24.

"Ugh..."

It took a while for Eldric to regain his senses, and the moment he did so, an intense wave of headache overtook him. It was as if his head was about to burst. If one were to look at his appearance, then one would notice the bulging veins covering his entire head, as if pumping the blood of his entire body into his head.

"Fuck." With a loud curse, Eldric tried to open his eyes but the pain was so intense that he couldn't do it.

Unable to bear it any longer, Eldric finally fell unconscious on the ground.

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"Ugh... I almost died." Eldric didn't know how long it took him to regain his senses. Opening his eyes, he didn't find himself in the white space or back in his room, instead, he was lying on the hard concrete ground.

Lifting his head, Eldric tried to observe his surroundings, but the moment he saw the scene in front of him, his eyes narrowed into slits as his breathing almost halted.

In front of him, was a long, deep ravine. Half of the Arena has now disappeared, leaving behind the scene of destruction. Even the opponent of the trial was nowhere in sight.

Narrowing his eyes, Eldric looked around hoping to find the girl, but no matter where he looked, he just couldn't see her figure. He even tried shouting, hoping to get a reply, but the only reply he got was absolute silence.

"Dman it. What happened here?" Eldric didn't know what happened after the girl took control of her body. Though, he could still clearly remember the purgatory-like scenery.

"Was it a memory of hers?" This was the only explanation that he had. He knew the girl wasn't simple, but to think that she went through such a hellish experience, Eldric didn't know what to say. 

It wasn't until a few more minutes passed did he took a deep breath and slowly stood up.

Looking at the screen in front of him, he let out a satisfied smile.

[Points: 1500]

[Tokens: 115]

Looking at the points and tokens, Eldric clenched his fists in excitement. He has finished every difficulty and now can finally go through his first evolution.

As soon as this thought came to his mind, Eldric couldn't help but let out a laugh. He just kept looking at the Golden door in the center of the Arena with a grin.

After five minutes of admiring it, he stood up, patted his clothes a took a step forward. But at that moment, a brief hesitation flashed on his face.

What if there is an additional difficulty after the 'Nightmare' that could only be seen after one completes the trial?

Eldric knew this was a far-fetched guess, but he didn't want to take a risk. Giving up on the trial, he stood once again in the white space. Seeing how there was nothing additional, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

Now that he had seen with his eyes, there was nothing to think about. Choosing the 'Nightmare' difficulty, he once again stood inside the arena.

Although the arena was repaired, the golden door still stood here with an incredible majesty emanating from it.

Controlling the excitement in his heart, Eldric slowly walked towards it before disappearing in the golden light.

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When Eldric opened his eyes once again, he found himself in an empty space. At that moment, his body was floating up in the air and all around him were countless tiny specs of light, giving this place the appearance of a place filled with stars.

"...." Before he even had time to observe more carefully or think about anything, Eldric saw the screen in front of him flickered and a new row of text appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations on completing the trial in the Nightmare difficulty.]

[Due to completing this impossible feat, your name will be etched on the Stele Of Honour.]

[As the first person to complete the Nightmare difficulty, a Nightmare Exclusive shop will be opened for you.]

[Please enter your name.]

Eldric looked at the dazzling row of text with wide eyes. There were so many terms that he was completely unfamiliar with.

Looking at the empty screen in front of him that was waiting for him to enter his name, he thought for a moment before speaking softly.

"Red."

[Register the name as Red?]

As soon as Eldric confirmed it, the screen in front of him disappeared for a moment before popping up again, but this time, with a new message.

[Your evolution will now begin.]

Eldric looked with nervousness, as the screen kept on flickering.

[Based on your perfect score, you are eligible to inherit the All Compassing Bloodline]

[Start the evolution?]

Eldric didn't know what it was, but since it was something that he got after getting a perfect score, then it must be extraordinary. Without any hesitation, he nodded his head and started his evolution.

Soon, the specks of light began to converge towards him. Within a few moments, Eldric himself looked like a small ball of light. Yet, he didn't feel any discomfort. Instead, he felt like he was taking a relaxing hot bath after a long tiresome day.

He didn't know how long he was in that state. It felt like a long time and yet at the same time, he felt like only a few seconds had passed.

When he regained his senses, Eldric found the world around him had disappeared and he was back in his room.

Clenching his fist, Eldric felt a sense of power that he never felt before. Not only was he feeling full of power and energy, but he could also see, smell, and hear things more clearly than before.

Concentrating, he could even hear the sounds of Aria breathing next room.

With some anticipation, he looked at the panel in front of him. Compared to before, there were already some huge changes.

[Name: Eldric Stormborne]

[Profession: Brawler(Tier I)]

[Vitality: 2]

[Strength: 2]

[Agility: 2]

[Skills: Thunderous Barrage, Fast Leap]+

[Tokens: 115]

"No wonder I am feeling so strong." Eldric couldn't help but let out a smile. With these attributes, he was sure that he could complete the trial on all difficulties by himself. Even if he were to face the opponent of the Nightmare difficulty now, he could destroy it thoroughly.

It wasn't just the increase in attributes, but an overall sense of improvement that gave him this confidence.

Looking at the pitch-black darkness outside his window, Eldric let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it didn't take him a lot of time for the evolution.

"What other functions have I unlocked?" Before going through the evolution, he was told countless times that their real journey would start when they completed their evolution. And now that he did it, he was dying to explore more.

"Home." Speaking in a soft voice, Eldeic saw a completely new window.

Compared to before the new panel had three icons.

[Zone] [Auction] [Nightmare Shop]

Holding his breath, Eldric first chose the shop and the moment he did, a new panel opened in front of him listing several items.

[Potion Of Vitality: 100 Tokens] (Increase Vitality by one.)

[Potion Of Strength: 100 Tokens] (Increase Strength by one.)

[Potion Of Agility: 100 Tokens] (Increase Agility by one.)

[Gardener Profession Stone: 50 Tokens] (Let you have the life profession of Gardener.)

There were only four times displayed on the screen but each one was enough to hasten Eldric's breath.

Now that he knew the importance of having more attributes, he couldn't help but look at the potions with red eyes. If he could take one hundred of these potions, wouldn't he become invincible?

The more he thought about it, the more excited he got. If not for the fact that he only had one hundred fifteen tokens he would have rushed to buy as many as possible.

It was at this time that his eyes stopped at the small information written at the bottom of the screen.

*The items can only be used by the buyer.

Looking at the line of text, Eldric's mouth twitched for a few times. He knew from the previous messages that this shop was something exclusive for him... Before the thought of buying the potions here and reselling them in the auction even occurred to him, it was squashed by this line of text.

"Let's just see what else is there before making a purchase." With so many things to choose from, Eldric didn't know what to buy, so he could only choose to wait.

Looking at the panel, he was in deep thought. He already knows about the auction and has just seen the shop. Now the only remaining thing was the Zone.

Without wasting another second, he touched the option and immediately felt the world around him twisting.

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Time goes back to a few minutes ago...

A group of students was standing in front of a large hall, looking at the steles with names on them while constantly whispering amongst each other. A few were laughing while a few were stretching their muscles, boasting about how they were going to leave their name on these steles.

"Hush now... Silence." Even though their teacher, a middle-aged man scolded them, he himself had a smile on his face.

Every single student here was a talent with great hopes of awakening epic or higher profession. The more he saw them, the more satisfied he got.

"After awakening, you all should work hard to complete your evolution." Clearing his throat he spoke further.

"Remember, unlike those poor bastards from the welfare schools, you all have one month to finish your trials.

So... Take your time, pick your teammates, and practice hard before taking part in the trial.

Remember, the higher you score, the more your rewards will be."

"If possible, I want to see the name of one of you in one of those stele."

As soon as he finished speaking, the students there looked at those steles with firey eyes. They know perfectly what those steles represent.

Leaving a name in any of them is a dream for everyone. A name there represents power. A name there represents glory.

After all, who wouldn't want to leave their name amongst the names of strong people who have existed throughout history?

"I am gonna leave my name in the Ordinary difficulty trial."

Suddenly, one student shouted.

"Me too... I will leave my name on the Hard difficulty."

"I will try for the Hell difficulty."

Soon everyone was filled with excitement about how they were going to leave their names on those stele.

"Hmph." It was at this time that a boy aged eighteen looked at them with a face filled with disdain.

"I heard some rumors that there is a list for the Nightmare difficulty in some big cities. I am going to leave my name on that stele."

As soon as he said this, no one dared to make fun of him. Even if what the boy just said was impossible, they didn't laugh at him. On the contrary, they became even more excited, hoping to leave their names in the Nightmare Stele.

"Hahahahaha..." Listening to their declarations, the middle-aged man burst out in laughter.

"If any one of you could leave their name in those steles, then I would smile even in my dreams." With a few words of encouragement, he turned around and was about to lead them outside.

But before he could take a step forward, a student who was looking at the steles with a pious expression suddenly let out a startled cry.

"OH MY GOD."

Turning around, the middle-aged teacher was about to scold him but before the words could come out of his mouth, they were stuck in his throat.

Under his eyes filled with disbelief, he saw a scene that he would never forget.

The three steles floating in the air suddenly dimmed as an ordinary-looking stele began to form behind them.

It didn't take long before a simple stone stele was floating there quietly above the three steles without any glow. At first look, it looked like an ordinary stone, one that could be found anywhere.

Unlike the previous three steles which emit intense pressure, this stele didn't emit any pressure. It just floated above the three steles in silence, like an ordinary rock.

And under the gaze of numerous people present there which were filled with awe and disbelief, a single name slowly appeared on it.

{1st position: Red}