Lisa had returned to her trial after half an hour of recovery. Her muscles—ones she rarely used in combat—began to ache, but she had no choice.
Time was against her.
The longer she took to complete this journey, the more enemies would come for her.
At first, she had no idea where to go. But her shield gave her a clue. It glowed faintly, illuminating a direction forward, like in an RPG game where a guiding light showed the next objective.
Normally, as a gamer, she would've hated something that would make her seem like a noob. But now? In a barren, endless wasteland with no landmarks in sight? She was thankful.
Without the shield's light, she would've easily gotten lost.
She sighed more than once during the long journey, glad at least that there wasn't a sun radiating heat above her head. There was no telling how long this would take—and she only had food for a day or two, if rationed carefully.
It was all cold food, thankfully. She did not have anything that would produce fire, as for wood, or anything combustible she also did not carry any.
Lisa hadn't expected the trial to be a survival challenge. She thought it would be a few battles, maybe a spiritual test. Not a drawn-out march through a cursed desert.
Then, the tremors began to shake the ground below her.
By now, the wolves only came in singles digits. Easy to deal with. But there were other threats too—like the ones that thrived underground. They resembled spiders with too many legs, and faces like snakes with wide, split jaws. Their bodies, just like the wolves, seemed to not have innards, as though made of half-formed shadow.
But this was the fourth one.
She knew what to do by now.
She cast her wings and waited for the tremors to close in. The moment the creature burst out from below, Lisa leapt into the air and spun her spear in a full circle. A wave of searing Holy Light exploded outward.
The creature's maw was sliced open. Its entire upper half turned to ash as the glowing blade struck it clean. She followed it up by throwing her spear downward, pinning the rest of the twitching body in place.
The first time she fought one of these, it had nearly ended her. Lisa sensed a tremor and ran straight but little did she know that it was a trap—another one had been lying in wait ahead of her. She'd only escaped by burning them with Holy Nova... the massive spell, and a equally massive waste of mana.
Two mana crystals where thus wasted and she earned nothing from the two creatures.
Lisa gritted her teeth at that time.
This trial wasn't about finishing quickly—it was about endurance, resource management was just an added bonus. Every careless spell cast, every wasted drop of mana, was a hit against her chances of making it through.
Lisa carefully fed a thin stream of mana into her shield to keep its guidance active. She didn't want to waste more energy later casting Angelic Wings, so she kept them up, hovering gently above the barren wasteland.
From that height, she spotted the path of light extending like a laser beam—stretching several kilometers ahead.
Her mood worsened as she clicked her tongue in anger.
Just seeing that made her feel more drained than she already was.
With a resigned sigh, she dropped back to the ground and resumed her march—her steps slower now, her boots dragging across the dust. Time passed by as a few more wolf-like creatures came close to attack her. After some hours another of those massive spider-things tried to catch her off-guard.
She stopped only once to eat—rationed pieces of bread with ham—then pressed forward again.
By now she was wondering if the spirit of light would offer her a proper place to rest at least.
After nearly eight hours of walking, her legs refused to carry her further. The world was still cast in a dim red twilight, one that hadn't changed since she arrived. It was impossible to tell what hour it truly was if not for her terminal which was running low on mana as well.
And then, finally—her shield stopped glowing the path forward.
No matter how much mana she poured into it, it wouldn't illuminate the path.
But it did do something else.
A barrier flickered to life around her, forming a soft dome of light just a few meters wide. Lisa stepped toward the edge and tapped it. Nothing. It was solid, like stone. Even she couldn't pass through it.
Was it was telling her to rest.
Grateful for the break, Lisa reached into her storage and pulled out the tent Logan had prepared for her. It had everything she needed—simple comforts that felt luxurious after the brutal day she had.
"Thanks, Logan…" she muttered under her breath, quietly resting within the tent under the protection of the barrier.
At last… she could sleep.
It was some hours later when she woke, guessing she'd slept for about six—though her body now seemed fine with far less rest. Even so, she usually made it a point not to skimp on sleep. She needed to look her best… especially with so many girls constantly around Logan.
"I wonder if he's finished his quest by now... I need to do better today. At least finish this today…" Lisa whispered to herself, psyching herself up as she stood and got ready to move.
Her shield pulsed faintly, its light flickering—almost out of energy. That alone told her the end of the trial might be near.
A few hours passed. She only needed to use half a crystal to restore herself, which meant she still had one and a half crystals left before she'd have to consider retreating due to lack of mana.
"It shouldn't come to that… right?" she muttered, unsure if she was trying to convince herself or fate.