The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1986 1 Hour Left

{23 hours have passed. The Trial will end in 1 hour.} The system warned, snapping Karl out of a meditative trance.

He had no idea how many more trials it would take to get to the top of the pyramid, but he was not there, and he was unlikely to make it there in the next hour. Time was passing too quickly, and the more that he tried to progress, the further he felt like he was from the goal.

It was insane, but there wasnʼt anything that he could do about it at this point.

There were a few who had made out wonderfully in the last day.

Rue in particular had huge gains, after spending the whole trial working on her physique. Now, she was so close to the end that she was almost certain that she was going to manage to get an upgraded physique as the reward at the end of the trial.

What you gained during the trial was the result of your hard work. But every trial had a bonus at the end, and it was usually related to the trial that you had taken.

So, it should help her finish the increase in her physique, unless the reward was a random item.

The System did that sometimes.

Everyone worked their hardest in the last hour, trying to finalize the step that they were on so that they could get as much as possible out of this opportunity. But all too soon, the trial was over, and they found themselves standing back at the entrance, the flower patch where they had all started.

{Congratulations! Prizes for completion percentages will now be awarded.}

That got all hundred members of the Darklight Host excited, and the Lala Bunnies were beginning to do a little happy dance with Tian and Skadi.

Most of them had advanced in their trade skills, the same as Tian had advanced in his bardic skills, but they werenʼt concerned about combat power or advancement. Bunnies lived to be helpful, and now that they had Divine Cooking on their side, they were even less likely to want to go out and do things that didnʼt involve harvesting ingredients or decorations for their dens.

That was what this trip had been about in the first place. Lala wanted fresh flowers for her den, and everyone else just tagged along.

In front of everyone a small purple chest appeared, suggesting that they had all completed the trial to a similar level to receive the same award. That shocked Karl, as it was rare that someone didnʼt get a much lower score, simply because they were not well suited to the trial at hand.

But he also didnʼt know what everyone else got as a trial, or what the other three sides did.

Ironically, the answer was that all the options were the same.

Skadiʼs estimation that picking any of them would be fine, as the trial was ultimately designed to have balanced outcomes between the different paths, had been correct. Even more correct than she had thought, as they were all just different approaches to the same outcome, the participants getting help with the one thing they most needed.

Karl opened the box, and a small golden scroll tube fell into his hands.

Carefully, he slid the scroll out of the tube, and read the contents.

{This letter is to inform you that the moment you exit the trial, your constitution will upgrade. Please find somewhere safe to rest for the duration of the change.

Your new constitutional state will be Peerless Grade with the [Ancient Beast] modifier.

Thank you for your participation in todayʼs trial.}

That was suspiciously nice of the System, but Karl did notice that most of the others got an actual reward from the prizes, while he got a warning.

Actually, he got a prize as well. The golden scroll tube was actually an Epic Grade magical device that could send a message to someone else, creating an illusionary scroll at their location.

That was pretty cool.

It might not be what anyone was expecting, but it might actually be the most useful reward that any of them had received. There was very little limit on how far he could send the message, so he could communicate freely with his allies all over the continent, and even send messages to the Blue Elven Captains if he needed to.

For example, if he needed them to pick up something specific for him.

Cara looked absolutely exhausted after her trial, while everyone else seemed to be energized and excited.

”What happened to you?” Karl asked.

”I was subjected to the worst possible fate that a badger could suffer. The System used my own tricks against me.”

Around them, a few of the others laughed, but then Cara smiled.

”As exhausting as it was, I learned many new things. For example, I learned that there are no fewer than ninety-nine ways to play keep away. Then I learned that there is an exploit in the [Shadow Step] skill involving two stones, a banana and a half step into the Chaos plane.”

That confused everyone else, and even listening to her thoughts didnʼt make the explanation make any more sense to Karl.

But he was fairly sure that the banana was optional, and she had simply been eating it when she found the solution. Though, the way that the Chaos Plane was, it was actually possible that the banana was essential to the success of the trick.

But if you tried to explain it to someone, they would assume you were trolling them.

”Has everyone opened their presents? Nobody has forgotten anything? Left something laying on the ground?” Karl asked.

Tessa chuckled, as that was the same question that the red dragons asked the hatchlings before they went anywhere.

{One day was not enough! I still have more questions!} Yewan complained.

”Just write them down, and you can ask the next black avatar that you meet. They tend to come visit us fairly frequently, so youʼre sure to see one soon. Or you can ask Nachtia if she knows.

Sheʼs pretty wise.”

Yewan smiled, while Nachtia sighed and picked the little dragon up.

”Fine, I will answer your questions, but only for one day. Then you need to save them up for later again.”

Even though he was a black dragon, and a Cleric, she still harboured suspicions that he might be part blue. No other dragon should ask so many questions.