Chapter 343: Trial Objective
[Hell Difficulty chosen.]
The portal immediately brightened, and an enormous wave of golden light erupted from its surface, swallowing Alex before he could react. For a brief moment, he felt as though he was floating through empty space, although the sensation was considerably different from what he had experienced when meeting the Monarchs.
Before he could examine his surroundings, several notifications appeared before his eyes.
[Scanning Ascender. Scanned.]
[Generating Trial suited for Ascender.]
Alex’s body suddenly lurched, and his vision gradually returned. When he looked around, he discovered that he was standing inside an enormous library, surrounded by countless shelves filled with books.
He immediately circulated his mana, preparing to activate his spells at the slightest sign of danger. After moving behind a nearby bookshelf, he carefully examined his surroundings, searching for any indication of monsters or his companions.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t see anyone, and although he considered calling out to his teammates, he quickly dismissed the idea. If monsters were hiding somewhere inside the library, making unnecessary noise would only reveal his position, so he decided to investigate quietly until he understood what kind of place he had entered.
At that moment, another notification appeared before his eyes.
[Trial of Gold.]
[Trial objective: Earn 10,000 Gold Coins in 30 days.]
Alex frowned as he examined the objective. Several questions immediately appeared in his mind, especially regarding what counted as Gold Coins and how he was supposed to obtain them, but he decided to prioritize checking his surroundings.
He created several pulse-type Mana Spheres, causing waves of mana to expand outward and pass through the nearby bookshelves. However, despite carefully examining the information returned by the pulses, he couldn’t detect any monsters or his teammates.
After repeating the process several times, Alex slowly emerged from his hiding place. There was still a possibility that certain monsters possessed abilities capable of concealing them from his senses, but if such creatures were already watching him, hiding behind a bookshelf probably wouldn’t accomplish anything.
He began moving through the library while releasing increasingly powerful mana pulses, gradually expanding his detection range. Even after examining a considerable portion of the surrounding area, he couldn’t detect another living being.
“Seems like it’s an individual Trial,” Alex muttered, before turning his attention toward his Origin Mark.
He confirmed that his stored items were still accessible, but when he checked his available skill, he noticed something unusual.
[Return Skill (Sealed).]
Alex stared at the notification for a moment before frowning.
“So I can’t return to my Earth-body until I complete the Trial. I wonder whether this restriction applies to every Trial or if it’s something specific to this one.”
Unable to determine the answer, he turned his attention toward the surrounding bookshelves. If the Trial had deliberately placed him inside a library, there was a possibility that the books contained information relevant to his objective.
Alex pulled out the nearest book and examined its cover, discovering the title Lightning Rune Compendium. His eyes brightened slightly, but when he opened it, he discovered that every page was completely blank.
Confused, he returned the book to its shelf and picked up another one titled Fire Element Sub Runes, only to discover that it was equally useless. He proceeded to examine several more books, finding different titles but the same empty pages.
“…Why send me to a library if you’re going to leave all the books blank?” Alex muttered, feeling somewhat speechless.
After considering the problem, he decided that checking every book manually would waste too much time. Instead, he created several thin whips of condensed mana and began sweeping them across the bookshelves, allowing his mana to examine the pages directly.
Most books possessed different types of paper, but the texture of individual pages within the same book was generally uniform. If something had been written or printed on those pages, the surface texture would contain tiny irregularities that his mana could detect.
Of course, sensing such minor differences required considerable concentration. However, Alex considered it an excellent opportunity to practice Advanced Battle Instinct Spell, which would help him process the enormous amount of sensory information.
Since maintaining the spell consumed considerable energy, he also overloaded the Advanced Blood Vitalization Spell to support its operation. After finishing the nearest bookshelf, Alex expanded his mana into thicker wisps and began utilizing Mana Vortex Spell.
However, instead of employing its complete structure, he restricted the movement to the boomerang pattern, allowing his mana to extend farther before returning. This arrangement increased his searching range while simultaneously providing an opportunity to practice Mana Vortex Spell.
Unfortunately, even after examining countless books, Alex failed to discover a single page containing any information. Several minutes later, he finally reached the library’s boundary, where a solid wall stood before him.
He knocked against it, finding the material exceptionally hard, before following the wall until he discovered a door. It opened into a small living area containing a bed, kitchen, and washroom, with everything apparently designed for humans.
Surprisingly, there was even prepared food waiting on the kitchen table, although Alex decided against touching it until he understood the Trial better. After confirming that the room possessed no windows or additional exits, he returned to the library and resumed searching.
Eventually, he discovered something resembling a reception window built into one of the walls. Instead of ordinary glass, however, its opening contained swirling golden energy that looked remarkably similar to the portal through which he had entered the Trial.
Alex cautiously extended his hand toward it, causing another notification to appear before his eyes.
[Sell your Runes here. You will earn Gold Coins depending on the quality of the Runes submitted.]
He raised an eyebrow and attempted to push his hand through the golden surface, but an invisible barrier prevented him from entering. Alex withdrew his hand and reconsidered everything he had discovered.
“The Trial requires me to earn 10,000 Gold Coins, and apparently, I can obtain them by selling Runes here. Considering that the System scanned me before generating this place, it seems this Trial was specifically designed around my Runesmith Class,” Alex muttered, glancing toward the surrounding bookshelves.
He pulled out the Life Mana Rune hanging beneath his shirt and placed it on the reception desk. The golden surface flickered slightly, and a notification appeared before his eyes.
[Life Element Rune (B Rank)]
[Price: 0 Gold Coins.]
..
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