Chapter 33: 32. Hidden Dungeon

I dig up whatever was buried. It is a piece of paper.

!

The paper lists almost everything that happened within Chael today. If so...was our defences and strategies leaked?

A smile slides onto my face. I predicted something like this but it doesn't matter if the enemy knows our plans. I have the scheme to take advantage of that fact.

"Lena, can you explain what happened here to Radz?"

"I-I can...you want me to bring those...people back?"

"They are dead don't worry, you can use teleport in the first place."

Lena looks away and nods. "Then what are you going to do?"

"I have something I need for tomorrow," I say.

"But it's...late?"

"I know." 

I take out a vial of clear liquid from my coat which seems like normal water. I gulp the liquid before instinctive gagging. I cover my mouth and force myself to swallow.

"Bleh...so bitter..." I mumble with my tongue out.

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Potion of Invigoration consumed.

The physical fatigue of the body dissipates.

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I try moving my body around. Indeed, it felt like a good night's rest, albeit the same can't be said about my psychological lethargy.

"I will return by dawn, go! Show Radz the piece of paper we found." I say and run off into the woods, leaving Lena with the corpses.

Lena stares at the corpse and gulps. She swings her arm and a large magic circle appears below her and the bodies, turning them into nothing.

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By gathering mana in my eyes, I developed some sort of night vision. Wolves runs away in my presence thus nobody attacked me on my journey. Beyond me is a small rocky hole that can only fit one person. Looking back, I've travelled quite a distance from Chael. 

I take a deep breath and throw the torch on the ground, stepping on it to extinguish it. afterwards, I squeeze myself into the hole.

*POP*

After my body gets through the hole, what awaits me is a neverending pit of darkness.

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Achievement unlocked!

Find a hidden dungeon for the first time.

+1 Golden Key.

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Entering The Trials of a Warrior

Tip: No pain no gain. Risk brings about better rewards at the expense of potential death. Exciting isn't it?

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*SPLASH!!*

I fall into a deep pool of water and quickly swim up.

"Hah...huff huff..." After getting a breath of air, I swim to shore and lie down, panting.

My gloves, coat, pants, shirt, and bag are all wet...damn it...

At least my potions are fine.

Beyond me is a small golden barrier illuminating the surrounding. It seems that I have entered some sort of underground cave. Looking back, the hole where I came from disappeared.

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Welcome to The Trials of a Warrior. Overcome five trials and prove yourself worthy to be the descendant of Pharoh.

Failure in any trial will send the player back to the surface. The trial can only be attempted once and all memories of the dungeon will be wiped.

Please place your hand on the barrier to start the first trial.

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The trial of a warrior...clearing this is essential if I want to survive the early game. The prerequisite for this dungeon is to have no title equipped, that's why I haven't chosen a title yet.

There are five trials available: hope, strength, wits, courage, and patience.

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The tedious ones are hope and patience. 

I walk up to the barrier and touch it. It disappears and reveals a long staircase. 

...

The stairs stretch as tall as a tower. At the far end, light can be seen. I step through and onto the stairs, the entrance behind me vanishes into another neverending staircase down. 

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The Trial of Hope. 

A true warrior lights hope in the path of darkness. Do not lose hope.

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Do not lose hope...

If anyone did not pay attention to the message, they will lose track of the main objective. By instinct, they will attempt to climb the staircase.

But the stairs are infinite. The more you climb, the higher the "exit" moves away. Climbing down is simply going for a fail, it tells the "examiner" that you have given up on hope.

Thus, this trial is more of a mental endurance test. We have to stay on the stairs, without climbing down, for 50 hours without losing our sanity or giving up the so-called 'hope'.

Lucky for me, time flows differently in this pocket realm compared to the real world. 50 hours should be about an hour.

I take a seat and enter a meditative state, removing any thoughts from my mind. I should use the time to form an energy core. Forming one has countless benefits and pairs very well with "Mana Sense". 

Since I am in a pocket realm, the atmosphere is filled to the brim with mana.

An intense flow of mana seeps into my body. I control my breathing and close my eyes.

I can sense the outpour of mana within my meridians. Controlling the mana, all of it concentrates within my chest and swirls into a ball. Good, next I use my life force as the foundation to store it in my body.

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50 hours later...

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Congratulations to the player for forming an energy core.

Your soul resonates with the environment. 

Mana sense enhanced.

+1 Mag(Magic)

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You have successfully conquered the trial of hope. Hope will never disappear as long as one believes.

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My wet clothes dried...and I still don't feel hunger, thirst, or exhaustion.

I start climbing the stairs and the exit stops moving away. Finally reaching the top, I touch the second barrier. The scenery changes into a Colosseum arena.

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The Trial of Strength.

Even in the face of danger, never back off from an inevitable fight.

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A warm sun ray sizzles on my skin, the sky is clear blue with clouds.

"Wow..." I mumble. This familiar heat felt foreign.

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Defeat the enemy.

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"KRAAAAA!!!" a screech echoes. 

...

Hah...

A creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle soars in the sky. 

I aim my musket up and take the first shot. 

It hits the body but only grazed its fur. Because of its habitat and diet, the entire body is as hard as a diamond with high resistance to blunt damage and magic. 

Technically, due to the nature of the musket, its attack counts as "blunt" damage.

"Tch."

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