Another Three Days Later…

Another three days had gone by in a blur. For the first of the three days, Alistar had me focus on practicing with a rapier until I couldn't stand despite being physically fine.

He had given me the ★★★ [Rapier Art] [Lightning Flash], which by the way was technically a subcategory of [Sword Art]. Rapiers are a type of sword, but for trading versatility with multiple types of the same weapon, you could increase certain aspects of the Art in return for not being compatible with other weapons of the same category.

For example, when you strike with a rapier, you usually use the sharp pointed tip of the blade as the edges themselves weren't as sharp. Creating an Art just for certain weapons, you could focus it around their very strengths and weaknesses.

That is what [Lightning Flash] did in fact, a simple speed/power based Art to increase the piercing and thrusting power of a rapier while making it difficult to use with other sword types.

Unfortunately though, that was all it was, a simple speed and power enhanced Art. There was nothing really special about it by itself.

The other days included practicing all the other Arts including [Lightning Flash], as well as slowly building up my body and other skills. Once again, I am surprised by the effectiveness of the Fountain of Healing. Not only did it heal my body to peak condition, it also boosted my recovery speed which allowed me to grow so fast in so little time. I am so grabbing a couple bottles of it to go in my free time.

"Hwuah…"

Yawning as I got up from my bed, I stood still while my mind and body was still waking up. Rubbing my eyes, I froze for a moment after remembering something which got rid of my drowsiness immediately.

Alistar had told me some promising information the previous night regarding my equipment. I was filled with anticipation as I energetically made my way out of the room and towards the training room.

He said he had finished making adjustments to the training daggers, including the one I had been using, along with some other items he said he wanted to give me. Items from a former hero, I had a rough idea of what he might give me but I still didn't know exactly.

Entering the training room, a table with items on top of it caught my immediate attention.

A pair of the same identical but now looking sharpened training daggers along with their sheathes, a black ragged-looking cloak, and a pitch-black ring of some material I didn't recognize at the moment.

My eyes nearly fell out their sockets. I couldn't tell due to a lack of experience with items, but I could tell that they were not low-grade equipment. Especially the ring, which I had a slight suspicion of what is was.

Alistar manifested next to the table. His appearance was the same as usual but I swear he had a calm and collected smile on his face. It was one of those fake expressions that you had when you pretended everything was alright. But that feeling vanished as fast as it appeared.

'How strange…' I mused to myself, but I paid no heed to it. I was probably mistaken.

[It's a little bit early, or rather late, but here are a few gifts for becoming my disciple.]

He gestured towards the training daggers.

[For the most part, I've only sharpened the blades and adjusted the composition of the daggers a little. Other than that, there's something special about the material of the daggers themselves, but il'll let you figure it out on your own.]

He moved on immediately without waiting for my reaction.

[This cloak is an old friend, the one I used before I became one of the Twelve Heroes and got a higher quality cloak from the Blacksmith Hero, Hearth.]

His eyes were filled with nostalgia as he looked upon his old cloak.

[I've done some maintenance and touch ups on it to get it back up to par. It's extremely durable and provides a good deal of stealth so it'll serve you well. I leave it up to you again to figure how to use it properly.]

As he was about to move on to the pitch-black ring, I found an opportunity to raise a question.

"I'm grateful that you are doing all this extra stuff for me, but if you're a rogue like assassin, how do you know to do all…" I gestured towards the table, "… that kind of stuff?"

He simply scoffed.

[Hah, just because you excel in one area doesn't mean you cannot pickup a few other things. But if you must know, Hearth taught all the other heroes to do some basic crafting and enhancing in case of emergencies if we couldn't get ahold of her.]

I stood still, slightly embarrassed by my single-minded thinking but also in awe and shock of what he said.

'Those were basic enhancements!? Of course heroes have high standards!'

[Now, if you are not going to interrupt me again, I'll explain what the ring is.]

He waited a few seconds before continuing.

[Good, what I have here is a small storage ring, and I do mean small.]

'Yes! My guess was right!'

[This was one of our extra rings for trainees to store their equipment and a little bit of their supplies. With its current space, you will only be able to store the equipment I have shown you, plus a few days worth of water and food.]

What he said dampened my excitement a tiny bit. It was a STORAGE ring for crying out loud! Those things are extremely expensive and not easy to make, even for one that is small by his standards. It was a shame about its small storage space, but whatever.

Alistar wasn't finished though.

[But not only that, it also has runes engraved on it to hide that it is a storage ring, the runes themselves, and has extra durability so it doesn't easily break on you.]

God daaaaaaamnn! Forget about what little I thought about its storage capacity, I care a lot more about it essentially appearing as a normal ring. Now, I'll be less worried about being robbed or it being broken during combat. Not only that, I could hide most of my equipment with convenient access.

[Hahahaha!]

A harsh, metallic voice grinder at my ears.

[I can see you're excited, even from a stoic person like yourself so don't hold back and try them on.]

He didn't need to tell me twice.

Rushing to the table, i immediately started gearing up.

There wasn't much so it wasn't too long before I had the daggers at the back of my waist, the cloak covering them, and the ring on the middle-finger of my left-hand.

[Not bad.]

Alistar voiced his approval at my appearance. I agreed as well, but how do I phrase my concern? My color palette looked a bit 'edgy'.

You see, with the traps and training making rags of my clothing, Alistar had provided some new, durable clothes that had darker tones. Thin and extremely flexible joggers and a simple long-sleeved shirt. That and with the black cloak, my appearance was almost screaming "I'm a rogue!"

Luckily, they could pass as street clothes but if needed, I could walk out dressed like I currently am. It wasn't that unusual for hunters to walk geared up on the streets.

I, on the other hand, didn't want to draw attention to myself so I decided to hide the cloak and daggers.

Concentrating, I tried to mentally stuff the daggers and cloak into the ring.

Nothing happened.

Frowning, I thought to myself,

'Hmm… maybe it's a problem with my mental image?'

Calmly breathing in and out, I imagined all three items being sucked into a bag.

I immediately felt the daggers and cloak vanish.

[Good job, since I don't need to teach you how to use the ring. Now then, I believe you are ready, or at least sufficiently prepared with the amount of time we had together.]

"huh?" 'Had?'

I turned back to face Alistar. I was going to ask what he meant or implied by the way he last sentence, but I couldn't get a word out as I suddenly felt a surge of mana where I was looking previously.

Then just after the surge of mana appeared, I was suddenly sent flying backwards.

The sudden appearance of the surge of mana briefly overwhelmed my senses, causing my mind to blank for a moment. As soon as my mind regained its clarity and realized I was flying through the air, I was barely able to catch Alistar saying something.

[It was nice meeting you, kid.]

***

As he watched the portal that he sent the young lad through close, he stared at the space not far from him, waiting for something.

*CRACK!*

The air cracked, distorting as a rift emerged emitting a massive amount of energy from it, and whatever was inside it.

The entity or whatever responsible for the rift seemingly didn't bother or care for idle talk, as a wave of energy pulsed from the rift into the dungeon. Not too long after, a raging tidal wave of the mysterious golden energy surged from the rift, obliterating everything in its path.

Facing his upcoming doom, Alistar didn't fret. Why would he? He could be already considered dead as he was a soul remnant, a living echo. And with having albeit for a short time a disciple, he had no regrets.

But as the raging waves of energy swept throughout most of the dungeon and almost reached him at the center, a shit-eating grin crept onto his face.

[I'll leave you with a parting gift before I go.]

And with that, an almost equal surge of energy erupted from the center of the dungeon, heading straight towards the rift.

An unearthly scream rang out from the rift before all went silent.

And with that, Alistar's Trial was finally complete.