Third Trial...
Souta looked around. He was in a hall once again. The only difference was that this hall was probably twenty times larger than before. It also has dozens of rooms on each side forming a maze-like appearance. Additionally, the mana density here was terrifyingly high.
Souta walked into one of the rooms. What he found was that several experts were fighting over a single orange grade artifact. The artifact wasn't armor nor a weapon. It was just a small black colored pen.
He could understand why they were so desperate. Artifacts were one of the few things that could increase their strength. They were stuck at B-rank for a long time and training alone would barely increase their strength. Some of them were retired but after hearing the ancient ruin here, they decided to risk everything for a chance to promote their strength.
'They would fight me to death if they knew the pills that I got from the previous trials...' Souta said inwardly. Those pills were extremely important for B-rank.
An artifact appeared in this room... Don't tell me that a treasure would appear in each room?!
Souta raised his eyebrows with interest. Since this orange grade pen was useless to him, he would go to the other room to find if there was an artifact suitable for him.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, a man appeared in front of him holding a blade in his hand. The man didn't say anything as he swiftly thrust his blade ahead.
Hmm? Souta saw a sharp weapon just an inch away from his eyes.
Clang!
The man widened his eyes. The blade in his hand shattered the moment it touches Souta's eyes. He felt that he was just seeing things.
"Blue grade weapon wouldn't be able to damage my eyes. Also, you are infusing too little mana in your blade. Not just that, you are also lacking in strength, speed, and skills." Souta said as he stared at the man blankly.
Ugh! The man fell to the floor while holding his neck tightly. He was groaning in pain as he couldn't breathe properly.
"My best feram is too strong for you... A mere initial B-rank will not be able to contain my energy." Souta said in a low voice as he walked past the man. He didn't even bother looking at the man on the floor.
"N-No... M-Mons... Ter..." The man looked at Souta's back in horror.
Souta shook his head. 'He thought that I would fight for an orange grade artifact. He didn't even know that I have given a set of orange grades to a young boy.' He said inwardly.
Souta ignored the rest of the people and walked to the next room. Just like what he expected, people were already fighting in this place. What surprised him was that Alexander was here, and ten people were chasing him.
His opponents were only B-rank while he himself was Two Shackles Realm. The difference in strength was huge but Alexander hasn't gotten rid of them.
"I see... So he is holding back. He is only using the strength of B-rank."
Even if that's the case, the natural physical body of Two Shackles Realm was a hundred times stronger than B-rank. His opponents wouldn't be able to scratch him even if he stand there doing nothing.
Souta sighed. He didn't know what Alexander was thinking. "Alexander, just eliminate them or put them to sleep!"
Alexander turned his head when he heard Souta's voice. He nodded and his figure flashed instantly knocking out the ten people.
Souta walked over and asked, "Why didn't you just knock them out from the beginning?"
"I'm just trying something new," Alexander answered.
"Moreover, why are they chasing after you? Is there a treasure that could pique a Shackled Realm's interest?" Souta asked as he looked at the unconscious people.
"Yeah, Prime Energy Water... I got it from this room." Alexander simply said.
"Prime Energy Water? The water that could increase a person's energy circulation, is that it?"
"Yeah, it's beneficial for experts up to Solidifying Realm and it could slightly help Shackled Realm in their energy circulation."
"That's pretty good."
Alexander looked around and asked, "I didn't see the woman with you. Where is she?"
"I don't know but I gave her the Escape Talisman so she should probably be fine." Souta shrugged his shoulder. He changed the topic, "This is the third trial. Let's hurry up and complete it."
"Are we not going to wait for your friend?" Alexander asked.
"Don't worry about her. This ruin is made by God so it's better if she left in the earlier trials. The next trials are probably something that B-rank couldn't handle. I don't have to protect her all the time." Souta said seriously.
"Fine, let's complete this trial faster."
Souta and Alexander worked together. The duo was unstoppable in the third trial. They easily complete the trial in just ten minutes. Nothing could threaten them with their overwhelming power.
With their combined strength, they broke through the third trial and fourth trial easily. On the fifth trial, they arrived at a huge colosseum along with other people that also passed the fourth trial.
The colosseum was covered by a thick barrier and runes that prevented them from leaving. The only way to leave this place was to complete the trial.
The trial was simple. Everyone worked together to defeat thousands of stone golems. These golems weren't the same as the ones in the first trial. These golems were stronger as their power level had reached Liquefying Realm.
Thousands of A-rank golems surged into the colosseum. The battle was fierce and some of the experts died. After defeating all the stone golems, several treasures appeared along with the portal to the next trial. Souta and Alexander took the treasures with them and killed some of the people that went after them.
Sixth Trial...
Souta and Alexander arrived in a grassland. Close to them was a huge castle with several colosseums around it. They were covered by several layers of tough barriers.
"So the first to fifth trial happened in that place..." Souta narrowed his eyes as he looked at the sky.
This place was really a sub-world. It has a landmass, sky, and other things that made up a sub-world. It was in an alternate space so without the power to break through the space, Souta wouldn't be able to return easily.
"Yeah, the sixth trial is here... It is also the hardest trial as we could meet the living creatures of this land. The mana density is high due to the connection it possessed with Imperium." Alexander explained as he slowly floated in the sky.
Souta followed Alexander while looking at the vastness of outer space. In this entire space, he could only see a few stars and everything else was blank. Even if he flew in a straight line, he would only fly endlessly without seeing another sub-world.
"The space is harder than I imagined..." Souta said.
"Of course, but if you fly in a straight line toward that darkness you will find that the hardness of space is decreasing slowly. After a few months, the space will be brittle enough for us to cross over to the main space." Alexander explained.
"So the sixth trial...?" Souta asked.
"Let's return to the land first," Alexander said.
Souta nodded. He was tempted to take over this entire realm for him but he had to complete his quest first. Plus, it's not worth it if it would offend the future Ancient Myriad Emperor.
"Did you feel it?" Alexander suddenly asked.
"Yeah, those gazes. The moment we flew into the sky, several powerful creatures locked their eyes on us. As expected this isn't an ordinary sub-world. It's comparable to high-world." Souta said.
"That's why we need to be careful," Alexander said.
ROAR!!!
A powerful reverberated throughout the entire area. It was followed by a sweeping best feram that made Souta and Alexander knitted their brows.
"Fourth stage...?!" Souta was surprised.
"Should we check it out? From the looks of it, other experts had already arrived here. They began to disturb the living beings in this land." Alexander asked.
"It's up to you. I'm going to follow you for now. After all, you seem to know this place." Souta shrugged his shoulders.
"Okay, let's check it out first," Alexander nodded.
The two rushed inside the woods. They went straight in the direction where the best feram was coming from. They were fast and in just ten minutes of rushing they arrived near the place.
Both of them stopped on a tree as they observed the happenings. A fifty-meter tall tree stood straight as if it was supporting heaven and earth. The giant tree had a single fruit that was releasing a huge amount of earth's elemental particles.
"An Earth World Mango?" Alexander narrowed his eyes.
"A legendary grade..." Souta muttered.
It was a treasure that could enhance a creature's earth affinity to the next level. An expert would be able to achieve the first level of earth's [Element Drive] once they consumed it. It was also highly beneficial to the people that practiced the earth element's technique.
