A large library was below a restaurant where all kinds of beings resided and hung out.
You only see it in movies, comics, or dreams.
A library is a safe space, meant for a person to indulge in thousands of great books in silence with nothing to break their focus.
And yet, Arthur was getting his ass handed to him in that same library.
A cruel crunching sound was heard with each fist that connected to his jaw. By now, blood trickled down his nose and from his broken teeth. His cheek was swollen and his right eye was swollen shut.
In a broken, shaken voice, Arthur said:
"Agh...Please...wait."
He begged Agoth, the one who was sending strike after strike.
"You know I can't do that young master, now put your hands up and fight back. The trial will start over soon enough and you will be healed."
Currently, Arthur and Agoth were in a small pocket dimension.
...
[Earlier]
Agoth spoke these powerful words into the air.
Arthur watched darkness slowly engulf the two of them, putting them into a domain that seemed endlessly vast with the look of a inner universe surrounding them.
"In here, trials commence. Each trial is 10 minutes long, after each trial, everything starts over and any damage accumulated reverses. Meaning, you experience the same fear of pain and death. This lets you gain experience through real-time while fighting a strong opponent."
"S-Seriously? So, you'll be punching me into oblivion? But aren't I the young master? Shouldn't you take things slow with me?"
"I am doing all of this for your sake. Do you wish to remain as you are? Weak, incapable of doing anything on your own? Anya and I are willing to help you with anything you may need, as long as you have the will to do so. Anya needs you since she is a fragment of your power, and I need you since my abilities revolve around Dark Energy, which the Dark King controls."
Arthur listened to his words, hearing the revelation.
He thought back to everything up until now.
Being mocked and taunted, bad rumors placed upon his name for no reason, not having the voice or power to back up his claims, and of course, being an easy target for bullies.
He clenched his fist and teeth at the same time, his eyes burning with a new-found determination.
"I understand. Don't hold back at all Agoth. Help make me stronger, so that I can help you the way that you have helped me!"
Agoth smirks.
'This boy, I can feel it. That will of his. My Lord, you have chosen correctly.'
"Alright then. Let's get started."
[1st Trial Is Beginning...]
"Alright-"
Agoth didn't let even a second pass, as soon as the trial started, he connected his fist to Athur's face, crushing his nose and jaw.
Arthur, who felt the pain just a moment later fell to the floor, clutching his face with beady eyes.
A kick then met his arms, crushing his forearms into a paste.
"AGH!..."
Arthur was sent flying around the dark floors of the Trial Room.
He struggled to move, to breathe, to even think.
His arms ached with a pain he had never felt before, and his face was practically screaming. Blood continued to move down his face and chin.
"Agh....w-w..."
Arthur stopped himself from saying wait, he needed to continue.
He pulled himself up, hunched over as his arms hung below him.
"It hurts me to do this to you Young Master, but this Is for the best."
POW!
[Trial has ended.]
Arthur felt his bones return to as they were, his jaw and nose back into place, and all the blood disappeared. All the pain was gone, he felt normal.
"The goal of all of this is to be able to land a hit on me once, no matter how hard or soft, you must land a hit on my body."
Arthur though, was still frightened. He was determined just 10 minutes ago, but now he was scared. He didn't want to experience that type of pain ever again.
'No. I must push through, I can't stay like this. I want to change. I need to change.'
[The Next Trial Is Starting...]
...
[Present.]
It was already the 5th trial.
He had experienced pain beyond his wildest nightmares, yet he pushed through. Since the third trial, Arthur started to try to be on the offensive, yet to no avail.
All of his punches kicks, and even headbutts were either dodged, countered, or stopped in all.
Like just now, when he went to knee Agoth in the abdomen.
Agoth seemed to watch his knee as if time moved slower for him in his world.
He then caught his knee with his palm and snapped Arthur's leg.
"AGHHHHH!"
Arthur fell, hugging his leg as tears fell.
"You should always expect the enemy to retaliate with a follow-up attack. Once you go for a hit, either move away or send another. You waited far too long."
'...This hurts. It hurts so bad. I can't do it. I can't.'
Agoth watched as Arthur sprawled on the floor, tears of pain beading down his face.
"Have you already submitted to the pain?"
"...I don't think I can go any further," Arthur replied weakly.
"What a pity. It seems you wish to remain as you are. A weakling, a loser, someone who will remain as he always is."
"...No."
"The people in this world, do you think they care about you and your pain? All they want is your power, to use you. And the 4 Kings want you like this. They want you to remain just as you are, so they can kill you even more easily."
Arthur struggled in pain, yet he listened, hearing Agoth's words.
"So try to run away. Go back to the other world and relax. They'll come for you one day, and everyone you love will die. And then, they'll do all they can to extract your power and leave you to rot. So tell me, will you quit and let that happen?"
"...No," Arthur mumbled.
"What was that?.."
"Not a chance in hell I'll allow that!"
[Trial Has Ended.]
Yet again, his bones reconstructed, his muscles healed, and all of his pain went away.
Arthur stood up, raising his fist.
"It seems my words got to you. I'm glad, the true successor of the Lord would never give up, especially not to pain."
...
[The Next Trial Is Starting...]
[The Next Trial Is Starting...]
[The Next Trial Is Starting...]
[The Next Trial Is Starting...]
[The Next Trial Is Starting...]
It was now the tenth trial.
Arthur remained determined, yet he felt like nothing he did worked.
He made sure to get faster in his attacks, put more power behind them, and more.
In the 9th trial, he also accidentally did something even he didn't know he could do.
Agoth went to a swift kick to Arthurs's jaw.
Suddenly Arthur felt as if time stopped.
He didn't seem to be able to do much in the slowed period, all he heard in his mind was 'Dodge'.
His body moved to the side, perfectly dodging Agoth's nearly invisible kick.
Even Agoth himself was perplexed, no, he was shocked.
"Arthur, how did you do that?"
"I-I don't know."
Arthur opened the guide.
—| [Dark King's Guide] |—
—[Title: Dark Prince]
—[Job: Dark King's Heir]
﹂[Exp: 889/1000%]
﹂[Attack Power: 1]
﹂[Agility: 1]
﹂[Endurance: 2]
﹂[Charisma: 10]
[Skills]
﹂[Rift] LVL. 2
﹂[Dark King's Authority] Lvl. 1
"That skill...that's the one I used."
﹂Be able to dodge anything while in a slowed elapsed period.
(1/2) Used. [20-hour Cooldown.]
[You used a skill while suffering against an extremely powerful opponent.]
[The skill has raised in proficiency.]
'Dodge anything?... So I can do that again?'
Arthur went to Agoth.
"Can you hit me again?"
Agoth raised an eyebrow at this question, but then he sighed.
"Alright."
He threw a fist nearly faster than Arthur blinked.
He was in a slowed period, he saw his punch and could determine where it was going to hit.
Arthur quickly leaned his head to the side, dodging it again.
Agoth stood with his arm extended beyond Arthur's head.
"You did it again... How?"
Arthur had no point in hiding it from him.
"It's one of my skills, I can dodge anything. But, I can't use it back to back an infinite amount of times."
"Really? That's an amazing skill. Make sure you train it well."
Arthur looked over to the guide once more.
'I also have that other skill.'
﹂Exert your will over anything. Will not work on stronger opponents or those that have a will more powerful than yours.
'Eh, it's useless as of now. Especially useless against Agoth.'
After checking the skill, he went back to training With Agoth.
...
The 11th trial.
Agoth stood in the center of the trial room.
"Are you ready to begin?" He asked Arthur.
Arthur exhaled, clenching his fist as he inhaled.
"Yes! Don't hold back at all Agoth!"