Chapter 218 - 218)Trial 3

"Haaah…" Night was on his knees, out of breath, his entire presence was unbalanced at the moment. His mind was a mess, he went from killing someone he cared about to slaughtering thousands and thousands of enemies, in just a few minutes.

[Kill the Wild Boar Boss(reanimated)]

[Hardcore mode detected! Multiplying opponents!]

[Damage dealt by opponents increased]

[Kill both the Wild Boar Bosses (reanimated)]

It was a weird throwback. The first actual boss that Night ever fought and lost to. Although Nyx jumped in to save the day by killing the boss. Night won the fight only through external interference. He was now required to fight the one creature he lost to throughout his wild journey.

"Gimme….a fuckn break…."  Night used his knees for support. He was genuinely tired, especially after what just happened a minute ago. For some odd reason, he lost control and nearly killed his own allies. He looked around and noticed that he was in the same cave as he was before. The Cave of Caduceus. Everything remained the same, except this time, Caduceus wasn't present, the twin-child-staff was nowhere to be seen.

"What lesson am I to learn this time…." Night looked at the two giant deformed boars that were waiting to tear him apart. If not for Nyx's power then would he have made it this far? Would he have even gotten to the point where he currently was? Most importantly, would he have been able to save Nate?

"My own…." He looked at his bruised hands, parts of it were blue and nearly black, blood smeared on his knuckles like a new paintbrush caressing a canvas. His breathing slowly stabilized, his mental state was no longer collapsing. It's been a while since he was "himself", the old Night would always try out something new and risky. No matter the situation, however, over the time, he had gotten used to depending on Nyx's bloodline abilities. So much so that he rarely attempted to try anything new, at least in situations that he deemed crucial. "….power…?"

It was about time. In all honesty, Night's character growth and overall growth weren't steady by any means. In the beginning, he focused solely on his aura development, however, after noticing the importance of weapon mastery and the impact of Genesis on reality, he had to focus on multiple aspects of his character in the game.

Blacksmithing, NPC relations, Crafting, there was so much left to explore, that he was sure there was someone out there with some kind of legendary quest that gave them some unique class. Perhaps something like a legendary miner? Or a legendary artisan, perhaps a legendary cook?

Due to his Bloodline, Night was allowed to access and clear the trials of the other basic classes. There weren't many classes that allowed one to do such a thing. It was a lot of work, but the reward was obviously worth it. 

However, now that he noticed Genesis had a direct impact on reality, especially the power aspect. He had to focus more on exploring and uncovering the secrets that were held within the mysterious world.

Unfortunately, before his mind could wander into the multifarious thoughts that it fed into, he had to focus on something that was real and alive, well, not exactly alive, it was more undead than alive.

"I'm coming, and this time, it's going to be without any help," Night walked forward, he was determined, although, the strategy to actually take down the two boars was a bit murky, the one thing he knew for sure was that he would avoid his bloodline abilities no matter. He included everything directly given by Nyx under that, meaning the only abilities he had were Hermes Exploration and Frost touch. The Niflheim skill tree included the usage of the dark element, and that fell under Nyx's domain.

It wasn't as if he was restricted from doing so. It was more personal than professional. It was something he had to prove to himself. Especially since all the trials so far were random, none of the trials when paired together made sense. The only common factor in all was the fact that each of them held a lesson that would help him progress. It was like unsealing a mental limiter.

With every step, his pace increased, his Glacial Balance appeared in his hand. It was the actual weapon, not some replacement created by his aura. After all, even that was considered Nyx's. Although to be fair, Night did learn weapon aura all on his own.

Both the boars were now level 150, while that wasn't too high, he was now fighting against a creature he lost to once before. No matter what the circumstance, he was bound to face some sort of anxiety, the fear that wouldn't allow him to act to his potential.

He jumped forward and roared, Hermes Exploration was active, Frost touch wasn't an option considering there wasn't any snow or ice around him. Just then in his mind the voice of someone he hadn't heard popped up. It wasn't exactly a voice, it was more of a memory. 

"Get stronger my child, grow so much, and prove to everyone that you're worthy of my bloodline." 

For a split second, it was as if time had slowed down. A smile broke out on his face as he recalled the first words Nyx had said to him. Confidence blasted through his body as he clashed with the two bosses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nearly an hour after Night had entered the trials, outside, in the Sacred Grounds. Shade and Noctis were patiently waiting. If there was one thing their Lord was good at, it was proving everyone wrong.

However, the very next second, there was a weird hum in the air. Immense pressure descended upon everyone present, the air was vibrating, the entrance was now glowing, especially the middle.

Every single Elder and Grand elder in the Assassins Den could feel their skin tingle. It wasn't just that, it was something that was embedded into their very core, perhaps even their DNA. They all felt this irresistible urge to move towards the Sacred Grounds.

Sketch on the hand looked around confused as to what was going on. Nothing was making sense, his entire world was trembling…but for what? What was the reason? What descended that made the very world tremble. While the NPCs looked around and tried their best to not panic, the players present were all in awe. Their mouths were open and their fingers shivered. 

Somewhere on the way to Linto, Nate looked up at the sky and smiled, "you couldn't wait huh? You bastard. I don't know how you did it…but as long as it's you and not anyone else…..guess I got some catching up to do huh?" Nate continued as he looked into the distance. The land of Linto, it was soon going to be the main stage for what could possibly be a huge world event. Just looking and thinking about the future sent shivers down his spine.

Meanwhile, Kenny Smith and Dr. Reed were both no longer in their senses. After consuming an entire bottle of the prestige alcohol, they had experienced everything. They were in shambles as they watched Night's first trial, then they were worried and confused as the second trial was cleared, as for the third trial, the pair wore a proud expression the entire time. However, at the end, something occurred. Something strong enough to knock out any impact of alcohol. Both of them stood still as they looked at the large screen. In the center was a man who sat on top of two monster corpses.

"Sss—si…r…." Reed gulped. At this point nothing made sense. According to ATHENA, the supercomputer, Night was supposed to go through a minimum of four trials. However, for some unknown reason, the entire thing was cut short.

"I….I ddd..ont know…." Kenny replied, he was now beginning to question his own supercomputer. Something he trusted no matter what. The issue wasn't that his trials were cut short, what caused such a reaction was the words that were uttered from Night's mouth as he sat there.

There was absolutely nothing that they could say to the community. There was no explanation, and that was the truth. This was something that even Kenny, the creator couldn't answer.

It was an interesting scene. One that was extremely cinematic and kind of nostalgic. The main difference was that the last time he was seated on a corpse, the skies were bleeding black. Heavy dark rain descended upon the forest of Kriol. This time, he sat upon the two bloody corpses with a proud smile. All around him were tiny channels of blood flowing. His entire being was covered in Blood, his Glacial Balance that usually stood out was now stained with blood.

As gory and unpleasant as the scenario sounded, Night was elated, so much so that he couldn't express himself. Instead, he smirked and very slightly chuckled. He leaned back and looked in the distance. His lips parted, it was as if he was about to utter something he had never expected.

"Ascend…."