Chapter 17:First trial

When they entered the doors behind them closed and the palace lit up.They looked around and found three passages leading to different directions.Above them where words that made them dizzy when they stared too long.

[Speed]

[Strength]

[Flexibility]

These were the names of the gates that they saw.They saw an old man sitting in the middle of the room in a meditative pose.

"Finally someone has arrived."

He said in a hoarse voice as he lifted his head to look at Richard and the others,they immediately became vigilant.

"Welcome young ones to the trial of reflective light."

"The trial of reflective light?Why is it called that?No,most importantly who are you old man?"

Beth asked as she gathered a dark green energy in her hands.Everyone readied themselves to attack at any moment.

"The trial of reflective light is the name of the trial I created before I perished,it can only be accessed by someone who has the light attribute and since you all are here it means one of you has that rare attribute.As for who I am...that would be a secret for now."

He then stood up and walked towards the doors.

"These three doors will decide which aspect of light you wish your trials to be.For every trial you pass you will gain a matching reward and the one who passes the final trial will gain my inheritance."

"What?!Does that mean not one the one with the light attribute can gain the inheritance but anyone can get it?"

"Yes,the one with the light attribute was only needed for the entrance and also another purpose but that is for later.Please choose which door you will enter be it together or individually."

The five then went into contemplation and went silent for a while.

"I will be going in alone."As Antoer said this he walked towards the Strength door and entered.

Everyone else looked at each other and tacitly decided to go in alone.Beth entered the Speed door,Amanda entered the Strength door and red hair entered the Flexibility door.The only one left was Richard as he was unsure which one to enter.

"Aren't you going to enter?"

The old man asked as he saw Richard had no intention of moving.Richard looked at the the old man and smiled.

"I have a question,if I was only needed to open the door outside then isn't that a bit redundant?Why was the light attribute even needed in the first place?"

"Hoho,so you are the one with the rare light attribute.That is quite observant of you however I guess since you are the weakest amongst the five of you,you would be the most cautious."

The old man stroked his beard as he looked at Richard up and down as if judging him.It had been a long time since he saw someone this weak making him interested in their thought process.

"The light attribute are only going to be used at the beginning and at the end of the trial.That is all I will say.Now,are you going to choose a door?"

Richard stood still for a moment then walked towards the Flexibility door and entered.

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[Welcome to the first trial of Flexibility]

When Richard entered he heard a voice echo and saw prisms floating and spinning around in the air with only the road forward.

[The trial of Flexibility will test your reflexes by having you dodge or protect yourself from different angles.Setting difficulty to medium.]

When the voice ended a single light beam was fired from the other end of the road towards a prism.It was then redirected to another prism and the process continued.

Richard became confused as to how this was a test of flexibility and started to walk.The light beam was suddenly redirected to Richard's back and he hurriedly tried to protect himself but it was all on vain.The light beam penetrated him and shot through his shoulder causing him immense pain.

'What the fuck! I thought those beams were harmless?!How did I break through the fabric of my clothes?It can even withstand the attack of a 3 star weapon(spirit weapon)!'

Richard's expression changed drastically as he readied all the defenses he brought with him and started to run toward the other side.

Light beams were then fired one after the other at the prisms and moved among the prisms.Richard was attacked from different angles and his defenses started to crumble.

"Shit!What do I do?How do I get out of here!?"

As the beams destroyed his defenses he became desperate and started to look for a solution.Then he remembered the aspect of the test.

'Right!If it's Flexibility doesn't that just mean the different shapes and actions light makes?If that's the case...'

Richard looked around at the positions of the prisms and found that although they are floating and spinning they don't change positions and stay on one place.He found the pattern the prisms were in was I'm the form of multiple hexagons meaning the form of a bee hive.

They bounced in sequence and always completed a hexagon before attacking him.Although thus helps him it still moves too fast and doesn't give him time to dodge.

"Light blades - broadsword!"

Richard conjured six broadsword and stepped on one while the others moved to protect him.The swords moved forward at a fast speed while Richard dodged from one blade to the other.More and more light beams missed Richard as he got used to the sequence of the light beams and finally reached the other side with almost all his defenses broken.

[Congratulations on passing the first trial.Your reward has been calculated according to your performance.]

Richard panted as he felt he was drained of energy however he was excited.He learned something new from this trial.

"I guess I can use my blades for more than just attacking.Even if it is a B-rank ability it has more uses than most abilities.If I can get arts from this place I can become much stronger."