Rosa left Walter's study after returning potions as she crossed the garden with the fairy shrine. Several onlooking fairies spotted Rosa and followed her with interest. Not suspiciously. Rosa glared and hissed at them and spoke the fairy language for them not to leave the garden unitedly. Before she could finish her speech, a beam of rainbow light flew across the lawn and they were heading straight for the manor as there seemed to be loud, angry shouter coming from the conference.

 “What in the bloody Nine Worlds is going on?” Rosa asked.

 “Milady, it appears that the truth has come out,” Said Alvina. One of Cassandra's most trustful fairies. “Her Majesty is in great distress.”

 “What do you mean?” Rosa asked.

 “Just see for yourself.”

 Rosa entered the manner, pushing her way through the armored Elvin knights mixed in with King Rurik's vanguards.

 “How long you known? How long were you guys were willing to keep this a secret from me!” Cassandra was apprehensively shaken.

 “Honey, it not what you think,” Stan cut in, but that was all he could say when Cassandra had more to say.

 “It's not what I think? Honestly . . . I feel betrayed by my father in-law.

 “Cassie! No one has betrayed you! You do not understand the dire circumstances that needs your focus elsewhere. Lancelot is the last thing that should be on your mind. Your son . . . my daughter should be your first priority. Let the gentlemen deal with that sociopath. Ease your mind!" Rynna sighed.

 Cassandra furrowed her brow and snarled before sighing in defeat. They were right.

 “Very well then,” Cassandra then face her fairy lieutenant and spoke in the pixie language, “Zara, prepare to open the shrine passage with haste. No longer than half and hour.”

 Zara in her golden, shinning dress bowed, “As you wish, Your Majesty.” Zara had blond long with a black hairpin to pin her left side bangs. She had such elegant blue eyes that would get almost any male lusting with a simple glimpse even if she is no taller than the size of an average adult human hand. Zara flew away from the conference room.

 Cassandra hurried through the corridor. Rynna and Grandma trailed behind As their towards the spare room on the first floor where an unconscious Eddie was currently resting, Cecily galloped like a horse that she nearly bumped into Cassandra.

 “Cecily! Why are you running indoors? You know that it bad manners! We are quests at the Ferguson Manor!” 

 “My apologies, mother.” Cecily panted and took a deep breath. “The sleeping boy started to burning up! He's floating in his sleep!”

 “What!” Cassandra's heart felt like it sank to her feet. Before Cecily and Ryyna had a chance to respond, Cassandra already hurried past Cecily and she stood next to the bed where Eddie. Eddie's body was suspended and hovering nearly the room's ceiling. His body was on fire like a phoenix going through the cycle of rebirth. . In his place is a floating, shinning chalice. “It's the Divine Chalice! One of the Nine Mystic Trinkets of the universe,” Rynna marveled.

 Cassandra reached out not caring for her safety. All she could think was embracing her son as he seemed to be shrouded in flames that could incinerate any living thing in seconds upon contact.

 Rynna's eye flickered as the Elder Dragon Shialla told her that Cassandra would be severely injure. “Don't touch him!” She cried out.

 It was pointless as Cassandra was about to pluck her son's, hovering comatose body, Eddie's body was instantly incinerated. However, there was no ash. Sparks dispersed like shooting stars.

 Trepidation immediately could be seen from Cassandra's eyes as she stared at the empty bed with blankets. The sheets, pillow and blankets were not burn. Her hands brushed the sheets. She could feel the warmest of her son's normal body temperature. Not the scourging heat that could be felt earlier. Cassandra then looked to the back of her right hand to see if the forbidden mana seal she imprinted would lit up. This was a curse seal with the name Blood Lotus. This curse seal works like a double edge sword. This seal would be activated upon Eddie's death and seek out the person and everything that was responsible for Eddie's demise and attacked their souls. Their cultivation would plummet. This was the first side of the Blood Lotus skill. The seal also works like a tracker. The target or targets could be tracked anyone across the universe. They could not hide their location from Cassandra has long as they were still cursed.

 Cassandra sighed with relieve. As the Blood Lotus sealed was not activated. This meant that Eddie was still alive.

 “Edward has been forcefully selected be to take part in a ten year Divinity Abyss Trial. The participant will under multiple challenges to climb to the top of the abyss. The Divinity Abyss is located in the Dragon Sanctuary and its known as the Forbidden Domain. The Dragon Sanctuary is one of the four planes of Valhalla!”

 “Great Wizard Woden!” Cassandra was flabbergasted, staring at a spirit version of Woden the Wanderer materialized out of the blue in a ghastly form. He appeared to be wearing the same wizard cloak on the day he was petrified frm the Petrification Poison. Cassrandra felt cool sweat trickled down her spine. She once ventured inside the Dragon Sactuary during her youful days as a teenager and nearly escaped within an inch of her life. She vowed she would never go back to that domain and her husband helped her sealed the entrance from the the Trial Ground plane and the portal inside the Fairy Queendom.

She then calm her thoughts and asked, “Are you certain that he entered the Dragon Sanctuary?”

Before Woden could speak, Stan entered the room and coughed, “It's true. What your boy is going through is a long, forgotten trial of the Ferguson Dynasty. It is to test those who are born on my side of the family. They will undergo a trial by climbing the Divinity Abyss. The challenger has one month to complete the trial in the given time or he or she will fail. Upon failure the challenger fortieths their life. However, the challenger has the right beforehand and exiting the trial.”

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Woden's eyes became misty as he was in deep thought, “However, do to unforeseen circumstances, Edward is force to complete the trial and cannot forfeit and withdraw from Vahalla. He can only complete the trail if he wishes to live and return back within one month's time, which is equivalent of ten years spent in the Divinity Abyss.

Cassandra punched down and with a loud bang; Eddie's twin sized bed in half.  A moment of silence has passed through the room as everyone was flabbergasted as she was furious.

“As I feared,” Stan said with a gloomy tone. “He has to face off against the seven acolytes of Efroot. According to Ancestor, each acolyte has stepped into the core realms. The final acolyte, which is the captain has surmounted the Earth Profound Realm.”

 It was already common knowledge that Efroot was well known as a guardian of the Trial Planes area and one of the Sigmunds generals and undisputed champion of the Drestroyers. Its was indistructible. Nothing could harm it. Woden and Stan gave an explanation about the existence of the acylytes. By eliminating them, Efroot would lose his invincibility shroud. They explained further that if Eddie does not slay Efroot within the time period of ten years, all the acylytes he's slew would be resurrected, resulting failure. Upon failure, Eddie would be sentenced to death by Sigmud.

Cold sweat trickled down her spine. She could only imgine the hardship and life and death situations her son would be facing, and not to mention a decade in the wilderness of a dog eat dog world. Mystical and demonic beast would not be the only thing that would threaten to claim his life. There were many  rogue coltivator in the Trial Plain. Her heart felt like it was being stabbed a thousand times. She knew that Eddie's mana network was currently unstable that he could not harness mana and cultivate. This meant that he was a cripple. A cripple that world would be courting death.

Even if he some how manged to survive for ten years, he would never be the innocent, bostrious boy that wouldn't even harm a fly would turn into a cold blooded killer. Being stranded away from modern civilaztion would regress his knowledge. His IQ would hit rock bottom and must likelly he would have to restart his edcuation all over again. This was most likely the outcome of because of his comprehension disability that he would forget how to read and write. This was one of the reasons why Eddie's require Special Education, starting from kindergarten. 

As much as a major setback it would be to restart his education, it was much easier than restoring a destroyed and unstable mana network and restarting one's cultivation from scratch. The amount of time and recources to accimulate for each breakthrough in most situation once in a life time for a cultivator, especailly, when one has shed there mortal flesh. No matter how she though about it, she could only hope her son would survive. Then she will deal with the aftermath and consequences. 

“I'm afraid with my grandson's current talent and level of intelligence will be the death of him. Lord Nine-Wings cannot interfere.”

“Preposterous!” Woden stroked his shinning, silver beard. “My son would never designed such an inheritance trial to shackle its challengers to death. Every individual—that includes a person that no cultivation and no battle experience—has the potential to complete and inherit the Heavenly Dragon Crown and become the next ruler of the dragon race,” Woden said with a prideful tone. “Each challenger will come across a Celestial Armament. It is in their right to challenge it or automatically sign a blood contract. The Dragon King Trial is design to temper one's body and luck. One would be transform from a mundane individual to a powerhouse warrior if they survive and complete the Dragon King Trial.”

Everyone sucked in breath. It seemed like Eddie would be experiencing hell for a decade's worth of time in Valhalla. Even the mentioning of an immediate encounter with a Celestial Armament was very rare that even Cassandra has yet to obtain one in her sixteen, plus years as a mana cultivator. And it's extremely difficult to have one submit to you. The worse Celestial Armaments to obtain are the the Demonic Grade as each and everyone of those either housed the spirit of a demon or an evildoer mana cultivator expert.

One lucky enough not to be devoured or possessed by the demonic spirit would still become an evildoer and a wicked individual. Cassandra gnashed her teeth. Although, she respected the Norse gods from both sides of the Vanir and Aesir, she couldn't help herself from forming a biter resentment towards Baldur. She could not accept the way his trial butchered his descendants. Not to mention one of his descendants happens to be her only child.

“One should not think too much. The path of the one who wields that Celestial Armament is decided by his or herself. Not all are deemed become nefarious beings. Even someone with an occupations as a doctor has the prospect of turning for the worse.” 

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“What really needs to be focused upon this coming invitational of my wildhunt is Efroot. We all hope that Edward enters the Trial Planes. If he does make it up to that point, he will need some assistance. As long as Eddie slays all the acolytes, Efroot's invincibility cloak will be disabled and it would be fair games as who gets to kill it first. Let me remind you all again that if Efroot is not slayed by Edward, he will die on the spot even before he could ever have the chance.”

“Humph . . . That won't happen. I will be the one that stands guard over the area. No one will be able to slip pass me,” Cassandra said. “This invitational is of little to no importance to me. You guys can compete for the title.”

Cassandra sighed. She entered the last invitational at the age of fourteen and became runner-up while her second husband took home the title for the Ferguson Dynasty. Despite the loss, this was event marked on of the turn around points of her complicated romantic life. Alphonse Ferguson started warming her heart. She never thought the geeky, troublesome boy that she thought was out to ruined her life would changed her life forever. He was a man that was very loyal and dedicated to make her happy. That meant he would support her if she chosen another man over him again. Thinking about him, made her heart sudden churn. More than eight years since Alphonse had vanished from them.

“Cassie! You are still exiled and you cannot roamed outside of Midgard without Arkon's consent,” Ryyna said it solemnly.

Stan made strange coughing sounds. This was more than enough divert everyone's attention to him.

“To be quite frank. This may come as a surprise. During the summit of Arkon, I was able to temporarily pardon her exile. Thanks to the Great Wizard (Woden), I was able to negotiate a spot for daughter in-law in this upcoming invitational as an additional training for my grandson. Never would I imagine the outcome leading to such a grand, universal gathering.”

The night remained in a chaotic mood as the chattering continued on for several more hours.

 Time flew by quickly as three weeks have passed. Cassandra, Rynna and Cecily walked into to the portal from the Fairy Queendom to the Trial Planes of Valhalla. This time, participants from the Five Kindoms of Vanaheim and from the universe also entered the Trial Planes from their prospective location. Soon the Woden Wild Hunt Invitational would commence.

 In a blink of an eye, nine years have already passed by. Eddie still kept his ten year old appearance. His appearance only aged about two weeks from the time he started climbing up the chasm. As of now, has surmounted four peaks and killed all acolytes as he entered the portal to the Trial Plane. External cultivation currently level . . . Rank-Eight of the Soul Realm.