"We're missing one? Who is it?"
"Ery Ambrose… a beast-man from a small border-town faction," an assistant replied, sounding unimpressed.
A few scoffs rippled through the elite alchemists' section. "He's only in the Magus realm and barely passed the last challenge. Just eliminate him already," one of them sneered.
Before the examiner could declare, a voice rang out from the crowd.
"I am here. I am Ery… I am ready."
Heads turned as Ery erged, his calm deanor masking the rush he'd felt to arrive in ti. He had ensured Levi received proper treatnt before returning, barely reaching the test's final round. Despite the murmurs of skepticism around him, Ery confidently walked toward the obelisk.
The task was straightforward enough to understand: channel his soul energy into the monunt and endure its trial.
The crowd watched with little expectation as the seemingly unremarkable Magus approached the monunt. Even the fey girl, who had bested all others with her 90-rune feat, spared him only a passing glance before looking away.
Ery stood before the towering obelisk. He took a deep breath, centered himself, and channeled his spirit energy into his arm. As soon as his hand touched the monunt, his consciousness was wrenched from his body.
He found himself standing in a vast, surreal structure—a labyrinthine building of infinite doors and spiraling staircases. The air was thick with energy, every step echoing as if the space itself were alive.
"This is the soul trial... interesting" Ery muttered to himself, quickly assessing his surroundings.
By the ti he reached level 61, the trial began to show its true nature. Each level was a battleground of elental forces—torrential water cascades, walls of searing fla, deadly lightning storms, shifting earth, entangling plants, roaring winds, fields of razor-sharp ice, and traps of unyielding tal. These were no ordinary challenges; each required an intricate understanding of the corresponding elental law to overco.
The challenge was clear: ascend through the levels of this labyrinth, each more treacherous than the last. The first thirty levels of the trial posed little challenge to Ery. He navigated them with ease, his experience and instinct allowing him to breeze past traps and puzzles designed to test the basics of skill and awareness. However, as he advanced to the next thirty levels, the difficulty increased significantly, demanding more focus and effort.
By the ti he reached level 61, the trial began to show its true nature. Each level was a battleground of elental forces—torrential water cascades, walls of searing fla, deadly lightning storms, shifting earth, entangling plants, roaring winds, fields of razor-sharp ice, and traps of unyielding tal. These were no ordinary challenges; each required an intricate understanding of the corresponding elental law to overco.
The trials were relentless. Ery found himself hacking through dense, enchanted forests where every branch seed alive and hostile. He scaled towering icy cliffs, the cold seeping into his very core as he struggled to maintain his footing on slippery ledges. He plunged into lakes of molten lava, forced to craft intricate shields to survive the unbearable heat.
Each level was a unique test of intellect and endurance. The elental forces were not just obstacles but living manifestations of the laws themselves, adapting to his strategies and pushing him to his limits.
Fortunately, Ery's transmutation technique gave him an edge. He transford barriers into bridges, neutralized flas with conjured water, and restructured earth to shield himself from lightning. He adapted quickly, drawing on both his knowledge and creativity to turn each level's challenge into an opportunity to improve.
But the trial was unforgiving. By the ti he passed level 81, three days had elapsed. Ery's mind felt stretched thin, his soul energy depleted from the constant ntal strain. Yet the trial offered no respite.
From level 81 onward, the challenges shifted from elental traps to sothing far more sinister—pure energy. Ery was thrust into alternating environnts of radiant light and suffocating darkness.
One level would be flooded with warm, blinding light, every corner pulsing with soothing but overwhelming energy. The light seed to probe at his soul, testing his resolve to maintain clarity and balance amidst its purity. The next level plunged him into chaotic darkness, a place where his senses were drowned in shadows and his mind was assaulted by whispers and illusions.
These levels tested not just his strength or skill but his very identity. Ery quickly understood why so many acolytes failed here—only those with extraordinary soul strength could withstand such extres.
Yet Ery had an advantage that others lacked. His life had been a constant balancing act between light and dark forces, a duality he had embraced rather than feared. Drawing on this harmony, he navigated the treacherous paths, enduring both the relentless light and the consuming dark with equal determination.
Still, the strain was imnse. Each step forward felt like wading through quicksand, each challenge more taxing than the last. Ery could feel the weight of the trial bearing down on him, his soul stretched thin by the opposing forces.
By the ti he reached level 90, a full week had passed. This final stretch was a culmination of all that had co before. The trial no longer alternated between light and dark but combined them into a single, volatile force. Light and darkness swirled together in chaotic harmony, each seeking to overpower the other.
The environnt was a maelstrom of energy, a battlefield where the slightest misstep could an failure. Even Ery's Mastery in Dao struggled to maintain balance amidst the opposing forces. His mind was battered, his body exhausted, but Ery refused to give up. With gritted teeth and unyielding determination, he pushed through the final levels, step by agonizing step.
Ten agonizing days passed in the soul realm, though in the real world, it had been a re ten minutes.
The spectators, who had initially dismissed him, were now transfixed. They watched in awe as the monunt's runes lit up one by one, climbing steadily from the base toward the summit.
"Eighty-five… eighty-six… eighty-seven…"
By the ti he reached the 90th rune, gasps echoed through the courtyard. Even the Skyroot patriarch rose from his seat, his normally stoic expression giving way to astonishnt.
"Who is this Magus?" he demanded, turning to his aides. "Find out everything about him."
anwhile, the fey girl watched with wide eyes, her earlier dismissal replaced by intrigue. The 91st rune began to glow, surpassing her achievent.
Murmurs spread like wildfire among the onlookers.
"He's passed her…"
"Who is this man?"
But Ery wasn't done yet. With a final surge of effort, he pushed himself to light the 92nd rune. The obelisk blazed brilliantly before suddenly dimming, signaling the end of the trial. Ery's consciousness was forcefully ejected from the soul realm.
He opened his eyes, breathing heavily but standing firm. Around him, the courtyard was silent, the spectators too stunned to speak.
Ery glanced at the examiner, "Did I pass the test?"
x x x x x x x
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