Chapter 732 Four Pillars: Nine Stars
'The first six trials could be considered as the main focus of the Gates of Awakening. With the monotony and predictability it offers, it allows the higher-ups to obtain a solid impression of those that wish to enter its gates.'
'Those that have only passed the first trial are considered to be of the lowest caliber, while those that have passed the sixth trial are noted to be of the highest priority when it came to focus.'
'Then, there's the final set of trials.'
'Unlike the first six trials, it would be more apt to called these final set of trials a giant trial that was split up into three smaller trials.'
'After all, as mentioned before, the obstacles barring you from reaching the final bottleneck are none other than the members of the Gates of Awakening that have made names for themselves in the past.'
'Or at least, the images that they've left for the Gates of Awakening to use,' added the voice posthaste.
'With that, you, the trial taker, shall have to face against nine images in total. In other words, nine images of official members from the Gates of Awakening.' nOve(lb-In
'Though most of them shall undoubtedly fight you with their weapons, some of these images shall choose to settle the victor through their specialties instead, whether it be production skills or other crafts.'
'Of course, the trial taker should rest assured that these images shall have a similar specialty to you when the situation arises.'
'In other words, fights that do not call for combat would instead call for your specialty instead, which would be the art of forging.'
'With all of that said, this final trial is called the Trial of Nine Stars.'
'You have 10 minutes to prepare.'
"...Man." Scratching the back of his head as he recalled the words spoken to him by the voice, Valyr sat on the ground as he gathered his thoughts.
After some time, he let out a low sigh.
In other words, their abilities allowed them to fight against opponents at least two class ranks higher than them with ease.
In fact, the voice said that it was normal for them to fight against opponents three class ranks above them without much problem, causing Valyr to suck in a breath of cold air.
After being told that he could forfeit his attempt at clearing the Trial of Nine Stars at any time he wished, the young man inwardly let out a sigh of relief as he continued to rest on the ground.
"At the very least, I could still leave the inheritance with my life intact," murmured Valyr, letting out a dry chuckle. "Though that'll come at the cost of basically being returned to Rank 2 and being booted out of the inheritance."
"Well... it's definitely better than being dead."
As the young man pondered over what kind of opponent he would be paired up against at the start of the trial, the ground began to madly shake at some point.
Rumble...
Feeling slight confusion for a brief moment, Valyr swiftly understood what was happening, prompting him to move out of the way as things started to jut out of the ground.
"I guess the first fight has something to do with forging."
With every passing second, the sight of two fully-equipped workshops appeared before Valyr's very eyes, reminding him of his experience during the second and fifth trial.
Though, just as he was about to make his way to one of the workshops, a silhouette of a human appeared in front of him all of a sudden.
"Huh."
"They really decided to use me as the first opponent."
"And against a youngster at that."
"..."
"Well, I guess this old geezer will just have to do his best."