As soon as his words ended, e popping sound reached my ears as the temperature around me started increasing at a fast pace.
[There was a barrier isolating the pillar, but it disappeared as soon as the trial started.]
I sat down and asked: 'Looks like this is not going to be easy. The temperature is already quite hot. Do you think ice magic can do the trick?'
[The temperature now is around 400 degrees Celsius, which is not that hot for someone of your level. Using ice magic might be enough until you reach the hot magma underneath, but not after that.]
'I figured. Any idea?'
[We'll have to wait for the pillar go down further and see what the temperature is like. Creating a wind barrier around yourself to push the magma away might do the trick, but I don't know if your mana reserves will be enough to last for the entire duration of the trial.]
'Since that seems to be the case, I should just try to resist without using mana for as long as possible.'
[The moment the heat starts damaging your body, you will be able to notice your health points decreasing. You can use that to know when to start using mana to cool yourself down.]
Thinking that was a great idea, I asked Ai to open my status screen and started observing my health points while reading through some information about water, ice and cold metals. I was pretty sure I could succeed in changing the mana's affinity to water, but I never tried and felt that it was better to be prepared just in case, as for the metals, a crazy plan of engulfing myself in both ice and heat resistant metals started brewing inside my head. Since metals were a part of earth magic, I focused more on that.
Like this, hours kept passing with the temperature constantly increasing. Around five hours later, the platform finally reached the magma's level and the temperature was around a thousand degrees. I got quite lucky since I only used around 30 mana points to cool down my body in those five hours, and I did that by creating a small ice shell on top of my skin and maintaining it with mana. As I was just about to use a wind barrier around myself, pillars of magma started rising from the lava lake before plunging right at me.
In a panic, I dashed to dodge a couple of them and asked Ai while enduring the heat that was now assaulting my body since I moved and broke the ice shell: 'What is going on? The guide didn't say anything about the magma attacking me.'
[The guide mentioned something about extra obstacles when it increased the difficulty. This might be it.]
Cursing under my breath, I created an earth wall around me, around twenty centimeters thick, filled it with ice and checked my status.
[132/150 hp
296/350 mp]
It would have been better if I could have surrounded myself in a heat resistant metal, but I seems impossible to form anything else other than dirt. When I asked Ai about it, she said that creating a specific metal might be impossible and all the spells she had in her database were about manipulating metals and not creating them.
'Ai, what are my odds of getting full points on this trial?'
[The integrity of your earth shield is already compromised and will probably not last longer than thirty minutes. If you are unable to figure something else, you will not last for even three hours with your current mana.]
'That bad huh.'
As I was pondering over what I could do next, I happened to look down and an idea came to me.
'Ai, what is this platform made of?'
[Unidentified metal. High melting resistance.]
'That's it.' I exclaimed in joy and said: 'Ai, show me a spell to manipulate metals. I need to figure out how it works.'
After reading through the spell, I noticed that it uses mana to modify the form of any metal.
Thinking for a moment, I placed both of my hands on the platform underneath and slowly channeled pure mana inside. The mana encountered some resistance penetrating the metal at first, but as I used more of it, it started fusing with the metal. Closing my eyes, I could see the internal structure of the metal and asked Ai to help me identify it.
[It appears to be some sort of titanium alloy. Here's all the information I have about it.]
I looked over the information as fast as I could, and started to slowly use my mana to modify the shape of if pushing the one under me towards the sides with the intention of creating a shell. After twenty minutes of effort, I managed to create a decently thick shell of titanium alloy around myself.
'Do you think this will hold for the rest of the trial?'
[Yes, you will just have to use ice to cool the space around you from time to time. Also, use wind magic to create enough air around to avoid asphyxiating.]
The mana consumption was minimal and I managed to last the remaining four and a half hours with 100 mana to spare. Once the time was up, the entire place reset and I found myself in the same situation I was in when the test started.
The guide slowly exited the lava lake and came to hover in front of me again.
"Congratulations challenger, in passing the first trial. You have amassed a total of ten points. You will now be sent back to the trial grounds and you can enter the door to the second trial any time you please."
With that, the ball of fire entered inside my body and I woke up in the dark corridor from before. Looking down, I noticed that I was holding a warm ball of fire inside my hand. After fooling around with it for a while, I asked Ai:
'Do you know what this is? I can't figure anything out.'
[I don't. I can only see that I contains a large amount of mana already converted to the fire affinity.]
Since even Ai didn't know, I just kept it in my robes and went to sleep. I was planning on recovering my mana before going into the next trial.
After resting for around six hours, I woke up and started walking through the corridor again. Not long after, a new door with the number two appeared in my sight.
Pressing on the handle, the door opened right away, making me think that it probably only restricted Senna's entrance inside the trials and not Ai's. Walking through the door, I appeared inside a white dome. Looking around, I noticed that I could not see outside the dome and the only thing of notice inside was a small glass with water placed on the floor in the center of the dome.
Not long after I appeared inside the dome, a ball of water came down from the top and hovered in front of me.
"Welcome to the the second trial challenger. The Trial by Water. Difficulty: Eternal."
"Are you the same as the guide from the trial of fire?"
"Affirmative, I'm here to guide you through the second trial. The world outside this dome is an endless ocean, filled with bloodthirsty water creatures. At the bottom of the ocean, straight under the dome, lies a special pearl. All the creatures of the ocean will give their own lives to protect that pearl and your mission is to steal it, bring it back and place it in this glass. You will be rewarded according to the time it takes for you to complete the mission. The time limit is eleven days and after the first day you will start losing one point per day. It's impossible to leave the trial without recovering the pearl. Once you decide to begin the trial you just need to touch the walls of the dome and you will be transported outside. Any questions?"
"Does that mean that if I don't manage to steal the pearl in eleven days I will die?"
"You will either die to the creatures inside the ocean as you try to steal the pearl or your body will die in the real world out of hunger. To pass the trial, you will need to steal the pearl within six days. For maximum points you will need to do it in two. If you only manage to steal it after six days, you will be able to return to the trial grounds but would have failed the test. Any other questions?"
"This is a lot more cruel than the first one. How strong are the creatures in the ocean?"
"They have the same level of power as you do and grow stronger as you dive deeper. You will also receive all world energy for any creature that you slay inside the trial and will level up automatically without the need of a catalyst. Any other question?"
'Ai, does this mean I can earn experience here?'
[Affirmative.]
A smile appeared on my lips as soon as I heard Ai's words and I asked the guide:
"Is it possible for me to return here and rest in case I remain out of mana?"
"If you manage to swim back to the location of the dome, you can touch it's walls and come back inside. Any other question?"
"That's all. You can start the trial." I was already excited thinking about all the experience I could gain here.
"The trial will start the moment you touch the walls of the dome. Good luck, challenger" said the guide as it sunk into the floor of the dome and disappeared.
'Ai, any way for me to deal with the pressure of the ocean as I dive deeper?'
[You will need to create a water barrier around your body to resist the pressure.]
'Same idea as I had.'
I couldn't wait for the trial to begin so I went and touched the walls of the dome right away. As soon as I did, my vision blurred for a second and I woke up outside the dome, floating in water. Creating a pocked of air inside my mouth so I could breather easily, I said to Ai:
'Can you please map the place as I explore further? I don't want to get lost as I try to return here.'
Ai agreed and I started swimming deeper after casting Owl Sight. Not even ten minutes in, I spotted some strange creatures which seemed human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down. They were carrying some sort of spears in their hand and were swimming very fast towards me.
'Ai, are those.. Merman?'
[It would appear so.]
'Damn, they are ugly.' I said as I started getting ready to fight. Once they were close enough, I started releasing electricity inside the water and watched all twenty or so of them convulse for an entire minute until they died and started floating towards the surface.
'Ai, how much experience do these guys give?'
[200 exp per kill.]
'Probably that guy who gained 50 levels encountered some sort of similar trial. This trial looks like it was tailored for me. How is my mana consumption?'
[You used ten mana for that attack and you are losing two mana per hour to maintain your breathing and sight.]
'That's not bad. Let's continue.'
I continued to dive deeper, hunting down any creature I found in my way. There were all sorts of bizarre creatures, but to me they all looked like free experience. One hour later, Ai's voice sounded in my head, delivering the message I was waiting form.
[You have leveled up.]
After adding the free point into intelligence, I checked my status:
[
Name: Ethan Knott
Age: Avatar 19;
Race: Avatar Human;
Experience: 685/40 000;
Health Points: 230/230;
Mana Points 294/380;
Level: 20;
Vitality: 23;
Strength: 26;
Dexterity : 24;
Intelligence: 38;
Resistance: 22;
0 free stat point
———
System Points: 100;
Spirit: 1000 (750);
]
'Guess I'm now a C rank adventurer and a Master Magician.'
As I resumed going deeper, six hours later, the pressure started becoming a problem and the enemies started to grow stronger, taking a larger amount of mana to kill. After killing a group of weird creatures that looked like sharks with arms and legs, I checked my mana and noticed that it was already down to just under 60. I also leveled up three more times, reaching level 23. Satisfied with my progress, I used all the remaining mana to return in the direction of the dome at full speed, managing to reach there in less than two hours.
Once inside the dome, I laid down on the ground and said to Ai:
'I'm going to sleep to recover my mana. Wake me up as soon as it's all recovered since I want to gain as much experience as possible.'
With that, I went to sleep. Like this, I kept hunting and resting until the second half of the second day, going progressively deeper while killing everything that blocked my way. After waking up from recovering my mana, I checked my level to see the progress I made yesterday:
[
Name: Ethan Knott
Age: Avatar 19;
Race: Avatar Human;
Experience: 4 325/80 000;
Health Points: 310/310;
Mana Points 550/550;
Level: 28;
Vitality: 31;
Strength: 34;
Dexterity : 32;
Intelligence: 55;
Resistance: 30;
0 free stat point
———
System Points: 100;
Spirit: 1000 (750);
]
Pleased with my progress, I decided to rush past all the enemies as fast as possible and try to get full points. I didn't know exactly what the reward was, but I felt it should be something quite good.
Taking a deep breath, I touched the dome wall and used wind and water magic to propel me downwards at full speed. After 30 or so minutes, the pressure became unbearable and I had to use mana to also protect my body from it. I was using mana at a rate of one mana point per minute and it was slowly increasing. Three hours later, I managed to reach the floor of the ocean and saw a small, fist size pearl sitting on a piece of coral, glowing slightly and illuminating the dark water around it. I carefully approached and was about to pick it up when I noticed that the water all around me started to freeze.
Startled by the sudden development, I wanted to retreat but I was too late and my feet were already engulfed in ice. Looking around, I noticed what looked like a mermaid hiding behind a coral in the distance with her eyes glowing blue.
I wanted to release electricity into the water to fight back but Ai's voice stopped me:
[You will need to release all your remaining mana to reach her and even that isn't guaranteed to kill her. Plus, after using all your mana to attack, you will be left with no protection against the pressure and die in an instant.]
I frowned and decided to change my tactic. Channeling my mana, I created a thin layer of fire around my body, freeing myself from the ice and quickly rushed towards the mermaid. I planned to get as close as possible and attack using lightning, but just as I started closing in the distance, I noticed the mermaid open her mouth and a wave of pressure hit my chest, propelling me backwards again.
'Were those sound waves? A sonic attack underwater?'
[That is not a mermaid, but a siren. Probably the pearl you are trying to steal is a Siren Tear.]
Checking my mana, I noticed that I only had a little over 100 points left. Knowing that there was no way for me to fight her with my remaining mana, I increased the density of the shield around me that acted as pressure protection and dashed straight towards the pearl. I planned to forcefully resist her attacks and steal the pearl.
Seeing my actions, the siren started screaming and sending sound waves in my direction again. The impact was softened by the strengthened pressure shield, enough for me to push through, but my body started bleeding from every orifice and I was loosing hp really fast.
Enduring the excruciating pain, I managed to grab the pearl and started dashing upwards like crazy, with the siren chasing me from a distance. At least now that she was chasing me, she stopped attacking.
I quickly checked my remaining mana and health points and noticed I only had 145 health and 20 mana.
'This amount of mana will barely last me for 20 minutes, not to mention the three and a half hours I need to reach the dome. Any idea, Ai?'
[I'm sorry, Ethan. According to all my calculations, your chances of get out of here alive are less than 1 percent.]
As soon as Ai's words ended, I looked ahead and saw a wall formed of sea creatures blocking my path.
'And here I thought things couldn't get even worse.'