Recognizing the way of working Lucas flicked the crystal before the array started to get powered up. Noting down how the array looked, he waited for the searing headache that was about to come.
His surroundings vanished again, replaced by an endless white. A voice appeared, it wasn't the usual emotionless voice, it felt more like the messages at the end of each trial.
[Test 5306, I've replaced the outer two diagrams with a combination of runes and a magic circle. It looks like it might conflict later down the line, but for now it works. Reminder to look at Test 304 to recheck the scanning feature.]
Lucas didn't receive any kind of headache as he stood or floated. He heard some murmers from the voice, but couldn't tell what exactly was happening. After a while the voice appeared again.
[That should do it. Okay. The previous trials tested determination, wisdom and adaptibility. Now it's time to combine those values and put you against a test that will see if you're truly worthy of this power. Since this trial takes a big toll on the brain it's better to finish it as soon as possible.]
Suddenly, the headache appeared as the light around him seemed to invade his head. Images and random memories flashed before his eyes as Lucas tried his absolute best not to fall unconscious. It felt like his brain was being washed in soap, turned inside out.
While it felt everlasting, it was only for a few moments before it vanished, taking along the deepest memories in his mind.
[There are 4 opponents you'll have to defeat. After each fight the array should heal you somewhat. If you take too long, you're brain might start to melt, so don't take too long.]
The light around him changed ever so slightly, it started with basic black lines that seemed to form a structure. The lines came together before color appeared between the lines. As Lucas watched it all happen, the mansion he first visited reappeared.
Learning magic here and being forcibly awakened, Lucas hadn't forgotten anything. He spread his willpower, believing his first teacher, Venion to be the first opponent, but he quickly discarded that thought since then he would have to fight against a Rank 1 mage.
The power difference is simply too big, it wouldn't even be close to fair. Yet his assumption shattered when he heard a familiar voice.
"Lucas? What are you doing here? I thought you were out with Robert. And did you grow taller? What happened?"
Liam, an older looking man with a slight stubble was sweeping the training grounds. He looked relaxed and happy, something that Lucas had forgotten. Liam was doing menial chores, yet the smile on his face as he continued made Lucas a bit jealous.
He suddenly shook his head. If Liam was real he would've not only noticed his growth but be a lot more curious, if someone disappeared for a few hours and looked a lot older, it would raise a ton of questions. Yet Liam only commented on it before continueing his work.
'This isn't real, this is all fake!'
'Yeah, this shit can't be real, otherwise we would've traveled back in time and that's impossible.'
'Even so, I can't sense anyone else.'
'That makes our old man our opponent.'
'So we just have to beat him? Or do we need to...'
'Kill him? There's only one way to find out.'
Lucas tried his best to stay calm as he assessed the situation. "Hey Liam, is there a monster around here or do you have some kind of trouble?"
Liam stopped his cleaning for a bit before looking at him with a confused look. "Monsters? I think there might be some in a nearby cave or something, but this area is normally pretty safe. Except if you're talking about the accountants, those are monsters in human skin.", he laughed at his own little joke as he kept sweeping an already clean floor.
'So no way out huh?'
'I don't even know why you bothered.'
Walking towards him, Lucas thought of a way to make it seem natural. "Hey Liam, would you mind sparring with me?"
"A spar? Well, it has been quite some time. Why not.", Liam walked to a nearby rack with wooden swords and picked up two of them. Throwing one to Lucas, he caught it without any issues.
'A spar? This isn't Liam, you can just release our aura and boom, we win.'
'You might be right, we're on a time limit, no need to drag something out.'
"Sorry Liam.", Lucas released his aura to the best of his abilities. A Rank 2 aura is way too much for a normal human to handle, he would collapse and be at the mercy of Lucas, yet Liam defied logic with a gentle smile.
"What are you sorry for? Did you steal something again?"
Lucas frowned, his powers were still intact, even his aura was pouring out, slowly turning the environment dark red, yet Liam was unbothered. Retracting all his aura, Lucas realized something.
"Hey Liam, could you raise your hands a bit for me?"
Liam looked confused, but saw no reason not to. Raising his hands he had to hold in a little laugh. "Am I under arrest or something?"
Lucas raised his hand to fire off a Fire Spear, it was headed straight for Liam, but he didn't even budge. The spear exploded on his person, yet he held the same look and demeanor as if nothing happened at all.
'I knew it.'
'What's going on.'
'Liam was a man who focussed on training his physical form to the best he could achieve. So we have to beat him in that aspect, otherwise he wouldn't be a true opponent.'
'Well, magic was useless and aura doesn't do shit, perhaps the strength from the previous trials stayed though. Might as well try that.'
Lifting the wooden sword, it really wasn't anything special. If he put too much power into it, it would simply break apart, so muscle strengthening could be an issue. Lucas could feel that his body hadn't changed, so his strength should still be there.
But would the final trial that so many people died on be so easy?
Lucas rushed forward and brought his weapon down on Liam with all his strength. Yet he blocked it with ease. "Didn't I teach you to observe and anticipate? What's with these brutal attacks?", Liam pushed Lucas's sword up before using the hilt to hit him in the gut.
The strength behind his movements weren't anything special, yet Lucas felt the pain spread. His body hadn't changed, but it took damage as if he was a normal human.
It became obvious to Lucas that he wouldn't get out of this fight without cheating. This was meant to be a fair match, something he detested from the bottom of his heart.
'Life's not fair.'
'It never was idiot, but you'll have to take this one. I don't remember anything of the techniques he taught us.'
'It's fine, I think I can manage. Besides, our speed still surpassed his.'
As Lucas thought, while his strength didn't matter, his speed was still in his favor. The Liam in front of him was but a specter of a memory, it wasn't real. He was resilient against magic and aura, but that didn't mean Lucas couldn't use it to his advantage.
The swords clashed as Lucas kept strengthening himself, Liam always countered him right after. After a few swings, Lucas was certain the while the wooden sword looked fragile, it could handle his strength.
In the end, it wasn't a real wooden sword, but merely the memory of it. Lucas swung his weapon hard enough to cause the air around them to split. He put a ton of pressure on Liam, but he kept deflecting each attack with the same vacant grin on his face.
At a certain point, Liam was slowly overpowering Lucas. No matter how much strength he put in his attacks or performed certain techniques, Liam countered him without any problems.
Liam wasn't going down with a few swings, even if he boosted his own strength. Changing the ground they stood on, Lucas created several openings, but each time he was about to hit Liam, he blocked it.
He had inhuman movement and reaction speed, but that was most likely due to the trial.
'Hey, just stop using magic.'
'Even with muscle enhancement, I can barely keep up. You saw how he moved, without spells our chances of winning are abysmal.'
'Not exactly, here, let me try.'
Switching in less than a second, his eyes sharpened as he watched the sword of Liam approach. Looking at it with his enhanced vision, it was still extremely fast for a normal human, yet Lucas was able to follow its trajectory.
Deflecting it at the right time there was an opening, one created not through the aid of magic, but pure skill. Lucas didn't boost his strength in the slightest as he drove his fist into Liam's gut.
He took a few steps back. "Hohoh! Looks like you didn't only grow taller but your punches have become heavier as well.", Liam straightened his back and lessened his smile as he raised his weapon.
"See? We have to beat him on his field of expertise without using mana as a crutch."
'But then how are you going to win? If Liam is serious now, even I will have some trouble.'
"Hah! I just didn't understand how this shit worked, now I do.", Lucas talked to himself as Liam approached him. "Still talking to yourself? You should learn to avoid that bad habit!"
His sword swung fast and heavy, leaving Lucas almost no room to fight back. Lucas only blocked or dodged attacks, taking a few steps back as he waited for the perfect moment. Blocking another attack, Lucas spread his arms wide, creating a massive opening Liam couldn't ignore.
Liam pierced his sword towards Lucas's chest, but then he took a step to the side, grabbed Liam's hand and threw him over his shoulder. Liam landed not far on the ground, but he got back up quickly.
The only thing was, his weapon was gone, while Lucas's sword was placed near his throat. His speed wasn't anything special and if they fought purely on sword skill, Lucas would lose. Luckily, the trial wasn't so strict.
"Wow, you really know how to spar. You beat me.", Liam smiled innocently as he slowly got back up. Without the voice congratulating him, Lucas had no idea if he had succeeded or not.
He had beaten Liam, he even admitted it, yet nothing happened.
"Well, that was fun, it's been a while since I got so into a spar. The guards here don't train enough in my opinion.", Liam slowly walked back to his broom to start cleaning up again.
'What now?'
"There's only one thing left I can think of."
'Killing him?'
Lucas nodded to himself before looking around to find a decent weapon, yet there were none. The only weapons were wooden, meant for training. The doors to the mansion looked locked, but Lucas didn't believe he would be so lucky to find a decent weapon in this memory of a place.
For all he knew, he could encounter Venion in the halls, and then he would be in a lot more trouble. Tightening his grip on his weapon he silently approached Liam from behind.
"You know, you should try to be friendly to the young master. I know you have a little rivalry between the two of you, but please try to understand him. He only acts arrogant to cover his insecurities. In reality, he's just-", Liam suddenly chocked on his words as a wooden sword was pressed against his throat.
His eyes opened widely as his hands instantly reached behind him, only to scratch and grab Lucas's face. He was just a few hairs short. His body was struggling to muster up any kind of movement possible to try to get his windpipe back open, but nothing happened.
Lucas made sure not to use any magic as he tried to increase his grasp on the sword, choking Liam out of life. The act felt horrible, but luckily part of Lucas didn't have any issue with it. It didn't take long before his body went limp, yet the seconds certainly felt like hours.
The surroundings quickly turned white as Liam blurred into lines and the endless white.
"There, that's finally done. What a pain."
'Are you okay?'
"..."
'I feel terrible, but I just had to watch, how are you holding up?'
"Shut it, I can take care of myself."
'Fine. How did you know he was going to hit you with a jab?'
"It's not really Liam, it's a spell meant to replicate him. It means he acts according to our memories, not like what he actually is. If we were in an actual fight, he wouldn't have gone for the attack. And you're not the only one who can learn those stupid techniques."
'I see. Then I guess this space is to recover our mana and heal up.'
"Like we need that. Liam was an easy fight, I barely broke a sweat.", while Lucas said that, his expression revealed his true feelings. Killing Liam really took a toll, even if he didn't have a choice.
'Well, I doubt the next opponent will be easier.'