9th day in this trial, by morning.
Harley was sitting on a tree branch, looking onwards in awe. Vernox carefully faced off three humanoid wooden golems at the same time.
It was like watching a real warden on screen. His movements were fluid and every strike of the sword damaged the golems.
He was faster than when the both of them fought before, which rattled him. Also… during their quick spar, Harley kind of cheated; using invisibility like that.
With a swift swing of the sword, Vernox brought down the last of the golems and Harley jumped down from the tree, looking at him with a frown.
"Seriously… You're at least as skilled as a knight from this place, and you haven't used your ability." He said, looking at Vernox straight in the face.
"My ability is quite draining. Is invisibility your only skill? It's quite useless for battle."
Harley could swear he saw a mocking grin on Vernox's face right now.
"Blame the Oracle. Now lead the way to the dungeon." Harley prompted and the both of them headed beyond even more trees.
The reason they were both out here was simple: grow stronger, and continue to grow until they can't.
"We're close." Vernox announced, and Harley pulled out a sword which he made invisible and Vernox frowned as he saw it.
"You've gotten an artifact already?" There was a hint of jealousy in his voice.
"No, I actually stole it from a certain ship." He simply replied, and Vernox didn't ask again.
The part of the woods they were exploring was very loud with growls and loud frogs echoing all around. They had to be on guard at all times because—
*Rarrhh!*
One of the logs moved, standing up to reveal its full body: a wooden golem.
Not just one, but more began to stand up, noticing the two humans who stood there with weapons drawn out.
Harley felt nervous seeing the many enemies around them.
"Why did you pick this route?" He asked, and Vernox only chuckled.
"Don't be a weakling and hunt. Grow stronger." Vernox lunged forward with a smile, his golden eyes glowing a faint light as he approached the golems with his sword.
Harley couldn't be outperformed; he was literally a performer!
'What a madman!' He lunged forward too.
Even if there were only a few skills he could perform with his sword, he was almost not getting hit at all. He dodged a grab by ducking down, slicing the knee of the creature before kicking it back.
He didn't have time to think as three more were on him. In this situation, he couldn't help but remember what Eman said to him back on the ship.
'No training in war! Only kill or be killed!' He gritted his teeth, hacking away at the golems.
{You have killed a scheme 5 creature; Forest golem.}
The Oracle's voice sang in his head constantly as more and more trees began to move towards them. Harley became a standing danger himself, barely moving but he was able to kill and defend himself precisely.
*Grarhhhh!*
One of the huge trees swiped a hand at Harley and he struck with the sword, quietly whispering its verse.
"Light as a feather, sharper than a blade." With a single swing he cut off the arm of the golem, letting green blood splash all over himself.
Harley didn't waste time, going invisible. The golem went confused, looking around for Harley but then a metallic sword pierced through its back, and it fell down.
Harley looked back to see two other golems and he was already feeling drained using the sword's verse but he moved forward to clash with them.
Soon enough, all of the creatures there were dead and Harley heaved a tired sigh. Just from a glance he killed over thirty small ones and three big ones that were twice his size.
He was panting hard and his hands were trembling. If not for the fact that he was using an artifact like the sword, then he would have been dead already.
"You tired? We have to keep moving." Vernox announced, removing a silver sword from the trunk of a golem and he walked forward towards their original direction.
Looking back, Harley's eyes widened in pure horror. There were five big golems and what looked like around 50 little ones all slayed around and they were all cut through by Vernox. And he didn't peek him using any ability.
"Monster." He whispered, a hint of relief in his voice.
Even when playing games it was best to not be the best on your team even if you're good. So he was glad someone better at battle than him was his partner for this trial.
Although they came from different worlds and their experience were not on par, Harley was determined to try all he could to escape this trial.
…
Already a few minutes of walking in their direction and they saw an opening ahead, but there was a fire there too.
"Do you think it's people?" Harley asked, looking onwards coldly.
Vernox only nodded his head.
"I don't have a good experience with people." He said, pulling out his silver sword and getting ready to attack.
Harley held the sword in his hand well also.
"Me too."
As they got closer, they saw a group of three people who had their weapons drawn.
One of them was a woman who had elongated ears. She had bright brown eyes and she had a bow almost as tall as her with an arrow pointing at them.
The second person was a man wielding a two-handed sword and had a frown on his face looking at them. The last of them was a short woman who had a staff in her hands.
"Who are you?" The man asked, tensing up and raising his sword higher.
Harley looked at Vernox wanting to know what he would do. To his surprise Vernox didn't attack, pulling out a piece of paper that they got from that adventurer building in the kingdom and the people in front of them instantly lowered their weapons.
"You're adventurers, please, pardon our rudeness. Come, maybe we could work together as a party." The man invited, and Harley frowned, seeing a cave in on his chest armor.
"Our pleasure." Vernox walked forward, accepting their invitation.
Harley facepalmed with a smile.
"Doesn't this guy know that we have five days left?" He mumbled, going to join them.