27 Chapter27-Trial Ground of the Gods
The next morning, Jason was met by a visibly aggrieved Aelica.
"Do you have any idea the sacrifices we made for these materials!" the beautiful girl pouted adorably.
Of course, Aelica's display was purely an act, just in case Smith really felt guilty, that would be a bonus for her.
Jason's response was straightforward and blunt: "Do you want the equipment or not?"
"Yes! Yes! Definitely yes!" Aelica replied with a sly smile, enthusiastically moving closer.
However, Jason took the opportunity to wrap his arm around the girl's waist, his other hand slipping beneath the lining of her priestly robe, grasping the tender and juicy softness of her chest.
"Ah!" Aelica let out a shy, innocent expression.
"Mr. Smith... not out here..."
She appeared one way on the surface, but internally, she was somewhat thrilled. Could this be the beginning of her chance to deploy her skills in seduction?
Yet, Jason just shook his head: "Forget it, there will be chances to try in the future."
What he was contemplating was a hypothesis: he had infused Carolina with undead energy, enabling her tier to rise.
So, what if the same happened with a player?
Theoretically, a hero's tier and a player's class tier are equivalent. It stands to reason that players might also benefit from sharing a bed with Jason!
Of course, if it were his past life, such news spreading would likely lead all female players... no, all players to rush for Jason to infuse them with energy.
At this moment, Jason, taking advantage of the trade, flirted with Aelica, setting the stage for a possible future intimate encounter.
Jason wasn't interested in empowering the Valoria government's players.
Instead, through observing Carolina, Jason noted something significant: the dragon girl's loyalty had skyrocketed too quickly, or rather, after sleeping with him, she became utterly submissive.
Don't ask how Jason knows this — what had to be done last night was thoroughly accomplished.
And in Jason's command, all soldiers transformed into the undead race have a note of loyalty only to [Jason].
Carolina displaying similar behavior made Jason consider the implications further...
The [Underworld Baptism] process he facilitated by infusing undead essence likely worked similarly to unit transformation, locking in loyalty while elevating the tier!
As he pondered, Jason released his grip from kneading Aelica's softness.
She stepped back with a flushed face, "Mr. Smith... you play dirty..."
Even though Jason knew it was an act, he admired Aelica's professionalism and charm.
The two exchanged insincere pleasantries while completing the trade.
Jason received all the essential materials for the event dungeon, and Aelica was thrilled to see several silver-level equipments in her inventory.
"Another accomplishment!" The beautiful girl was overjoyed.
Afterward, they parted ways.
"Mr. Smith, we should collaborate more in the future." Aelica felt that maintaining a connection with Smith would bring continuous accolades.
"Certainly." Jason smiled, his expression slightly enigmatic, considering future cooperation to give Aelica some benefits, probably enough to test the effects of infusing her with undead essence.
His aim was clear—if he could place a pawn within the Valoria officials, orchestrating various schemes would be much easier.
Aelica wanted accolades, while Jason desired her... soul!
…
Later, Jason visited the lord's manor to accept a follow-up quest regarding the lord's daughter's kidnapping.
Logically, a group of bandits wouldn't dare kidnap such a high-profile figure without a hidden mastermind behind them.
Next, he headed to his birthplace, the church outside Losfall City.
Riding on Carolina, Jason flew towards the church, landing in front of a dilapidated thatched cottage.
Entering the cottage, he found a young man in dark bronze armor looking up in confusion.
"Sorry, mate," Jason spoke, "I'm in a hurry."
The NPC in front of him could unlock an important quest line related to a series of military operations involving the Losfall region under the Arnoster Empire.
In his past life, Jason discovered in the final part of the quest that this NPC was actually a spy from an enemy nation.
Killing him would yield an item named [Crown of Heroes], which is the real key to the event dungeon [Trial Ground of the Gods] Jason intends to enter.
The other materials were just to hand over to the NPC to construct a one-time-use teleportation array.
To acquire the SSS class as soon as possible, Jason had to reluctantly forego this quest line and decided to kill the NPC straight away.
"What are you doing??" The spy was panicked.
He saw that the cabin was instantly overrun by thousands of soldiers.
Boom!!
In the next second, countless magical auras lit up.
The NPC wasn't very strong and fell within seconds, bursting into several orbs of light.
[Crown of Heroes]
[Description: A legendary crown said to be bestowed only upon those of extraordinary valor, renowned reputation, and immense talent. Sadly, ever since the fall of the gods, no one has been able to obtain it.]
"Got it." Jason twirled the radiant golden token in his hand.
There were many ways to obtain the Heroic Crown, as its item description suggested – a divine reward given to heroes.
However, given that the players' backdrop in the game was a time after the gods had fallen, acquiring this item was only possible through NPCs.
Among the other orbs of light were three bronze-tier equipments, which Jason casually added to his inventory.
Next, he mounted the dragon girl again and finally returned to the church of his birthplace.
Along the way, he harvested the resource points he had marked on the first day of the server launch.
His main strategy was perfect planning, not wasting a single moment.
As Jason approached the church entrance.
"Ah? Is it you?" A female voice sounded, belonging to the all-white-clad NPC who had witnessed Jason's repeated suicides when he first created his character.
"Are you okay? I recently heard that you're a hero from another world, immortal, what an incredible ability," she spoke with a tinge of excitement, appearing quite warm-hearted.
Unfortunately, Jason had no time for small talk: "These materials, they can open the [Trial Ground of the Gods], right?"
"Ah?" The white-robed NPC paused, eyeing the materials handed over, "Oh, right, right, I'll get started now."
She seemed ditsy but was proficient in her actions, quickly stacking the various materials together to construct a teleportation array that shimmered with a faint golden glow.
"That… it's very dangerous in there."
Before the white-robed NPC could finish, Jason's figure was already teleported away.
…
[Welcome to the Trial Ground of the Gods!]
[Haha! Another brave challenger!]
Jason listened to the boisterous system notification voice, his expression calm.
The NPC he just interacted with was actually quite significant, being the chosen of the [God of Light].
However, with the backdrop of the gods' fall, the chosen's power had also been significantly diminished.
Engaging in thorough communication with her would unlock a long series of quests, with the ultimate goal of exploring a special map beneath the church.
But for Jason, the quest line was too lengthy and the rewards unappealing, so he simply ignored this NPC.
He planned to directly explore the special map under the church later.
Just by defeating the first boss there, the white-robed NPC would seek him out herself, promptly initiating the main quest line tied to her.
And now…
Jason pondered as the scene in front of him gradually became clear, revealing an immensely vast arena.
The area was littered with strange, variously colored bloodstains, a dried-up spectacle, with countless broken weapons and remains piled up.
The stands, which could perhaps have accommodated millions of spectators, were completely deserted.
Jason was aware of the backstory here—a trial ground established to entertain the gods, which gradually fell into disrepair after the gods vanished.
Fortunately, the trial ground was still operational.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
In the trial ground, lights flared up, followed by the entrance of a massive beast.
[Bimon]
[Category: BOSS]
[Level: 35]
…
The Trial Ground of the Gods is fair, summoning enemies of varying strength based on the challenger's power.
As the number of trial waves passed increases, so too does the strength of the enemies.
At that moment, Jason was smirking at the colossal beast, several times his own size.
The rule of the Trial Ground of the Gods is BOSS RUSH—continuous boss battles, starting with a boss only slightly higher in level than the player, then both the level and the number of bosses steadily increase.
Unfortunately for them, Jason, with his limitless Command Limit, held an absolute advantage in terms of forces.
And after doubling all unit attributes, he also had an absolute advantage in combat power!
"Die!" Jason commanded with a wave of his hand.
