“…And that’s how I thought about the way to break the records,” Alnea said, explaining the process of his Trial, after they had settled in his room. “Giving up part of the assessment of the Trial, to break the records in just one area. To know if this method is viable or not though, we need to know your rank in the Warrior Hall. Only when we compare our ranks with yours, will we know the difference between completing the Trials normally, and completing them in my way.”

“…Is it not enough if I tell you that your way is better than mine?” Cecilia said, staring hesitantly at Alnea.

“Not enough,” Yuri said, shaking her head. “You have already been through the Trials. You should know how hard breaking records in the Trials is. Sacrificing our performance in the Trials just to break some records… Unless we have solid proof that this is the right way to clear the Trials, completing the Trials in such a way would be too risky.”

“…Fine,” Cecilia mumbled. “It’s eight thousand two hundred and twenty three.”

“So high?” Alnea said, staring at Cecilia with wide eyes, and a hint of smile on his face.

“Shut up!” Cecilia grumbled. “I knew you would make fun of me.”

“…I am not making fun of you.”

“Then why are you smiling?”

“…It’s because my thoughts were right. The Initial Stage Trials… They are too easy. Anyone can complete them. Maybe, things will change in the Intermediate Stage Trials, but at least in the Initial Stage Trials, the best way to increase our rank is by breaking records.”

“It is not just the Initial Stage Trials,” Yuri said. “Just like how we found completing the Initial Stage Trials too easy, the Peak Stage Wanderers would also find completing the Intermediate, and maybe even the Advanced Stage Trials as too easy. And the stronger ones among them should be able to complete even the Peak Stage Trials with ease. We need to break records in not just the Initial Stage Trials, but in all the Trials we face.”

“…Of the three records, one of them is impossible to break. And the other two… Since my main choice of weapon are my claws, I cannot take down more than one opponent at a time. At least not without using Aspects. The only records I can hope of breaking is the record of time.”

“You can indeed break the records of time, but the premise is that you must not let yourself get hit by the Blood Shadows.”

“…Stupid Trials,” Cecilia mumbled, with a frown on her face. “It looks like I need to practice more in the Arena.”

“…That is indeed a better way to hone ourselves,” Yuri said. “Except for the Heterodox Wanderers we encountered last week, for the past year, we have fought with only Oren Beasts, and have adapted ourselves to fight with them. Once we get accustomed to fighting other Wanderers, breaking the records should become a little easier for us. However, this is true only for the Martial Style Trials. We do not know how other Trials work yet. What if other Trials also have only two records that we can break? Would that not mean that two of us have to break the same record?”

“…So, will we be competing amongst ourselves?”

“There is no need to make things so complicated,” Alnea said, scratching his head. “Isn’t it just breaking some records? When the time comes, one of us will have to wait for the other two to complete their Trials, before taking the Trial again, and breaking through the records that the other two have broken.”

“It is not that simple—

“It is just that simple.”

“What about the person who will have to go later? What if—

“I know what you are worried about, but isn’t that why we are having this discussion?”

“…What is your plan then?”

“We will decide who will be third person to take the Trials based on what the Trials are. For example, for the Martial Style Trials in the future, Yuri should be the last one to take the Trials. Similarly, I am confident that I will perform better than either of you in the Aspect Trials, so I will be last one to take the Aspect Trials. As for the other Trials…

“We will need to gather more information about them before deciding our order of taking the Trials. Worst case scenario, one of us might end up being unable to break the records for the Initial Stage Trials. In the long run though, all of us should be able to break through some records, and reach the top hundred ranks. After all, breaking records in the Intermediate, and Advanced Stage Trials should help us more in raising our ranks.”

“…As expected of Alnea Reckless.”

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“His plans are just as reckless as his name.”

“…My name is not Alnea Reckless.”

“Really? I think it is a good name.”

“It describes you perfectly.”

“…Just tell me if you agree to the plan or not?”

“What is there to not agree with?” Yuri said. “I would have also suggested something similar… with a few tweaks. But your plan is better.”

“I have no objection either.”

“Then all that’s left is to decide the order of taking the Trials,” Alnea said. “Should we complete the Trials of the Warrior Hall first, or try the Trials of the Arcanist Hall?”

“…Since we have started with the Trials of the Warrior Hall, and you are confident of the Aspect Trials, then let us complete all the Trials of the Warrior Hall first.”

“I don’t mind either way.”

“Then let us complete the Trials of the Warrior Hall first,” Alnea said. “However, we should only take on the Trials of the Initial Stage. Intermediate Stage Trials and above… let us leave them for later.”

“Why?” Cecilia said, looking at Alnea in confusion. “We can defeat even Advanced Stage Wanderers. Why do we have to fear the Intermediate Stage Trials?”

“…We do not have to fear anything, but we must remain cautious and prudent. Don’t look at how swiftly I completed the Trials. I had to put in a lot of effort to barely break the records. And did you forget how long it took Alnea to defeat the Bood Shadows? The Intermediate Stage Trial will only be more difficult, with the records becoming even more difficult to break.”

“…I don’t have much information about the city, but I can guess that all the records in the Trials should have been set by Wanderers who came to the city after reaching the Peak Stage. They may not have much advantage over us when facing Initial Stage Blood Shadows, but the story will be different when Intermediate Stage Blood Shadows are involved.”

“You two don’t have to gang up on me,” Cecilia mumbled. “I was just asking a question.”

“It’s decided then,” Alnea said. “We will take only the Initial Stage Trials until we are more confident in ourselves.”

“…Then after the Warrior Hall, which Trial should we choose next?”

“Lia and I cannot take the Trials of the Scholar Hall just yet. Let us engrave a couple of more Glyphs, and get familiar with them first.”

“Alright,” Yuri said, nodding at his words. “When the time comes, you two will take the Trials of the Scholar Hall together, and I will follow after you.”

“…Then I should be the last one to take the Trials of the Arcanist Hall.”

“Arcanist Hall… It can wait until we gather more information about it. In any case, our next target should be the Aspect Trials.”

“Then what about the Black Desert Trials?”

“…About that,” Alnea said, remembering what crazy man had said earlier. “I think it would be best if we put it off until we complete the Intermediate Stage Trials at the very least.”

“But that is going to take months.”

“Waiting for a couple of months is better than falling in the trap of the Lotus clan.”

“…How sure are you?”

“How sure can I be?” Alnea said, shaking his head. “It is just our second day in the Lost city. And I have been with you two for the entire time. The only contact we have had with the Lotus clan was with the man who made a Blood Challenge against me. However, this also proves that the Lotus clan knows about me being in the city. And yet, except for the Blood Challenge, they have not done anything else. Do you think that the Lotus clan will just let me be?

“Besides, what the crazy man we met near the Arena said is still ringing in my mind. The Lotus clan may be in decline, but it still has a lot of friends. If it gets together with other clans… At the moment, it is only the rules of the Lost city that is restricting them. Once we leave the city though… We can handle a couple of Peak Stage Wanderers with our strength, but what if we are attacked by a dozen of them? And that too, in the middle of the Black Desert, an area completely unfamiliar to us. I think you can imagine the results.”

“…Fine. Let us keep the Black Desert Trials for later. But what about the Blood Arena?”

“What about it?”

“Our ranks rose by nearly five thousand after our first fight in the Arena. Yet, today, it rose only by a hundred or so. And if things keep going as they are, this improvement will become even slower. Poros knows when we will be able to reach the top thousand rank in the Arena.”

“Since you raised the problem, do you have any solution?”

“Of course,” Cecilia said, with a slightly proud expression on her face. “I have two solutions. We can either increase the number of times we fight in the Arena, or we can catch some Advance Stage Wanderers whom we do not like, and challenge them in the Arena. No Advanced Stage Wanderer should reject a challenge from some kids, right?”

“…Lia Reckless Serpia,” Alnea said, exacting his revenge as soon as he got the chance. “That name should suit you.”

“…Not as much as Alnea Reckless suits you,” Cecilia said, raising the right end of her lips in a smirk. “I am sure that you must have been thinking of using both of solutions at the same time.”

“…This is slander!”

“This is truth.”

“When will you two grow up,” Yuri said, shaking her head with a helpless smile on her face. “However, you plan is not bad, Cecilia. We really do need to increase our rank in the Blood Arena… So, we will go with both your plans at the same time. And while we are at it, let us try to find as many Wanderers from the Lotus clan as we can, and challenge them all to a fight. We can even instigate them to keep challenging us, and snatch as many Blood Coins from them as we can. In any case, we cannot let the Lotus clan live peacefully.”

Alnea, and Cecilia glanced at each other, before turning back to Yuri, and saying in unison, “Yuri Ruthless Faed.”

“…Do you two want to see how ruthless I can be?”

“…Speaking of being ruthless, I just thought of a good idea that might make the Lotus clan come challenging us on their own,” Alnea said, diverting the topic away from nicknames. Not for himself, but to save the girls from more embarrassment. After all, he had already learned to be shameless. “We just have to…”