Flinnder clapped his hands, "Truly you are something else! To actually land a hit on me, I must say that is quite impressive."
The truth was, the weakening was so little it wasn't even worth mentioning. Due to Flinnder being a royal of the Abyss, Travis' [Abyssal Domain] had zero effect. However whatever happened managed to weaken Flinnder's stats by a grand total of. . . 5 stat points.
However Flinnder knew what it was, something that only few can obtain. Because of it Travis' potential skyrocketed.
Flinnder looked over to Travis, who was unmoving. He gave a wry smile, "That was everything in you, wasn't it?"
Travis was passed out, his will to fight was keeping him upright. Or maybe it was something else.
Flinnder snapped his fingers, "Dimitrin, carry him to his room. When he wakes up tell him he passed, training will continue for now. Also, have someone notify me when he does awaken. I see something special in him."
Dimitrin bowed, "Yes lord!"
Dimitrin hoisted Travis onto their shoulder. As he was walking to Travis' quarters they made a small smile, "The time was not wasted."
~ ~ ~
Akiol dashed and sharply turned past a corner. He was running with all his might.
What he was running from wasn't a player, instead it was a strong current of water flooding a hallway.
Akiol came across a set of ruins while wandering a forest. They looked like they had already been touched, but he was curious. So he ventured inside.
Inside was run down, as Akiol was admiring the old look of the place he stepped on a pressure plate. Sections in walls began to open up and water began to flood out.
It took only seconds before the entrance was blocked, leaving Akiol no choice but to run. So run he did.
Akiol saw a light at the end of the hallway. As he approached closer he realized the light came from a pit of lava, "What kind of ruins IS this?"
Across the pit was another hallway. So Akiol used [Leap] and cleared the jump. He watched as the water splashed towards the lava. Hot steam rose and blasted Akiol, yet he remained fine due to his slime self.
As he watched the pit fill up with cooled lava and water he thought of something. Did he need to breathe? Was all that running really necessary?
He was tempted to test the theory, but was convinced otherwise when he saw the boiling hot water.
The water stopped flowing in and remained in the pit. Akiol considered going back, but decided to move forward. He was interested in what was being held in the place. Considering that it was being guarded by enough water to fill a lake and a lava pit.
As he continued down the passage he eventually came across a room. It was dark except for the middle, for a ring was glowing. Akiol stepped inside the ring, and torches lit up. The room was intriguing, the walls covered with ancient markings and pictures. Ahead of Akiol was a closed door, two statues stood next to it. Above the doorway was a stone face.
The stone face's eyes opened slowly, revealing two glowing lights. It's stone mouth moved up and down revealing a rough voice, "Welcome to this place challenger, congratulations making it here. Few have managed to come this far, but now it's time to fear."
Akiol stared at the face, its voice held a rhythm to it. Turning its words into a small song.
The mouth closed and the room began to shake. Sections of the walls began to open and Akiol had flashbacks to just moments ago.
Instead of water however, there was a flurry of arrows. Akiol let them sail past, only moving when one threatened to damage his core. After five seconds the arrows stopped and the stone head began talking again, "You made it past the first challenge, I almost shed a tear. But it's not over just yet, can you persevere?"
The statues next to the door began to shake. They cracked and shattered, leaving a mechanical looking robot in its place. The robots began stomping forward, one turned its arm into a spear. Thrusting it towards Akiol. He deflected the spear and gave a sharp kick towards one of the legs.
The robot like creature's leg bent inwards. It twirled its spear and stabbed it into the ground for support. The other robot like creature change its arm into a large cleaver. It swung down towards Akiol with a great force.
Akiol sidestepped the cleaver as it smashed into the floor, causing cracks to spread rapidly. Akiol's absorbed his sword, losing a bit of stat points. Once he again he wished he had a scabbard.
He put away his sword due to the sharp object not being optimal for the metal machines. Blunt force would work the best.
The cleaver robot lifted its arm free and swung towards Akiol again. He ducked under and the cleaver caused the robot to spin off balance. Akiol helped it fully fall over with a kick.
The spear robot seemed to knock its leg back into place and was charging towards Akiol. Its arm moved rapidly as it made several thrusts towards Akiol. He dodged the first few blows before he deflected the final strike, making the robot lose balance. He rushed forward and grabbed its head. He turned his body mid air, adjusting the weight to make the robot fall over.
The robot crashed into the ground and Akiol let out a flurry of punches to its head. The cleaver robot stood back up and charged towards Akiol, raising its cleaver high. As it crashed downwards he used [Dimension Skip] to appear behind the robot. Its cleaver tore into the body of its teammate. Nearly cutting the thing in half.
Now facing one opponent Akiol jumped on it and began prying its head to the side. He had an idea he wanted to test.
Once it was slightly offset Akiol manipulated his body to move inside the robot. The first thing he did was attempt to [Absorb] it, but it failed. Akiol noticed he was unable to absorb enemies. Even if they weren't alive.
So instead he tore apart the metal pieces inside, essentially disabling it. The robot fell and Akiol escaped its confines. With both robots down he walked over to the ring again.
"Congratulations on making it this far, an achievement for all to hear. However with this final challenge, it's time for you to disappear."
The floor began to rumble and split apart. Akiol looked in between the ever increasing gap, but only saw darkness.
Noticing how his exit was closed and the floor was not stopping Akiol shrugged. He didn't take fall damage anyway. So he jumped into the dark pit.
~ ~ ~
Travis woke up with a start. He was immediately on high alert. Until he noticed his surroundings. He was in his room, his sword was resting on a desk. Travis took a deep breath and relaxed. He was unsure of what had happened after his final strike. Whether or not he passed.
Travis got up and collected the sword. When he exited his room there was a servant, "Dimitrin is waiting for you in the courtyard."
Travis thanked the servant and went to the location. As he walked several worrying thoughts spun in his head. He wasn't sure if he succeeded, if he was moving to his execution. He couldn't help being nervous.
Walking into the courtyard he greeted Dimitrin.
The trainer looked at Travis, "Are you aware of what is happening next?"
Travis shook his head, his heart racing faster.
"We continue training, that's what's happening next."
Travis was full of shock, "I passed?"
Dimitrin nodded, "Indeed you did, Flinnder was exceptionally pleased with your progress. You best keep that effort up. Lest you fail to meet his expectations."
Travis bowed, "Of course!"
Dimitrin signaled for him to raise his head, "Speaking of which, he comes now."
The black square appeared and Flinnder stepped out, "If it isn't the passing candidate! You may be excused Dimitrin, I have some chatting to do."
Dimitrin bowed and left, leaving only Flinnder and Travis. Flinnder beckoned at Travis, "Come and let us take a walk."
The two walked in the oversized courtyard. As they did Flinnder began to speak, "You showed something of great potential when we fought. It's because of it that you passed.
Now that your chance is set in stone I am going to explain what is going to happen. For the next two months you will be training with Dimitrin, at the end of every week I will take you to kill a few Abyss creatures in other noble's territories. So you can gain more strength.
After the two months you all face the other candidates that have passed my test. The last one standing shall be my chosen fighter. Any questions?"
Travis pondered for a moment before asking, "How many other candidates will I be facing?"
Flinnder nodded in approval, "An excellent question, you will be facing six others. Making a total of seven. I do hope you do not disappoint me. Is there anything else you wish to know?"
"That thing you said before, the only reason I passed. What is it?"
Flinnder stopped moving, a grin on his face, "That isn't something you should know about just yet."