BXBX NOVEL Chapter 98: Sea Monster, First Trial!
Will exited the portal a few moments later. That was the longest teleportation William had ever experienced, his body feeling like he had just travelled a million miles. Maybe he did!
-Entered the Gravitas Ruins: +50 PP
He looked around to find he was in a large plain with only two people nearby. They were both from the same Sect, but he couldn\'t tell which. There was a fireball embroidered on their sleeve, so William assumed they weren\'t affiliated with the Ice Immortals Sect.
The two looked at William suspiciously, but decided not to fight since they couldn\'t sense his Cultivation. They travelled in the direction of a forest to the west, which seemed to be the only unique feature in their environment.
William chose to follow, since he didn\'t know which part of the Ruins he was in yet. He had two months to complete the trial that Gu Dianlong instructed, so it would be best to search for other treasures as well.
William\'s Stealth Talent allowed him to follow the Cultivators completely undetected, even allowing him to get within ten meters of the two once they entered the forest. He could have used Atticus to get even closer, but the snake\'s Mana was limited and didn\'t regenerate as fast as William\'s did.
"This forest should be the same one I visited three months ago. If we go further West, we should find a lake in about half an hour." one of the Cultivators said to the other with a hint of excitement.
"But Gary, isn\'t the trial there already completed?" The blue-haired guy asked.
"It is, but most people don\'t know that there is actually a second trial in the water. If we get there first, we might have a chance of clearing it, especially with your Water Element." Gary replied.
A trial under the lake that requires the Water Element...
William was listening intently to their conversation, but he had no intention to speed ahead of the duo to reach the trial first. From his understanding, the trials were not so simple to clear. After all, only a few had been cleared in the last two hundred years.
The group soon arrived at the so-called lake that Gary described. Instead of a lake, it should be described as an ocean!
William failed to see the other side of the lake, even with his enhanced vision. There were a series of small islands within the lake, which appeared to be small battle arenas that served as the already cleared trial. There were marble pillars on each island, but most were covered in cracks or had fallen over.
The duo continued forward, walking on the surface of the lake as if it was solid ground. William could no longer conceal himself, so he relied on Atticus to cover him with Illusion Magic before following them.
Gary stopped when he was close to the first island, "We go down now."
"Down? Like, under the water?"
"Yes. Is there an issue Phillip?"
"Isn\'t there a sea monster down there?"
"Yes, that\'s the trial." Gary was calm.
"I can\'t kill that! It will eat us both alive!" Phillip complained.
"It\'s easier than you think. All we have to do is use your Water Element to create a current that sucks the sea monster onto land, then the fight is easy."
William watched with amusement as the two bickered back and forth. So I just have to kill a sea monster and I will be rewarded? Too easy!
He focused Life Mana to his eyes, using Life Sense to scan the lake for any creatures. It was as Gary said, there really did appear to be some sort of large snake under water, twisting and curling nearly 20 meters below the group while hunting local fish for food.
William dove into the water. He wasn\'t a great swimmer in his previous world, but the Water Element gave him an advantage that would make him look like an Olympic Gold Medalist. He used the Water Element to propel himself forward a few meters, then weaved together a series of Arrays to buff himself as much as possible.
Strength, Speed, Water Breathing, Barriers. All of the useful effects he knew were piled on as he prepared to fight the sea monster that emitted the aura at the Golden Core Realm.
William used more Mana to launch himself like a torpedo at the bright purple sea monster, using one of the knives he bought from the Night Market to slice deep into its flesh.
[Bestiary] Writhing Sea Snake: +1 PP
ROAR!
The sea monster was furious at the intruder, but it had barely any time to react as William sliced a few more times with his knife, filling the lake with its blood. The sea monster nipped at William, but it only managed to break one barrier before its jaw became tired.
It pulled back for another bite, but William had already prepared an Earth Spike that impaled the beast from inside its mouth and through the back of its head.
The sea monster gave a low roar before slowly curling over, motionless in the water.
-Defeated a Writhing Sea Snake: +6 PP
-Defeated your first Golden Core Beast: +100 PP
-A Trial has opened...
The moment the Sea Snake was killed, William noticed something glowing on the bottom of the lake. He stored the Sea Snake in his Space Ring, then swam further downward towards the source of the light.
At the bottom of the lake was a staircase, illuminated by a square-shaped barrier that kept the interior dry. When he went to touch the barrier, his hand slipped right through, followed by his body as he lost momentum.
Thud.
"Ow!" William cursed. He didn\'t expect the barrier to only serve as protection from the water. He was about to curse some more when a deep voice entered his mind, interrupting his thoughts.
You\'ve discovered one of my trials...Enter, and earn your prize.
William didn\'t have to think twice and took careful steps down the stairs. This is exactly what he came for after all. He was just glad that the Cultivators above were actually right about needing to kill that Sea Snake.
Above the lake, the two Cultivators were anxious. They hadn\'t even gone underwater yet when they heard the roar of the sea monster. Had it already detected them?
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Phillip asked.
"Just do it. We will run if it\'s impossible."
Phillip nodded and called the surrounding Water Mana to him, using a heavy amount of Mana from the lake to fuel his own spell. A current was swiftly created in the water, threatening to pull any sea creatures onto the nearby island.
The two Cultivators watched as hundreds of small fish were thrown onto the island, but there was no sign of the sea monster they just heard. Was the current too weak?
Phillip increased the strength of the current, forcing even the sand from the bottom of the lake to the surface. The power was immense, nearly as great as the Meteor Spell William and Yu Ren used.
Even that, however, wasn\'t enough. The Cultivators became suspicious, since even a Nascent Soul Beast would have at least been pulled to the surface.
Gary chose to dive under water to check out the situation. He came back up a minute later with furrowed brows.
"What is it?" Phillip asked.
"It\'s gone, but there is a lot of blood in the water. I think someone was fighting it when we got here."
"That means they\'re ahead of us! Let\'s go before they get the reward!" Phillip dove into the water, Gary close behind.
***
Inside the trial grounds, William was standing in a large cavern with hanging moss that glowed different shades of blue, green, and yellow. The cave was actually quite beautiful, but the monsters inside weren\'t.
A hundred pairs of glowing red eyes stared at William from afar, each set belonging to what appeared to be a goblin. They held a variety of weapons, mostly consisting of swords, knives, or spears.
The deep voice entered William\'s brain once again.
There are five levels, each stronger than the last. Clear four to receive a reward, clear five to receive a second reward.
As soon as the unknown man stopped talking, the goblins began to move, rushing at William at speeds at the peak of the Core Formation Realm. It now made sense to William why so few of these trials were cleared.
If just the first level of this trial contained enemies at the peak of the Core Formation Realm, how could anyone clear the Ruins when no one at the Golden Core Realm could enter?