Stepping onto the 23rd set of stairs Zash was once again met with a single Mechanical Whipslasher who was many a times better than him in both combat and weapon control studying his patterns Zash was able to make more progress on his whips while he wasn't able to gain an absurd skill and title like before he was content he still got something and called for his stats wanting to check something.
[Knight Slayer > Knight Vanquisher (012/100)
Feeling happy about the situation Zash was glad he was still fulfilling the conditions for upgrading his title while he could still develop his Sword skills it's take months if iot years and he didn't mind doing so if he was accompanied by Sylphia or Serena but with their absence this was Zash's first time feeling such emptiness only temperately fulfilled by his goal and the enemies he faught while every single break draws his attention towards his lovers. Zash wasn't overly greedy and as he had already gained several benefits including the title and the new sword skills which alone were sufficient to be called as rewards while the main reward awaiting beyond this level depending on his performance in completing the trial which was the Ancient Draginic Bloodlines which in fact was the reason he was here for in the first place as such he's just going to focus on that part.
"If the patterns are similar I'd have to switch Weapons the more I move forward even so I'll at least be able to make a quick runover of the stairs. So I should be able to handle the next set of stairs with the whips while I'd have to change Weapons once again depending on the situations" Zash said as he approached and dealth with 7 Mechanical Whipslashers adding them too into his stats and Changing his Weapons once again
This time Zash made two Khopesh (a weapon from ancient Egyptian era) while modifying the hell out of it and giving the edges super sharp finish and the base material being Quantombots it was a modern weapon unlike anything ever seen before drawing inspiration from old Weapon and their styles improving the quality and removing any additional imperfections. The onslaught continued as the gravity increased once again 7× the normal amount making fighting even normal enemies difficult but Zash continued anyways leaving Everything else aside and wondered if the Mechanical puppets had similar Weapons like him and to his surprise once again they did.
Climbing the 28 the set of stair Zash had accumulated (037/100) of the required amounts of enemies needed to be slayed for updating his title.
"The gravity's a bit merciful this time only increasing by 7.5× this time." Zash said as he planned to move forward while in the process of making a new weapon with his Quantombots
A Blue shining trident of sorts could be seen being formed within Zash's hands as he was once again stepping onto the 29 th steps.
This time the steps were more wide and that only indicated more enemies which was later confirmed as a total of 12 enemies all carrying spear based weapons with them making him more adapt to his surroundings as they attacked him from all sides possible Zash was left to rely on his skillset and used his Skill 'Faded Faye' for the first time while climbing the stairs and with each dopplegangers providing Zash with cover
Zash wasn't fighting alone and could relax a little while he faught with a single Mechanical Spear weilders his Dopplegangers kept the others busy and by doing so Zash once again dealth with them all quite easily the only taxing thing being the gravity which was 9× the norm but even so it he had fulfilled the requirements expected from him and cleared the floor adding (049/100) and likely cleared everything in his path as he was quite confident in clearing Everything without his skills he was wrong to think of himself in such high regards as this was more taxing than he had first thaught (but even so he gained many benifits out of it and whilst he still had many trump cards like Symbiotic Exoskeletons to protect himself or Newly researched G-suites to decrease the pressure Gravity put him under or he could create robots to counter enemies and many other things he had access to in his arsenal) but it won't be much an trial like that would it ? That may very well be cheating as he was meant to fight by himself he was to use his own skills and body into work) now onto the 34 the set of stairs Zash was forced to change to the next set of weapons.
While having (097/100) of the required amount of enemies needed to be slain and needed this amount as he desperately needed to apply something new in effect with each passing step. Where even breathing was quite hard for him, as he rested for a few minutes and got used to the atmosphere and waited for his skill cooldowns to finish he looked at the bottom and mesmerized how far he had come while after looking down he looked up and saw 35th, 36th, and finally the 37 the stair which let to an door while the enemies there were yet to be spawned as Zash decided on what to go with as there were many weapons he could choose from
"F**k it I'll give a Bow a try "and made an Modern Hunting bow entirely of his Quantombots along with arrows and an arrow holster on his back with precision edged technology and material fabrication for providing the best outcome Zash was taking longer breakers during the while he climbed each set of stairs as first he only took a few while waiting for his skill cooldowns to end but later on it became much evident that things were far more arduous than they seemed as he was tired more often even after resting as even little movement under such pressure was taxing on his body.
###
"Wow the system is a lot more cruel than we thought now I really am worried about my kin especially after hearing Zash's words before. If this is the "Hard" classification a Tierless must face it's difficult to imagine what Tier 6 Dragons are facing" Zeke complained watching Zash going through the difficulty
"Don't go soft now it was a joint decision all God's and Higher Beings made while taking future aspects into consideration. The old prophets are almost certainly never wrong" Flo said as this trial itself was only conducted by them from the recommendation from a certain someone who they trusted who had a gift of foresight.
"I know. I'm not going soft, but the last test directly transfers him to One do the Dead Zones where Primordial Gases run rampant other than beings above Tier 3 cannot survive there as the space is highly unstable be it gravitational inequality or voids cracking open and closing from time to time or pockets which trap one for time unknown along with other anomalies. I can't help but think if something bad would happen. " Zeke argued
"Maybe we should indeed had installed certain mechanism to prevent these things. But even so once the test began we lost our chance to intervene, anyways even if he loses we should probably give him what he came here for " Flo's said as progressing this far was already quite good.
"In our defence we never expected someone who was Tierless to get to participate in this trial to begin with" Zeke said averting all responsibility and gave a shrug
"Hmm on that topic it may entirely not be impossible as I remember the kid had a luck stat which seemingly was the result of him getting here in the first place." Flo said as Zeke too wondered about it as they stared at each other blankly for a few seconds both just shrugged and continued watching Zash
###
After practicing for almost an hour Zash waited for his skill cooldowns to end as he rested for another hour to get into his peak conditions while still moving was under such pressure, helding onto his will he stepped on the 35th stair and was greeted by an artillery squad who had similar bow and arrows like him but we're as expectedly not a match for his Bow and Arrows yet there wasn't that big of an functional issue and with no skill added into the bow or arrows in the slot as the Mechanical Bowmen might just as well gain an advantage over him as he was outnumbered and with the Gravity increasing by 9.5× Zash was left even more restless doubting his chance of victory as there were 16 enemies before him all lined Perfectly but was willing to give it a shot.
Soon the first Arrow was fired followed by Zash as Zash used Faded Faye to summon. 7 Dopplegangers who then used a single doppleganger to defend Zash's main body as the arrows pierced Zash's doppleganger but wasn't able to pass through and saw the doppleganger disappear and once again called forward for the Doppleganger to materialize itself it was a decent trick but time was running out as Zash had just been able to kill 2 of the Mechanical Bowmen and it there was 5 minutes left for his Dopplegangers to fade away forcing him to step down who knew if it'd make the challenge harder or it might consider it a failed attempt leading to him not achieving an ideal score. But the barrages of arrows fired towards him made it way harder for him to proper aim and fore on the desired location as struggled to do so many things under such pressure at the moment but while others might go into panic mode Zash was fully focused and layed forward all his cards on the table whole hiding his Ace and was waiting for the Perfect moment to kill a Target and he got the chance whilst there were 3 minutes left for his skill to go into Cooldowns and without fear fired off arrows without care as they were twice if not thrice as effective than before and within one minute was able to slay all the Mechanical Bowmen and only then did he layed on the ground tired and sweaty while waiting for his skill cooldowns and resting wanting nothing more than to gulp down a bunch of Soda, Hell even Water will do the trick and truly felt like what one would feel when he's lost an in a desert as even in those cases he'd still be able to access water with luck in Zash's case he had everything in his inventory and Storage Rings but to his dismay couldn't use them, Couldn't curse at this situation and was forced to conserve his strength he checked using Title slot and sure enough the trick worked at the last moment
[Title Upgraded !! ]
[Knight Vanquisher (100/100)> Knight Destroyer (13/1500)> (???)
Knight Vanquisher : Instill fear within every knight class making one dread you as long as you wish to activate the title. 50 % Pierce Activated with each Attacks, 75% Damage Increase, 50% STR, 45% Damage Evasion , 40% AGI.
All enemy knight class get an Natural Feared Debuff while fighting as More enemies are slain in front of the enemies by you additional 5 % Fear Debuff is stacked with each presentation in the fight while all Allied Knight Classes get an Reverence buff increasing Morale Fortitude and Attention while increasing 20% Agility while there's a 25 % chance to avoid all defences while attacking.
"Sure enough the title upgraded but I won't have the opportunity to update the title in the trial anymore at least not reaching the desired amount but even so this much is satisfactory as this has been one tiring journey. I feel like sleeping to rejuvenate my energy but with no clue to when the time for the trial might end I'd have to try clearing up faster I wish I had an Chilled Coca-Cola with me " Zash said a bit disappointingly but was so glad his title was able to go through an transformation and whilst he couldn't upgrade it in the trials anymore he'd be happy to fulfill a few numbers within it and couldn't wait to see the incremental growth it'd bring to him as this title was able to grow and similarly like a person at that it was a perfect example of Tier wise growth.
'Now I understand why even Sylphia considered these titles outrageous. Now the question is how do I break up to her that I got this skill along with meeting her 6 the Great Grandfather and another above Tier 10 being Zash just laughed softly and tenderly while thinking about those two and couldn't decide what to bring up first and how to go about and how it might shock the girls'
Soon 3 hours had come to pass and the gravity was a solid 10× the norm stepping onto the 37 the floor Zash was met with 37 Perfectly aligned Bowmen and Swordswomen while some even had Khopesh and Spears hanging up on Zash from all sides Zash called his Dopplegangers in surprise and averted most of the attacks while a few still hit him but weren't much of an issue given his Ridiculous luck and his Physical and Magic Diversion based skills being an Nightmare issue for any enemies willing to become Hsi enemies it didn't help that Zash had the Perfect title to go against such enemies either.
Within 7 minutes all enemies layed on the floor as their carcases were disintegrating on the floor leaving nothing behind though the fight was hard Zash's title worked it's wonders and dealth with them all like cutting butter with a Hot Sharp Knife
[Knight Destroyer (50/1500)> (???) ]
Cool quite a decent number hopefully I can Grow this title more but Zash wasn't one to look for trouble but if he ever gets the chance to clear some Armoured class enemies he'd remember to let them go out mercifully as they helped in increase his power to an extent and once 2 Hours and 30 minutes had passed by Zash was ready to climb the 37 the stair and prepared to be in his ideal state of mind and each of his Weapons ready holster around his body as he knew that he could need them after the previous attack and prepared himself for the regular increment in gravity but to his surprise the pressure of Gravity had applied on him throughout this entire time had gone as Zash felt like an huge Boulder had been set free from his back he felt rejuvenated like never before finally free to use his skills and stats along with his instincts taking a proper hold of him as previously he fell short but now they were screaming with happiness and joy towards the situation as all his senses were heightened by the situation he was in previously.
As Zash celebrated his eye caught sight of a Shadowy figure forming itself 25 feets before him and soon came face to face with what seemed to be his own shadow which had Cold dark eyes looking through Zash's every moment as Zash similarly did so they both knew that each of them was waiting for the Perfect opportunity to strike and similar to Zash's the shadow could make use of all his previously displayed weapons as they too were holsted similar manner Zash had his weapons on him and unlike Zash the shadow had a 4 Sectioned health bar indicating his health above his head.
'Interesting so it's a shadow made out of me it did indeed seem off that the Mechanical Swordswomen another classes were seemingly analysing my movement and attack patterns seemingly to make "This" and wondered how much it replicated him but didn't wondered off as the shadow caught on the Zash being under thinking and decided to shoot an arrow towards him and followed suite besides the arrow with an Khopesh in his left arm and a Sword in his right arm making most of the combination but unfortunately for him the arrow missed and Zash was easily able to avoid it by a few centimeters as Zash had one thing the shadow didn't. He had an absurd (710) Luck along with 1100 Attribute points in all hidden stats and whist the shadow might have them Zash had clear thinking besides him due to 3 Secondary Brains boosting his senses all in all Zash was an total Cheat even so the shadow was close on Zash's tail as he made the best use of Zash's movement techniques and skills to the point where even Zash felt he could lean more about his own skillset from fighting the shadow to make an optimal use out of them. So he kept learning making the best if if the situation Zash learned more and more from the shadow as take for one instance the shadow too summoned his Dopplegangers and while one doppleganger who weilders a bow was thrown back in the air fired arrows towards Zash's main body while other two were sent flying towards Zash with a Khopesh and the other with a spear while the other Dopplegangers along with the shadow came slashing towards Zash as this was an close to unavoidable situation where Zash was forced to do something and in 90% of the situation always forced to defend but unfortunately Zash had a solution to that as all he had to do was send a Doppleganger towards the far end of their fighting location and swiftly switch places with him making nothing of all that effort, similarly Zash was conserving his strength as he too was waiting for the 10 minute mark to pass by as even if he did attack the shadow too can just use another Doppleganger to change places with and with his added experience may use this opportunity to make him fall into an trap.
This process of data analysis continued for a while and soon 4 hours had gone by Zash recorded everything from the sidelines by making a few drones and as the shadow didn't seem capable of copying his Quantombots for some reason as he had the carrier bot made by him carrying armour pieces along with those Seemingly S+ rank mana stones which he got from the chandeliers which was a huge benefit Zash had but didn't quite exploit it and after struggling for an entire Hour he was finally able to defeat the shadow as he was in many regards facing himself and one's worst enemy is oneself indeed and Zash just had the opportunity to face the toughest challenges many might fail.
Collecting the last key fragments the other fragments got together from the collection bot and formed a giant key which then broke down revealing a smaller key which was in fact the key for opening the gates in front of him.
[Trial Completed Successfully ]
[Calculating Performance Results ]
[Performance Results : SS]
[Eligible for Ancient Dragonic Bloodline with 70% Purity. Choosing the reward will automatically send you out of the trial ]
[Proceed to move forward ? Or Proceed after taking a break for 3 Hours ?]
Surprised by the option to choose a break from whatever the later parts of the test had for him Zash figured it to be natural as Zash had ample opportunities to take brakes on the stairs after completing each one as such gaining one such break should be normal.
[Accepted [✓] You will be automatically transported to he next test venue after the amount of time has come to pass while doing so the next test venue is a bit special and should be taken seriously as it might be harmful for any being under Tier 3 as such bear in mind and prepare yourself for the challenge in atmosphere and the use of Storage devices is permitted during this time ]
"Gee thanks a lot the forcefully teleported part is a bit offsetting but nothing too bizarre hopefully the place is not too taxing on my body " with that said Zash proceeded to drink a Bottle of Chilled Coca-Cola and ate a few snacks as appetizers and just sipped on cold drinks during this time waiting for the town town to come by he wasn't overly afraid and knew he should probably be ready to prepared for anything but was quite confident if worse comes to worse he could just make a small spaceship for himself while a bit difficult if the environment is indeed harmful for him he could at least survive even though he could survive in space with his 1st Stage True Immortal Cultivation he could even breathe regularly in space but wasn't overly confident as this wasn't his own world and was quite worried but soon passed the thaughts and just sipped more soft Drinks laying down on all of his worries.
Soon 3 Hours mark had come to pass and he was transferred to an different locations.