"Well… that was easier than I thought."
Watching the sight before him gradually turn barren once more as Mariella disappeared, Valyr stared at his pistol for a bit before returning all of the items he had brought out back into his spatial bracelet.
After that, he let out a low sigh, thinking about how what would be the hardest fight of this first smaller trial had instead become trivial to him.
"Then again, if I were to base it off my past life, firearms would've grown to prominence only after the War of the Three Sovereignties had reached its climax," muttered the young man.
There was also the fact that he had brought the next stage of firing mechanisms into existence, making use of a modified version of the matchlock mechanism.
Nevertheless, that did not change the fact how much of a game-changer firearms were in dealing great damage to opponents, especially if one were to consider how simple it was to use.
"It would be nice if the fights in the second smaller trial did not have much limitations like the one with Mariella's."
As he said these words, Valyr sat down on the ground as he waited for the monotonous voice to make its announcement.
Not long after, he let out a chuckle.
"Then again, with how I'd have to face off against three opponents with strengths of Rank 5 class holders, I guess it'll still be difficult to clear one way or another."
Valyr had no doubts in his mind that the pistol he had forged was undoubtedly a swift ticket to reaching the end of the Trial of Nine Stars, especially if he were to bolster his own stats to their limits.
However, with some of the opponents setting up limitations like Amauris, there was a chance that Valyr would not be able to use the firearms in the first place.
Though, what truly made him think twice about using the firearms from the get-go in combat was the time it took to load the weapon.
Sure, with the help of his titles and his implementation of the matchlock mechanism, Valyr only needed 8 seconds to arm the pistol for firing.
Unfortunately, that 8 seconds was more than enough time for his opponent to make a move against him, considering some of his opponents' stats so far had greatly surpassed the thousand-point mark.
Of course, that did not mean that Valyr had no way to give himself some time to prepare the pistol for firing.
[Consummatum Est] was one such example, though he also had a few more combat skills that could inflict similar debilitating effects to his opponents.
But as what Amauris had made apparent to him during their fight, his opponents might also have a level of immunity towards the debilitating effects, rendering his preparations useless.
Fortunately for him, he still had other methods aside from the pistol up his sleeve.
'Congratulations on clearing the first sub-trial of the Trial of Nine Stars.'
Whilst the young man still formulated a few plans in his mind on how he would go about fighting his next set of opponents, the monotonous voice finally resounded throughout the trial grounds once more.
Listening intently to the voice's words, Valyr's eyes briefly widened in surprise as he did not expect to hear what it mentioned next.
'Though you have undoubtedly defeated three otherworldly prodigies hailing from the Gates of Awakening, the first sub-trial could be considered as a warm-up for what's to come.'
'After all, the strengths of your opponents have been severely restrained, only allowing them to unleash a portion of their true power.'
'Of course, the same could be said for the six remaining opponents you'll have to face, but their restrictions extended to lesser degrees.'
After those words, the voice gave a slight pause, only to then continue speaking.
'Nevertheless, you have undoubtedly proved that your strength allows you to stand amongst the otherworldly prodigies of the Gates of Awakening, marking you as a pinnacle talent within the organization.'
'With that, the Gates of Awakening shall reward you for your efforts thus far, hoping that you would see the trial to the very end.'
Not long after that, a small cloud of golden energy appeared before the young man, prompting to stand up from where he stood.
Watching the energy making up the cloud revolve around him, the young man soon felt both his vitality and mana undergo a slight improvement as the energy made its way into his body.
Ding!
[You have gained 5 points of Vigor.]
[You have gained 5 points of Mana Purity.]
"Huh." Closing his eyes for a bit to acclimate to the slight improvements he had gained, Valyr took a look at his notification screen, only to find out that his hidden stats were the focus of his rewards once more.
Seeing that the Gates of Awakening had focused on improving both Vigor and Mana Purity, a wry smile soon adorned Valyr's face.
"Who knew getting hidden stats was this easy nowadays?"
From what he could remember in his past life, the opportunity to gain a hidden stat was already pretty hard to come by, even more so if one had not yet reached the peak of Rank 5.
Then, the opportunity to increase the hidden stats one had obtained was a couple of magnitudes rarer than that, with most having to tread the fine line between life and death just to get such opportunities.
Then again, with how all of the opponents he and the others had been facing so far were on average two class ranks of strength above them, it wasn't as if the rewards he was getting were given for no reason.
With how much killing and proving he had done so far to get to his current point, it only made sense for him to obtain something in return.
'You have defeated the third opponent of the Trial of Nine Stars. Six opponents remain.'
'You have 30 minutes to rest before the next opponent appears.'
'Note that once preparation time is up, the second sub-trial shall begin. Prepare accordingly.'
Just as the young man had more or less familiarized himself with the small increase to both his Vigor and Mana Purity, the voice resounded once more before leaving Valyr off to his own devices.
Seeing that he had half an hour before the fourth opponent appeared, the young man brought out a vial of rousing from his spatial bracelet and downed its contents in one gulp.
Feeling the faint lethargy he was feeling earlier disappear within minutes, he then brought out the items making up his temporary workshop.
"I guess I have enough time to do a quick reforge."
Taking off his pauldrons and placing them onto the anvil, Valyr activated [Breath of Beginnings] on his hammer before allowing its energy to make a few changes to the armor.
Having already reforged two pieces of his armor in the past with [Breath of Beginnings], the young man still had a few minutes to spare by the time he was done.
Donning the pauldrons once more, Valyr instantly felt the increase the reforge gave to his Defense stat, causing him to faintly smile in satisfaction.
After that, he took a look at the description of his armor set, focusing his attention on the skill awakened by the [Breath of Beginnings] during the upgrade.
Unsurprisingly, the reforge reduced the cooldown on the skill once more.
However, unlike the massive chunks of time the previous pieces had removed from the skill, the reforged pauldrons only reduced the cooldown time by three hours.
Fortunately, the same could not be said for the consequences of the skill, which the reforged pauldrons reduced the same amount as the previous pieces.
As it stood, the skill now only needed 70% of his HP and MP to activate, as well as reduced his stats by 70% for 10 minutes after the boost was over.
Satisfied with the changes the reforge brought, Valyr then activated [Enlightenment], unlocking one of the many advancements of the Renaissance Age had to offer as he waited for his fourth opponent to appear.
'The second sub-trial begins.'
'Your fourth opponent shall appear in 3… 2… 1…'
Hearing the monotonous voice beginning to count down once more, Valyr stood up and looked around his surroundings, keeping an eye on where the ray of golden light would appear.
Whoosh!
Surprisingly, the ray of golden light appeared a fair distance away from the young man this time around, allowing him to inwardly let out a sigh of relief as he steeled himself for what was to come.
Watching the ray of golden light gradually being replaced by a person again, the young man took in a deep breath as the aura being emanated by his opponent was definitely a cut above even Mariella.
In fact, his opponent wore more or less the same thing as Mariella, sporting a set of martial robes that made him look like a warrior of an Oriental sect.
Though, unlike Mariella, his opponent did not have any weapon whatsoever, instead clenching his fists as he looked at Valyr.
"My opponent, I'd assume?" said the young man as he stared at Valyr with his cyan eyes.
In response, Valyr faintly nodded, adopting a battle stance in case the man did the same thing as Mariella.
Nodding back at Valyr, the man adopted a battle stance of his own as he introduced himself. "My name is Mikael Silva."
"The goal of our fight is quite simple."
"Defeat me and you may proceed onto your next opponent."
Hearing those words, a faint sense of deja vu hit the young man as Mikael charged towards him.
Though, rather than panic, Valyr instead let out a chuckle as he retrieved the pistol from his spatial bracelet.
"With great pleasure."
"[Arcane Shadow Serpent Magic Style]."
"[Consummatum Est]!"
