"What... is he doing?"
Although he found Ataraxia’s decision to attempt the first trial again slightly absurd, the man still went ahead with it, considering that the possibility of the young man going farther on his next attempt was far higher than him achieving a result that was worse than his first one.
However, just as he thought that the young man would make use of a card picking strategy that was an improvent over his previous one, Aeramis instead found the young man choosing the delayed boost cards every turn.
"He’s not gaining any stats at all," murmured the man to himself, feeling a hint of concern towards Ataraxia as the first race crept closer and closer.
"Is he choosing the third type every turn as an act of rebellion or sothing?
Still confused by the young man’s decision, the man continued to watch the young man pick his cards, only for the latter to continue choosing cards that offered stat multipliers in the following turn.
Because of that, Aeramis thought that he should give Ataraxia a bit of leeway in his second attempt, eventually coming to the decision to reset the young man’s progress without using up one of his attempts whatsoever.
Though, before he could tell the latter of the final decision he ca up with, Ataraxia went ahead and did sothing that caused the man to briefly pause in his steps.
Whoosh!
With only one turn remaining before the final race, the young man surprisingly chose not to pick up yet another delayed boost card before the final turn.
Instead, he chose to pick up a flat boost card that increased both his maximum speed and acceleration.
"Too little too late." Though the man felt a hint of relief in the thought that Ataraxia wasn’t actually throwing his attempt away for nothing, Aeramis still felt that choosing a flat boost card on the last turn wouldn’t do much to turn the tides around.
After all, there was only so much a delayed boost card could do.
Yet, as if the young man was showing him that his thoughts were wrong...
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
At the very mont Ataraxia chose the flat boost card, the stats on his signboard swiftly began to climb up, with both stats easily reaching a value that was in the double digits within seconds.
By the ti the stats on the board stopped climbing, the young man’s maximum speed and acceleration were at least five tis higher than what the first entity had, indirectly telling Aeramis that he could clear the next few races without much issue.
’...?!’
Unsurprisingly, once he saw the young man’s stats greatly increase all of a sudden, the man was briefly left at an utter loss for words, the gears in his mind turning as he tried to figure out why Ataraxia’s stats went up that much in one turn.
Though, once he recalled how the young man had been choosing delayed boost cards for most of the turns he had, it did not take long for Aeramis to figure everything out, a wry smile appearing on his face the mont he did.
’To think he actually listened to my explanation of the trial’s chanics earlier,’ muttered the man to himself as he watched the young man clear the first race with ease.
Although he felt glad in the fact that the young man would be able to reach greater heights in his second attempt, the man also felt as if he had been lied to by the young man that had caught his interest.
After all, to him, the fact that the boosts from those cards could stack that much was undoubtedly an unintended feature the trial’s chanics had.
’Then again, considering how I would’ve probably fixed it the mont he pointed it out, I suppose keeping it to himself was a better idea,’ thought the man after that, letting out a slight chuckle as he watched the young man with amusent.
’For now, I’ll keep the chanics of the trials as is. It would be unfair if I were to deprive those who entered the inheritance at the sa ti as him the sa opportunity he got.’
’However, it’s up to them to figure it out,’ inwardly muttered Aeramis to himself, already planning to give the others subtle hints on the unintended feature.
’In any case, with him relying on the trial’s unintended feature, how far would he actually be able to go?’
With that in mind, Aeramis watched Ataraxia choose his next set of cards in earnest, now understanding the logic behind the young man’s choices.
While doing so, he surmised that the young man would be able to clear the 14th opponent at the very least, which would net the young man an above average score.
Though, as he continued to keep track of the young man’s choices, the man eventually began to realize that Ataraxia... might just go beyond the 14th entity.
...
Whoosh!
With each of his steps forming a sonic boom, Ataraxia briefly cast a glance to his side, checking to see if the entity was moving at the sa speed as him.
Swoosh!
Surprisingly, the entity was able to keep up pace, even showing signs that it would be able to surpass him in the end.
However, just as the entity was beginning to speed up, the young man began to speed up as well, evening out the advantage both sides had in terms of speed.
In the end, the maximum speed Ataraxia had was the reason why he had won against his current opponent, allowing him to achieve a top speed that was already above Mach 25.
’If this trial doesn’t have any end, I might just start moving at a fraction of the speed of light,’ thought the young man to himself, faintly wondering if there was a limit to how fast he and the entity would go before the trial crumpled under their sheer speed.
Nevertheless, with the running tracks intact and the creator silent, Ataraxia made his way back to the start of his running track, sowhat eager to see what kind of speeds he and the entity would achieve in the 21st race.
Though, just as he was about to select his first card in preparation for the next round, Aeramis ca up to him, looking at him with a solemn expression.
"There’s no need for you to choose another card," said the man, which unsurprisingly made Ataraxia look back at him in confusion.
"Why’s that?" the latter asked, only to pause as he pondered over the man’s words for a bit.
"Wait... are you telling ...?"
"Yes." The man confird his suspicions with a firm nod. "If your thoughts are the sa as mine, then yes. You did it."
"You’ve reached the limit of the first trial."
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