As much as he wanted to test his new Trait, Aaron desperately wanted to see who would be the next to arrive in the trials.

  He briefly caught the necromancer in the hallway, who shot him a creepy glare before turning and jumping back into another trial. He doubted the man would be anywhere near as powerful as Mo’han, but completing a bunch of low-level trials was no doubt still pretty easy for someone of his level.

  And of course, it wasn’t just level. The man was one of the first within the entire sector to reach the trials. He had to respect that.

  Reaching the viewing room, he had the assistant show him who was the closest to reaching the trials.

  “You sure I can’t tempt you with some delectable little treats?”

  “Just show me who’s about to arrive, okay?”

  Aaron sounded a little short, and he was probably a bit harsh. But the new arrivals had, for the first time, increased the pressure. He kind of felt like he was in a race now.

  Messing around here meant less time completing trials, which meant that the necromancer might be able to widen the gap between them further. Or the thal’kesh, for that matter.

  Aaron hadn’t really considered trying to be Earth’s strongest warrior, but with nobody he trusted to protect humanity here yet, he kind of felt like he was holding the fort down.

  Unfortunately, none of the people shown to him by Rudolf were humans from Earth. However, there were a couple of humans from other worlds about to join the trials.

  That was… curious. Humans weren’t endemic to Earth; he already knew that, but it still felt strange to think about human aliens.

  That said, if there wasn’t anyone from Earth arriving, there wasn’t much point in waiting around. Maybe he could form some relations with humans from other worlds. Perhaps even form a human alliance.

  But was there any point investing time that could be spent passing trials on it? Superearth might get conquered by the thal’kesh or turned into a world of the undead before they even found each other in the Multiverse. Or perhaps their world would be the one conquered.

  Not only that, but he had a feeling that portal travel would be very limited on human worlds for a while. The mana costs were extraordinary, and even if there were humans who could afford it, they’d have to have picked up the profession.

  Likely, most early world-hopping would be limited to races with extra MP, like asuras. This put an extra damper on the idea of human alliances.

  Besides, they might not even get along any better with alien humans. If he were to compare Mo’han to Darius, it would be a no-brainer who he would pick to be an ally. And what if the situation with other human worlds was similar?

  After all, it wasn’t like every human civilization gelled well with each other on Earth. Even if they were the same species, their cultures might be so different that finding common ground could be impossible.

  Well, I guess I might as well just go test this trait out.

  Heading over to the trial dial, Aaron selected Yendal and started the Trial of the Challenger.

  He had briefly considered other trails. But he didn’t just want to test the trait. He wanted to know how Yendal felt about it. Not that she was likely to share too many words.

  Aaron started the trial in a checkered field, with beams of lightning zapping all over the place. It seemed the lightning took turns zapping the checkered boxes. First, it zapped the black squares, and then a couple of seconds later, the white ones, forcing them to keep moving at all times.

  Even Yendal’s avatar had to keep on its feet, clearly not wanting to eat one of the lightning blasts, but its bent expression wasn’t lost on Aaron.

  ****

  Yendal watched from her viewing room. She had long understood that there was something special about Aaron. But another trait so soon? And one as broken as this?

  He was constantly full of surprises, and none of them could hide from her divine gaze.

  At first, she had to bite back her distaste for the death-defying power. It was an unsightly trait, but nonetheless, it was powerful—something she had to respect.

  More importantly, if he wanted to reach the peak, he would have to do so by seizing whatever power he could. Even if it was power, Yendal didn’t particularly like. Besides, it did suit him.

  Not only that, but if he could avoid death…

  A devilish grin formed on Yendal’s face. What heights might he be able to reach if she could continue to punish him during their training sessions without worrying about killing him?

  Now that was an interesting thought.

  With her power and his defiant, pain-embracing attitude, what limits could they push his training to?

  This was going to hurt… him.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  She smiled again. Things had worked out quite well, even if they hadn’t been how she expected.

  Not only would this allow her to continue pushing their training. But the ogre had already granted Aaron the ability to consume food without fear of side effects. In a sense, this had given the glutton an advantage over her. Being able to eat and cook whatever he wanted to without fear of repercussions would have aided Aaron as he climbed his path towards its peak, making it less dangerous.

  But with this trait, the scales had been balanced.

  Perfect. However, I should probably make him hurt for this. Lessons need to be taught. And I can’t have my pupil thinking he can follow whatever twisted path he wants without consequences.

  The fists of Yendal’s avatar clenched, and she sent it flying toward him.

  ***

  “Dammit,” Aaron groaned, but this time, he didn’t reappear in the hallway when he had died.

  Yendal had crushed his heart with a single punch. But what was stranger was that he now appeared to be in control of his soul and was floating above his own corpse.

  Wait, I’ve felt this before, haven’t I? All those shadowy dreams! So, that’s what it was. I was seeing life through the eyes of a soul?

  Aaron didn’t have long to muse on the thought as the trait activated, and he felt the aether rushing into his body and the pull it had on his soul, dragging him back into the cadaver.

  “Bah!” He coughed and spat, rolling over and clutching his sides in pain.

  Yeah, he was used to pain by now. But resurrecting into a completely broken body on the edge of death still sucked.

  “So, that’s how it works? Impressive. Now get up,” Yendal commanded.

  She’s enjoying this, isn’t she?

  Aaron might have been annoyed at the sadistic side of his goddess, if not for all the gains he got from her. Oh well, he couldn’t have it all, he supposed. This was just the price he had to pay.

  Channeling energy and dipping into his pouch for food, Aaron recovered.

  He might have to learn how to play dead, he realized. Dying put him into a mighty vulnerable position, and there was nothing he could do if Yendal followed up with another attack before he recovered.

  Not only that, but could he keep being brought back to life? He would certainly have to test this and determine the limits before leaving the trials.

  However, for now, his master was challenging him, and he would answer her call.

  Charging forward, Aaron charged his Skills and released a barrage of attacks, shifting between melee and ranged power shots.

  The battle was on again, and Yendal weaved through his attacks and returned with her own. That was interesting. Usually, she had a habit of either punishing him and killing him quickly or allowing him to get some offense off before returning with her own.

  Had his new trait incited her? Or did she see him as a more complete warrior now, and this was a sign of respect? Or maybe he was just overthinking it.

  It didn’t take long for the frantic and high-speed exchange to end with one of Yendal’s palms stopping his heart again, and once more, Aaron was a ghost looking down at his lifeless body.

  However, he realized something new. In his ghostly form, he was more attuned to the aether hanging in the air.

  He could feel the trait itself vacuuming up the raw power and drawing it into his body as it attempted to trigger his ability and heal his broken body. It was quite strange to be looking down at his own body and watching a trait being activated and working outside of his control.

  But that wasn’t the exciting part of what he was witnessing. What new secrets might be hiding for him to discover whilst in his spirit mode?

  During his first death, he had thought little of it. He was just a soul anchored to his body until the trait resurrected it. But the very fact that his senses were heightened towards aether meant that it was more than that. It was a new potential means of progress.

  Though he was still a long way from achieving anything useful, being a soul still felt very foreign to him. But he was certain there were secrets to uncover here.

  As the trait activated, his soul was drawn back into his body, and he resumed healing and then fighting.

  Barely a minute or so elapsed as he dueled the goddess’ extraordinarily powerful avatar before he was once more slain.

  Not that he cared. Every moment he spent in this form, he was growing familiar with it and the sensation of being a soul.

  But it was the aether he was focused on—the undulating patterns of energy that blanketed the multiverse—the energy that granted power to everything.

  His thoughts drifted, touching on various topics regarding aether. Was aether the energy of the spirits, perhaps? Or something else entirely? At the very least, the closeness he felt to it in his soul form made him think that it was somehow more attuned to the dead.

  That was somewhat worrying. If the undead were attuned to aether, did that mean the necromancer had even more tricks up his sleeve that Aaron had yet to see?

  Aether may have been an unrefined and, in many ways, less powerful energy. However, he felt that was only half the story. And that Aether played other important roles he had yet to unearth.

  Not only that, but in this state, he could view the threads of fate, and he could see how they drifted from the living to the dead, and could feel a strange power permeating from them.

  He was far from understanding the secrets and the truths of fate, but he did feel that his soul form had taken him one step closer. Opening a new perspective on the impossibly complex concept.

  Gasping, Aaron's head flung forward as he was resurrected once more.

  “What are you waiting for? Show me what you’ve got!”

  Nodding, he healed as quickly as he could and got to his feet, only to be sent back to his soul form a minute later.

  However, it was not without gain. He was starting to get a feel for the limits of his trait.

  Aether was being dragged from the atmosphere, and every time Yendal ended his life, the aether grew thinner.

  He did not doubt that the aether would return, but if it were too thin, then he wouldn’t immediately be able to resurrect.

  More importantly, how long could he linger in his soul state after death?

  He soon found out. After a couple more deaths to Yendal, the atmosphere was entirely drained, and he found himself staring down at his corpse for an uncomfortably long time.

  And then it happened, he felt the pull, dragging his soul away from his body.

  He had overstayed his welcome, he realized. Even his exceptional soul couldn’t linger in this state forever, and he felt that if he refused the pull, either lasting soul damage would be caused, or he might even suffer a true death.

  He let himself be pulled away from his body and back into the trial hallway.

  Aaron still had plenty of time to learn and measure his limits. There was no point in risking such damage just yet.

  His body was rebuilt by the magic empowering the trials, and he gasped as his soul reanimated it.

  “Good,” he muttered.

  His understanding of his limits was vitally important. Now he just had to figure out how he could weave it altogether to beat a frustratingly evasive goddess in one-on-one combat.

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