After the time for the group of survivors to rest in the selection was over, all of the remaining survivors were at their strongest, having recovered 100% of their previous condition.
Minos' group still had some doubts about what they had ingested and whether it would somehow harm them in the future. But it was a fact that they had all recovered very well after consuming the Tonic of Purification.
When their three hours of rest were up, they gathered together and looked at their surroundings in silence, waiting for what would happen next.
They could try to question one of the aliens behind this selection, but each of them knew that this would not lead to a positive position for themselves. After what they had seen during the initial phase of this selection, they couldn't help but fear that they would cause even greater problems for themselves if they insisted that they shouldn't be there.
The only way forward for them was to overcome this challenge and understand what cards they could use to deal with the challenge before them.
But each of them couldn't help but look at the examiners of this selection as if they were great enemies. They were not the only ones who felt this way. Even those who had come to this place to participate in the selection looked at the Armhand members with hostility.
But how could they not? Anyone who looked at this force from the outside would think it was just a large local organization that allowed people of all kinds to join its ranks. But in reality, this was a den of creatures willing to sacrifice and use the naive fools who came to them yearly.
Armhands hadn't forced them to go there, but once on the island, you could only choose to die or become a part of Armhands!
That was completely different from the positive rumors about this organization, which naturally made even the aliens who were there for the selection feel cheated.
The examiners of this selection didn't mind the stares of these beings between levels 94 and 101. When the rest period was over, one of them caught the eye of the remaining contestants and said.
"All right, your rest is over. Now, we're going to start the next phase of this selection. This stage doesn't test your physical strength but rather your mental strength.
I don't want to explain too much about this selection phase, as it may be quite different for each of you. In short, you will have to drink another portion which, when combined with the Tonic of Purification, will put the person who consumes it in sequence into a deep sleep.
Those who wake up within the first two hours of the test will move on to the next phase. Those who fail will be sent to the Speckled Bear Wilds and will have five years to prepare to take the test again."
No one questioned the alien, and Minos' staff realized that there was indeed something in the potion they had been forced to consume in order to recover in time for this test.
Soon, the Grandmasters of Armhands over there were distributing another type of potion to the remaining group in this selection.
One of the examiners took the group to one of the mountain peaks that divided the Armhands' headquarters, from where the group could see the organization's large built-up area on the opposite side of the mountain they had just climbed.
This floating neighborhood was quite large, and there was room not only for a mountain but also for a headquarters the size of a city of 70,000 people, with buildings, small forests, lakes and rivers, and all the infrastructure of a city.
The group didn't look around much, and soon, another examiner directed them to sit in the marked areas above the peak where they would take the exam.
"You may begin." A level of 104 was announced before the aliens sitting on the edge of the peak began to consume the new potion they had received.
The sooner they started, the sooner they could complete this selection phase and perhaps become members of the Armhands. So most of them drank this other potion without much hesitation.
Minos looked at the people in his group and nodded before he drank it himself.
He didn't know what it meant to be sent to the Speckled Bear Wilds for five years. But if someone who was sent to such a place would have to take the test again someday, then it would be better for him to pass the selection now than in five years.
Everyone in her group understood the same as Minos and continued the test, quickly consuming their potions and closing their eyes to begin their meditations.
Immediately after consuming the resource designed by Armhands, Ruth felt as if she had suddenly started falling from an unspecified point from which she was falling faster and faster without seeing an end where she would land.
As she felt the sensation of falling so realistically that she broke out in a cold sweat and feared for her life, she slowly saw the figure of a golden dragon emerge from inside her body.
"Ruth Miles, you have come farther than I expected." The voice of the dragon she had seen in the Ancient Dragon Spatial Kingdom next to Minos sounded from the golden figure as she felt the majestic aura of a level 100 being.
As she paid attention to that being with her eyes wide open, her surroundings changed, and she felt that she was no longer falling.
"I didn't expect you to get any further than me..." The dragon shifted as black and red lines began to cover its body.
When the dragon opened its mouth and let out an evil laugh, Ruth suddenly realized something wasn't right.
'That can't be that God.' She became more serious as she took in the volcanic surroundings of the area where the thing had taken her.
"Who would know? Who would have thought that a fool would reach a higher realm than the one I've lived in all my life?" The dragon asked as a negative aura emanated from its being, growing darker and darker in front of Ruth.
"Ruth, stand still and let this God take over your body!" It shouted as it moved forward to attack her.
"Shit!" Ruth moved, realizing what this test would be about.
While she was facing the dragon that had allowed her to raise her talent to Golden-grade, everyone else in this trial was facing their own demons in the illusions they had been forced to fall into.
In particular, Minos now faced a golden dragon, an old man with blond hair, a man with black hair and a black trident, a giant, and a creature with six wings on its back.
"Oh, fuck!" He said as he was surrounded by Henricus Longus, the God of Death, Fah'um of Dunov, the seraph, and the dragon that Ruth faced in her own nightmare!
