My Talent's Name Is Generator

Chapter 1152: First Trial

”Those titles sound rather impressive, don’t they?”

Gerald couldn’t help smiling.

”A little.”

Macaco nodded with obvious satisfaction before his gaze slowly wandered across our group.

Unlike before, he wasn’t simply looking at us.

He was examining us.

His amber eyes lingered upon every individual for only a second, yet somehow it felt as though he had read an entire biography in that brief glance.

”Oh...”

His eyebrows lifted.

”Dragons.”

He looked toward Kaelra and her daughters.

”Three of you. Wonderful. I always enjoyed your people. Loud... occasionally destructive... but wonderfully straightforward.”

Kaelra folded her arms with a grin.

”I’ll take that as a compliment.”

His attention shifted almost immediately.

”Nagas.”

He gave the Naga Queen a polite nod.

”Still carrying yourselves with the same elegance as always.”

Before she could respond, his eyes moved again.

”Griffons...”

”Demons...”

”Essari...”

”Oh!”

His expression brightened further.

”A Noctari!”

He leaned ever so slightly toward Shade.

”It has been ages since I last met one of your kind.”

Shade, who had barely spoken during the entire journey, simply inclined his head.

”The feeling is mutual.”

Macaco chuckled happily before finally looking toward Sue and the other Astrals.

”And Astrals as well.”

He adjusted his glasses once more.

”I confess I was beginning to wonder whether your race still remembered this place.”

Sue smiled gracefully.

”We remembered. We simply never managed to reach it.”

”Ah...”

Macaco nodded.

”That is sad to hear.”

Finally...His gaze settled upon me.

The smile on his face remained exactly the same. Yet something behind his eyes subtly changed.

”A human.”

He studied me for several long seconds before tilting his head.

His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

”What an extraordinarily interesting young man.”

He adjusted his glasses for what had to be the fifth time before smiling again.

”I suspect....our conversations are going to be far more entertaining than I expected.”

Macaco looked as though he was about to continue his enthusiastic observations when I gently raised a hand.

”If you don’t mind.”

The ape immediately stopped talking and blinked twice.

”Oh?”

I stepped forward before offering him a respectful nod.

”My name is Billion Ironheart. It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Macaco.”

His smile brightened noticeably.

”Oh, wonderful manners! I appreciate good manners.”

He returned the bow with almost theatrical elegance.

”The pleasure is entirely mine, Lord Billion.”

Straightening once more, I decided not to waste any more time.

”Then allow me to ask the question everyone here wishes to know.”

His ears twitched with obvious interest.

”What exactly is the Trial of the Twelfth?”

”And...”

I glanced briefly toward the endless bookshelves surrounding us.

”...how do we begin?”

Macaco clasped both hands behind his back before beginning to pace leisurely in front of us.

”An excellent question. In fact...”

He smiled.

”...it’s the correct first question.”

He stopped beside one of the towering shelves and absentmindedly ran a finger across the spine of an ancient book before continuing.

”The purpose of this trial is remarkably simple.”

He looked back at us.

”It exists to determine whether those who stand before me possess the qualifications to meet the Twelfth Soul Current.”

He deliberately emphasized the final word.

”Meet.”

His smile never faltered as he looked around at all of us.

”Not control it. Not conquer it. Certainly not inherit it. The Twelfth Soul Current isn’t some treasure waiting at the end of a journey. It is a living existence with a will of its own. Successfully completing every trial within this place earns you only one privilege, the right to stand before it.”

Kaelra frowned, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.

”That’s it?”

”That’s it,” Macaco replied with a cheerful nod, as though she had asked whether the weather was pleasant. ”Everything that follows depends entirely upon the Twelfth Soul Current itself. If it acknowledges you, then wonderful. If it rejects you...” He gave an almost apologetic shrug. ”...then I am afraid your efforts end there.”

Sue asked politely.

”So even after clearing every trial, we still have no guarantee of obtaining the Current?”

”Oh, absolutely none.”

The answer came so casually that it almost sounded reassuring.

”You may succeed beyond your wildest expectations, or you may be rejected the instant you stand before it. Some lose their resolve, some lose their sanity, and a few...” His smile remained exactly the same as he adjusted his spectacles. ”...lose their souls altogether. Death is also a perfectly acceptable outcome, although I do find people become unnecessarily uncomfortable whenever I mention that possibility.”

Not a single person smiled.

Macaco, however, seemed genuinely puzzled by our expressions.

”I’ve always believed honesty is far kinder than false hope.”

His amber eyes drifted toward the smaller monument near the entrance.

”I assume you’ve already seen the seventeen names carved upon the tablet.”

Everyone nodded silently.

”They all reached this library, just as you have. Every one of them stood exactly where you’re standing now, carrying the same determination.”

For the first time, his voice lost a fraction of its usual cheerfulness.

”None of them ever returned.”

The library became noticeably quieter.

Even Kaelra’s relaxed posture straightened ever so slightly.

Macaco continued in the same calm tone, as though he were recounting a page from an old history book.

”They all progressed to different stages of the trial. Some advanced remarkably far, while others met unfortunate ends much sooner than expected. The trial has never been particularly concerned with fairness.”

Dream was the first to break the silence.

”So every name carved onto that monument belongs to someone who died inside these trials?”

”As far as I know, yes.”

Macaco offered an apologetic smile.

”I must confess I’ve never been particularly good at remembering funerals. There have simply been too many over the ages.”

The uncomfortable silence lingered for several moments before I finally asked the question that mattered most.

”Then tell me... how do we begin?”

Macaco blinked once before a warm laugh escaped him.

”My dear Lord Billion,” he said, shaking his head with obvious amusement, ”I believe there has been a small misunderstanding.”

He clasped his hands neatly behind his back and slowly looked across every member of our expedition.

”The trial doesn’t begin after a grand announcement, nor does it wait for me to grant permission. There isn’t a ceremonial starting line or a dramatic signal that tells you the examination has commenced.”

He gently tapped the marble floor with the tip of his polished shoe.

”It began the moment you stepped into this library.”

Those words settled over us like an invisible weight.

Instinctively, every leader began looking around once again. The towering bookshelves, floating staircases and endless rows of ancient tomes appeared exactly as they had only moments before. Nothing had changed.

And yet...

Now that we knew the trial had already begun, the entire library felt as though it had been quietly watching us from the very beginning.

”What is the objective of this trial?” I asked.