Darian's eyes widened when he saw the victory ssage. So... the whole thing had been a character test. The thousands of people who ca here in the past were all driven and brilliant, willing to do whatever it took to beco stronger and stronger.
A hyper-realistic illusion using their mories? Who cares. They killed everyone closest to them without hesitation — and then paid for it with their own lives.
The one who created this Array would never hand over their legacy to soone like that. That's why those first ssages were designed to stir up greed and ambition, making sure the bloodthirsty and ruthless would jump at the chance to win no matter the cost.
Even so, the test offered a way out — just to avoid killing them without giving a choice. The final decision was left up to those who made it that far.
Darian took a few steps forward. He was standing in a small hall, the floor made of stones glowing with rainbow colors.
As he reached the center, he felt the room pulse, and the colored lights flared up.
His eyes were blinded by the brightness, and he shut them, stunned.
It only lasted a few seconds, then everything went dark again. When he opened his eyes, a white screen appeared in front of him:
[Reward for completing the Earth Stage received]
He took a deep breath... and then felt like the stars inside his body were boiling. His eyes shot open — with a single thought, he could now easily control the laws of the environnt around him.
That was the peak: level nine of the Seven Elental Stars Physique.
[Heaven Stage Reward: Chromaraic Cataclysm]
Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed through his head.
He grabbed it with both hands, like his skull was about to explode. His heart pounded like crazy, and the pain lasted almost ten minutes.
When it finally faded... it felt like he'd just finished reading so insanely complex book. All the technical knowledge was sitting there in his mind, waiting to be tapped into.
He thought about the introduction and let out a heavy sigh. Yeah, only soone with the pure bloodline of a Chromaraic — plus all nine levels of the physical technique — could use this thing.
Right at the start, the manual taught how to manipulate bloodline runes... sothing he was familiar with, since Niara had sothing like that. But him? He was just a human. He didn't have anything close.
Then, four bright white spheres appeared from the void in front of him.
Surprised, he felt like he was supposed to touch them and reached out. As soon as he touched one, its light faded.
He was now holding a fist-sized stone with red and purple tones. Just holding it gave off a weird vibe.
[High-grade Lightning and Fire Crystal received]
Darian grabbed the other three:
[Ring of Spiritual Inventory received]
[Celestial Solar Bow received]
[Mithril Dagger received]
These were his rewards. But... how the hell was he gonna explain all this when he got out?
He looked at the ring's na and picked it up to inspect it. It was a small, plain silver ring, nothing flashy — but as soon as he touched it, he felt sothing familiar.
"Kinda like the canine fang..." he muttered, sensing a connection to the object's soul.
Then he scoffed. After using that fang to its limit and dying, his old treasure had been lost. When he woke up, there was nothing hidden in his soul anymore.
He activated the ring and grinned, excited. It was like a spatial ring — but better!
With the experience he had using that old treasure, he made the ring glow and rge into his body, vanishing into his soul.
"Holy shit!"
He nearly jumped from excitent. He took the ring back out and moved the other three rewards. They entered the ring, then disappeared inside Darian.
"It's like a hidden inventory — only I can see and use it."
It was perfect. He could hide his treasures from the world... and even better — way better — maybe he could keep the ring in his soul and transfer stuff between this universe and the other one.
Just thinking about it made his eyes light up.
"...wait... don't the empires have to pay a fortune to bring stuff from another universe to Earth? I could actually... cheat and smuggle stuff over with this ring?" His eyes glead at the possibilities.
So caught up in the excitent, Darian didn't even notice the white screen had changed. When he finally looked:
[Overall Grade: A]
[Reward for completion...]
His eyes lit up with anticipation.
[Technique: Celestial Bloodline Clone]
His heart almost stopped... from rage.
"You've gotta be kidding ..." He didn't even finish the sentence before his head started throbbing again.
A few minutes later, he was reading the technique with a blank stare.
"To use it, you need a powerful bloodline — at least from a high-level beast. In other words... trash..."
All he could do was sigh. He had just gotten two techniques that people from powerful races would go to war over... but for him, they were completely useless.
"Well... this ring and the other rewards were amazing anyway. Not to ntion the max-level physique. Can't complain."
A door opened at the back of the room.
Darian knew that was the exit from the Array.
First, he glanced at his other three rewards and paused to think. He stored the Mithril Dagger and the High-grade Lightning and Fire Crystal in his brand-new inventory. Then, holding the bow in his hands, he took a few steps forward and walked out.
***
Inside the cave, Rhea and the man waited in silence. Darian had been in there for less than a day, but it wasn't uncommon for people to spend several days on the trial.
The first floor usually took the longest — everyone failed dozens of tis and was healed by the Array until they finally won.
Then, to their surprise, Darian walked out through the sa runic door he had entered.
The man let out a heavy sigh.
"Looks like he got cocky after winning that last fight, so he lost right away on the second floor... what a sha."
Given the ti he'd spent, that was the most obvious and common conclusion. It happened all the ti. That was one of the reasons most people only reached level 1 — being young and only having one shot was a big problem.
Darian didn't say anything. He just held out the object in his hand.
It was a small bow, reddish-yellow in color. It looked well-crafted, but was tiny and didn't seem all that impressive.
"This is my prize. It's called: Solar Bow." Darian said casually, purposefully leaving out the "Celestial" part of its na.
The man took the bow without even giving it a second glance. That was the rule he'd ntioned earlier: all prizes had to be evaluated by the Empire, which had the right of first refusal to buy them.
"The evaluation might take a few days. Once it's done, we'll send a ssage to your card," the man said calmly, and Darian just nodded.
Rhea had been watching him seriously the whole ti. She instinctively felt he was hiding sothing. But she chose to stay quiet.
anwhile, Darian was sweating under her gaze — even if she asked, he'd have to deny it. They barely knew each other, after all. No reason to reveal secrets that might one day save his life.
"Let's go," she said calmly, walking out of the cave.
He followed in silence. Once they reached the surface, he asked, "Uhh... and the money? When do I get paid?"
Rhea nodded. "You can withdraw it using your card."
"Where can I trade rit Points for money?" he asked, clenching his fists tightly.
Rhea looked him in the eye, and then understood a little. "I'll take you to do the exchange. You earned a lot, so it shouldn't be a problem. But you'll only have fifteen days off to rest. After that, I'll take you to train with my clan."
"Your clan?" Darian looked at her, confused.
"Yeah, since I recruited you, I'm responsible for you for a while. You won't be part of the clan unless you want to. But for your first mission, you'll have to go with my clan, in a group, so we can train you properly," she explained calmly.
"Anyway, you've got fifteen days to relax. After that, I'll co get you for intensive training. In one or two months, we'll get a mission at your level, and you'll head out. That's why these points are essential for surviving missions; it's not smart to trade too many of them for cash."
"My clan is pretty friendly though. We don't have many supports, so everyone's going to want to be your friend," she added with a small smile.
Darian nodded and asked seriously, "When can I go back to the Divine Protection Universe? Isn't it dangerous for Summoners to be left alone?"
Her smile widened. "Only a fixed number of Spiritual Guardians are allowed in the Divine Protection Universe at once. So there's a rotation among people from each Empire on Earth, and from all the planets in our universe. You'll have to wait exactly three months before you can return — if you want to."
She said it calmly, but inside she was happy to see how worried he was about his Summoner. Usually, it took ti to form a strong bond — or it never happened at all. If he already felt that way, it ant Darian was soone reliable.
Darian clenched his fists. He couldn't be sure if his contract with Niara was still valid. After all, he had died — maybe that broke their connection.
Maybe she'd lost her Summoner status. Then that Dragon King could start moving the pieces to trap and kill her again. But... she definitely wasn't so damsel in distress. For now, it was better to worry about himself.
Seeing the look on his face, Rhea said softly, "Don't overthink things right now. You need to learn to separate stuff, or you'll get overwheld. Use your fifteen days to really rest from all this. After that, I'll teach you what you need to know."
"Your card not only lets the Empire send you ssages — it's also how they always know where you are. You're forbidden from separating from it. If they catch you without it, you'll be charged with treason. That's really serious. Just a heads-up. Anyway, let's go. I'll take you to the imperial capital."
She finished and gave him a wave, golden wings sprouting from her back.
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