Myriad Devils-Chapter 176: The second trial

Amazing.

Every time he struggled with something, the resonance with this dimension deepened and his potential pool grew.

Jacob’s potential is simply staggering.

This is how it should be!

But then there’s the next one.

He so easily and casually escaped the caged space. It’s almost as if he comprehended the very essence of the technique in such a short time.

.....

’If it wasn’t obvious before, I’m pretty sure devouring wraiths and regularly evolving the soul isn’t something any and everyone can do. The dark world, my dark soul must be somewhat special, it seems.’ Anon silently mused.

Initially, upon exiting the caged space, he expected the swift arrival of the Lightning Reckoning Orb to guide him through the second trial, however it did not appear.

Naturally, he decided to think over many things. There was nothing that directly tested his comprehension ability since the time he was taught by Seth.

Though creating techniques from the memories of the wraiths and cursed spirits could be considered a testament to his comprehension, he found that the process was too simple.

It was only a matter of deductions and refinement.

After all, the memories and experience was already present. All he did was adjust the techniques slightly, suiting it to himself. It could not be considered a true test of his comprehension.

Now though, he had a faint idea.

He was not so naive as to think everyone was able to grasp insights so easily.

Hmm?

’That dimensional core sure is taking its time.’ Anon smiled. ’Is it that, I am amongst the earlier practitioners to decipher the patterns... or even the first?’

.....

’That wasn’t easy at all,’ Jacob sighed. ’The Lightning Reckoning Orb said that Anon is also participating in this successor trials. Even so, he lacks affinity for the lightning principle. I can’t imagine how difficult the first trial is for him.’

Only after experiencing it did he realize how unlikely it was to meet up with Anon in the later trials.

Highly likely, his only chance was to become the successor himself. Only then could he possibly use the Lightning Reckoning Orb’s prowess to locate and reunite with Anon.

As for Anon passing that first trial?

Maybe if he had some affinity for the lightning principle. After all, he was a genius, however without any affinity, that was an impossible task.

Jacob’s thoughts trailed. He then took in his surroundings, clutching the sheathed sword attached to his waist.

With his insights into the glowing pattern, he was even confident in facing the Cinder Fiend. Even if he could not showcase the full power of such a complex technique, battling a world above himself was not too difficult.

’If I had this strength at that time...’ Jacob pursed his lips. Maybe there were some extraordinary third worlders, however most of the teachers within the military academy weren’t particularly powerful amongst the third world individuals.

He was confident that the current him could’ve protected Anon at that time.

Sigh...

His thoughts trailed once again.

Finally, he took in his current environment.

He found himself on a bridge spanning across a bottomless abyss. Walking to the edge of the bridge, the abyss did indeed seem to be bottomless.

However, his heart thumped erratically upon peering into the abyss. His twitching ears picked up on the faint sounds of crackling lightning.

Dark lightning.

Retracting his gaze, behind him was a mighty wall hundreds of meters tall, and on the opposite side was an empty path, the bridge stretching into the distance, seemingly without end.

Buzz!

Suddenly, the massive wall behind him trembled, releasing several muffled explosions before beginning to move with an intense scrapping sound.

Jacob immediately turned his head taking in the sight.

.....

The loud explosions woke Anon up from his state of deep thought. Upon inspecting the slowly approaching wall, Anon’s eyes lit up.

’Is this yet another pattern to decipher?’ Anon wondered.

The wall had what seemed to be bulging veins that shone with an ominous light and released the buzzing sound of crackling energy.

But before Anon could approach the wall which inched closer to his location, from afar in the opposing direction, a beastly growl resounded.

The roar reverberated within Anon’s mind, attempting to shake his will. However, such an attempt was incredibly futile, and instead only served to earn it Anon’s attention.

Retracting his gaze away from the wall, Anon turned to the incoming beast. The cloud severing spear materialized in his grasp, and his aura instantly flared...

’Huh?’ Anon’s brows suddenly furrowed tightly.

His aura flared, but the intensity of his aura was noticeably weaker than it had ever been.

Only now, he truly perceived the changes within his body.

’What is this?!’ Anon inwardly exclaimed.

The strength coursing through his body... it was almost pathetically weak.

It felt as though he had returned to his time as a second world stellar fighter, with a basic first world fleshy body.

Although he could unearth more strength from his fleshy body than any second world stellar fighter ever could, compared to a fleshy body that was in the third world, Anon was utterly exasperated.

At the same time though, because of his feebler fleshy form, and his strong will, he had absolute control over this body.

True mastery.

It could be said that at this moment, he had reached a state of true mastery over his spear and body.

Whatever confusion he held had to wait, because the beast was already less than a hundred meters away from his location.

Welcome to the second trial. Simply reach the other side of the bridge to pass this trial. Unlike the first trial which tested only comprehension, this trial is a test of both comprehension and will.

The dimensional core suddenly manifested next to Anon. The latter did not pay it any heed, focusing on the attacking beast with three heads and six arms.

Within this dimension, all rules can be rewritten. The second trial forbids any participant from having a body beyond the first world.

To reach the other side, one must defeat monsters only through techniques derived from the glowing pattern in the first trial, or whatever one can comprehend in this trial.

Lastly, psychic attacks from these creatures get progressively stronger with each monster.

The dimensional core disappeared right after going over the contents of the second trial.

On the other hand, by the time it had finished, Anon’s spear had already drawn an oddly familiar pattern on the four-meter tall body of the three headed, six armed creature.

Whilst evading its attack, the pattern shimmered with intensity before releasing a buzzing noise.

Thereafter, white streaks of lightning exploded from the pattern, ripping apart the creature’s flesh and rampaging through its insides.

Droplets of blood sizzled on the ground as the monster’s corpse fell limply.

Intrigued, Anon appeared before the three headed, six armed beast and analyzed the creature for some time. Upon losing interest, he retreated several steps and observed as the moving wall made contact with the monster’s corpse.

"What?" Anon’s heart trembled as the bulging veins that wriggled across the towering wall released a bolt of black lightning which instantly shattered the beast’s corpse.

"Is it that, coming in contact with that wall would result in instant death?" Anon tilted his head. "I guess, the dimensional core did not state whether this trial was deadly..."

Shaking his head, Anon turned his back to the approaching wall and instantly created a vast gap between himself and it.

As of right now, he didn’t know the size of the bridge, the number of creatures he’d come across, nor the strength that they’d reach. This first creature was only at the level of a beast commander.

’However, the dimensional core has not stated that one absolutely needs to comprehend anything in this second trial to pass it,’ Anon assessed. ’Since that’s the case, it’s best to stay as far away as possible from that death wall.’

Who knew if the strength of the monsters would dramatically increase between each one.

The worst situation would see him defeat the beast, but too drained to even move. In such a scenario, he’d have no choice but to watch his slow yet inevitable doom. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

In preparation for a difficult battle, it was safer to create such a gap between himself and that wall.

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

.....

Jacob’s attainment in the glowing pattern wasn’t nearly as refined as Anon’s.

Still, it wasn’t that the monster was relatively strong, however the three headed, six armed beast attacked the psyche with every roar that escaped from its mouth, greatly affecting one’s willpower.

In turn, this affected the strength one could display through the techniques of the glowing pattern.

Simply defeating the first three headed, six armed monster left Jacob mentally exhausted. The ring on his finger lit up and he threw a couple plum-sized objects into his mouth.

After all, he was a stellar fighter. And once he took some high-quality magic items, his spirit would quickly recover and be ready for the next opponent.

Wielding lightning-based principle power to showcase his insights into the glowing pattern naturally amplified the strength he could display.

After all, the glowing pattern was deeply intertwined with the principle of lightning as well.

On the other hand, it was a wonder how Anon’s attacks held lightning properties, and how he could manifest the intricacies of the glowing pattern.

He could not even wield stellar cosmic energy!

But from another perspective, maybe if his spirit wasn’t injured, his principle power would’ve hampered his ability to influence the principle of lightning and draw upon its properties with his every attack.