Alden opened his eyes.
He was currently in a lush forest.
Alone.
The ring on his fingers glowed, indicating the start of the trial.
The trial was simple.
He had to find the Chaos art.
And for that.
He had to survive first.
According to what Gretta had said, there was no rule in this trial.
Meaning.
Killing was allowed.
He surveyed the area calmly.
’I have to find a place to rest first.’
Gretta didn’t mention anything about a time limit, so he wasn’t sure how long the trial was going to take.
But before that, he had something else to check.
He circulated his mana within his body, feeling his core.
It seems my mana is unlocked.
He didn’t feel the sword of chaos in his mana core.
The connection was still there, but the sword was not present. He tried to summon the sword.
’Swish’
With a swish sound, the sword appeared immediately.
’Thankfully it seems I won’t need to worry about weapons.’
He had noted his missing sword the first time he got to know about his mana being blocked. And he wasn’t sure if he could summon it while the trial was ongoing.
But it seems the worry was pointless.
He quickly put the sword back.
His strength was still in Initiate Rank which surprised him a bit.
Why am I still in Initiate Rank?
Didn’t Gretta say the rank will be adjusted to the level of the weakest candidate?
Does that mean I am the weakest of the candidates?
The meaning of his rank still being in the initiate rank was proof that he was the weakest person in the trial.
Well, it doesn’t matter.
Others will be at the same level as me currently.
He dismissed the self depreciating thought as he decided to find a place for him to rest.
His storage ring already had enough water and food to last for long time.
Choosing a random direction, he started walking.
After walking for quite a while, he heard some sound coming from one direction. He decided to check the commotion as he activated his new spell [Shadow Stealth].
He even coated his feet in shadow to muffle any sound it would have made.A bit of his mana was drained, but it was manageable.
He soon arrived near the source of commotion as he hid himself behind a tree.
There were five people ganging up on an innocent-looking kid.
The kid looked very young. Bright violet hair, wide blue eyes filled with tears.
Who the hell even sends a kid this young into a trial like this?
She knelt on the ground, trembling, as one of the attackers slammed a boot into her stomach.
Another kicked her side.
Alden felt surge of anger inside him as he saw the innocent kid being beaten.
How could they do that?
She is just a child.
His fists clenched.
He wanted to help that child, but with five people against him…he wasn’t sure if he would win.
He hesitated.
He couldn’t risk his life for some stranger, could he?
She’s here for the trial, right?
That means she’s strong. Right?
Yeah, that must be it.
He tried to cope with the fact that he couldn’t save her as he turned around to live.
But just as he was about to leave, he heard a pleading voice.
"Someone"
"Please, anyone, help me…"
"Please….it hurts…It hurts too much.
"Please help me…"
"Please save me."
Alden heard the voice as his body froze.
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F*ck, what should I do?
He wasn’t strong and he knew that.
But could he really walk away?
His body screamed at him to move, to help her.
Alden was just a normal person…How could he just leave an innocent kid like that alone?
Yes, I have to help her.
Yeah I will help.
I’m gonna save her.
Alden’s rational mind was losing its battle against the emotional side.
It was as if some unseen power was affecting him.
He wasn’t thinking straight.
Alden turned his heart pounding—
He was going to save that kid.
It doesn’t matter if I have to fight five people.
Just as he was going to walk towards the group to save the kid.
One of his sub-skills activated automatically.
[Mental Interference Detected]
[Sub-Skill – Spirit Domain activating strongly…]
Alden’s mind suddenly cleared up.
What the hell just happened?
Why did the Spirit Domain activate?
He looked back—
And his blood turned ice cold.
There was not a single human there.
No, kid.
No group of five.
Just a grotesque tree-like creature.
The creature looked like an ordinary tree except for a human-like face on its trunk with a twisted expression.
The voice rang out again, the same pleading cries of a kid, but now it sounded… broken.
Unnatural.
"Please, anyone, help me…"
"Please….it hurts…It hurts too much.
"Please help me…"
It was going on non-stop, as if it were some broken record.
Alden didn’t know anything about that monster…He hadn’t read about it in any books whatsoever.
It seems the monster is stuck to the ground, and it somehow shows illusions to attract its prey.
Alden analysed quickly as he swallowed hard.
That thing almost got me.
Just then a movement caught his eye.
A man in his mid-twenties was walking towards the tree.
His eyes were dazed as if in some illusion.
Alden opened his mouth to warn him.
But it was too late.
The tree’s roots shot forward with unnatural speed, wrapping around the man’s body.
He barely had any time to scream before he was swallowed.
Silence.
’F*ck’ Alden cursed..
Alden’s stomach turned.
That could have been me.
The realisation settled heavily in Alden’s mind.
A cold shiver crawled up his back, his entire body breaking out in cold sweat.
If not for Spirit Domain, he could have also been swallowed by the creature.
I need to be careful.
I can’t always hope to be lucky.
He stepped back.
And then he turned around and walked away.
Not risking it.
Gretta hadn’t mentioned anything about there being monsters here other than the boss monster.
It seems the monsters are also part of the test.
_
Only after walking a considerable distance did he relax.
He thought about his skill – Spirit Domain.
The hidden effect of Spirit Domain surprised Alden.
He didn’t even know it had the effect of resisting the mind-affecting magic.
Do my other sub-skills also have some hidden effects I am unaware of?
Well, I’ll find out in the future.
He started walking again, but this time, unbeknownst to him, someone was following him.