Chapter 1598: Breaking Barriers: The Second Trial (1)
Chapter 1598: Breaking Barriers: The Second Trial (1)
“I see,” said Ataraxia, inwardly satisfied that his earlier thoughts lined with what Aeramis had to say. “One question though.”
“Would the second trial tackle those aspects differently like what happened in the first trial?”
As these words left his mouth, the young man thought that the possibility of the second trial being the opposite of the first trial was considerably higher.
After all, although testing one’s speed was considered one of the easiest trials an inheritance could have, the highest speed someone below Rank 6 could achieve was only around twice or thrice the speed of sound.
Compared to the Mach 25 speed Ataraxia was going at the end of the first trial, such a level of speed was incredibly pitiful in comparison.
On the other hand, testing one’s maneuverability and stamina was more in line with the usual trials an inheritance would have. In fact, such basic tests were even commonly used by those at the Divine level and above.
Then again, considering how the first trial turned out, there was still the possibility of his thoughts on the matter being wrong.
Though, after recalling the brief flash of red and blue light he saw just moments earlier, the young man felt more determined that his initial thought was correct.
Thankfully, it was.
“It wouldn’t,” replied Aeramis with a shake of his head. “Although it would be quite interesting to tackle the concept of maneuverability and stamina from a different perspective, there’s simply no need for me to do so.”
“After all, speed is inherently limited to the class rank one has achieved, as well as the movement skills one has access to.” The man calmly smiled.
“On the other hand, although maneuverability and stamina is also limited by one’s class rank, it’s not to the same degree as speed is.”
Hearing that Aeramis’ words were more or less in line with what he had in mind, Ataraxia faintly nodded in agreement as a faint smile crept up on his face.
Seeing this faint smile, the smile on the former’s face gradually deepened as he shifted the topic towards the mechanics of the second trial.
“Unlike the first trial, where I made use of a unique mechanic to assess your capabilities, the second trial’s mechanics are far simpler.”
Whoosh!
Releasing a bit more of his energy into the surroundings, Aeramis went ahead and used it to move more of the machines surrounding them to the side, finally revealing the source of the flash of red and blue light Ataraxia had seen before.
Lasers.
Thousands upon thousands of lasers.
Though the lasers lining the walls of the box they were in were placed in a slightly erratic order, the young man noticed that all of the lasers that did not have its beam directly make contact with a receiver instead made contact with a small mirror instead.
Following the trajectory of these beams from the mirror, he eventually noticed another set of receivers on the other side, allowing him to quickly understand more or less how the second trial would work.
Taking note of the familiarity Ataraxia expressed on his face, the man decided to summarize his explanation of the second trial’s mechanics.
“The goal of this trial is to avoid getting hit by as many beams of light as possible,” said Aeramis, slowly heading towards the spot where most of the beams would usually hit.
Once there, he then sent a bit of energy towards a specific area of the box, prompting all of the lasers on the walls to wake up from their long slumber.
Whirr…
Hearing the lasers charge up as the seconds ticked, Ataraxia took note that a few blue beams of light had already appeared where the man stood, some of them even making contact with the man’s upper torso.
Though, just as he was in the midst of wondering what the blue beams meant…
Pshh!
In less than an instant, the blue beams that previously surrounded Aeramis disappeared without a trace, only for red beams of light to cross through the blue beams’ trajectory not even a second later.
Sensing the ferocious aura contained within these red beams, the young man could not help but shudder in fear, getting the feeling that making contact with even one of them would probably whittle him down to an inch of his life.
With that in mind, Ataraxia took it upon himself to warn Aeramis of the red beams, certain that the man would receive a heavy injury from them even if he was an Ancient Monarch.
However, just as he was about to voice out his warning towards the latter…
Whoosh! Whoosh!
As if the speed at which the red beams came at him was 10 times less than what it was, Aeramis deftly moved his upper body in one fine motion, barely avoiding all of the red beams that would have hit him by just a few millimeters.
“Damn…” Sucking in a cold breath of air after seeing how close the man was to being severely injured, it took a long while for Ataraxia to calm his senses down, especially after watching the man avoiding a couple more sets of red beams after that.
Though the danger being faintly given off by the beams inwardly made him want to give up on the inheritance, the fact that Aeramis dodged all of those beams without even taking a single step made him understand that there was a lot to gain if he were to overcome the hesitation he felt.
“As you have seen from my demonstration, you will be given a warning as to where the red beams shall cross.” Disabling the lasers for the meantime, the man made his way to where Ataraxia stood as he expounded on the trial’s mechanics.
“Although this warning shall only last for a few seconds at most, I’m certain that few seconds is more than enough time for you to draft up a solution to avoid all of those beams.”
At those words, Ataraxia nodded in agreement.
“Of course, I won’t let you face against that many beams at the start,” continued the man, clarifying more of the trial to Ataraxia. “If anything, the trial shall start with a couple of beams at first, only for the number of beams to gradually increase as you successfully avoid more and more of them.”
“Do note that each set of beams you successfully avoid constitutes as one point,” said Aeramis, his expression returning to its usual calm.
“With that being said, to move on to the next trial, you need to collect at least a total of 200 points.”