"Try new fighting styles," the masked man replied dryly. "Locke, you must be stronger than him and I don't want to have to give my all in this fight. Let's just go our separate ways."
The heavily clothed teenager did not doubt that a prince was far beyond normal people. Perhaps he had even doubled his mana six or seven times, and that would be an absurd level of strength. The masked man would probably have to go all out, making it impossible for him to carry out the rest of his plans.
"I agree, let's go, Luan", the prince demonstrated very rational behavior for his position. Normally, nobles wouldn't accept this kind of thing, but in this case, he realized his opponent's hidden strength and chose the quieter path.
As soon as the two were out of sight, the masked man gave the order for them to continue. Their forced recruitment process continued to be used, and this time the group's number reached almost 50 people. There were only three hours left until the end of the test.
At that moment, the masked man decided to just go downtown and wait. His order was for no one to attack any other participants and to just conserve strength. His goal was to pass the test, not win it.
Slowly, the minutes began to pass and the number of people gradually decreased. No one considered attacking his group, mainly because of their size. Even those who had the courage were quickly slaughtered.
Now, they were also accepting anyone into their group, but with no more contracts involved. The masked man made this decision mainly in case there was a group with a very large number of people in the test.
In the last hour, the number of participants dropped drastically, and finally, the moment came when all the survivors advanced to the next stage.
"My part of the contract is done," the masked man said to the fifty people gathered around him. Along with his sentence, he took out the participant medallion and broke it in two.
His attitude took everyone there by surprise, but before they could complain, the masked man was already beside the medical team. After a few minutes of check-up, he was released.
His first action was to go straight to his rented tent. He pissed off a lot of people today and couldn't leave the event area without fear of reprisals. Fortunately, inside, not even a duke could attack a participant.
The tent was a few minutes walk away, more specifically a few kilometers. It didn't take long and he was able to see the entire structure in red. It was a simple tent measuring just a few square meters.
As soon as he entered, he was greeted by a middle-aged person with messy hair.
"You did a good job there, Kayden," David smiled at the boy and congratulated him on passing.
"Thank you, David," Kayden removed the huge amount of clothes and thanked his friend. His disguise was so he wouldn't be chased by the Ashford family prematurely. The boy knew that after what he would do in a few days, he would be persecuted. It was just a matter of time.
"Are you sure about the plan, Kayden?" The scientist was visibly nervous.
'Here we go again', Kayden stood in front of the huge 100-step staircase. It was the same ladder, but a different Kayden. This time, the boy was curious to know how far he would get.
The test was the same as last time and the memories would probably be similar or identical. He had already been informed of this by David.
"The test has begun," a voice boomed. Kayden looked up and sighed. He was sure the memory he would see would be Ryan's death. After calming his mind, the boy stepped onto the first step and was greeted with an emotion of endless sadness.
It didn't even slow down his walking. Each step was stepped on and overcome instantly, not even managing to make him stop for a second. His speed was far beyond normal participants.
Only a few people were able to follow his progress. While they quickly conquered all the emotions, the other participants were still mixed on different levels.
Once he reached the floor of memories, Kayden didn't even slow down. For a second, his vision went completely black and what appeared before him was a memory from his other life.
The boy found himself lying in the hospital bed and... got up from the bed normally.
'I am the master of my mind', the level of control and willpower he gained from fighting the will of the world was simply ridiculous. His tenacity against illusions was practically absolute.
'Disappear', Kayden simply erased the illusion from his mind. This resulted in him waking up on the step again and, wasting no time, heading up to the next floor. This time, without a doubt, it would be Ryan's memory.
As soon as he stepped on the step, the boy found himself on the day all this shit started. The boy clearly remembered Ryan helping him get up and go eat the meal his friend had ordered from room service.
This time, Kayden didn't simply try to break the illusion. He forced himself to see every second of it. He saw the nobleman coming in and hitting his friend. He saw the nobleman giving one of the marbles to Ryan.
Every second of this shit was relieved by Kayden.
'Goodbye, Ryan', the boy ended the illusion as soon as he saw his friend being turned into ashes. After that, there was nothing else he wanted to see.
Quickly, the boy climbed the next steps without wasting time, only stopping on floor sixty. This was the illusion of prison. Last time, he stayed here for 17 days and almost went crazy.
The same cell with absolutely nothing around it was shown to Kayden. The boy looked at the food placed on a tray and simply ignored it. He knew he was inside an illusion and he didn't need it.
He would take advantage of this free time to improve his path. The boy sat on the floor in the lotus position and tuned out the world. Only your thoughts were important.
Time began to pass without Kayden noticing. Hours turned into days and days into weeks. During this entire time, Kayden didn't even open his eyes.
"Hey kid," Kayden felt a hand on his shoulder. His first action was to quickly move away, but he found himself stuck in the air. Around him, there was a medical team measuring his vital signs.
"What happened?" Kayden asked directly to the person who woke him up.
"You spent more than a year inside. We thought you had lost your sanity." One year? Kayden felt like a lot of time had passed, but he didn't think it would be long.