Rishi was all alone; he was still thinking about his future plans, even with Yakshini's help. He was not sure how he would recruit people and train them; all of this required money, knowledge, and connections.
I need the help of my clan, but I don't want them to have any presence in the guild; I don't even want them to know about it. I need a trustworthy man who can train assassins for me; I will need to discuss this with Uncle Kabir. For now, the most important thing is to pass the second trial.
I have prepared all I can. I should inform my maid to prepare a bath and dinner for me before challenging the trial. He started moving towards his maid and asked her to prepare dinner for him before coming back to his room. He closed his eyes and made sure that he was fully focused before saying, "Awaken."
[Would you like to challenge the Second Trial? Yes or No]
Rishi sighed when he heard Gaia's voice again and said, "Yes."
His whole body shone in white light as he disappeared from his place, and when he opened his eyes again, he was in a different place. The sky was dark and gloomy, the area around looked like the ruin of an ancient city, and he felt cold all over his body.
A low red light suddenly shone and covered the whole area near him; when he looked again, the area enveloped in darkness, and the mist became slightly visible. There was a big ancient gate in front of him; on both, its sides were statues of demon guards who looked lifelike.
Above the gate, he saw one more floor, but everything above was covered in mist. In the sky, he saw a blood-red moon that had now risen from the clouds, only to get covered again.
The smell of rotten bodies and decomposing bodies suddenly assaulted his nose, making him almost puke. Even breathing here was very hard due to the amount of dust in the air. He was confused about what he had to do when a window appeared in front of him, and he heard Gaia's voice again.
[Welcome to the Second Trial Challenge, This trial is divided into three parts. The first is 'Tower of Corpse Demons,' in which you have to clear seven floors to go to the next stage; the second is Element Bestowal, while the third part is Core Creation.]
[Select a difficulty level for the first stage Easy/Normal/Hard/Hell]
Rishi listened patiently before asking, "What is the difference between difficulty levels?"
[It is similar to that of games: the harder the difficulty level, the more challenging it will be to clear it, and the rewards you will get will also be better.]
He thought for some time before deciding, and he said, "Hell." A loud thunder could be heard in the sky, and as trembling could be seen on the earth, the atmosphere was suddenly even more gruesome.
The eyes of the statues of Demon Guards shone in a red glow as the giant gate in front of him opened. He stepped inside and heard Gaia's voice for the last time [All their best Challanger] before the gate behind him shut down.
He looked around and saw that the lamps were shining on both sides of the big hall. The disgusting stench had grown even more. He took a step forward and started scanning the room, only to find himself losing his balance and nearly falling on his face.
He looked closely and saw it was a corpse; he looked carefully and discovered there were many corpses with big scratch marks and torn-apart flesh. He became cautious, used stealth, and started taking every step after scanning the area around his feet.
He was moving around when he heard the sound of someone eating and chewing. He moved to that area and heard the sound of someone chewing bones, and when he looked in front, he saw a shadow of a figure feasting on the corpse of a human.
Rishi felt chills all over his body as he watched many similar creatures like the first one around the area. They had long, sharp claws, which they used to tear apart the armor and clothes covering the corpse, while their long and sharp canines were responsible for breaking bones.
They had a big horn on their forehead, and their head was triangular, in which there were two big eyes that were yellow. When he looked closely, their multiple sets of teeth became visible to him, as did their long necks, which connected their heads to the rest of their bodies.
They had a humanoid body, but it was very skinny and slightly bent on the back; they had long hands, which had five long claws at the end; their legs were also twisted and bony, and their feet were very long compared to the average humans. They were standing on the claws of their feet; their ankle was above the ground.
Their body was like white corpse. They had long hair like the mane of horses; the only change was that it stretched from their back to their hips as if forming their tail, which was touching the ground.
Rishi was disgusted by their looks; he couldn't stand them anymore. He wanted to end them all in one go but decided to use his inspect skill first to learn more about them.
[Horned Corpse Demon (First Stage)]
INFO.: They are demonic beasts who can increase their level by eating other beings; the horns on their forehead define their power.
TYPE: Demonic Beast
GRADE: Normal
LEVEL: Advanced Stage Level 4
STRENGTH: High agility, vitality, and a strong sense of smell.
WEAKNESS: low defense.
ABILITY: They use dark magic to strengthen their attack; their claws and cannons carry poison, which can make an opponent caught by them very weak.
After learning about them, Rishi decided to end them all in one go. He first used 'Chains of Reaper' to hold each of them in place before ending them quickly with 'Sword Dash' and 'Quick Draw.'
Two little magic circles appeared on two opposite sides from which chains came out, and the opponent caught off guard had no time to react. A sharp dagger at the front of the chains pierced through all of them and made them all unable to move.
Rishi took out his sword, and his body shone in a white glow before he disappeared and appeared again behind the clueless beast that was struggling to move. He showed no mercy and targeted all the weak points, like the head, heart, and neck.
He chained through all five opponents as he moved like a blurred shadow dashing from one place to another. The opponents could only cry in agony for a second before Rishi stopped and put his sword back into its sheath.
The bodies of the demonic beasts fell lifelessly; they were all cut into pieces. Rishi didn't even look at them and started looking for a path to the next floor.
The same scene repeated itself on the second and third floors even when the number of opponents was 10 and 15, respectively, way higher than in the first round, but they were no match for Rishi's overwhelming raw power.
He entered the portal on the third round and appeared on the fourth floor. The fourth floor was a little different; it was very wide, and the area around it was also dark. Unlike the other floors, Rishi could sense the opponents approaching him. It looks like they can sense me even if I am in a stealth state.
His lips curled up. That will make it more interesting and fun. It was not looking like hellish difficulty till now. He was scanning the area around him when he felt a claw coming towards him from the back. He jumped up and dodged it, and looked below from the air; more than five Beasts were surrounding him. They were similar to the ones he had seen before, but they had two horns instead of one, and their eyes were shining blue.
It looks like they are stronger than the ones I faced before, he laughed. It's not like that will make a difference. He used the 'Chains of the Reaper' skill again, summoning two chains to catch them all.
The opponents were very fast; three of them escaped, while the remaining two were pierced by the daggers at the front of the chains, making them unable to move for a second. Rishi used 'Sword Dash' to disappear from the air, and he used 'Quick Draw' in the air to get an extra attack.
A shadow appeared behind the two-horned corpse demon, which resulted in goosebumps appearing all over his body, but before he could even try to move it, it disappeared. Two slashes landed on the neck and face of the Demonic Beast, which made him cry. A similar cry could be heard some meters away from him.
The blurry shadow moved from one opponent to another before stopping; the Beasts cried when they saw the corpse of their friends; Rishi just licked his lips and jumped at them, giving them no chance to retreat; two chains were moving ahead of him like snakes cathing every opponent they came across.