Chapter 17: The Second Trial (1)
“Did she say, come back alive?”
“Just how dangerous is this?”
I could feel the tension among the Coming-of-Age Ceremony participants after hearing Diana’s words.
The mission given in the second trial was dangerous.
Dangerous enough that even the supervisors could get injured.
They realized this wasn’t just about passing or failing the trial—it could be a matter of life and death.
Diana announced the scoring criteria.
“Time limit is three hours. Bringing back a creature marked with the examiner’s seal grants 20P. After that, it’s relative evaluation…”
Just bringing back a creature marked with the examiner’s seal would earn 20P.
Additional points would then be assigned at the discretion of the examiners.
The highest scorer would receive 10P.
Second place, 7P.
Third to fifth, 5P.
Sixth to ninth would get 3P in additional points.
The additional points awarded were higher than in the first trial.
If the trend of increasing points continued, simply having a high score from the first trial wouldn’t be enough to feel secure.
“…Now, everyone, choose your pit.”
The trial began with selecting a pit.
Thump, thump, thump.
I could feel my heart racing.
The effects of consuming Shaber’s heart were clearly wearing off.
“I’ll choose first. Everyone, pick carefully.”
“…Take care, Polarin.”
“Let’s all split up this time!”
After exchanging farewells with my temporary allies, I moved.
This time, I didn’t wait for others’ reactions.
I had already chosen a pit in advance.
In the second trial, it wasn’t just about scoring well—consuming the heart of a powerful beast was equally important.
With no idea when Pinnon would return, I couldn’t keep waiting for him.
The pit where the strongest beast I could handle resided.
I stopped in front of Pit 4.
“Even the top ranker’s no big deal, huh? Just picking a moderately safe option.”
Someone mocked me from behind, but I ignored them.
Soon, others began to move as well.
Among them, Balan and Keldric, who placed third and fourth, stood out.
They positioned themselves in front of the deepest pit.
No one knew what dangers lurked there, but they stepped forward bravely.
Soler, too, glanced at me before heading toward the deepest pit.
As expected, the shallowest pit attracted the most people, but Pit 4 also gathered a fair number.
Then, a man standing close to me muttered in a low voice.
“If you don’t make it out of a deep pit, who’s to say if it’s the beast’s fault or a human’s? Right?”
I turned to look at him.
He was a special participant dressed in the garb of the Crows, Myeolji’s guardians.
The Crows, Myeolji’s frontline defenders, guarded the dome, fighting beasts that escaped to prevent widespread damage across the continent.
“Those words could apply to you just as well, couldn’t they?”
When I shot back coldly, he twisted the corner of his mouth.
At a glance, it looked like a relaxed smile, but to me, it was nothing but bravado.
I smirked at him and replied.
“If you can keep up, follow me.”
* * *
“Trial begin.”
With Diana’s voice, a buzzer sounded.
Most participants cautiously descended by climbing the walls.
But I strode confidently toward the pit.
“Hey! Polarin!”
“It’s dangerous…”
Ignoring the worried voices of those from the lower autonomous regions, I leapt straight in.
Swoooosh.
The wind surged from the depths of the pit, and darkness instantly stole my vision.
The pit’s darkness didn’t just rob me of sight—it dulled my hearing and other senses as well.
The lingering power of the ancient demons was still at work.
The growls of beasts and the sound of the wind gradually faded.
This was the effect of Chilgong.
Humans, their senses dulled, became prey for beasts adapted to Chilgong.
That’s why I didn’t climb the walls and instead dove into Chilgong without hesitation.
I spread [Intangible Armor] widely, enveloping my entire body.
It would not only protect me from beasts’ attacks but also cushion the impact of hitting the ground.
Thud!
As my feet touched the ground, the [Intangible Armor] surrounding me shattered.
Until [Intangible Armor] repaired itself, I had no clear means of defense.
But that wasn’t a problem.
At the deepest part of this pit, there were no beasts that would attack me.
The most effective way to counter the demons’ power was mana.
I began circulating mana within my body to regain my senses.
The Dragon Heart, rattled by the shock of [Intangible Armor] breaking, spun fiercely.
Though my low rank limited the amount of mana I could handle, the pit’s field effect slowed mana dissipation, allowing the mana at my fingertips to illuminate my surroundings without fading.
‘If I hadn’t come here in the game, I’d have struggled. Well, at least my vision’s clear now.’
The movement of mana began to push back the demons’ power that dulled my senses.
Not only my vision but also my bodily sensations gradually returned.
I crouched and felt the ground beneath me.
It was hard and smooth, unlike the rough texture of dirt.
Of course.
I was standing on the carapace of Carnot, a Grade 2 beast and the master of Pit 4.
Its massive body didn’t budge even when I stomped with all my might.
Strangely, it resembled a crab you’d see at the beach.
The problem was its immense size.
Its body filled the entire pit, with pincers alone measuring about 3 meters.
The height of its protruding eyes exceeded my own.
But I wasn’t intimidated by its size.
“The spot where Adjak left a wound… should be around here.”
I walked between Carnot’s eyes.
On its sturdy shell, I saw an old, unhealed scar.
A wound left by Adjak 300 years ago.
I raised the Branch of World Tree and struck the scar.
Crack!
As I attacked the scar with the Branch of World Tree, small shell fragments flew.
A faint crack began to form in the shell, which wouldn’t budge even under heavy bombardment.
The [Cutting] effect imbued in the Branch of World Tree had taken hold.
Crack! Crack, crack, crack!
Even as I struck repeatedly, Carnot didn’t attack me.
Classified as a Grade 2 beast solely for its defensive power, centuries had made this monster even tougher.
Carnot, trusting its defense, endured the onslaught without resistance.
When its opponent tired and collapsed, it would slowly crush them with its pincers and devour them.
Even as its shell was breaking, it merely curled up, waiting for its attacker to exhaust themselves.
“No idea how long you can hold out.”
Let’s go all the way.
* * *
Blaze, a Crow, had disliked Polarin from the start.
No, he disliked all of Adjak’s descendants who came to participate in the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.
Spoiled flowers raised in the greenhouse of the Adjak Autonomous Region.
The Crows were tasked with protecting that greenhouse.
Stationed at the border of Myeolji and the Empire, they slayed beasts that attacked the Empire, acting as its guardians.
‘If we hadn’t protected them, these brats wouldn’t have survived, and yet they strut around.’
Raised under a Crow father, Blaze wielded a sword as soon as he could walk.
Not just swinging a wooden sword for training, but learning to protect himself from beasts and hunt them.
The day after his father, praised as an Adjak descendant, died, Blaze took up his sword and fought beasts.
Years later, he lost his mother too.
He swung his sword every day without fail, always living close to death.
Then, a special personnel escort came and explained the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.
- It’s a ritual all Adjak descendants must participate in.
- If I leave, more will die. I can’t go.
- You have to come. No exceptions.
Blaze requested the commander of the Crow’s 6th Legion to refuse the draft, but the answer was an immediate rejection.
‘…What’s so great about the Adjak family? They’ve barely helped us, and now they demand I follow their ritual?’
Filled with resentment, Blaze participated in the ceremony with a scoff.
Greenhouse flowers who seemed to have lived lives far from death.
Those flowers were busy arguing over first and second place, engaging in petty rivalries.
Chilgong Fortress, home to various beasts?
Blaze wasn’t afraid.
Even in an era of peace, he had fought countless beasts that emerged from the purple dome near Myeolji, steeped in dark mana.
That’s why he couldn’t acknowledge Polarin, who had taken first in the first trial.
That’s why he’d taunted him before the trial began.
Blaze recalled what Polarin had said before jumping into the pit.
‘Follow if you can? How dare he.’
But he could set that anger aside.
Jumping unprepared into a place where senses were dulled—Polarin was unlikely to return unscathed.
An inexperienced fool would pay for his reckless choice.
Blaze descended the pit by climbing the walls.
The deeper he went, the duller his senses became, but having worked near Myeolji for years, Blaze knew how to resist the demons’ power by circulating mana.
He felled several beasts that lunged from the darkness.
He even caught a few with blue seals, already meeting the 20P condition, but Blaze wasn’t satisfied.
‘Polarin, I need to see if that arrogant brat is alive or dead.’
Blaze descended further, deeper.
The pit seemed endless.
The deeper he went, the stronger the beasts became.
Even Blaze, who had faced no difficulty at the entrance, encountered several life-threatening situations.
Cold sweat ran down his spine.
Groping the walls precariously, Blaze saw a white light below.
Having lingered in the darkness for so long, the light felt jarring.
‘Someone’s down there.’
Only one person could be ahead of him.
Blaze climbed toward the light but flinched.
A sharp, piercing mana struck him.
His instincts, honed from countless battles with beasts, warned him.
Going there was dangerous.
But Blaze couldn’t turn back.
If that white light belonged to Polarin, he wanted to know what he was doing in such a deep place.
So, suppressing his fear, Blaze moved forward, step by step.
Finally, nearing the white light, Blaze was stunned.
He locked eyes with the protruding eyes atop a mountain-like carapace.
‘Carnot? And… a powerful beast that’s lived for centuries.’
Blaze had seen Carnot near Myeolji a few times, but never one this massive.
It was mythical in size.
Blaze instinctively thought Polarin was dead.
Even if Carnot was sluggish and defense-oriented, it was a Grade 2 beast.
When its life was threatened, it would attack with its massive pincers.
Only now did he realize.
Polarin, a frail flower, had made it this far—an impressive feat.
Determined to at least confirm his body, Blaze suppressed his fear and leapt onto Carnot’s carapace.
Thud!
Landing on Carnot’s body, Blaze doubted his eyes.
“What the!”
Carnot’s carapace was already shattered.
No, that wasn’t the issue.
Polarin was chewing on Carnot’s innards.
He even offered Blaze the heart.
“He’s insane!”
Polarin opened his mouth to say something, but Blaze, in a panic, didn’t hear it.
Even Blaze, who had fought countless beasts, had never seen a madman kill a beast, rip out its heart, and eat it raw.
Blood dripped from Polarin’s mouth, and his gleaming eyes shone with an eerie light.
More ominous and terrifying than any beast, Blaze quickly climbed the walls to escape.
As if fleeing.
* * *
“What’s his deal? I was gonna share the heart since he seemed gutsy.”
I looked up at the wall where the Crow guy had bolted.
Then I surveyed my surroundings.
The battle scars on the walls and the massive, now-immobile beast’s body.
‘The Coming-of-Age Ceremony trial.It felt oddly familiar… and there was a reason for that….’