......
After complaining about how broken Uno's equipment set, Shin continued swimming toward the temple in the distance.
While doing so, he also swapped his equipment with the [Apocalypse Set] and weapon with the [Yamato]. The same goes for the bloody cloak and the ghost demon mask as they were swapped with the [Death's Shadow] and the [Nephilim's Gemini Mask] respectively.
Even if the [Blood Pilgrim Set] was quite powerful better than his [Apocalypse Set] to a certain degree, he was more familiar with his current set and he liked his style with this more, especially when his Myriad Transformation Swordsmanship worked quite well with this set.
Moreover, the multiple buffs and boosts that the [Blood Pilgrim Set] were too much for him to handle when they reached their full stacks. Even if they gave the wearer more power, such power was too much for most of the people to handle.
Controlling the insane speed while also making sure that they would not lose their balance when swinging their weapons with such powerful strength along with unstoppable momentum.
In Shin's opinion, Uno was the only one who could handle such a burden to the mind and body while not suffering from it. He could take advantage of the full stacks of his buffs without encountering any drawbacks.
As Shin swam toward the temple, he felt an unknown power wash over his entire body as if it were scanning his entire being. He did not feel any resistance from the barrier as he went past it nor any ill intent from this foreign power, so he let it scan his body as he continued to swim toward the temple.
But the more he swam, the more confused he became. It felt like he was swimming in the abyss with nowhere to go.
That underwater temple that he was seeing in the distance remained distant despite how much he swam toward it. It felt like the distance was never decreasing.
It was either it was too far despite seeing from his stance or he might remain in the same position all this time.
There was also a possibility that the temple was just a mere illusion, which was also moving alongside him. But he suspected that it was most likely the second case since he felt he remained stationary despite swimming with his strength.
Tilting his head to the side, Shin felt that he was up for a test. It was a trial that was meant to test whether he was worthy or not to set foot on that temple.
Thinking about this, Shin suddenly stopped before calming his mind. He then closed his eyes to empty his mind before heightening his senses to feel his surroundings much clearer.
He was trying to enter the state of being one with nature, trying to 'merge' with the sea so that he could see the 'paths' that were invisible to his eyes.
As he communicated with his surroundings, his consciousness blended with it until he felt like he became the sea itself.
Seeing this, Uno, who was silent up until now, raised his brows. [Hoh~! You have learned quite a trick.]
Shin ignored the voice inside his head as he put all his attention on sensing the surroundings, particularly reading the flow of water.
It did not take that long until Shin noticed a strange movement of mana in the water. It was different from the usual mana and water flow as this mana was moving in circles as if it was forming a twister.
Shin observed this flow of mana for quite a while and noticed that this spinning flow of mana was heading deep into the ocean even if he was already at its deepest point as the seabed was right under him.
But from what he could 'see' through his senses, this spinning flow penetrated the seabed itself and headed toward a deeper part of the ocean.
Slightly frowning his brows, Shin swam toward it before letting himself get dragged by the spinning flow.
He did not open his eyes as he tried to observe a little more with his other senses. But doing that made him nauseous due to the spinning current that was gradually getting stronger as time went by.
Along with his heightened senses, which made him feel his surroundings much clearer, the nausea that was assaulting him became much worse.
Helpless, he could only release his state and let the spinning current drag him wherever it wanted.
System: The player has been detected to be contracted with multiple Elemental Spirits.
System: Identifying the Elemental Spirits' Potential.
*Ding*
System: All Elemental Spirits have been recognized as special rank!
System: All Elemental Spirits are either at Supreme Elemental or Elemental Monarch Ranks – the Player is recognized as 'Master of Elementals'! Adjusting the trial difficulty accordingly.
*Ding*
System: The trail is sent to the highest difficulty – Chaos.
*Ding*
System: The player is now unable to use any external help aside from weapons, equipment, and other items you wear yourself.
...
Right after the last notification rang in his ears, all his elemental spirits disappeared and were sent back to his Reaper's Realm, where their respective rebirthing place was.
But before he could even complain about it, another string of notifications followed the previous ones.
*Ding*
System: Analyzing the most ideal trial for the challenger.
*Ding*
System: The player is recognized as a 'Master of Elementals' – the trials will be presented accordingly.
System: The player is asked to choose which trial he wants to take first.
System: Please consider your choice as the next trails will become harder as you pass the previous one.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Three choices were presented in front of him.
Trial of the Primordial Waters, Trial of the Transcendent Beings, and Trial of the Forgotten God.
Shin paused as he looked at the choices, and he got a bad feeling about this just by reading their names.
At first, he felt a sudden déjà vu when he heard the notification. He immediately shook his head as he listened to the system more. "This quite a greeting, don't you think?"
"I just came back and wanted to relax a little. But it looks like I am thrown into another pit of despair and hardship right after returning," he complained as he stared at the three choices presented before.
......