The Simple, But Hard Trial

The 41st–50th floor was considered a trial. A trial proved if one were worthy enough to move to the middle floors. Ten floors would decide one's future inside the dungeon.

On one hand, if one were to succeed, they would move into the middle floors and reach greater heights in fighting stronger enemies. On the other hand, if one were to fail... They would never move on, never being able to see the lower floors.

Unfortunately, only a small amount of hunters that challenged the Damned Lair ever reached the middle floors, and only the prodigies among the small number could reach the lower floors.

At the moment, the hero's party took their first step into the 41st floor, knowing full well of what was to come. One would normally expect there to be more monsters to face, but things were different this time.

There were no monsters, nor was there any sign of monsters being here! They weren't on a battlefield either. Instead, they were in a small room that was only fifteen feet long and twelve feet wide. The room could almost be considered entirely empty.

There was only a simple table in the middle. The table appeared to be one with the floor, which meant it was impossible to move. On the round table, something was lying. A small wooden board was lying in the middle of the table and covered half of it.

Without any hesitation, the hero's party stepped closer to the table. This floor's purpose wasn't to test if one had the capability to fight like the floors before. This floor was different from the others. The way to clear the floor was related to the small wooden board in the middle.

As they stepped closer to the wooden board, they were able to see it much better. The board was divided into four colors, each taking up a quarter of the board. One-fourth of the board was green. The others were yellow, red, and black.

In each of the four parts, there was an ancient rune drawn that was impossible to read, even for those with deep knowledge of runes.

In the middle of the board, where the colors all intersected, there was a small black sphere.

"Rhett. You go first!" Kai calmly stated. "You're the second physically strongest among us. Let's see how much you've improved!"

"I was about to ask!" Rhett grinned manically as he pounded his fists against one another and walked closer to the table.

He reached out his large hand and touched the sphere in the middle. He didn't try to pick it up, but a screen flashed before his eyes.

[You have accepted the Damned Lair's trial on the 41st floor: Proof of Strength.]

[Objective: prove you're worthy of moving onto the 42nd floor by moving the sphere into one of the four colored corners.]

[Your strength stat is abnormal for your level! Adjusting the difficulty to suit your strength. The difficulty has been increased to SS-Rank.]

His grin never wavered. He held the sphere with both hands and tried to slide it to the red side. If he selected another color except for the black one, the difficulty of the floors would decrease. He selected the second-most difficult side.

[The sphere's resistance has reached 125% of one's physical strength.]

Although he put his entire strength behind the sphere, it hardly moved a few inches. The sphere's resistance was his strength plus the strength of the red side he chose. It wasn't easy to push something 25 percent stronger, but if one couldn't accomplish that, how would they reach the lower floors?

Trials that had greater difficulties were waiting on the lower floors. Not surpassing one's limits only to never grow stronger would lead to one's failure and defeat. One had to relentlessly break their limits to experience the feeling of growth.

Slowly and steadily, the sphere moved closer to the red side. His muscles bulged and his skin turned red; however, he never once stopped to let out a breath of fresh air. His blood vessels broke, but even that didn't make him stop. He seemed he would never cease until his last breath.

'He really takes surpassing his limits seriously, but that's what's needed to be qualified for the hero's party. One needs to surpass their limits even more than an ordinary prodigy.' Kai flashed a smile as he saw Rhett's arms tear and pull out of their sockets.

Fortunately, he didn't need to move the sphere far, and it didn't take long to move the sphere to the red side. From start to finish, it took Rhett only two hours to end this trial on the 41st floor.

After finishing the trial, Janiya rushed over to Rhett and cast a healing spell on his wounds. Rhett's arms were severely damaged from his relentlessness without giving them a break to rest. His muscles and blood vessels were widely torn, while some bones were cracked or broken. Some of his nerves were damaged.

"You're truly fortunate you weren't permanently injured! As we're the heroes' party, it's normal for us to break our limits, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't ensure our safety. You should have been more careful. Do you want to lose your arms?" Janiya asked warily. She was worried that he would break his limits so much that his body couldn't be healed. She cared for him and warned him not to, but he never listened.

"Thank you. I appreciate your care, but I'll make sure I don't overexert my body to the point where even a beautiful woman like you can't heal me." Rhett couldn't help but burst out into laughter. "Hahaha!"

"You!" Janiya puffed her cheeks, unable to believe he was joking about something so serious. "You stupid idiot! You shouldn't joke about that!"

She moved a few feet from Rhett and raised her hand toward him. She didn't give him time to react before casting a spell.

"Spirit Water Blast!" A massive sphere of water appeared out of thin air. She grinned as it shot towards Rhett.

Rhett didn't even try to dodge. He knew she wouldn't hurt him, but she didn't let him off either. The sphere hit him, and he was drenched in water from head to toe. All his clothes were soaked in water, along with his hair, which stuck closer to his body. Surprisingly, all his wounds that weren't healed were healed immediately, leaving nothing behind, not even a scar.

"Now you look better." She flashed a cheeky smile as if she were equal now. "Next time you joke like this, you'll be punished three times as much."

"Is that so?" Rhett smiled. "Don't worry, I'll wait patiently for you to come when you're needed. Until then, don't overexert yourself in healing others."

Rhett disappeared, stepping onto the 42nd floor, where he started his second trial. The trial was an individual trial, unlike the other floors. Once he left, the others cleared the trial. Kai was the last person to clear the trial.

[The sphere's resistance has reached 145% of one's physical strength.]

****

Back in the city of Ontrith, Ayla finally showed some signs of waking up. It wasn't often that she received such a comfortable and peaceful sleep inside the enemy's territory.

Before she opened her eyes, she sensed a person standing in the shadows, looking at her from a distance. She was irritated by the presence's intrusion and disappeared from the bed.

Confused, the intruder observed the room, only to have his eyes widen in surprise. He felt a strong hand on his throat, waiting to crush his neck. He couldn't fathom her speed or how she appeared before him without his notice. He felt a chill run down his spine.

"Have you never heard that you should never intrude on a woman's room? Can't you understand simple privacy?" Her cold voice fell into his ears, and cold sweat trickled down his face.

"You've surpassed my expectations." Although his life was in the hands of Ayla, he didn't show any sign of fear. "I apologize! I didn't take your privacy into consideration. Now, will you let me go? It would be trouble if you killed me here. After all, I work directly under the king."

"Fine." Ayla relieved her hand from his neck and left without giving another thought to the man. She walked into the shower room and took a quick shower before she left for the Adventures Guild.

She was already F-Rank, but that rank wasn't enough even for her to leave the periphery of the city. She would at least need to reach E-Rank to accept a quest outside the city's outskirts.