Alnea shifted into a vigilant stance, grabbing the hilt of his sword, as he watched the curtain of light fade away, making way for the bright white light erupting from the depths of darkness that soon turned the Trial Space into a boundless white world, almost like the Mirror World. Except, this world was not virtual. It was a real world, existing in between the countless folds of space. A world made just for his Trial. Or was the Trial Space just using the world for his Trial?

  Regardless, the most important thing at the moment was his Trial. Defeating the shadowy figure coalescing in front of him would not be too difficult. It was just a first level Intermediate Stage Blood Shadow. Even if he was not allowed to use anything but just two Martial Styles, just his experience alone, coupled with his body forged with Blood Crystal Martial Styles, was enough to deal with most Peak Stage False Wanderers, let alone Intermediate Stage Blood Shadows. It was just that the records…

  Making up his mind, Alnea exhaled a heavy breath, just as the Blood Shadow took its form, and rushed towards him, swinging a mallet towards his head. Ducking down to avoid getting his head bashed open, he unsheathed his sword, and swung it in a clean arc, splitting the Blood Shadow in half from its waist, thus ending the first Intermediate Stage Trial.

  “Congratulations, Blood Soldier N 06 08499, for passing the first level of the Intermediate Stage Martial Style Trial.”

  “You have cleared the Trial perfectly.”

  “Time taken to defeat your opponent: 2 seconds.”

  “Moves made to defeat your opponent: 1.”

  “Martial Styles used: 0.”

  “Records broken: 0.”

  “Perfect clearance of Trials: 1.”

  “Blood Soldier N 06 08499, you have been rewarded with 100 Blood Coins.”

  “Do you wish to continue with the Trials, or do you wish to leave the Trial Space?”

  “Reminder: Regardless of how many Trials you take, you will have to pay 100 Blood Coins every time you enter the Intermediate Stage Trial Space.”

  Alnea sheathed his sword, and read the instructions on the curtain of light handing in front of him, before selecting to begin the second Trial.

  “Defeat 2 second level Intermediate Stage Blood Shadows.”

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

  “Usage of Aspects is forbidden.”

  “You can use only 2 Martial Styles.”

  “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 Shadows without getting injured.”

  “Record 1: Defeating the Blood Shadows in 5 seconds.”

  “Record 2: Defeating the Blood Shadows in 2 moves.”

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

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

  “…3.”

  “2.”

  “1.”

  “0.”

  Training his eyes on the shadows coalescing in front of him, Alnea gave up on reaching out towards his sword. He could not help it when there was only one Blood Shadow, but with two of them, things could be handled in a different way. Or so he thought, as he began moving just as the Blood Shadows began moving, matching his pace with theirs, dodging the barrage of attacks being hurled at him. An easy task once he read the flow of the Blood Shadows.

  As usual, of the two Blood Shadows, one was always playing the role of support, while the other went on the offensive, ready to reverse their roles as the situation demanded. Such seamless cooperation…

  Thankfully, the only thing that the Blood Shadows had was cooperation. Their personal abilities were not too strong. And they were not too bright either. Once he had aligned himself to be right in between the two Blood Shadows, it was easy to direct their attacks against each other. It was just that without their Aspects, the attacks of the Blood Shadows did not seem to be too effective against each other, forcing him to repeat the process a few more times to finally take down the two Blood Shadows.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “…Congratulations, Blood Soldier N 06 08499, for creating an unbreakable record, and leaving behind your mark in the annals of the Lost City…”

  Confirming his speculation, Alnea did not waste time in beginning the third Trial. After all, there was not much difference in playing around with two or three Blood Shadows. It was only when he had to face four Blood Shadows at the same time that he was forced to use a Martial Style. Even then, he kept on handling the Blood Shadows without attacking them head on, directing their attacks towards each other.

  It did not matter that the Blood Shadows became stronger in each successive Trial. Rather, the stronger the Blood Shadows became, the easier it became for him to take them down. Apparently, their endurance was not increasing as much as their strength. It was only a matter of time for their attacks to become strong enough to take each other down in just one hit. Still, as their numbers kept increasing, the space that he had to move kept decreasing, finally forcing him to make a direct move against the Blood Shadows in the seventh Trial.

  “Congratulations, Blood Soldier N 06 08499, for passing the seventh level of the Intermediate Stage Martial Style Trial…”

  Since seven Blood Shadows were enough to force him to make a direct attack, Alnea simply gave up on taking down the Blood Shadows without making a direct attack. He still did not give up on directing their attacks towards each other though. If he could exercise his fighting skills, while ensuring that he would still break a record, what else did he have to complain about?

  Time, probably. Dodging the attacks of the Blood Shadows, while forcing their attacks towards each other took too much time. Not as much as he had taken to complete the Initial Stage Trials, but still more than enough for Cecilia to complete her Trials long before he could complete his sixth Trial. And the higher the level of the Trial became, the more time it took for him to complete them.

  That was probably another reason why he finally gave up trying to create historical records. Even then, he tried his best to make as few direct attacks as possible. And since facing eight or nine Blood Shadows was not that different from facing seven, he was able to complete the eighth and ninth Trials with just one direct attack. Facing ten tenth level Blood Shadows though…

  “Congratulations, Blood Soldier N 06 08499, for passing the tenth level of the Intermediate Stage Martial Style Trial…”

  “You have cleared the Trial perfectly.”

  “Time taken to defeat your opponent: 335 seconds.”

  “Moves made to defeat your opponent: 3.”

  “Martial Styles used: 1.”

  “Records broken: 1…”

  “…Fifteen Martial Style Medals,” Alnea counted, sheathing his sword, as he exhaled a heavy breath, trying to calm his racing heart. “Four more than last time…”

  “…Four historical records?” Yuri said, with a hint of excitement in her voice. Both for his unexpected gains, and for the challenge that he had left for her to complete.

  “Five,” Alnea said, as he chose to exit the Trial Space. “Breaking the record in the first Trial is almost impossible.”

  “…Then let me show you how to complete the impossible,” Yuri said, flashing her charming smile at him, as he walked out of the gigantic doors, before walking into the Trial Space herself. And though their eyes met for only a moment or two, that was enough for him to recognise the fire burning within her. Had she grown a bit more competitive? Or was it from the Concept that she had comprehended the day before? Maybe both. He was, after all, catching up with her…

  “What’s up with her?” Cecilia said, as she looked at Yuri’s back disappearing behind the gigantic doors.

  “…She is probably just a little flustered. You don’t need to worry about her.”

  “Did you two have a fight?”

  “…Not exactly,” Alnea said, shifting his eyes from the gigantic doors to the green robed girl walking towards him. “How did your Trial go?”

  “Are you asking to show off again?” Cecilia said with a snort, and paused for a moment, glancing around to confirm that they were alone, before whispering her next words. “Ten Martial Style Medals, just like last time.”

  “Ten? You broke nine records?”

  “What? Only you and Yuri are allowed to break records?”

  “No… I am just a little surprised. What records did you break?”

  “The one about time.”

  “…It looks like Yuri will have to work a little harder if she wants to break those records.”

  “…I tried the other two records in the first Trial, but that almost made me fail the Trial, so I gave up.”

  “It’s alright. As long as your records are not too ridiculous, she should be able to break them. This is why we decided to let her go last in the Martial Style Trials in the first place.”

  “…What about you? How many Tokens did you earn?”

  “Fifteen,” Alnea whispered. “A few more than last time.”

  “I knew it,” Cecilia said, gritting her teeth, and lightly punching his shoulders. “How many historical records did you create this time?”

  “Five.”

  “…Three more than last time…”

  “Things are going to get a little hectic from now on…”

  “…And you have no plans of stopping, do you?”

  “…The Lotus clan has been oddly quiet for a while. Even if they use the excuse of insufficient manpower…”

  “So, you are trying to lure them out?”

  “…That’s the plan.”

  “…It is going to be dangerous…”

  “When has our encounter with the Lotus clan ever been not dangerous?”

  “…This is different. So many records… I am afraid the other clans will no longer be able to refrain themselves from moving against us…”

  “Are you afraid?”

  “Me? Afraid?” Cecilia said, snorting in disdain. “A Serpian will never fear death.”

  “…Don’t worry. No one is going to die. At best, we will just get a little injured. But as long as we succeed, we will not be too far away from entering the inner city.”

  “…What information did the vixen brought you this time?”

  “…How did you guess?”

  “Are you looking down on me?” Cecilia said, turning her face away with pride. “It is not just you who has grown over the past few months.”

  “…About the information that Vestia has collected, you will know soon enough. For now, let us concentrate on clearing the Trials.”