Chapter 4 - Monster Training (3)

"So.. System. What is this room made for?" Alden said, hoping for some answer. After a few seconds, the system replied to him, "The room is made for you to get stronger." Alden had already thought of this; from every stage that he was in, he got stronger and stronger when he completed them. "Why me?" he said, unknowing if it would answer or not. The system said that it isn't allowed to transmit this type of confidential information. Alden, feeling irritated by getting no concrete answers, said that he wants to proceed to the next stage.

Upon entering the stage, he was teleported in a strange forest-like zone. "What is this?" Alden said, amazed by the beauty of it. He looked around and saw that even the plants and trees seemed real. He was standing on a path, a dirty one, but he decided to ignore it and walked towards the plants. As he did that, something bumped his head, "Ouch," he said, falling on his butt. Alden understood at that time that the only thing he needs to do for now is to follow that path.

And so he did; he ventured deeper into the forest, following it. As he walked and walked, his eyes widened when he saw a big... no, a massive stony cave in the distance. Next to the cave, there was no grass, plants, or even trees. It was like it didn't even belong to this forest. You could see the killing intent coming out of the cave, but Alden wasn't intimidated at all. On the contrary, he was standing still, not even shaking a finger, his eyes seemed to have no emotion. "Hmm... This will be fun," he said, smirking at the same time. Throughout this stage, he noticed that his legs were feeling lighter than ever. His arms too; it was like he was in a superhuman body that wasn't his.

As he was getting closer and closer to the cave, he said "Hey, system. Can you give me a sword?" As he said that, a sword appeared in his arm. It was a steel-made sword, with a greyish to black handle. He walked into the cave, seeing a strange 9-10 feet tall monster. It was a troll, a being that had almost no intelligence, had grey skin color, and had a dreadful face. As soon as he saw Alden, he made a confused face for some time, which turned to a furious face. He stomped his leg, then ran to Alden.

Alden was disappointed, as he didn't even hide his killing intent when he was coming to him, but he didn't have high expectations to begin with. As soon as he finally got to him and attacked him with his leg, trying to crush him, Alden dodged and slashed his leg with his sword, making deep cuts on his leg. The troll was stunned by the sight of blood, creating an opportunity for Alden. Alden quickly jumped and then thrust his sword into his eyes, making the troll unable to see anything anymore. For the final attack, Alden ran to the back of his head, stabbing the troll.

"Congratulations on passing the Stage, do you wish to enter the fourth stage?" the system said.

"Yes," Alden replied, hoping for a better challenge this time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After clearing the fourth trial, he sat down to catch his breath and think about the stages. "This trial wasn't that challenging either," he mused to himself, wiping sweat from his face. "Just 25 hobgoblins armed with knives or swords. But at least I know I'm getting stronger as I clear the stages. Thinking about it, the first stage was pretty hard or I just got lucky. What if the 'boss' spawns at stage five? It's hard to even think about it. From stage two to stage four, all of these monsters were creatures known for inhabiting forests or jungles. What if it's a Forest Golem?" he thought, laughing nervously. "Haha, that couldn't be possible, right?" he had sweat running all over his face.

"Do you wish to continue to the fifth stage?" the system said appearing out of nowhere, Alden nodded his head, but he still didn't have the courage needed. 

The forest golems were known for being an annoyance for every swordsman or mage because they keep regenerating. It isn't hard to kill them, but it takes a long time to discover where their core is. They were scary for Alden because he has seen one destroying the city when he was little.

Upon spawning into the fifth stage, he suddenly widened his eyes when he saw a 18 feet monster, triple his size, which seemed to be a green robot, staring down at him like an annoying ant, and with a trembling mouth, he said, "I-It's a forest Golem."