"She truly believed me when I said I will buy her a mansion!"
"She truly believed me that I will protect her smile even at the end of her life!"
"If I run away now. Wouldn't I be the same as those Gods that Argos Von Kaiser had mentioned in his dairy?"
"What's the point of living a life of cowardice if you can't protect your loved ones!"
"I'll do it. I'll do whatever it takes!"
Venn shouted with all his might!
***
In the headquarters of the Blood Serpents, all the black robes were patiently sitting at their respective places overlooking the progress of the trial.
Unlike what Venn had seen in his trial, the chamber was in pristine condition. Nothing had been knocked over and there were no signs of a fight breaking out.
After all four candidates had drunk their share of the wine mixed with the blood of Argos Von Kaiser, the founder of the guild, they had unknowingly stepped into an illusion prepared by the legendary emperor.
The purpose of the trial was to sift out the weak minded that he detested the most. Under intense pain and unknown fear, he wanted the elites that had an unwavering mind to carry out his will.
This would explain why Venn was unable to log out from Heaven Descent, and why despite turning off the pain receptors, he was still experiencing a great amount of agony. All this time, he was simply in an illusion.
However, that was not to say that the trial was harmless since it was simply a mere illusion. In fact, due to Argos' incredible power that could rival the Gods, all who had failed the trial had either gone insane or became mindless ghouls.
The eight black robes that were waiting in the chamber were the survivors of the trial. There were others as well that either were on a mission or just couldn't be bothered to attend the annual meeting.
It had always been a tradition to only accept three new members each year into the guild. The leader of the guild had initially planned to increase the dose of the illusion gradually to eliminate one from the newcomers.
However, the bizarre situation was not what he expected to see.
All the other three initiates had ended up as failures and had been removed from the scene. Only Venn remained amongst the four candidates that participated in the trial.
Also, it had been way too long for Venn to be in the illusion. Normally, one would crack within 5 minutes, but Venn had endured for the entire 2 hours with no sign of any result.
As the group showed some signs of being tired from the waiting, all of them suddenly felt a strange vibe from the surrounding.
"The air is vibrating." The man wearing the Orc mask was the first to point out his observation.
As he did so, everyone turned towards Venn's direction.
***
The agonising pain had been assaulting Venn's body for quite some time. During this period, Venn had been enduring with nothing else but his teeth clenched.
Ignoring everything with his eyes closed and his mind focused on finding his inner peace, he was willing to drag out for however long it took for the trial to end.
There was no chance he would surrender without a fight.
Thankfully, there was a silver lining to his suffering.
He found that the longer he suffered, the more notification sounds the game system sounded.
Watching his stats continuously improved, the suffering he was enduring seemed a little less intense due to the unintended byproduct.
At least now, he was happily willing to endure it. As a gamer, he wished that the pain would grow even more so that the rate his stats would increase would get faster.
He was getting the feeling that the pain was beginning to reduce for him.
[Ding]
[Your pain endurance has improved.]
[Health increased by 5 points. (+5 Health)]
[Ding]
[Your mind has improved due to intense mediation.]
[Wisdom increased by 1 point. (+1 WIS)]
[Ding]
[Your stamina has improved.]
[Stamina increased by 1 point. (+1 STA)
***
After an indeterminable amount of time had passed, Venn abruptly heard a voice resounding in his mind, speaking directly to him in the darkness.
The voice was deep and low, but from the tone of the voice, Venn could tell that the voice belonged to a great figure as it carried an air of majesty.
"You have passed the trial. But not with flying colors."
"You may not be the most talented, but your resolve is the greatest that I have seen."
"I am Argos Von Kaiser. I accept you as my child."
"I shall leave my inheritance to you, like I did with my other children. Use them well."
[Ding]
[Synchronizing…]
***
Immediately after the end of the sentence, Venn's senses returned to him.
His vision had come back to him, and he could hear the surrounding sounds around him again.
Opening his eyes after closing them for so long, his eyes hurt from the stinging bright lights. But after a while of getting used to the light, he found himself being surrounded by a sea of blacks from all sides.
After fighting alone for so long, he sighed a breath of relief. As he did so, his consciousness faded and he fell asleep instantly with his body leaning forward.
The last thing he could remember was that he fell into something soft. He was so tired that he couldn't be bothered anymore even when he felt that he was getting carried away somewhere.
At the end of the trial, only ten holes remained on the ground as evidence of his initiation ritual.
Those holes were the length of all his fingers.
***