Six months passed,
Name : Asher Enren
Level : 13
"Nice. Is this a test to not let myself fall to death?" Asher mumbled to himself as he entered the trial of the third floor named the Death Stones and found himself standing on a narrow stone platform suspended over a seemingly bottomless abyss.
He looked ahead and saw similar stone platforms floating and could guess he had to keep jumping ahead until he reached the exit.
These stones were barely wide enough for two to stand on.
Everything else was a dark fog around him.
However, what made him hesitate from jumping to the next stone already was the message that popped in his mind regarding the trial,
[ The farther you go, the closer you are to tasting defeat. Only Death can end your misery ]
Asher shook his head and wondered why they had to even insert a riddle into this. Now was this riddle supposed to intimidate him or help him?
Gripping the hilt of his ring blade, Asher's eyes narrowed as he focused on the target - the next stone platform that stood between him and the exit.
The ring blade spun through the shadowy void like a metallic comet, heading unerringly toward the seemingly precarious platform.
As the ring blade made contact with the platform, a resounding clang echoed through the abyss, signifying the solidity of the stone surface. The blade's impact sent minute chips and dust particles flying, further confirming the platform's authenticity.
Asher nodded with a look of satisfaction upon seeing that it was safe to jump, and so he jumped to the next stone platform, his feet perfectly landing on it.
The moment Asher's feet made contact with the surface of the stone platform, he frowned as he sensed a sudden surge of heat rising from below.
Without a second's delay, a pulsating mass of vibrant, molten fire slime emerged from the platform's floor. In a blink of an eye, it lunged towards his face, its seething form threatening to consume him whole.
"Damn!" Asher's instincts kicked in, and the world seemed to slow down around him as his body reacted with supernatural swiftness. He swiftly tilted his head to the side, evading the fiery menace by a hair's breadth. The heat of the fire slime grazed his cheek, leaving a stinging sensation in its wake.
This was surely no weak slime.
With his gaze locked onto the creature, Asher extended his hand, channeling his mana into a condensed orb of raw fiery, destructive energy.
As the orb pulsed in his palm, he hurled it at the fire slime with unerring precision. Upon impact, the orb detonated, tearing through the amorphous form and extinguishing the fire slime's very essence.
The creature dissipated in a cloud of steam and fading embers, leaving no trace of its existence behind. Asher stood there, unscathed and unyielding, his eyes scanning the treacherous path ahead.
Asher assessed the situation, realizing that in order to reach the exit, he would have to expertly navigate the treacherous path of suspended stone platforms while simultaneously fending off any hostile spirits that would try to impede his progress.
He took a deep breath before launching himself to the next platform.
The moment his feet touched the stone surface, a chilling wind whipped around him, and a group of spectral wraiths materialized from the darkness, their eerie howls piercing the silence.
Wasting no time, Asher's ring blade blazed with dark green flames as he unleashed a flurry of devastating attacks, his ring blade slicing through the air with lethal grace.
His honed senses allowed him to track the movements of the wraiths, even as they attempted to evade him with their ghostly agility.
One by one, the wraiths were vanquished, their essence dissipating into the void.
Of course, he was able to vanquish them without falling off and without getting injured. However, he did feel that this wave of attack was stronger than the previous one.
Wouldn't this mean the more he goes forward, the stronger the waves will be? How many waves does he have to defeat to get to the exit?
No matter how much he tried to squint his eyes, he could only see an endless number of stone platforms ahead.
He felt there couldn't be that many and he decided to proceed ahead.
15 minutes later,
"You gotta be kidding me…" Asher mumbled as he wiped off the sweat trickling down his temple while looking ahead at the endless expanse of stone platforms.
There were bloody marks here and there on his body, but those didn't seem to concern him the most.
He had defeated more than 50 spirits by this time, and yet he couldn't even see the exit from here.
His muscles were beginning to ache after constantly fighting without a break. He had to put in extra effort just to make sure he didn't fall off the platform and prevent himself from getting seriously injured.
And so not being able to see the exit even after coming so far was just disheartening.
It was not like he had an infinite reserve of mana. He hadn't yet used his Hellbringer form, but if this continues, he may not even get a chance to use it.
The spirits were also getting stronger with each wave, and he didn't know how many waves he could last before they would kill him.
Asher leaped onto the next platform, his eyes scanning for any sign of danger. Before he could react, a powerful spirit materialized before him, its malevolent presence causing the air around it to crackle with raw energy.
The spirit's form was that of a towering, twisted monstrosity with multiple eyes, long sharp claws, and an aura of darkness that seemed to swallow the light.
With no time to lose, Asher launched into battle against the fearsome foe.
The platform shook with every blow exchanged between them, Asher's body swaying dangerously as he fought to maintain his balance.
"Grgh, you won't defeat me so easily," Asher growled through clenched teeth, deftly dodging the spirit's relentless attacks.
Their brutal dance continued, with the spirit lashing out in a flurry of deadly strikes, its claws leaving deep gashes on Asher's body. Gasping for breath, he felt his strength waning as the injuries he had sustained took their toll.
At one point, Asher lost his footing, slipping off the edge of the platform. With a desperate lunge, he managed to grab onto its side, his fingers digging into the stone as he dangled precariously above the abyss.
Summoning the last of his strength, he pulled himself back up and faced the spirit once more, his eyes burning with determination.
"You won't take me down!" Asher roared, launching into a final, furious attack. His ring blade glowed with ominous power as it met the spirit's claws, the two forces clashing in a cataclysmic burst of energy.
The platform trembled beneath their feet, threatening to crumble under the strain, but Asher refused to relent. With a final, desperate swing of his ring blade, he cleaved through the spirit's form, causing it to disintegrate into wisps of dark energy.
As the remnants of the spirit dissipated, Asher stood victorious, but his body was bruised and battered from the intense battle.
Though he had won, he knew the cost of the fight had left him with internal injuries that needed urgent attention.
This spirit was definitely above his level of strength, and he wasn't surprised after coming so far.
Asher scanned the horizon, but the exit still seemed to elude him. With each passing moment, he grew more anxious, realizing that continuing to push forward like this would only result in his death.
In his desperation, Asher recalled the cryptic message he had received at the beginning of the trial: "The farther you go, the closer you are to tasting defeat. Only Death can end your misery."
"Only death can end your misery..." Asher murmured, his gaze falling upon the bottomless abyss below. A flicker of insight flashed across his mind, "Don't tell me..."
The notion seemed ludicrous, but Asher couldn't see any other option. He decided to embrace the darkness and take the leap of faith, quite literally.
Steeling himself, Asher triggered his Hellbringer transformation. In an instant, his flesh and skin burned away, leaving only a blazing charred black skeleton engulfed in dark green flames.
"This better work!" Asher muttered under his breath, taking one last glance at the suspended platforms before plunging headfirst into the abyss.
As he plummeted through the seemingly endless darkness, doubt gnawed at the edges of his mind. Had he made a terrible mistake? Did he just foolishly commit suicide?
Just as Asher's doubts threatened to consume him, he felt the ground rushing up to meet him. The darkness dispersed like a veil lifting, and he found himself floating, breaking his fall before tumbling onto solid ground.
He immediately transformed back to his real form as he caught his breath, relief washing over him in waves.
Asher couldn't believe it – his gambit had paid off. He had survived the trial by embracing death, which was nothing but the abyss itself.
The riddle sounded like it was supposed to mock a desperate person into giving in to death to escape the spirits, though in reality, it literally was the only way to escape.
And to his surprise, there were no injuries on his body. Did the tower heal him because he passed the trial?
He got up and saw that he was in a room similar to the one he had arrived at after finishing the 2nd trial.
Just as Asher found his bearings, the door before him creaked open, revealing a fatally seductive beauty. She possessed silver hair that cascaded down her back like a shimmering waterfall, while her ghostly red eyes seemed to bore into his very soul.
With an air of nonchalance, she sauntered towards him, her movements as fluid as silk. As she approached, she began to clap her hands, a coy smile playing on her full lips, a hint of surprise flickering in her eyes.
"Well, well, well," she purred, her voice a sultry melody that sent a shiver down Asher's blood, "I must say, I'm quite impressed. I didn't expect you to last so long in there. I can't wait to see how many more surprises you have in store for me," Sabina said as she winked at him.
