"I am an Advance stage cultivator."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Eh?"
"What?"
Seeing the two of them looking at him weirdly, Azriel frowned.
"How old are you?" Tyria questioned.
"19."
"Pfffttt!" Suddenly, Vasuki laughed out loud.
Tyria glanced at him and frowned, however, Vasuki didn't care about her gaze and continued laughing.
"Hahaha! The student of the head of the Crux House is a 19-year-old Advance Stage Cultivator. Hahaha! How disappointing. Even an average Dragon is already a Grand Master Stage Cultivator at 19, let's not even talk about the geniuses. Hahaha! What the hell happened to you bloodsuckers?"
Azriel's eyes turned cold, he didn't like Vasuki's laugh one bit. He then glanced at Tyria and although she wasn't laughing, and was even trying to stop Vasuki, Azriel could feel the hidden doubt in her eyes.
And he wasn't wrong, Tyria was indeed a little shocked, since Advanced Stage Cultivation at the age of 19 is indeed weak, even for the elves.
However, she didn't want Azriel to feel bad, therefore, she did not laugh out loud and mock him.
Of course, Azriel didn't like that attitude either.
His pride didn't allow that.
Soon, however, he recalled something Ithania said and calmed down. Then, a small smile appeared on his face, before it disappeared.
His cold eyes then returned to normal and he started looking around.
"What are you looking around for?" Vasuki questioned, the disdain and mockery in his eyes were very clear.
He was really enjoying the state of the rivals of his race.
"…" Azriel, however, didn't answer his question.
"Hey, I asked something.
What are you looking around for?" Vasuki questioned again.
"I am just looking for the other dragons," Azriel answered.
"Don't bother, no one else is here beside me and this Elf." Vasuki shook his head and a small smile appeared on Azriel's face.
"Oh? Those talented Vampires were unable to clear the Trial that an 'untalented' Vampire cleared? That's quite surprising."
"…"
This time, Vasuki turned silent.
Azriel, however, wasn't done yet and continued to mock,
"What? Didn't you say that even an Average Dragon is better than me, let alone the geniuses? What happened? Where are those so-called geniuses? Why don't I see them?
Heeeh? Did they fail the Trial?
Or were they too scared to even face the Trial?
Hmm? That can't be, can it?
The mighty Dragons were scared of Trials?
Hahaha! That's quite amusing indeed."
The more Azriel spoke, the worse Vasuki's expression got.
This boy really got him good.
He didn't have any answers to his words at all.
"Hahaha~
Was the word Forbidden Regions too scary for the mighty dragons? Why don't you just change the race of your name and call yourself Lizards instead?
Hahaha!"
A vein popped out on Vasuki's head when he heard Azriel's words. He clenched his fists in anger, however, he knew that he couldn't attack Azriel.
This place didn't allow infighting.
Even someone like him won't be able to handle the consequences of breaking this rule. They could only fight with words, however, this bastard's tongue was poisonous as fuck.
Tsk Tsk, he really shouldn't have teased him.
Tyria, who saw how Azriel turned the situation smiled a little, then, she decided to intervene.
"Yes, old man, do not underestimate him, keep in mind that he cleared the Trial of the World's Core. This is not something any random person can do.
One has to be an exceptional genius to do something like that.
The Crux House won't take some normal Vampire as their Student."
"Yeah Yeah, whatever, I was just teasing him. I know he is exceptional, I can sense that from his Bloodline."
"Indeed, he does look exceptional, even for among the Vampires." Tyria nodded and the two of them started praising Azriel.
Azriel, however, was confused about another thing.
"Trial of the World's Core? What is that?" He questioned.
Tyria then turned towards him and realized.
"Ahh, you still don't know that, my bad. I forgot to tell you.
So you have heard of the Seven Forbidden Region in Yrniel, correct?" Tyria questioned.
"Yes, I have." Azriel nodded.
"You also must have learned that no one, absolutely no one has ever returned after they took the Trial of one of the Seven Forbidden Regions, correct?"
"Teacher did tell me about it."
"Well, there are 2 reasons for that.
First, the Trial is difficult, extremely difficult, rarely anyone can clear it and most of the beings die while trying to clear it.
Second, even if someone does clear the Clear, he is not allowed to go back, rather, he is teleported to this place,
The World's Core.
The Seven Forbidden Regions are nothing but Trial of the World's Core to select Geniuses for the second, and the real Trial of the World's Core.
And even those geniuses, who cleared the First Step, failed to clear the Real Trial and have died.
That is the reason why no one ever returns from the Seven Forbidden Regions."
Tyria informed.
Azriel, however, frowned and then questioned,
"You said that everyone who cleared the First Trial died while taking 'The Real Trial'?"
"Yes,"
"Then how are you two alive?"
"Well, that is because I decided to trust this old man's words."
Tyria muttered and pointed at Vasuki.
"Huh?" Azriel frowned and then glanced at Vasuki.
"Do you see that Crystal Ball over there?" Vasuki questioned as he pointed at a Crystal ball.
Azriel nodded.
"Normally, when someone enters this place, he or she is supposed to inject Mana into that Crystal ball, then, the World's Core will pick your presence, give you a place to live and rest for the next 2 days and then, a World Fairy will come and pick you up and take you the Real Trial.
Now, I will tell you about the real Trial,
There are Three Stages of this Trial, First Step, Second Step and the Last Step,"
Vasuki then pointed at the Island that was floating in the air and continued,
"See that Island in the air? That is where you will take the First Step, there, you are required to fight against a Fairy with your favourite Weapon and defeat the Fairy, you are not allowed to use any Mana, Skills or Ability.
You can only fight with your weapon.
Once you defeat the World Fairy, the First Step is completed.
Then, you are given another 10 days break and then, you take the Second Step,
It is the Exchange of Knowledge, the Topic is chosen by the World Fairy, so I can't tell you much about the Second Step, just know that you are required to make use of your Knowledge to pass the Second Step.
As for the last step…"
Suddenly, Vasuki paused and his gaze turned solemn.
"Do you see that Shrine on the top of the Island?" He pointed.
Azriel nodded.
"You go inside that Shrine to take the Last Step, however,
I have never seen anyone coming out of that Shrine, not a single soul in those past 10,000 years that I have been here for.
I have talked with the World Fairy that I have befriended in these past 10,000 years, according to her, all the Candidates who entered the Last Step have failed and have died."
Vasuki then turned towards Azriel with a solemn face, there was no trace of his previous playfulness on his face
"However, there is a way to beat this system and avoid that impending death."
Vasuki then pointed at the Crystal Ball and informed,
"You just do not inject your Mana into that ball.
If you don't do that, the World's Core won't know about your presence, no fairy would come to you and you will avoid your impending doom.
Of course, there are a few downsides as well.
You won't get your own house to live in, all these houses you see here, these were given to the previous candidates, you can't enter these places unless that candidate is here with you.
Well, it is not exactly a problem, you can just sleep on the grass, it is quite comfortable."
Vasuki chuckled.
"Indeed, this grass is quite comfortable, combined with the fresh air, I can assure you that you will get used to this place within a month," Tyria muttered with a small smile on her face.
"Naah, 1 month is too much, you only needed 3 days and you were sleeping like a log on the 4th day," Vasuki retorted.
"I am an Elf, we are used to living in nature, that is the reason why I adopted so quickly. He is different, he would need some time."
"Sure Sure..." Vasuki shrugged.
Azriel listened to their conversation and frowned,
"What? Why are you looking at us like that? Vasuki questioned.
"You expect me to believe you that you are alive for the last 10,000 years and you still don't have a single wrinkle on your face?
Do I look that dumb to you?"
Azriel questioned back.
Even his Teacher, Luminia Crux isn't able to live for that long and although he didn't know how strong this Dragon was, he was sure that he wasn't stronger than his teacher.
"…"
Vasuki turned silent and didn't answer.
Azriel then narrowed his eyes and questioned,
"There is a catch in this 'Alternative option' that you are hiding, is there not?"
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