Hall of Challenges

Fun Fact: Gods are beings that's similar to supercomputers that encompasses a very simple word selection. This fact is revealed to me by God Sogthoth, a first generation God who's been existing for a very long time now. His words are 'Wisdom', 'Insight', 'Intelligence', and 'Answer'. However, I was told that he is only a prototype, not a fully developed God yet. I want to stay and see through his ascension to Godhood, but I know I can't stay holed up in one floor forever. And besides, I've already reached the maximum limit permitted on this floor.

—Eliza Ecstein, 12th Grand Bishop of the Followers of Wisdom (65,473 turns ago)

......

On the way to the central church, Agnes stopped by the northern village quickly.

"Stay here quietly, alright?"

"Why?"

"I have to go do something really quick. I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

Agnes said so with a smile as usual. Her smile, Seichi doesn't dislike it, but it just feels wrong somewhere. But, he decided not to dwell on it and just put his mind at ease.

'Status.'

Seichi summons his Status, something that he's been saving to do for quite some time now. He wanted to see the result of his training after it's all done.

[Name: Seichi Kurotachi]

[Path: None]

[Class: Chosen Undead]

[Level: 17 | EXP: 0/170]

{Statistic}

Strength: 51

Dexterity: 39

Agility: 41

Vitality: 27

Magic: 17

Intelligence: 29

Faith: 17

Willpower: 1

[Unassigned Stat Points: 5]

{Skills}

[Path of Undeath – Lvl.2]

[Undead's Perseverance – Lvl.1]

[Burst Instinct – Lvl.2]

[Your Flame – Lvl.1]

{Talent}

[Basic Understanding of Swordsmanship]

[Sword Eye]

{Spells}

[Air Dash – Lvl.1]

{Miracles}

Seichi watches the Statistic section with glee, and next ponders on what he should do with the Stat Points he gained. He was about to put them all into Strength, since it is what's been giving him a fighting chance, and he doesn't necessarily have to care since he can convert Stats anytime he wants.

'Well, let's dump all of it into Strength then.'

Seichi made up his mind very quickly. He then proceeds to assign them, but finds a rather surprising message preventing him from doing so.

[Your Strength has reached the maximum allowance for the Second Floor]

[It can only go up through Leveling up until you hit the limit of the Second Floor]

It blocked him from assigning his point, and this made him curious.

'A limit huh… that's something to keep in mind.'

I couldn't assign the Stat Points to strength even after the window disappeared. I could only sigh as he's now back to pondering.

'...What about the new Spell I have.'

He opens a separate window to view in detail the new Spell he got. He hasn't used it once when he was out grinding, so he's a tad bit curious about it now that he has some leisure time.

{Air Dash}

[Active Effect: Allow the caster to perform a burst of wind that will propel them in the targeted direction. It can also be compressed into a stronger burst with extra costs]

The details were… not very detailed. It only gave him an overview, nothing more, nothing less. It explained to him its function, and its enhanced function. That's it, and this left Seichi a little bit confused.

'Shouldn't it be more than this?'

He didn't know why, it was probably because of his high Intelligence, but he's been wondering and pondering a lot nowadays. He's more insightful, able to at least observe and remember an opponent's pattern and use it to his advantage. It's also one of the things he's taught, but if he was the old him then he wouldn't be able to understand a lick of what his Teacher said.

'Maybe I should dump it on Intelligence…?'

It was what's helping him respond better to the situation. He gave it some thought, and after a little while he decided to go through with it.

[Intelligence: 29 > 34]

He didn't necessarily feel anything different, so he closed the window for now.

......…

Agnes returned to the carriage, seeing the view of a young pair leaning against each other with eyes closed.

'Fufu, how adorable.'

She took a seat opposite to them, a tender smile on her face as she gazed at them through the covers of her eyes.

She was slightly jealous, the feeling of love, something every maiden wants to experience at least once, was now right in front of her, taunting her. She was Grand Bishop for 90 years now, no time to have for herself in those 90 years of service to her God.

The carriage began moving again, heading for the central church building. During the trip, Agnes reminisces about her life, how it got to here.

Her mind trailed back to one particular Summoned one, a man, a young knight he said, bearing the name Pendragon. He was fantastic, showing swordsmanship that was sloppy but also held potential. His humbleness was also a charm, saying that it was all his sword's effort, the Excalibur.

Agnes fell in love with this summoned one, a man who had a humble ascension. But, due to her job and promise, she wasn't able to properly show her feelings. She withered them away with logic, with the Miracles provided by her God. She was clearly damaged, hurt, but all of that was blocked off by the logical thinking provided by a Miracle.

When the Pendragon knight left, he smiled at her and thanked her for guiding him. She did nothing of the sort, other than providing him with objectives that only benefits her and the Followers of Wisdom. Guilt, sorrow, and sadness with many things about their encounter, she also sent him off with a Miracle silently placed on him, one that stemmed from her feelings and heart.

[Activating Twilight Eye]

[Peering through multiple floors]

[Currently observing the target, Arthur Pendragon, on the 27th floor]

......

Exiting the carriage and going through the main gate, Agnes guided the two back to the dormitory for now.

''Rest up, you've been gone for the entire night. I will speak to you after 10 hours."

"Alright…"

Inside, there were only two people. A Paladin, resting with her hand as extra pillows underneath her head, and Assassin, who was leaning on the wall of her bed while reading some kind of book.

"Hmm? Oh, look who came back. In one piece too."

Assassin wasn't very amused with Seichi's safe return, rather her tone held a sarcastic and degrading effect in it. But, such a thing was common for Seichi who lived in hell for as long as he could remember.

"Assassin, why don't you try to be welcoming for once? Maybe you could stop scaring the other priests and nuns away."

"Tch, why should I? I'm just here to do jobs and go up, and mind your own damn business, Paladin."

The two barked and bit back and forth. They went silent afterwards, both of their moods now soured.

"...Hello."

I greeted them out of necessity, as they are my comrades now. Assassin didn't respond much, but Paladin raised up her hand and gave me a small wave.

I sat down at my bed, in the corner with a single candlelight stuck to the wall above. It was still daytime, so it's not lit.

[You can experience your Path of Undeath through the usage of sleeping]

A sudden window appeared in front of me as I was beginning to ponder what I should or could be doing. Brynhild sat next to me, a drowsy pair of eyes closing and opening that was on the verge of collapsing at any moment.

'...Let's go get some sleep.'

I lie down and tuck Brynhild beside me on the outside. I didn't want to suffocate her, so I was against the wall while gently wrapping my arms around her petite body.

'.....'

With Brynhild's safety secured, Seichi drifted off to sleep. He has 10 hours until Agnes returns.

......

[Activating Path of Undeath]

[Changing your location to the Hall of Challenges]

[Welcome to the exclusive place reserved to the Chosen Undead]

[The Gods will be watching your development from time to time]

[Specific Gods will be overseeing some of the challenges you partake in]

[Good luck, and have fun if you want, Chosen Undead]

The windows were strange, it was normal for the first two, but then it suddenly felt like someone or something was communicating with me through it.

'...I might've invested too much into Intelligence.'

I scatter the windows away with a hand. I then readjust my vision to the surroundings before me.

Empty, black, much like the usual. But now, it was the color of a hallway, a very long one at that. Lined up on both sides were doors of varying sizes, from small doors to abnormally large doors.

'...'

I didn't know what to do, so I looked behind me. It was the same both in front and back. So, with no objectives in mind, I pick a random door.

Above it hung a sign.

{Magic Practice}

[Goal: Use Magic Spells only]

It was a simple one, so I opened it. The door was a wooden one, a knob on the door for me to grab and push open. Walking through a very bright light, which apparently only acted as a veil, I was greeted with a spacious white room. It was built using square tiles, and it was so symmetrically perfect that I couldn't help but be impressed.

[Hello.]

A window appeared in front of me, greeting me with a voice to my surprise.

[Welcome to the Automatic Adjustment Practice Chamber, or the AAPC for short. I'll be assisting you with the settings and stuff to make your experience more fluid and comfortable.]

"...Thanks?"

[At least show it. Your voice lacks any enthusiasm and motivation.]

"Sorry… Well, can you help me with a few things?"

[Sure, what do you need?]

''Teach me about Spells."

[What sort of thing do you want to know?]

"Does Magic consume anything? Like… something from myself?"

[Weird question, but sure. Spells consume Mana, something that regularly circulates throughout your body. Mana is based on your Magic value times 3, Magic is also the value that determines the damage output of attack Spells.]

She answered my question and gave more information on the subject. I nodded in confirmation, and asked another question that I just thought of.

"Can I make Spells?"

[That depends, do you know the basic rules and theories?]

"Can you explain them to me? I'm not very knowledgeable about Spells and such."

[Then, our time here is done. Though I can introduce you to another one that'll be able to give you some time on the subject. Thank you for using this room, do come back if you want.]

The floor beneath me suddenly moved and the door behind flung open. I was thrown out of the room, and it slammed shut as I immediately sat up.

"...Well, that went in an unexpected direction."

I stand up and dust myself off for some reason. The floor is completely pitch black, yet my body suddenly felt the urge to do that action.

[A recommendation has been sent to you by an unknown person]

[The room {Magic Academy 101} will be lit up with a spotlight and put in front of the Chosen Undead whenever he arrives here]

I look away from the windows to see the other doors that I can check out. But, upon standing in front of one, I could see an additional line on the sign.

{Gates of Babylon}

[Goal: Battle constructs made from Magecraft]

[Requirement: Clear floor 27]

It was a requirement line, so that made this door a special one. Currently, after I try opening it, I can't enter and check out what it is.

'Welp… looks like most doors have this requirement on their signs. The first one was a lucky pick I guess.'

I sigh, shaking off the feeling of disappointment that I have.

"Hey, whatever you are, can you sort me the doors I can access and eliminate those that I can't?"

[Redesigning in progress]

[Complete]

It was just a moment, but the doors sank into the ground in an instant and the doors to my request were brought to me in a circle.

"Alright…"

I gave it a spin check, and the door that I was curious about showed up, lit by a spotlight like it said it was.

"Magic Academy 101…"

The sign above was not accompanied with a requirement line.

{Magic Academy 101}

[Goal: You come here to learn about Spells, nothing else]

'What a Goal to put on a sign…'

I enter the rather modern-looking door to check out what's inside. Another white room, but now it had two large windows to the side of the room to give it some natural light. Sunlight was coming from the windows, and outside was the view of a grass hill place.

"Ah, someone actually… visited."

Then, a voice attracted my attention. Up ahead, sitting in front of a black board was a middle-age man with gray and black facial hair. He looked at me for a moment, his left eyebrow raised noticeably, and he placed the book he was reading onto the table in front.

"Well, I haven't seen your kind here, Chosen Undead. Finally, the second generation has arrived."

The man stood up, his fancy suit caught my attention next. It was a red velvet colored tailcoat jacket, a white shirt with black polka dots inside, and the pants hugged his legs to accentuate a refined gentleman feeling from him.

"Well, the sessions I'm going to have with you will be very fun, very fun indeed."

The man, gray and black hair to match with his facial hair, some wrinkled spots to show his age, smiled at me while pointing to his side with his right arm.

"Let's go outside. I have much to teach you, and I expect you to be as fresh into Magic and Spells as you can be."

"Uhmm, yes? I have no-"

"I wasn't looking for an answer, now let's go, hurry."

I was having some weird vibes from this man. His actions portrayed an eccentric personality, and with how he seems to have a crazed glint in his eyes, that personality seems to shine even more.

'Welp, I am open to learning.'