Chapter 194: Trial (2)

When Aurelius opened his eyes again, the rented room of the inn was nowhere to be found.

Instead, he found himself standing alone in a dark void.

There was no ground, no sky, nor anything else that could be used to describe his surroundings.

Everything was empty.

Besides him, the only other object in this dark void was a gigantic tower, standing hundreds of feet tall.

In front of this enormous structure, Aurelius looked like a tiny ant.

Thankfully, he had already mentally prepared himself for this sight, having learned of the tower’s existence from the information received beforehand.

Therefore, although he was shocked by the peculiar structure before him, he wasn’t completely stunned.

A split second later, he managed to recover from the initial shock.

Raising his head, Aurelius began observing the Trial Tower.

Just as the information had suggested, it was divided into seven distinct floors. The higher the floor, the larger it became.

The first floor was only a dozen feet tall, the second several dozen, and so on.

Clearly, the higher the floor, the greater the importance attached to it.

The gate of the Trial Tower stood open.

Inside it lay a bottomless darkness. A faint call seemed to come from within, tempting Aurelius to step inside.

However, he suppressed the impulse to step inside immediately.

Instead, he approached the tower and stopped in front of a wooden sign erected a few feet away from it.

…

“Trial Tower”

“Challenger: Aurelius Sol”

“Current NPC Template: Common”

“Floor: 0/7”

…

The sign displayed Aurelius’ information in written form.

At the same time, it subtly hinted at something else:

The Template Upgrade Opportunity could only upgrade his NPC Template.

The Player Template was unupgradable.

Aurelius wasn’t surprised. He had already learned this from the information he had received earlier.

Moreover, although the information hadn’t explained the reason, he had some guesses of his own.

‘Is it because the NPC Template is “native” to Nova Roma and is therefore favored by the world? After all, in a sense, the Players are otherworld invaders. It would make sense for the world itself to limit them.’

‘On the other hand, NPCs are native creatures. The more powerful they become, the more the world itself benefits.’

Unfortunately, these were merely guesses.

Aurelius didn’t even understand what Templates truly were and how they worked, let alone why the Players had come to Nova Roma in the first place.

He strongly suspected that even the Gods themselves might be clueless about these matters, much less him.

Given how little he knew, how could he possibly make a definitive statement?

Soon, Aurelius shook his head and suppressed his wandering mind.

After taking one last look at the sign, he stopped hesitating and stepped forward.

Moments later, he arrived at the gate of the Trial Tower.

Then, with another step, he entered it.

—

“Challenger—Aurelius has entered the Trial Tower for the first time…”

“Floor 1 Trial is being selected…”

“Ding!”

“Combat Trial has been chosen!”

“Please kill the following waves of opponents. If successful, you can enter the Second Floor.”

The moment Aurelius stepped inside the tower, he felt as though he had been teleported to another world.

Stone moved beneath his feet and formed a large arena, while a cold, emotionless voice echoed in his mind.

The instant the voice finished speaking, a creature emerged on the opposite side of the arena.

It was a monster.

Surrounded by darkness, its form resembled a cat, albeit one many times larger than an ordinary feline.

[Level 20 Dusk Cat (Common)]

An interface hovered above its head.

Clearly, Aurelius’ opponent for the first battle was a peak Rank 1 monster.

Under normal circumstances, he could have killed it with ease. In fact, even hundreds of such monsters wouldn’t have posed much of a threat to him.

A single Arcane Tower could kill them all.

Yet Aurelius had already discovered something unusual.

His strength had been weakened, as though a portion of it had been sealed away.

At the moment, his fundamental strength was no greater than that of an ordinary peak Rank 1 Awakener.

Both his physical strength and Spirit had suffered the same deterioration.

Just as Aurelius was inspecting his opponent and assessing his own condition, the emotionless voice echoed again.

“3… 2… 1…”

“Battle begins!”

The moment the final word landed, the Dusk Cat vanished from the arena, its body melting into the shadows.

A moment later, it suddenly flashed behind Aurelius, slashing at his back with its razor-sharp claws.

Shockingly, although it was merely a Rank 1 monster, its concealment abilities and speed were no weaker than those of the Rank 2 Shadow Wolf Aurelius had encountered earlier.

Fortunately, even though his strength had been weakened, his skills and rich combat experience remained intact.

Faced with the Dusk Cat’s attack, Aurelius reacted immediately.

Twisting his body to the side, he raised one hand. A golden glow emerged from his palm, transforming into a floating shield along the claws’ trajectory.

The moment the claws and the shield collided, both sides were forced back.

The Dusk Cat’s body tumbled through the air. Just as it was about to touch the ground, it prepared to disappear into the shadows once more.

Unfortunately for it, Aurelius reacted just as quickly.

A sword appeared in his hand. It was an Elite Relic he had forged only a short while ago, prepared for this trial.

A silver glow flashed across the arena.

The Dusk Cat’s body was neatly split into two.

Just as it seemed that the battle was over and the emotionless voice would sound again, the severed body transformed into black mist.

It was a clone!

As the mist dispersed, six replicas of the Dusk Cat sprang from the shadows, attacking Aurelius from every direction.

Obviously, the Dusk Cat possessed considerable combat experience.

It had first created a single clone and launched an attack to lower Aurelius’ guard. Then, taking advantage of the opening it had created, it unleashed a full-scale assault.

Faced with claws coming at him from every direction, Aurelius’ fate seemed sealed.

Yet despite this, no panic appeared on his face. If anything, a trace of satisfaction could be seen in his eyes.

The next second, the same golden light as before erupted from his body.

This time, however, it didn’t form a small shield.

Instead, it covered his entire body, transforming into a suit of armor.

Solar Manifestation—Armor Form.

The moment it appeared, the surrounding Dusk Cats were affected.

Darkness and Light were opposing forces capable of counteracting each other.

When Darkness was strong, Light could be suppressed. When Darkness was weak, Light would triumph.

The current situation was clearly the latter.

The bodies of the attacking Dusk Cats began to melt, as though they had suddenly appeared beside a real sun.

Shrill cries escaped their mouths, full of pain and agony.

Five of the six monsters exploded into black mist, being the clones.

Only one remained.

Its body fell from midair and crashed onto the floor of the arena.

Its black fur was nowhere to be seen. Countless burn marks covered its long body, making it look as though it had been burned alive.

Seeing its pitiful appearance, Aurelius showed no mercy.

Without hesitation, the sword in his hand flashed once more.

This time, it truly decapitated the monster.

As its head was severed, the vitality in the Dusk Cat’s eyes faded away.

A moment later, its body transformed into fragments of light and disappeared, looking like they had been absorbed by the arena.

“Challenger Aurelius Sol has defeated the first wave of opponents.”

“Second wave of opponents starts!”

Before Aurelius could breathe a sigh of relief, the same emotionless voice echoed again.

Another figure appeared on the opposite side of the arena.

It wasn’t a monster, but a human.

Although its exact appearance was obscured by the golden armor covering its entire body, its tall frame suggested that it was a man.

[Level 20 Paladin (Elite)]

Paladins were an Elite Class, far stronger than ordinary Classes such as Warrior or even Mage.

Yet that wasn’t what attracted Aurelius’ attention.

Instead, his eyes fell upon the armor and sword the Paladin was carrying.

With his experience, he could tell that both items were Elite Relics.

For a moment, even Aurelius was caught off guard.

Although he didn’t know how many waves of opponents awaited him, the wording used by the emotionless voice suggested that there would be far more than two or three.

The fact that his first opponent had been a Dusk Cat, an exceptionally rare and powerful monster, was already surprising enough.

Now, an opponent with an Elite Class and two Elite Relics had appeared.

Aurelius couldn’t help but wonder.

Would a Rare or even Epic Class enemy appear next?

And would they be equipped with Relics of corresponding ranks as well?

Despite his many questions, Aurelius soon had no time to ponder them.

Before long, the enemy Paladin moved, charging toward him while swinging its golden sword.