"You are now level 45."
I suddenly awaken and try to sit up, but my body protests because of the pain, so I stay put, laying on the sand.
"Wolfy, you can summon me now," I mutter, but there's no response.
I try to find the little hole inside my mind to talk through, but there's nothing there, only darkness.
Oh, no…
I sigh and manage to sit up, then I cough to purge the water from my lungs, and a pounding headache flares up.
I sigh again, then I pull out and drink one of Roxanne's HP potions. It tastes like a mixture of berries and leaves a warm feeling in my mouth, and once it reaches my stomach, that warmth quickly spreads throughout my body.
This is some really high-quality stuff. It's weird to think of that bitch as such a good potion-maker.
I chuckle to myself, then I sigh a third time and weakly crawl away from the shore.
"And you told me not to worry, that nothing could block [Bind], that we'd never get into danger," my voice echoes through the cave as I complain to the void.
I flop down when I reach dry sand, then I wait until my body stops hurting to take off my armor and warm myself up with a [Fireball].
"I can't really complain since I'd do the same if I were you…" I mumble to myself with a frown.
I notice the glowing crystal path in the green sand and observe it curiously.
A trap? Or perhaps an invitation…? No, a trial. We were deliberately separated, weren't we?
The fellowship bond is gone, too, but my "Companions" tab hasn't changed.
How is that even possible?
I smile as I imagine Ciel throwing a fit from knowing that the Dungeon Master is blocking the system created by the Gods.
Wait, doesn't Wolfy have some sort of curse where he can't stay away from Alissa for too long?
Now I can easily imagine her worrying about the other wives losing their [Bind], too.
Yeah, that isn't remotely funny…
As soon as I dry everything off, I put my armor back on again, then I draw my longsword and follow the crystal path.
The only thing I can do to help is to finish this as soon as possible and reunite with everyone.
We're stronger together…
--
The path leads me to a huge dome of green bricks with just a single, small entrance.
I peek inside and see a huge, dimly lit room populated with pillars, chest-high walls, and raised platforms all arranged in an obvious pattern. I've seen something like this before: this is an arena.
Really? A combat trial?
I circle the dome and search for another way out of this cave, but there's none I can find besides going back up the rapids I fell through or tunneling through solid rock.
What do you want me to prove? I was truly worthy of the title of Chosen Descendant. I've killed more humanoids and monsters than I can count. I've already proved myself as a warrior time and time again.
No… there must be something else. So be it, then, let us fight.
I eat my chocolate and prepare myself for the trial. I'll face it head-on, and I won't dare to try to predict what the Dungeon Master is thinking.
I swallow an Eia pill, then I cautiously enter the arena.
I sense very little ambient mana in here, and I can't sense any traces of Life. For now, I'm completely alone.
I reach the center and notice a small and circular gray platform right in the center of the arena. It's made of solid, smooth stone.
Awfully peculiar.
I step on it, then I hear stone sliding against stone followed by a dull thump. I look back towards the exit and discover that it's now closed.
Let's get this over with, already.
Almost as if it were an answer to my wish, I feel a disturbance in the web of Life, but nothing appears according to my [Sense Presence]. There's something hiding in here.
My heartbeat quickens, and I relax my muscles to prepare myself to react instantly, then I cautiously make my way towards where I think the source of the disturbance was.
The way is full of obstacles and places for the enemy to hide, which quickly increases the tension of this situation.
I cast [Mask] to control myself, and my emotions fade into the background, leaving me with my full mental capacity. It doesn't matter if the enemy can sense the mana leaking from this spell, I want it to come to me so that we can fight already.
I reach the location that I think the disturbance came from and start searching for traces of Life.
[Sense Presence] can be countered by [Hide Presence], but you can't completely nullify the connection with it, so it leaves a noticeable "negative space." I believe Alissa can sense that due to her notably higher [Sense Presence], but she can't identify what is actually hiding, so she only knows that something is hiding their presence. It works best in places filled with Life, like a forest, or a mist-covered landscape. In this empty arena, though, searching for that "negative space" is like trying to figure out which leaf will be rustled by a breeze.
Every time two beings with Life interact with each other, their Sources of Life connect along with their Threads of Fate, and that connection leaves a trace when it ends, which is said to be "spent" mana particles. They contain information about what has happened, but they lack the power to affect reality or sustain their existence, so they quickly decay after being emitted and rejoin the Cycle. But in the end, finding these traces is still easier than relying on my [Sense Presence].
I comb the area in search of any Life, managing to find a single wisp. The feeling I get from it makes me believe that something fleshy is out there, but someone with [Tracking] might've extracted more information from it than I did.
My Life connects with another, and [Precognition] activates. My Fate is to have my back be hit by the being's large fist, so I grab the Thread and force it to change. I immediately react and spin around to face it as I swing my longsword.
My blade bites into something fleshy, and a long, pale arm is cleanly severed. The being that attacked me immediately jumps backward and grips its stump, but it doesn't let out a single sound of pain. The feeling I get from the blood that pours out tells me that it's a monster, but that'd be easy to guess just from its appearance.
I see a naked and pale human-like monster without a face. Its head has three pure black eyes, extremely thin lips, a mouth full of teeth, and two slits for nostrils. It doesn't even have nipples or genitals. Its body is thin, its limbs are long, and they seem to be bowed.
It lunges forward, and I decapitate it before it can touch me.
What a horrifying creature.
Another disturbance in the Life of the area pulls me away from observing the corpse, and I start searching for the monster.
This time, it drops down onto me from a platform above, and I reflexively cast [Earth Bullet] at its face before it can even touch me.
It spins in the air, hits the back of its head on the brick floor, then passes out, so I quickly finish it off.
As I clean the blood from my sword, another creature appears, now right behind me, and it immediately strikes.
I use MP to strengthen our Life connection, then I forcefully push some of my Life out through it and wrap around his Source with my Life. I activate [Chain Life], and the monster freezes as its Source is disrupted in a similar manner to a [Disruption Field].
The spell only lasts for a split second since it was simply too hastily made to resist any attempts to interrupt it, but it's still enough to allow me to decapitate the monster.
Its body falls limply to the ground, and I recover all of my Life before it's lost from our connection being broken.
I clean their blood off of my sword again as I watch their bodies turn black, then disintegrate into smoke. The dungeon is reclaiming them to keep the arena from getting cluttered with corpses.
--
The monsters continue to appear in random spots, clearly trying to ambush me, but my senses are too sharp and [Precognition] is too powerful.
When they interrupt my dinner, a chilling realization washes through me: they won't let me sleep.
I search for a way out, but there's no sign of a lever or any sort of exit. I try to break my way out through the wall, but the bricks repair themselves faster than I can destroy them.
This test doesn't seem to be about my ability to escape, but to survive.
I go back to the center of the arena and stand on the gray platform, then I sit down on my left leg while leaving my right foot planted on the floor. My sword remains drawn with one hand holding it tight, ready to strike. This way, I can relax my body while still maintaining a posture that's ready for battle.
I drink an MP potion, then I close my eyes and let my [Precognition] and [Sense Presence] keep watch for me. [Mask] will have to stay on so that my will won't crack from the tension.
I feel a connection to my Life, and I instantly react.
I spring to my feet and slash, then a head falls to the ground. I clean my sword and return to my resting position.
--
Hours pass, and I manage to get some light sleep that's repeatedly interrupted by the Faceless Men.
I open my eyes, only to see Wolfy's head falling from his shoulders.
"AAAAAH!" I shriek and jump backward, then the dungeon starts reclaiming his body. "What in the Hell was that…?"
The next Faceless Man has Alissa's body.
I wrinkle my nose in revulsion as I watch her dead body dissipate into nothing. My [Mask] breaks, and I start to rant, "I'm extremely disgusted with this trial, Dungeon Master. It's distasteful to use the faces of my loved ones against me in this way. I see no purpose in this callous trial!"
I immediately cast [Mask] again before my anger gets me killed.
--
I kill Wolfy and each of the wives, repeatedly.
My body tires out and my movements dull, but my armor protects me from getting hurt.
I kill them all, repeatedly.
I see a wide variety of expressions, a different one for each kill. Anger, pain, rage, fear, pity, anger, kindness, boredom, pain, pain, pain, sadness, melancholy, tiredness, pain, tiredness…
I eat all of the chocolate I have left, and the light inside my body shines once more.
I drink more MP potions, and my toxicity increases, making me feel slightly queasy.
I hear a faint, continuous whisper.
I swallow another Eia pill, and the added strain of it causes my muscles to tremble. I can't even drink an HP potion at this point since it'll just make things worse.
I cast a brief [Regeneration] periodically to keep my body from breaking down since it has a lasting effect even when the spell isn't active. It eases some of my pain and reduces the burden on my [Mask].
--
"I TRULY LOVED YOU!" Wolfy bellows as he cries, clutching his chest where my sword pierced through his heart.
"WE TRUSTED YOU!" Alissa screams just before I slit her throat.
"I'm getting tired of your sick sense of humor, Dungeon Master," I dryly comment as I kill Lina before she can even open her mouth.
"You're a coward, Yunia," Wolfy slowly growls at me. He simply stands still in front of me, unarmed and wearing his fine elven clothes. His youthful face and adorable freckles make my heart flutter, but his angry, disgusted glare deeply unsettles me.
"If you're going to stand still, then that just makes things easier for me," I deadpan and free him of his head.
"I just wanted to protect us, but you still want to spare the traitors, putting us all in danger because of your stubborn elven pride," another Wolfy continues.
I turn to face it and immediately ask, "How do you know that?"
His angry glare is the only response I get, so I kill him.
--
My MP starts to run low, so I risk it and dispel [Mask].
My posture immediately crumbles, and I groan from exhaustion.
I stay on the floor for a while, trying to gather energy, but I spend too long, and the next Faceless Man jumps on top of me.
I grit my teeth in anger and cast an [Earth Bullet] at his face, then I draw a dagger from my back and stab Wolfy in the eye.
It screams in pain and grabs my fist, then it pulls my blade from his eye.
I wrench my hand free, then I slice through his throat. Blood quickly gushes from its neck and drenches my gauntlets.
I grab him by the hair and repeatedly stab his face.
His bloody fingers grip at my wrists, but he soon goes limp and passes out.
I lurch over and fall on the floor, then his body disappears, but the blood staining my armor remains.
--
A disturbance in the web of Life wakes me up.
I open my eyes and jump straight into my fighting stance, but nothing comes, so I settle back into my sitting position and prepare for it to attack.
The whispering grows louder.
--
"You're laying with humans, now?" Brás' disapproving voice grates on my ears.
I open my eyes and see his long, feminine blue eyes filled with disgust. His small, thin nose is wrinkled, his fleshy lips are warped in a sneer, and his long, oval face is turned away condescendingly. His shoulder-length golden hair is covering most of his delicate, perfect face, like a veil protecting others from being blinded by his beauty.
I kill it.
--
The torment doesn't end.
Brás' voice is so hostile that I feel like gravel is being crushed in my ears. "On the very next day after you were given hope, you went and cheated on me with a human? Is he 'big'? Is that why you forgot about me and jumped at the opportunity to ride him?"
I shake my head and close my eyes as I kill it. "This isn't fair. I'd already ended things between us long before I met Wolfy," I defend myself.
"A human, really?" He censures me again.
I shrug and chuckle as I kill him. "So what? Human dick is just as good as elven dick."
The whispering morphs into crying.
--
"I didn't raise you to be like this," Father's gentle voice feels like a slap on the face.
I spring up onto my feet and stumble forward due to my exhaustion, but I quickly recover and look around, though I don't manage to find him.
"Have you forgotten what we stood for?" Father's question drips with frustration.
I look up and see his face staring down at me. His soft features and composed look contrast greatly with his eyes filled with scorn.
I was never one to cower beneath his gaze, so I glare back at him and growl, "'Stood.'"
"Are you also going to simply forget everything we taught you?" Zaleia's raspy, stern voice gives me chills. My blood mother was the only one that could truly make me cower, but this isn't one of those moments.
I stare right back at her sharp and strict face in defiance, unmoved by her anger. "You're not here to remind me anymore, so, yes, I'm going to forget everything," I quip back.
Amarils' harsh and grating voice resounds throughout the arena, "Foolish girl, then you really do deserve to be a human's slave." She was never good at giving speeches, even with a high [Acting] skill.
She displays her unbridled disgust with me. My half-aunt, half-mother has a younger and far softer face, but I can still clearly see Mother's features on her.
Seeing them again makes me emotional, but also only increases my determination to stand up to them. "Yes, I do! We all deserve our fates and more for failing the twins!" I exclaim as I swing my sword wildly.
"We didn't deserve death…" Mother's sorrowful voice cools the rage that's been building up within me.
"We're your parents! Is this how you show us respect?" Father asks incredulously.
My memories of our last few days together flood my mind and force me to spill my heart out, "Do you know how much I cried while I waited for death…? After the Hands of the Emperor showed up, I could barely sleep since it was only a matter of time before the Council would finally kill us all."
Father's expression darkens. "Then you should've helped us more and fought harder," he growls.
I shake my head and confess, "No, I shouldn't have helped… I should've stopped you."
A silence falls over us, broken only by the loud crying in the background, and we stare defiantly at each other, neither of us willing to yield even an inch.
Mother grows impatient and finally states, "Sacrifice is sometimes necessary to accomplish greatness,"
"You sacrificed yourself for nothing," I retort flatly.
"Because you won't continue our legacy," Father accuses me, and I heartily agree.
"I've lost my name, I'm not an Este anymore," I calmly point out.
"But you'll be the Crown Lord of the Western High Forest," Amarils tries to argue.
I know where she's going with that, so I quickly interject, "In name only. A deterrent against plotting to remove Wolf from power."
Mother's deviousness shows itself again as she suggests, "He's clearly madly in love with you, so it'd be easy for you to manipulate him."
I grit my teeth and refuse wholeheartedly, "That's exactly why I won't. I'll never betray him, so long as he loves me, and as long as he never abandons me… like you did!"
Father's face becomes cold and devoid of emotion as he questions, "Are you just going to forsake everything?"
I'd already made up my mind about this long ago. "Yes. Your legacy dies with me, and my brothers will not replace me."
"Then you're not our daughter anymore," my Young Mother cries and breaks down while my other Mother simply closes her eyes and holds back her tears.
I look down in shame. "I'm not."
Father suddenly drops down onto me and forces me backward. I hit my head on the floor, but my helmet absorbs the shock.
His hands sneak through my bevor and wrap around the scale armor protecting my neck, then he starts strangling me.
I try to resist, but he has me pinned down, there's just no way for me to escape from under him.
I raise my hand and cast [Earth Bullet] at his face.
He releases me and flies backward, then falls onto his back, but surprisingly, he doesn't pass out.
He holds his broken nose, and his head wobbles dizzily, then I draw a hidden dagger and leap on top of him.
"I'm sorry Dad. I still love you."
I stab into his chest precisely where his heart should be.
He doesn't react to the injury, just staring hatefully at me while trying to remove the dagger.
After they died, my brothers and I were given a moment alone with them so that they could say their last words. Their spirits looked guilty and defeated, but an odd peace seemed to settle over them.
They tried, they fought, and they failed. There was no going back and nothing else to do besides accepting their Fate and hoping for another chance in their next life. It'd be unseemly for the proud Crown Lords to debase themselves by becoming crying wretches in their last moments.
"We love you," Father's spirit gently whispered to us after he died. His voice felt like a loving caress.
I twist the dagger, and he passes out instantly.
I get up, and Mother leaps down.
"We're sorry for failing you," her spirit sadly confessed. Her voice filled our hearts with the motivation to do better where they failed.
She jumps towards me, so I grab my longsword and decapitate her.
Young Mother grabs me from behind and tries to pin my arms to my body, but I cast a [Fireball] on her face, and she releases me.
I turn around and kill her, too.
"I hope that you can forgive us one day," Young Mother's spirit sincerely pleaded. Her voice broke our hearts, and we cried while we sorrowfully picked up the pieces.
I slowly look around me and commit this scene of their bleeding bodies to memory. They don't get reclaimed by the dungeon, so my nostrils are soon filled with the metallic smell of blood.
"I forgive you…" I whisper, then I close my eyes. "And I hope that you forgive me for letting you die…"
My legs give out, and I fall deeply asleep before I even hit the ground.
--
I wake up again when a blinding light shines into my eyes, then I pass out for good.
--
--
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