Easy

The young man's body further crumbled, his gaze filled with rage as he saw the boy he'd been toying with just days prior, treat him like a mere fly.

As his body faded away, he sighed and a smile bloomed on his face.

'Maybe he'll be able to help the creator.'

And with this, the young man, who Adonis had never learnt the name of, was vanquished.

[You have passed the trial of potential.]

[You will now proceed to the third and final trial, the trial of wisdom.]

[Good luck.]

The arena Adonis had gotten so familiar with suddenly blurred and he found himself in the same expanse of darkness he'd previously been in.

Below him, a sea of endless darkness lay as countless ripples could be seen around the expanse.

Ahead of him, Adonis saw a man.

It was an old man. He was bald, bearing a greatly groomed white beard as he wore dark golden robes. All over the parts of his body that could be seen, white and blue runes could be seen snaking along  his skin.

He exuded an aura of supreme peace and calm as he slowly stirred his cup of tea.

"Come."

Adonis didn't have the time to move when he found himself sat across the man, a small marble table separating the both of them as they sat on their knees akin to ancient Japanese warriors.

The man looked up, and his cold golden pupils, holding the wonders and mysteries of creation itself, met Adonis'.

Unlike what most would expect, Adonis didn't lose himself in his gaze, no, in fact, he got calmer and his breaths steadier as he prepared himself.

"Good. You truly are as adaptable as I was told you were." He said as he took a sip of his tea.

'Told?'

"But is that a good thing? Sometimes too much talent and growth causes instability but it's not like you'd impede your progress so what is the solution? Who knows." He offhandedly said.

"Direction and solidity."

The old man's brow light twitched.

"Excuse me?"

"The answer to rapid growth is direction and solidity. If you know where you're going, you won't get lost and if your foundations are as solid as they can possibly be, instability is a mere dream." Answered Adonis.

"Hm…is that so? You don't seem to have a direction."

"I don't need one. My Will is my direction. What I want, I get. All that matters is the journey."

The old man grinned.

"What an arrogant brat you've become. The you from just a minute ago would've cowered in fear just thinking about such an uncertain future and yet you directly seek it? How fascinating. Only the gods know whether your choice is the right one or not."

Adonis scratched his head both in embarrassment and confusion.

Embarrassment because, well, he did change, drastically so and in a short period of time. He changed so much in such a short amount of time that even he hadn't fully processed all that had been happening.

And confusion because he didn't understand what was going on with this trial.

"Is this the trial? Just talking? Seems fun."

"Normally, no. The trial would've been a bunch of riddles that you'd have to solve but I find it pointless. At this stage, you're already the True Heir, whether you fail my trial or not."

"As you've noticed, these trials weren't really trials, just training sequences where you could possibly lose your life."

"In the first trial, you could've become a mental cripple which would've killed you in a few years. In the second you could've physically died and in this third one, normally, you could've died at my hand if you got any answers wrong."

"First trial gave you the Pure Heart, second gave you your Style and all the perks that come along. Can you guess what this one gives you that could complete the two?"

Adonis allowed silence to reign for a while as he deeply thought about this question.

Though the man implied this wasn't gonna be the usual trial, Adonis didn't forget what he'd said. If he answered wrong, he could die.

"From what I've seen, though these trials give me power, they're very geared toward my mental state and foundation. It's almost like the purpose of this trial is to make me as eccentric as possible and let my individuality shine through."

"So I'm gonna guess the goal here is to teach me how to think or something along those lines. A framework that allows me to reason and deal with anything."

The old man nodded in approval.

"Close enough. As that brat told you, the Sovereign puppeteers, meaning you'll need to have your mind do the heavy lifting in most situations."

"It starts with simple things. Let me ask you this, what do you think about yourself?"

For a moment, Adonis was taken aback by such a question but rapidly, he fell into deep thought.

"I'd say I'm weird…I guess? I don't know. Other people are all so beautiful and defined but during most times I feel like an empty vase."

"It feels like I'm just a drone aimlessly moving around, unable to truly think. Well, that's how I felt before these trials, actually, before, I didn't feel like this but not that I look back, that's how I see it."

The man's gaze slightly widened as he heard this analysis.

"Oh? So do you think…"

Just like that, a long conversation ensued between the two.

On one side, a nascent nameless sovereign and on the other, one of the most famous sages to have ever existed.

Just like in the arena, time seemed to have no meaning as skillfully, the sage molded Adonis' mind and framework of thought.

Only time would tell how lucky Adonis had been to stumble upon such a trial.

***

Uncle Seth had stopped being surprised after a while.

Normally, he could've sanctioned the sage for favouring Adonis so much but…why would he?

Adonis was getting more out of these trials than anyone could've ever had and he was glad.

'Let's cook up something while he finishes up this trial.'