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(AN : Correction made to the previous chapter. Time limit becomes 48 hours and not 5 days. In IGT)

"Hmm? You\'re?!" Sato was surprised at the sight of the figure in front of him.

"Sato….Oh my gosh, Sato! You\'re here too!" A feminine voice spoke up.

The owner of the voice, who also happens to be the basis for Sato\'s surprise, was actually Xue Yan.

"What are you doing here?" Sato asked her. "I thought you were yet to complete your entry trial?"

"Well, I just did so a while ago." Xue Yan plainly replied, though there was a slight tinge of satisfaction in her voice.

"Did you get the same mission as I did? To get to the top?" Sato questioned.

Xue Yan nodded but then shook her head. 

"Yeah but not exactly. There\'s a red line along the mountain. That\'s my goal. Well that\'s what the voice said." 

"I see." Sato replied. 

The reason why he had asked her whether her goal was the top was because Sato was actually skeptical about the \'Xue Yan\' in front of him now. Right before he headed for the main trials, Saimon had stated with a somewhat disappointed appearance that Xue Yan was still stuck in the entry trial\'s illusory world. Not up to an hour had gone by and Xue Yan had suddenly appeared once again in front of him. Even if she had somehow escaped the illusions doing this time, logically, she shouldn\'t have been able to catch up to him so soon.

By asking her that question, Sato wanted to verify whether it was a fake or not. While the challenges one would encounter in the main trials would differ, as long as it was the same location, the goal would remain the same. In other words, while it was possible for this mountain-climbing expedition to be Sato\'s first challenge, a different challenge could be presented to Xue Yan. But if it happened that her first challenge would be in this same [Staircase to Zolstice], the format of the challenge would be the same as Sato; which was to proceed to the marked spot within 2 days. This was one information Sato had picked up from Saimon back at the Great Hall of the Grey Chaplains.

"Alright then. I guess both our stops are the same so let\'s support each other along the way." Sato stated.

While it looked as if there were no living beings apart from the two of them, Sato wasn\'t so ready to accept such a notion. Having a teammate, especially a mage, would be pretty helpful in this trial.

"Okay." Xue Yan nodded in agreement.

The two then set-off on their journey, but this time with each other accompanying them.

During the journey, the two had encountered different developments that turned the originally boring trip into an adventurous one. Apart from the constantly increasing pressure, they also encountered a few life-forms along the way. One such life-form was the monster that currently stood in front of them right now.

"Awooo!!"

[[ System interface :

[[ Phantasmal Rock-wolf (Common)

Level : 9

HP : 990/990

Physical Attack Power : 36

Magical attack power : 51

Physical Defense : 25

Magical Defense : 5

Attack Speed : 30

Movement Speed : 24

Attributes 

Strength : 12

Endurance : 25

Vitality : 99

Agility : 12

Dexterity : 10

Intelligence : 17

Willpower : 5

Skills 

False Claw : Passive : 40% Chance for a claw attack to ignore any physical defense and hit the target. Damage caused isn\'t counted as physical damage but as mental damage. 

Insubstantial body : Passive : Physical attacks have are only 40% effective. Magical attacks, unless they are mind-type attacks, have only 60% effect. 

Mind Howl : Active : Release a howl that would destabilise the target\'s focus and will. 

Cool-down : 7 seconds.

System Description : 

Monsters manifested out of illusions.

No experience or reward is given for defeating them,

]]

For a level 9 monster, the Phantasmal Rock-wolf was quite weak. Possessing only 3 skills - 2 passives and 1 active- one would presume that it\'s threat on the danger scale was quite small but that was nothing more than a terrible analysis and assumption.

The Phantasmal Rock-wolf was a creature that was born of the illusory features and ability of the mountain. Though they were illusions, the damage they dealt was certainly real. Dying at its hands was the same as dying at the hands of a real monster. As a creature born from illusions, the effects of physical attacks on it were greatly weakened. This was witnessed in the effects of the passive skill [Insubstantial body]. Physical combat classes could only deal 40% of their original attack power as damage to these monsters. Even the mages weren\'t spared as their attacks were but 60% effect, but compared to the physical classes 40%, this was more decent. Just this skill, [Insubstantial body], alone made them such unbearable creatures to face much less the other 2 skills. 

That\'s right, the other 2 skills were another headache to settle with especially the passive skill [False Claw].

Imagine having managed to keep up with the Phantasmal Rock-wolf\'s movements and attacks but suddenly being surprised out of the blue by an attack that couldn\'t be blocked. What was worse was the fact that the attack would have no signal nor indication and appeared at random intervals. This made facing the phantasmal rock-wolf in close combat a difficult task. 

Of course, if it were just one such wolf, an Elite player could handle it much less an Expert. However, this was only if there was one such monster. 

In front of Sato and Xue Yan stood 3 Phantasmal Rock-wolves.

"This will be a tough one." Sato took a deep breath as he tightened his grip on his sword. 

The greatest challenge for gamers when facing a monster was to pin them down. Usually, this role was assigned to a Tank class like the [Guardian] or [Paladin] but in the absence of such a player, another physical class player would have to step up to the role. For the duo f Sato and Xue Yan, only Sato was suitable for this role. However, tanking the Phantasmal Rock-wolves was a difficult challenge particularly because of its 2 disheartening passive skills. 

To be able to pull this off, Sato would need to be at his best and place his entire focus in the battle. And this was just to fend off the monsters. To defeat them was another story.

Luckily for Sato, while this was a challenge for him, with the aid of mage, the threat of the wolf was reduced to a workable feat.

"Just like before, I will attract their attention while you deal damage at an opportunity you get, okay?" 

"Alright." Xue Yan nodded.

This wasn\'t their first battle with a Phantasmal Rock-wolf or even a group. Tens of metres back, they had encountered 4 level 8 ones and had easily taken them down and even before that, they had faced a six level 7s and three level 8s. Even though the three before them were level 9 ones, Sato had confidence in winning this round. So long as he could prevent the wolves from reaching Xue Yan while she provided hi support, it was only matter of time before the wolves would end up dead. Sadly, the game didn\'t reward them for their kills.

\'Well, all rewards are supposed to be presented at the end of the trials so I guess it\'s understandable. Plus, these monsters are illusions and not real.\' 

Proceeding carefully towards the monsters, Sato set his eyes on the one at the middle and began his assault. He aimed to drag the other 2 into the fray and keep them occupied long enough for Xue Yan to have a shot at dealing heavy damage on them.

Behind him, Xue Yan watched as Sato faced the monsters with a plain, emotionless face. Slowly, a creepy, sinister grin occupied her lips as her eyes glinted with an eerie light.

.  .  .

.  .  .

.  .  .

*Crack*

Back at the spot were Sato awoken from the entry trials, a cracking sound, akin to the sound of a crack forming on a glass surface, resounded. Previously, there were 2 glass orbs but with Sato having passed his entry trials, there was no longer a need for one of them to be left behind. The cracking sound seemed to be coming from the last glass orb that was silently floating mid air. Strangely though, there was no sign of damage on the glass orb despite the reverberating sound.

*Creak* *Crack*

The sound slowly went on till eventually, the \'glass\' shattered. The last glass orb, which was silently floating like a star high up in the sky, abruptly puked out a shadow that violently crashed onto floor. Weirdly though, there was no sound from the crashing. It was as if the shadow had crashed on a soft bed that absorbed all the force rather than a a hard floor.

"Oh?" Saimon\'s pleasantly surprised voice sounded as his figure slowly came to view.

"You\'ve finally completed your trial? Congratulations and welcome back." 

The shadow slowly revealed itself to be a figure, which from its features could be ascertained to be a feminine one.

Slowly, the owner of the body stood up and revealed their appearance.

It was Xue Yan!