Chapter 287 - 281 : The Third Challenge

"Challenger, prepare for the Third challenge."

"This should be the last trial right? I wonder what the challenge would be."

Sato readied himself as the white dimension he was in fell apart to reveal a new location.

"Hmm?"

Sato was suddenly greeted by a bright burst of light that forced him to squint his eyes. Luckily for him, the light didn't last long, as it decreased in intensity and his eyes slowly got used to them.

"Where am I?"

Sato couldn't help but question as he caught a glimpse of his new location.

The area was a flat ground with grey coloured soil and no sign of vegetation. Even from where he stood, he could see far into the distance as there was no obstruction in the way due to the absence of both trees and elevated soil. All in all, the place gave off a bizarre feeling even to Sato who had ventured into many places in various VR games.

'IR's graphics and realism are indeed the best.' Sato sighed. Not only was the place extremely realistic, but the feeling it gave and the feeling his in-game avatar felt made it feel even more real.

As Sato was praising the game while taking in the view, he noticed something odd about the place. Sato noticed that the environment felt a bit 'special' and different from all the other challenge locations. It wasn't just because of the ambience of the place but something else.

Sato felt like he was atop a suspended platform and when he looked up, he guessed that his intuition might be right. This was because just a few metres above him was the blue sky dotted with a bunch of irregularly shaped white clouds. It felt so close to reach but Sato knew that there were still, at least, dozens of metres between him and the sky. What caught his attention, however, was the lightweight feeling he felt in this new place. It was almost as if it was floating but not exactly; as if the effects of gravity were lesser here.

"This feeling...That's!!!"

As Sato gazed around and took in the sight, he noticed something from the edge of his eyes. Trying to confirm his suspicions, Sato dashed over the end of the platform which wasn't that far from him. As he approached it, Sato began to slow down till he was just a few steps away from the edge. Yes, the edge.

"Yep. I guessed it." Sato took in a deep breath at the sight ahead of him.

He was actually on a floating platform suspended high up in the air; more than 7 kilometres from the ground! A fall from such a height was more than enough to kill a majority of large creatures like an elephant or a blue whale, much less a human being.

From the position he stood at, Sato could see a majority of the land beneath him. The ground was covered in a mixture of green and brown. There were a few mountains scattered across the area and a large mountain range extended towards the East.

The land below Sato was like a heavenly ground. Gigantic trees grew from the earth and mighty beasts wandered throughout the area. There was no lack of birds that resembled divine eagles and golden rocs. However, due to the distance between them, Sato couldn't take in the sight of all this clearly. However, a couple of things did manage to grab his attention during this while.

One of them was a large swallow that had a wingspan of at least 10 metres(10.9 yards). From the height he stood at, Sato wouldn't have been able to spot this creature as a height of 7 kilometres would make anything below look like an ant. However, this swallow managed to reach a height of almost 3 kilometres or so and the aura it radiated happened to catch Sato's attention. He felt that in a one-on-one battle with this 'little bird', he wouldn't be its match. To make a much better comparison of the differences in their abilities, Sato felt that the Blood king Varg he faced wouldn't last one move against this bird. Luckily for him, the altitude of 3 kilometres looked to be the swallow's limit, either that or it didn't sense him.

Just as Sato was astounded by the might of the bird, a large shadow suddenly swooped down and caught the swallow in its claws.

'Fast!'

The swallow that was stronger than 15 Blood kings couldn't even make a move or retaliate against the ambusher due to the large gap between their strength. All its actions of self-preservation looked like the tantrum of a little kid in the presence of the ambusher. The claws of the new arrival had sunk deep into the swallow's body and after just 2 seconds, the swallow could no longer resist as its last breath was snuffed out.

It was at that moment that Sato finally caught a glimpse of the attacker. It was a red-winged eagle that had a body with a crimson shade. It had a wingspan of 50 or so metres(54.68 yards) with amber coloured claws that had a width of at least 5 metres. There were a few lines of red blood that came from the dead swallow, dripping from the claws. When mixed with the amber claws, they added a different kind of beauty to it. The claws of the eagle looked like a high-grade metal and Sato's blacksmith instincts told him that those claws could be used to forge a Rare-Steel rank weapon at the least and the level could even be above level 15.

'It might even be more. After all, I don't know what level this monster is at.'

Not just the claws, but every single part of the eagle could be used to create a weapon or equipment that would change the balance of power among player guilds in IR.

After killing the swallow, the eagle didn't immediately depart but glanced towards Sato. Just one look from its blood-red eyes made Sato's body go cold. However, the eagle didn't make any move as it seems to be wary of something. Having achieved its goal, it flapped its wings once and suddenly speed off far into the distance with a red blur.

'Incredible. I can't even react to its speed. If it had aimed for me, I would be dead without knowing how.' Sato took a deep breath as he felt that this place wasn't as simple as he initially thought.

'I have been here for a while yet no rules or instruction has been given to me.' Sato took his sights off the plain below and focused on the platform he stood on.

Usually, with each location change, a voice would sound out that would inform him of the requirements to pass the trial and the duration of the trial. Apart from telling him to prepare for the third challenge, it said nothing else to him. Even the system notification that informed him of his new location didn't appear.

As Sato surveyed the platform, he noticed that deep into the distance, there seemed to be an altar or something located there. The structure was constructed with pure white stones and that made it a conspicuous object in this place. The only reason Sato didn't notice it when he initially arrived was that his attention was on figuring out the reason behind the weightless feeling he felt.

'I'm guessing the third challenge is most likely related to that spot. Time to get going.'

Sato began making his way towards the white structure however, he didn't heedlessly rush towards it. One thing he learnt from the last challenges was that no matter the location, the trip would be in no way, smooth. There would always be a few monsters or creatures that would try to stop him or attack him. Sato didn't want to fall into an ambush or get attacked and injured just because of a moment of carelessness. He would rather walk slowly than just charge towards the place. Of course, Sato didn't walk slowly since he was in a rush to get done with the Main trials. Nonetheless, he still didn't sprint at full speed and also kept his senses on alert and raised his guard up for any surprise attack.

. . .

"He's finally begun." Saimon's voice sounded back at the 'viewing centre'.

"Hmm. From here on out, success or failure would depend on how well he performs. If his luck and strength are lacking, he will lose everything. On the other hand, if it is satisfactory, he would be reborn and have a future worthy of a divine dragon." Lord Worrus' voice replied.

The Main Trials consisted of 3 challenges and the nature of the first 2 challenges changes at random. However, the third challenge would always remain the same no matter what. This was because the third challenge was the most important challenge that defined the most important quality of a Caventry; their strength. Also, passing this challenge would mean the end of the Main Trials.. In other words, once Sato completes it, he would be able to leave this dimension and reap the hard-earned rewards of his tiring efforts.