For the second stage of the trial, the presiding Elder brought out a box made of an extraordinary alloy. The alloy constantly glistened and occasionally even moved around like a fluid, bulging out like a net but not breaking. Will had never seen such a material before and was shocked to see a metallic object behave this way. The Elder drew a large circumference of around ten meters around the position of the box and assigned each student at regular diametric ends of that circle.
"The next test is one of willpower. Physical strength is but one of many traits a good evolver needs. Without sufficient willpower and determination, no amount of talent can help one in times of crisis. In a minute, the isolation alloy will melt into a puddle and the test will begin. Your goal is to touch the object inside by walking to it. Do not interfere with the movement of others, or you will be instantly ejected from the trial." The Elder carefully laid out the ground rules.
After saying his piece, the Elder jumped away from the center of the circle to the boundary of the arena. Will's eyes focused on the metallic box that looked like it could not bear the force of whatever was inside it and about to explode. The Elder snapped his fingers and the box suddenly turned into liquid metal like mercury that flattened down.
As the box dissipated, a small gold radiating statue of a human that looked like a miniature doll sitting in a lotus pose appeared in front of participants eyes. The small doll was radiating energy like a miniature sun, but it didn't let out any heat. Having heard the Elder's warning beforehand the youth had already gripped themselves for the test. After a tense ten seconds of anticipation, the doll suddenly opened its eyes!
Will saw the eyes of the doll opened and was stunned! He was already surprised by the doll's radiation, but he didn't think the doll was actually alive! He moment the his eyes met the dolls he felt a terrifying might press over him, literally pressing him onto ground. Like a pile of dominos all the participants had a similar reaction and fell onto the ground due to the pressure. Will swore to himself, when he felt like the weight of an entire mountain was pressed on his mind, clouding his thinking and blurring his vision. His eyes began ringing with a chiming noise and he had a massive migraine and his body felt extremely weak and unable to move. Still, the thought of needing to get up emerged from his mind and slowly passed to the rest of his body.
Will grit his teeth and inwardly screamed as he forced himself to rise against the force of the powerful mental pressure. Blinking several times as he finally limped to the vertical position, he found that there were two others standing as well along the circumference. They were Oliver and Estrella. The other so called star participant was knocked out cold on the ground, while several others were struggling to get up. Oliver had lost the calm and arrogant appearance from earlier and was himself struggling under the pressure, but then slowly proceeded to take a step towards the doll. Estrella on the other hand was actually more composed than even Oliver. She slowly began taking steps towards the radiating doll, the only evidence of there being mental pressure on her being the frown above her eyebrows.
The High Elders all gleamed in surprise at Estrella's mental fortitude. "She has a tough mentality that is amplified by her cold persona."
Will clenched his fist tightly as his vision tunneled into blackness. The mental pressure from the doll was too strong, but the fact that two others were still able to move compelled him to move forward. He almost fell down again as his body wobbled dangerously before his foot stamped rather dramatically to take his first step towards the doll.
This was the first time the high elders and the family leader turned their gaze towards Will. An elder who was familiar with the young man bowed and explained to the group that Will was an exterior family member and orphan.
"So he is Clarence's child. It was a pity Clarence and Elise passed away in the manner they did. The boy was fourth in the previous test right?" Aldous asked the Elder who respectfully nodded.
Meanwhile, Oliver seemed to have finally adapted to the pressure and both him and Estrella were now slowly marching towards the doll. Will could feel himself almost falling but he pushed himself to remain standing. The pressure on him was just too overbearing. At that moment a gentle cooling feeling emerged from the center of his mind and began to slowly permeate across his body. The intense pain he was feeling was gradually overtaken by a feeling of calm coolness rejuvenating his body. The pressure that was bearing down on Will like a mountain slowly began to loosen. Ecstatic, William forced himself to take two steps in quick succession, when the pressure redoubled once again.
The presiding Elder of the test raised his eye in surprise. A moment ago Will looked to be on the verge of collapse after taking his first step, but suddenly he managed to take two more steps in rapid succession? His eyes turned towards the other students who had been flattened to the ground and observed that some of them were beginning to force themselves up. Yet, their performance was a tad disappointing in his eyes when compared to the amazing performances of the two on the frontlines.
Will could no longer see. His vision had now turned completely dark from the pressure and his ears were ringing like bells. His entire body felt like it was going to rupture from within due to the monumental pressure. He had slightly seen the other two candidates calmly take step forward and failed to understand how they did it. Every step he took increased the pressure on his mind dramatically. Will completely shut his eyes and grit his teeth so hard that his gums began bleeding. Without any care he forced his body to continue slamming further against the mountainous pressure.