Chapter 739 Onto the Cavern of Trials
While Eliza was having her little talk with Darcy, the rest of the Servants of the Manor returned and Evan had them tidy up the living room and arrange the gift boxes.
The boy wandered outside to the lush gardens, lying on the grass and gazing at the sky for an hour.
It had now been officially 3 years and 2 months since he came to Aidos, and Evan marvelled at how much about him had changed in that time.
From gaming in his room after school to being thrust into the game's world, fighting against Demons and Monsters, and saving millions of people.
Powers he only believed to be works of fiction in his world were real over here and he personally now wielded the power to crumble mountains at his fingertips.
He felt that returning to Earth V now might mean accidentally destroying buildings with a touch due to their fragility compared to his newfound strength.
The materials on Aidos were all saturated with magic power and were more durable, but that wasn't the case for Earth V.
After chilling there for a while longer, he noticed spirits gathering in a certain part of the garden and went to check it out, encountering a little girl healing a wounded spirit.
The girl appeared to be lost and though Evan initially mistook her for a servant's child, he learned her true identity after bringing her into the Manor
Kinda hard not to, after she shouted 'Big Sister!' upon spotting Eliza.
It also turned out that Khris was present as well, though the boy said something that got him smacked with enough force to bash through a wall by Eliza.
They spent the next few days in the manor and Evan contacted Heather to relay his plans for the Cudjour mountains before they finally left on the 20th.
They met up with Princess Heather in Kasteblum—Evan and Eliza's next destination.
Eliza planned to meet Felyela and wanted Darcy to visit the 'Grotto of the Hopeless Wizard'. They stayed until Eliza ensured Darcy got the potion from the boss monster, then took it to Felyela for examination.
Evan found out Eliza also knew many of the Blue-Robed Grand Mages.
The potion had the incredible effects Evan mentioned, but he had Darcy keep quiet about how to obtain it. He also kept the conditions secret from the Kasteblum Mages.
When Eliza asked him his 'real intention', he replied with a line she couldn't fully understand.
"If I use that on the Basilisk's mother, then she would not die and the Demonic Hand would not go after him.
That'd prevent an entire country from being turned to stone."
Eliza just sighed and told him not to stress over plans for distant future events, having deduced that the 'Basilisk' issue wasn't imminent.
Indeed, it was a plan Evan had for when he went to the Beta Continent for the fifth Disaster he planned to tackle—'The Basilisk's Stone Festival'.
A Festival in the Beta Continental country of Isolon turned into a tragedy which killed over 100 million people.
The Disaster was presided over by the 'Fourth Finger' of the Demonic Hand.
After they were done extending Darcy's life by 3 centuries, Evan decided it was high time they went to Cudjour.
Heather had arrived with Bourne and his father, Thomas, as Emperor Isaac wanted his daughter protected by two generations of 'First Star' Generals.
Evan took Gavin and Felyela to inspect the Magic Circle, hoping to find a way to operate it. He wanted to create higher-ranking breeds of his companions and other important people. For instance, Finley, already powerful as a human, would become exponentially stronger as a High Human.
The unlikely group set out and reached Cudjour without any mishaps. Ever mischievous, Evan kept quiet about the 2000-meter freefall they'd experienced upon entering the Facility.
However, they were with two Legends and a Sovereign so it wasn't hard to deal with it.
Evan and Heather were a bit miffed that they dealt with it so easily, so they said nothing about the pitfall trap and they had the time of their lives rolling on the floor laughing when Bourne and Gavin fell into it.
A few smacks from Eliza later, Evan silently led them towards the Magic Circle room and they completed the process of evolving her into a High Human.
Gavin and Felyela were stumped on replicating the circle, but this only fuelled their determination to understand its workings.
Unbeknownst to them, the circle they saw was incomplete, with the full one hidden underground. They were also unaware that it was a Tier 7 magic circle.
After Eliza completed her High-Human Evolution on the 25th, the group parted ways: the mages headed back to Kasteblum, Heather, Bourne, and Thomas returned to the GEE, while Evan and Eliza went back to the GWE.
Evan gathered the Anomalies from the other countries and they headed to the Tower of Trials.?Their aim was?to level up Eliza from 460 to 499, preparing her to reach Epic Level in the Cavern of Trials
Surprisingly, it took less time than expected; within a month, the very exhausted and mentally drained Eliza had reached Level 499.
Neutrals have the freedom to choose which one they want.
You can't enter a trial that doesn't match your alignment, but you can team up with companions who share your alignment."
Pulling up the Reincarnated Hero System Interface, he scanned the room's occupants. His brow raised lightly when he scanned Eliza, a detail she caught without missing a beat.
"Is there a problem?"
"Nope.In fact,this is very welcome. Oh, I can't wait to see the look on that damned Spirit's face..."
The mischievous grin he wore as he spoke prompted everyone present to sigh and silently wish the best for whoever Evan had in mind.
"Due to our differing Karmic Alignments, we won't all be heading to the same Trial Grounds. We'll split into three groups."
"And how are we dividing ourselves?"
Responding to Roselia's question, Evan pointed at her and Nadarus, then gestured to the Right Half of the Hall.
"You two know where you belong."
"That sounds rude for some reason..."
Evan chuckled and pointed to the large scale behind them, explaining further.
"I can do what the scale does so there's no point in us using it. I know I am considered 'Chaotic Good' already.
That scale's for those who don't know their alignment.
The Dungeon scanned us upon entry so trying another door will trigger a spatial barrier. There are teleporters by each wall, so just select a door, and it'll warp you right to it."
"Is there any special door we need to know about?"
Considering Evan's knowledge of unknown things, it wasn't surprising for Roselia to question the existence of any special doors.
"No. The trial you'd meet in Door 25 is the same you'd meet in Door 250."
Just as Evan was about to start organizing the groups, he remembered something crucial he'd nearly forgotten to mention.
"We would NOT be doing all the Trials. Only the First and Tenth Trials—they're the ones thatreallymatter.
Once you guys are done with the First Trial, don't advance and remain there. I'd use my Hero Authority to beam us all to the Tenth Trial."
His sudden declaration surprised them as they didn't even think it was possible to manipulate a dungeon in this manner.
"That sounds like cheating..."
"What do you mean 'sounds like'? itIScheating."
Evan wasn't ashamed to admit that it was indeed cheating, and a certain 'Spirit of Karma' woulddefinitelybe immensely annoyed by this but the boy didn't want to waste time on 'pointless things'.
"Alright...let's group up.
Kayla (Chaotic Neutral), Kuro (Chaotic Neutral), Milena (Ordered Good) and Amy (Chaotic Good). You four would be together.
Roselia (Ordered Evil) and Nadarus (Chaotic Evil). You two are on your own.
Liz and I would go to a different trial together."
Since the Neutrals could go to whichever Trial Ground they wanted,it was possible for Kayla and Kuro to gowith Milena and Amy.
Amy wanted to go with Roselia but the Fire Spirit was considered 'Good' so she could not enter the 'Evil' trials. The High Demon's Alignment—Ordered Evil—was just a fancy way of saying she's done some pretty 'bad' things, but she's got principles.
As for Eliza, Evan did not comment on her Karmic Alignment and he also did not allow her to check it with the scale.
However, since she could enter the 'Good' trials, she guessed she was 'Good' as well.
'Or am I a Neutral? But there's no problem with that either, is there?'
With such thoughts in her mind, the girl followed Evan into a randomly chosen Trial Ground.