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-00:00:00:2
As the time ticked down. Rhys made sure to tense his body, ready to move if anything were to happen.
Swoosh~
The moment the timer reached zero, everything around Rhys faded and was replaced with an open field. An arena to be exact.
Rhys who saw this had an idea of what this trial might be about, 'Fighting.'
[Welcome, congratulations on succeeding on the first trial.]
Rhys simply listened for its words to finish.
[The second trial is combat-oriented. There will be 20 waves, the enemies will start at your cultivation rank and will slowly increase.]
[Every 5 waves you will be given time to rest, every 5 waves, the strength of your enemies will increase and the number of enemies will increase.]
[The use of any external treasures are not allowed, only treasures that match your rank or lower. Anything greater than that will be destroyed by the formations. In other words, no protection, escape, support, or any other treasure of such type are allowed.]
Rhys lost himself in thoughts after those words, 'This is a good opportunity to actually train the techniques I have learned but never used. I also have yet to get used to my own strength. This might be worth it!'
[The second trial will begin in 5 minutes, prepare.]
With those final words, the monotonous voice went quiet as a countdown timer started.
Rhys took a deep breath before he called upon Ina.
'Ina, what do you think about this?'
"Wow, I thought you didn't need me anymore. Anyways, the new abilities of your bloodline have yet to be tested, so tried using them during this trial. So prepare yourself. You have been enjoying your life too much, you have gone soft in my eyes. You are a cultivator, not a mortal. Life is meant to be full of challenges for you, yet you simply enjoy it. Hmph!"
Ina's words were harshed yet true, 'I know... that is why I will rely on you. If I can't handle a situation please provide me with insight to the battle.'
"Hmph! Fine."
Rhys made a smile, 'I have little to no experience with my abilities, I will require Ina's help... I really am useless. Especially with how I focus on enjoying my life...'
'Thank you, Ina.'
"Whatever."
-00:00:01:50
The timer slowly ticked down as a glaive appeared within Rhys's hand, it was the high-grade glaive he had used the most. Void Caller was too high-rank for him, he could use it, but not to its full abilities. He also did not want to risk the formations destroying the weapon he would rely upon in the future.
[Second Trial begins now.] The monotonous voice spoke again before a flash of light blinded Rhys, when he opened his eyes he found he was surrounded by 1 Low-level Earthly saint.
'I see, so one now, maybe two next wave...' Rhys's eyes flashed with battle intent since he would have time to get used to things before everything began for real.
Rhys looked at his enemy, who seemed to hold a longsword, seemingly in a stance. But it did not move one inch, it merely remained still.
'Hmm... it seems it will not act if I don't.' Rhys thought as he looked at the body of the man in front of him. He had a lean build and lush black hair, black eyes, and a pale face. He wore pretty dark robes, making him look mysterious.
Rhys took a step forward, but that was the signal for the man in front of him to move forward and rush towards him.
Rhys raised his glaive and blocked the sword strike of the man, there was no technique involved, only pure raw strength.
Crack!
The ground cracked under the force of the sword strike from the black-robed man, But Rhys did not move and his body only sank a little bit under his force. Rhys's muscles bulged as he threw the black-robed man back with his raw strength. He was superior to that with the Dragon Physique.
Energy coated the sword of the man as he made a vertical slash.
Fwsh!
An arc of lighting was sent towards Rhys, who also responded in kind. Fire energy traveled from his dantian to his meridians and to his arms, before it coated his hand and then the glaive in his hand.
With a slash, Rhys unleashed a fiery arc of energy directed towards the lighting arc of the man.
Boom!
When fire and lighting met, an explosion ensued, as their energies battled for dominance, naturally, they both were at the same rank, and the lack of any use of techniques meant the energy was only in its raw form.
So as expected, their energies canceled each other out in an explosion. A wave of heat spread in the surroundings from the explosion.
Crackle!
The sword user covered his body in lighting, as arcs of lighting left from his body and into the air.
Rhys's eyes narrowed as he thought, 'A movement technique...!'
Just as he thought, the man vanished from his spot in a spark of lighting before he appeared a few feet ahead from where he was.
'Time to test my own movement technique!'
Rhys's body tensed before he took a step, fire exploded from the sole of his feet and launched him forward.
Fiery Scorching Steps!
A heaven-grade movement technique.
Rhys and the black-robed man met once more, as their blades clashed once more. Lighting crackled around the man while flames surged from Rhys's feet.
Once more, in terms of raw strength, Rhys won. Rhys smiled as his force forced the man down to the ground, making him sink deep into it before his lighting stopped crackling.
'In terms of raw force I am superior in my own cultivation base, technique-wise I also am superior. Since techniques above the high grade do not exist here. But this man has a superior movement technique as well.
'So the trial must be using people the Divine Eternal Moon Goddess met in higher world.' Rhys concluded before he felt a chill fill the air.
His hairs stood on end as an electric force started to crackle from the crater the black-robed man fell into.
Slowly, the man rose from the ground. His face was emotionless but his sword was filled with lighting energy, his hair danced in the air like lighting strands. His robes fluttered from the electric force.
Flash!
In a flash the man reached Rhys, his pupils dilated before he slightly smirked.
Fsh!
Rhys's eyes turned more golden as his pupils turned into a star. Spirit Eyes was activated. It seemed like a star burned in his eyes.
Spirit Eyes provided Rhys with superior eyesight, the ability to see any form of energy as well as a direct vision to one's soul. But what made this ability useful was that it allowed Rhys to temporarily freeze one's soul, preventing anyone from moving, thinking, or even realizing it had happened. Of course, Rhys had to spend a lot of energy to stop one's soul from moving, and it could only be used on those that were not too strong.
The man froze from moving, his attack, energy, and body all came to a halt. It was only for a second, but that was enough for Rhys to regain his bearings and with a slash remove the head of the man. The moment the man's head was chopped off, Rhys's eyes returned to the normal, golden, and black pupil color.
The man's body faded as if it was nothing more than an illusion, but Rhys was lost in thoughts at the moment.
'I truly need more combat experience, I have memories but my body has no muscle memory. I had to rely on this overpower ability that siphoned 5 percent of my energy reserves. Just to stop someone in the same cultivation rank as me for a second!'
"It is only natural, you decided to live a normal life instead of the life of a cultivator. This is the result of your choices. Now fix that attitude and prepare, the next wave will begin." Ina spoke coldly into his head.
'I understand.' Rhys gritted his teeth as he realized that it was his mistake to forsake training of any kind for time with his women, he could spend time with them later after all. But if he died because of his lack of combat experience and muscle memory he could forget ever seeing them again.
[Wave 2, commencing.] The monotonous voice spoke, and just like the first time, with a flash of light, two enemies with the same cultivation base as Rhys appeared, one behind and one in front of him. Both were around 10 meters away from him.
[Begin.]
This time, both of the men did not wait and charged forward. The man in front used a spear while the man in the back had a mace.
'A mace?!' Rhys thought it was ridiculous since most cultivators liked to look almighty and majestic. Carrying a mace that only required brute force and no skill was not seen as majestic but barbaric.
The man in the back did not look like that, he looked pretty noble, the man in front looked crazy instead, a wicked smile on his face. Unlike the previous wave, they seemed to have some 'emotions,' albeit not too much.
Strengthening the grip of his glaive, Rhys raised the blade and made a cutting motion towards the man with the spear, fwoosh, a fiery arc of energy was launched towards the spear user.
The man with the mace on the other hand kept on charging forward freely, Rhys charged at him as well, the fire from the sole of his feet making him stride forward faster.
Clang!
'Earth energy.'
That was the thought Rhys had when he saw the man's body glowing with a light brown color, it was a defensive technique.
But Rhys was not discouraged, 'The stronger they are the better!'
Rhys gave up on exchanging strikes and kicked the man back, his superior physique doing the work and making sure the mace user was sent flying backward.
Yet Rhys did not have time to rest before he turned back and used the pole of the glaive to block the spearhead of the spear user that had gotten closer.
'There seems to be a pattern... they at least will not use any attack moves on the first exchange.'
Rhys calmed his breathing before his eyes narrowed and focused on the battle and tried to stop focusing on other details such as the surroundings.
Clang!
Earth rose from the ground behind Rhys as he knew it was the mace user now using an offensive technique.
Rhys moved his free hand and pointed it at the block of earth rising and nearing him, flash, a bright ray of light left his finger and immediately moved towards the rising earth to at least counter it.
Unlike the maced man, Rhys did not use any offensive technique, his energy was in its raw form unlike the man's refine earth energy. Thankfully, light was superior to earth, thus he knew it would at least not lose to the maced man's attack.
Indeed, just as he thought, his light was able to burn through the maced man's earth.
Rhys's body tensed further before his body was engulfed in majestic red flames.
This was a support technique, Fire Embodiment, which just as its name stated, made one embody the element of fire. It had the benefits of allowing his body to burn anything that got too close. Meaning it could both attack and defend passively.
The earth under him turned into liquid as it was being burned, the spear user had to retreat so he was not burned, but the edges of the sleeves of his robe were burnt.
Rhys smiled as he felt the improvements he would make in this trial would be great.
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Author's Note: