Chapter Twenty

Arden sprang to his feet and retreated to the grass clearing, not wanting to be next to a highly poisonous tree during some unknown test.

While on guard, he stood at the center of the grass clearing, just like the previous time. One eye remained on the timer, counting down as he focused on his surroundings, looking for any changes.

Nothing changed, at least until the timer hit zero.

The moment the timer hit zero, the poison ambient mana spiked, then forced its way into his body. A near irresistible itching sensation hit him. It spread up his arms, reaching his shoulders within moments.

With a force of will, he kept his arms still as he delved inward while keeping half his attention on the outside, still expecting an attack.

Worry sparked when he found his poison resistance card didn’t trigger, allowing the itch inducing poison to spread. As he practiced before, he latched onto the invading mana, pulling it into his veins, but it was like bailing a boat with multiple holes. He just barely kept the poison from spreading past his shoulders, but couldn’t push it back.

After a minute of struggle, he glanced at his surroundings before taking a deep breath. He couldn’t fight off the poison while splitting his attention. The risk was great, but he didn’t want to find out what the poison would do if it spread past his arms.

His entire attention focused inward, half continued to resist the poison while the other half traced the poison back to its source, which was as usual his hands.

Somehow, the poison bypassed his bracelets or something suppressed them, but that was a problem he couldn’t solve right now.

Instead, he latched onto the inflow of poison and held it at bay. A headache hit him, but it soon proved worth it as he gained ground against the invasion without reinforcements allowed in. Within moments, he pushed the poison to his elbow, then his forearm, before finally his split focus joined at his palm, solidifying his defense.

The poison attuned mana smashed into his defenses, but he held his ground somewhat easily. This battle lasted several more seconds before it suddenly relented.

Still as cautious as ever, he kept his defense up, expecting another strike. However, after several more seconds, the mana he used as an improvise barrier ripped from his control and left his body, leaving him defenseless.

Another stream of poison attuned mana slammed through him with so much force it sent him reeling. Before he could react, boils covered both of his arms, sending spikes of itchy pain breaking his concentration even further.

When he regained awareness, boils reached his chest, causing him to wheeze as it spread into his lungs.

Panic hit him as he gasped for breath. With the full force of his control, he ripped the poisonous mana from his lungs and forced it into his veins, then pushed back against the torrent.

When he repelled the poison to his shoulders, he restarted his previous strategy, splitting his concentration between the source and the battlefield. This proved much more difficult as the more potent poison fought back, regaining a bit of ground before he could cut off the source.

Or at least try to cut out the source. His split control failed to cut off reinforcements, allowing a trickle through as an ice pick rammed through his skull.

Still, it was enough for him to gain slow ground.

Over the next eternity, he pushed the poison back. By the time he succeeded, he swayed lightheaded, forcing him to drop to his knees as he expelled the last of the mana.

Not wanting to leave himself open to a counterattack. His entire focus locked on his palms waiting for the next attack and attack it did, but to his horror, the poison somehow slipped past his defenses.

Pain manifested in his chest, snapping his attention toward his heart to find foreign mana seeping into it. Within a moment he ripped the foreign mana away, then surrounded his heart with a barrier, but somehow, only a moment later, the pain returned with even more force.

Yet again he ripped the mana away, but instead of focusing on a barrier, he watched his heart looking for the cause.

Even when he watched closely, he nearly missed the foreign mana sneaking through, as it looked like the other ambient mana flowing toward the tether. The mana appeared harmless until it diverted toward his heart, then shifted.

After eradicating the newest wave, he followed the stream flowing through his body back to his palms. There he watched closely, looking for anything that stood out.

At first, nothing jumped out at him, but after several seconds, he noticed a slight difference between the primary stream and a secondary one flowing within. The only reason he noticed was the harmless mana seemed to avoid a tiny stream.

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Unfortunately, before he could capitalize on his discovery, he doubled over as a fire poker stabbed through his chest, causing him to black out for a moment.

In a panic, he latched onto the hazardous mana and yanked, but the damage was already done. His heart throbbed with each beat as he gasped for breath.

Knowing he wouldn’t be able to handle another attack, he latched onto the stream he discovered and expelled it from his body, afraid to risk trying to control it.

Once he expelled it, he gate kept the mana entering his body, pushing out the Trojan horse mana each time it entered.

Time passed as he rebuffed its attempts while his heart recovered, nourished by a steady supply of his mana.

By the time the heart attack causing mana gave up, his heart rate returned to a slightly elevated pulse, with no soreness remaining.

That didn’t mean he let his guard down. If the mana could cause a heart attack, what would happen next? He wasn’t sure he could survive something more potent.

The scary part was the previous three waves weren’t particularly potent. There were plants in the garden radiating poison far beyond what assaulted him. If one of those struck, he was a goner. He needed to find a solution and quick. A reactive response could be disastrous. What other option did he have? The last wave was quite stealthy.

At that thought, an idea sparked, prompting him to focus his senses outward. He wasn’t sure if it would work, but it was worth a try. It shouldn’t be possible, but neither should his defense against the poison without his poison resistance card activating. Maybe this place gave him powers beyond what his cards allowed.

Instead of waiting for the next wave to strike him, he expanded his senses outward, looking for any poison mana in his direct surroundings that felt different from the standard poison attuned mana.

A shiver ran through him when he realized he could, in fact, sense differing mana and a lot of it. He didn’t count the mana radiating off the plants which stayed around the plant that originated from for a few moments before turning into regular poison attuned ambient mana.

No, the mana he noticed appeared out of thin air within the clearing. That mana swirled around him, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. He really hoped his idea worked, otherwise there was no way he could survive so many types of poison.

With his mental fingers, he reached out and pushed away any suspicious mana before it could reach him. To both his shock and relief, his mental fingers contacted the mana instead of phasing through it like it should have.

It was like how his parents controlled sand without touching it. He wasn’t sure how it was possible for him to do it without even having a poison manipulation card, but he wasn’t complaining.

The headache returned, but he pushed through it as he dispelled the cloud of mana from his immediate surroundings.

In response, the clouds grew in both size and potency to the point he could barely keep it away from his hands.

Rashes formed on his exposed skin as the mana intruded elsewhere, but there was nothing he could do about the weaker mana. All his focus remained on expelling the most potent streams of mana, terrified one of them could kill him.

Painful boils grew then burst, but the pain dulled to the background as he flailed his mental hands, back handing any potent stream.

Soon he couldn’t even remain on his knees as his body locked up, forcing him to collapse to the grass. But even then, he kept all his focus on the swirling mana, only growing in power.

He fell into a trance, pushing away mana, only for more to replace what he dispelled.

Even in his semi lucid state, he knew it was a losing battle, but all he could do was continue fighting in hopes he cleared the test before the test killed him.

Unfortunately, no matter how much resistance he put up, it was futile.

More and more mana snuck through, each more potent than the last. There wasn’t a patch of skin untouched. In fact, if he were to break from his trance, he would have noticed he was both blind and deaf.

His body twitched on the grass, a mass of sores both inside and out.

Unable to handle the onslaught, his heart slowed to dangerous levels, causing his limbs to numb, which was probably a good thing. Even if it is heart held on, his death was inevitable. His lungs were filling with liquid as his brain swelled.

Finally, his defense broke, allowing the remaining mana to flood his system, killing him in an instant.

With a gasp, he shot upright, eyes blinking, all pain gone.

Confusion reigned as he took in his surroundings. Wood replaced the rainbow garden. It took several moments for his mind to catch up, still in a state of shock. When it did, he realized he was back in the shack on the platform.

Suddenly, a force slammed into his back, propelling him out of the shack. He landed on his feet and spun toward the shack, only to find the door vanishing before his eyes as the presence within radiated disappointment.

Annoyance sparked when the shack entrance slammed shut. Did he go through all of that for nothing? Did he fail the test? It seemed impossible to pass. Even if he defended against a couple more waves, it was only a matter of time until one overwhelmed him.

Maybe he wasn’t talented enough with poison to succeed. Still, he had to have earned something from his performance.

Actually, saying he didn’t earn anything was wrong. He learned how to defend against several types of poison, causing his poison resistance card to level.

At that thought, his eyes gravitated down to his bracelets, eyes widening a hopeful glint within when he found they flashed.

An era long past (Legacy).

Survive the ancient forest below a forgotten civilization and uncover its secrets. You have encountered the resting place of one of the first. Seek the others. Maybe one will find you worthy.

Time Limit: 4 days, 15 hours.

Halima’s Playground Completed.

Stage One: 15%

Stage Two: 10%

Stage Three: Uninitiated

His hope plummeted as he saw his abysmal score. He didn’t even reach stage three. Just the thought of how stage two ended sent a shiver through him, imagining how hard stage three would be.

One thing was for sure, he wasn’t some poison prodigy or maybe the test expected him to be better prepared. Either way, the results were the same. He failed utterly.

A sigh escaped him as he turned his back to the shack, hands clenched at his sides, expression hardening. At least he left with his life. He would rather fail and live than succeed and cripple himself.

As long as he survived, he would improve. So what if some ancient poison mage didn’t approve of him? Poison wasn’t the only attunement at his disposal.

As if sensing his determination, the hut gave off an approving feeling, then four streams of light descended from the sky, forming four cards on the platform in front of him.