Infinite Realm

Exactly 24 hours(RT) had gone by since Fudo and the others had passed the test and gained official entry, Sato and Xue Yan were ready to challenge the special test Saimon said was only available to players who passed the entrance test. With the time spent forging and training, Sato felt that he was ready for the test and Xue Yan also felt the same. 

Though he wasn't able to level up, Sato made massive improvements to his overall fighting prowess after getting used to the effects of his new skills and stocking up on astral energy for his sword's skill. You could say that he as at his peak form right now.

"I don't know how long it will take us so you guys just improve on yourselves and level up more. We still need to face the kobold king and every second of training counts." Sato spoke to the team. Since the others had just recently completed the previous test, they needed time to not only take a break but to improve on themselves more. Hence, the idea of the other 5 following the team of Sato and Xue Yan was unlikely.

"Alright then. You can go on your date now." Yato shooed.

"No problem. We've got this." Fudo grinned silly.

Sato sighed at the behaviour of his friends but he ignored them as he faced Xue Yan.

"Let's go."

Xue Yan nodded in response as if unaffected by Fudo and Yato's ridiculous display which in truth, she was. 

"Hmm? Have you come for the trial?" Saimon asked as he saw Sato and Xue Yan heading his way. 

"How did you know?" Sato asked, a bit surprised.

"Your personality says that you will try the trial soon enough. You haven't come to find me for anything so I presumed the only time you would do so is when you want to give the trial a shot. Also, you came with her." Saimon pointed at Xue Yan

"Those 5 just completed their entry test so there's no way they would want to compete in the trials so soon."

'An accurate analysis.' Sato mentally praised him.

"You're right. Since we're about to take the trials, could you help us understand what they are?"

"Follow me." Saimon said as he turned around and headed to one of the statue of the Achievers.

The trio then walked towards the statue which also happened to be one of the tallest ones present. Just like the previous two, it had its face hidden behind a stone helmet. Compared to the swordsman and the axe-wielder, it was like an adult in front of a child, based off of height alone. Following the logic of a taller height equals greater strength, it was without a doubt that Sato and Xue Yan or even the duo plus the other 5, would lose against it, even with a reduced power level. And this fact was proven true by Saimon's next words.

"Lord Worrus. Ranks at the top 10 of the strongest of Achievers. He has a special body that has a high affinity to mana especially of the void kind. That enabled him to be able to manipulate space better than anyone in recorded history, only beneath the gods of course. Even if there were a hundred of you 7, making a total of 700, you guys wouldn't be able to pass the entrance test and that's with Lord Worrus being suppressed." Saimon stopped in front of the statue and said with an almost fanatic tone.

'That strong!' Sato and Xue Yan exclaimed mentally.

To be able to take on seven hundred level 8 and 9 players while being roughly at level 10 was too absurd and unbelievable but there was no reason for Saimon to lie to them. In other words, it was either that Saimon didn't know their full strength - which sounded silly since he had witnessed them battle before - or he was really speaking the truth and the Worrus was that strong.

"The test was developed by Lord Worrus long ago hence, the entrance to the trial grounds are located within the statue." Saimon said as he raised his left hand up before drawing a circle round it with his right.

A tear in the void escorted his finger as it drew the circle, rapidly enlarging with each passing second as the eyes of the Achiever Worrus radiated a red glow. After just 5 seconds had passed, a black portal had formed right in front of the statue with an ancient aura spilling out from it. Due to the color of the portal, the view of the other side remained unknown to the duo. 

"My affinity with space isn't so good; barely average at that. I'm saying this cause you would most likely experience turbulence or a few fluctuations that would affect you negatively."

"Okay." Sato and Xue Yan nodded.

"Let's go." Saimon said to them before walking in.

*Voom*

Sato and Xue Yan didn't hesitate to step in right after as the same low hum accompanied their disappearance.

*Whoosh*

With a low whoosh, the tear patched itself up as the red glow radiating from Worrus dimmed down till it extinguished completely. The hall then returned to its silence with the absence of life being the theme of the environment.

On the other side of the portal…

"Welcome to Versuchsgründe. The true trial grounds of the Caventry."[1] Saimon's voice sounded out with an imposing yet delighted tone.

Sato and Xue Yan took a second to recall their circumstance and location as the teleportation process wasn't so pleasing as Arman's.

Glancing around, Sato studied his environment and was quite surprised as he wasn't expecting this.

The trail grounds wasn't as one would expect. It wasn't a mountainous location nor a valley or even a building. They had appeared within an open field as if they had exited not only the central tower but also Black grill's Cave. There was a dazzling radiant sun high up in the sky, a semi-clear blue sky with a few white clouds and an empty field in front of them. Yes, an empty ground. No training equipment, no buildings and no sign of any living organism apart from the weeds that were at knee-height and the 3 people present. It didn't seem to be a trial ground of sorts no matter how anyone looked at it. It looked more like abandoned field.

"Is this the trial ground?" Sato asked.

"Yes." Saimon answered with a smile.

"Then what are we supposed to do? What's the trial?" Sato asked with furrowed brows.

"The trial…has already begun." As he concluded his words, Saimon's figure slowly began to fade. The same went for Xue Yan's figure but hers faded even quicker such that within 3 seconds it was gone. 

"Versuchsgründe, the proud grounds of the Caventry was created by Lord Worrus to be the training ground for the Caventry. With the extinction of the Caventry, it served as their inheritance ground." Saimon spoke as his legs began to turn transparent.

"What you see isn't the trial grounds but one of the trials itself."

Hearing that revelation, Sato was shocked but he still forced himself to remain calm as Saimon wasn't done speaking.

"The trials are divided into 2 phases; the entry phase and the main trials. What you see is the entry phase. The reason for its existence is to prevent those who are way too overconfident of their skills to end up dead after all, the trials are no joke. Passing it would lead you to the main trials. The main trials consists of more than one challenge and each one grants a reward that would be given to you at the end of the entire trial.

"Each challenge has a certain duration attached to it. Failure to complete the challenge within the specified time leads to an automatic failure. In battle-type challenges, you risk the chance to die since this is a trial and not a playground. 

"If you would like to quit, this is the only chance you would get. Now tell me, would you like to begin or retreat?" 

By the time Saimon had finished saying all that he wanted to, half of his body - from feet up to his waist - had already disappeared while his upper body begun to vanish.

'An option to retreat huh?' Sato thought as he glanced at the notification on his interface.

[[ System notification :

The Caventry's Path (Series)

Mission rating : A

Mission Detail : You have been granted the opportunity to experience hell as the Caventry do.

Two trials and several challenges. With each challenge passed, a reward is granted.  Get a high rating for better rewards.

Basic Rewards : ???

Penalty : 

-50% temporary decrease in Experience points for 2 weeks(RT)

-50% temporary decrease in Main attributes for 2 weeks(RT).

-Immortal soul would be harmed; 30% Permanent loss of attribute points for each Main attribute.

System : Accept/Decline

System description : It is advised that the Player make this decision properly. The test would involve certain scenarios that would affect the Player negatively. If accepted, Player would be required to go offline and make preparations as the duration and structure of the mission could potentially affect the Player negatively. For preparation steps, please check *Long term Online Preparation Manual*[2].

To help set up a challenge, Player's memories would have to be read. Accepting the mission would be the same as permitting the system to access Player's memories. Personal/private information related to finances or confidential information won't be shared and shall be deleted permanently from the system's database once the mission is over. All actions and decisions are protected Alliance laws (Lois universelles de l'Alliance, Section A : Paragraphe 3. Modifié dans l'État de France).[3]

]]

'For an A rated mission, this is really severe.' Sato thought. 

From the notification, Sato figured out that the penalties were tougher than he could handle. Ignoring the system penalties, the decision of letting the System read his memories was quite risky since everyone has their secrets. Thanks to the French amendment, despite VR games possessing the ability to read one's mind, they didn't. No one would dare challenge the Alliance's authority, not even a large state or other federations, much less a game-dev company.

'Ignoring that, the penalties are really something.' Sato sighed. He then took a dep breath as he prepared to make his decision.

'The heavens are fair, that's why…'

"I accept."