Too Stubborn to Die

“Good luck!” Mo’han waved as the small human walked toward the trial, turning to shoot back dual thumbs-ups before he pressed down on it.

Moments later, the human returned, lying on the tiles with a bit of an embarrassed frown, but hopped straight back to his feet and into the trial once more.

“You’ve got this, A-ran!”

This time, the human didn’t even look back, just restarted the trial.

He sure is determined. An admirable trait!

“Ye still waitin’ for this guy?” Sooty said, appearing at Mo’han’s side and dragging the towering asura from his thoughts. “Ye gonna be here all day.”

“No, A-ran is a warrior. I’m sure he’ll come through,” Mo’han said, crossing his six arms in unison.

But then, as if on cue, Aaron reappeared on the tiles before them.

“See, told ya.”

“Don’t give up, A-ran!” The asura roared with encouragement. “You’ve got this!”

“Err, this might take a while,” Aaron grimaced as he walked back to the trial. “You don’t have to stick around for the entire thing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. This is kinda my thing.”

“What’d I say?” Sooty grinned up.

“Hmph.”

Mo’han watched Aaron restart the trial. Sooty was dismissive, but the asura couldn’t help but be impressed by the human’s determination to keep throwing himself against it. It reminded him of an old legend he had heard growing up. And standing there doing nothing made him feel guilty.

“I should train too while I wait,” the asura turned to Sooty. “I must say, A-ran is quite inspirational.”

“Inspirational?” Sooty raised a questioning brow of soot but didn’t say anything else.

Making his way to the dial, Mo’han eyed the options for a moment before settling on the Trial of the Challenger.

“This should be fun,” he smiled as he confirmed his selection.

***Mo’han***

A stupidly large ball of crackling energy erupted from Mo’han’s palm and engulfed the arena, putting an end to the third stage of the Trial of the Challenger.

The godly Frankenstein flesh-construct he had challenged was no joke, but at the third stage, the god’s shadow had been too weakened to be a serious threat to Mo’han.

Another blessing offer appeared before the huge asura’s eyes, but he waved it away and walked back to the trial dial, scratching his bearded chin.

“What god shall I challenge next?”

Aaron had been gone a while, and while the asura enjoyed hanging out in the viewing room with Sooty, he felt lazy just sitting there as the human threw himself against the trials.

“Hmm, this one sounds interesting. Yendal the Empty-Handed,” Mo’han muttered as he confirmed his selection and began the fourth stage of the Trial of the Challenger.

He looked across at the small figure as he appeared in the arena of black lightning and raised his palm.

Crooking his head, Mo’han summoned a giant ball of energy and fired. However, the shadow didn’t dodge. No, it leaped straight for his attack and aimed at its very center, and then, as if the attack had never been made, the energy ball just poofed out of existence.

“Huh?”

The shadow was fast, too, closing the distance between them in a blink. But this was Mo’han, and his forearms lit up with the same kind of crackling energy he had summoned into the ball. However, they too dispelled against the pinpoint stabbing punches of the shadow.

“What is happening!?” The asura thundered as he was pressed back.

Calling forth absolutely absurd amounts of energy, he attempted to overwhelm the shadow with sheer power, but it failed. Everything was either dispelled or effortlessly dodged, sometimes by mere millimetres as the shadow tilted out of the way.

But the huge asura was a champion among champions, and he would not be defeated so easily. Palms and fists rained down against his huge form, but his ridiculous mana, vitality, and stamina kept him alive… for a moment.

Gasping, Mo’han appeared on the tiles of the obsidian hallway, a chill running down his spine.

“So that was death?”

Shaking his head, he rose to his feet. He had never been bested, let alone defeated, and this wouldn’t stand. Storming back over to the dial, he restarted the trial and once more selected Yendal.

Minutes later, he was awakening on the hallway tiles again.

“What? How? That shadow… it makes no sense! Damn this!”

Again, Mo’han leaped to his feet, and again, he returned to the hallway but minutes later.

Frustrated, he threw himself back into the trial.

However, after just eight attempts, he rolled over after respawning on the tiles and emptied his guts.

Wiping his mouth, Mo’han felt his body shiver. It was cold, his stomach ached, and something deep within told him that something was wrong. Pushing himself onto his rear, the asura took several deep breaths.

“What his…” he muttered, waves of dizziness and nausea washing over him. They faded over the next several minutes, but something deep and instinctual told the elite that dying in this place was not good for him.

But he had seen A-ran appearing on the tiles and charging straight back into his previous trial countless times. How? How was that possible?

“I don’t get it,” Mo’han stroked his beard, and just as the thought whirled through his mind, Aaron appeared several feet away.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

The human didn’t even look at him. His focus was entirely trained on the trial dial, and he bounced straight to his feet, ran over to it, and restarted his trial. There was no sickness or dizziness at all. At least nothing that Mo’han could spot.

No… that can’t be possible, can it?

Climbing back to his feet, Mo’han’s brow bent defiantly, and he reentered the trial. He was the best. The strongest. And he wasn’t about to accept giving up because of a little sickness.

Minutes later, he was back on the tiles, sicker than ever. His six hands trembled, and he felt something awful digging at him from within.

“I can’t keep doing this…”

He didn’t necessarily feel like he was about to die, or anything. But he did feel like he would cause permanent damage if he just kept getting himself killed. No, he had to be careful going forward. Deaths in this place were not to be taken lightly, even if the magic of the trials kept you from dying for real.

Several minutes later, as Mo’han was still sitting on the tiles composing himself, Aaron appeared again, and once again, he charged straight back into the trial without a care.

“A-amazing. He doesn’t seem fazed at all.”

Even amongst his own powerful kind, Mo’han had rarely, if ever, felt amazed by another’s power, especially since the Tutorial. He was gifted, beyond what most could ever imagine, but this… he felt so sickly he couldn’t imagine attempting another trial, not for a while at least. And even then, he was going to take a lot more care going forward.

Throwing oneself against too difficult trials simply wasn’t viable, at least not for him. But A-ran seemed not to care in the slightest. How could that be? What did the little human have that he didn’t?

He sat and watched, his admiration for Aaron growing with each death.

***Aaron***

“Bloody hell,” Aaron groaned as he attempted the trial again.

Sure, fifty deaths weren’t anything too bad compared to his previous trials, but that stupidly strong alien was waiting for him, and this was just getting embarrassing now.

“I’ve got to do it this time. No more fuck ups!”

The Trial of Travels began as he materialized on a platform before a huge tightrope for his ninth attempt. It wasn’t an ordinary tightrope, though. The freaking thing was hung through a space-like void, with a crackling purple wall of energy consuming it from behind Aaron and closing in on him from all sides.

Not just that, but drilling mental pain stabbed at him, echoing from the void of space. His training against the pit boss had helped a lot, but the mental attacks were a lot harder to deal with while keeping pace and dodging everything that was coming at him.

But this time would be different, Aaron told himself as he dodged and drowned out the mental attacks by mentally distancing himself from his own body.

Unlike many previous trials, this was one that Aaron actually had all the tools to complete from the get-go. Each new challenge he died to had a path through that only took him a few tries to get down. However, it had quite a few of these challenges, and it was by no means easy, so it still took him a while to get through.

This was an extraordinarily difficult trial for those who lacked Agility, Dexterity, and or a mental defense. The wall of crackling energy and walls closing in on him from all sides moved rather quickly, but Aaron’s careful, trained steps sent him racing across the rope at a stupidly fast speed. After all, this was a man who had taught himself to walk on his hands just to pass a trial, and he had been racing through trials with such precision that he had closed the gap between an F-grade novice and trials designed for E-grade elites. Meaning that this trial was practically made for him.

Still, it wouldn’t be that easy. Darts and other flying projectiles randomly flew back and forth, and a moment later, the cackling purple walls closing in on him began to spin and change colors like a kaleidoscope. It was trippy as fuck and had caused him to die twice already, but he had trained himself against it now, and was better than ever at ignoring the disorientating effect and continued charging through the level.

At halfway, the rope started to shake violently, and his Agility and Dexterity were tested further. There was an extra, unmentioned benefit he had. The semi-soft soles of his tabi shoes provided a great deal of additional grip on the rope. All of this came together with Aaron’s exceptional control, allowing him to overcome the violent shaking that had caused him to die just minutes earlier.

Then the walls, which were already closing in, began to move, creating tunnels of safety that were separate from the tightrope, forcing him to jump or dive off the rope to avoid touching their deathly surfaces. If not for his new Skill [ Gust Step ], allowing Aaron to jump in midair, he would have fallen to his death like he had on his eighth attempt. But when the tunnel of purple energy dropped below the rope, bounced through the air, timing his [ Gust Steps ] perfectly, careful not to hit the top or bottom of the laser tunnel, and following it back up to the rope. It reminded him of a silly but surprisingly hard bird game he used to play years back.

The trial really did require a variety of skills and stats working in perfect concert to survive it, and he doubted even the average E-grade elite would have an easy time of it. But Aaron had honed himself for such a task. And of course, he died a few times.

But then, on the home stretch of the course, it began to freaking rotate. At first, just side to side, and he easily kept balance on the rope as gravity itself altered, and up was twenty-five degrees to either his right or left. Then shortly after that, gravity was turned completely on its head, and Aaron only just managed to move fast enough to keep up with it, his delicately placed steps allowing him to circle the rope as gravity literally spun, using some kind of bullshit trial magic.

He got so close to death that he started muttering curses beneath his breath, but he did it. He lunged over the finish line just before he lost his grip on the world as gravity spun faster and faster.

Stage four of [ Trial of Travels ] COMPLETED!

You have tested your speed and agility against the racing void and managed to reach the finish alive.

Quest Rewards: Cape of the Starwalker [ Rare ], Viewing Room upgraded to level 4.

Experience rewarded for completing a quest stage!

Ding!

[ Brawler ] has LEVELED UP!

21 → 22

“I did it!” Aaron cheered as he returned to the hallway. “I freaking did it!”

But his stomach sank a moment later when he spotted Mo’han sitting nearby.

He has probably been waiting a while, hasn’t he?

Aaron had done his best, but his best wasn’t enough to impress the overachieving asura. The big guy had probably been waiting a while. How embarrassing.

“You did it!” Mo’han joined the celebrations, jumping to his feet. “You are truly amazing, A-ran.”

The big guy seemed to throw compliments around quite a bit, but the sincerity Aaron saw in his eyes was different from before.

What’s going on? His brow twisted suspiciously.

“I don’t know how you do it, A-ran, but there’s something special about you!” The giant bellowed, slamming Aaron hard enough across his back that he stumbled forward.

“Err, thanks?”

“Anyway, I’m feeling a little under the weather. Shall we make our way to the sofas in the viewing room?”

“Sure, mate,” Aaron forced a smile. What was up with the big guy? He seemed… kinda hollow, and then he noticed the heavy bags under the asura’s eyes. “You alright, mate?”

“I’m fine. I just need a moment of rest,” Mo’han reassured.

“You sure?” Aaron raised a brow.

“I am, A-ran. Thank you for your concern. But I just need to sit down.”

“If you say so. But remember, I’m here for you, mate.”

Aaron felt a little weird offering his support to the powerful asura, but it felt right at the time.

“Thank you. Come, let’s go.”

Aaron nodded, and they walked toward the viewing room together.

“Let us share each other’s worlds,” Mo’han continued.

“That actually sounds pretty good,” Aaron smiled, though he was still a little concerned by the big guy’s weary appearance.

He had felt a little intimidated by the powerful alien at first. But the guy was just likable, and Aaron was starting to think of him as a friend, even if he had just met him.

“I get a good feeling from you, A-ran. I believe you’re a genuine spirit. Now, let me show you my world. I have waited some time for this. You know, A-ran, I always dreamt of being friends with an alien when I was a child? This is quite the dream come true.”

“Why, thanks mate. And you too. You seem like a top bloke. Sharing our worlds sounds like a bloody good time if you ask me. And you know what? I also dreamt about making friends with an alien when I was a kid. Funny that, huh?”

“Really? That is amazing! Oh, I can’t wait! You’re going to love the Gregorians. Monstrous beasts. Oh, and did they tell you what we get when we leave this place?”