"Even with the turtles, it's going to be hard? What even is the trial about?" Enigma's mask disappeared at some point and her face showed the confusion on her mind.
"Actually, it's a grand trial consisted a couple of trials. They can pass most but will inevitably fail," Varian went through the information in his mind and continued, "The first trial is the most simple of all."
"The Expedition."
— — —
Prince Shak and others appeared in a plain land that stretched in all directions. The land, no, even the sky was ash colored. There was not a single plant, tree or even a stalk of grass in sight.
Sapphire Prince kicked the ground to check something.
"What the…"
Even though he kicked the ground with great strength, not even a tremor was felt.
But most surprising of all, not even a bit of dust rose into the air. Heck the ground didn't even have a grain of sand. The ash ground was just like a sheet of paper.
"This must be the Expedition stage. It seems to be common for all Synthetic Worlds, even for this weird one," Prince Shak looked around and commented. "But something feels off…"
A bright light flashed at the horizon and a beautiful vortex made of seven colors shone brightly.
"That's the exit to this trial!" Sapphire Prince said with a smile.
As everyone prepared to dash toward the vortex, the air suddenly grew heavy.
Boom!
A huge pressure fell onto everyone present and an invisible force seperated them into their respective teams.
Space grew erratic, showing that teleportation was prohibited. Dark clouds appeared in the sky, implying that flying was also prohibitten.
"This pressure isn't half bad," The Sovereigns were able to act casually despite the pressure. The hybrids too didn't show much discomfort.
But the Princes were sweating profusely. Despite being peak level 9, they were the weakest in their teams.
"Ugh, I can't fly like this, but I can walk…" Prince Shak said and took a step forward.
Sweat rolled down his forehead and his legs were shaking. But the Prince took one step after another.
Sovereign Alban felt pity watching his prince go through this hardship and wanted to shield him from pressure.
He sent a wisp of aura to cover Shak. But as his aura was about to envelop the prince, it was crushed by the invisible pressure and a formless fist hit Alban in the abdomen.
"Uh," Sovereign Alban swallowed the blood that rose up his throat and smiled wrly. 'Looks like he has to do it himself.'
Like Prince Shak, Sapphire Prince and Emerald Prince were also moving forward with great struggle.
Thankfully, even though it's hard, it's doable.
They reached the vortex after three hours of excruciating walk.
— — —
"Unlike the other Synthetic Worlds—that's what the worlds these Primordial gods created are called—this one has a higher pressure. You need to be at least a peak level 9 to pass." Varian explained.
"Then we can't pass even the first trial, can we?" Sarah said with a dispirited expression. "After all, external help isn't allowed."
"Who knows," Varian simply smiled.
"You do!" Enigma snorted.
"…Anyway, this trial eliminated 3% of the contestants till date." Varian said. "Basically, this trial sets up the lower limit of the contestants. At least peak level 9."
The space crack behind him continued to expand slowly. But to bring the Sovereign turtles, the space must be robust.
So, Varian continued to expand the space crack and chatted with the girls. "The second one is Rainbow Trial."
"Huh?"
— — —
Emerald Prince titled his head and stared at the twelve different doors in front of him. These doors were made of an unknown bronze and were filled with green carvings. In the center of each door was a small cavity.
They eminated a particular aura that showed off a path. Body. Mind. Plantae. Six different elements. Space-Time and gravity. A total of twelve types.
After entering the vortex, he and his team appeared in front in a white room. They couldn't break the walls or the ceiling.
The only way out was these twelve doors. And indeed, right after appearing here, they got a message right in their minds.
[Open six locks to proceed]
Emerald Prince pursed his lips and glanced at the hybrid standing beside the Sovereign, "Go ahead."
This trial was one of the primary reasons a Hybrid was typically used in Synthetic World team.
The hybrid expressionlessly walked to the Body door and placed his fist inside the cavity.
The hybrid had two origins and each had two paths. So, he had a total of four paths: Body, Gravity, Mind, Lightning.
"Haa~"
The door shook slightly and a beam of powerful chi shout out from the cavity and hit his fist.
The hybrid instinctively blocked the beam with his most powerful path, lightning.
The chi was blocked off but the beam didn't stop.
"You idiot, use the same power that the door uses!" The Sovereign cursed.
The hybrid's eyes remained blank but he changed his course of action and poured out his chi.
When the two chi came into contact, the beam of chi decreased a bit in intensity until it matched the hybrid's power.
"Push it back!" The Sovereign ordered and the hybrid followed it without resistance.
The hybrid poured out all the chi in his body and struck the chi beam.
The beam stagnated for a moment before it disappeared. The door turned translucent.
"Next!"
The hybrid then went to the mind, gravity and lightning doors and cleared them one by one. Next was the Sovereign. And finally the prince.
After the sixth door turned translucent, the remaining doors shattered and the three disappeared.
Almost at the same time, the other two teams also moved to the next trial.
— — —
"So you just have to work a bit hard to open the door of your path? That's it?" Enigma raised a brow.
"Yeah, that's basically it."
"Where's the challenge here?"
"Six different paths in three people. That's the challenge," Varian shrugged. "Think about it. This trial is made hundreds of millions of years ago. Before any hybrid was born. The makers must've hated the single path awakeners."
"…"
"Anyway, unlike other Synthetic Worlds, this one needs six unlocks, not four. Surprisingly, more than 10% teams failed to pass this test." Varian said and smirked. "Tsk, I can pass this test by myself, Hahaha."
