The man and the Shifting Sand golem vanished with Gilgamesh’s choice and an elderly woman with a grim expression took his place. She summoned a Boulder Ape and positioned it as her vanguard in preparation for the fight.

  [ Gilgamesh vs Martha Wesley ]

  Gilgamesh eyed her carefully, then activated a Boulder Ape of his own, along with his Shifting Sand. The puppet emperor signalled the start of the fight again, and Gilgamesh had his Shifting Sand take the form of a shield, as his Boulder Ape charged.

  The elderly woman conjured an arrow of green liquid to strike the tan shield which splashed apart on contact with the sizzle of steam. But the acid barely eroded anything of the shield, and what little it had was quickly restored.

  She glanced at the Boulder Apes which were locked in a stalemate, then conjured a small mass of dark clouds above Gilgamesh that rained down acid upon him. He moved his shield with casual will to tilt at an angle to cover himself from the rain, though that took away his line of sight.

  The old woman’s eyes sharpened, and she cast a bolt of mana that curved around to strike at where Gilgamesh was, but he merely slid the shield over to block it with ease. Before she could try anything else, her own golem turned around and smashed her to death.

  [Gladiator] or [Spectator] or [Leave]

  “Roughly 20 seconds to usurp control.” Gilgamesh estimated. “That was quicker than the Boulder Ape had taken in the Second Trial. Which means it will be even faster once I fully master this Trait.”

  Gilgamesh reflected on his Shifting Sand’s performance so far. It has shown tremendous versatility even after just two fights, and was highly compatible with his ingenuity. Not to mention its Attributes also overwhelmed opponents of this level even without that.

  “Just a single Mid Grade golem has improved my might in strides. If I can acquire two more…”

  The arena reset and Gilgamesh realized that the Boulder Ape he had stolen had not remained with him. But he did not muse on it for long, as his opponent this time demanded more of his attention.

  Another young Eastern man stood before him. He too wore a golden hair crown, though most of his hair hung long against his armor and he bore the visage of a noble warrior as he took an experienced stance with his spear. The intensity in his eyes revealed that he did not intend to leave this fight to chance.

  [ Shenwu vs Gilgamesh ]

  “Another prince…”

  Gilgamesh felt him to be of a different calibre than the first two opponents. As such, he did not intend to take this fight so casually either. He activated his Shifting Sand, a Boulder Ape, and a Forest Hand to latch onto his back.

  As soon as the fight began, Shenwu’s spear impaled him through the face. The prince was faster than his reaction, faster than his Shifting Sand, faster than even his Perception. Gilgamesh fell back as Red Light flared, which made Shenwu dart away on instinct with a wary expression.

  The golems all collapsed to his further confusion. Soon, the bandages reformed and the lightning subsided, but Gilgamesh remained motionless on the ground. With no explanation, his golems reactivated and charged back into the fight.

  Shenwu fought defensively at first, unsure of what had happened, but he soon turned to offense. He dodged the piercing flight of the Shifting Sand and easily severed the Boulder Ape into pieces with a flourish of his spear.

  But the Boulder Ape reformed, and he was forced to dodge the Shifting Sands again. The Forest Hand lunged from the side with a grasp, but he casually thrust his spear through the center of its palm. Although this time, the golem did not reform.

  Shenwu took keen note of the Forest Hand’s dissipating destruction, and even keener note of the shattered gemstone pieces that fell to the ground.

  He flickered in front of the Boulder Ape before the Shifting Sand could attack again, and delivered three rapid thrusts at different points along the center of its torso. One of them struck the core and the Boulder Ape broke away just as the Forest Hand did.

  Immediately, the Shifting Sand took to the sky, seemingly wary and defensive. Shenwu hesitated. He glanced over at the still motionless Gilgamesh in thought. Then he focused on the Shifting Sand.

  Shenwu lunged into a fight as the Shifting Sand took the form of a giant disc and sliced past. Shenwu was faster but only fast enough to land one slash of his spear as it crossed him.

  The damage was repaired quickly, but Shenwu noted where his strikes landed through its rapid spins and soon narrowed down the location of its core. He readied himself for a final strike, but then his eyes jolted to the Bomber golem that rolled next to his feet.

  A powerful explosion erupted at Shenwu’s location. The prince was able to dart away just in time to avoid serious harm, but his hasty retreat had left him in midair, and the Shifting Sand sailed at his waist with perfect timing. However, Shenwu kicked off the air as though it were solid ground and just barely dodged the flying golem.

  At this very moment, Gilgamesh chose to rise to his feet. Shenwu’s focus snapped over to him, then just as suddenly jolted back to the real threat. But he had realized the scheme too late.

  His speed and reflexes were such that he narrowly avoided being cleaved in half at the waist by the giant disc, but it had still managed to slice deep into his torso. Shenwu staggered to a knee as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  He tried to stand at once, but that only aggravated his wounds even further. And towards his mortally wounded opponent, Gilgamesh was just as ruthless in advantage as he was in disadvantage. He wielded his Shifting Sand to strike again, and the atmosphere around Shenwu changed.

  There was an intensity about him now. A relentless and strangely bitter intensity. Shenwu flourished his spear to deflect the Shifting Sand disc with the flat of its blade. Gilgamesh’s eyes sharpened in response, and he quickly formed a Roaming Throne beneath him and a Boulder Ape in front.

  Blood gushed from Shenwu’s side and spurted from his mouth, but he burst towards Gilgamesh again anyway. Gilgamesh moved in advance. He dashed back on his spider-legged Roaming Throne as he moved the Boulder Ape to obstruct the prince’s path. But Shenwu speared right through.

  Shenwu’s eyes searched for Gilgamesh as soon as he passed through the crumbling stone, and found him to the side, having already dashed again. Shenwu readied his spear to lunge once more. His one-sided focus was so complete, he almost failed to hear the sound of whirling air growing closer.

  Shenwu flourished his spear behind him, but Gilgamesh tilted his brass disc to slip past the spear and severe through the prince’s legs. Pain shot across Shenwu’s face, but he did not fall easily. Shenwu slapped one of his hands on the ground and threw his spear at Gilgamesh, right towards the center of his chest.

  Roaming Throne darted to the side just barely in time for the spear to pierce through the top of the chair, close enough to almost graze him. If Shenwu’s throwing speed had been anyway near as fast as his movement, he would not have been able to avoid it.

  But Gilgamesh didn’t think about that. Not in the moment of this fight that had yet to end. He wielded his Shifting Sand down at the crippled Shenwu, refusing to give him another chance to attack.

  Shenwu’s face clenched in the deepest frustration. His eyes bled with hatred and shame. He almost could not bring himself to say the words, but he just barely managed before the disc struck.

  “I yield…”

  The Shen prince vanished before the golem struck, and the choice of the arena laid before Gilgamesh again. He lingered in thought as he did before, but this time he was not content.

  “I would have died instantly had he known of my golem nature from the start…” Gilgamesh’s malice deepened. “This was no true victory.”

  He chose to remain a gladiator, and his solemn coldness remained in turn. His next opponent was a middle-aged man with a psychotic expression who mistook his turmoil as fear and chuckled arrogantly.

  [ Gilgamesh vs Stefan Beck ]

  With a dagger in each hand, the man zealously attacked as soon as the duel began, and Gilgamesh showed his malice. Shifting Sand forced its way down the man’s throat in its idle form as he panicked in utter pain and fear. But he could not speak his surrender.

  A bulge jutted out from his stomach to absolute agony and more bulges followed. The morphing golem lifted him up into the air from the inside as it mutilated everything internal. And finally, it swelled all at once to burst the man open to a rain of blood and mangled entrails.

  The choice appeared again, and this time Gilgamesh appeared just at the edge of the light. But he did not linger. He turned back through the tunnel towards the Training Grounds with the intention to make use of it for the rest of the time that he had.

  ---

  Gilgamesh walked up to one of the countless small dirt rings and a choice appeared before him.

  [Easy] / [Normal] / [Hard]

  Gilgamesh grazed his eyes over them. “What does the Tower consider easy…?”

  The moment he made his choice, he was transported inside the empty sparring ring that seemed a pale imitation of the true arena. Facing him was a wooden puppet with the simplistic but accurate anatomy of a man, though it had metal balls in place of hands. The Training Dummy took a boxer’s stance, and despite its lack of facial features, Gilgamesh almost felt some sense of thought behind it.

  He brought out his Shifting Sand, Roaming Throne, and a Boulder Ape. There was no signal in the sparring ring, but he felt the start of the duel all the same. The Training Dummy burst towards him immediately, and the Boulder Ape smashed it into splintered pieces between its slapping palms.

  Gilgamesh found himself reset to the standoff, and the options appeared again. This time, he chose ‘Normal’, and a steel shortsword and shield appeared in the Training Dummy’s hands. It held its shield out and sword high with a firm stance that leaned slightly forward.

  With the flare of a Spell, the Training Dummy burst towards him again as soon as the fight began, four times faster than before. Gilgamesh wielded his Boulder Ape to strike, but the Training Dummy parried its giant fist, and in the same fluid motion, stabbed through its stone body to pierce its core.

  A whirling sand disc soared straight at it. The Training Dummy dodged just barely enough to avoid destruction, but the Shifting Sand took its Shield Arm. Despite that, it burst towards Gilgamesh without hesitation.

  Gilgamesh darted away from the Training Dummy with some ease as his Roaming Throne was a bit faster, and activated a new Boulder Ape. Gilgamesh wielded it to swing both arms, one high at the Training Dummy’s head and the other low at its legs.

  The Training Dummy hopped over the low strike and kicked off the stone arm that swung high to propel itself right towards Gilgamesh. But Gilgamesh was unbothered. The Training Dummy raised its sword, and the giant disc sliced it clean in half. And the duel reset again.

  “About as dangerous as the slum leaders.” Gilgamesh assessed. “Maybe even as skilled as the old woman. Though she is no longer a threat with my Shifting Sand.”

  On that thought, Gilgamesh glanced at his Mid Grade golem. "I could not follow Shenwu's speed, but my Shifting Sand should be able to. Yet I could not track him through its Perception... My Perception through my golems is limited by not only their Attributes, but also my own."

  "No matter how high I raise mine, I can only see through a golem at their Perception. And now matter how high a golem's Perception is, I can only see as much as my own Perception allows."

  This was a considerable flaw in his Trait that deepened Gilgamesh's desire to learn how to 'improve' his Traits, but he did not dwell on it further. Normal mode was enough to be meaningful training, but an opponent of only this level would not push him beyond his limits. So as last, he chose Hard Mode.

  The Training Dummy’s sword and shield changed to ones made of a black metal that seemed to be of a higher grade, but this time, it did not take a proper stance. Its arms relaxed to its sides as it lightly hopped in place with a calm demeanor that arrogantly assessed him.

  Gilgamesh wielded his golems as soon as the fight began, and the Training Dummy sliced through his neck. Gilgamesh's consciousness returned and he found himself back in the starting position, with the Training Dummy arrogantly hopping in place as if to say there was no threat that stood before it now.