Chapter 159: The Final Preparations and The Reveal
[1:00 minute remains before 'Domination Trial']
'Better be quick, if I don't know what the perks are about it will be difficult to fully utilize them… plus there is no saying if I will have any free time in the trial…' Stark, much like the others, also took this very seriously after witnessing the other four people that fought with him in the previous trial dying.
The reason they died was simple: they weren't strong enough.
But this time… Stark felt like the people he would participate with, not only were the double, but also were much stronger, maybe even more so than he himself was?
'Argh… fuck… just keep going…' he shook his head before opening the panels.
…
[Skill: Focus lv15]
[New Perk: Time Vision]
[Description: You are now able to slow down time for three seconds, this can be useful if an enemy attacks you out of nowhere, so activating this perk would allow you to check them out and find a viable way to get out of this situation]
[Note: Time is slowed for you too, and the time isn't slowed THAT much, it is more like 0.25 speed, oh and, there is a one-hour cooldown between each use!]
…
'Interesting…' Stark could now, at any moment he wanted during a battle, activate this skill and make his eyes faster than even time itself to see the world in slow motion.
And so as predicted, upgrading [Focus] had been the right option all along, these three seconds of slow could definitely save his life and remove the risk of being hit by an ambush as it would also warn him…
Next, Stark moved on to the second skill he had upgraded.
…
[Skill: Heaven's Wrath lv5]
[New Perk: More Radius and Less Cooldown]
[Description: I mean, the skill is already too strong as it is, so giving it a perk at level 5 would be too much, so in exchange, the radius of the beam increased by 20% and the cooldown is reduced from 30 to 20 minutes.]
[Note: The next perks will be much better…]
…
'Yeahh… I got scammed!' Stark knew that he couldn't do anything about it since he would have had to upgrade Heaven's Wrath at one point or another, but in this very situation, it was pretty average, 'Let's hope the last one is better to balance it out.'
He turned his gaze toward the third and final panel, then began reading quickly as he only had 25 seconds left before being teleported.
…
[Skill: Clone Frenzy lv15]
[New Perk: The Superior Clone]
[Description: You can choose to summon your three clones and merge them all together (much like with Aura Smash), thus creating a superior crimson copy that is ALMOST as good as the original]
[Note: This perk will NOT work if one of the clones is out, you precisely need all three, plus the merging time takes around thirty seconds, and if it is interrupted you won't be able to do it again for thirty minutes…]
…
'Huh…' Stark would have loved to test this out before entering the trial, but there was nothing he could do.
[5 seconds left before 'Domination Trial']
But right at that moment…
[You have beaten 'Soulayer, Bearer of Souls,' alone and without taking damage, granting the SOLO and NO HIT achievements, increasing the rarity and power of the equipment!]
And the moment Stark turned his head toward Soulayer's body… he saw two sparkles around him: meaning that two extremely powerful equipment pieces dropped beside the boss.
'SHIT…!'
[2 seconds left before 'Domination Trial']
Stark immediately rushed toward Soulayer's body, not only were such equipment pieces could help him, but there was also the chance that he would be teleported back to the real world once the trial ends, meaning the loss of his precious items if someone else took them…
'GOT IT-' he jumped, only a few centimeters away from reaching the sparkles.
But…
[Teleporting all participants to the 'Second Domination Trial'!]
[Good luck!]
'Sl-Sleepy…' his momentum suddenly stopped while his hand was millimeters away from one of the items.
And then…
'ZZZzzz…' he fell asleep, the start of the trial forcing him to go to sleep just like the first time.
story-source-MvLeMpYr
But while he was collapsing, his eyes drowning with dizziness… all Stark could think about was…
'Let's hope I don't die…'
Soon enough, he would discover what the trial was about, and also the 9 other people that had watched him fight.
It would be big, and possibly the hardest thing he ever did until now, even more terrifying than infiltrating an event with the top 100 strongest classifiers in the country.
'Well… it all depends on my strength anyway…' he let a quick smile before the back of his head fell onto the water, and so, Stark officially fell asleep.
[Good luck, participant!]
Stark's consciousness faded.
***
'…!' less than a second after falling asleep, Stark opened his eyes again.
But much like the first time he had done this for the trial, he was yet again in a giant black void.
"Do you think we will win?"
"Heh~ just use my potions and we'll be good!"
Suddenly, he heard the familiar voices of his… classes?
[Domination] and [Alchemist] appeared before him, materializing in front of him like it was nothing, wide smiles on their faces.
'Am I… in the dream world?' Stark wanted to ask, but his voice didn't come out.
"…"
"…"
The two Stark stopped smiling, their expressions turning almost sad as they shook their heads.
"I guess…" Domination shrugged.
"Let's just go along with it…" Alchemist sighed.
And so right as the two spoke… another panel appeared in front of Stark.
[Stark Heartsouls; Code Name: "The Chosen"]
'Oh… then that means I'm in the space between reality and the trial…' Stark sighed as well.
There was a strange feeling deep inside of him, one he couldn't shake off, and it seemed the two other him could also feel it.
Was it stress? Fear of death?
It didn't matter for now, as all that would happen later would completely depend on him.
'But then… why are they here, they weren't here the first time,' he looked at the figures resembling his own, they were around ten minutes away from him.
"Good luck…"
"Don't die on us!"
And so just like that, they faded away, leaving Stark alone in the darkness, alone to face whatever would happen.
He didn't admit it, but their presence appeased him.
A few seconds later… another panel appeared.
[Domination Trial: The Lucullus Prison]
[Difficulty: DEATH]
'Huh…?' Stark's eyes widened, and his pupils began to shake, 'D-Death…?'
He couldn't comprehend the words before him, yet they were as real as could be.
The first trial he participated in was from the [Death] difficulty, which was the hardest of the five.
Nobody had ever completed a trial with the [Death] difficulty before, he had been the first since the appearance of this class.
And now… he would need to do the same thing with his second one too? Alongside nine other people who he could not trust?
He needed to fight in a trial much harder than the first, with the [Death] difficulty…?
This was… the worst possible outcome.
'Is this world fucking with me,' he gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with crimson aura.
And so just like that, his consciousness faded away again as he received the information all the others did as well.
[Good luck, Chosen]