“…Is this really the Glyph Trial?”

  “…Although I would not like to admit it, but yes, it is indeed the Glyph Trial.”

  “Then what is wrong with these instructions? And these records… They are almost the same as the records of the Mystery Trials.”

  “…There must be some difference between the two Trials…”

  “For now, the only difference I can think of is their name.”

  “…Instead of wasting your time on worrying about the difference between the Trials, it would be better if you focus on the Trial at hand.”

  “…I know,” Alnea mumbled, before shifting his focus back to the blood red panel floating in front of him.

  “3.”

  “2.”

  “1.”

  “0.”

  The panel shattered like glass falling on the floor, its fragments scattering around him, fading away into the darkness, only for the darkness itself to fade away, and make way for the bright white light surging from within the darkness. Just like that, in a fraction of moments, the dark, bleak world around him transformed into a world of bright white light, expanding endlessly in all directions.

  And yet, in such a large world, the only things that Alnea could see were the giant stone slab in front of him, with a carving knife resting by its side, and the promised Assistant Panel floating by his side. Just like how things had been in the Mystery Trials. Unlike the Mystery Trials though, he did not feel any sort of barrier trying to block his connection with his Mysteries.

  That was one difference. But it was still not enough to make the Glyph Trials unique. Shaking his head, Alnea subdued his irrelevant thoughts into the depths of his Heart, before shifting his attention to the Assistant Panel, and went through the list of materials he could use for the Trial.

  World Devouring Snake’s blood

  Dark Cacti’s roots

  Shrieking Mandril’s hair

  Lost River’s water

  Black Sand Essence…

  Materials with inherent properties of Destruction… Finally, everything made sense. Then again, he should have expected it. After all, the Trial was testing his attainments in Glyphs, and not his attainments in Mysteries. Maybe he was too engrossed in making all sorts of plans to break the records of the Trials to think about the essence of the Trials…

  Unfortunately, his plan was foiled before it could even begin. At the very least, he did not think he could break the record of materials this time. That left him with two choices. Either to decrease the time he took to inscribe the Glyph, or to increase the time the Glyph could remain active for. Unless, of course, he gave up on breaking records…

  After comparing the trade offs in his head, Alnea quickly came to a decision, and began acting. First, he chose the materials he would need. Black Sand Essence, as a neutral stabiliser, was a must. As was the Lost River’s water. Especially the Lost River’s water. A stabilising agent, with traces of Death, Decay, and Destruction, that was often used to inscribe False Ranked Glyphs.

  As for the main materials, which could hold the traces of Destruction, and keep the Mysteries from dissipating back into the Origin Sea… Their choice rested on the choice of Glyphs that he would use. For instance, the Mysteries that could pair well with World Devouring Snake’s blood would probably clash violently with Dark Catci’s roots, and may even make the ink volatile enough for the Mysteries to dissipate almost immediately, causing the Glyph to fail. As such, when choosing the main materials, it was important to choose them according to the Glyphs that was to be inscribed.

  After going through the new plan in his head, Alnea focussed on the list of materials once again, and began choosing them according to his needs. Dark Cacti’s Roots, Shrieking Mandril’s hair, Ember of Earthcore Fire, and a Wisp of Millenium Storm. All materials that were inherently stable, both individually, and when taken together. Especially the last two materials. Though one would not expect it from their names.

  Millenium Storms, as their name suggested, were storms that had the potential to last for at least a thousand years, wreaking destruction on their path. Similarly, Earthcore Fire was a type of fire that could be found only within the core of the Earth, that is, by digging down at least a thousand kilometres below the ground, which could cause wanton destruction just by its mere presence.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  These two materials were so destructive, that even Mystic Wanderers would have to be careful around them, or they might risk their lives. It was not for no reasons that the two materials, despite being only Mystic Ranked, could still be used as auxiliary materials for inscribing Grand Glyphs. These materials had so much potential, that even just a Wisp of Millenium Storm, or an Ember of Earthcore Fire was enough to be used as main materials to inscribe False Ranked Glyphs. If they could be used properly, that is.

  Leaving aside the effort and skill required to collect the materials, after being separated from their source, the two materials would also lose the energy driving their destructive nature, becoming no different from a normal wisp of fire, and a rootless gust of wind. Other than the fact that they would last longer than their counterparts, of course.

  Regardless, when the two materials were taken individually, their transient nature, and unstable condition would make them unfit to be used for inscribing even Seed Ranked Glyphs. It was only when they were taken together that the two materials could bring the best out of each other, recovering a hint of their destructive nature. Only a hint though, just enough for the Glyph to last a couple of months at most. And that too, only when the Glyph was inscribed perfectly.

  As for the Dark Cacti’s Roots and Shrieking Mandril’s hair, although they were not as precious as the ember and the wisp, they still carried a hint of the numerous Concepts of Destruction. And unlike the wanton Destruction of the wisp and the ember, the two materials had just the right Concepts that he was looking to match with his Glyphs. Silence and Noise. Or at least that was what he calculated from all the things he knew about the two materials.

  Maybe his calculations were wrong. Maybe, there was an even better combination of materials waiting for him to choose. Unfortunately, he did not have the time to waste. He was not experimenting with Glyphs. Neither was he showing off his attainments in matching different materials. He was challenging the Glyph Trials of the Lost City. Even if he had already given up on breaking the record of completing the Trial in the shortest possible time, he still had to complete the Trial as soon as possible to achieve a better rank in the Scholar Hall.

  Giving priority to his goals, Alnea quickly submitted the materials he had chosen to the Assistant Panel. Moments later, all the materials he had chosen materialised in front of the stone slab, right next to the carving knife. Learning from his experience though, he had already began walking towards the stone slab while selecting the materials, so by the time the materials manifested, he had reached the slab, and began handling the materials without wasting any time.

  First, he picked up the vial containing the Lost River’s water, and removed its stopper, allowing the sweet, musky smell of water to waft through the air. He did not focus on the smell, or the water though, but on the strands of dark red ‘hair’, almost a tenth of an inch thick, and roughly as long as his fingers, lying on a sheet of brown skin, trembling with a screeching sound. Shrieking Mandril’s hair…

  Unlike what he had expected, from the dried and subdued condition of the ‘hairs’, they had already been processed, saving him at least few moments. Moments, he was not going to waste on his thoughts. Picking up the red ‘hairs’, he dropped them into the vial. But that did not stop the ‘hairs’ from trembling, or screeching, making the water itself to tremble along with it, and slosh against the vials of the water. And that was just the beginning of their reaction.

  Given how the water was becoming more and more agitated with each passing moment, it was only a matter of time for the water to jump of the vial. It was fine though. He was prepared for the reaction between the two materials. Not minding the volatility of the water in the vial, Alnea picked up the thin slices of black roots, and slipped them into the vial, barely fitting through the mouth of the vial, making sure that he did not spill any water in the process.

  As he had expected, the thin slices of roots began acting as soon as they came into contact with the water in the vial, calming their raging waves almost instantaneously. They could not do anything about the ‘hairs’ though. And neither could the ‘hairs’ do anything about them. But he was not worried. After all, he had already expected the situation, and was prepared all along. It was just that the next step was going to be a little dangerous…

  Alnea put the vial on the ground, and took a deep breath, before picking up the other two vials that had materialised earlier, each containing a different material. Special materials that could dissipate the moment they came into contact with air. So, they needed to be handled a little differently. Wrapping the two vials with Oren, he gently pulled out their stoppers, making sure that his actions did not break the layer covering the mouth of the vials.

  Once he had completely removed the stoppers from the two vials, he brought their mouth closer to the mouth of the vial resting on the ground. He still did not dare to remove the cover of his Oren though. Only when he had covered even the third vial with Oren, and connected it with the other two vials, removing any possibility of leakage of the other two materials, that he removed the layer of Oren blocking the other two vials, allowing their contents to flow into the third vial—into the vial containing the water from the Lost River.

  Emptying the two vials, he quickly severed their connection with the vial on the ground, before putting them aside, and covering the mouth of the third vial. Then, and only then, did he dare to recover all the Oren, and shift his focus back to the materials reacting in the third vial.

  Logically, the two materials he had just put into the vial should have flowed into the water, just like the other two materials he had mixed with the water. But these were not just any two materials. They were an Ember of Earthcore Fire, and a Wisp of Millenium Storm. And once they came into contact with each other, they became the seed of a Fire Storm, creating a thick mist that covered everything that was happening within the vial. Only for a short while, of course.

  The storm soon died down, allowing the mist in the vial to gather, and condense back into water. Except, this time, the water was a bit darker, tainted with a hint of red and black. Rather, given how thick and viscous the liquid within the vial looked, it could not even be called as water anymore. It was more appropriate to call it as ink. As for how the ‘hairs’ and the roots vanished from within the vial, or how the mist within the vial condensed back into a liquid so quickly… Those were not things that he had time to consider at the moment.

  Picking up the vial from the ground with his left hand, and giving it a shake to ensure the homogeneity of the ink, Alnea opened its stopper, before dripping it onto the edge of the carving knife in his right hand, and began inscribing the Glyphs he had prepared, creating a new Initial Stage Glyph Array, that combined four different Intermediate Stage Glyphs. And when he was done, he did not forget to add in the Black Sand Essence into the Glyph Array to increase its stability, before finally completing his first Glyph Trial.