Fifty days, feeling like an eternity, had passed since the trio arrived at the Cemetery of the Forgotten. Fifty days of constant fighting, cautious exploration, and unceasing tension. The trio, Orion, Kai, and Liana, forged their path with steely resolve through the escalating horrors of the lower levels. The fifth floor with its silent stone cities, the sixth with its twisted gray forests, the seventh with its biting snows, the eighth with its perplexing crystal labyrinths, and the ninth with its gloomy stone ruins. Each floor was more difficult and bloodier than the last, testing the limits of their strength, their minds, and their fragile alliance, which day by day transformed into a strong bond of brotherhood forged in the fires of endless battles.
But they were not just survivors; they were evolving. Orion, the quiet master of shadows, was no longer content with simply moving quickly. He had mastered a new skill he called [Shadow Travel]. Now he could literally dive into any shadow, no matter how small, and glide through it like a ghost, moving at unimaginable speeds to reappear in another shadow meters or even entire rooms away. Most impressively, he could envelop Kai and Liana in a protective shadowy aura and take them with him on this instantaneous journey through darkness, granting them immense tactical ability for movement, surprise, and escape.
Liana, with her piercing runic eyes and strategic mind, was no longer satisfied with basic runes. She had studied the precious crystals that Orion tirelessly harvested from the third floor's mine and understood how to harness their immense energy. She crafted small but incredibly destructive runic bombs from them, capable of wiping out groups of corrupted monsters, as well as complex spells stored in pure crystals, ready for use only in moments of extreme emergency due to their high mana cost, even with the enhanced crystals.
As for Kai, a significant change had occurred. During a brief but tense encounter with another group of "travelers" on the seventh floor, while studying his opponents with his [Eyes of Truth], he found an ideal target: a young man possessing a rare and powerful [Light] ability. Kai didn't hesitate for a moment. Using his copying ability, he replaced the [Spear Mastery] skill he had previously copied with this new [Light] ability. As a result, his combat prowess skyrocketed. He could now unleash searing beams of light, or blinding flashes, and most importantly, he gained limited but vital healing abilities, utilizing the light's restorative properties to quickly mend minor wounds on himself and his companions, increasing their endurance in prolonged battles. Much to Liana's particular dismay, as Kai's power evolved, his sense of humor seemed to deteriorate at the same rate, if not faster. His jokes became sillier, and his sarcastic remarks more annoying, to the point where Liana no longer just rolled her eyes with a wry look but sometimes completely ignored him with an icy coldness, which only made Kai laugh harder.
And now, they found themselves on the ninth floor. Its environment was a bizarre mix of ancient stone ruins intertwined with a sticky, gray organic growth that pulsed slowly. But their focus was not on the environment, but on their objective: finding the entrance to the tenth floor. They knew from the Cemetery of the Forgotten file they had read on the second floor and from some scattered information that the ninth floor's entrance was different. It offered a choice: either take the "Tenth Floor Trial," a challenge requiring a team of exactly nine individuals, with rewards said to be life-changing for those who survived, or descend directly to the eleventh floor, bypassing the trial, its rewards, and its dangers.
Many in the Cemetery of the Forgotten desperately sought to undertake the Tenth Floor Trial, dreaming of the legendary rewards. But Orion, Kai, and Liana had no desire to ally with untrustworthy strangers, especially in such a crucial challenge. It wasn't arrogance about their strength, but justified and bitter caution. Therefore, they spent days exploring the ninth floor, avoiding large gatherings of other travelers, searching for an entrance gate that would allow them to choose.
Finally, after days of arduous searching and intermittent fighting with the ninth floor's monsters (which were a terrifying mix of stone and organic creatures), they found what they were looking for: a spatial gate glowing with a faint gray light, located in a hidden chamber behind a waterfall of sticky gray organic liquid.
The trio looked at each other. Words were unnecessary. Simple nods were enough. Orion stepped forward first, followed by Kai and then Liana, and they passed through the gate.
The moment they crossed, they heard the same cold, mechanical voice they had heard when they received their vital weapons:
[Welcome, challengers. You have reached the threshold of the trial. Which floor do you wish to descend to: the tenth or the eleventh?]
The trio answered in unison, their voices strong and resolute: "The tenth floor!"
A bright white light enveloped them for a moment, then vanished. They found themselves standing in the center of what appeared to be a massive, enclosed circular arena. The walls were of smooth, high black stone, with no windows or visible exits other than the gate they had just entered, which disappeared as soon as they appeared. The floor was of the same stone, stained with old, dark patches. Distributed around the perimeter of the arena's circular wall were several massive dungeon gates, made of thick, rusty iron bars, tightly closed... until now.
They felt a pressure in the air, a sense of being trapped and watched. Then, with an earsplitting metallic screech, the ten dungeon gates began to slowly rise upwards, revealing pitch blackness behind them. From that darkness, a terrifying collective roar erupted, and then the corrupted monsters surged forth.
It wasn't just a group or a swarm, but an endless wave of living nightmares pouring out of every open dungeon gate. Corrupted monsters of every type they had faced on the previous nine floors, and perhaps new types they had never seen before, rushed towards them with savage hunger.
"Oh my god! It's a real party!" Kai exclaimed, his nervous grin not hiding his apprehension. His golden spear blazed with a stellar flame brighter than ever before.
"No time for jokes!" Liana snapped, her two copies appearing instantly, her fingers beginning to trace defensive and offensive runes with frantic speed.
Orion said nothing. His army of shadow ghosts flowed from his shadow once more, in the thousands, forming a barrier and a necessary fighting force against the first wave, while he summoned his five favored shadows and they spread out around him. This time, it wasn't just a katana. In his right hand, a massive black shadowy warhammer materialized, and in his left, a circular shield of hardened shadow formed.
The massacre began. The shadow ghosts collided with the first wave of corrupted monsters. The scenes were horrific. Ghosts were killing and being killed simultaneously, slashing and being slashed, crushed and being crushed, dissipating by the dozens every second, but they were providing support and buying precious time for the trio and the favored shadows. Every time a monster fell, Orion summoned its ghost to join the endless battle.
Orion himself was like a black whirlwind. His shadow warhammer crushed monsters in groups, shattering their bones and natural armor, while his shield slammed into and deflected attacks. When fast monsters approached him, the hammer and shield transformed in an instant into a pair of black shadowy scythes that danced around him, severing limbs and heads. Then the scythes became a long shadow spear, which he used to impale a massive corrupted rhino-like monster through its single eye. He wasn't limited to one weapon; he shaped the weapons the situation required thanks to his [Shadow Manipulation] skill and the weapon aura that adapted to each new form. He used [Shadow Step] to move across the arena, suddenly appearing to eliminate a monster that was threatening Liana, then disappearing to save Kai from being surrounded.
Kai fought furiously, taking advantage of his new light ability. He unleashed powerful flashes of light that temporarily blinded swarms of smaller monsters, then used his morphing chain (which now glowed with a faint golden touch of light energy) to form a searing light sword that cut through ranks of enemies, or a spear that fired focused beams of light that pierced stronger monsters. Every now and then, he would direct a touch of light energy towards a wound on Orion or Liana, accelerating its healing. "Did you see that? I healed your wound, Orion! Want an autograph now or later?" he quipped sarcastically as he dodged the claws of a corrupted monster.
Liana focused on crowd control and providing support. Her copies unleashed a continuous barrage of runes – ice walls to slow the monsters' advance, fireballs to explode large groups, lightning bolts to paralyze dangerous monsters. She used the Disintegration Rune several times against monsters with strong natural armor. And when a wave of fast, reptile-like monsters seemed about to break through their defenses, she threw one of the runic bombs she had crafted. A massive explosion of lightning and ice energy annihilated the entire wave. "Those are for emergencies only, Kai! Stop putting yourself in danger!" she yelled angrily.
The five favored shadows fought like legendary heroes. Zak was like a moving wall, his axe cutting and parrying. Gracchus wrestled monsters bigger than himself with his four arms and powerful tail. Severus moved among the enemies like death itself, his claws always finding the weakest point. Legolas sniped priority targets from a distance, his arrows never missing. And Anarak was the field commander of the shadows, guiding and supporting them with his swift spear and ancient combat wisdom.
But the monsters poured endlessly from the open dungeon gates. Corrupted blood and disgusting secretions covered the arena floor, making movement slippery and dangerous. Corpses began to pile up, forming small hills of horror. It was a brutal battle of attrition, a true test of their endurance, strength, and determination.
The trio and their shadows stood in the center of the arena, their backs almost touching, facing an endless sea of corrupted monsters, not knowing how long they could withstand this flood of death and corruption. The Tenth Floor Trial had just begun, and it was already living up to its bloody reputation.
After hours of relentless fighting that turned the arena into a bloody hell, and at exactly the tenth hour since the trial began, the trio finally began to feel a change in the battle's rhythm. The number of corrupted monsters pouring from the dungeon gates gradually began to decrease. The waves became smaller, and they had moments to catch their breath between each wave.
"Is... is it ending?" Kai wondered in a strained voice, leaning on his gleaming golden spear, which dripped with the black blood of the monsters.
But the respite didn't last long. The flow of Spark-rank monsters stopped completely, and an ominous, foreboding silence descended. Then, the ground shook with a violence greater than ever before. From the same ten gates, new monsters began to emerge, radically different from their predecessors.
They were larger, more terrifying, and the oppressive aura emanating from them was many times stronger, carrying the weight and power of the Flame rank. Dozens of them appeared – perhaps ninety or even a hundred colossal monsters – filling the arena with their terrifying presence. There were armored giant-like monsters with skin like rock, others resembling flying serpents with venomous fangs, and some were grotesque multi-limbed creatures moving with unnatural speed. Each one posed a significant threat on its own; it wasn't that they hadn't faced Flame-rank corrupted monsters before, but most of the monsters they fought were of the Spark rank.
Kai and Liana's eyes widened with shock and genuine concern. They had faced monsters with Flame-rank power before, and confronting this many at once while still facing an endless army of Spark-rank corrupted monsters seemed like an impossible task.
But Orion took a step forward, placing himself between them and the new wave of terrifying monsters. He said in an icy calm voice, without turning to them, his eyes fixed on the new enemies, "You've fought enough against the hordes. Leave the Flame-rank monsters to me. You two take care of any remaining Spark-rank monsters that might appear, and cover my back."
"Can you?" Kai asked seriously this time.
"I know their strength, and I know mine," Orion replied in an unarguable tone. "This is likely the true challenge of this trial. Splitting our forces now will lead to all of our deaths. Trust me."
Liana looked at Orion's unwavering stance, and at the way the shadows began to dance around him more intensely, as if preparing for something big. Despite her worry, she nodded. "Just... don't die."
"Hey, if you die, I'll kill you myself!" Kai added, but he took a step back beside Liana, forming his spear in preparation to defend the area behind Orion.
Orion unleashed his power. He summoned his five favored shadows to surround him, then closed his eyes for a moment, sensing the energy flows and movement patterns of the advancing monsters. They weren't just brute force; they were displaying greater intelligence and coordination than the Spark-rank monsters.
Then the deadly dance began. He plunged into his shadow with [Shadow Travel], suddenly appearing in the heart of a group of three fast, corrupted panther-like river monsters. He didn't give them a chance to react. In his right hand, a long, flexible shadow chain formed, wrapping around the legs of two of them and immobilizing them, while in his left hand, a sharp shadow dagger appeared, with which he stabbed the third in the throat with deadly precision. At the same moment, Severus and Anarak emerged from his shadow, the former poisoning the restrained panthers with his claws, and the latter finishing off the one Orion had stabbed with his spear.
Orion disappeared again before other Flame-rank monsters could reach the location, reappearing above the head of an armored giant. He didn't try to penetrate its thick armor, but instead formed a massive shadow warhammer and brought it down directly on the giant's head, leveraging the force of gravity. The giant staggered and lost its balance for a moment, giving Zak the opportunity to strike one of its knees with his axe, bringing the giant down to be finished off by Gracchus's multiple punches.
Orion's genius lay in his understanding of the battle as a whole. He wasn't fighting a hundred monsters at once, but rather creating multiple small, manageable fights. He used [Shadow Travel] to isolate the most dangerous or fastest monsters, then used his favored shadows to eliminate them quickly and efficiently while he moved to the next target. He used the versatility of his shadow weapons perfectly:
Long Shadow Spear: To strike flying monsters or distant targets. Heavy Shadow Axe: (Sometimes used himself or directed Zak to use) to break heavy armor. Shadow Chains: To restrain fast enemies or pull them into an ambush. Shadow Daggers and Scythes: For fast close-quarters combat against less armored enemies. Shadow Shield: To block unexpected or particularly powerful attacks. Shadow Katana: For precise and swift strikes targeting weak points.
He moved with ghostly agility, using the corpses of fallen monsters as temporary cover or jumping platforms. He unleashed [Shadow Blast] from his gauntlets intermittently, not always to inflict massive damage, but sometimes as a push to knock a monster away, or to detonate a section of the floor to create a temporary obstacle, or to distract a group of them while he eliminated another.
Every movement was purposeful, and every use of energy was calculated. Even the remaining army of shadow ghosts, which was almost useless against the power of Flame-rank monsters, he used intelligently. He commanded them to cling to the larger monsters to hinder their movement and vision, or to sacrifice themselves to intercept beams of corrupted energy directed at him or his favored shadows. It was a continuous slaughter of ghosts, but it bought him the precious seconds he needed.
Kai and Liana watched the battle before them with awe and slight horror. Orion was like a dark force of nature, moving with deadly grace, his mind working faster than his body, coordinating the attack and defense of five powerful shadows.
"How can he maintain this focus and this analysis even when he's exhausted? It's... unbelievable," Liana whispered, her eyes never leaving Orion.
"Yeah, it is," Kai agreed in a hoarse voice, completely forgetting his jokes for a moment. "He's a real monster."
The fighting continued for what seemed like another long time, perhaps an hour or more. The numbers of Flame-rank monsters finally began to dwindle under the coordinated and intelligent assault of Orion and his shadows. The last armored giant fell under a combined strike from Zak's axe and Orion's shadow warhammer, and the last flying serpent was killed after Anarak's spear pierced it while Legolas peppered its wings with arrows.
Finally, after an almost solo epic battle, the last Flame-rank monster fell. Orion stood in the center of the arena, his chest rising and falling faster than usual, the five shadows standing around him, bearing wounds and scars but still standing. The arena had become a true graveyard, filled with the corpses of both Spark and Flame-rank monsters.
Complete silence reigned. Orion looked at Kai and Liana and nodded slightly, a sign that the danger had passed.
An absolute silence settled over the blood-soaked circular arena. Not a single corrupted monster remained standing, only horrifying piles of corpses and scattered remains everywhere. Orion stood in the center, his chest rising and falling a little faster than usual, while his five favored shadows stood around him like silent guardians, bearing the scars of the fierce battle. Kai and Liana joined him, panting from exhaustion but their eyes gleaming with hard-won victory.
"We... we did it," Kai muttered in a hoarse voice, wiping sweat and blood from his face. "That was... absolutely insane."
"It was a brutal trial," Liana agreed, catching her breath and watching her copies, which had begun to fade slowly now that the direct combat was over.
Then suddenly, three waves of mana surged into the trio and began to gather in their cores. The trio began to cultivate it, and then BOOM, a mana explosion erupted from the trio, indicating that they had broken through to the mid-Flame rank.
At that moment, the cold, impersonal mechanical voice echoed once more throughout the arena, in the same tone they had heard at the entrance to the ninth floor and in the first floor's treasure hall:
[Congratulations, challengers. You have proven your worth by successfully overcoming the Tenth Floor Trial. Your strength, courage, and determination deserve reward.]
As soon as the voice finished speaking, the air before them began to shimmer, and objects materialized from thin air. Scattered piles of treasures appeared in different parts of the arena: rare herbs glowing with strange lights they had never seen before, shiny raw minerals in pure metallic colors, pure energy crystals pulsating with power, and even some pieces of high-quality armor and weapons, although they looked somewhat old-fashioned. The rewards were abundant, reflecting the difficulty of the trial they had just overcome.
Kai began to grin, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the scattered treasures. "Well! That's what I'm talking about! Reward after reward, nothing better than that!"
Liana was examining the herbs and crystals with an expert eye, assessing their potential value.
But amidst all these rewards, three specific items caught the attention of each of them, seeming to call out to them personally, ignoring the glitter of the other treasures.
Orion, whose shadowy senses were always alert, felt a magnetic pull coming from a pile of old scrolls and books. Among them, there was one book that stood out. Its cover was made of a matte black material resembling polished leather or frozen shadow, devoid of any inscriptions or titles, but Orion felt a faint yet powerful aura of shadow energy emanating from it, an aura that was both familiar and incredibly potent. He had no doubt – this was a skill book containing a powerful shadow skill waiting for him.
Kai, who was scanning the weapons and armor, suddenly stopped his gaze on a small object gleaming with a warm light amidst a pile of raw gems. It wasn't a gem, but a simple yet elegantly designed gold ring, which seemed to radiate a faint warmth and latent power. Kai felt an immediate attraction to it, not just because of its shine, but because of a strange feeling of familiarity and power he felt emanating from it, as if the ring was an artifact waiting for its rightful owner.
As for Liana, while she was examining the rare herbs, her eyes fell on an old, yellowed parchment, carefully folded and placed under a pile of crystals. It wasn't just an ordinary piece of paper; it was completely covered in intricate and dense runes and symbols, some of which looked vaguely familiar to her runic eyes, but most of them were so ancient and incomprehensible that she had never seen anything like them before, not even in her family's extensive archives. Liana felt an immediate thrill and an irresistible scientific curiosity towards the secrets this ancient parchment might hold.
Three unique treasures, each calling to its potential owner amidst the spoils of the bloody trial. Orion, Kai, and Liana each advanced, temporarily ignoring the rest of the treasures, towards the item that had caught their attention, their hearts pounding with anticipation for what they might discover.
Then they looked at each other and nodded in agreement to examine the treasures after leaving the tenth floor. At that moment, a spatial gate leading to the eleventh floor appeared.
Orion looked at the gate leading to the eleventh floor, but before entering, he turned to the corpses of the Flame-rank monsters. "Rise," he commanded. Instantly, a hundred Flame-rank shadow ghosts appeared, bowing before him. Orion nodded and stored them in his shadow storage. Without a doubt, Orion was the one who benefited the most from this challenge among the trio. He obtained a skill book for himself, his mana core advanced to the mid-Flame rank, and he acquired a small legion of Flame-rank monsters.
Orion walked towards the gate, followed by Kai and Liana. Both of them had wide, satisfied smiles on their faces, eager for the treasures they had obtained.