Child of Destiny

……

It took a while for the first trial to end due to the nature of the trial itself. However, a series of surprises occurred along the way, leading to unexpected results.

The winners of the first round were Ryoto and the one who seemed to be wielding a polearm weapon on the other battlefield.

Swoosh!

After returning to their platform, Ryoto could not help but furrow his brows in confusion due to the strange decision of his opponent during the final moments of their battle.

Right before the battle ended, both sides used their strongest moves to take down each other, thinking of finishing the battle with that final move.

However, right before their attacks could even reach each other, a strange occurrence happened. His opponent seemed to have purposely withdrawn their strength and lost on purpose during that crucial moment, throwing him into confusion.

Knowing what he was thinking, Laurent walked up to him and patted his shoulders. “Don’t worry about it. We all know that the opposing side is plotting something, but we can’t just prove it.”

“I can feel that they are targeting the latter stages of these trial groups, saving their strength as much as possible, just like our earlier plan,” said Riko.

They were still in the middle of a discussion when the system suddenly interrupted them with another notification.

*DING*

System: The Second Trial is about to start! Please, send 2 combatants as your representative!

Hearing the notification, the group immediately turned to one another, not expecting that the next would immediately start right after.

Moreover, just like what they were expecting earlier, the system was not limiting them from sending Ryoto from re-entering the trial grounds despite his victory.

“Two people this time!? Don’t tell me it will continue to increase in number for the succeeding rounds,” mumbled Riko, realizing the implication of this condition.

“It will be more favorable for the side with a bitter combat strength since they can secure more victories the more rounds they participate in,” nodded Arthur, finding it reasonable.

“But in exchanges, that so-called stronger member of their team will most likely exhaust themselves mentally after going through such a series of intense competition on top of exposing all their cards due to the constant battles,” said Laurent, pointing out the trap that such a setup had hidden.

Hearing this, Arthur had also realized that he had almost fallen into such a trap.

“This is one of the basic traps that those old monsters in the era of cultivators. After all, during their time, most of the top sects and powerful secretive organizations always sent one of their strongest members or even the leaders themselves just to acquire a certain legacy of a powerful expert,” started Laurent before continuing. “It is quite a common custom at that time, given all the historical records that we have acquired and studied.”

“It is because of this reason that such traps are hidden among all the trials that a certain ancestor had left for the future generations.”

“Most of their trials are purposely targeting these supreme experts, making sure that they would not be the ones to get their legacy and let the younger generation inherit their mantle.”

“This is why taking the inheritances left behind in the real world is quite tricky to deal with, especially when our methods are different from the ones in the past, which made it harder to acquire those legacies,” he added before sighing.

The group went silent for a couple of moments before Leonard finally decided to step forward.

“Since that is the case, then there is no need for us to be that meticulous about our arrangements,” he started before pointing to himself, then to Arthur, and then to Laurent. “We can just take the safest approach. We will be taking the stage alternatively for the next couple of rounds, having at least an insurance for emergency purposes.”

“If the three of us are at least present on each round, or better two of us together, then our chance of winning will be much higher as well,” he added. “Even if there is a sudden change in rules later, we will still be able to cover up such unexpected scenarios.”

Hearing this, Laurent nodded before turning to Riko. “You join him. And if the succeeding rounds will truly increase the number of participants by one and not prevent us from repeating the same member from participating again, then you will most likely be present in all of those rounds.”

Hearing this, Riko just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “It is what it is. This is our main plan anyway, so it is not much different aside from me expending more energy and effort.”

After that, she sighed with a somewhat helpless smile before adding. “Hays. I am supposed to be the most ideal one among this party since I am from the auxiliary class, how come it ends up that I am the busiest one?”

She then stopped beside Leonard, who was already standing right at the transfer point, before beaming at him. “I will be in your care, junior~!”

Before Leonard could even give his reply, the magic circle underneath their feet immediately released a blinding light and swallowed them before disappearing.

…

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Immediately after, Leonard and Riko were transported to the main battlefield. However, this time, they did not find themselves in a battle area, unlike the ones from the previous round.

Instead, they found themselves standing in a somewhat narrow corridor that could only fit two people.

Above them was a series of pearl-like marbles shining in the dark corridor with their dim light. There were also quite a few crystalline glows coming out of the gems embedded on both sides of the walls, further illuminating the surroundings and creating a somewhat mystifying effect.

While they were still busy observing their surroundings, the system had finally sent the notification to all the participants.

*DING*

System: “They all said that threading through the path of power is lonely. If you want to be the strongest, then you are supposed to stand at the peak by yourself.”

“However, I learned it too late that being on the top does not mean you have to be alone. You can either help the people around you to become stronger, encouraging each other to grow together.”

“People of the future generation! Never get blinded by your pursuit of strength since standing at the top by yourself is meaningless.”

“You may have become the strongest in the world, but those you cherish and the reason why you are pursuing that strength either died or already left you behind.”

– Dark King Tang Hyeon.

*DING*

System: As the representation of the words that the Dark King has left behind, these corridors of death were made.

System: Run through these corridors alongside your companion. Failing to reach the end of the corridor together is considered a failure.

System: The first people to reach the end will be the final winners of this trial.

The pairs that follow will receive fewer points according to their placement.

The last pair or those who fail to reach the end will receive a point deduction from the previous round.

Those without points have to eject one member of their party before they could proceed to the next round.

…

Seeing the string of notifications, everyone was finally able to realize what kind of trial ground the Dark King had sent.

Not only would they test their respective strength and talent, but their morals and sense of camaraderie as well.

Moreover, based on the final notification that the system had given everyone, they also realized the other arrangements that this old ancestor had left for them.

Standing in different corridors, the participants could not help but curse after realizing the setting that they were in.

They also realized that they had been duped to some extent. They were expecting a much more intense competition rather than a race like this.

“It looks like I am really in your care, junior,” said Riko after understanding the mechanics of the current trial.

Sniff! Sniff!

Leonard did not immediately reply since he was focusing on something else. His Bestial Instincts were warning him about something more serious while his sharp nose was picking up an extremely unpleasant smell.

“Senior, I don’t think that it is just a simple race,” he said before squinting his eyes and turning toward the front and back of the corridor.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Not long after, Riko began hearing the violent and eerie roars reverberating throughout the corridor, causing her to tremble.

“What are those!?” she asked while taking out a bunch of talismans and getting ready to fight.

Immediately after, she started seeing a flood of zombies rushing toward them from both directions.

The corner of Leonard’s mouth immediately twitched when he saw this before quickly making his move.

Boom!

Punching the air before him, he sent a powerful shockwave that halted the incoming zombies before signaling to Riko.

“Follow me closely, senior!” he said before charging straight to incoming zombies upfront.

This was still a race after all, so charging ahead was their only choice.

“Tsk! Tsk! What a nasty taste! Zombies chasing us from behind and Zombies hounding us from the front?” Riko cursed while quickly chasing after Leonard.

…