Arky closed his eyes as the light swallowed him, a sudden tug rippling through space itself.
When he opened them again, he was already inside the Domain.
It looked exactly like it did in the game. A vast ruin suspended in an endless void. A stone path stretched before him, leading to a marble staircase that rose toward a massive circular platform.
From what he could tell, the platform was as wide as a football field.
"The air feels rich with energy," Arky murmured, drawing in a slow breath.
Sitri emerged from his sigil soon after, and the two of them moved toward the staircase together.
After climbing its length, they reached the platform's center, where a large red, key-like magical construct floated silently in midair.
"Hm… so the challenge starts once I interact with that," Arky said, not really expecting an answer.
"Aaaha," Sitri nodded in agreement.
Arky's gaze shifted to the far end of the platform, where a massive door stood sealed shut.
'That's probably where the petrified tree is,' he thought. 'The one that gives out the artifacts.'
With that in mind, he turned back toward the red construct and stepped forward, ready to begin the trial.
Arky placed his hand on the construct. Instantly, it shattered into red motes of light and sank into the platform beneath his feet.
He felt the ley line energy in the domain spike violently.
Before he could fully turn around to observe the surroundings, figures began to materialize. At the same time, a runic panel appeared before his eyes.
— ◈ —
[ Challenge: Dance of Steel – Tier 1 ]
[ Challenge Details ]
◆ Defeat all 23 opponents within 5 minutes. [ ★★★ ]
◆ Defeat all 23 opponents within 10 minutes. [ ★★ ]
◆ Defeat all 23 opponents within 30 minutes. [ ★ ]
[ Ley line Disorder ]
◆ Ley Line turbulence amplifies 'Physical DMG' dealt by you by 75%.
— ◈ —
"Hoo…" Arky exhaled slowly.
Human figures took shape across the platform. More precisely, Treasure Hoarders, their bodies formed entirely from condensed ley line energy.
They looked alive. Too alive.
But Arky knew better.
They were echoes of the past.
Judging by their gear and positioning, they must have once ventured into this place in search of treasure, only to die here.
Their memories, bodies, and lingering will had been absorbed by the ley lines, then reconstructed into a trial for future challengers.
A battlefield born from history itself.
"But still, this challenge was clearly meant to be impossible for any normal human. I mean, how were they supposed to take down 23 Treasure Hoarders with combat experience, and some of them even carrying Cryo potio—"
Before Arky could finish his monologue, one of the Treasure Hoarders stepped forward.
Blue hair, a cloth mask, and a black hat pulled low over his eyes. He looked at Arky with open smugness.
"Huh! Another test subject."
The man reached into his pouch and pulled out a potion.
Arky's lips twitched.
The familiarity of it all hit him so hard he almost cried.
His eyes glowed as he locked onto the man.
[ Cryo Potioneer Echo: Level 5 ]
[ Danger Rating: D1 ]
There were 10 Cryo Potioneers, 5 Pugilists, 5 Handymen, 2 Gravediggers, and 1 Seaman.
23 in total, forming a loose circle around him.
Every one of them was Level 5, except the Seaman at the rear, who stood at Level 10. Clearly the leader.
Arky's gaze narrowed as he took it all in.
It was obvious now. The domain wasn't throwing random enemies at him. Their levels had been adjusted to match his current strength.
Since he was only Level 3, the trial kept him in the lower end of the danger spectrum.
Still…
Twenty three against one.
Arky smirked as he rolled his neck, a series of sharp pops sounding out.
One of the gravediggers charged forward, enthusiasm clear in his voice. "Want a taste of my hammer—"
Before he could finish the stupid line, a spear with a mass of 30 kilograms punched straight through his chest.
The force sent him flying, his body slamming into the far wall of the platform, where he was left pinned like a grotesque display.
"You fucker," Arky muttered. "That's a shovel."
Blood sprayed from the treasure hoarder's chest, but before it could even hit the ground, both the corpse and the blood dissolved into motes of energy.
Some of it was absorbed into Arky's body.
The rest sank into the platform and vanished.
The other Treasure Hoarders grimaced.
All ten Cryo Potioneers yanked out their potions and hurled them at Arky from every direction, shouting in unison, "Freeze, motherfucker!"
Arky flinched. That second part definitely was not in the game.
'Little shits… do they still have their past will?'
He watched calmly as ten Cryo Potions traced parabolic arcs through the air toward his position.
If those hit him, he would freeze solid instantly. Not a dramatic slow death like Jack in Titanic. Just instant.
Arky clicked his tongue and decided to test one of the techniques he had refined during the mental trial. One that had completely changed how he fought.
He raised his clenched fist, gray energy leaking from his skin like smoke. With careful control, he spread it outward, forming a spherical zone with a one meter radius around him.
The energy deliberately avoided the ground beneath his feet.
The moment the potions entered the sphere, Arky snapped his fingers.
[ Law: Gravity Denied ]
Hizz—
Gravity slowed to a crawl, reduced to about 0.01g.
Not everywhere. Just inside the sphere.
The Cryo Potions suddenly slowed, drifting downward around Arky like ornaments in slow motion, as if they were on the moon.
The Treasure Hoarders' eyes bulged. "What the fuck?!"
Arky grinned like a lunatic, pride blazing across his face. "Bastards! Behold the power of Entropy!"
He was usually calm after enduring 500 years of death in the trial, but every time he did something blatantly impossible, the thrill surged through him.
First, he had erased sound in battle. Now, he had denied gravity itself.
One by one, he calmly plucked the floating potions out of the air and placed them beside him, just outside the zone, where gravity still existed normally.
Once all ten potions were safely stacked near his feet, Arky snapped his fingers again.
Gravity returned to normal.
"Hoo…" He exhaled sharply. "That cost almost 20% of my soul energy. Cutting a part of gravity, even for a few seconds, is stupidly expensive."
But then he looked up.
The Cryo Potioneers were frozen in place. Even the Pugilists stared at him like idiots.
The potions had not exploded. They only shattered on impact, and now they were perfectly intact.
All at his disposal.
Arky crouched, picked up one Cryo Potion, and locked eyes with the distant Potioneers.
He wound up like a baseball pitcher and shouted, "Here! Have them back, you freezing shits! Hahaha!"
Then he threw a fastball.
All hell broke loose.
❖ ═════ ⟡ ═════ ❖
A Simple Note:
Sorry for the late updates, everyone!
I have some engineering exams coming up in January, and I'm also working on my own original novel, which will be released next year.
This fanfic started as a way for me to get into webnovel writing, so updates will be a little slower over the next few weeks. I'll probably manage around 3 chapters per week.
Thanks for reading!
Belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year!