Path to Transcendence

Chapter 709: Contrasting Experiences

Kyler POV

He was a prodigy. Everyone would agree too. It had been that way since he was born with the Ninefold Thunder Body. His special constitution, with his talent and skill, made him very strong.

He didn’t think there was anyone out there who could compete with him in terms of pure power and damage output. Lightning was already a powerful affinity, and when he was able to use as much of it as he was, it made for a dangerous combination. He was so talented that the Thundering Heavens Sect had gone out of their way to recruit him when he was only twelve years old.

That was why he believed an inheritance trial would be simple for him to handle. Especially with Analia and Miles by his side. The three of them should be more than enough to take care of the floor’s trials.

He was more annoyed about having to wait for so long to enter it. If they hadnʼt been delayed on their way there, they would already have finished it and be back at the sect. But orders were orders, and he would do his best to complete this trial.

He was tempted to clear these floors on his own, but the sect received information that basically forced him to work with the others. They weren’t able to give too many details, though. The Obsidian Vault had a way of keeping participants from sharing what was inside. Though there were still ways to gather information without it.

Apparently, the trial became a lot easier when paired in groups of at least three. At least, that was what the data suggested from the groups who entered and left with decent rewards. It was also known that monsters were part of the trials. Though not to what extent.

That being said, Kyler was at least excited to stretch his legs. For the past half year, he’d been bored out of his mind. He’s been stuck inside the sect doing meditation exercises to help grow and control his Seed of Authority.

It was a necessary evil that he barely accepted. But with something as exciting as this, he couldn’t wait to test him.

The Lord of Obsidian was a mysterious figure. Even after the man’s death, many people from various sects were coming to investigate what the man might have left behind. But it was also a fact that the man had died. Which made Kyler believe the man couldn’t have been all that great.

Seeing Cassidy was a bit of an unpleasant surprise, though. Sure, she might have been talented in her own right, but she was an absolutely terrible person, rotten to the core. It didn’t help that she was from the Flowing Cloud Pavilion either.

She said it was all a coincidence that she was here, but knowing how she and her sect operated, it was possible the pavilion was there to interfere with the Thundering Heavens Sect. It was well known that they’ve been targeting them for the past few years.

Still, he wasn’t expecting the difficulty of this realm to start so high. The moment he entered the space, he was immobilized completely. It was mainly due to the special item and several skills that he was able to free himself enough to muster a defensive shield around him. Even with that, he was struggling.

It would appear this first trial was a test of resilience and willpower. It took everything he had to just push himself forward. Even Analia, someone with a strong will, was struggling a lot. She was dragging herself, and her chest was heaving up and down.

Miles actually seemed to be doing a little bit better. He was stumbling, but he was at least walking somewhat normally. The soft blue glow around his body indicated that he had some kind of skill that helped him out in this situation.

He tried the many skills at his disposal, but none of them had any effect on the pressure slamming into him. But not wanting to fall behind, Kyler mustered more strength to push himself up and stumbled beside Miles. Analia wasn’t far behind; she had crawled her way to them and shamelessly used the two of them to drag her body up.

“This sucks,” she grunted.

“At least we seem to be the first ones to adapt,” Kyler muttered, pulling her up when she slipped.

“We’re not. Someone already entered the gate,” Miles grumbled out.

“What? Who?”

“The guy who was waiting near the entrance beside the guards. He was the one who was eating pie with them,” Miles managed to tell them with some strain.

Pie? Kyler asked himself, confusedly. What did pie have to do with anything?

“I didn’t see him,” Analia muttered.

Kyler didn’t either. But there were so many people around that he wasn’t able to inspect all of them.

“You’re saying he already entered the gate over there?”

Miles nodded and grunted when his feet slipped out from underneath him, and he almost went sprawling to the ground. “Yeah, I think I saw him walk over to the gate not long ago.”

“Walk?” Analia asked with a pained grunt.

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“Yeah.”

“How the fuck was he walking in this?” Kyler asked with a groan. It was already hard enough for his face not to be plastered to the floor. But walk? That was crazy. He had already seen several people drop out. They must have given up because of the pain, a bunch of pansies.

“Listen, can we talk about this later? Let’s just get to the gate and hope that this shit ends when we get through it,” Miles said frustratedly.

Neither Kyler nor Analia seemed interested in arguing this idea, and the three of them slowly hobbled their way over to the gate. It felt like it took ten years to do so, but eventually they managed to get there, and with one last glance at the hundreds of crawling bodies behind them, they were sucked away.

And he wished he could say things got better from there. But they didn’t. The only good thing was that they were still together, but the next trial was even more dangerous than the one before.

The golems they faced were completely impervious to mana. It was unlike anything they had experienced. It wasn’t simple disruption skills either. The material they were made of made it extraordinarily difficult to dent their armor.

Only purely physical attacks had any effect on these golems. And for people with a lightning affinity, this was a problem. Kyler and Analia were useless since most of their abilities relied on mana control rather than physical might. Kyler, in particular, was having a hard time doing any damage.

Even after half an hour of constantly fighting, they had only taken out fewer than ten golems. His lightning barely affected them; he was relegated to stalling them out while Analia ran around trying to bash them apart with a half-broken hammer she had tucked away in her storage ring. Miles wasn’t much better, but at least he’d taken out a few on his own.

Thank goodness they were slow. Otherwise, they might have been forced to give up before they reached the third floor. He hated to admit it, but without their help, he might have been in real trouble. He did his best not to let it hurt his pride, but it was easier said than done.

It was also to their great fortune that they were not required to actually beat all of the golems. After an hour, they all saw a blinding burst of light, and while they were running away from the group of slow golems, they noticed it looked like a portal. They didn’t even hesitate to jump inside this portal together. Anything was better than dealing with those mana-resilient golems for another minute.

They all spawned together in a dark room and were greeted by another notification.

“Um, I don’t really want to be the first one to say this, but are we sure we want to continue?” Analia asked them. She had a tired expression on her face, which was reflected in the rest of theirs.

Kyler normally would have scolded her for being a coward, but he was too tired. His mana was depleted way more than he was comfortable with, and his stamina was in a similarly bad shape.

“I think I know why nobody has been able to clear this inheritance trial,” Miles stated.

“We can’t give up,” Kyler said with a shake of his head. Their confidence had certainly taken a hit, but nothing was clearer to him than that exiting now would be the wrong decision.

The other two seemed to hesitate for a moment, but when they saw the stubborn look on his face, they both chuckled.

“Fine, but if we die, I’m blaming you,” Analia said with a shake of her head as she got up to get ready for the next floor.

***

Julius POV

He obviously denied the option to leave, and when he arrived on the third floor, he was greeted by the same chamber. Only this time around, he was greeted with the sight of golems right away. There were no boulders, but rather the golems were staring at him.

He was quite interested in this, but rather than wasting more time, he was already moving in. Kinetic energy was wrapped around him like a cocoon, and his fist slammed into the nearest golem with a loud bang.

However, his eyes widened when he didn’t shatter the creature. Rather, it was his own fist that broke first, despite being protected by his kinetic energy field. He felt the bones break and his flesh become a mangled mess. He was so surprised that he was punched in the back by another golem.

His body went flying, and another golem slapped him out of mid-air. He grunted when he felt another thing break. A third golem was in the middle of attacking him when he finally recovered, and managed to [Void Step] out of the way.

When he reappeared, he was at a safe distance.

He shook his head and healed it. What the hell was so different about these golems? Why were they so hard?

It wasn’t like they were fragile before. But now the golems were many times harder. He also sensed something was different with their appearance. The glossy black finish was gone, replaced by a slightly matte surface.

Was this a hint?

He didn’t know, and out of more instinct than thought, he threw a spike at the golem chasing him over his back. He expected the spike to dissolve into harmless mana, but to his surprise, this wasn’t the case.

The spike slammed into the golem, leaving a small crater on its chest. He stared at his hand and back at the golem.

What was going on?

He was confused, but he sent another spike hurling toward the golem again. This time, the spike had a little more mana in it than before. It also had several layers of his concepts and Authority infused into it.

These additions made a difference. The spike tore through the golem’s chest like it was made of wet paper. He could still feel something resisting his mana, but it was so minuscule compared to before that it felt like nothing.

It was only then that he began to realize the purpose of these floors.

It was all a goddamn test. First, a trial of willpower and resilience. Secondly, a trial to prove one’s ability to beat enemies by not relying on mana. And now a trial where one’s enemies were resistant to physical damage, but susceptible to mana.

It was a simplistic idea, but given how well-made these golems were, it was still dangerous for anyone who failed to understand the testʼs goal.

However, now that he knew what to do, he didn’t hold back and gathered a lot of mana. His crown made an appearance too, flashing brilliantly as it practically begged for Julius to use its ruinous flames.

He wasn’t about to deny it either, and soon he had about twenty spikes over his shoulder. Each of them was sizzling from the overwhelming heat within. He threw himself up into the air to get a better angle and then let the spikes explode toward the golems.

It was a testament to how much stronger he’d gotten when he was knocked back from the resulting explosion. The heat seared his face, and a shockwave cracked through the chamber. It was a devastating attack that obliterated many of the golems.

When the dust settled, he saw the ruin he had caused.

Isn’t this all a bit too easy? He thought to himself while he examined the crater of destroyed golems.