Entering the Trial of Endurance beside Oozagh’s avatar, Aaron began the eighth stage trial, and immediately, he was subjected to unspeakable pain.

  It hit him within literal seconds. His vision blurred, the world shook around him, and he felt as if his entire body was to be ripped apart.

  The pain seemed to have no limit to what it could force upon him, and before he knew it, he was on the ground. He didn’t even have a chance to figure out what was going on before he passed, and he was looking down at his corpse from his spirit form.

  To die without even having a chance to fight back was something else, but it was an eighth-stage trial, after all.

  Unlike most people, though, who might have found themselves in quite the quagmire, dying was kind of Aaron’s thing. In his spirit form, he could take a few seconds to look around before resurrecting. Thus, he had the opportunity to scout the impossibly hard trial before he was assaulted by it again.

  And his ghostly jaw dropped as he looked up to the sky. There was an impossibly huge eye that stretched on for as far as he could see. And it was looking directly at him.

  Oh, so you’re the culprit?

  But even as the thought swirled in his mind, he found himself shying away. To his amazement, even in his spirit form, it was difficult to gaze upon the eye’s grandeur, and he found himself compelled to look away. But he needed to figure out how to beat the thing, and so he stubbornly forced his gaze to lock upon the titan in the sky.

  And something he didn’t believe even possible happened. He began to feel pain. His body was sprawled out across the ground, dead, and he was a literal spirit, and yet this thing was able to hurt him.

  But even that wasn’t what made the scenario truly strange. No, that was the fact that it wasn’t actually damaging his soul. Somehow, the eye was simply causing him pain despite the fact that he no longer possessed a mortal shell. It didn’t make a lot of sense, but he knew it spoke volumes of the power that the eye possessed, whatever it was.

  And it was a whatever, because Inspect didn’t work on the thing, either. Perhaps it was a construct, he figured. There were a few other explanations for his Inspect Skill not working.

  The entire thing was both impressive and curious. Unfortunately, Aaron couldn’t hold on any longer, and he resurrected to extreme pain, and died shortly after once more.

  Again, once returned to his spirit form, he attempted to learn what he could of the eye, but fell short of any impactful insights as he was resurrected and promptly killed again.

  The pain was incredible. Strangely, though, he realized that the eye caused his body no actual damage. Somehow, it was able to kill him through pain alone. However, that was a revelation that prompted more questions than it answered.

  He might not have thought too hard about it prior to the integration, but now? How was it possible to die without draining one’s HP? As far as he could tell, his Stats had looked fine up until the last moment, which only served to confuse him further.

  He simply didn’t believe such a thing was possible, and yet here he was. Not only that, but he had suffered immense pain on countless occasions and was able to ignore said pain with resounding resolve.

  In fact, some might go as far as to call Aaron’s pain resilience one of the gifts that set him apart from most people. Yet none of that incredible willpower seemed to provide any assistance against the eye.

  Again, he was subjected to the extraordinary pain that attacked him from all sides. It shook every inch of his body and made him feel like screaming as he endured it. But he did endure. After all, how could something as immaterial as pain stop the stubborn warrior that was Aaron Dober?

  Such a silly thought almost made him laugh, if not for the fact that the eye could still kill him regardless. He had believed himself above pain, but this trial proved otherwise. And he had no riposte to its power as he was returned to the hallway.

  Not everyone recognized him. There were far too many people around for that, but his return to the hallway caught several eyes, and they began clearing the line for him. That was nice.

  He still wasn’t entirely sure if they cleared the line out of respect or pity, since he died so much. Either way, he wasn’t about to complain about a free boon. However, he wouldn’t use it this time.

  “Thanks, but not yet. I’ll be back,” he said, and several people took note.

  Turning, Aaron made his way to the meditation chamber. Thoughts had been swirling through his mind ever since the eye killed him with pain, and he needed a moment to gather said thoughts.

  Searching for profound insights into something as ordinary as pain might have seemed somewhat silly to some, but to Aaron, it was a realm of great interest. After all, how could pain that, whilst excruciatingly terrible, be enough on its own to kill him?

  Crossing his legs, he sat. Water trickled lightly down a water feature, and incense burned. He was fairly certain the incense in his upgraded meditation room wasn’t normal, either, as he felt himself delving into an inner realm without even trying.

  I have a feeling this stuff would have been contraband before the integration.

  Falling within himself, he rode streams of his inner mind, trying to make sense of fractured thoughts. For someone who wasn’t into meditation and all that stuff prior to the integration, Aaron had come far.

  He searched for answers and found himself adrift toward a pillar of his inner self. It was his death-defying trait.

  Immediately, he realized that he had missed something obvious. The trait had a condition related to pain, although that was simply the resurrection side of things.

  Could that really be used against him, he pondered?

  Despite the fact that he hadn’t actually died, had the eye managed to force his trait to trigger?

  Aaron shook his head. That didn’t make sense, either. The trait fueled his resurrection, not his spirit. All it did was essentially draw in aether from the atmosphere and use it to heal his body just enough to kickstart it back to life. In fact, he wasn’t even entirely sure that its powers affected his spirit. Perhaps the trait would be useless if the person who unlocked it couldn’t control their spirit, if that were even possible.

  But despite that, he knew he was onto something. Somehow, the eye’s power was linked to his spirit and his ability to cheat death.

  He pondered on that for some time before realizing something else. Perhaps it wasn’t that it had a link to his spirit, or his cheating death, but that it could draw abilities out of people?

  Wait… that’s it, isn’t it?

  Perhaps what the eye actually did was to gaze within him, and discover what his greatest gift was, and to use it against him?

  But if that were so, how would one overcome such a thing?

  He almost wanted to groan, but had a realization. There was more to him than just his spirit and his ability to survive death. Perhaps that was the answer. Perhaps he had to throw everything at the wall and see what stuck?

  Not entirely certain of his thoughts, Aaron passed back through the hallway, scratching his chin. He felt like he was onto something, but not quite there yet. However, perhaps he could fill the gaps by shaking his head against the wall for a while.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  However, as he strolled through the hallway, he bumped into a familiar face.

  “Clementine? Voidrin? Are you two friends?”

  “Oh, hey! It’s the food guy!”

  She forgot my name?

  “Here,” Voidrin said, but he wasn’t actually doing anything. “Credits in full. Potions?”

  “Oh, right. Here you go!”

  The potions were pulled from Clementine’s spatial container and passed to Voidrin’s, but the credits were never seen. However, Aaron remembered that System Credits were directly integrated into the interface.

  “What are you up to?” Voidrin said as the deal was concluded.

  “Err, just thinking on a trial. Trying to figure out how to beat it.”

  “And you came to me to find the answer? You’re smarter than you look, y’know?”

  “Actually,” he grimaced. “Clem.”

  “Huh?” Clementine’s rabbit ears twitched as she looked up from her spatial bag. She appeared to be organizing it. “Need something?

  “Yeah, I was thinking about making more of my Spirit Cloud Berry Stack. I have a plan, but I could use your help.”

  “Oh. Sure thing.”

  For whatever reason, Voidrin followed them to the crafting station and watched as they worked alongside one another to create Aaron’s dish.

  “Wait, so you’re gonna try and use that to overcome the pain?” Voidrin said, tapping his sword as he spoke.

  “Yeah, is there a problem with that?”

  “I thought you said that you believe its power is to take advantage of your own powers.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, why are you trying to make your own power stronger?”

  “What do you mean?” Aaron’s brow perked.

  “Oh my,” Voidrin sighed. “Think about it, dumbass. If your strongest powers are even stronger, isn’t that just going to make the eye’s Skill even stronger? Shouldn’t you try to do something else? Something that isn’t you?”

  Aaron tilted his head. The cyclops kind of had a point.

  “Can I take some of your ichor? I think it’ll come in handy,” Clem said, not paying attention as she played around with some vials, pouring them into one another. Apparently, she had a Skill called Dilute, which allowed her to dilute a potion, weakening it, but in the process, making multiple copies. It was apparently very profitable, and it appeared she was testing it on Aaron’s ichor.

  “I mean, you might be right. But do you have any idea how to do that?” Aaron asked Voidrin, ignoring her.

  “Me?” Voidrin shrugged. “Bro, it’s your trial. But since you asked so nicely… hmm. Well, what if you could attack it with a Skill whilst it hits you?”

  “Can’t. I die immediately. I don’t even know how hardy it is.”

  “Hmm, I got my clones. Maybe you could do something similar?”

  “What do you mean, Voidrin? I don’t have clones.”

  “I could dilute you,” Clem said lackadaisically.

  “You could what?” Aaron said, and both of them turned to her.

  “Dilute. You two have hearing issues? The special version I have can be turned into a potion. It doesn’t last long, though. About thirty seconds tops.”

  “And what does it do?” Aaron probed.

  “Dilutes you. Basically makes copies. It’s weird… not anywhere near as fancy as Voido’s Skill, but it is a good little potion for escaping danger. I sell them for quite a bit.”

  “And I can have one?”

  “If you return the favor with more soul-strengthening food,” she grinned.

  Aaron wasn’t in the habit of relying on others to beat trials, but time was running short. If this potion helped him figure the trial out, then he’d have more time to spend on other things. Besides, he wanted to smash through two stages of the Trial of Endurance before he went on a cooking spree, and really didn’t want to get stuck here for long.

  “It’s a deal!”

  Returning to the trial, he eyed the potion as he was fast-tracked to the front of the line.

  He was going to need to act quickly, and timed it so he drank the potion just as he slapped down on the trial, and shimmered into copies of himself as he was transported.

  The magnificent eye looked down upon him, but then its massive lid flickered, as if confused.

  A second later, one of his diluted clones fell to the ground. Then another, and another.

  It was probably confused because there was no difference between them. Even when Aaron tried to control the clones, he realized that all of their movements were mirrored, as if they were all apart of him still, but just split into many copies.

  It was quite the mind fuck, since he also felt and looked through all of their eyes simultaneously, and had no idea how anyone would use such a potion to flee a battle without practicing many times. Then again, if they did, it would be quite profitable for Clem.

  Come to think of it, this is a pretty neat potion.

  He hadn’t thought too much about her at first, but maybe the rabbit humanoid was destined to be some kind of sage alchemist within their sector, after all, she was in the trials.

  Within about ten seconds, it had killed all of his diluted copies, and then he was in spirit form again.

  This was majorly annoying. Aaron had thought he figured it out, and in a rage, expelled all of his aether instantly, springing himself back to life.

  And to his surprise, he wasn’t just resurrected, but so were his clones. The potion hadn’t worn off yet, and so his clones were brought back with him.

  Of course, the eye continued to do what the eye did, but when he was down to his last couple of diluted clones, his eyes widened.

  The quest completion notification appeared. It seemed that whilst the eye had incredible power, the timer for enduring the quest was very short. It made sense; otherwise, it would be impossible.

  And it wasn’t like just anybody could do what he did. It was a combination of Clem’s potion and his resurrection ability that allowed him to pass it. Without them, he had no idea how one would go about beating this cheat of a trial, but he was sure there were plenty of methods if one were to apply themselves.

  Stage eight of [ Trial of Endurance ] COMPLETED!

  You have tested yourself against the all-seeing eye and managed to survive.

  Quest Rewards: Portable Cosmic Kitchen [ Epic ], Crafting Station upgraded to level 8!

  Experience rewarded for completing a quest stage!

  He grinned as the rewards were presented. He had completed that trial quicker than expected, and that tasted better than ever since it was an eight-stage trial. And with free time on his hands, he wanted to get straight into the ninth stage, knock it out as well, before he got to cooking.

  Returning immediately to the line, he madly rubbed his hands together and prepared for what was to come.

  With any luck, he could grind the next one out with similar speed, although perhaps he was getting a little ahead of himself.

  As he stepped up to the line, he noticed something, though. A crowd had formed around Mo’han.

  “What’s going on?” Aaron asked someone in the crowd.

  “It’s the asura. He beat the tenth stage of the Trial of Dominance. He’s the first person in the sector to complete an entire trial.”

  Aaron looked at his friend as he passed through the crowd.

  Mo’han Khan [ Level 99 ]

  Titles: [ Dominator ] [ Sector Prodigy ]

  That’s possible?! thought Aaron.

  “A-ran!” Mo’han boomed, spotting Aaron through the crowd.

  “Hey, Mo’han,” said Aaron. “What’s this about completing an entire trial?”

  “I completed the Trial of Dominance!” said Mo’han happily. “I won’t spoil the surprise too much, but I had to defeat a D-grade. It was difficult! I died the first time.”

  “A D-grade…” Aaron repeated.

  “Yes. It was strong too. It was no weakling like many of the other trial monsters. Have you battled a D-grade yet, A-ran?”

  “Kinda…”

  “Impressive,” said Mo’han. “As expected of my rival. Well, good luck in your trials, A-ran. It seems that I need to keep training if I want to defeat you!”

  “Seeya.”

  Aaron was deep in thought as he watched Mo’han walk away. He had technically defeated 2 D-grades, but he couldn’t really call what he did to the eels “defeating” them. He would most definitely have died if not for the world core. Beating a D-grade in a straight-up fight was likely not within his means unless he had an extreme stylistic advantage. The fact that Mo’han had done it, and on his second try, no less, was concerning. And exciting.

  It seemed that whenever Aaron took a stride forward, Mo’han did the same. Aaron had to die many times and often relied on his Profession to complete trials, while Mo’han was outpacing him while hardly trying. He had shown up 7 months later than Aaron and had already pushed further than him in almost every single trial.

  However, rather than making him despair, this only filled Aaron with energy. Mo’han was his friend, but had also become his rival, and it wouldn’t be any fun if his rival was weak. Mo’han was really living up to his title as a multiversal prodigy, and Aaron wasn’t going to fall behind. He needed to be stronger. Mo’han was working hard to improve, so Aaron just had to work harder and improve more.

  He glanced back at the trial dial with a grin. If Mo’han had completed a trial, Aaron needed to match him. He was already in the middle of grinding out Endurance to upgrade his cooking ingredients. There was no reason not to go all the way.

  Whether out of respect for Aaron himself or the words that Mo’han had just said, the crowd around parted as he made his way forward. It felt a little strange that everyone was treating him that way, but he wasn’t going to complain. He turned the dial to Endurance and slammed his hand down, his grin widening as he was pulled inside.

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