Maximilian dodged half a dozen slashes as the statue pursued him around the cave. The statue glowed the dull bluish-white of his dao as it tore through the air in front of and around him. He had already mapped out how the statue changed. Electricity made its slashes stronger, and it also released electricity into his body if it hit. Though he wasn't sure if that was because of his insights or something intrinsic to the statue. Wind made it faster, and water made it move better. Neither was a challenge to him, but just like the sphere, he could tell this was only part of the challenge. The statue swung wide, and Maximilian took the chance to create space. He smiled to himself; the rational part of his brain told him this was dumb. That he should just take the win, but he wouldn't. He launched both spheres at the statue, who once again he made no attempt to move. Both spheres hit like a shotgun. The statue was forced back almost ten feet as the two energies fought against each other. For a moment, Maximilian could see something in there. Some truth that he couldn't quite grasp. Not that it was the focus of his attempt. The statue soon gained equilibrium between the two powers, and Maximilian's danger sense screamed. Prismatic Barrier exploded a second before the statue was in front of him. The massive great sword slammed into his shield like the hammer of Hephaestus. The shield stole almost ten percent of his energy to block it, but it held.

  Maximilian did a quick calculation based on how fast the statue had gotten to him. He wasn't confident in his ability to avoid strikes from the sword. Yet he also knew he couldn't afford to let his shield run passively. The energy it used would—he paused for a moment and shook his head. He then pushed the dao of static into the barrier, mentally scolding himself all the way. He had mentally divided his daos into categories. He didn't have one for defense, so he had just stopped infusing his barrier. The barrier's power almost doubled now that it had a dao backing it up. Unfortunately, there was a flaw. It was greedy. The shield consumed a proportional amount of mental and spiritual energy. The statue continued to impotently swing its sword while Maximilian put the next phase of his plan into action. He formed three spheres this time. One for each of his daos. The sphere for squall was the weakest of the trio despite it being the largest. He had tried to compensate with more energy, but either he messed up or it wasn't possible. Either way, it didn't matter. All three-spheres shot forward and were absorbed by the statue. For a moment, the world paused as if reality itself wanted to see what would happen. The stillness was simultaneously over too soon and way too long. The statue broke. To be more accurate, it was as if the stiffness in its joints broke. Like it had been stuck in stone until now. Until Maximilian had freed it. He had a hypothesis, of course. The scan earlier had likely connected to an array. That changed the statue's abilities. He was now fighting the real thing. Maximilian's eyes widened when the statue swung its sword. He abandoned all faith in his shield seconds before it shattered like glass.

  The statue continued every movement perfectly as Maximilian was forced to flee. He released blasts of all three daos as he was forced to put everything on the line to stay just ahead of the statue. Finally, the delicate balance was broken when he overextended to dodge a swipe. The statue did something it hadn't done before. It launched a straight jab into his chest. It felt like he had been hit by a heavyweight boxer. His robes did their best to redirect the force, but it wasn't enough. His sternum screamed as he launched across the room and into the stone. The irony tang of blood filled his mouth. The impact had caused him to nearly bite through his tongue. He summoned a healing pill and swallowed it seconds before the statue began a new attack. Maximilian smiled as he reached for his dao. Electricity, wind, and water all came together as the two continued their battle. He wasn't sure if the statue's arrays had stopped working or not, but it hadn't tried to absorb any more of his dao. That and the thing avoided his attacks. Despite that, it wasn't intelligent. Its movements were more like a computer. If he had to guess, its creator had given it a preset move list that it could move through in some direction. Not that it made a difference now. He was hardly a fighter himself. He ducked another slash and forced the twin buzz saws of his maxed-out Severing Disc. This time, he imbued the skill with the dao of squall. A piercing whistle that made his hair stand on end filled the room as he launched the skill at the statue.

  The statue blocked with his blade, but how could a single piece of stone hold against both blades? Maximilian grinned as he duplicated the skill with his dao control, or at least he tried. What he created was closer to an oblong blob than a buzz saw, but it would be enough. He launched it on the tail of his skills. Next, he imbued Static Bolt. The basic skill wasn't strong enough for this battlefield. Not really, but it was good enough for this. The combined assault proved too much for the statue, and for the first time in the battle, it showed signs of damage. Its sword was covered in a latticework of cracks alongside the edges of its armor. It wasn't enough to stop it, but it did signify the next part of their battle. Maximilian wiped the blood from his lips as he braced himself. A moment later, the statue charged. Maximilian held out a hand as wind and water swirled. The two dao swirled around each other to form a circular shield reminiscent of the Yin-Yang symbol. He glared at the shield and tried to force it to meld. To force the two elements to merge into one whole, only for the statue to shatter it. Once again, he was forced into a fighting retreat. He raced to keep up with every step of the statue. He unleashed a blast of wind just as he pushed spiritual energy into his legs. The resulting explosion launched him across the room. He twisted in midair as he summoned another two Severing Disc. He launched both blades to stall his attacker.

  The statue avoided one but was forced to counter the second. More cracks spread across its front and revealed something he hadn't expected. There was a core. The core was some sort of black sphere located below the ribs and above the stomach. The torso hadn't cracked enough to reveal the whole thing, but the part he could see made it look like a cannonball. Part of him thought it was dumb that there would be such a clear weakness, but he figured this thing likely wasn't the highest quality in the multiverse. Either way, it didn't mean he could deal with it easily. The statue once again raised its sword; only it was slower than before. The difference wasn't stark, but it signaled the end. Maximilian gave a bitter smile as the statue rushed him. He formed twin spheres and launched them. Electricity and water collided a foot in front of the statue. The explosion obscured the statue for a second. Just enough time for him to imbue and activate Severing Disc. Only this time he did something different. He wasn't sure why he suddenly felt like he could do it but he did. He imagined twin spirals of his dao. One for Static and the other Rain. He brought the two spiral together until they formed one whole. It still wasn't a true fusion but it was much more than either of them separate. His combined dao were unstable and he doubted he could keep them together for long. He also knew he didn't need to. He pushed the new spiral into the symbol for Severing Disc. He half expected the skill to resist, to fight against the combined energy but it didn't. The symbol greedily ate it up. The process felt like it had taken an hour but in reality it was less than a second. The statue had cut the distance between them in half but it didn't matter. Twin buzz saws emerged five feet in front of Maximilian. The room filled with the sound of thousands of birds chirping in union. Time slowed to a crawl as he launched the new attack.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  For a moment he could've sworn the statue looked surprised. As if it hadn't expected the attack, as if he hadn't expected the human in front of him to unleash something like that. In the next it had been trisected. Maximilian stared at the stone not sure why he cared so much. He had started thinking of it as a person toward the end. Although he knew it wasn't. The statue wasn't like Nezha. It couldn't think or feel at least he didn't think it could. Maximilian cocked his head and pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. They weren't worth worrying about now. Now he—A skull splitting pain slammed into his mind. He was forced to his knees as he tried to will a mental stone from his bag. He had to absorb two of them before the pain subsided. When the pain was gone he groaned and sat up. "What the fuck." Now that he surveyed the damage he was in much worse shape than he thought. His mental energy had been almost completely exhausted. His body was covered in bruises. Adrenaline must've made the difference during the fight which he figured explained why he had crashed. He wasn't sure how to improve the amount of mental energy he had. Outside of getting more attribute points but he figured it would be tied to soul cultivation. Something he would have to look into. Assuming he could find a manual. He swallowed a healing pill and absorbed a pair of spirit stones. He didn't have a lot of them but he figured he could splurge. It was then that he realized he hadn't gotten any kill energy from the battle. He checked his dantian just in case it had been sealed like his robes but that wasn't the case. Which just made the situation weirder. He took another second to confirm that he could use his robes again before he got to his feet. Part of him hoped that the next room would have another statue or something similar though he doubted it. The battle was impressive but he figured it was supposed to teach him something. Whether or not it was just a combat exercise or a dao training one he wasn't sure. It was also possible that it was both.

  He took one last look at the room and exited. Once again he found himself in the main chamber, and once again, the central statue looked at him. Now he was pretty sure the statue wasn't alive. Rather that the trial made the statue acknowledge him upon completing the challenge. Despite the rational part of him knowing all that, he still gave the statue a respectful nod. The world had transformed into one of magic and myth. A living statue that could make things harder for him didn't seem all that crazy. Especially after he had just fought a sword-wielding statue. He had considered taking the black orb thing but decided against it for the same reason. Now that the other two doors had been dealt with, he stepped forward and placed his hand against the third. He felt space contract, and once again, he found himself standing in a different room. The room was mostly identical to the others, with one major exception. There was a woman inside. The figure was alien, with black skin and elvish ears. The woman had shoulder-length spiky white hair. She had a slightly off-white beard that hung down to her knees and a brilliant white halo behind her back. Lastly, the woman sat in the air. Like something out of a martial arts movie. When the woman hadn't reacted to him after several seconds, Maximilian considered leaving. His new instincts didn't warn of death, but something told him that the woman wasn't weak. He felt no energy from her, which only made him more confused. If he hadn't known better, he would've thought she was a mortal from before the Network. Not counting her appearance, of course.

  After a minute of waiting, he noticed something else. The energy in the room was pure. Much purer than on Earth proper. So much so that he decided to take a seat. He wasn't sure if the energy belonged to the woman or if she would be mad if he consumed it. When he started up the Nine Lightnings Canon, he waited a moment to see if the woman would say something. When she didn't react, he shrugged and closed his eyes. Energy practically poured into his dantian. The more he watched the process, the more shocked he was. He had figured he would need to take a week or so before he could level again. Assuming he wasn't willing to pour more spirit stones into the problem. Now he was confident he would get a level after an hour or two. He suppressed his excitement and allowed himself to slip deeper into his meditation. Sometime later, he stopped the flow of energy. It was still far more than anything he had in Nubia, but he could tell that it was thinning. It wasn't a problem yet, but he figured it would be rude if he kept going. That he would be overstaying his welcome or, more accurately, eating far too much food as a guest. That being said, he had allowed himself to be greedy enough to get his next level. Level nineteen settled on him like a glove. He placed his new points into Intelligence. The last fight showed that being a jack-of-all-trades is nice. But he needs to be strong enough to handle people or beasts that focus on just one or two skills. That and he liked how much stronger the attribute made his skills.

  He considered taking some time to advance his dao but decided against it. His last battle had given him a lot to think on, but he had a feeling he was already pushing his limits. Not of the room, but of the person. He hadn't noticed at first, but now he was pretty confident that the other person was watching him. He braced himself for whatever came next and opened his eyes. Only to immediately forget everything he was going to say. The woman hadn't moved, but now released a pressure that filled the room. He compared it to his own aura but quickly learned it was futile. Like comparing a candle to the sun. Furthermore, the woman now held a black staff in her right hand. A staff with a metal ring connected to the top. Lastly, the woman now had a third crimson eye on her forehead.

  "Greetings, young fledgling. I am glad you enjoyed the first of the gifts I've provided to you. The spiritual energy in this room should be enough for you to push a bit further." Maximilian could only nod as words deserted him. "Our conversation is going to be rather difficult if you are unable and unwilling to speak, you cultivator. Expand your aura, but keep it close to you. It will help with the pressure."

  Once again, he nodded as he followed her instruction. The moment his aura was free, he condensed and wrapped himself in it. It was like trying to hide from the ocean in a water bubble, but it helped. If only slightly. "Thank you," Maximilian began. "Please allow me to thank you for the trial and the energy. My name is Maximilian, Maximilian Croft. From Earth." The woman paused so long that Maximilian feared he had made some mistake. That he had either offended her or failed some test of etiquette. He was just about to apologize when she started again.

  "A new planet under the Heavens. I wonder if our meeting is fate or chance? I suppose it is justice that my final resting place would be used by them." The mystery woman stared up, but he could tell that she wasn't looking at the ceiling but at something beyond it. Though he wasn't sure if it was a figurative sight or a literal one. "Tell me, child, what is that you want? I have noted your talent, and I am impressed. I had thought you the child of a power, but I don't believe so. You are a native of this baby world, are you not?"

  He nodded. "I am. I was born here and, as far as I know, my parents are normal people, if a bit stubborn." He added, trying to add some levity to the moment. "As for your question, I am not sure I understand. I want to survive and protect my family. I would like to rebuild society and probably many more things on top of that."

  The woman smiled and glanced toward the door. "Your planet is far too small a stage for you. You haven't seen the immensity of talent, and if you stay here, you will die and wilt. All of those are goals you could accomplish in a year or two. Maybe three if events unfold in a way that was disadvantageous. I have an offer for you. If you are willing to listen."