"Name."
"Akiol.", answered Akiol.
The person looked up and inspected him. Raising their hand a small crystal slip appeared in their palm, "Take this and head to the hallway with the same symbols."
The process was relatively simple. As Akiol received the slip he glanced over it. His name was imprinted on the corner of it, and a set of strange runes was engraved into one side. Not holding the line up any further Akiol entered the Crystal Gate. The inside had a constant flux of Players. Many entering a hallway, but no one seemed to come back out.
Quickly comparing the runes Akiol found that his selected one was the hallway with zero player activity. It almost looked completely barren. An odd sight for the buzz of activity taking place directly in front of it.
With a shrug he entered the hallway and followed its path. After about fifteen seconds of walking he found the exit. Once he walked through he was granted a surprising sight. There was no room on the other side of the hallway, rather the hallway was some sort of portal! His surroundings now consisted of faintly purple clouds underneath his feet, and a pale blue sky. There was a set of buildings in front of him, three to be exact. One looked like a large boxing ring, a set of strange chains blocking access from all angles. The second was directly between the other two. It looked like a smaller version of the Crystal Gate. The third was the weirdest of them all, for it seemed like a massive snowglobe.
A figure walked out of the snowglobe, "Ah, you're here."
Akiol asked, "You were expecting me?"
"Those of unique circumstance, I noticed quite a few of you whilst making the announcement."
The figure was the same person who was on the magic projection! They were dressed in an amethyst robe. The ends nearly dragging along the cloud. With their hands behind their back the figure introduced, "I am known as the Honorable Leader, but you can call me Xo."
"Why am I the only one here?"
"The others like you will be here shortly, the hallway consists of a small puzzle before you can come here."
"I didn't have to do a puzzle."
"Which is why I am here. You don't have the same power as the Semi-Immortals do you?"
"Pardon?", Akiol was slightly alarmed by the question.
"I could see it, there's a strange source of power the semi-immortals are connected to. It seems to be coming from the same place. You don't have that connection. You're just like us."
This was incredibly alarming. Could they see the Players connection to a system?
Xo raised a hand, "Calm yourself. I highly doubt anyone can see this connection besides me. My eyes are special you should know. I also doubt you would be able to tell me, being who grant power like that would surely want to stay hidden. Which brings me to my next point, you're most likely the strangest being of them all. A Royal Slime with the blessing of the King Slime. One who's Linked with an Upper Four Sword, a Dragon with a dangerous magic, and an Origin Hydra. Being Linked with such apex beings, your soul should've been crushed long ago. Yet here you are, acting like it's nothing."
"Upon the linking with 'the Origin Hydra' I felt that limit. I won't be testing my luck with any other Links."
"Well that's good, but what's more important is your strange circumstance. I've never seen someone with such interesting connections. More importantly, that strange energy that lingers about inside you. It's familiar, yet so alien."
"Not sure how I appreciate being seen through like that."
"Ah my apologies. I must have lost my manners in seclusion. Let me make it up to you, do you have any questions?"
"This place?"
"A small testing arena I have for people of special circumstance."
"Special circumstance?"
"Links, War Sights, God's Blessings, those who already found their Path. Putting you through the ordinary trials is a poor decision. We will have to go through a different process."
Xo frowned, "It seems like the second one is joining us."
Dot walked through the entrance, his War Sight slowly retreating back into his body. Stepping into the area he looked around. Xo gave him a displeased look, "The puzzle wasn't for you to destroy."
"Then don't let it be.", Dot spoke curtly.
"Abyss Royals and their arrogance. Regardless destroying the puzzle may be an answer. Don't expect force to solve all your issues however."
"I know that much."
Xo flicked his wrist, and his clothes made a snap-like sound, "Stay away from the Abyss, it corrupts an individuals mind. Since you are here the others should be arriving shortly. Then I shall have you participate in a different form of testing. Though I have faith those of your caliber won't struggle on paltry tests such as these."
Akiol asked, "I doubt they will be paltry."
"Since you all clearly don't lack power, these tests will focus on other aspects important to a battle. If you got this far on your own they should prove easy enough."
Xo placed his hands behind his back again, "Speaking of which, the others are now arriving."
More Players began to enter the strange pocket dimension. Akiol spotted his whole Party and a few additional recognizable Players. There was also some new faces.
Xo nodded in satisfaction, "It seems you all solved my little puzzle in one way or another."
Flicking his wrist he notified, "If you would look at your left palm you should notice a small white orb."
Sure enough there was a small white orb in the majority of the Players hands. Save for Akiol who didn't have one. Xo glanced at Akiol's bewildered expression but continued, "Due to you all being of a special circumstance we will have to fine tune the Trials for you. This will take some time. Once your orb turns green you can consume it and be transported to the Trial. In the meantime we shall start with something to keep you occupied."
A player dressed in heavy armor grunted, "It better not be useless."
"I can assure you this might even be beneficial. Due to this one being the first to arrive I will have to ask you to assist me.", Xo said whilst looking at Akiol.
It seemed this was the reason why Akiol did not have an orb. With a slight nod he walked forward, "What do you need me to do?"
"A small demonstration, if you could enter the small chained area for me."
Akiol walked up to it and hopped over the chains. As his feet touched the inside the chains began to glow and a magic barrier arose. Xo informed, "For the majority of your Trials it will be testing not your strength, but fighting ability. Pure strength can only get you so far after all. We look for the talented and skilled fighters. Now inside this gated area a magic orb will shoot a projectile towards you."
As Xo finished his sentence a small orb appeared in the gated area and shot a small ball towards Akiol. This was easily dodged with a small movement. Akiol joked, "You guys really like orbs."
Xo nodded, "Very much so, in fact we like them so much that every time a projectile is formed twenty percent of another orb will gather. Meaning after five shots you will face two magic orbs."
"Does the new one also count towards the next one?"
"It seems like you catch on quick! The longer you last the more orbs will form. Keep in mind you cannot use your mana to block these. But your weapons can deflect them."
Akiol tested this and swung towards one orb, like he was told it bounced off his sword and hit the magic barrier. With a small glow the barrier made the orb shatter. Xo was pleased, "Excellent, now continue not getting hit."
Akiol dodged three more projectiles and another orb appeared. With the speed doubled another orb soon formed. Akiol continued to dodge the projectiles and soon enough several orbs took up the space.
Xo was pleased with the whole process, "Now we shall make things more interesting. When the projectiles hit something that is not your weapon, they shall bounce. However they shall only bounce three times, once they hit something the fourth time they shall explode as usual."
"What-?"
The orbs Akiol dodged began to bounce off the walls and floor. Most of them bounce at angles that weren't dangerous for him, but there was an occasional one he had to watch out for.
As more orbs continued to appear Akiol witnessed two projectiles hit each other. As they bounced off each other he gained an idea. Flicking his sword about he redirected some of the projectiles towards others, making them bounce away. After a few attempts Akiol noticed that this effected their bounce count.
Now there was enough orbs to make new ones appear almost instantly. In mere seconds the amount of projectiles was enough to overwhelm even top experts. As Akiol continued to dodge and deflect the projectiles a thought came to him. This strange experience was actually a prime opportunity for him to train his usage of {Absolute Territory}!
Sliding into the stance he felt the movement of every projectile. For a brief moment the sensation was overwhelming, but he quickly adjusted to it. One thing he immediately noticed was that the projectiles maintained their speed no matter what. With this he could survive even longer!
Akiol began to reduce unnecessary movements. Every projectile he deflected bounced into three others. Every one he dodged blocked another two from hitting him. Soon enough the projectiles became dense enough to where it became harder for the spectators to see his actions.
Everyone watched while being somewhat impressed. Even Xo couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Murmuring he questioned, "A Second Stage reached this level?"
Akiol then stopped and was immediately pelted with several projectiles. Everything paused for a moment and all the magic orbs disappeared. Sheathing his sword he took a breath, "What a way to tire the mind."
Someone asked, "Why did you stop?"
"It would've been too much to keep track of. I was already pushing myself doing what I was."
"Impressive, as expected of the Sword Saint."
Akiol recognized the voice. Turning towards the source he saw the first Player who claimed to be their fan. A strange sparkle was in their eyes. Scratching his head Akiol mentioned, "I don't really like that name-"
"Sword Saint?", asked Xo.
The atmosphere turned weird for a moment. Akiol explained, "A title I've been given by the Semi-Immortals."
"Meaning it's grown popular enough. . . That is troubling."
"How so?"
"You're not the Sword Saint. If you gain enough popularity with the name you will naturally be gifted a Title with the name. If that happens, a Title clash will occur."
"Title clash?"