Alnea glanced at his teammates in silence, waiting for their answer, only to get their awkward stares.

  “What? Did I say something wrong?”

  “…It is not that you said something wrong, but…” Vestia said, biting her lips, as she trailed off towards the end, making the air in the hall even more awkward than before. Thankfully, Zain’s ignorance came in handy once again.

  “Now that I think about it, you never asked me whether I have completed my Trials or not…”

  “…Because it was not time to complete the Trials yet…”

  “For you, maybe,” Aren said. “It is different for us.”

  “How so?”

  “…Are you forgetting something?” Norren said, scratching the back of his head. “Except for the three of you, we are all Peak Stage False Wanderers.”

  “So? What does that have to do anything with what I just said?”

  “Everything,” Vestia said, shaking her head. “Why do you think that we have not gone through the Trials of the City already?”

  “Huh?” Alnea mumbled, glancing towards Vestia with confusion. “If I recall correctly, you were the one who asked us not to show off our strength in the Trials prematurely…”

  “…That’s because your strength was too abnormal,” Vestia said with a wry smile. “Who has ever seen an Intermediate Stage Wanderer breaking records that most Peak Stage Wanderers find difficult to even equal?”

  “…Two Intermediate Stage Wanderers,” Cecilia mumbled. “Two, not one.”

  “…In any case, the situation with the three of you was different. Besides, I did not exactly ask you to not go through the Trials…”

  “…I guess you did not,” Alnea mumbled, pausing for a few moments, as if lost in his thoughts, before turning his eyes back to Vestia. “Have you gone through all the Trials?”

  “Not all of them. After all, the results of the Trials are also a key factor in determining whether we can go to the inner city or not. And I was not so sure about perfectly clearing the Peak Stage Trials earlier…”

  “…What about the rest of you?”

  “…I did not go through the Peak Stage Trials either.”

  “Me too.”

  “And me.”

  “So, except for the Peak Stage Trials, you have all completed the rest of the Trials? Even the Trials of the paths you are not good at?”

  “…I guess you can say that.”

  “…It cannot be helped then,” Alnea said with a sigh, before donning his grin once again “But that’s alright too. It gives you time to prepare yourself, while Cecilia, Yuri, and I catch up.”

  “…Prepare for what?”

  “For conquering the Trials, of course,” Alnea said. “It does not matter if you have already completed most of the Trials. As long as you still have the Peak Stage Trials, we still have a chance. According to my calculations, Peak Stage Trials will have the greatest weight in determining whether or not we can earn the qualifications to fight for the right to enter the inner city. Let me see… How are your ranks in the three halls?”

  “…Around fifteen hundred.”

  “Same with me.”

  “…I am close to a thousand.”

  “…Around eight hundred.”

  “Eight hundred,” Zain mumbled. “Without taking the Peak Stage Trials?”

  “Yes,” Vestia said, shrugging her shoulders. “Is there a problem?”

  “…No,” Zain said, shaking his head. In the entire team, only the girls could make him back down so easily…

  “Alright, I already know everyone’s situation. Next, let’s…”

  After discussing the details of his plan for a while, Alnea left the mansion with Cecilia and Yuri, heading towards the Blood Hall to complete the first phase of the plan, catching up with his teammates in the number of Trials completed. And the first part of that phase was to finish what he had begun more than half a year ago. Walking into the Blood Hall, he went directly to a counter towards the back of the hall, and queued up, waiting for his turn. Thankfully, the queue was not too long.

  “Good morning, Wanderer Tia,” Alnea said, as he stepped towards the red robed Wanderer, facing her directly, greeting her with a smile, and earning her smile in return. A smile that did not last for long.

  “Oh, look at who it is, the fearsome ‘Black Star’ in flesh,” Wanderer Tia said in a rather dramatic tone, drawing out the end of her words, with a hint of dissatisfaction crossing her face. “What brings a busy person such as yourself to my little humble counter, your highness?”

  “…I am sorry for not visiting you recently, Wanderer Tia,” Alnea said, not hiding the blood rushing to his cheeks. After more than half a year of dealing with all sorts of Wanderers, he had learned that there were times when showing emotions was the better choice. Especially when he was wrong. Still, showing emotions, and admitting his guilt were two different things. At the very least, he had to make an excuse…

  “You know how sneaky the Lotus clan has been recently. I am afraid that they might be up something, so I have been trying to investigate their movements.”

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  “The Lotus clan… Did you find anything?”

  “Not yet,” Alnea said, shaking his head. “I just know that they have been in contact with quite a few Orthodoxies, even those whom they have had a history of feud with. I do not know what they are planning, but it surely would not be anything good.”

  “…I have also heard about the recent gathering of Orthodoxies… Even the council… Forget what I just said. Just remember to be careful.”

  “I will.”

  “…Now, let’s get to business. Are you finally willing to take the Trials?”

  “Can I not come to just talk with you?”

  “You can, but then you would not have wasted your time in joining the queue. And neither would your friends have joined with you,” Wanderer Tia said, pointing to the girls standing behind him. As for the rest of his teammates… They had already completed most of the Trials before they joined the Star Seekers, so they decided to join him in conquering the Trials after he had caught up with them.

  “Insightful as ever,” Alnea said, beaming at the Wanderer. “We have made quite some progress in the Black Desert Trials and the Arena. If my estimates are correct, it should take us only a couple of months or so to reach the standards for being eligible to fight for the qualification entering the inner city. The only things left are the Trials of the three Halls. At first, we were going to put them off towards the end. But I—we made breakthrough recently, so I thought that we might as well be done with them first.”

  “Oh? A breakthrough? For your entire team?” Wanderer Tia said, with the end of her lips curving upwards in an amusing smile. “It looks you have had quite a few fortuitous encounters lately.”

  “…I would not say quite a few, but yes, we have had our share of Good Fortune.”

  “I am looking forward to your performance then,” Wanderer Tia said, leaning towards him, before flashing a wink. “So, which Trial is it going to be first? The Intermediate Stage Trials of Martial Style and Aspects, or the Initial Stage Warrior Trials?”

  “…Let’s complete the Martial Style Trials first.”

  “Good choice,” Wanderer Tia said, nodding with a smile, before pointing towards the Wanderer with his hair tied up in a bun. “You know who to look for.”

  “We do,” Alnea said, nodding back with a smile. “See you later then, Wanderer Tia.”

  “See you later… And may Goddess Ilea be with you.”

  “Thank you,” Alnea said, bowing slightly towards one of the few Wanderers of the Lost City he considered as a friend, before moving towards Wanderer Naman, with his teammates following behind him. “Good morning, Wanderer Naman.”

  “…Good morning,” Wanderer Naman said, nodding slightly in return, before tapping the black box in front of him. “You know how it works.”

  “…I do,” Alnea said, smiling awkwardly, as he took out his Blood Card, before pressing it on top of the black box. And just like how it had reacted before, the black box began making strange noises, and releasing a few rays of red light, both fading away in just a few moments. When the black box finally returned to normal, he withdrew his Blood Card, and made way for the girls to repeat the procedure.

  “You do not need me to explain the process of going through the Trial once again, do you?”

  “No, but thank you,” Alnea said, with the girls following suit, nodding one last time towards Wanderer Tia, before leaving the counter of the Warrior Hall for the door towards the back of the Blood Hall, the one that led into the staircase, and climbed up to the second floor, stopping in front of the pair of giant doors, with a black, cylindrical pillar, almost half as thick as his thighs, coming up to his waist, standing next to the doors.

  “Since it is a Martial Style Trial… As we discussed earlier, Cecilia and I will go first.”

  “I have no problems.”

  “Me neither.”

  “…By the way, although breaking records may seem tempting, remember to maintain perfect clearance. If you are not sure of breaking the record, don’t try to force it, only to end up losing what was already in your hands. Our goal is to enter the inner city, not to break the records, or to leave our mark on history.”

  “…Says the guy who earned the greatest number of Martia Style Medals, and also left a mark in the city’s history,” Cecilia mumbled, only for Alnea to glare at her. “Fine, fine. I get it. Geez. You cannot even take a joke.”

  “…I am serious, Lia. Don’t mess this up.”

  “Tsk. I get it. Now, can I go in already?”

  “…Go ahead,” Alnea said, and watched Cecilia walk into the Trial Space, before turning towards Yuri. “I will try to be as fast as I can.”

  “Don’t worry,” Yuri said. “Take your time. I can afford to wait a while.”

  “…Alright,” Alnea said, before scanning his Blood Card, and pushing his way into the Trial Space, into a world of darkness.

  “Welcome to the Warrior Hall, Blood Soldier N 06 08499.”

  “You are in the Trial Space of the Martial Style Trials. Please select the difficulty of the Trial…”

  “You cannot select a difficulty 2 levels beyond the level you have already cleared.”

  “The difficulty level of the Trial will decide what kind of Martial Styles you will be allowed to use in the Trial.”

  “Using the senses of your Spirit, or a Martial Style beyond the specified kind and level will disqualify you from the Trial.”

  “How quickly and efficiently you complete the Trial will decide how many Trial Points you earn.”

  “The greater the number of Trial Points you have, the better your rank would be in the Warrior Hall.”

  “In addition, the Warrior Hall will reward you according to your performance in the Trials.”

  “The reward for perfect clearance of the first Trial is 20 Blood Coins, 40 Blood Coins for second Trial, 60 Blood Coins for the third Trial…”

  “If you fail to gain a perfect clearance, your reward will decrease according to your performance.”

  “If you fail the Trials, or are disqualified, you will not be rewarded with any Blood Coins.”

  “If you can gain perfect clearance in all ten Trials, the Hall will reward you with additional 1000 Blood Coins, and an Intermediate Grade Warrior Medal, which can be used to redeem any Intermediate Grade Martial Style, or resources of an equivalent value.”

  “Breaking records will grant you an additional amount of Blood Coins, equivalent to what you would have gotten for a perfect clearance for that level.”

  “If you break a record for the entire city, you will earn an additional Intermediate Grade Warrior Medal.”

  “If you…”

  As Alnea had expected, except for a few key points, the instructions for the Intermediate Stage Trials were not that different from the instructions of the Initial Stage Trials. Next, all that was left was choosing the difficulty of the Trial, and breaking some records… if he could, of course. If he wished to continue practicing the Blood Crystal Martial Styles though…

  “Defeat 1 first level Intermediate Stage Blood Shadow.”

  “Powers outside of the path of Warriors are forbidden.”

  “Usage of Aspects is forbidden.”

  “You can use only 2 Martial Styles at most.”

  “Using more than 2 Martial Styles, or a Martial Style above the Lowest Grade will disqualify you from the Trial.”

  “Perfect clearance condition: Defeating the Blood Shadow without getting injured.”

  “Record 1: Defeating the Blood Shadow in 3 seconds.”

  “Record 2: Defeating the Blood Shadow in 1 move.”

  “Record 3: Defeating the Blood Shadow without using any Martial Style.”

  “Your Trial will begin at the count of 60.”

  “…10.”

  “9.”

  “8.”

  “7.”

  “6.”

  “5.”

  “4.”

  “3.”

  “2.”

  “1.”

  “0.”