Bjorn offered Ragnar the chance to become the heir to his legacy, but to earn that title, he would first have to pass the Druid Trials, a series of tests that would determine whether he was worthy or not.

  They entered the main building of the sanctuary and walked through halls and corridors until they reached the training grounds, a closed space the size of a sports pavilion.

  Ragnar stopped at the edge of one of the four square wooden arenas and stomped his foot. The plank sank a few centimeters before springing back into place.

  “In the old days, we trained here from dawn to dusk,” said Bjorn. “It was my idea to use this flexible wood for the arena floors. We druids may have powerful healing spells, but a broken arm is still a broken arm.”

  He then extended his right arm forward, and a staff materialized in his hand, covered with as many intricate carvings as the shaft of Ragnar’s spear.

  Bjorn’s spirit spoke. “Wield the Viper’s Ruin. I want to see it in action against my staff.” He walked to the opposite side of the arena.

  “The Druid Trials are divided into four stages,” Bjorn continued. “The first is simple, you must defeat me using only physical attacks. No damaging magic allowed. You have three hours to overcome all four trials, so don’t hold back.”

  Bjorn twirled his staff between his fingers as a bluish, translucent layer enveloped his body.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  Ragnar nodded, and the opponent raised his staff to chest height, ready to strike.

  “Begin!” Bjorn roared and dashed forward at incredible speed.

  Ragnar’s eyes widened as blue sparks flashed around him.

  Storm’s Wrath, I have thirty seconds of boosted agility.

  He lunged forward, driving the spear into his opponent’s chest, then pulled it back and struck twice more. The three rapid strikes disrupted Bjorn’s movement just enough for Ragnar to retreat safely.

  Bjorn was stronger. Ragnar knew he had to rely on speed and reflexes; his energy pool was far too small to withstand a flurry of strikes from such a powerful foe.

  They faced each other again. Twenty-three seconds left of Storm’s Wrath. Ragnar pressed the attack, slashing horizontally, but Bjorn stepped back and dodged. Ragnar tried to transform into his animal form, but nothing happened.

  Bjorn’s staff struck his right arm.

  “I assumed it was implied, but animal transformations are also forbidden.”

  “Thanks for the heads-up,” Ragnar replied, charging forward once more, determined to make the most of the final seconds of Storm’s Wrath.

  A battle plan formed instinctively in his mind as the duel unfolded. Bjorn was fast, sharp, and disciplined—rarely dropping his guard—but his openings became clearer after each exchange. Ragnar noticed that Bjorn avoided attacking whenever his energy fell below thirty percent; at that point, he’d back off, taunting him as weak and, ironically, a coward.

  Time to exploit you, Archdruid, Ragnar thought, as his energy bar got filled and his mana was over halfway.

  He charged. Bjorn met him head-on, unleashing a barrage of staff strikes. Ragnar dodged every blow, and when the opponent energy dropped to 32%, he activated Storm’s Wrath.

  Ragnar moved like lightning. His spear danced through the air, battering Bjorn’s guard. Most strikes were blocked, but Ragnar’s stamina outlasted his foe’s. He pressed forward relentlessly.

  A snap echoed in his ear like an angel’s trumpet.

  The staff fell to the ground, bounced four times and stopped. Bjorn was disarmed, and Ragnar had enough energy for four consecutive strikes. The spear’s tip sliced through the air, piercing his opponent’s heart and face twice.

  The four critical hits dropped Bjorn’s health from 56% to 50%, then to 49% as the Viper’s Ruin poison damage over time ticked.

  Having discovered the key to victory, Ragnar repeated the tactic until Bjorn’s health reached zero. The archdruid stepped aside and announced:

  “I apologize for underestimating you. You are one of the finest duelists I’ve ever faced. Congratulations, you’ve passed the first trial.”

  The spirit reclaimed his staff, twirling it once more in his right hand. The bluish energy layer dissipated, replaced by an orange aura.

  “The next trial is similar to the first, but now you must defeat me using only spells and magical abilities. Remember: animal transformations remain forbidden.”

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  Ragnar’s fears were confirmed. A magical duel would be extremely difficult for a low-level druid, as the offensive spell repertoire available to a level 10 druid was scarce.

  Lightning Bolt was his only direct-damage spell. There was no other magic to combine for increased damage. The last option was Storm’s Wrath, which, while not dealing direct damage, added a small amount of electric damage to his normal attacks.

  Even combining the two spells, his damage per second would be low, resulting in a long battle that could far exceed the 22 minutes of the previous test.

  Three hours—180 minutes—was the total time allowed to pass all four trials. He had 158 minutes left for three of them.

  Bjorn slammed his staff on the ground and announced, “The second trial begins… now!”

  Ragnar raised his spear, cast Storm’s Wrath, and charged at high speed. The enemy’s staff struck the ground again. Ragnar smiled, then leaped, twisting his body mid-air. The spear’s tip sliced through a set of roots that had erupted from the ground, conjured by Bjorn.

  Ragnar landed a few steps from his opponent. With palms sparking bluish energy, signaling the spell was ready. He conjured Lightning at Bjorn, hitting his chest and reducing his health by 1%.

  Ragnar cursed; the spell’s damage was too low despite the points invested in Magic Power. This discrepancy between physical and magical damage came from the weapon he was using.

  Viper’s Ruin was primarily a melee weapon with high Physical Damage. While it also provides Magical Damage—a rarity for a combat weapon—those points were designed mainly to boost healing and support spells.

  Bjorn countered immediately, his staff glowing white. Ragnar barely had time to raise his weapon in defense. Wood met wood with a heavy crack, and despite blocking, Ragnar’s health plummeted twelve percent.

  His body continued to emit electric discharges, indicating that Storm’s Wrath was still active. Ragnar locked eyes with Bjorn; their determined faces met for a second, followed by a rapid exchange of strikes, spreading light and lightning across the arena.

  Each of Ragnar’s strikes was precise and powerful enough to maximize damage output. However, when the spear pierced his opponent, the orange aura negated all physical damage, allowing only the bluish Storm’s Wrath damage numbers to appear.

  When the lightning around his body faded, Ragnar counted the 30 second cooldown to reactivate it as soon as possible.

  At the moment, the only option was casting lightning to damage the enemy, but that risked draining all his mana. To avoid this, he decided not to cast any spell when his mana fell below a quarter.

  The duel raged on. Slowly, Bjorn’s health declined, but at a pace that worried Ragnar. It had been an hour since the second trial began.

  Ragnar extended his arm and launched Lightning as the opponent lowered his guard. A message appeared in his field of vision:

  Lightning has evolved to Level 5

  Lightning has received an upgrade

  The upgrade significantly increased the damage of the fourth ability cast, boosting Ragnar’s damage per second (dps) since he was always casting that spell while Storm’s Wrath was unavailable.

  But a new problem arose. His health had fallen below fifteen percent. Out of healing potions, his only recovery alternative was the Healing Breeze spell.

  Everything was against him. The second trial exposed the weaknesses of his avatar. Even with the upgraded Lightning, his magical damage remained low; Bjorn’s health decreased at a painfully slow pace.

  But Ragnar chose to persevere. Giving up was not an option. These trials, no matter how harsh, were the only way to obtain a class that could let him compete on equal footing with the best in the world.

  Failure meant losing this chance forever.

  Bjorn extended his staff and began casting a spell. Ragnar saw his mana drop below 20%, yet cast Healing Breeze anyway.

  The opponent’s spell was ready; Bjorn aimed his staff at the arena center. A light wind spiraled around, growing stronger until Ragnar had to crouch to avoid being pulled in. Seconds later, the gale gathered into a massive tornado at the center of the arena.

  The eye of the storm was death itself. Anyone caught inside would take massive damage every second. Ragnar scrambled away, his feet dragging as the wind tried to pull him in. Somehow, he made it to the edge of the arena, unharmed.

  While Bjorn’s storm raged, Ragnar’s Healing Breeze restored his vitality and regenerated just enough mana for another heal. When the tornado finally subsided, his health was above fifty percent.

  And with his mana replenished, he activated Storm’s Wrath as his opponent cast another spell.

  Roots erupted under Ragnar’s feet, trying to pin him, but he slashed them away in three quick movements. The opponent was close, aiming another spell.

  A chunk of ice formed in Bjorn’s left palm, growing to a meter high. He swung his staff, hurling it like a giant baseball.

  Ragnar raised his spear, accumulated electricity for a second, and channeled it into the ice sphere, shattering it into thousands of fragments.

  Bjorn stood still, his mana and energy below 10%. Ragnar seized the chance to use Storm’s Wrath to its fullest.

  He attacked, casting lightning between strikes to break Bjorn’s guard. In 15 seconds, Bjorn had three Shock marks. Ragnar thrust twice more, then extended his hand, releasing energy to cast the fourth spell at his opponent’s unprotected chest.

  A bolt descended from the sky, dealing the 50% extra magical damage from the Level 5 upgrade.

  Bjorn was stunned for a few seconds. Ragnar used this time to regenerate health and mana. Fatigue was taking its toll, but the upgraded spell was doing its part.

  Twenty minutes later, Bjorn was on his knees, gasping, his staff fallen beside him.

  The second trial lasted 92 minutes.

  “Your magical skills need a lot of improvement.”

  “I know.”

  Ragnar worried about the remaining two phases; the first two trials had taken 114 minutes, more than half of the 180 minutes total. If either of the remaining trials were as difficult as the last, failure was inevitable.

  Even so, when he saw Bjorn still kneeling, Ragnar approached and offered a hand. Bjorn took it, rising slowly.

  “What do you say,” Bjorn asked with a faint smile, “we take a short break before continuing?”

  Ragnar hesitated. “Will it count against my remaining time?”

  Bjorn chuckled. “Of course not.”