Test of Strength

"Eh, where am I?"

"Ugh, my head hurts."

Both Ria and Hallel showed the same reaction as they woke up in an unknown place. They were now awake inside a strange white room which they never recalled ever entering before.

"Err... Could you two please move a bit. I feel like my arm cramped."

"Sorry."

Mays's awkward voice immediately made the two girls snapped back to reality. They moved their body a little bit to let Mays move his arm. If one looks closely, his arm was almost dark red in color because the blood circulation had been blocked. Both of them even apologized at the same time.

"So, can you tell me why you are fighting against each other earlier?"

"Eh, we..."

"No reason. We just feel like sparring."

Suddenly asked by Mays, Ria was at a loss at how to answer that question. Now that she had calmed down, she remembered everything which happened in her consciousness world clearly. Hallel who was at Mays's other side quickly answered the question, saving Ria who was out of word.

"Well, okay. I won't mind as long as you guys be nice to each other. You are both precious to me after all."

With that reply, Mays stood up as he stretched his limbs all over. He was not someone who forced others against their will. If they didn't plan to talk about it then that's it for him. As for Drasca, she was back to her small dragon form, coiled around Mays's neck like a muffler.

After making sure that his body was fine, Mays walked toward the exit of the white room before he stopped and stole a glance at the two girls who was still sitting at their previous spot.

"What's up? Let's move on."

"Right away."

This time, it was Ria who answered confidently while smiling. Mays's last line made her happy. All girls loved to be appreciated especially by their most important person.

"Thank you for covering it up."

Ria whispered as she stood. She then brushed off the dust all over her body before she started walking toward Mays.

"You're welcome. But I'm not giving up on him though."

After hearing what Mays said previously, of course even Hallel would feel good. Mays was not a man who lied blatantly and he always meant what he said. When he said that she was also someone precious to him, how could Hallel not be moved?

"Heh, you can try but you won't best me, bitch."

"Bring it on."

It was quite weird but the awkward atmosphere between the two of them since they first met were no more. They were now more open to each other like close friends. After getting to know each other's heart during their never ending fight, they acknowledged each other as love rivals and strives to do their best. They giggled as they walked toward Mays leisurely.

"What are you talking about?"

"Hehe, nothing."

Ria just chuckled without telling him anything. Just like that, the three of them proceeded to the exit of the white room, walking along a white passageway leading toward the second part of the trial.

Mays and the rest were silent all the way. None of them said anything as everyone was deep in their own thought. Mays was busy conversing with Drasca about the origin of the white room. Hallel was thinking about something totally indecent as she kept glancing at Mays every few minutes. Her daring and direct confession inside the world of consciousness revealed how she really felt about Mays.

As for Ria, she was thinking about something else. Someone, to be precise. The girl which suddenly appeared and broke through the world of consciousness to save both her and Hallel. She knew who that girl was. She met her before. She was the Crystal Dragon, Drasca.

'How come she appeared inside their world of consciousness? Was she an illusion?'

If only she just asked Mays for his opinion, she wouldn't be troubled by this for sure. It was not Mays's intention to hide the existence of Drasca but he just couldn't find the right time to talk about it. He already decided to reveal it once Drasca had recovered enough to stay in human form instead of her small dragon form.

"Finally, the exit."

The first one to talk was Mays who saw the dim light coming from not too far away. With a light source emanating the exit of the passageway, the three of them quicken their pace toward the light source.

"Next is the strength test right?"

Ria asked excitedly. She was planning to use this test to gauge her real strength.

"Hehe yep. You both gonna shine there for sure."

Mays just smiled as he replied casually. He wasn't looking forward to the test at all. His only reason to be there was to look for clues about world gods.

"Time to fight to my heart content."

"I'm gonna past this test with flying colour."

Once again, the three of them stepped into a white cubic room. This room looks quite identical to the previous one with only one thing which made it different from the other. A huge mirror. The only difference was that this white room had a big rectangular mirror in the middle of it.

"What a huge mirror."

Ria shouted in astonishment.

The mirror was indeed huge. It was at least two meter tall and one meter in width. And the most magical part was that the mirror was on both side, the front and the back. Mays even touched the side of the mirror to inspect but he was shocked when he realized that this mirror was naturally formed that way.

Considering that this world itself was beyond the concept of physics, Mays then ignored the peculiarity of the mirror as he focused his sight toward his reflection in the mirror. He sensed that something was wrong with it but he was not really sure about it.

The moment Mays shifted his gaze toward the interior of the white room, his reflection in the mirror grinned menacingly before it mimicked Mays's movement.

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"USELESS!!! I want solutions, SOLUTIONS!!"

King Hitam Legam had been shouting since an hour ago. He was beyond pissed.

Inside the meeting room was the usual member of their alliance, the head of the four strongest dukedom and King Hitam Legam. The other four were also gold ranked insane bosses but their prowess pale in comparison to the ranked first King Hitam Legam.

Without any other option, they sat inside the meeting room without saying anything. At the very least, it was better than saying something just to get refuted and shouted at by King Hitam Legam. It was the truth though that their current situation was dire.

"Trash! Useless Trash! I wonder why I bother teaming up with you guys!"

Done with his finishing line, King Hitam Legam left the meeting room right away. The others inside the meeting room was still not talking, their eyes glued at the door which was slowly closing.

"He finally left."

"Yeah. Finally."

"Damn, my ears are still ringing from all that shouting."

"Can't be helped. He lose a lot this time."

Not even one minute after King Hitam Legam left, the others inside the meeting room once again started talking to each other. Total decimation of both Aqua Trinity and Winged Associates. Death of Kokakola who guards the portal gate. The escape of the demon princess.

And of course the most important one was the death of King Hitam Legam's devout follower, Death Bringer Kuriza. Every single event was a heart wrenching event by itself and each of them were detrimental to his main plot.

Now that his plan had gone awry, King Hitam Legam was at a loss. He would never have guessed that his plan would be thwarted by an unknown party, coincidentally even.

Aqua Trinity and Winged Associates were destroyed by godkins. Kokakola was killed by godkins. Even the escaping princess of demon empire was saved by godkins. Were these all schemed by heaven so that his plan were all disrupted by those godkins? Of course his loyal follower Kuriza was also killed by godkins.

"Damn godkins. I'll kill every last one of you soon enough. I won't even spare all those weak humans."

King Hitam Legam's hatred for godkins and humans was now ultimately high. To him, those famed godkin were all just a bunch of slightly stronger human. They were not strong personally but when they grouped together, they were a force not to be trifled with.

Once he was back inside his room, his gaze was fixed at a large mirror at the corner of his room.

"You there, Dominic?"

"You called, grandfather?"

A silhouette of a young man appeared out of nowhere inside the mirror. It was none other than Dominic, the one who overseer the mirror world. He was there for quite a while already, awaiting for the permission from his grandfather before he revealed himself.

"Yeah. Our plan is not feasible anymore. Too many unforeseen circumstances."

"I agree to that grandfather. Almost everything fell out of place. It's hard to get the plan working anymore."

"What do you think is the best course of action for now?"

Asking casually for the best way out of their dire situation, King Hitam Legam focused his sight on Dominic who already stepped out from mirror world and stood in front of him. He believed in his grandson, especially his bright mind. This grandson of his was a genius who managed to make his way up among dozens of his successors.

"Truth be told, the situation was not beyond salvation."

"Really? Do you have a plan already?"

King Hitam Legam was quite pleased when he heard what Dominic just said. From his tone, he knew that Dominic must already drafted a plan inside his head. This grandson of his sure was excellent. He never failed to impress him.

"I do have a plan in mind. But the risk is high considering our current situation."

"Is it? Please elaborate."

"Certainly, grandfather."

Elegantly sitting down opposite of King Hitam Legam, Dominic started explaining his plan in great details without holding back. With how resourceful he was, a backup plan was something he surely had concocted even before the main plan was executed.

King Hitam Legam listened to his grandson attentively as he nodded several time agreeing with the plan. To him, the backup plan was indeed feasible for their alliance right now.

"To ensure this plan a success, I need to ask for your permission to personally manage this plan."

"There is no need to ask. I'll inform the others to listen to your command."

"In that case, I'll arrange everything from my side accordingly. Also, I'd like to leave a reminder that even if we follow my plan, the success rate is fifty percent at best."

"It's okay, Dominic. Changing a fail plan into a feasible one is hard enough. You have done good."

"I'll take my leave then. Stay well, grandfather."

Once again stepping into the mirror, Dominic left the room swiftly under the gaze of King Hitam Legam. He left just as easy as he came.

"That kid. His power is increasing at a fast pace. If he keep it up, he can even overtake me given enough time."

King Hitam Legam mused as he stroked his long, white beard. He looks relaxed and at ease after talking to his grandson. His grandson was indeed way more pleasing to his eyes compared to those useless head of their allied dukedom.

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Inside the same white room, there was now six figure instead of three. On closer look, there were a copy of each figure inside the room. There were now two of Mays, Ria and Hallel who were facing their exact copy at the moment. Only Mays's copy was different since he didn't have Drasca coiled around his neck.

"Mays, what should we do?"

Ria was at her wit's end. She tried overpowering her counterparts but to no avails. Her opponents was the exact copy of hers, having the same abilities and strength as her.

"Ugh, who am I supposed to ask then?"

Scratching his head, Mays replied awkwardly. He was the only one in the group who was not in a pinch. His opponent was indeed a great magic swordsman like himself, copying whatever move he used but their essence was totally different. After toying with his opponent for a while, he was sure that the stats of these mirror image was totally the same as theirs, literally.

At the very least, Mays already confirmed the fact that these mirror image couldn't copy his martial arts style since it was not something from the game. He was sure that he could subdue his enemy easily if he go all out.

"You doing good Hallel?"

Since the situation was not dangerous enough, Mays leisurely parried all the attack coming at him while observing his opponent. He wanted to study them more to verify his curiosity. At the very least, he was sure that he could easily bypass them and help the other two if the need arises.

"Of course. These imitation can't possibly beat me."

As he predicted, Hallel really managed to subdue her opponent without any help. She could even talk with her usual tone, pointing out the fact that she was not out of breath even when facing her imitation. Unlike in the world of consciousness, her overall fighting prowess in real world exceed Ria by a large margin.

"Well then, let's just finish off these copycat and end this trial."

Mays was sure that there would be no more trick after fighting against his imitation for an hour. Considering how Ria was in a disadvantage after a long fight, Mays decided to end the fight. He rushed forward explosively before he unleashed his matchless blade work onto his imitation.

Not even one minute was needed for him to kill his opponent as the imitation dispersed after taking more than enough damage. Mays glanced at his side to look at Ria who was still holding on despite how tired she looked.

At the very least, this one hour of fighting against her own imitation taught her many things. This fight was indeed the best teacher for Ria whose practical skill was average and lacking in flexibility. Countless moves by her own imitation who fought her like a veteran fighter would without doubt broaden her horizon about her own fighting potential.

"Need a hand, Ria?"

"Yes, please! I've had enough."

"Haha okay. But the last hit is yours though."

"Fine by me."

As ruthless as Mays was, even he couldn't bare to hurt his sweetheart. Even when he knew that the girl in front of him was just the imitation of his girl, nor the real Ria. Woman was indeed the weakness of man. At the very least, holding her down from doing anything was something Mays could easily do. With her enemy restrained, Ria easily dispatched her with a clean upright slash.

Mays then looked at the other fight which was between Hallel and her imitation. He decided to just stay at the side as he knew Hallel would win the fight in less than ten minutes without any help. Mays was not offering to help either.

Just as predicted, Hallel's imitation was cut into two at the seventh minutes. The corpse of her imitation disappeared right away just like the other two imitation from before. Putting the blade of her great sword on the ground, Hallel leaned on it as she took a deep breath.

"Fuh, a great exercise indeed."

Hallel let out a remark as she wiped the sweat all over her forehead. This fight was indeed one of the hardest and the most fulfilling one for her. Usually she destroyed her opponents in a matter of minutes. That one time against Mays, she was defeated without being able to do anything making her quite depressed. This fight really helped her in letting out her pent up anger.

"Kacha."

A mechanical sound of sliding door instantly stole the attention of everyone present. There was now a normal human adult's size door at the previously fixed and seamless white wall. Even Mays was at a loss of word when he saw what lies behind that door.

"What in the world."

"I never knew there was someone this shameless."

Both Hallel and Ria let out a comment after they saw that thing. A thing which lies ahead of the opened door.

A silver statue. A statue of a buffed man with a shameful pose without anything covering his body, except for a single leaf on top of his elephant trunk. At the very least, it was a statue of a handsome man.

Mays face palmed as he approached the statue. Both the hand of the statue was placed close to his elephant trunk as if he wanted to show off that thing of his. There never was any statue with that pose back on earth for sure.

Behind the statue was a rectangular white table. Mays approached the white table after he saw several boxes on top of it. Both Ria and Hallel was still inside the white room with the huge mirror as they felt repulsive to approach the shameful statue.

"Wow, quite futuristic I might say."

Even Mays was quite astounded when he saw hologram of himself and his two companions on each boxes. To be able to produce something like these, those so called world god were not people of this world for sure.

"Come here. Our reward for clearing the trial is here on the table."

Both Ria and Hallel reluctantly rushing toward Mays while they barely looked at the statue in front of the door. Both of them acted that way but Mays noticed how Hallel tried to steal a peek on that statue's private part. Mays planned on saying nothing about it though. Right after they reached the table, they both stood in front of the box with their hologram on top of it.

"These are... hologram?"

Ria asked with a face full of curiosity. This was the first time she saw something like this in this world.

"I don't know, maybe."

Mays himself was not sure.

"Don't bother with it. Let's just open our reward box."

"Haha yep."

Just like that, the three of them opened their boxes. Bright light once again illuminated their surrounding as all three boxes were opened. Even Drasca opened her eyes as her gaze focused on the box Mays currently held with his hand.