Rezen decided to let go of his water whips as he run to increase the distance between him and Fifteen
That looks like a futile attempt considering that with Fifteen's speed, he could arrive in front of Rezen in an instant if he want to
"[Water Stream!]"
Rezen threw his hand as he shot a stream of water energies. Fifteen didn't even bother dodging it, he merely slapped the energy stream to death
Rezen can't help but grit his teeth in frustration. What is with this disparity in power?
Fantasy worlds are indeed broke! Individual strength gap can be bigger than the gap between ants and elephants!
With the physical boost that the [Water God's Armor] provided, Rezen grabbed a broken trunk and threw it, hoping that a large object would slow down Fifteen
However, just like Rezen's spells, Fifteen only has to punch or kick any attack that he could muster into pieces
Broken and burning splinters were shot in all directions, especially toward Rezen
In front of Rezen's hands, magic circles appeared and another set of water whips formed
He used the whips to slap the pieces of burning wood back to their sender and Fifteen suddenly slammed his feet on the ground
Tongues of flames suddenly erupted in a straight line, threatening to take Rezen's life away and he hastily jumped to the side
However, even then, his left arm was still caught by the fire, burning it until nothing was left
This is the most painful thing that Rezen ever experienced and his vision instantly blurred because of it
If the recovery pill didn't appear on his tongue and was swallowed by him in time, he might have passed out already
The pill's description of 'recovering' the user back to their peak state really didn't lie!
Even Rezen's burned arm grew back in an instant!
"Hahahaha! Good! Good! You really are special!" Fifteen's booming laughter resonated in Rezen's ear and the crazy bastard entered a playful and excited state
Fifteen threw another punch in the air, sending a line of fire to the poor Rezen
Knowing that his whole body would burn if he was hit directly, Rezen pitifully and clumsily rolled to the ground, dodging that terrific fire
A blazing space of fire was created inside the forest. Even a small ember from Fifteen's attack was enough to completely burn down the trees
In fact, the trees don't even offer that much resistance yet the flames still remained in the ground, undying and defying the laws of physics
Rezen cut a sorry figure, he would do his best to dodge all the incoming fire but he would always fail to do so
Even if he dodged, as long as he would make contact with even the smallest ember of flame, it would still start to burn his whole body
In just a matter of minutes, he already used more than ten recovery pills to heal his body!
"Hahahahaha! This is fun!" Fifteen said happily as he continue firing fire when...
Zap!
A thunder streak landed on the ground not far from Fifteen. And this thunder streak was actually a person that Rezen has already seen before
It was the woman wearing yellow heavy armor!
"T-three..." Fifteen called out with a guilty face
"Your use of power already far exceeded the standards. If it was any other candidate, they would have already died at least ten times. You are even destroying the forest, do you want all of us to die faster?" The woman called 'Three' said, her tone ice-cold and made Fifteen shiver
"S-sorry, I was too excited..." he whimpered, completely different from the attitude that he had shown to Rezen
"Go, he already passed and exceed your test" Three ordered to Fifteen and the crazy bastard absorbed the flames all around them in his tattoo first before running away with his tail tucked in between his legs
Rezen just finished taking another recovery pill as he stood warily though he was also relieved
He had already guessed that Fifteen is the craziest one among all these kidnappers. He also feels that Zero and Three were the most reasonable out of them
Of course, they are not kind per se but they are those that showed indifference
"Human, you passed Fifteen's test. Normally, you would have to advance in the forest to meet me but because of the circumstances, I have to come here. To not waste any time, we will hold your second test here" Three said without any emotion as if she was merely reporting something
"What's the test?" Rezen can't help but ask and Three waved her hand and three slightly familiar people appeared and all of them looks pitiful
One of them has a bloated appearance as if he just drank an entire tank of water. Another was missing all of his limbs as if someone bit them. And the last one seems to be suffering from an unknown disease, his body black and rotten
They were the ones that were also kidnapped!
"Human, I will give you two choices. The first one is to sacrifice your life and these three people would be healed and return alive or second, kill them with your own hands and you can proceed"
Hiss... what a vicious test!
This test would test a person's morality!
At normal times, Rezen would think about whether this is a trap or what. After all, wouldn't these inheritance bastards want to have the typical self-less and whatnot inheritor just like in the novels?
However, Rezen recalled Fifteen's words. That bastard is crazy but he also gave Rezen an advice
'The more cruel and cunning you are here, the higher your chance of surviving!'
That is what Fifteen said and even without his words, Rezen still doesn't have any intention of sacrificing himself for others
'Fuck them. They would return and go back to their happy lives while I die here? Isn't that unfair?' Rezen grumbled in his mind
"I will kill them" Rezen said his decision and Three nodded her head and urged him to do it
"W-wait no!"
"P-please help us!"
"S-save us please, w-we will never forget you!"
The three cried out in unison, trying to appeal to Rezen's pity
"Who wants to always live in your heads rent-free? I would rather have you all live in my head as long as I am alive" Rezen said with an eye roll
He also made sure to check Three's facial reaction but that woman was completely expressionless
Rezen can't guess what she was thinking. And here he was trying to gain some clues in whether the right way to proceed in this test was really to be cruel and cunning!
With an internal sigh, Rezen created three water spears amidst the pleading cries of his fellow humans
Rezen ignored the guilt, deciding that currently, his survival is the most important as he killed the three at the same tine
He expected to see blood but after he killed them, they all turned into logs with intertwining lines of tattoos holding mysteries
Those tattoos were similar to the traps in the forest and in the body of the 'Tattoo Warriors'
Rezen's eyes flickered, wondering what the heck is this. Didn't he kill humans, why did they suddenly turn into tattooed logs?
"You pass the test. Go and continue to reach the central area of the forest" Three said before ignoring Rezen and walking away
'Too stingy! That crazy bastard Fifteen is better! He at least gave me a clue!' Rezen complained though he didn't dare voice it out
With the intention of surviving this hell, Rezen proceeded with his journey to survival
——
"Fuck, I'm almost completely naked now" Rezen complained before consuming another recovery pill
The thorns in his body were instantly expelled and his wounds healed
However, even without the wounds, Rezen still looks pitiful
His cardigan is already gone along with his white shirt. Even his pants were in tatters, revealing the underwear inside
Fortunately, Rezen uses boxers and not briefs. If not, he would be even more exposed
Rezen's face was the same as the fire mage from earlier as if he wiped charcoal powder on himself
His hair even has a few pieces of leaves. The only good thing was that even his scar was healed by the pill
At this moment, Rezen found himself standing in front of a place with no more trees. This was a cavity in the forest and Rezen's curiosity was piqued
He tried to take one step into the cavity and he raised his brows
"Hmm? Where is this pressure coming from?" He wondered as he clearly felt a pressure on his soul
"Maybe this is the central area?"
Rezen hoped that was really the case as he took several steps more
The deeper he went into the cavity, the stronger the pressure was. The fortunate thing was that he didn't encounter any more traps
Sometimes, the traps were even scarier than Fifteen! You don't know where they would strike from even if you try to tread the path carefully!