The Test Chamber

Gululu!

A determined Rao Wu swam through the Eternal Spring, his eyes widening when, just like Uncle Twilight said, he found a cave channel deep within the lake. Rao Wu swam through the channel for about ten minutes until it eventually opened up to a larger body of water. Rao Wu, energized, mustered up his strength, and kicked hard until he surfaced.

The first thing Rao Wu noticed when he surfaced was the shallow ceiling only a meter away from the water's surface. Puzzled, Rao Wu looked around and spotted a light coming from a section of the underground river. The youth swam towards the light, but then, to his surprise, the slab of earth above him began to slide away with a loud groan.

Rao Wu froze in place, stunned by the moving earth. He had never seen anything like this in his life! What kind of power was needed to move such a thick and large mass? The youth did not waste time pondering over this issue as the rocks gave way to reveal a large ceiling with luminescent stalactites and stalagmites.

Rao Wu looked down from the ceiling to the brightest source of light in the cavern. Several tall stalagmites of varying heights stood around a massive door, illuminating it with a brilliant light that seemed to scream, "Over here!"

Rao Wu, not one to hesitate, swam over to shore. Intriguingly, the moment he stepped onto land, the loud groaning resumed. Rao Wu turned around and was shocked to see a pair of semicircular rock slabs slide out of the walls to meet at the center, blocking the lake from view.

If Rao Wu were in the water, he would have noticed that, around the same time, a slush gate slid over and blocked the tunnel he came from. It was quite apparent that this cavern was not so simple. However, there was only one way for Rao Wu to get to the bottom of the mystery.

"Ju Tu, come out." Rao Wu first called upon Ju Tu. He did not dare summon Xian Da when he had not ensured the area's danger levels. Fortunately, the cavern remained still and silent as Rao Wu and Ju Tu approached the door.

"What is that?" Rao Wu stared in wonder at the magnificent stone door that towered at over six-meters-tall. A strange mural on the door depicted some kind of monster chained down by hundreds of thick, metal chains tied to ancient-looking posts. However, this feeling of awe only lasted for a moment before his heart suddenly began burning hot. Rao Wu clutched his chest, unable to understand the sudden destructive desire that arose within him. It felt like every cell in his body wished to destroy the mural and everything related to it.

"Ugh!" Rao Wu winced, and his heartbeat accelerated in panic. Uncle Twilight had warned him that as a hybrid, there were moments when his bestial nature would threaten to take over. However, those should only happen when under extreme stress or violent emotions. Since that was the case, why was he being affected at that moment?

"Guo~" Ju Tu, sensing Rao Wu's panic, jumped in front of him and began calling out in alarm.

Surprisingly, Ju Tu's call seemed to work as Rao Wu's heart calmed down a moment later. Rao Wu looked up at the Steelback Ape with a grateful smile. "Thanks, Ju Tu." Having learned his lesson, Rao Wu avoided looking at the mural as he approached the door.

Gruuu~

As if sensing his approach, the giant door split into two halves that slid into the walls with massive groans. The room beyond was pitch black save for a small, raised platform roughly twenty meters from the door lit up by forest-green LED light strips.

Rao Wu and Ju Tu walked up to the platform, the little boy's eyes shining with curiosity. The platform had a small pillar sitting at its center, with a palm imprint depressed onto its surface. Rao Wu, following Uncle Twilight's previous instructions, placed his palm on the imprint.

Vruu~

To Rao Wu's surprise, the imprint shrunk until it fit his palm snugly. Following this, the stone pillar's surface 'liquified' and pooled over his palm. If Uncle Twilight had not already warned him, Rao Wu would have already freaked out. As it were, the child maintained a calm but anticipatory attitude as he liquid solidified over his palm, preventing him from moving.

Vwoo~

Rao Wu's attention was then drawn to a metal object that rose from the ground. The slim pole flashed with a red light, and then a strange light ran over the youth's body. Shortly after, a disembodied voice rang out in the room.

"Candidate Age: Seven years, 6 months, 21 days old.

Candidate Species: Human/Kitsuko Hybrid.

Candidate Cultivation Level: Sixth Stage, Spirit Apprentice.

Candidate's Soul Monsters: 2nd Stage Phase One Dusklight Wolf. 2nd Stage Phase Two Steelback Ape.

Adjusting Difficulty to Match Candidate's Strongest Soul Monster. Applying Correction for Age and Cultivation Level. Applying Correction for Candidate Specie.

Candidate may select one among the following options: Easy or Infernal."

Rao Wu's brows furrowed. This was different from Twilight's experience. During Twilight's time, they were asked to pick between Hard and Extreme. Rao Taylor picked Hard at the time. Why were his only options Easy or Infernal?

It almost seemed like the test wanted to force him onto the Easy difficulty.

Rao Wu, however, could not go with Easy. Assuming the rewards were dependent on difficulty, the rewards from Easy would most likely be trash compared to the others. Twilight and Midnight, despite not finishing the Hard Difficulty, gained mutations to Monarch-rank Star Dusklight Wolf.

Rao Wu had no intention of merely following his father's footsteps. He sought to exceed and surpass everything his father accomplished. As a result, he only hesitated a short while before boldly stating, "Infernal!"

The disembodied voice confirmed Rao Wu's decision and then stated, "Infernal Difficulty Chosen. Access to the Rejuvenating Spring Blocked."

Rao Wu nodded, having expected as much. Indeed, he looked behind him to see the doors firmly shut behind him. This was why Rao Taylor could not complete the test. Their injuries piled up to the point where they could not carry on any longer. As a result, they eventually gave up at a checkpoint. This was also Rao Wu and Twilight's safety net. If the test proved too tricky for Rao Wu, he would do his best to make it to the next checkpoint before getting eliminated.

Suddenly, the disembodied voice spoke, "Checkpoints Eliminated."

"What!?"

The heartless voice ignored Rao Wu and coldly continued, "Estimated Completion Time: Two Years."

"Wait. What!?"

"Beginning Infernal Difficulty. The stage is being prepared. Please wait for a moment."

"No, Wait. What do you mean two years!?" Rao Wu frantically shouted, but the system ignored his panicked screams. Ultimately, Rao Wu, Midnight, and Twilight had underestimated the test. The latter two used their previous experience to guess what Rao Wu would face. Unfortunately, it seemed something had gone horrendously wrong as Rao Wu ended up on the never-before-seen Infernal Difficulty.

"No. Wait! I want to change my mind!" Rao Wu desperately sought a solution, but the cold system destroyed that idea.

"Candidates are not permitted to switch choices after the penalty has been revealed."

Rao Wu's eyes nearly rolled to the back of his head. Enraged, the little boy smacked the pillar and yelled, "You didn't even give me a chance before listing everything!"

"It is advised that Candidate controls their temper. Statistically, eighty-five percent of candidates unable to control their temper perish in the tests."

"You!" Rao Wu wanted to explode, but with his hand held in place by the pillar, he couldn't even move. Although he wanted to throttle the pole in front of him, Rao Wu heeded its warning, and slowly breathed out, calming his rising rage.

Moments later, Rao Wu slowly opened his eyes and looked at the dot in the metal pole. Alright. Time to take stock of his situation. He was trapped in Infernal difficulty with no way out. Rather than complain, his time was better served to find out ways to pass the tests as swiftly as possible.

After calming down, Rao Wu took advantage of the system's preparation time to ask a few questions. "What exactly is this test, anyway?"

"Harbinger Selection Test," the disembodied voice replied. "These tests exist to choose the Harbinger of each generation."

"Harbinger?" Rao Wu's ears twitched as curiosity flickered in his gaze. "What's that?"

"Classified Information."

"Classified? What does that mean?"

"It means Candidate is not qualified to receive that information. Candidate will naturally come to learn upon finishing the tests."

"Alright. How about this? What are the tests like?"

"Tests are classified into three types: Extermination, Survival, and Mission-Based. There are ten tests in Infernal Mode, each utilizing a single or unique combination of the three types. Further information will be provided as Candidate attempts each test."

"Okay." Rao Wu mulled, and then his eyes lit up as he asked, "What do I get when I win?"

"Candidate's confidence is assuring, but that information is not available."

"Not available?" Rao Wu's brow rose. "Is that the same as Classified?"

"Negative. No candidate has successfully completed the Infernal Challenge. As a result, clear rewards have not been recorded."

"Oh. Wow." Rao Wu looked at Ju Tu and revealed a wry smile. "No pressure or anything, right?"

"Guo~" Ju Tu pounded its chest, declaring it was not scared of any challenge.

In reply, Rao Wu chuckled and then patted its arm. "I'll be relying on you then."

"Test Preparations Complete. Illuminating Sanctuary Now." Following the system's announcement, a host of bright lights suddenly exploded on the ceiling, instantly drowning the large room in its glow.

"Damn!" Rao Wu screamed and nearly fell over in fright as the light exposed a building-sized wolf glaring at him. The wolf's night-black fur seethed in flames, while smoke belching from its mouth and ears gave it a ferocious appearance, unlike anything Rao Wu had seen. Like the mural, several chains were wrapped around the statue's neck, body, and legs, the other ends, securely fastened to the cavern walls.

Worse yet, once Rao Wu saw the wolf, his heart began pounding like crazy, while an inner voice screamed at him to rip that wolf to shreds! Rao Wu clutched his chest, and then, using the previous incidents as examples, forced his eyes away from the terrible sculpture.

As a result, he was finally able to see ten doors on the cavern wall beneath the statue's legs. A red light initially covered the doors, but moments later, the light on the first door from the left turned green.

Ziuup!

Having completed its purpose, the pillar that held Rao Wu's hand released him, and then, shortly after, the disembodied voice spoke again.

"Candidate. Please enter the green door when ready. The clear stage conditions will be given to you upon entry."

By this point, Rao Wu's fear had long given way to his innate curiosity. From the moment he stepped into the cavern, he was bombarded with new things he had never seen before. "Come on, Ju Tu." Rao Wu walked with Ju Tu to the green door, which automatically opened with a hiss once he was close.

Beyond the door was a tiny, lily-white room with another raised platform. Once Rao Wu entered, the door slid shut, and then the voice spoke, "Candidate, please step onto the platform. Transportation to the test location will begin shortly after."

"Transportation?" Rao Wu curiously looked around, but could not find anything that could remotely be used as transportation. By this point, Rao Wu was eager to see what other surprises the test had in store, so he quickly ran onto the platform.

"Candidate in Place. Aligning Transportation Matrix to Independent Space: X-2906. Issuing Clear Conditions to Candidate:

Infernal Difficulty Stage 1 Clear Condition: Survive in Independent Space: X-2906 for 30 days. Bonus: One Additional Point awarded for every monster killed."

"Points?" Rao Wu was confused. Yet another term that Uncle Twilight did not experience. "What are points?"

"Candidate is awarded points at the end of each stage. Points can then be traded in to purchase specific rewards upon return to the resting area. Note that points do not affect the final reward for completing the tests."

"Do the items for sale remain constant throughout, or are they randomized after every stage?"

"Randomized. Transportation Matrix Set. Candidate is advised to hold all further questions until their return."

"Wait! One last question." Before the voice could interrupt, Rao Wu quickly asked, "What's your name, by the way?"

For the first time, the disembodied voice went silent, as if unable to compute the question. Then, a few moments later, it answered, "You may refer to me as Biological Examination, Containment, and Processing Unit."

"Eh... Too long." Rao Wu lazily shook his head. "I'll call you Becky."

"Candidate may do as they desire. Please be prepared. Transportation in 3...2...1—"

"Oh? Oh?" Rao Wu's eyes dazzled as beautiful light exploded from the platform, enveloping him and Ju Tu.

"Transportation Complete." Moments later, Becky's disembodied voice echoed over the empty chamber.