Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

Priam’s foot landed on the 334th step. At that instant, everything suddenly became distant and indistinct. Every step seemed like an impassable precipice.

’Is this a test of willpower?’

Priam remembered reading about this in the Ylisse clan. In fact, one of the training fields there was exactly this kind of test. But, obviously, there was no comparison.

He smiled faintly. Willpower was definitely what Priam excelled at the most. So, he merely snorted lightly, then took the next step upward.

But...

Right behind him, his allies actually stopped for a moment. Their bodies swayed.

Priam stopped when he sensed their hesitation. When he turned around, he noticed that Flaris was the steadiest. Dandara, on the other hand, was definitely the most shaken.

No one could blame her; after all, she and the others were still young, 20 years old or less.

Dandara was hardworking and intelligent, but she was also the one carrying the heaviest burden in her mind. While the Ylisse clan was temporarily safe in the Mortal Plane, her race was in constant danger in their forest.

This staircase was extremely sinister, and the previous 300 steps had made her feel the greatest fear in the world, slowly wearing down her willpower. Now that she had reached this new level, her mind was already fragile.

Flaris saw Priam’s gaze and clenched her fists, nodding.

Seeing that he was fine, her eyes burned with competitiveness. She couldn’t fall behind, or she would feel looked down on.

”Keep going. I’ll carry the newbie,” Flaris spat dryly.

Priam heard that and smiled faintly. His silent encouragement had worked.

Shione and Lumiere took a while, but they would manage to keep moving slowly. They would be fine.

As for Flaris, she turned around and lifted Dandara, placing her on her back.

Dandara trembled lightly, but didn’t resist.

Within seconds, they went back to climbing, now much more slowly.

As for Dandara... her eyes shone... and her personality seemed to change completely.

She comfortably rested her chin on Flaris’s shoulder, tightening her arms around her neck.

”Big sister Flaris... I solemnly surrender myself to you,” Dandara whispered in a dramatically melancholic way, right beside her ear. ”It is a true tragedy of the universe that I was born a woman; otherwise I would certainly give you my heart and ask for your hand in marriage right now!”

Priam, who was walking a little farther ahead, suddenly stopped in his tracks and almost burst into loud laughter. He coughed discreetly, trying to keep his composure.

”If you keep whispering crap in my ear, I swear I’ll open my arms and drop you right here!” Flaris roared, her face completely red with embarrassment as she kept forcing herself up the steps.

Dandara merely let out a coy sigh, snuggling even more against her companion’s back.

”Oh... all right. If you want me like this, so close and dependent on you, I gladly accept my fate...”

”Stop talking nonsense! You’re embarrassing the entire group!” Flaris exclaimed, almost throwing the girl down the stairs.

Beside them, Shione and Lumiere merely smiled from the corner of their mouths, relaxing the tension in their shoulders.

The difficult atmosphere around all four of them changed completely.

Even with the short time they had spent together, the group had already understood that the number one rule for dealing with this newbie was: never try to predict her, and above all, never take her too seriously. Dandara was an absolutely unpredictable creature.

At certain moments, she showed flashes that were very similar to Priam himself — acting thoughtful, strategic, and extremely confident. At others, she would shrink back into wavering shyness. And then, without any warning, she would turn into a shameless girl with no restraint, spouting absurd nonsense or trying to trick someone with a salesman’s smile.

Decoding who the real Dandara was seemed like an impossible task.

But once you simply accepted the chaos, it became a source of entertainment all on its own to be surprised by the abrupt changes in her mind.

”That is a blatant violation of the rules!”

The young people farther below, seeing Flaris carrying someone, became furious and shouted.

At that moment, Uswyn’s voice echoed.

”That is not against the rules. If you think it’s cheating, you can cheat too. But let me tell you one thing: if you carry someone, the difficulty will double.”

Those people immediately had to shut their mouths and, unfortunately, continue.

Indeed, Flaris was enduring a much greater difficulty than normal, but saying it was double was just an exaggeration. Fortunately, no one wanted to test it and see.

Priam was the one highest up on the staircase, without slowing down. As for his allies, they had originally been ten steps behind him, but slowly, the distance between them increased.

The others were hundreds of steps below them, and their pace was only getting slower. This final test wasn’t something they could overcome with talent alone. The advantage of being born in the Divine Plane had already disappeared, while their weaknesses were completely exposed.

After almost an hour of the trial, Priam reached the 666th step.

Several young people who had given up were watching Priam blankly.

His figure was very striking on the staircase. He could only keep distancing himself from the others; his speed remained the same the entire time.

Priam’s foot made a faint sound as he stepped onto the 667th step.

Immediately after, his other foot rose, and he continued forward.

”This is definitely impossible!”

The deathly silence surrounding the Elders was completely broken.

”The third part tests his negative emotions! It’s a battle against himself! How can it be so easy?!” They didn’t dare believe what they were seeing.

”He doesn’t have any negative emotions?” one of them asked, stunned, then shook his head. ”How would that be possible? Let alone a young Mage, even the Sovereigns have negative emotions.”

The Elders were unable to understand it.

As for Priam...

He felt laziness, negativity, despair, exhaustion, and it even seemed like he could hear voices telling him to give up.

But those feelings were very weak. If he didn’t intentionally try to feel them, he wouldn’t feel them at all. To him, this third part wasn’t even as strong as the two previous parts.

He smiled faintly. Negative thoughts? He had already thought of all of them, for longer than he could even remember.

Now that he had reincarnated free and with infinite potential? Why the hell would he waste his time on that?!

If he had climbed this staircase while he was still shaken by the calamity of his clan, maybe he would have had trouble. But now, he had already moved forward, determined to rebuild his clan in the Divine Plane.

He would honor all the dead and, by doing so, turn his clan into something a thousand times greater.

So, his full focus returned to one thing: living intensely.

Negative thoughts remained only in his past.

However, this was indeed a problem for the others.

Their movements were extremely slow now. As time passed, their motivation would gradually decrease. Then, when they reached the part that would test their negative emotions, they would be unable to see hope and would completely collapse.

...

In less than two hours, Priam’s foot finally stepped onto the 999th step!

The staircase ended. He stopped right in front of Uswyn, at the top.

”Congratulations on passing the second test. Junior Priam’s performance is worthy of admiration,” Uswyn said with a smile.

”Thank you, but it was pure luck. This test just happened to be evaluating my strongest points. I hope the final test isn’t the opposite of that,” Priam said with a calm and indifferent nod.