As John stood amid the battlefield, surrounded by the corpses of goblins and hobgoblins, he couldn't help but feel a sense of triumph mixed with exhaustion. His body was battered and bruised, and blood dripped from the several wounds that covered his body. But despite all of this, he had managed to fight his way through and reduce the numbers of the enemy drastically. The end was in sight, and John knew he had to push through the pain to finish this.
"Come on, you bastards! I'll take you all on at once and end this shit right here and now," John shouted at the remaining goblins, taunting them to come to attack him. The goblins, believing the weakened state of the human before them would make him an easy target, charged forward.
"Keeeeek!" the goblins screamed as they attacked John.
"Die, you fuckers!" John screamed as he tightened his grip around his spear and started swinging it wildly, dodging and blocking as many attacks as he could. But eventually, the spear could not take the punishment and broke in the middle of a block, allowing one of the goblins to attack John's left hand with its club, breaking it and rendering it unusable.
"Fuck!" John screamed in pain, but he didn't have the luxury to try to lessen the pain as other goblins were also aiming for his throat. Without wasting any time, John pulled out a sword from the ground and started to swing it with his right hand, ignoring the pain in his left.
Another hour passed, and finally, there was only one hobgoblin left. Every other creature on the battlefield was dead, but John's situation had only gotten worse. With only one arm, there was only so much he could do on such an intense battlefield.
"Oye! Come here, you bastard! Let's fucking end this," John shouted at the hobgoblin. But the creature was shivering at the sight of the young man standing on top of the piles of corpses of his kin. It tried to run, almost as if it had seen the grim reaper. But John had had enough and picked up a spear from one of the dead goblin's bodies, launching it at the hobgoblin that had turned its back to him, finally finishing kaelthar's trial.
"Haaaah finally, it's over," John sighed in relief as he collapsed onto his knees, his body drenched in blood and sweat. The bright light enveloped him, signaling the end of the trial.
**************
Kaelthar, the god of war, stood in absolute shock. Across the days that the trial had taken place, he had constantly been observing John's movements and was incredibly pleased and surprised by his performance. "I honestly did not expect him to finish this so quickly. I mean, it's only been five days in your realm, right?" Kronos said in astonishment.
"Yeah, and that's what makes me even more surprised," Kaelthar added with a nod. "I assumed it would take him at least a week to kill the entire army of goblins."
"The kid is a catch," Khaos spoke, his gaze fixed on the screen before him. "Now, call him here. We are done with our test as well. I don't know how he managed to return from the brink of insanity, but that was enough for us to let him pass. We don't want to waste more energy. His consciousness has pretty much recovered, and letting him spend more time here is just a waste of divinity."
"Ok," Kaelthar nodded, and both the screens before them disappeared. A bright light shone once more, and John appeared before them, victorious but exhausted.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" John screamed as he appeared before the gods, his head wracked with pain. "What's happening to me? Why does it hurt so much?" he cried out.
Kronos spoke up, his voice calm and soothing, "Don't worry, it will be fine. Your souls, which we split apart, are now merging. Your memories are fusing, so the pain is just momentary. Once your souls are fully merged, the pain will stop."
John let out a gasping breath, "I- I see."
As the minutes passed, the pain in John's head gradually subsided and he stopped screaming. The gods looked pleased.
"Don't say anything about us to the gods, human. They'll think you cheated if they find out about us." Pallas spoke within John's consciousness.
John affirmed, "I know, I won't."
Khaos, the god of chaos, approached John, "Honestly boy, I have no idea how you managed to clear our trials, but I am pleased with your performance."
Kronos, the god of time, added, "And as you have passed the tests, you have rightfully earned our blessings."
Kaelthar continued, "However, when you return to the palace, only mention that you received one blessing from the god of war. Mentioning the blessings of the other two will attract unnecessary and unwanted attention to you."
John nodded in understanding, "I understand."
"Now, since you understand that, we will be giving you our blessings," Khaos said, as he looked at John with a kind smile. "But, just so you know, you will need to become much stronger if you don't want to risk the divinity within you causing harm. I don't know how you will achieve that, but don't disappoint me." John's mind reeled at the thought of potentially exploding from too much divinity, but Kaelthar quickly interjected.
"Don't worry about it for now. It won't affect you for at least the next ten years or so, but you'll need to be as strong as a blue-core warrior at the very least by then. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll explain my blessing." Kaelthar said, with a hint of pride in his voice.
John nodded, still trying to process the information about the divinity overload, but eager to hear about Kaelthar's blessing.
"As the god of war, my blessing will make you stronger the more you face stronger enemies. It's kind of like a berserker's rage, but without the madness. The buff is temporary, of course, but there's a small chance you can absorb some of your opponent's strength. Though, that chance is quite low," Kaelthar explained, and John nodded in understanding, finally getting a sense of why the trial was set up the way it was.
"Next, I will bestow my blessing," said Kronos as he stepped forward. "My blessing allows you to perceive time at your own pace, but it comes at a cost of divine energy and mana. However, it will greatly improve your performance in battle and training."
"And lastly, I will give you my blessing," said Khaos as he stepped forward. "My blessing will grant you a godlike affinity for spatial magic and chaos energy. You understand the power and rarity of space magic, so I need not explain it further."
Kaelthar, looking confused and angry, interjected, "Brother, have you lost your mind? How can you give a mortal access to chaos energy, something even I find difficult to harness? Do you expect him to be able to use it without it consuming him? Are you trying to kill him, brother?"
"Calm down, Kaelthar," said Kronos in a calm tone, looking at Khaos. "I'm sure our brother has his reasons. Let him explain."
"I understand your concerns, brother," said Khaos. "But do not worry, my blessing will keep the energy in check until he is proficient enough to not have it consume him. I expect him to control chaos energy at an intermediate level within ten years, with or without help."
"Are you asking too much from a young human?" questioned Kronos.
"I assure you, he will get help, and if ten years is not enough, I will use a bit of my divinity to stabilize the chaos energy within him," said Khaos, trying to reassure Kaelthar.
"Fine, do as you wish, but do not get him killed," Kaelthar said with a sigh, still not entirely convinced.
"Now, let me explain more about chaos energy," Khaos said, as he approached John. "Chaos energy will replace the mana in your body, and it will be necessary for you to learn how to use it properly to form your core, and for space magic."
John listened intently, his mind processing the information. Khaos then leaned in closer, whispering into John's ear, "By the way, I know about the help you received in my trial. This is a gift for trying to fool us. Use the help of the tenants in your soul to learn how to control chaos energy. They must be going crazy in your head right now."
John's expression turned pale as he heard Khaos's words. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, but before he could make a response Khaos backed away and clapped his hands loudly, and said, "Well then, now it's time for you to return home," Khaos continued. "Remember the instructions we gave you. Follow them nicely. We don't want you to die soon after receiving our blessings. It would be like a slap in the face. I'm sure you don't want that, do you?"
"No, sir. I'll make sure to keep that in mind," John said, still in shock from what he had just heard.
And with that, John's test was finally over, and his consciousness returned to the mortal realm.