Chapter 55: Third Stage
[Congratulations! You have passed the second stage of the Trial of Monsters.]
[You have begun to understand how to create skills of your own.]
[That is an amazing achievement!]
Kai laughed as he was finally able to hear things again.
He immediately checked the description of the new skill he had created, a smile etched onto his face.
He had done it.
He had managed to pass this trial.
"Ah... how much time is left? How much time did this take me?"
Kai was expecting there to be a few hours left in the Trial of Monsters. However, he couldn’t have been further from the truth.
[Congratulations! You have passed the second stage in record time. No one who has ever participated in this trial was able to pass this event in under a day.]
[Time remaining: 3 days and 11 hours.]
"I got the record for the fastest time?"
Kai had difficulty believing that.
It had taken him more than twenty hours to pass this trial.
How was that supposed to be a great time?
He couldn’t understand that whatsoever; it made no sense.
Though, if the system was saying it, it had to be the truth. There was no doubt about it.
"Can I please go to the Third Stage right away?"
[Yes. However, it is possible for you to head to the waiting room for five minutes before moving on. A friend of yours is inside and seems very interested in asking some questions.]
’Hm... Isla is watching me?’
"Then, sure. Please teleport me to this waiting room."
As Kai agreed, his vision became blurry, returning to normal with Isla sitting on an immense couch with a few TVs in front of her.
"So, that’s where you look at me from. Certainly more comfortable than what I’m going through."
However, as Kai expected Isla to joke around with him, she flew right into his face with a serious look.
"You." She pointed at his nose. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"To pass the trial. I don’t know what you did, but I’ve never seen anyone do it your way. What’s the name of the skill you created?"
Kai frowned slightly as he opened his system to check.
"It’s called Overclocking. What about it?"
Isla turned around, hiding her shock.
’He managed to create a unique skill faster than Master... but how is this possible? Master, how did you choose this being?’
Isla then turned around, facing Kai once more.
"I see. Impressive. And what does this skill allow you to do?"
"I can use an infinite amount of Monster Energy for a minute."
"Oh, that’s good," Isla said mindlessly until she realized the words that had just come out of Kai’s mouth. "YOU SAID WHAT?!"
"I can use an infinite amount of Monster Energy for a minute."
She couldn’t believe her ears.
"H-How is this even possible in the first place? To have an infinite amount of Monster Energy for a minute? That’s something even Gods do not have..."
Kai shook his head in disbelief. He had just made an ability that even Gods didn’t possess...
Then, why the hell was this skill only Epic Ranked?
Was there something wrong with this system?
Kai had seen that there was a clear backlash after using it. However, was the backlash that massive?
Kai couldn’t even feel it at the moment, and he had just used that skill. Maybe it was because it was in the trial and they had done something weird, but he couldn’t tell.
"Wait, Isla, enough about that." Kai said with a serious tone. "Do you have any idea how many stages there are in this place? And could you give me a hint about the next stage?"
Isla smiled. "There are five stages. You’ve passed two of them in a decent amount of time. For the third stage, there isn’t much to say other than be patient and try your best. Still, knowing your talent, it shouldn’t take you a long time to pass through that stage."
"What is it about?"
"Understanding a skill."
Kai frowned. "That’s it? Understanding a skill?"
"Well, you’ll see. It’s not as easy as I make it seem. But I can’t give you all the answers. If I did, your path might be a different one."
[Your five minutes have run out.]
[Teleportation to the Third Stage in progress...]
Kai’s vision once more became blurry before returning to normal as he found himself in a much different environment than the second stage.
He was on the top of a mountain, with a beautiful scenery below, the wind brushing against his body and the birds chirping away.
[You have one day inside this stage.]
[Your goal is to understand the ancient skill that is described on this stone. The markings were left by a God, and no one has yet managed to fully comprehend this skill.]
[You have one day to comprehend as much as you can.]
Kai nodded at the voice in his mind.
A day to figure out a technique; just like Isla had said, it’s not as easy as she had made it sound.
No one had ever managed to completely succeed in this stage, which meant it must be extremely hard.
Kai took a few steps forward and approached the giant stone before him.
It had a few markings of claws. Actually, the whole rock was covered in claw marks.
Kai wasn’t sure what kind of God had left this behind, but he surely didn’t like to give many teachings.
’Is that it?’ Kai frowned. ’Claw markings? I’m supposed to figure out this ancient spell from claw markings on a stone.’
Kai shook his head.
He understood why no one had ever managed to succeed in this stage.
It was complete nonsense.
There was no other way around it.
It was nonsense.
Who the heck can even comprehend something from claw markings?
’At least leave a sentence behind, you stupid God,’ Kai cursed in his mind as he sat in front of the rock and began studying the markings.