The First Legendary Beast Master novel Chapter 186

186 Ascended Test

Karl stared at the words on the sheet. He didn't recall coming up with an actual answer, but he supposed that was an answer on its own.

This test was the most confusing trial he had been through so far, and he had no idea how he was even doing. He didn't even know what the standard was that he was aiming for.

Then the desk vanished, and he found himself at another temple with steps up the side, identical to the one in the last Trial Instance. Except this time, every side but one was shrouded in dark mist.

Karl walked over to the stairs, and found himself looking at the sign in annoyance. It was again in a language that he couldn't read. But the picture had a person stepping up the stairs and an arrow. That would be clear enough for anyone to understand what it wanted.

So, he stepped onto the stairs, and a soft sound like a tambourine's cymbals jingled. He stepped again, and it was a bit louder and longer. There was no appreciable resistance as he walked, so he just kept going, listening to the song that the cymbals were playing until they were joined by a drum beat.

At first, it only beat with every stair, but it was slowly gaining a beat as he moved up the stairs.

Then a flute joined the music, and a heavy weight seemed to descend on his shoulders, making every step a challenge. The Refreshing Lightning barrier seemed to help, and the mana flowing through his body helped keep him focused as he realized that he knew this song. It wasn't some Divine Hymn, or some ancient ballad, it was a rhythmic working song that the miners sang, that Karl knew by the name "Give the working man a chance". It was about hard work getting you nowhere, and that the only way to true power was to take it by force. _{ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com}

The song was officially banned in the mines, but not because it was a revolutionary theme song. The lyrics he knew advocated murdering the boss and taking over his job when you knew you could do a better job.

Karl sang along as he trudged up the steps, and that strange sense of amusement that he had felt on the steps after the trial appeared again. One of the Gods must know this song.

Or his version of the lyrics were so very wrong that they were laughing at him missing the point.

Six steps later, a familiar ache, like the end of a full shift swinging a pickaxe, had settled into his bones and muscles, but still Karl pushed forward, until he found that he couldn't take another step. As it had been on the fate steps, it was simply impossible to move forward. No matter where you put your foot, you somehow ended up on the same step.

This was a trial, so there should be some way forward, he assumed. Karl poured extra energy into the Refreshing Lightning Barrier, and slid his foot up the step.

That got it onto the next stair, but when he put weight on it, he found it back on the same step as his other foot.

So, he added more power with Shred and Rend both activated. Now he was on the step, and the other foot came up behind it. After a half second that felt like hours, both feet were on the next step, and a flow of power was entering his body, refreshing his aching muscles, then he was flying through the air, away from the temple. It was ironically familiar after his attempt to jump straight up on the stairs in the last trial instance, but he landed on his feet with a solid impact that left a ten-metre-long furrow and made the Refreshing Lightning barrier flicker.

The scene faded, and he found himself in the first room again, but this time he was facing the open bronze door, where he could see the Academy Matron and Alice waiting for him. The others were out of his line of sight, but the Matron was smiling at him.

"There is no need to discuss the trials you faced. They are different for everyone, and it won't help them to know what you faced. Congratulations, Ascended Elite Karl, you have passed the test." She announced.

The claw marks on his arm were glowing bright gold, and Karl let out a sigh of relief.

"That was a short test. Most of them take over an hour, but you're out again in under thirty minutes." Rita noted as Karl stepped out of the temple.

"Half an hour? It didn't feel quite that short. Though that last trial messes with your sense of time, so I suppose that could be right." Karl replied.

Rita waved off his efforts to explain.

"You can keep the content of your trial a secret. They often contain some sort of spiritual or personal revelation that will help you in the future." She explained.