As he saw the scene start to fade away from his eyes, another piece of memory started to emerge once again in his view.
"...what the!?." As if a flash of light spurred his eyes, another scene exchange the one before. He could only ever see the endless abyss of a black void appear right before his eyes.
He remembers this place all to well to even forget. The tingling sensation of his skin crawling for a sense of touch creeps into his memory, reminding of him of the sense of nothingness this place brought him.
"...So this is the game." as he realized the idea towards the rules of the game, the event of the black void started bringing him back to his attention.
Not a second later, four Golden lights started appearing from that abyss and it came raining down at his direction.
"...!" he could only tense up as he prepared himself to face those lights right into smashing down on his body.
*Thud!*
And just like that, the first thing to hit him was none other than the golden arrow that struck him on his left shoulder.
What followed was the golden spear that struck him right at his right arm.
"!!"
And thirdly was the Sword which he expected came lunging at him at his back.
The sensation of experiencing these weapons all over again was just as painful as it did back when he first took them on.
Lastly was the golden shield that shone its light at him and blinded him for a quick second.
"...Hnn." he felt a bit agitated but also nostalgic over the torture he had to endure during these process.
As the blinding light subsided, what awaited him was the sensation of a sword suddenly striking him at his throat.
"!!"
He did not expect a scene like that appearing all to suddenly. But he remembered this event as well. This was the first challenge given by the Blind Ruler, Iris.
As his first death strikes him down at this game, what followed was a continuous experience of his death all happening at a faster rate than he remembered…but instead of showing his journey, all they showed him and made him experience was nothing more than his deaths.
Not long after, the second Ruler's Challenge came barging at his head like a bullet.
It didn't take long for his memory of facing his first demon came.
All from this first encounter of his death till his 2025th death…the memory when he faced a demon came rushing in as fast at it could.
It didn't take a minute in his mind that the memory of facing two thousand deaths only went by like a passing wind.
It was too fast and too painful in his mind.
'Shit! The memories are all passing in too fast, my body…my head is going to fucking Split!'
He could do nothing but kneel in agony as those fresh cuts from a claw and blade all felt so new, it never lacked from bringing a sense of death from every memory of his death.
All these memories were never stale…they were always fresh like a newly picked apple.
So his pain was never going to be something that was adaptable in a sense.
What came after the Second ruler's Challenge, the third came next.
The memory of a flooding army filled with demons came at his mind.
"!!!" still, all the injuries from his past all felt so new and painstakingly irritating.
'Endure it! Endure it! Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it Endure it! Endure it!Endure it!Endure it Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it Endure it!Endure it Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it!Endure it Endure it!Endure it Endure it!Endure it!Endure it Endure it!Endure it Endure it!Endure it!'
'ENDURE IT!'
He kept reminding himself to endure this feeling, as he faced these memories on like a flooding wave of pain.
His will as Ruler kept his thoughts at bay…his will to survive made him even more raging to go through this challenge…all to a point that for a quick glimpse of a second, He smiled unknowingly from all this pain he was going through.
The Fear of the Abyss.
The Wonder of his first Death.
The Pain of Having to endure two thousand Deaths.
The sensation of having to face an army at Death's door.
And finally , the burden of having to carry a wish that was as heavy as a mountain..
These memories were no doubt something that could break a man if he had to go through them a second time, but yet as those memories finally subsided, he came out of the game. He came out with a smile on his face and with eyes that were indifferent.
He couldn't be broken so Easily.
He was after all, A Ruler.
Not some newly hatched chick.
'Incredible. For a him to come out without a sense of wanting to pull me apart, or to even kill me. Instead he looks at me with such a smile, that I couldn't dare to question…or wonder how he could…My king was right, this man is worthy of his Title…'
As the game finally to an end, the meerkat slowly approaches the boy and looks at him with a curious expression.
A simple question was given to him by the host.
"How do you feel?"
As someone who was titled a Ruler…
He did not give off one certain aspect a Ruler had to gain it's reputation.
He lacked a true and pure greed to his ambitions.
What he was now was a person who was growing by strength, but that's all what it was…strength and nothing more.
He may have promised himself that he would one day rebuild his kingdom, but with how his mindset was going, he could not be certain that even after 50 years, he'll make a great contribution. What he could only achieve by this pace is by chance or opportunity. He could not take action by himself.
"I feel…fine."
"What does that mean?"
"...I don't know."
As he Hamil said this, he started to stand up from his place and looked down at the rock beneath him.
"..." he stared at it with such a indifferent look, almost as if that rock was once a special item and now…it was nothing more than its figure…
He did not feel uncomfortable when standing near it nor did he feel any emotion towards it.
To him, this was nothing more than a circular rock.
"..." the meerkat looks to his expression and finally gives a nod of approval.
"Looks like you won the game." said the meerkat.
"Really?" the boy looked to the meerkat and looked back at the rock.
"Congratulations! As a form of reward, you can receive the rock as the prize."
"..." as the meerkat stated his prize, the boy kneels down and picks up the rock.
The moment he touched it, nothing came about.
No visions, no past experiences…nothing, it was just a rock to him. But to the meerkat, it was still a piece of an attracting material that was always compelling him to take it. But he had enough will to resist it.
"..."
"You can finally use it as a key to meet the King." said the Meerkat.
"...Okay."
As he did so, he walked up to the rock structure that was built to hold the rock in his arms. He lowered the rock and placed it in its slot.
Not long after, it shined a golden light and revealed a very powerful aura towards the boy.
Suddenly, the system pops right in front of him and showed an interesting notification.
[Skill Achieved: Genesis - The Ability to create by your will and by your wish. With the limits of the capacity of your mana and your knowledge, you can create almost anything made of mana. Caution to its use, one must be prevalent to the idea of attracting the eyes of the Gods who they themselves create by this skill. The moment you use it against the laws of the gods, their will be consequences.]
"This skill…"
"Hmm? What's wrong?" asked the Meerkat.
"...I obtained a skill." he said this with such a cautious tone.
"...You took the skill from the Rock who was blessed by the king?" asked the meerkat.
"Y-yes."
"What is the skill…?" asked the meerkat with schevy eyes.
"...I can't say. I have to ask this to Gord when I meet him"
"I see." as the meerkat see's the boy's reaction to the skill he obtained, he somewhat got the idea of how powerful the skill he had obtained was.
As they stand waiting, the area surrounding the mountain was suddenly covered by a thick fog.
"..." a minute later, Gord appeared behind the fog
{Leave us….Dubbfrey.} said Gord to the meerkat as an order.
The meerkat complied and he simply went back inside his hole.
As the boy and the giant turtle stood face to face, the turtle made his way to congratulate the boy.
{Congratulations Boy…}
{You finally made it to the top.}
"...I did."
{What's wrong?} asked the Giant as he saw the boy look a bit bothered by something.
"I obtained a skill from the rock...and it's something I feel needs more explanation."
{...I see.}
{You have obtained the Skill…Genesis.}
"...How did you know?"
{It all happened to a friend of mine back in the day…}
"A friend?"
{A Ruler…the Arduous Ruler.}
{Kingsley, Marker of the Shields.}
"You've met him?"
{Yes…just like you, he too went through my challenge…}
{But instead of going through it for five days…he only travelled for half a day…}
"Half a day!?"
{Don't be too surprised, unlike you, he was already a monster even without the use of mana…his body was already stronger than anything else here.}
"I see..."
{If you want to know about the skill, then I can guide in due time…but for now we have to attend to your gift.}
"Oh, you mean Summit's will."
{Yes.}
Gord then went and leaned closer to Hamil and lowered his head to present itself to Hamil.
{...} silence covered the mountain…and what came after that was the gaze of the giant as it stared down to the center chest of the boy.
What followed next was the fog that surrounded the Turtle, it flowed around for a bit and then flew its way to the boy's chest. It passed right through him like a rushing train and gathered itself at the heart of the boy.
"..!?" the boy felt a tremendous pain suddenly enveloping his chest…as if something was grabbing hold of his heart.
And then…the pain vanished and so did the fog.
[Skill Achieved: Summit's Will - As sharp as the tip of a mountain, as unyielding and inflexible like a pinnacle, you are a stoic figure with this worlds form and against its problems. You are Willful]
{You have finally achieved your purpose for coming here…you are acknowledged.}
As he said this, he felt a bit reminiscent over the scene of this event…as if over that boy's figure, a certain man was standing behind him…a man who was well known to be arduous.
"..Gord?" suddenly the boy calls out to him.
{...yes boy.}
"Can I ask for something before I leave?"
{What is it?}
"Right now, I'm carrying three baby owls with me, so I can't bring them back to my place…"
{I understand…you want me to eat them.}
"What!? no nonono!"
{Haha. It is but a joke. Do not worry, I will assign Dubbfrey to watch over them.}
"Thank you? Um…and about the skill Genesi?"
{...In due time. For now do not try to use the skill for any means necessary…}
{There are rules you must follow to the use the skill…}
"...And what about the Ruler that took the same test as I did?"
{...In time. For now you will have to try to master the power to use the ability to conjure the Earth element. The Earth element is a certain element that needs the use of one's mental strength and will to control its form. You can use it to raise mountains…build canyons and maybe someday, even split this very world in half.}
{With the skill of the Summit's will, you can easily control the earth element with practice and resist the skills of the Dark Element.}
"Thank you very much."
As Hamil said this, he laid down the three baby owls on the floor and left it at the care of Dubbfrey who returned back to the peak after being called back by Gord.
As he made his goodbyes to the chicks and Dubbfrey, he left the Earth King's domain and made his way back to his reality.
"..." as he returned back, he found himself still sitting in a lutos position. He looked to his phone and saw that it was 3:49AM…so he still had time to rest
While he remained sitting, he immediately called out his profile and tried to see any differences, any progress he made in the realm of the Earth king. And just as he expected, he grew a bit stronger.
[CHARACTER PROFILE]
:Stats:
Name: Hamil Crux
Occupation: Ruler in Training
Age:17
God's followed: The Rulers (4/4)
Mana: 50
Strength: 120-->135
Luck: 1.0-->5
Agility: 107-->115
Stamina: 114-->130
Intelligence:56 -->70
+++++++++++++++
Bow Proficiency: 50%
Spear Proficiency: 70%
Sword Proficiency: 100%
Shield Proficiency: 50%
+++++++++++++++
SKILL-ARTS:
*Sword Ability - Swordsman's Apparel (E)
==Swordsmanship Owned: 1/100
-Basic Swordsmanship - Enlightened
*My Bow Ability - Light Reflection (E)
*Spear Ability - Impossible Accuracy (C)
*Shield Ability - Shield's Copy (D)
SKILLS :
*Shadow Skin (F)-(0%)
*Genesis (-)
*Summit's Will (A)
He saw his improvements on a lot of his character. Its especially noted on the Intelligence, Stamina and Strength factor.
He thought to himself how fast he grew…as if he realized that fighting in a world without the use of mana was a way to make one naturally stronger.
The fact that he made 16 points added to his stamina was because of how much he had to climb a lot of mountains.
And maybe the fact that his strength grew by 15 points is because of how he fought a lot of monsters when he was making his way to the peak…without the use of mana.
And the fact that his intelligence grew by a factor of 14 points probably was due to the fact that he obtained sort of enlightenment from his climb to the top…his resolves to be stronger made him enlightened.
But for the luck factor, he had no idea how it was growing.
"Does this mean I can grow faster if I fight naturally without using my mana? Is this a cheat?"
"Hmm…
He looked at the Summit's will skill and saw that it was a Grade A skill…and for the Genesis Skill, it didn't have a Grade…it made him wonder why. But wondering about it wouldn't get him anything. So he could only ever wait for Gord to tell him about this skill.
He saw that the Shadow skin skill was graded F, it made him think that maybe the skill can grow to a better grade if he improve upon it…but he had to ask Vexus about this to be sure.
He look to his profile and smiled as he made a huge progress with his strength…but it wasn't to a point that it was peak C-rank of a Hunter.
As he stood from his lotus position, he then proceeded to turn to one of the drawers.
He needed to find something that was a bit important to the past Hamil.
As he looked around he finally found the one thing that was special to "Hamil".
"Here it is." what he was holding on was a piece of handkerchief that was given to him by his parents.
"..."looking at it, he felt a bit emotional even though he wasn't the original Hamil. It made him question why he was emotional, but he couldn't care less for the reason…he appreciated that a sense of the past feelings this body had was still lingering inside him. It was something that made him feel a little bit like the original Hamil, so he appreciated this feeling.
As he reminisced over the handkerchief, he proceeded to go and lay on his bed…he could finally rest in a soft and comfy bed after such a ling time…
And as such, the moment he touched the pillows, he was immediately put to sleep like a tired office-worker.
For that night, he slept like a baby.