Althea stood frozen for a moment, staring at the unnatural sight.
Her lips trembled slightly.
"No... way..."
Her whole-body shook.
"It can’t be this easy. There has to be a problem that will stop us, right?"
But she couldn’t ignore the possibility the black-blue cloud represented.
With a steadying breath, she stepped into the mist.
For a moment, she felt as if she were walking through nothingness.
Black-blue clouds stretched in every direction, shifting and reshaping, yet never solid.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the haze dispersed.
She stumbled forward and stopped.
Her eyes widened.
The mansion loomed before them.
Almost instantly, more notifications appeared.
[Cārus has completed the Second Objective.]
[Cārus is now eligible to attempt the Third and Final Objective.]
Althea’s screen followed right after.
[Althea Sylven Florathi Serinelle has completed the Second Objective.]
[Althea Sylven Florathi Serinelle is now eligible to attempt the Third and Final Objective.]
[Alert! A time limit has appeared for the remaining trial participants in the Second Objective.]
[Complete the Second Objective within 24 hours.]
[A hidden rule has been revealed.]
[Only the top 10 participants may proceed to the Third and Last Objective.]
All across the forest, panic erupted.
"Cārus completed the second objective already!?"
"What kind of monster is he? This is insane!"
"He’s clearing objectives faster than anyone has ever done before!"
"Wait, look! Althea Florathi too! The Florathi are only a mid-rank species!"
"What the hell is going on? How did a mid-rank species finish before us?"
The voices of the other participants grew heated.
Anger, disbelief, and jealousy blended together.
Members of the Hawthorne, Drixley, and Evermere clans were especially furious.
This trial was supposed to be their battleground, their chance to prove superiority.
Yet someone unknown—Cārus—had stolen their spotlight, and now even Althea had jumped ahead of them.
"Let’s work together," one shouted. "I don’t care who Cārus is, there’s no way he can clear the third objective that fast. He must have burned through some rare skill or artifact. It has to be on cooldown now!"
"Right. If we rush now, we can catch up before he uses it again!"
The groups began forming uneasy alliances, desperate to claw their way into the top ten.
But unknown to all of them, Isaac hadn’t used any rare artifact.
He hadn’t exhausted himself either.
If anything, he was still in perfect condition.
Althea stood stiffly, staring at the mansion.
Her expression was pale.
"This is ridiculous. This trial was supposed to be hell difficulty. Why does it feel so easy?" she muttered.
Isaac couldn’t help but chuckle softly at her words.
He looked back.
They had skipped the region of the monsters that were supposed to fight them during second objective.
In game terms, Isaac had skipped a side boss monster and moved directly to main boss monster.
He glanced down as another notification appeared in front of him.
[You have ranked 1st in the Second Objective]
[Reward: Agility Potion (Effect: +100 to Agility)]
A slim vial filled with a clear, shimmering liquid appeared in his hand.
He slipped it into his ring without hesitation.
It was for Emily again.
"Good work," he said, patting Celia’s head.
"Hehehe, no problem."
Isaac could swear her tail was moving with "swoosh" given how happy she was.
A notification appeared.
[Third Objective: Kidnap a child from the mansion.]
Isaac blinked once, reading it twice to make sure he wasn’t imagining things.
"What?" he muttered.
"It’s not an actual child," Althea explained. "I told you before, this lost land used to be a cradle. They would send children here, children who carried the Sun Dragon bloodline. Each one had a nanny assigned to them. The nannies weren’t just caretakers. They were powerful guardians who stayed by the child’s side, guiding them and protecting them even as the child grew older. It was tradition."
Her gaze drifted toward the silent mansion.
"But that was in the past. Now, in this trial, the nannies have been replaced with puppets, and dolls stand in for the children. What we need to kidnap is one of those dolls."
Celia tilted her head. "That’s... an oddly specific trial."
Althea looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"It feels strange," Celia said, her voice carrying a thoughtful tone. "We forced our way into a forgotten land, fought through guardians, and now we’re tasked with kidnapping children—dolls. What exactly is the System trying to have us do here?"
"The System has always been mysterious. There’s no point in overthinking it. It sets the rules, and we either follow or fail." Althea gave a small shrug.
"I have some bad news," Isaac, who had been quiet until now, spoke up.
His tone cut through their discussion.
Both women turned toward him.
"What is it?" Celia asked.
Isaac raised his hand, pointing directly at the mansion.
"I can feel eleven powerful presences inside. Ten of them are the puppets—the so-called nannies. The eleventh..." He paused, his eyes narrowing. "The eleventh is that monolith standing in the garden."
Celia reacted first.
"That thing?"
"Celia, can you use your teleportation?"
She tried activating her ability.
But nothing happened.
Her eyes widened slightly, and for the first time in a while, a trace of surprise passed across her expression.
"I can’t... This is the first time I haven’t been able to teleport."
Althea folded her arms.
"It’s a space ward," she said after a moment of studying the faint shimmer surrounding the monolith.
"They’re expensive, but effective. Whoever set this trial wanted to make sure no one could bypass the last objective."
Isaac gave a small nod, not surprised by the explanation.
Even if Celia could teleport, the puppets (nannies) would have attacked her before she could kidnap any child.
’There is one good news at least.’
He looked up at the blazing sun overhead.
They could see the sun since the area around the mansion was not covered by the trees, and the canopy.
The longer he stayed in its light, the stronger the flow of energy through his body became.
’The sunlight here is special.’
His solar affinity, inherited through the Sun Dragon bloodline, was being nourished just by standing there.
It wasn’t just a small boost.
He could feel the solar affinity within him deepening, growing overwhelming and domineering, as though every second under the sun was polishing it.
’This is better than I expected,’ he thought.
If things continued, he felt confident he could reach Level 6 in Solar Affinity without doing anything.
That was remarkable.
Level 6 Solar Affinity would allow him to use Solar Fire Elemental Sword Aura.
Normal Sword Aura was already considered a rare accomplishment. It was a manifestation of one’s mastery over blade and energy.
Elemental Sword Aura was its evolved form, infused with elemental power and vastly more destructive.
To gain it so soon would be a leap in strength.
But Isaac also knew the truth. ’Unfortunately, reaching Level 6 will take time I don’t have right now.’
He dismissed the thought and turned his attention back to the matter at hand. "Alright, so here’s the plan—"
"Wait."
Althea’s voice cut him off.
Both Isaac and Celia turned toward her.
Althea stood still, her eyes on the mansion, but her expression was more guarded than before.
"I have something to say."