Between the two sets of challenges, obviously, dealing with the Fire Monk first would be the easiest, and if I dealt with the Magma Wyrm as well, it would give me a good deal of fire resistance that could be transferred over to fighting Flying Dragon Agheel in the Dragon side of things.
Holding the Giant's Seal in my hand, I pushed my consciousness into it, and my vision darkened as my mind was taken into the Trial Grounds.
My vision returned as I blinked away the darkness of the spiritual fuckery that had happened, and as I took in my surroundings with a wry smile. As it seemed, I was in the middle of the center of a large camp surrounded by wooden walls and filled with red painted tents.
At the center of the large camp, in front of me, was a large fountain-like structure laid out within the fountain was a steady roaring bonfire, while slowly leaking out of the top of the fountain was a curtain of lava that seemingly merged with the flames below.
I approached the fountain knowing instinctively my target was on the other side, and I was right. As I came around the side of the fountain of flames and lava, I saw a large man about eight feet tall with a massive mace at his side kneeling and praying to the flames before him.
"You ready to go?" I asked as I took in the fire monk's thick frontal plate armor and went for the Leviathan Axe, seeing how his head was only covered in a hood that covered his facial features.
Because even if I was stronger than the Fire Monk significantly, which even I wasn't so sure of. Trying to beat through like half-inch thick steel plate was a damned fool's errand.
But I paused as the Fire Monk spoke in a thick raspy voice. "The flames... Do you see the life and renewal in them even amidst the destruction?"
'My trials have gotten... More fleshed out with my skill becoming stronger with my level up.' I thought before I gave the question some honest thought, and I said slowly.
"After a large forest fire, all the plants on the ground, all the leaves, and easily burnt sticks become nutrients to feed the roots of the trees and the next generation of life," I responded.
The Fire Monk was quiet for a moment as he contemplated my response before he slowly nodded. "Aye, your words have truth of the barest forms of life-giving flames of the Crucible. But I am still pushed to kill you... It's rather troubling this trial."
My lips twitched at how the Fire Monk wasn't nearly as mindless as I would have preferred. And now I was going to feel a little bad in smashing his head in.
But then the Fire Monk stood up and said calmly. "I prefer to simply burn people alive in ritual to free their souls of the Erd Tree's grasp. But I will make sure to burn your remains away properly, do not worry, young man."
"Actually... Never mind, killing you won't cause me any grief." I muttered with a sigh before I chanted quickly. "O wall of light, stand firm against the storm. Aegis Bastion!"
A barrier of purple light surrounded my form closely and I saw the Fire Monk tilt it's head to the side in interest before it hefted it's large up in both hands and he drew in on me around the fountain while I took a couple of step's to the side to get the fight away from the fountain of fire and lava.
Because god fucking knows if the Fire Monk could call upon the flames or lava within the fountain which was something, I didn't want to deal with obviously.
My own armor was fused with Salamander Skin, which gave it protection from flames and heat, along with the myriad of other things I had fused into it to make it stronger. So I was confident in dealing with his flame magic.
But I didn't want to have a protracted battle with the fire zealot, so I came in hard with my axe swinging swiftly for his robe-covered knee while he swung his mace straight down at me, trying to smash my head in.
And his mace hit my Aeigis Bastion with a loud crashing noise, with his mace stopping as it hit the barrier that shattered after pushing back his mace a bit.
But that gave me time to slam my axe into his very much unarmored knee with a loud, wet crunching noise.
I pulled my axe out of his knee and side-stepped his swift retaliatory smash of his massive mace, and with that side step I launched a brutal kick into the back of his remaining knee, making him collapse onto the ground.
A loud clang rang out as I threw the Levithan Axe toward his head, but he blocked it with his armored hand. But in the time that the Fire Monk was using to block my Leviathan Axe, and just absorb the fact that one of his knees was ruined.
I came around the side of the Fire Monk, who had managed to sit upwards at least. And with the Blasphemous Blade. I smashed through his awkwardly held-up guard as he couldn't put weight on that side due to his fucked knee.
The Blasphemous Blade hit the top of his heavy chest plate and neck with the tiny grasping hands, and other limbs attached to the Blasphemous Blade broke off and burrowed into the wounds around his neck.
The Fire Monk's hand let go of the large mace, and then filled with fire as it prepared to throw some conjured flames at me. But then I heard a muted crunching noise as the cursed flesh limbs attached to my sword snapped something within his neck.
Even as blood poured from the massive wound that resulted from the limbs working to open it more for their entry.
The Fire Monk gave a wet-sounding grumble before he just flopped onto his back as he accepted his death with his throat torn out as I just backstepped to avoid the summoned flames he didn't bother to throw at me.
"Yeah, wasn't really interested in a long protracted battle with you throwing a bunch of flames into my face," I muttered as the Fire Monk gave me a look while his skin stretched and twisted as the smallest of the fleshly limbs burrowed under the skin of his face.
Then my vision darkened as I was pulled back into the real world and then I groaned as my mind was flooded with information of fire-based spells including offensive and buffing methods.