A few hours earlier.
Amyra was waiting in the dorm lobby.
Why is my dear so late today?
Is he perhaps dreaming about ?
Definitely.
She blushed, letting her thoughts go wild.
Just then–
A ding sound echoed out of the elevator.
Alden exited the elevator.
Amyra hid herself to avoid being noticed by him.
She followed him to the classroom quietly.
As soon as he entered, she entered after a while.
She heard all the rumours ongoing in class.
Her heart pounded listening to each one.
Soone said she was carrying Alden's child. Whereas so said they had been in a secret affair for a while.
She sneaked a peek at Alden.
His expressions were just out of this world. He looked as if his soul was going to leave his body.
That's your punishnt for getting close to that b*tch, my dear.
But I have to say his panicked expressions are too cute.
I wish I could take so pictures.
But in this class she couldn't sneak a picture without anyone noticing.
If only everyone except and my dear vanished from this world.
How cool that would be.
Soon the professor arrived and stopped the gossip.
The classes continued like always. Boring and useless.
Her only focus was on Alden.
After the classes were over, Alden didn't wait for his friend Aziel and just rushed to his dorm room.
Amyra did the sa.
It was ti to implent the next step of her plan after all.
She has to et him alone.
Soon she was out of his room.
She knocked on the door to his room. It was her first ti being here.
But it won't be the last.
Definitely.
No response.
He must not have heard it.
She knocked again.
Still no response.
He must have been busy.
But what if he is in trouble?
What if his life is in danger?
Amyra was just thinking of ways to enter the room forcefully.
Finding justifications to enter.
Yeah, definitely.
He won't be mad if I enter to save him.
She looked at the door.
The door had a mana lock.
It worked on the mana signature. Only the owner's mana could unlock it.
There was a card access. But only staff mbers had such cards.
But Amyra didn't look flustered.
"Nullscape Domain", she simply muttered.
But instead of spreading out her domain like usual, she spread it around only her fingers which touched the doorknob.
A clicking sound resounded before the door opened.
This is definitely not breaking in.
Right?
Well, whatever.
Dismissing her useless thoughts, she entered the room.
The hall was just plain, with a couch and a large TV.
There were absolutely no decorations whatsoever.
Just then Amyra felt a wave of energy from the bedroom.
The energy was familiar. She quickly walked towards that room.
She had already sensed what was happening inside the room with her senses.
Alden, for so reason, was unconscious, and the spirit pearl was reacting violently.
She entered the room without any delay.
Amyra didn't understand herself what was happening with Alden.
He was unconscious, and the spirit pearl was reacting violently. But from the looks of it, Alden seed to be in a suspended state.
His soul was not in his body. She has sensed that already.
Is he undergoing that trial already?
Why?
Threads of fate have shifted too much.
She decided to calm the spirit pearl first.
"Calm down. Everything's alright, little guy." Amyra said softly. "He's just completing a trial."
After the spirit pearl cald down. She looked at Alden.
His face looked so serene. She had co here for a different reason.
But seeing Alden unconscious, another idea appeared in her mind.
Should I—--?
I an, he won't notice…
Right?
And it's not like I'm doing sothing bad.
I just need—
Well, it's all for his own good.
Amyra let out a mischievous smile.
I'll be done quickly.
Just bear a little, ok, my dear…
Saying such, she pulled out a knife from her storage ring.
Just a little.
She inched closer to his face… She could feel his breath on her body…
She felt the urge to just kiss him … but she controlled her urge.
No…
Not without his consent.
Well, at least not when he's unconscious.
She dismissed her useless thoughts.
As she sliced his finger with her knife. She flinched. She cut his finger, but she felt the pain.
Alden didn't even respond to it.
She quickly held a vial under the injury to collect a few drops of blood.
As soon as she was done, she took out a healing potion and spilt so drops over the injury.
It didn't even take long before it was healed without a spot.
After she was done with the hard part. Now was the ti for an easy one.
She sliced her finger and collected her blood in a different vial.
After that vial was filled, she gulped a healing potion.
Throughout the process, she didn't even flinch.
Now for the final part.
She held both the vial of her blood and Alden's blood above Spirit Pearl.
And she emptied both vials on it at the sa ti.
As soon as their blood touched the spirit pearl, it got absorbed into it without a trace.
The Spirit Pearl started shining in a black and blood-red colour for a while before it stopped.
This was sothing Alden didn't know yet. But for Spirit Pearl to hatch completely, it needed blood.
The resultant spirit's potential would depend on the blood it absorbed.
There was a slight side effect to it as well. The spirit's affinity with the blood owners will increase significantly.
This was sothing Amyra had decided to do eventually, as without that, it would not have hatched.
She was planning to do it gradually when she got the chance. But seeing Alden unconscious, she just couldn't miss the chance.
She was sure the trial wouldn't last long, at least on this side.
After she was done with the process, she took a seat beside Alden.
She has to et Alden imdiately after he regains consciousness.
A new improvised plan began forming inside her mind.
"You'll understand one day, my dear."
She whispered, brushing a stray strand of hair from his forehead.
"And when that day cos… maybe you'll forgive for everything I did and I am planning to do."
What should I do in the anti, my dear?
She took out her ManaSync as she began taking pictures of Alden.
____
Back in The Trial.
Mokha was casually sipping tea sitting at his usual place.
How many years has it been since the last challenger?
I think today will be the day a new challenger cos.
This was sothing Mokah thought daily. It had beco his routine to hope a new challenger would arrive.
But alas.
Never did it happen.
He was tied to this place.
A punishnt for his single mistake. He couldn't break free till he was defeated.
Sothing that was impossible in a straight battle for most people.
But Mokah found a loophole.
The punishnt only said he had to be defeated, and it didn't say anything about what.
So he took advantage of it.
Many challengers ca to this trial.
So by so demonic swords and so by strange dungeons.
He offered them a chance. The freedom to challenge him in any domain. Be it combat, music, dance, riddles, art, cooking, mory gas—anything.
But no one could beat him. He was too perfect. Not by choice, but by curse.
He felt pity for the challenger when they lost. They had to be frozen in ti with their senses intact.
But he couldn't even help them by losing intentionally.
He had to be perfect within his own capabilities.
Every ti.
No mistakes allowed.
It was lonely, in its own twisted way.
Am I fated to be locked in here for eternity?
Just then—
The space stirred and started shaking.
A new challenger?
I hope he can defeat .
But as soon as Mokah saw the challenger, his expectations shattered.
He saw an ordinary-looking boy with red eyes and black hair standing cluelessly like an idiot.
Another pitiful soul.
Mokah avoided getting too close to challengers because once they lose, they beco a husk, which broke his heart many tis.
So he stopped caring about them personally.
He even tried to be rude with them to get their competitive side out…
"Well, well, who do we have here?"
"A human?"
"A demon maybe?"
"On second thought, this one looks a bit too ugly to be one."
Mokah mocked the boy who had just entered.
Most of the challengers snapped at lines like this and attacked him imdiately.
For so reason they cared a lot about their appearances.
But the boy didn't react to anything. His face was calm even under this insult.
That's interesting…
Mokah found the boy interesting. His eyes started glowing golden.
He had activated his "All Seeing Eyes" as he analysed the boy calmly.
At first he saw nothing on the surface except the rare affinity the boy had.
He tried to dig deeper, activating his power more deeply.
Just then, a strange energy repelled his powers.
Hmm?
What was that energy?
Mokah, in his long life, has seen many challenges, and even before that, he had fought many powerful people.
But he never felt that kind of energy.
It was cold and ominous, and at the sa ti it was warm and holy.
Although the boy had an eclipse elent affinity. That was still acceptable.
But that energy was sothing different.
It existed beneath the boy's surface like a second heartbeat.
Hidden… coiled.
Like a dormant beast waiting for the right mont to open its eyes.
Mokha pulled back his power instinctively.
Even his all-seeing eyes couldn't comprehend it fully.
Strange… Even my sight faltered?
He stared at Alden more closely now.
Not just as another lost challenger—but as sothing else. Sothing new.
Hoh… You're not as simple as you look, are you?
But Mokha still masked his intrigue behind a smug sip of tea.
Alden, oblivious to the scrutiny, was eyeing him with narrowed eyes.
"Are you the one in charge of this trial?"
Mokha almost chuckled. The boy's tone had a bite. Not fear, not awe—just irritation.
That was rare.
The interaction continued as before, just like how he did many tis before.
Mokha told him the rules, explained the stakes, the ten attempts, and the eternal consequence.
But inside, his thoughts stirred.
When Alden finally chose combat for his first round and the space twisted into an arena, Mokha stood slowly from his chair.
He summoned his staff lazily, twirling it once.
Let's see how you fight, boy. Show that hidden strength…
___
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