บท 174: W
C274 - Platforms
Leonel didn't find what he expected to find on the other side.
From the reactions of the demon and human armies, it seemed that they would have another chance to deal with him within the Trial. So, he had been fully prepared for an all out battle the moment he stepped in.
However, this wasn't what he found at all.
At the moment, he stood on a dull grey platform. It was a meter by meter in length and width. There was nothing particularly special about it at all except for the fact… it hung mid-air amidst an endless darkness.
Leonel stretched out his senses, but he couldn't sense a ceiling nor a bottom, it was as though he was floating in the depths of space.
It almost felt like a dream. But, if it really was so, Little Tolly wouldn't still be happily squirming around his fingers, nor would Little Blackstar be lazily lying around his neck. Since both of them were by his side, it was clear that Leonel's true body had entered whatever space this was — at least upon his initial assessment.
Just when Leonel was feeling confused, an aged voice suddenly rang around him. Due to the surroundings, it was difficult for Leonel to tell whether it was sounding directly in his head, or if it was being transmitted to him some other way. But, leonel didn't linger on this question for too long as the words the voice said caught his full attention.
<Analysis Complete>
<Please choose: >
Leonel saw several orbs of light manifest before him. Each of them housed a different object.
There was a sword, a bow, a spear, and a wand. Outside of these four, there were other more unconventional weapons. Leonel could see maces, staffs, and battle axes. But, none were as large as the first four Leonel noticed.
'I'm supposed to choose one of these…?'
Leonel didn't really need to think much.
He had never touched a sword before and there was no real point in learning now.
The spear was even easier to ignore. Though this might sound odd, after a moment of thought, it became obvious why. Everything in this Trial was tied to the Third Dimension, it might very well become obsolete at higher realms unless Leonel put in the effort to evolve it.
This Zone represented an opportunity. All of the Magic Systems here had ample potential for growth if taken to the extreme. However, why would Leonel need to do such a thing for the spear since he already had the Spear Domain ring on his finger?
The last two were a bit more difficult to choose between.
Leonel was very interested in his world's Mage Art system. It had been very helpful to him to this point and he could see it being useful at least into the immediate future.
At the same time, Leonel had long since realized that his talent in the bow was overwhelming. Even though he had awakened his Spear Domain Lineage Factor, he still felt that his talent for marksmanship overshadowed it by a large margin.
In the end, Leonel decided on the bow. It came down to a simple risk assessment. He had a legacy related to the Bowman King Inheritance in his hands. From Leonel's understanding, this was related to a Minor Opening.
Elys had said that benefiting from a Minor Opening could give some advantages during a Major Opening. In that case, there really was only one option. Leonel had enough to worry about. It was in his best interest that he made everything that he could control as easy as possible.
Leonel subconsciously took the deep black bow from his spatial bracelet. It alone stood as tall as anyone of his spears.
The moment Leonel acted, the sphere of light housing a bow reacted immediately, shooting toward him like a falling star and fusing into him and the black bow.
Leonel raised an eyebrow.
There was now a small, barely perceptible, golden brand on the back of his hand. It looked especially faded as though it had been drawn on then washed away. Leonel subconsciously felt that this tattoo of sorts would become very important very soon.
Leonel didn't get much of a chance to observe the tattoo for long because the situation around him changed completely in the next instant.
His grey platform shot forward as though trying to fling him off. Luckily, some unknown force kept his feet planted, or else he really would have been in a sorry state.
Leonel's vision blurred and his mind spun. Not knowing whether he was moving up, down, left or right left him completely disoriented. If it wasn't for a vague forward trajectory, he wouldn't have any idea where he was headed.
Suddenly, the platform came to a grinding halt.
Leonel's eyes squinted and he shook his head.
At that moment, he felt several auras lock onto him, many of which were filled with killing intent.
'Hm?'
Leonel's vision slowly cleared, allowing him to look around for the first time. What he saw left him smiling a bit bitterly.
All around him, platforms just like his own hung in the vast expanse of darkness. There were about 200 of them in total, half of which were taken by humans and another half of which were taken up by demons.
Many of the strings of killing intent came from the demons that floated around him, but that was simply due to their hatred of humans. The more pointed streams of killing intent actually came from the humans.
Leonel could feel King Arthur's gaze sweep over him. But, there wasn't just him. Supreme Monet was seemingly stunned and enraged to see him here.
So many of her men had died in this place, yet Leonel had actually managed to survive. Whether it made sense or not, she subconsciously placed blame on Leonel for such a thing. Of course, she also hated the Adurna family for sticking their nose in a place it wasn't meant to be. However, some of this hatred was unwittingly directed toward Leonel as well.
After ignoring the glances and regaining an air of calm, Leonel realized that everyone also held a weapon. But, their weapons were strikingly different from his own. Compared to the powerful bow in his hand, theirs were mostly the most simple and crude weapons imaginable. They even reminded Leonel of the primitive man's spear.
As Leonel was noticing their weapons, they too noticed his.
'Minor Opening…!'
They all understood immediately and the light of greed lit in many of their eyes.
Among those who were here, there were a striking minority who had such a luxury.
The first was King Arthur. He wielded his sword with a valiant air. There was no doubt that this sword was the legendary Excalibur.
The next was Modred. She held a wand as black as ink. It held an air of majesty that made Leonel's heart tremble. For some reason, he could see the faint image of an ink black qilin looming behind her.
Surprisingly, the third was actually Peirce! This was likely a surprise even to King Arthur and his men. Peirce's long twin swords gently touched the ground, being held lightly in his palms.
The fourth was Pope Margrave! He held a radiant cross to his chest as though sinking deep into a perpetual prayer. The light around him seemed to illuminate even the endless darkness.
Before Leonel could observe the others, the situation changed once again.
<First Trial Begin!>
The world warped. A single massive grey platform over 20 meters in width and length appeared.
At that moment, a demon's own grey platform shot forward, connecting to the massive platform outside of his control.
Before Leonel could understand what was happening, a creature began to manifest…
To be continued
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