MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Chapter 1594: Breaking Barriers: The First Trial (4)

”...Had a feeling that’s how it’ll turn out.”

Though he zoomed through his running track at a speed that broke the sound barrier, a bitter smile still adorned Ataraxia’s face as he noticed his opponent seemingly waiting for him to finish at the end of its own running track.

Feeling a bit humiliated by the sight, that feeling quickly died down as the young man reminded himself that his opponent was nothing more than energy taking on a different shape.

Taking a bit of time to sort out his thoughts after that, he then made his way back to the start of the track, where Aeramis looked at him with a hint of pity on his face.

”Were you expecting this sort of outcome?” the man asked him, recalling how Ataraxia mentioned just minutes earlier that the current race would be an even greater challenge for him.

”Somewhat,” replied the young man, the bitter smile on his face intensifying. ”Although I could see that the possibility was there, I still failed to reach the stats needed to reach the end of the track faster than the 11th entity did.”

Deciding to stick to the strategy he had used in the previous races thus far, Ataraxia was able to push both his maximum speed and acceleration to the point where he would be able to reliably break through the sound barrier.

However, with him focusing most of his attention on maximizing the stats he obtained from every card he chose, the young man only spared a brief glance towards the 11th entity’s stats at the start.

In the end, that brief glance was the straw that broke the camel’s back, causing Ataraxia’s confidence in winning the 11th race to disappear as he saw that the entity’s stats were at least a few hundred points higher than he initially thought.

And thus, even though he cruised through his running track at a speed that already put him at the level of jet-powered aircraft, the entity cruised through its own running track at a speed a few notches higher than even that.

’If my max speed was along the lines of Mach 1.5, then the entity was moving at around Mach 2.3,’ muttered the young man to himself as he recalled how the entity whizzed past him, the smile on his face turning awry.

’With a gap like that, I could only probably close it if I were to use the new strategy I had in mind.’

’But even then, the chances of me actually pulling it off would be very small.’

Dwelling over how he thoroughly lost against the 11th entity, Ataraxia eventually came to terms with it, getting the feeling that he had already set himself up for failure the moment he went with a safe strategy during his first race.

’At least I’ve already obtained a free pass to the next trial,’ thought the young man to himself after that, the smile on his face returning to normal. ’From now on, I’m just tackling the first trial again to see how far I can push myself.’

”Well, if it’s any consolation, you’ve already met the minimum requirements needed to proceed with the second trial.” Giving the young man a bit of time to sort out his thoughts, Aeramis eventually brought up what he considered good news to the former.

”If you want, we could end the first trial here and move on to the second trial instead.”

”Question.” Though Ataraxia found the man’s words slightly tempting, the young man remained steadfast in his decisions, reminding himself of the goal he sought to achieve now that he could move to the second trial without worry.

But of course, he had to make sure he wouldn’t lose his opportunity to move to the second trial first.

”If I were to use another one of my attempts to tackle the first trial again, would I lose the opportunity I’ve earned to head to the second trial?”

”You won’t.” Pondering over Ataraxia’s question for a bit, Aeramis eventually responded with a shake of his head. ”If anything, I would choose the attempt wherein you made the greatest progress before proceeding onto the second trial.”

”After all, the rewards you obtain at the very end highly depend on how far you could go in each trial.”

”I see.” With the man’s words clarifying his doubts, the young man became more determined to see how far he could go in the first trial. ”If so, then I would like to attempt the first trial again.”

Hearing the young man’s words, Aeramis looked back at him with a hint of shock. ”Are you certain of your decision?”

”I’m sure.” Ataraxia nodded, his expression now that of determination.

”Even if the possibility of obtaining an outcome worse than your first attempt might exist?” asked the man one more time, feeling like the young man had already done what was necessary to move on.

”Even if it exists, I’d still like to try again,” replied the young man, his expression becoming even more determined than before.

Seeing no trace of the sullen young man he saw after the latter lost his 11th race, Aeramis took a while to snap back to reality, finding the drastic difference between that young man and the current young man in front of him somewhat jarring.

However, once he did, it did not take long for him to start moving, returning everything back to how it was from the start, including the stats both Ataraxia and the entity currently had.

Whoosh!

Though the sensation of having all of his efforts taken away from him slightly unnerved him, once he reminded himself that he now had a clear path towards the top in front of him, the young man quickly readjusted to his current senses with a calm expression.

”Let us begin once more, then,” said Aeramis the moment he was done, signaling the start of Ataraxia’s second attempt at the first trial.

”Now, show me that your decision to tackle the first trial again was a wise one.”

Hearing those words, the young man briefly flashed a faint smile at him before shifting his attention towards the first set of cards that appeared.

Looking through each of the cards one by one, the young man inwardly let out a sigh of relief after seeing that three of them were the delayed boost cards he was looking for.

Recalling how Aeramis told him in passing that the effects of the delayed boost cards stacked multiplicatively, the young man showed no hesitation in choosing the one that gave a multiplier to both his maximum speed and acceleration.

And thus, his second attempt got off to a great start.