Trial of Beasts

A year.

It had been an entire year since Nathan first started under Garrick's brutal training. A year since he had to drag his battered body home, since he thought he would never survive the relentless drills, the impossible exercises, the punishments that left him on the brink of collapse.

And now, he stood at the threshold of the Trial, his body no longer trembling with exhaustion but thrumming with raw power.

Garrick stood beside him, arms crossed. "This is it. The Trial."

Nathan exhaled, rolling his shoulders. His muscles no longer felt strained with every movement—he was stronger, faster, sharper. The past year had reshaped him into something else entirely. Something beyond human.

"You know the rules," Garrick continued. "You go in. You fight. You survive. And you win."

Nathan smirked. "And if I don't?"

Garrick grinned. "Then I wasted my time training a corpse."

Nathan started shivering at the thought of his hard work ending here. "Not happening here"

The stone doors of the Trial Chamber rumbled open. Darkness stretched beyond them, but Nathan didn't hesitate. He stepped forward.

The moment he crossed the threshold, the door slammed shut behind him.

Hundreds of little mana stones light up lighting up the dark path.

Then, glowing eyes flickered to life. Dozens. No—hundreds.

Velygrins.

Nathan barely had time to react before they lunged. The first one came at him from the left, jaws wide, venom dripping from its fangs. He sidestepped with ease, grabbing it by the throat and crushing it with one hand.

The others hesitated.

Nathan smirked. "Oh, It's different now."

They attacked in waves, but he was faster. Stronger. His strikes shattered bones, sent bodies flying. A single kick crushed a Velygrin into the stone wall. A punch tore through another like paper. He wasn't fighting—he was massacring

In minutes, the ground was littered with twitching bodies.

Then came the next room.

Serpents slithered from the shadows, their bodies coiling, fangs gleaming.

Creature Identified: Naga

Threat Level: None

One flung at Nathan but he caught it mid-air, swinging it like a whip into another. They hissed, trying to surround him, but he leapt into the air, slamming into the ground with such force the stone cracked beneath him.

A shockwave erupted. The serpents were sent flying, crushed under the force of his landing.

Nathan exhaled, his breath steady. "Is this it?"

A deafening roar shook the chamber.

No. This wasn't it.

The air grew heavy. Heat pulsed through the room. A shadow loomed above him, massive wings unfolding, glowing eyes staring down with pure hatred.

A dragon had arrived.

Creature Identified: Dragon of Strength 

Threat Level: Dangerous 

Nathan barely dodged as a column of fire erupted from its maw, scorching the battlefield. The heat was unbearable—had he been the same weakling from a year ago, he'd have been incinerated instantly.

But he wasn't that weakling anymore.

Nathan surged forward. His feet dented the stone beneath him as he launched himself at the beast. His fist connected with its scales—

—and it barely even flinched.

His eyes widened. "Tough bastard."

The dragon's paw came swinging, faster than he expected. It slammed into him, sending him flying into the far wall. The stone shattered on impact.

Pain flared through his body. But he got up.

A year ago, that hit would have killed him.

Now?

It only pissed him off.

Nathan grinned. "Alright, let's do this properly."

The dragon roared, lunging with its massive claws. Nathan dodged, moving faster than the eye could track. He grabbed onto the beast's arm and tore one of its scales off with his bare hands.

The dragon howled in pain.

Nathan jumped onto its back, gripping onto its horns. The beast thrashed, trying to shake him off, but he held on. With raw strength, he forced its head down—

—and threw it's face-first into the stone floor.

The chamber rumbled. The dragon roared, fire spewing wildly as it struggled beneath him.

Nathan reared back his fist. One final strike.

He focused all his power, every ounce of strength he had built over the past year, into this one moment

Then he punched straight through at the dragon's head.

However the dragon was not going down that easily.

"Gravity Crush"

Nathan's body felt 10x heavier, nearly making him collapse to his knees.

Nathan snarled, "Your not the only one who has cool abilities."

Ability: Threadsense

Description: Sense and manipulate the threads of fate.

Use: Focus on a thread to understand its purpose.

Nathan grabbed a thread connecting one of the corpses and pulled it hard.

The thread transformed into a pair of gloves.

Item: Glove of Ascended

Description: Artifact imbued with immense power rivaling the Gods

"Now its fair." Nathan leaped into the air and again gather all his strength into this one punch.

Normal Punch

The punch connected, the punch went straight through the dragons chest and to the other side.

The beast let out one final, gurgling breath.

Then it collapsed.

Silence.

Nathan stood, his chest rising and falling. Blood dripping from his fists.

Then, the doors of the Trial Chamber creaked open once more.

He had won.

Garrick stood outside, arms crossed, a proud grin on his face. "Not bad, kid."

Nathan wiped the sweat from his brow. "Not bad? I just punched a dragon to death."

Garrick chuckled. "Yeah. And you still look like you've got more in the tank."

Nathan exhaled. He wasn't even that tired. A year ago, just standing after a fight would've been impossible.

But now?

Now, he was something else entirely.

Nathan had ascended.

New Title Unlocked: Conqueror of Strength

New Skill Unlocked: Limitless Strength