[THE TRIAL ELIGIBILITY IS MET.]
[INITIATING THE TRUE TRIAL]
"Fucking son of a bit—"
Alden wanted to curse but he held it in. He knew it was pointless.
The monster humongous body fell onto the ground with a loud thud, scattering sand everywhere.
A black sticky blood clung to his body… but for some reason it was healing him.
All his injuries vanished. Heck, even his mana replenished back to the fullest.
What the hell is going on?
The monster didn't have a single trace of mana while alive and yet its blood had healing properties?
And now the system was throwing a new prompt at him.
Does that mean the worm was just a tutorial boss?
Still, he didn't complain. Whining wouldn't help in this situation anyway.
He just clicked on the system window as more detail appeared before him.
[The Trial of Shadowed Self]
[Description → You have defeated the guardian of the Temple of Shadowed Dream. Find the temple.]
The fuck does this mean?
The window only raised more questions.
He glanced around. The endless golden desert stretched on in all directions.
How am I supposed to find a temple in this?
He couldn't understand and that made him feel more helpless.
Should I have waited before entering?
But that wouldn't have changed anything. The system would've dragged him in once the timer was up anyway.
His gaze fell on the worm's body. Black blood still oozed from the corpse.
There has to be a clue in there, right?.
Alden crouched beside the dead body of a worm.
The smell hit first, like burnt rubber and rusted blood, thick enough to sting the inside of his nose.
Still, he held his breath and focused. He activated [Eyes of Supreme] and scanned the carcass.
The blood pulsed… like it was still alive.
Then he saw it. Something glowing faintly inside the worm's body, near the maw.
He approached carefully. The glow came from within the upper throat, beneath several layers of scale.
It pulsed like a heartbeat but it wasn't mana.
Without wasting time, he cut through the thick flesh with his sword.
The resistance was weaker than expected—the once-impenetrable scales had lost their strength.
So, Alden pushed on. He didn't stop until he reached the source.
His hand slipped into the cut and grabbed hold of something solid and warm.
Alden inspected it in his hand. It felt warm… pulsing with some strange energy he didn't recognise.
Before he could examine it in more detail, the ground beneath him started trembling.
Is it another monster?
He quickly got into a battle stance. His hands tightened around his sword.
But no monster came. Instead the worm's corpse started shifting. A low rumbling sound echoed from its body.
Alden jumped back instinctively.
What the fuck is happening now?
All the blood around the worm's corpse started retreating back into its body as if it had a mind of its own.
Even the blood sprayed on his body wasn't spared. It was also pulled back into it.
Is it reviving or something?
The worm's body started disappearing… slowly turning into bright red particles.
And within those particles… he saw them.
Silhouettes. Human ones.
Old men. Women. Children.
Their forms were made of the same crimson light that the worm dissolved into. They had relieved expressions on their faces.
"Were they… trapped inside it?" he muttered.
Some of them seemed to look at him as if thanking him. And then, they were gone.
He looked down at the ground. The worm was gone without a trace. But there was something else in its place.
He saw a dark passage leading downward… towards unknown darkness.
The small core in his hand pulsed as if urging him to enter.
But he didn't enter immediately.
What if it's just the mouth of another monster?
So, he inspected it properly.
The tunnel wasn't normal. It was carved out of stones and had some weird murals on its edges.
Few people were bowing in front of someone sitting on a massive throne. Just behind it was a temple.
Is this the entrance to the temple?
At least it didn't seem like a monster's mouth.
Alden studied the carvings. The language was strange and unreadable. The images were faded and unclear.
Still, he'd come too far to hesitate.
He put the small core in the pocket of his jacket and entered the tunnel.
The tunnel wasn't just a straight hole in the ground, it was angled downward at a deliberate slope as if designed to guide intruders slowly and surely into the depths.
As soon as he entered, the temperature dropped.
Still, he didn't stop. With every step, the surroundings became quieter. He couldn't even hear the sound of his footsteps anymore.
He had to summon an orb of light just to keep walking as he couldn't see anything.
He saw a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
The moment he stepped into the light, the tunnel ended. A massive underground area greeted him.
Alden's eyes widened as he saw it.
A vast area covered with all kinds of trees…
… a lake sat at the edges, glowing faintly with blue mana.
Dozens of tiny light orbs floated around it.
Alden's eyes widened.
He had been here before.
It was the hidden space from his awakening trial.
This place was an exact replica of that. But there was one major difference.
Within the centre a massive temple was situated…
That hadn't been there before.
Is it the same space?
Or just something made to look like it?
Alden stepped forward.
This place is definitely similar.
Same silence and the same glowing flora.
His gaze fell on the lake next.
It was glowing faintly blue, just like back then.
The orbs of light floating around the lake stirred. They drifted toward him slowly and began orbiting him.
He remembered them, these same kind of spirits had been there during his awakening trial.
He turned back to the lake. There was something odd about the reflection.
Instead, it only showed… the temple.
Alden stepped away from the lake and walked towards the temple.
Eventually, he reached the clearing before it.
It looked too massive up close. Made of dark stone and glowing veins of silver, the temple pulsed faintly with energy.
Its architecture was strange and unfamiliar.
A single door stood at its center.
He approached the door.
Although the temple was different, Alden recognised the door. Something similar was present in his hidden trial as well.
The same strange symbols and runes were etched onto it. It was pulsing with strange energy.
Alden stared at it, tracing his hand on it.
As soon as he touched it, the core in his pocket pulsed again.
The symbols on the door responded instantly.
The pulse intensified.
And then, it went quiet.
The temple door didn't open.
Instead, a small circular panel at its center opened, revealing… a slot. Perfectly shaped for something small and spherical.
You've got to be kidding me.
He pulled out the core from his pocket. It vibrated slightly in his hand. It wanted to go in.
He stepped forward slowly, lifting the core. The slot glowed in sync with the sphere.
Taking a deep breath, Alden placed the core inside. The moment it slid in, the ground shook.
A shimmering blue vortex formed on the door. He got sucked into the portal without even being able to resist.
When the world finally stopped spinning, Alden found himself standing in a grand hall.
But the thing that immediately caught his attention was a dome.
A dome of pure blue mana covered something in the centre. A key was floating within it.
And beyond the dome was another door.
Before he could think anything much.
A system window appeared in front of him.
[YOU HAVE ENTERED THE TEMPLE OF SHADOWED DREAM.]
[COMPLETE THE FOUR CHAMBERS]
Alden scanned the system window calmly.
But a single word caught his eye.
That meant this trial had multiple stages.
He looked at the dome again.
A creature had appeared just beside the key.
It had a green skin and its eyes were currently focused on Alden with intensity of a landlord who hadn't been paid by his tenant for many months.
Alden didn't care. Instead he was curious about something else.
The lizard didn't even try walking towards him to attack.
"Can it not leave the dome?" Alden muttered.
He stepped forward and reached toward the dome. His hand passed right through.
And at that moment, the chamber started rumbling again.
Another system message appeared in front of him.
[TRIAL OF THE FIRST CHAMBER INITIATED.]
[DEFEAT THE GUARDIAN OF POISONOUS FANGS.]
Hey guys! This chapter was more of a slow build-up to set the stage—thanks for sticking through it. Don't worry, the 's where the real action kicks in.