Tomb of the Weaver (Unique, Trial): Complete the inheritance trial and seize your reward.
Maximilian raised an eyebrow as he read the quest twice. It was rather simple but slightly annoying. It didn't tell him what the reward was, but he figured it was the inheritance part. He glanced at the statue and put together a few assumptions. This place was a mausoleum to some cultivator. He also figured it was the Network that placed it here. The only problem was that it gave no hint to its difficulty. It was possible that he would walk through the door and get hit with a spell before he could react. Of course, he doubted it would be that stark. The Network had said Earth had a rating, so he doubted this place was more powerful than that. Of course, he had no way to compare himself to that level. There was part of him that wanted to turn around and cultivate to level eighteen. He wasn't sure if the three attribute points would make a difference, and he didn't want to waste the time. The way things were, there was a chance he would be called back in the middle of the trial. Which could allow someone else to take it from him. With his mind made up, he placed his hand on the door. A moment later, space contracted around him. Before he had processed what happened, the effect faded, and he found himself somewhere else entirely. He was in a circular room about the same size as the first one. Only this one was empty except for a massive stone sphere that floated about fifteen feet above him. A sphere that made his head hurt to look at. It took him almost ten minutes to figure out why. Its size was wrong. Or to be more specific, the space around it was wrong. The sphere was obviously bigger than fifteen feet across, which should've made it impossible to fit in a room this size.
He could understand what happened if he ignored the part of his brain that said it wasn't possible. Someone had either made the sphere take up less space or made that area take up less space. Like his magic bag, only much more complex. He tried to understand it for another half hour before he shook his head. He was confident there was an array at play, but he wasn't sure where it was, and he doubted he would figure it out anytime soon. Which meant he needed to focus on what was here and now. He was pretty sure he understood what his challenge was. He had to solve the sphere. It was a puzzle sphere, only much more complicated than anything he had ever seen. He also knew he wasn't able to touch it. At least not with his hands. There was a small platform. One that had a place for his hands to go. He stepped up and took a moment to examine the platform before he placed both palms in the indicated spots. Even though he hadn't found any traps, he had still expected one. The countless movies, video games, and books he had read practically primed him for it, so when nothing happened, he was disappointed. He pushed a bit of spiritual energy and mental energy into the platform. The spiritual energy was harmlessly dispersed, but the mental energy activated a hidden array. One that sent a surge of information into his brain. The process took a second, but it felt like he had downloaded a library's worth of information. He blinked and took a moment to process the knowledge. When he had, he cocked his head and looked at the sphere. It was too perfect.
The sphere was a challenge and training tool. It was designed to test if you had the required control over your energy. In short, the sphere was a puzzle box. You had to send your energy into the sphere to make it move. With the ultimate goal of solving the sphere and claiming whatever was inside. It confirmed that he wasn't too weak to deal with the challenge, or rather that it didn't matter. The sphere would work as long as he wasn't stronger than a "Realm Master," though he had no idea what that was. He knew he wasn't that strong. He felt he could push more energy into the sphere. But it was like trying to make exercise equipment heavier to show your strength. Part of him wanted to do it anyway just to prove to himself he could, but he wasn't that arrogant. He also didn't want to see what would happen if he was wrong. He also had to figure out how to solve the actual puzzle. The puzzle reacted to his Dao and not his spiritual energy, but only made the situation more difficult. He ran through several experiments, and what he learned made him grimace. It wasn't enough to just push his dao into the sphere. Each attempt triggered one of the dozens of symbols. At first, he thought he had to find the correct configuration, but that wasn't the case. He had to spread his focus across as many symbols as possible and trigger them all together. If he put the minimum amount of effort in, he could trigger a tenth of the symbols. Which should be enough to pass but it wasn't what he wanted. This brought him to his current attempt. He tried to form a thread of his dao only instead of using just one, he tried to combine both the dao of rain and static into one thing. The result triggered 25% of the symbols. Though he hardly counted it. Their lights were dimmer than the others, which meant that he had only barely lit them up.
He continued like this for another three hours when he was forced to stop. His head felt like someone had taken a pickaxe to it. Something that made his energy control worsen until he could barely light up any of the symbols. He stepped away from the platform and took a seat on the ground. After which he summoned two of the mental crystals and started absorbing energy. The energy felt like a cold compress on his head, something that did alleviate his pain if only slightly. As soon as he felt well enough to start again, the process repeated. Before long, he realized a problem. The door he used to enter was gone, which meant that he couldn't leave unless or until he had completed the process. He didn't like it, but he compartmentalized his worries. His people would have to deal with their problems themselves. Despite that, it wasn't all bad. His control over his dao had improved by leaps and bounds. It wasn't enough to advance any of them, though he felt that threshold was rapidly approaching. Though he wasn't in a hurry to do that. No, the device had made him more accurate, to put it simply. Before, his control had a certain amount of runoff. The sphere had helped him limit it, though marginally. He figured if he could get the whole sphere lit up, he would've made some serious advancement. The second benefit was the lack of mental input. He wouldn't call it an instinct yet, but it was getting there. If he had to estimate it, he would say he had cut down the time it takes to use his dao and his skills by five percent. With any luck, he would accomplish even more before he finished. He also decided that he would need to bite the bullet and absorb more spirit stones. He wanted to maintain his lead. He doubted that anyone would be able to catch up to him in the short term, but he wanted to improve his lead not just maintain it. Which led him to a dull but eventful three days. Maximilian took a seat as he stared up at the now glowing sphere. As soon as he finished, the door reappeared, but he wasn't in a position to leave. If his gut was right, the next challenge would be a fight. Which meant he needed to be at top form. Something that was made better by his new level.
He placed his free points into Endurance to bring it in line with the rest of his attributes. It was a far cry from his Intelligence, but it made him feel nice. He wished he had a way to test himself, but he figured that was something he would get soon. He took one last look at his status screen and smiled. He needed to keep pushing himself. He got to his feet, stepped through the door, and returned to the entrance chamber. He was about to head straight for the warrior door when he noticed the seated statue look at him. He cocked his head and stared back at it expectantly. For a moment, he thought the statue would attack him, but his instincts hadn't warned him, so he decided that was unlikely. When several motionless seconds had passed, he decided to continue on. He walked to the second door and placed a palm against it. Soon after, a familiar feeling consumed him, and then he found himself in a new chamber. This one was almost identical to the last. Though this one had no sphere or podium. Instead, there was a statue at the far end. A statue with a large stone sword pointed at the ground. He looked around for a spot that would tell him what to do, though he didn't think he needed the instruction. Having found nothing, he stepped forward. He froze a moment later as a foreign energy passed through him. The energy surged through every part of him faster than he could react. From what he could tell, the energy didn't hurt him. His surprise was dispelled a moment later when the statue started moving. Had it scanned me to determine how strong the statue should be? The errant thought was snuffed out when the statue charged.
His danger sense made it clear this wasn't a game, nor was it time to be distracted. He activated Severing Disc. Twin buzz saws appeared and launched before the thing crossed half the distance. Maximilian's eyes widened as the statue took both blades to the chest without slowing. His strongest skill hadn't even left a mark. Sure, he hadn't imbued it, but nothing? He formed a dozen balls of electrical energy to buy himself time. The statue charged through his minefield, showing him the error in his thinking. The electricity caused the statue to glow but did nothing to slow it. His instincts screamed as he bent backward. The statue's sword tore through the area his throat had just been. Maximilian rubbed his throat in shock. He threw his hand forward and unleashed a blast of wind. His goal wasn't to push the statue away. Instead, he used the sudden force to launch himself fifteen feet away. His feet met the stone seconds before the statue rushed him. For a moment, he considered clashing with the statue, but every instinct he had warned him he wouldn't win. He unleashed another blast of wind, this time aimed at the warrior's raised sword. The gust slowed it down enough for him to dodge. The sword slammed into the ground with enough force to crater it. Maximilian spun and unleashed a jet of water. Once again, the statue's chest glowed. This time it was a deep azure. One that was familiar. Spiritual energy surged into his feet as he launched himself back. His mind worked overtime as he tried to figure out what was going on.
Despite how strong the statue was, he was pretty sure he could defeat it, but his gut told him that it would be a waste. Well, that and the last room. There had been a clear difference between doing what he needed to and a complete success. Which meant there had to be something here as well. Further, he was confident the secret lay in his Dao. Just he couldn't decide where. His thoughts were interrupted as the statue rushed him again. Spiritual energy surged through his body as he dodged a thrust. He was just about to unleash another attack when the statue turned a deep shade of brown. His danger sense exploded seconds before he was blasted with electricity. The statue took the attack on its chest and continued. Maximilian attempted to activate the array on his robes, only it didn't work. His shock caused him to take the blade across his chest. Once again, he blasted it with the dao of squall to give him some space. He surveyed the damage and was pleased to see that the damage distribution effect still worked. Which only made him more confused. He wasn't sure if he had messed up or if it was part of the test. He tried to activate the array again. This time, he saw the energy flow into the symbol and then fade away. It was like the room leeched it away. Is the challenge to win without using the array? But why? If he were a warrior, he doubted the challenge would restrict weapons, so why armor? No, it had to be arrays and formations. His eyes filled with new excitement. Was this an array master's trial? He found renewed vigor as the statue shot toward him. He had to find out what the test was. He activated Prismatic Barrier.
The brilliance of a rainbow illuminated the chamber seconds before the stone blade slammed into it. It was as if a gun had gone off as the statue raised its blade again and again. Each impact was harder than the one before, but it made no difference to the defensive skill. He grinned as he formed a ball of wind and water ready to—His danger sense exploded. Spiritual energy surged into both legs as he launched himself backwards with enough force to crater the wall fifteen feet behind him. The force knocked the wind out of him while his brain caught up to what happened. An earth spike? The statue is able to use the dao I hit with? He replayed the battle until now, but it didn't make sense. It hadn't used water or electricity, so why would it do earth? Was it just because of the shield? If that was the case, then the statue wasn't aware. It just did what it needed to land the hit? Was the challenge to defeat it using countering daos? Or perhaps to hit with an attack it couldn't adapt to? There were too many variables for him to know for sure. Not that he cared. This was the best fight he had since the tutorial. The statue silently raised its sword and shot toward him. Maximilian grinned and reformed his spheres of wind and water. This was the perfect chance to practice.
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