factor of the royal elf bloodline was a good factor that resolved it.
"And who’s this princess?" Eldrin turned as he noticed Rentaro behind them, then his eyes snapped open and his senses were on full alert almost immediately.
"A human!" Lorian senses snapped to full alert too, and both elf guards raised their spears at him at once, their eyes filled with hostility.
"Stand down, Lorian, Eldrin. As far as we should be concerned, this particular human saved my life, so just this once, we will overlook it."
The two guards exchanged quick glances, they were skeptical, but an order from the princess of the elves was absolute.
They relaxed their guards and put down their spears. Rentaro could see it, the rage and anger in their eyes as they stared at him. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
He had no idea of the history between the human race and the elf race, after all he wasn’t a denizen of this world. But by Sylvaria’s actions and words in the first sanctuary, and now her guard’s hostility towards him, it wasn’t hard to gauge the hatred the elf kind had towards humans.
"We shall go our separate ways, the next time we meet, it won’t be to exchange pleasantries." Princess Sylvaria said firmly, then turned around and walked away with her guards directly behind her.
"Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that." Rentaro muttered under his breath as she walked away.
He sighed, then raised his right hand to his field of vision. His hands were still trembling slightly, visibly shaking. He stared at it for a while and tried to understand why.
Princess Sylvaria had healed all injuries he sustained, even almost half of his Soul-Energy had returned, so he didn’t understand why they were still shaken.
As he thought more about it, the answer came to him as he recalled the top moments of his encounter in the first trial, especially with his right hand.
That’s right.
He did something he never thought he’d ever do as long as he lived.
He killed a man, not an in-game character or creature, but a sound man of flesh and blood just like him, murdered by his own hands in cold blood.
"Is this what it means to survive?" His eyes trembled even more as he thought about it, at first he wasn’t really thinking about the precautions of his actions, but now that he did, he couldn’t comprehend it as easily as he thought he would.
That was the downsides of survival one rarely talked about, they never really understood the implications of what they had to do in order to survive in the real world.
This very phenomenon created a nexus that ultimately forced humanity to choose between in the sanctuary.
"Rentaro!" Another voice suddenly called out to Rentaro from behind. He turned slightly and saw his original teammates walking toward him through the crowd, their faces filled with relief after finally finding him.
"Timmy, Eliza, Alexa, Jake. You all managed to pass the first trial?" He asked, a faint smile curled at the side of his lips.
He knew at first glance that the team Eliza assembled was strong, even individually by themselves. But put together, almost nothing could hinder their progress.
"Yeah! We managed just by the skin of our necks, the sanctuary really does live up to its reputation."
They all sustained serious injuries during the trial, but thanks to their healer, those injuries were quickly healed. However, there was a limit to the kind of injuries Alexa could heal, thankfully their wounds fell under her limits.
"Damn..." Jake muttered silently as he stared around at the Awakeners that passed the first trial. Their numbers had dwindled by a great margin, before the first trial began, a total of 100 newly summoned Awakeners lost their lives to the beasts that lurked at spawn points waiting for them.
Now after the first trial, the total number of Awakeners in the sanctuary dwindled down from 3000 to just 450, that was even beyond what the requirements specified.
"Greetings, participants of the second trial of the sanctuary."
A dark, cold voice suddenly echoed throughout the entire field, spreading from every direction at once as if invisible speakers were placed across the vast land at every corner.
The crowd immediately looked around in confusion, searching for whoever had spoken. Then, high above them, a red hooded figure slowly materialized in the air. Its massive cloak hung far larger than its body, fluttering unnaturally in the wind.
One by one, all eyes slowly turned upward toward it.
"Congratulations on passing the first trial of the sanctuary, I applaud your efforts. I am the examiner of the second trial."
"Examiner?" A voice from the crowd spoke.
"Yes, each trial of the sanctuary comes with its own exclusive examiner." The hooded figure replied.
"Huh!? Then why wasn’t there any examiner in the first trial?"
"The first trial of the sanctuary is more of a preamble than an actual trial, it’s a warmup to the real trial of the Sanctuaries, and surprisingly, there are far more humans in this trial than initially anticipated."
"Don’t screw around with us! What do you mean by a preamble!?"
"That’s bullshit you bastard!"
The participants of the second trial shouted in anger, most especially those who lost a dear comrade in the first trial.
The hooded figure remained silent as they vented their frustrations, and once they finally fell quiet, it spoke.
"For this trial, you all have to divide yourselves into a team of five, otherwise the trial cannot be accessible by you. Once you’ve formed your team and registered, the second trial will begin for your team."
Just as quickly as the figure came, it disappeared and dissipated into thin air.
There was no time to think, no time to react to the examiner’s words, instead all awakeners rushed at each other to assemble their team of five.
"I guess we’re set then?" Eliza asked as she glanced at all the individuals she hand selected.
"Yeah."
"Definitely."
"I’m ready when you are."
Eliza looked at Rentaro, and in all honesty? He was skeptical. Firstly, he hadn’t even recovered all of his Soul-Energy, and the two abilities in his arsenal demanded heavy use of it, even though technically he won’t be using the Timeless ability anytime soon.
’We just cleared the first trial and we aren’t even given some ample time to rest?’ He sighed, then nodded in agreement.
"Alright, register." The bodies of the team suddenly shimmered with faint light as Eliza entered the command code. A pulse of energy swept over them, and in the next instant, they vanished completely. Moments later, they reappeared inside a large, empty room surrounded by cold metal walls.
"Welcome... humans."
They all turned around immediately, and stared at the figure that stood right in front of them, it was the examiner for the second trial.
"In the second trial, you are given two options to choose from. Firstly, you can proceed as planned, and after obtaining the Soul Fragment of the second level, you can ascend to the next level. However, by clearing the second option, you can ascend two levels of the sanctuary."
Their eyes widened in disbelief as the examiner spoke, ascending two levels at once? It sounded ridiculous given how the first trial turned out.
They all glanced at each other, and for a moment, they understood each other. If truly the first trial was a preamble, that meant in order to ascend to the next level, they had to obtain the Soul Fragment of each level.
But just by clearing this option alone, they could ascend two levels?
It was a tempting offer indeed, because in the first trial they had to survive individually, but here, they could work together as a team and undoubtedly ascend to the five levels.
It didn’t take long before they made up their minds.
"We choose the second option." Eliza spoke on their behalf.
Rentaro could feel a slight grin appearing on the face of the hooded figure as it said. "Very well, good luck on your trial."
Almost immediately, the hooded figure slowly vanished into the air.
Everywhere fell silent, so silent that it became uneasy.
"Um guys, is it me, or do you all also think there has to be some kind of catch to this?" Timmy spoke up, nervous to his core.
"Yeah... ascending two levels at once? There definitely is, we can only hope we can pull through it together, this is the sanctuary we are talking abou-"
As Jake spoke, the entire room suddenly began to tremble violently, like a powerful earthquake had struck. The shaking threw the team slightly off balance, forcing some of them to steady themselves. Then, with a loud metallic sound, the cold steel walls slowly slid open.
A massive humanoid creature stepped out from the darkness.
Its body was huge and muscular, with well-defined abs and thick arms covered in gray skin. Its legs resembled those of a lion, powerful and beast-like, while a long, thick tail stretched out beneath the rag wrapped around its lower body.
Sharp yellow claws extended from both its hands and feet, and countless fangs filled its mouth. Above its head were two large protruding horns, curving upward menacingly. At the center of its chest rested a large circular mark containing five empty slots within it.
Then, the creature roared so loudly that the crew could almost feel their eardrums pop.
[You have encountered the Great Spirit Guardian!]
[Supreme Adaptive General— Mahashima]
