The Ancients World

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~~~(POV: Saliandra Orvello)~~~

~~~(Location: The Gleem Library, The Underground City Of Maero, Desert, The Continent Of Alforza)~~~

~~~(Time: 2:08 AM)~~~

The castle in the distance is actually quite beautiful the longer I look at it. It reminds me of some stories I read after I escaped from Slavery. When I had my freedom, I filled my time with fantasy books and stories. Something to take my mind off my life at that point.

Frozen wastes as far as the eye can see. The only life I could find in this Trial was in that town a ways back. Cera told me Trials could harbor many different things. Have functions that are unique to them. I remember him saying that everything to complete a Trial is provided.

Information I got from the locals a while back has sent me in this direction. I'm willing to bet there aren't many things left out here in these wastes. This makes me question how those people could survive in such an environment.

I focus on making my way to the castle, and I start running to cover the distance faster. In comparison, I'm not nearly as fast as Cera or Hailey. That doesn't mean I'm slow. It takes only a few minutes to reach the place, moving at full speed.

I stop in front of the massive doors that lead into the castle and now that I'm standing here. It's way bigger now that I'm close to it. The types of things I'll face in this place must be powerful.

There is a certain aura leaking from this place. Malice that is subtle, but it's definitely there and waiting for someone or anyone. This place is where the real Trial begins. I place my hand on the door and step inside as it opens.

The temperature in this place is far colder than outside, and that's saying something. While I'm not affected by the cold, that doesn't mean I can't tell the differences between temperatures.

[You've entered The Castle Of The Beofrost. Watch yourself in such a dangerous place.]

As I read the notification from the system, I nearly die from the large clawed hand that I narrowly dodge. I take a few leaps deeper inside, creating some distance between me and whatever attacked me just now.

I get a better look at what it is. There is a wolf-like creature. I'd describe it closer to a werewolf. It has a white coat of fur and glowing blue eyes. It turns around and looks at me. I can see it's intelligent.

There isn't enough time for me to use Inspect on it before it's attacking again. I draw my blade and start using some of my skills. The monster is tough. It's tanking some of my attacks like they're nothing. Makes sense. It's a creature based on ice and frost.

It'll have resistances that make my attacks less effective, but that doesn't mean I'm not making any progress.

I slash at it with my sword, hoping that it'll be more effective than my Ice attacks. But that's proving to be just as ineffective as I thought it would be.

"What the hell are you made of!?"

It's a rhetorical question. I'm not expecting an answer, but my voice causes the creature to pause and look at me. Giving me enough time to use Inspect on it and get some information on it. And what I learn proves this Trial is out to kill me.

[Beowolf Lvl. 225][Tier- 3][Boss Creature]

[Health: 114,000,000/120,000,000]

[Description: The Beowolf is the eternal guardian of Castle Beofrost. It's a representation of the power that comes with frost and ice. Beowolf is in charge of guarding the front door and turning those unworthy away.]

[Hint: If you can beat Beowolf, your odds of clearing this Trial increase severalfold.]

It's fascinating, really. I unleashed some of my strongest attacks; all I could do was 6 million damage. And if I'm meant to beat this guy, I don't see how I can do it.

Beowolf knows that I just Inspected it, and it's not happy. It gets in an attack position and makes its way toward me with incredible speed and power. I'm barely able to get out of the way and deal very minor damage.

There is no way in hell I'm beating this guy without some sort of advantage to even the playing field. A weakness has to exist. Somewhere. I look closer at the Boss Creature. Hoping to see something I can take advantage of.

And that's when I see something that gives me a glimmer of hope. On his right knee, there is an old and bad-looking injury. It doesn't look like it healed properly.

Not wasting this golden opportunity, I use Ice Spear on the old injury and get a massive critical in damage.

[Beowolf Lvl. 225][Tier- 3][Boss Creature]

[Health: 84,000,000/120,000,000]

A clean 30 million damage is dealt, and a large chunk of the Boss Creatures' health is taken from him. The beast flies into the wall in its off-balanced state, and a large amount of snow collapses and fills the entire entrance hall.

This is usually when a Boss enters an enraged state and starts to become ridiculously strong. It's moments like this when I wish I trained more.

Out of the snowy cloud comes The Beowolf. It's limping, and I look at the leg I attacked. It's in a weirdly bent direction with blood coming from it.

The blue glow in the eyes of The Beowolf turns to red, and I know what's coming next.

[The Beowolf has entered Insanity!]

[Run for your life!]

"Insanity? What the hell is Ins-!"

The next thing I know, I'm getting hit by sharp claws and thrown into a wall. Taking half of my health in a single attack. I'm barely able to pull myself out of the wall and move before the beast is already attacking where I was.

Tearing a path through the wall in the process.

[Warning: The Beowolf is taking passive damage from losing its mind!]

[Warning: Use this opportunity to get away!]

These warnings contradict what I was told early about defeating The Beowolf and things getting easier for me. However, it didn't say defeating the thing was critical to my chances. Not in those specific words, anyway.

I turn on my heels and make my way to the nearest staircase as it's busy trying to get out of the hole in the wall it created. As I'm ascending the stairs, I can hear the monster screaming from below as it tears a path higher through the staircase, trying to reach me.

In a moment of instinct, I have a somewhat good idea. Instead of running. I exit onto the floor and destroy the staircase from where I'm at and below with a swing of my sword.

The Beowolf is caught in the trap, and he falls floor after floor. And as he hits the ground, I get a notification.

[Beowolf Lvl. 225][Tier- 3][Boss Creature]

[Health: 120,000/120,000,000]

The Beowolf loses 83,999,880 health from the tremendous fall. And as the debris above him lands on him, the rest of the damage is dealt, and he dies. I gain EXP, and I get a new notification.

[Congratulations!]

[You've defeated one of the key bosses of Castle Beofrost! You're odds of clearing The Trial have risen by more than 40 percent!]ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ (f)ir(e).net

Way to be numerical about it, system...

I sit on my butt and take some deep breaths. Taking this moment to really gain some of my energy back. I burned a lot of Mana using my strong skills, and I don't have enough to finish this Trial. That much, I know. So I'll need to improvise.

"Why couldn't Cera help me with this..."

It sounds pathetic, but I realize he's a tremendous help in these situations.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Below this line, I'll be keeping Cera's player information. That way, I won't have to place it into the story above anymore. It takes about 180 words up.

[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.237][Tier-4]

[Exp: 72/100%]

[Title: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael (Hidden)]

[Stats] [Strength - 7095][Endurance - 7045][Dexterity - 7215][Speed - 8240][Focus - 19,660]

[Mana aura control: 6/100%]

[Health: 76,560,000,000/76,560,000,000] [Mana: 216,600,000,000/216,600,000,000]

[Stat Points: 440] [Armor rating: 500]

[Inventory] [Dice of Wayland (Divine)] [The Witness (Legendary Sword)] [Fenrir's Whistle (Divine)] [Camping gear] [Fishing poles 2x] [Festival Garbs 2x] [4x EXP Boosts] [Princess Saliandra's Panties (Black Lace)] [Desert Warrior Nomad Set (Rare)]

[Passive Perks]

[Inheritor of the Sword] [Son of Heaven] [Slayer of Evil] [Holy Willow Trees Savior] [Finder of Legends] [The Divine who has Legend] [Destined for Greatness] [Dungeon Diver] [An Overachiever]

[Active Skills]

[Heaven's light Lvl.74 325/7400] [Protected by Heaven Lvl.74 225/7400] [Slash Lvl.92 4600/21000] [Parry Lvl.68 85/6800] [Double Strike N/A] [Kingslayer N/A] [Raging Machine N/A] [Winged Glory] [Angelic Flight] [Divine Pressure Exertion] [Divinity Pulse] [Controlled Fun] [Aspect of Transportation (Legendary)]