Cain and Char are still chain casting [Acid Rain] when the last of the Ogre Mages drop, leaving the Guild in a downpour with no enemies in sight.
[Treachery Trial Passed: Next Trial in 5 minutes]
Yeah, they'll believe that when the timer is up. Everyone now remembers that the system is treacherous at best. Especially those who fell for the random character creation option.
But, true to its word for once, 5 minutes pass before the next notification.
[Intelligence Trial Begins Now: All members must complete the obstacle course]
This could be difficult, the obstacles are Ogre sized. Some will be a cake walk, like the rope walk that's the size of a tree trunk, or the swinging Axes most of them hardly need to duck to walk under. In fact, they will swing above the Dwarves heads. Others will be very hard, like the climbing wall with spinning handles in a set pattern. The pattern is easy, but they're spaced for a creature nearly 5 meters tall.
The Guild begins making their way to the wall, the first truly difficult task.
"Hey Mythryll, what about your vines? Can you make us some ladders or at least a path we can climb up?" Cain asks and the when Mage down in concentration, sending vibes up the wall in an interlocking pattern they should all be able to climb without issue.
The first challenge passed, they find themselves on a ridge, looking at a field of spike traps and a magma pit a hundred meters long. There are stepping stones in it, but they're too far apart to navigate for humans.
They begin working their way through the spike traps, getting frustrated by the hidden devices popping up in their midst.
Then Cain has a genius idea, he simply sends the Blighted Paladins forth in a wave, triggering everything, before casting a fresh batch and clearing even more. With every trap exposed, they simply walk the distance.
When they reach the lava pool they start testing their options. Vines sent over the pool burn, wind spells don't keep the heat away for long, and ice magic only makes the ground solid for a few seconds, but the air is still too hot to safely pass.
There seems to be a finish line after the magma, and Elmira begins to fly out to check out, finding the air above the lava burns her wings and makes it hard to fly. She searches for a better way when she realizes there's a ledge along the wall, very narrow, but likely passable. She flies over it and reaches the end in a few seconds, but is blocked by a barrier when she tries to return.
[Participants Passed 1/14]
"Okay, Candia, can you try your Tsunami type skill on the lava near the wall? See if you can make a solid surface? If you can, and if it drops the temperature a bit we will make another vine platform and walk across." Cain suggests.
The tsunami makes the surface solid for about ten seconds, but the vines still burn in the hot air. They won't grab on to the walls, and touching the path along the side made a portion of it fall in, so walking that route is out.
Wait, Cain has Demonic Crows as a Lesser Golem option. He quickly switches his Lesser Golems for the flying Demons and finds they take no damage when flying over the section Candia made solid, but a moderate amount when over open lava.
"Make a path as you go, the Crows will fly you over." Cain suggests.
That only leaves him, as there are 12 Crows and 13 Guild Members left. But he has a plan. Wrath Bringers take no fire damage. So he can simply have one run him across under the crows and he will simply absorb the fire damage that he takes during the trip.
Once Candia is across there is nobody left to make the path, and if she doesn't cross, she doesn't have the range to create the path in the first place. Nemu and Vala choose to ride with the Greater Golems instead of being dismissed, but Cain sends all the unnecessary supporters away for the trip.
"In 3,2,1 GO." Cain calls and the path forms behind a wave of magical water. The Wrath Bringers are off at a run, moving from stone to stone along the intended path, while the others fly overhead. They've mistimed the sequence though, due to lack of information.
Candia is the last crow to cross, but the second she does the effects of her spell disappear, leaving Cain, Vala and Nemu trapped on the last platform.
The distance is clearly too far for even an Ogre to jump, so he isn't sure how the test was intended to be completed, but they have a simple method. Cain orders the Wrath Bringers to hurl the ladies into the completion area, before following himself.
When he reaches the barrier the Wrath Bringers disappear, but Vala and Nemu, already on the other side, remain.
Perfection.
[Participants Passed 14/14]
[Total Passed 30/14]
Nice, it counted the Summons as total Passed, maybe they'll get a bonus? Hopefully they don't get a penalty.
The door in front of them opens to reveal a glowing gold room, full of random trinkets, with a door on the other side.
[No More Than 1 Item May Be Removed]
"Well that's not sketchy at all. It didn't mention a reward only that we couldn't remove more than one item." Dimnys notes.
"Maybe it's a Greed test? There's a lot of good things in here." Lickity says, pointing at a legendary crown that grants a huge damage increase for Ogres. In fact, most of these items are Ogre based.
"Votes to just leave all this stuff here and see what the system picks?" Cixelcid asks, the gold glow giving the Vampires red eyes the strangest bronze color, and the others shudder at the thought of letting the system pick.
"As much as I fear the system's random generation process, it seems like the best choice," Cain reluctantly agrees.
And so, they walk through the far door empty handed, not one looking back at the Ogre loot.
[Random Guild Award for Perfect Score Selected]
[Generating Award based on Guild Leader]
[Guild Item Received: Book of Demon Army]
