The first Trial

As soon as Julian entered the dungeon, an indescribable feeling washed over him. It was as if something within the dungeon was calling to him. A slight pain throbbed in his eyes, which he chose to ignore, attributing it to the dungeon's strange effects. The interior of the dungeon was nothing short of spectacular. Towering trees reaching heights of 20 meters surrounded him, with small floating landmasses and the occasional chirping of birds and insects. The whole scene gave off a vibe reminiscent of a prehistoric era.

Julian and Finral ventured in a different direction from the others, discovering various trees and animals that bore a striking resemblance to dinosaurs. Julian attempted to kill some, but their corpses disintegrated into ash and merged with the soil almost instantly. He noticed that with each encounter with a giant dinosaur, a part of Finral seemed to die from fear. Finral's anxious glances at Julian, who appeared to be having the time of his life, were unmistakable.

Julian ensured no insects bit them, knowing that many of these tiny creatures were laden with deadly poisons. They kept walking, but after a while, they found themselves back at their starting point. The same thing happened to everyone else.

"Finral, try creating a portal outside," Julian suggested. Finral tried several times but failed. However, when he attempted to create a portal nearby, it worked. Julian deduced that the place was isolated until they retrieved the artifact.

They all decided to move straight ahead, and after walking for a while, they came across an entrance similar to the one they had used to enter the dungeon. It was the only entrance they had encountered so far. When Julian and Finral entered the dark entrance, Julian's vision was swallowed by darkness, and the pain in his eyes intensified. As his vision cleared, he found himself in a new area with endless grasslands, but Finral was nowhere to be seen.

Julian turned to look for the entrance, but it had vanished. He waited for a while, and soon a new portal opened. Instead of Finral, Letoile from the Golden Dawn, with her yellowish-green hair, emerged, surprised to see Julian in place of her teammate.

"Where are the others?" she asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"I think the trial chose us at random. Most likely, the others were separated too," Julian explained.

"Let's cooperate for now. My name is Letoile, and my magic is Compass Magic. I can produce needles for attacks and a compass field for defense. What's yours?" she asked.

"My name is Julian. I'm a fire mage. I can use fire for both wide-range and short-range attacks."

They decided to explore the area for a while but found nothing except endless grasslands. They figured that everything they were seeing was made of mana. Julian tried burning the grass, but new grass immediately replaced the burnt patches. 

After a while, mana started gathering above their heads, forming words. "Welcome to the trial. If you want to pass, survive for one hour." As the message disappeared, mini earthquakes began to shake the ground. Julian noticed small dots appearing and growing larger.

"Did you reach the same conclusion as me?" Letoile asked, worry evident on her face.

"Yes, we have to survive the onslaught of magical beasts," Julian said with a grin. Through her KI, he could sense her confusion at his excitement in the face of such a threat. Julian relished the opportunity to unleash his full power without worrying about destroying the ecosystem.

As the weak species approached, Julian decided to eliminate them all at once. He sucked in a lot of air and used his latest spell, which he rarely got to try. "Fire Magic: Great Fire Annihilation!" He unleashed a tsunami of flames, incinerating everything in its path and creating a charred blackened area.

Julian then flew towards a pack of giant eagles, twice his size, with mana daggers in both hands. The eagles began charging mana in their beaks, but Julian didn't give them a chance and tore through the ones in the front. The eagles in the back shot beams of electricity, which Julian tanked with his blaze shield. As he killed more beasts, he realized they were made of pure mana, which he could absorb into his mana core. He absorbed the mana of every beast he killed, pressuring his mana core.

This was a good chance to test a spell he had been developing. Mana condensed around his back, forming orange wings with each feather made of hardened mana. He used these wings as weapons along with his daggers, slashing through the birds and sometimes shooting feathers as projectiles. Although the wings were not stable yet, being made from normal flames, Julian was thrilled by their potential.

After slaughtering the birds, Julian released flames all around him and dived towards the middle-tier beasts, rotating at high speed. His rotation, combined with the wild flames, created a tornado of fire, sucking everything towards it. He noticed two new spells getting engraved into his grimoire along with their mastery levels:

- Flame Hurricane – Proficiency: 40%

- Flare Wings – Proficiency: 30%

Meanwhile, Letoile was dumbfounded by the destruction Julian was causing. "How can someone be so strong at such a young age? He fights better than the nobles I know, and his mana is off the charts for a commoner. It doesn't make sense," she thought as she stabbed a needle into a beast.

The tornado of fire wasn't enough to kill the middle-tier beasts. Julian concentrated on his daggers, turning them dark red with a corrosive effect, and resumed his onslaught. It took about fifteen minutes to kill all the low and medium-tier beasts. However, the high-tier beasts held back, waiting for Julian to tire before attacking.

Julian knew it was time to get serious. He flew away, creating some distance from the pack, but was soon showered with various ranged attacks. Charging his attacks with higher flames while dodging, Julian made tons of slashes of different sizes as he charged towards the beasts. Some beasts knew dimensional magic, requiring more effort to kill than others.

He created a flame tornado to gather the beasts in one place and used the spell [Eruption], causing a large-scale explosion that killed many nearby. Julian continued his slaughter, sustaining minor injuries that didn't slow him down. He had to be constantly wary of the Dark Maned Lion's claws, the Three-Horned Rhino's horn, and the Saber-Toothed Tiger's teeth.

A ten-legged spider shot its webs at Julian, but he dodged, pulled the spider with its web, and slammed it against a wyvern about to shoot a projectile. Sidestepping a Black Maned lion's claw attack, Julian condensed a ball of red flames in his hand and threw it into the lion's mouth. "Flame Magic: Exploding Thorn!" The ball of flames exploded, creating multiple spikes that stabbed the lion's head from the inside.

The slaughter continued, and Julian realized time was almost up. He returned to his initial position, using Phoenix Robe. It was exhilarating to let loose and fight without worrying about causing destruction. Julian had found that people's character traits often matched their magic attributes. For example, wind users were usually calmer, while fire users liked causing destruction.

Julian glanced at Letoile, who was struggling with some middle and high-tier beasts he had purposely left for her. This would help her understand the power difference. Meanwhile, after pressuring his core and continuously absorbing pure mana, Julian's mana core upgraded to solid yellow, just a few steps away from a silver core. His total mana reserves increased, but the pain in his eyes also intensified.

After the one-hour mark, all the remaining animals disappeared, and the area returned to its original state. Letoile, with scratch marks all over her clothing, looked at Julian. "Had fun?" he asked jokingly.

"Like hell I was having fun!" Her calm demeanor broke for a moment before she composed herself. "I know I'm weak. Without you, I wouldn't have survived the horde of magic beasts. You have my gratitude."

Julian nodded and cast a healing spell on her, appreciating nobles who knew how to behave properly. Healing her injuries made her even more grateful.

"Congratulations on passing the trial. Please enter the next chamber," words formed in front of them, followed by a portal opening nearby.