Darius saw that there were enough seats for everyone, and the others noticed the same. As such, none got into an unnecessary fight over where to sit and chose their cushions freely.
Darius chose one to the side with Gunner to his left and Xela to his right. They all sat down at the same time and entered a meditative posture.
Once all the candidates sat down, the door to the tower closed softly, and the candelabras within lit up. The incense burners suddenly sparked as the incense within took fire and began releasing its fumes.
Strangely enough, these fumes seemed to angle themselves towards their specific user's nose or general breathing organs specifically, not wafting around the room.
Soon, many felt their eyelids become heavy. To the amusement of Darius, many wore ferocious expressions as their bloodshot eyes showed that they absolutely refused to succumb to this sleepiness.
It was apparent that those assumed this to already be the Test of Mettle, resisting this 'sleeping' incense. However, Darius doubted this, so he paid the others no mind. He simply closed his eyes and let him succumb to the beckoning darkness.
...…..
Darius woke up in the midst of a sandy desert. There were endless sand dunes as far as the eyes could see, and the sun was scorching hot, blazing down upon him mercilessly.
He checked his Status and was happy to see he had retained all his powers and abilities, though the Supreme System bluntly told him it would not offer its help during the trials as they were held within the mind.
Darius was fine with this, as long as he hed access to all his magic, his Dragon-related abilities, and his knowledge. Transmutation, the System Brand, and certain abilities were not accessible since the Supreme System controlled those.
One of these abilities was both of his classes, Itemancer and Magus. He could not use Analyze nor Combine and Swap, and he lost his ability to instant cast. Any magic he used would have to be done traditionally, like the average Faustian mage.
This intrigued Darius, as he pondered while the sun came down on him. He looked around and released his Advanced Psychomancy ability to scan the area around him.
As far as his senses could reach in all directions, there was nothind but endless desert and sun. This made him raise an eyebrow as he subtly began to understand what was going on here.
As far as he could tell, he was in an endless desert that had no other life but himself. This seemed to be the setting for the Test of Mettle.
Darius smiled and laughed slightly. 'How devious. No wonder so many failed, no wonder!'
He then looked around and began focusing on his magic. He went through the circuits for the Stone to Mud spell which was also second nature to him since he practically 'owned' the Material element.
Even the Lightning, Spirit, and Space elements that Darius had more than average natural talent in were not as fluent to him as this element.
This way the Magus created a simple one-room cottage with a window-opening and a doorway. He entered inside to avoid the scorching sun and nodded when he felt the cool shade.
His Endurance allowed him to largely ignore the discomfort, yet it didn't fully eliminate it. Especially since it would build up over time and return to feeling how it should if one were a mortal.
The cottage was bare as one would expect, so he channeled the same spell and created a table, some chairs, a bed, and a bookshelf. Darius frowned as he rubbed his chin, pondering many things.
"This will be difficult and time-consuming, but it will be worth it. There is much to gain here and I cannot let this chance up." Darius murmured with conviction.
He walked out of the cottage, gazed at an area near the cottage, before using the Stone to Mud once more to create a huge dome-shaped building that drained almost 20% of his mana.
Well, Darius' disadvantages from overreliance on the system were clear. What would have taken only 1 point of MP under the System rules had taken him almost 5,740 MP.
However, Darius was shocked to learn something else. When using magic without the Supreme System for the Material element, he had a full range of control!
To put it simply what was a level 1 Stone to Mud for Darius through the Supreme System was level 20 (Max) Stone to Mud under the Faustian System.
No wonder being an Element Discoverer was such hot stuff!
No wonder people regularly killed themselves in the pursuit of discovering one!
During their lifetime, they would be unparalleled within that element. It was worth any pain and hardships if that was the case.
However, the Supreme System had clearly blocked such a thing using its usual excuse. It had even greatly nerfed the power Darius should have received from his now Dragon blood.
Darius' eyes lit up. Since the Supreme System was not here, it should mean that organic growth was actually possible.
The power he should have received from various things outside the system should be active and most importantly... could be grown!
Darius chuckled. There was so much to explore about himself and his power, and he had the perfect setting to do so.
However, first things first, he cautioned himself to follow a set plan and not jump onto every new idea like a witless child.
Darius checked the dome he created and nodded. He then walked within and used Stone to Mud to clear a hole within creating a large basin.
Rasing a finger, he cast the basic spell of the Water element, Pulse. Unlike with the Supreme System where a torrent came out, only a little flow sprouted from his finger, like a weak tap.
Darius smiled bitterly.
It wasn't that the spell was weak, nor that he was weak, but simply that he lacked proficiency casting this spell without the Supreme System. This was a problem easily solvable, he just had to repeatedly practice until he mastered it.
Just like how he had made Ash and co. master their spells and show him, now it was time for him to do the same to reach perfection.
