Trial

'The answer to my current dilemma? Are you suggesting I can break through in both the Mage and Warrior paths there?'

[While I can't say for certain, if there's a way to achieve that, you'll surely find it there.]

'What's so extraordinary about this God's Temple that it can teach something no one has ever accomplished before?'

[I don't know.]

'Eh?! What do you mean you don't know?'

[Exactly that. Nobody knows. God's Temple existed even before the first vampire. The location of the Vampire Realm's capital is because of it, and I believe the same applies to this academy.]

'Why is this place so important?'

[It presents a trial to each individual, and everyone's trial is unique. The trial also serves as a reward. Because it differs from person to person, there's little you can do to prepare. You simply have to go in and do your best to learn what you can.]

'Oh, so can I enter multiple times to accumulate rewards?'

'No, you can only go in once, even if you try to go in again, the trial won't appear, and you'll leave empty-handed."

While Elion conversed with Valen, Robert also explained about God's Templo to the class.

"God's Temple can only be visited once in your lifetime. So you must do your best inside, to get the most out of this opportunity," continued Robert.

"We'll depart in half an hour, all first-year students will be there."

Elion continued his conversation with Valen. 

'Have you been to God's Temple, Valen?' he asked.

[Yes, I have.] 

'Really? What did you gain from it?'

[The foundation for the Demon Slaying Sword Arts that you now use.] 

'Wow, seriously? That's incredible! But what do you mean by 'foundation' instead of the actual arts?'

[The trial didn't teach me the techniques directly; it inspired my understanding of the sword. The experience was more about revelation than instruction. I was still young when I went there—before the demons even invaded Alastor.] 

"I really hope to learn how to advance my own realm there." 

[You will. The Prophet King learned his fate magic in God's Temple, and you are the most significant outcome of that magic. His vision shaped the future, and we met thanks to it. I have no doubt your journey there will be rewarding, kid.] 

'It's a lot to live up to.'

[You're not just living up to someone else's legacy; you're creating your own. Embrace your unique strengths and trust in yourself. Me and the Prophet King may guide you, but it's up to you to decide how far you'll go.]

Elion nodded. 'All right, let's do it, Valen.'

—

In the dimly lit chamber of Nocturnis, Roderic, king of Alastor and father of Seraphina, sat hunched over a report. His crimson eyes, glowing like embers in the darkness, narrowed as he scanned the pages. 

With a frustrated exhale, he leaned back in his chair, fingers gripping the armrests.

"So, he still hasn't broken through to the Soul-Strengthening Realm…" Roderic muttered, his voice filled with disappointment. 

"What is this kid planning? Is he content to waste his life stuck in the third realm? What a waste of talent."

Years ago, he had discovered Elion,a boy capable of achieving something no one had managed before—natural phenomena resonance while at the Meridian Expansion. 

It was a feat that should have been impossible, yet here was Elion who did it once.

"Yet this boy squanders his gifts like this… What a pity," Roderic continued.

"Shadow," he called, seeming to address the empty space around him, his tone commanding yet weary.

Almost instantly, a figure materialized from the shadows. 

The figure bowed slightly, a respectful gesture that was almost fluid in its execution. "Yes, my king," Shadow replied.

"Stop the surveillance and protection on the human boy Elion," Roderic commanded.

"As you command," Shadow responded, his posture bending slightly.

After the figure known as Shadow departed his expression softened as he whispered to himself, 

"Today is the day Seraphina will visit God's Temple. I hope she brings back something good." A flicker of pride swelled in his eyes as he thought of his daughter, one of the most talented vampires he had ever seen, with the potential to surpass him and his wife.

—

Elion found himself standing in a barren forest. The ground was cracked and dry, a patchwork of lifeless soil and scattered stones.

Around him, the fourteen homeroom teachers stood in a wide semi-circle, each accompanied by their respective classes, students from both the Mage and Warrior Departments. 

The atmosphere was charged with anticipation, their eyes trained on the portal ahead—a massive swirling vortex, twenty meters in radius, radiating strong spatial fluctuations. 

The air around it shimmered, distorting reality like ripples in a pond, sending waves of pressure outward that made the space around them unstable. 

This was the gateway to God's Temple trial

Elion's gaze shifted to the students, particularly those in the S classes, whose numbers were noticeably smaller. 

About a hundred students stood in the S ranks.

'It seems the higher the class, the fewer the students,' Elion thought, 'so they can concentrate their resources on the most talented.'

He mentally calculated the numbers. 'Five thousand students were admitted this year, but only two percent made it into the S class—half for the Mage Department, and the other half for the Warrior Department.'

Elion shifted his focus to the gate, he couldn't help but feel a strong anticipation. 

This may be his best chance to break through to the Soul-Strengthening Realm.

He couldn't afford to wait any longer. Each new world that the demons consumed the stronger they get. 

He didn't know when the current stalemate between Alastor and the demons would break, but for sure, their chances of winning weren't good.

This war has been going on for thousands of years, and the Vampire Realm only continues to lose its territories.

"Welcome once again, students," said Ariel, the Dean of the Mage Department. 

"I trust by now you are all familiar with the significance of this place," she continued, gesturing toward the imposing structure of God's Temple behind her.

"Now, as you prepare to enter, remember the opportunity before you. Don't waste it, there won't be a second chance, Ariel added, her tone growing more serious. 

"You will enter the Temple in groups of a hundred, starting with the S classes." She paused, her eyes locking on the top-ranked students. 

The crowd started moving silently and going inside the portal, Elion patiently waited for his turn, which came in only a few minutes. 

They didn't need to wait for the groups that had entered first to leave before going inside.

As Elion stepped through the portal, the world around him shifted. 

When his vision cleared, he found himself standing in the center of a vast, enclosed arena. The space stretched out in a perfect circle, with a 50-meter radius, its stone floor smooth beneath his feet.

Massive stone walls rose around him, forming a towering dome that sealed off any view of the outside world.

'Hmm,' Elion muttered, scanning his surroundings. 'Judging by the setting, I believe I'm supposed to fight... but who, Valen?'

Elion didn't get any response, he couldn't feel Valen's presence anymore, similar to what happened to him when he went to the dungeon near Elandor and met Avandor's soul.

'Valen? It seems that our connection was cut off again.'

Soon the ground beneath him shuddered. A low tremor rippled through the arena. Suddenly, an emotionless voice boomed through the air, signaling the beginning of the Trial.

Through fire's blaze and blood's embrace, 

Each battle fought, each scar we trace, 

New strength awakens, fierce and true, 

From every trial, we are made anew.

After the voice faded into silence, multiple portals materialized around Elion.

From these dark openings emerged a crowd of entities that defied the laws of life, shuffling toward him in a grotesque mass.

If anybody from Earth saw this, they would undoubtedly be labeled as zombies and skeletons. 

The zombies advanced, their eyes devoid of life, hollow and vacant, as if trapped in a perpetual trance. 

In stark contrast, the skeletons moved with a haunting grace, their empty eye sockets ablaze with an eternal blue flame that flickered ominously.

Elion gulped as he saw the unsettling scene before him.

'It's one thing to fight, but why do these creatures look like they've stepped straight out of a horror movie? I thought I was in a fantasy world, not a nightmare coming to life.'

'Well, no use on useless thoughts'

He soon composed himself and unsheathed his katana. As he drew the weapon, his mana core rotated at maximum speed, drawing energy within it, and a surge of lightning magic crackled through his body, coursing along his limbs and igniting his senses.