CH66

He stood outside of a large gate, poles with snake-like statues coiled around them guarding the entrance to the trial he and Thera were about to face.

He was a little worried, he definitely could have tried to prepare more for what he was about to face, but he got tunnel vision at the thought of completing his previous job quicker. At least if things went wrong he’d get some experience from all the praying he’d do. Still he didn’t regret it; well, for the most part. If there was one thing he regretted it was Theras staves. He had completed two new ones for her right before he’d gotten his two level-ups to his crafting, and as with every level up he could immediately see where he could have improved. The fact that she was walking in there with such inferior products ate at him, even if it would have meant working through the day again without any rest.

<I’d rather you be bothered by the fact you could die you know, and working that long without any break before you enter would just lower your survival chances.> His god interjected, worry filling his voice.

If it looks bad we’ll run, don’t stress too much Myriad. You’ll rust or something.

<Very funny, but you know I won’t be able to talk to you while you’re in there. If anything goes wrong I won’t be able to give you any warnings after all. You should be a bit more concerned.>

I’m plenty concerned, it’s just hard to fear some hypothetical mystery danger. Besides, how could I be afraid of something so beautiful? He was having his heart stolen by the trial, if he wasn’t aware of his resistance to dark magics he would bet he’d been charmed from looking at the enchantments that filled the wall and gate that created the trial’s boundary.

<Of course that’s all you can think about.> Myriad lamented. <Well if that’s all that’s going to be on your mind perhaps you’ll find this interesting. If those enchantments were placed on an item it would be considered mythic grade.>

Really? When he gave it some thought it made sense, mythic grade items were like the trials, in that they were both created by the gods. The fact that they were able to make anything so incredible was enough to boggle his mind.

<What’s truly incredible is that any gods managed to make items that could exist within the mortal realm at all. Trials are one thing, but something like a mythic weapon for a mortal is a whole other.>

Wait, what do you mean? Why wouldn’t it be able to exist in our realm?

<Anything with that much raw power doesn’t want to exist in lower realms of reality. Even making them slightly stronger could send them to the realm gods reside in. Anything mythic basically means it’s on the edge of leaving reality itself.>

Seriously? Does that mean if a mortal made anything powerful enough it would end up with the gods?

<I only know of one instance where that happened, but it does show that it was possible. Of course it took the efforts of an entire civilization to achieve that so that’s not on the scale a single mortal can achieve.>

Myriad you can’t just say that and not expect me to want more, come on let’s hear the story.

<I’ll tell you when you complete the trial. I promise it will be worth your while so make sure you survive okay?>

Survival was always in the plans, don’t you worry. I’ll be holding you to this.

<Good, I’ve put a sizable bet on you after all.>

…What?

He couldn’t see his god, but Ben got the distinct impression Myriad was shrugging, or at least the cubic equivalent of it. <Watching people take the trials is a pretty popular pastime up here, and if I’m going to gamble it should be on the success of my own apostle after all.>

I feel like I just heard something I wasn’t supposed to know. So what do the gods have our odds at?

<Don’t worry about it and do your best.>

So bad then, gotcha. He tried to ignore the ominous feeling that came with knowing that various gods thought they didn’t have a chance and turned to Thera.

“You all ready?”

“As I can be. Really wish I knew what we were going to face though.” She faced the gate, her cloak covering her face making it impossible to tell what expression she wore, but her tone of voice made her sound ready for whatever they may face.

“Same but we’ve prepared all we can, let’s just do our best.”

“A positive attitude.” Pelenia cut in. “Just remember to run if you need to, there’s no shame in it.”

“We’re going to beat this mom don’t you worry,” Thera said defiantly. “Then I’m going to get Ben and Falk to make even more staves for me. I’m sure you won’t mind covering the costs since this will show it’s worth the time, right?”

“Of course that will be fine, so you’re both prepared?”

“As we can be,” Ben had bought a variety of supplies on top of having his coat done and two other tools, A gauntlet enchanted with barrier magic as well as what he was lovingly calling charm bombs. He would have liked to get more items made up but he was happy with what he had managed, though in hindsight it would have been smarter to just buy some weapons and tools instead.

“Good, then if you’re ready go on in.” Two guards pulled open the gate and they looked at the forest within.

“Aren’t we going to wait for Karly and Glob?” Ben asked. If they were all taking the trial he wouldn’t mind taking advantage of strength in numbers for at least a little bit, but he was shot down.

“There are six different gates for the trial, they’re starting at the next couple over. While up to six pairs could take it at once they can’t enter from the same gate.”

So no strength in numbers. Great. Still waiting around wouldn’t do them any good. They looked to one another, and with a nod walked into the trial.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

This is already a nightmare. Ben thought to himself, though he was being overly dramatic. They hadn’t faced any life or death challenges yet, nor difficult puzzles to face. The issue was they couldn’t go even a few minutes without one of them falling to the ground.

When they first entered they were both drawn to the view immediately. An ancient forest that came from a lost world made quite the sight, and they were both carving it into their eyes while trying to remain vigilant for any threats within. Ben was getting lost in the sights as he fell onto his face, and after getting back up Thera immediately did the same. At first it was a little embarrassing, thinking their nerves had distracted them, but after almost 30 minutes of it they understood something else was going on, they just couldn’t tell what. Even Ben’s focus couldn’t keep him from spotting whatever he would fall over laying on the forest floor, be it a branch or stone or small hole in the ground, all they knew was that it was getting to them.

Still it was only an annoyance until the next time Ben lost his footing, and a pit opened in the ground where he was falling towards, a couple of meters across, with seemingly no bottom for him to hit.

His saving grace was Thera beside him. Faster than he could react she threw her arm toward him as he fell and yanked back, bringing them both tumbling just outside its edge.