After a full three hours of aimless meandering and dodging frogs, the group finally arrived at the location for the second test.
Murmurs of awe could be heard, as they stood atop a mountain that had been sliced clean in half, the surface smooth as a mirror.
Professor Aspen had everyone stand at the very edge of the mountaintop, as he stood at the center.
He began his laughter again, as his immense reserves of mana moved through space.
A massive pillar was being summoned.
'This pillar alone has Divinity equivalent to what I felt when Amon woke up Belphegor! Just who was the God behind this?'
Alastor was shocked as he observed the perfectly cylindrical monolith.
Far away, Illia perked up for a moment, before slouching again.
"Aww, I thought some God had arrived."
'Looks like Little Perc is having trouble summoning the Staff.'
She helped out by tearing the rest of the space apart for the avatar of the Staff to appear on the mountaintop.
Professor Aspen, also known as Little Perc, muttered some words of gratitude, and turned to the students watching in awe.
"Your next test, is to get as close to this Kuhuhuhu- structure as possible."
"Use whatever method you have. Teleport Kuhaha- if you can."
"Stored up spells from your families? Keke~ Use them."
"Do anything you want to, just get as close as possible."
Alastor decided to wait and watch for a while, and so did Axel and Karna.
Someone walked twenty steps in, then began struggling to walk.
Examinees started walking to the monolith, but as they got closer and closer, the 'Weight' around them increased.
From their physical forms to their souls, they were being pressurized by the aura emanating form the pillar.
Some tried to jump forward to get closer, but failed as they were slammed onto the ground.
Some tried using artifacts they had brought in to teleport, but the artifacts simply shattered.
There was no way to get through this test by unusual means.
Even the mana in ones body was being weighed down.
Alastor finally began walking forward as well, Axel following without a word.
Twenty steps in, it felt like his existence was tied to a large stone.
Fifty steps in, it felt like a boulder was going to crush him.
Seventy steps in, and blood began leaking from his nose as the more delicate blood vessels in his body burst.
Supporting himself with his spear, he turned to see how the others were doing.
Karna was using his bow to stand as well, and Axel had fallen to one knee.
After a quick observation, Alastor noted that they were aready quite far ahead of most other students.
'And yet.....most isn't enough.'
He gritted his teeth and kept walking forward.
After step eighty-five, he began to falter as well.
Internally however, he was trying to analyze how this pillar was working, to understand it better.
'It's even acting on my Astral Body, where the demonic part of me is sealed.'
'So far, I can feel it affecting my body, mana, demonic essence, soul, astral form, even my mind to some extent.'
'No wonder Professor Aspen allowed us to do whatever he wanted.'
'This trial could never be cheated anyway.'
At the ninety step mark, Alastor stopped.
The pillar was just 10 steps in front of him.
There were a few examinees who had made it to this mark, but they were all on their hands and knees by now.
Alastor would have been as well, but he simply refused to do so.
'What a pathetic display.'
Karna had stopped back on the eighty-third step, but remained standing.
Axel had, surprisingly, made it to the seventy-ninth step by crawling, but lay completely exhausted.
Alastor could feel some incredulous gazes directed his way, mostly by those who were on their hands and knees on the ninetieth step.
Even breathing was difficult, as Alastor could have sworn his internal organs were pushed down to his legs.
The circulation of blood in his body was also messed up.
'I can't stop it here.'
'I'm not content with simply being among the top students.'
'I want them to despair at the very thought of catching up to me!'
He took another step.
'I want them to know their places!'
He took another step.
'Even if this is just a stepping stone in my journey, I will ensure that I am absolute here as well!'
He took another step.
He was bleeding profusely from his seven orifices, feeling similar to what happened in the past when the cockatrice screeched.
'How petty of me.'
After all, he won't even see half the people present here after a few days.
'But.....'
'If I'm going to become humanity's greatest hero, it would be beneficial to have a similarly impactful past.'
Even now, in his petty declaration of superiority, Alastor looked for ways to gain benefits.
He was finally close enough to the pillar to see himself reflected on it's shiny surface.
He reached out his arm, and placed it against the pillar.
'I see. The pressure was formed on our Will, and only then to the rest of our existence.'
With a crackle, the giant pillar disappeared.
Alastor used his spear to hold himself up as the pressure disappeared.
'Well that was fun.'
Others did not find it nearly as fun.
Some lay groaning in pain, or limply lying on the ground.
Some who had been resisting the pressure, suddenly found it removed, and had jumped into the air on accident.
Suddenly, everything changed, as every examinee was teleported away from the mountaintop.
........
Alastor suddenly found himself in a completely white room.
A deluge of green liquid rained on him, and then golden mana flooded the room.
He could feel himself healing, even the fatigue disappearing.
'It doesn't affect the soul though.' He noted idly, as his soul remained a bit strained.
But, that was fixed with a small shift of demonic essence from his astral form to his soul, and then back again.
He saw the golden mana reshape itself into words.
"Level 1?"
A small creature appeared that Alastor instantly recognized.
An impish body.
Awkward wings.
Bloodthirsty expression.
'Ah, a demon.'
That was his only thought before he cut the little demon into pieces.
He had no sympathy for his kind.
Alastor was allowed to kill any demon to solidify his identity as a 'Hero'.
He watched the little demon's body dissolve into demonic essence, feeling a bit perturbed as the free resources were simply removed from the room.
'Oh well. There is still another way of evolving as a demon.'
Then, the next demon appeared in the same place the little unranked demon had been in.
'Baronet rank.'
This demon, a two headed snake, was technically on the same rank as Alastor himself, but he knew his combat capability surpassed those at his level by a huge margin.
'This will be a good opportunity to test how far I can go.'
Alastor sighed and readied his spear, as he wordlessly began the fight.