Rain waited for his next opponent, his defeat having crushed his pride. He couldn't even land a hit once Eldros had his stats unsealed. He should've died, but he was bailed out, making him feel like a child.
While Rain contemplated his loss, his next opponent began to materialize—a large golem easily standing six feet above him, made of beige rock and wielding a great maul. Hardening his gaze, Rain readied himself. Water surged around his staff as the behemoth stomped forward.
Rain waited for the golem, staring it down as it approached. The towering figure loomed over him, and Rain met its gaze defiantly, refusing to flinch. The golem lifted its massive maul into the air and brought it crashing down toward Rain. He dodged backward just in time, watching as the maul cratered the ground where he had stood moments before.
Rain launched into the air and Torrent dashed back down, drilling the end of his staff into the back of the Golem, leaving a sizable crack in its hard frame. He jumped backward as the golem attempted to swat him. Rain landed on the ground, and the golem stood back up, readying its maul once more.
It unleashed a vicious horizontal strike at Rain, sending a powerful whirlwind toward him. Rain rolled out of the way and charged in. He launched a strike at the Golem's leg, knocking it onto one knee. In another fluid movement, he struck its head, dropping it to the ground. Rain finished his string of attacks with an aqua vortex, trapping the Golem in a torrent of slashes.
The Golem was unmoving in the vortex, but slash marks began to litter its body. The vortex dissipated, and the Golem let out a roar. The wind began to pick up around the Golem, spinning into a fierce tornado. Rain prepared for a charge attack, but the golem pushed its arms out instead, expanding the tornado around the arena.
Rain dashed straight into the air, avoiding the tornado, and bounced off a shield, launching himself toward the golem. Right before the moment of impact, he used Torrent Dash to boost his speed, ramming it with his staff. He forced the golem back a few feet and pushed off its body, clearing some distance.
Rain created a clone and dashed forward again. The golem reacted to his assault, swinging its maul. Rain avoided the strike and countered, attacking the golem's hand, forcing it to drop its weapon. He quickly followed up with a powerful upward strike, knocking the golem onto its back, and then retreated backward. He watched as his clone dove onto the golem from the air, putting a large crack in its torso and revealing a red gem embedded in its chest. The golem swatted Rain's clone, destroying it, and then stood up.
The golem covered the gem with one of its hands and grabbed its weapon with the other; it was obviously a weak spot. Rain jumped forward, spinning his weapon in his hands. The golem swung its maul at Rain, but he deflected the attack with his staff and countered, attacking its legs and knocking it onto its side. Rain flowed into his next attack, pushing the golem backward.
He Torrent Dashed forward, blasting into the golem and launching it further backward. Before it could recover, he blitzed forward, charging a Vortex Strike around his staff and thrusting it into the core of the golem, destroying it. Rain watched as the golem crumbled to dust and magic words began clouding his vision.
"Windstorm Golem slain. greater rune of strength awarded. Greater rune of constitution awarded."
Rain looked down to where the golem was, It was surprisingly easy. How was that thing supposed to be stronger than Eldros? He scoffed it was an insult to Eldros and him.
"Trial complete, God Servants awarding stat points."
The familiar lights flew into Rain's body.
"twelve stat points awarded please allocate"
Rain put six points into agility and dexterity and began to prepare for the next fight.
But the words in front of him began to rearrange again.
"The god servants are pleased with you're performance so far, an extra reward is given."
Small pieces of fabric floated to the ground as Rain approached. He looked at the pile of clothes: an open hooded black coat with no buttons or zippers, leaving his chest exposed; a pair of black pants on the baggier side with strings around the waist; a pair of shoes that reminded him of ninja footwear; and another pair of hand wraps.
"Shadow Vanguard set awarded. Each piece gives a bonus to agility and constitution."
Rain looked at the clothes on the ground and then at the clothes on his body. He hadn't noticed before, but his current outfit was in tatters. His pants had burn marks, and his hand wraps were practically nonexistent.
Rain grabbed the new set of clothes and quickly changed his outfit. He liked it; it was comfortable, and he thought it looked pretty good. Rain prepared for his next trial once more. The ground released a subtle shake, and the sand became a hard gray rock.
Rain's enemy began to materialize. It was a large knight in onyx-black armor holding a great sword of the same color. The knight stood well over seven feet tall and exuded an ominous purple aura. The knight assumed a fighting stance, and a low grumble emanated from its form.
The knight blitzed forward, taking a heavy swing at Rain, who barely avoided it. The pressure from the swing left a gash in the wall of the arena. The knight released an intimidating, warped roar and turned to look back at Rain.
This wasn't going to be as easy as the last fight.