As Gabriel heard about the challenge of this floor, he was quite shocked. If the stories he heard about the two founders of the Academy were true, then the difficulty of this Floor was many times more than the last floor.
Moreover, he didn't doubt those stories either, as the sheer strength of their aura was enough of an evidence to show just how strong they actually were.
Even with the help of the Infernal King, he knew it was still an uphill climb, especially if there were two of them.
With this kind of challenge, which young mage could clear this floor? It was impossible! Heck, even a Holy Priest at their peak would have a hard time defeating the two founders.
"Is that really the challenge?" Gabriel asked, just to be sure. "I need to kill the two of you?"
"That's right." Cylix nodded. "That's the challenge, but before we give you an opportunity to fight us, you'll need to prove that you're indeed worthy of our time!"
"So my challenge is to kill you, but before I do that, I need to prove that I'm worthy of killing you?" Gabriel weirdly looked at the two men.
What nonsense was this? First, the challenge itself was almost impossible, and now he needed to prove that he was worthy of even taking part in the challenge.
"I managed to reach this floor. That alone should prove that I'm worthy to face the challenge of this floor."
Even though the challenge was hard, he wasn't going to go back after coming this far. Even if he had to face these two, he wanted to give it a try.
"Yes, you came to this floor, but you aren't the only one who achieved that. There have been people before you, and sooner or later, there will be more after you. Just you being able to reach here doesn't prove that you can last before us, even with your peculiar element."
" In fact, as we can see, on a personal level, you are even weaker than the ones who came before you. You have the talent and the spiritual strength, but still, something is lacking in you for now. If I'm not wrong, you wouldn't be able to reach here if it wasn't for your Summoned Creature..." Cylix gave his observation, glancing at the Infernal King.
"If anything, I'm more interested in your Summon than you when it comes to strength," he further stated.
Novius agreed. "The choice is yours now. You can either take our suggestion or leave this floor and go back."
"What if we say no?" Gabriel stated with great calm, even for a situation like this. "You want us to prove ourselves before you allow us to fight you? Who says you have the right to allow anything?"
"If the goal here is to kill you, why shouldn't we just attack you directly?" he asked as he called out his Ancestral Staff of Necromancy.
"Even though I like your attitude, but what you're thinking isn't possible." Novius let out a sigh. "Even hour attacks won't work in this hall. Moreover, even if you tried attacking us, the attacks can't hit us. Until we take you to a proper battlefield for our battle, our battle can't begin. This hall isn't a battleground, and it's not supposed to be one."
"Still, if that makes you feel better, you can try attacking us and test the theory."
Even though Gabriel didn't attack right away, Infernal King took action to test this theory. He tossed a ball of deep blue flames at Novius.
Novius only smiled. He didn't even try to dodge as he watched the ball of flames come toward him.
Surprisingly, the ball of flames passed through them as if their bodies were nothing more than an illusion.
"Happy?" Cylix asked. "If you want, you can test on me as well. We have no reason to lie to you. As we said before, until we accept your challenge, our battle can't begin. In other words, if you want to fight us, you need to prove yourself."
"How can I prove myself?" Gabriel asked. If there was no other way, then so be it. If he needed to prove himself, he was going to do it! And then, he was going to kill these two to get to the final floor!"
"It's quite simple. There are six more people in this hall. You can select any two of them. You need to defeat both of them in a battle," Cylix explained briefly. "Generally, we would've asked you to defeat only one, but since your summon is so special, we are increasing some difficulty for you."
Gabriel noticed the six youngsters around him. Until now, he wasn't sure as to who these six people were, and he needed to select two of them for a battle.
Seeing Gabriel looking at the six people around him in confusion, Cylix couldn't help but laugh. He could understand what Gabriel was thinking about. "We will make it a little easier for you to select as well. Don't worry. I'll introduce your six options..."
"The six that you see around you... they are the challengers who had managed to reach this floor before you," Cylix explained, shocking Gabriel even more.
Six people who came here before him? Did that mean they were the six who were at the top of the tower rankings? The strongest Mages in the history of the Academy of Elements?
Cylix casually pointed toward the first man. "He is Axion, the first challenger to come here."
"Axion... The person who was the Head of the Church of Light and led the war against the Church of Darkness, destroying them..." Gabriel muttered, remembering the name. He had heard about Axion a lot in the Academy and what he grew up to be.
The young man that was pointed at looked like he was in his early twenties at the moment. He was a blonde man who appeared to have a Princely charm on his face. No one could link that scholarly face with someone who had killed thousands of Dark Mages and destroyed the Church of Darkness!
While Gabriel was lost in thoughts, observing Axion, Cylix shifted his attention to the next person.
"The man beside him is Izen..."
Gabriel shifted his attention to the next man as well, noticing a young man who looked to be barely twenty years old.
He remembered hearing that name as well. Izen Aalec... The man who went on to become the Dean of the Academy of Element! He was also the current Dean and a big name in the outside world!
Izen had the most peculiar look out of all. His hair was a mix of black and white, the left side being black and the right side being white. As Gabriel observed Izen, he was also observing Gabriel with his beautiful crimson eyes.
"He is the third strongest person to reach here," Cylix stated before shifting to the next person. "And the girl next to him is Lia, the fifth strongest person to arrive here."
Next to Izen, there was a beautiful blue-haired girl, who seemed to be the oldest person amongst the six who were sitting on the smaller thrones.
Hearing the names, Gabriel was sure that he had seen her name at the top of the Tower Rankings as well. He just didn't hear much about her, unlike the others. If he had to select any two, Lia seemed like a better option than the other two. However, he had second thoughts.
He had an opportunity to face the strongest young mages of their time. Could he really go for an easier option?
Gabriel didn't wait for more explanation. He had already guessed who the others were based on this order...
'That meant the person on the right is... Qin Elisi, who was studying in the academy right around the time Axion waged a war on the Church of Darkness.'
Gabriel glanced at the man on the right, who had long black hair and deep crimson eyes. He was most intrigued by Qin. It wasn't only because Qin had the same last name as Lira.
Even though he somehow being related to Lira intrigued him, but most importantly, it was because of Qin's story, which Gabriel could relate to.
Qin had to run away from the academy at the start of the fourth year to survive. He was never heard from again. He was also considered to be the most talented out of the top six rankers, as he was the only person who managed to reach the 99th floor before he even entered his fourth year at the academy.
Qin was also the only person amongst the six who had an element of darkness. Despite him being ranked two at the Tower rankings, for some reason, he seemed to be stronger than rank one Axion, who went on to become the Head of Church of Light.
