Owen hadn't known too much about tier nine gates, before entering. The main thing he had learned about them had been the difficulty increase between gates, but anything related to terrain, situation, or generally how to beat them hadn't been found out before he had entered. So, it was to great relief, that it was similar to most gates in that he got a basic notification from the system, as well as a clear condition.

*Rout the enemy and defeat their General before your troops reach below twenty percent of their numbers.

10,000/10,000*

Owen felt his heart sink slightly, there was no way the battle would be a short one, but he forced himself to calm down. The world he had spawned in was by far one of the smallest he had previously been in. Everywhere he looked, he could see the faint outline of a barely transparent dome encircling the entire world. The terrain itself was a simple grassy field and as Owen scanned through his options a new system window appeared.

*Organize Troops

Commands

Strategies*

Each one of the options turned into a drop down menu that let him see everything he had available when it came to controlling his army. He tried moving down to the battle field and was happy to see that he still had just as much control over the soldiers when standing among their ranks. He gave himself a little time to familiarize himself with the controls and had his army changing battle formations. It reminded him of battle simulators that he used to play on his computer and out of curiosity, he tried playing around with the number of troops.

He grinned widely as the organize troops menu gave him the option to trade out certain troops for others, just so long as the final number was worth the 10,000 troops he had been allocated. Knowing that he didn't have unlimited time, he quickly organized his troops into a turtle formation, with a large group of cavalry and archers to follow up on the main attack. Once he was satisfied, he only had to wait a minute or so, before an opposing army approached over one of the nearby hills.

*Rout the Enemy

Your Troops 10,000/10,000

Enemy Troops 12,500/12,500*

Owen was immediately annoyed at the unfair numbers, but ignored it, since he knew he was going to be able to play an even larger role in this battle than a normal general could. He heard a charge called and had his infantry march forward in its turtle formation. An almost unending wave of elemental magic was thrown their way and Owen worried for a moment, as he had forgotten that the soldiers would have skill. The elemental magic crashed against the shields, but was repelled almost instantly back towards the enemies.

As soon as both sides clashed, Owen sent in the cavalry and had the archers begin firing towards the far backline of the enemy. He hadn't been idle while making the commands, and was charging head first towards one of the larger collections of enemy troops. He had already chosen not to hold anything back, in an effort to beat Malik, and each one of his attacks was imbued with as much resonance as possible. He wasn't fighting pointlessly either, while his troops were holding back the enemy line, he had watched the numbers begin dropping extremely quickly.

His goal though was to kill the enemy general, while tearing apart as many enemies as possible on the way. Each swing of his bastard sword tore large swathes through the enemy ranks and Owen couldn't help but grin as the enemy lines began to faulter. There was a weird sense of imminent danger though, as he moved closer towards the enemy general. It felt like the enemy line was giving way too quickly and it was only at the last moment Owen realized he had been encircled by the enemy.

Every direction he looked stood hundreds of troops and despite the danger, Owen quickly ordered his troops to focus on all of the other troops, letting him deal with the group that had surrounded him. His boosting skill was running at full capacity and Owen finally chose his new class skill. He had been right, as soon as he gained the skill, his whole body felt easier to move, but he was still missing the will stat. He didn't let it bother him as he made a few test moves and he realized he had more control over his body now, than ever before.

*General - Level 200*

He could see the enemy general now and he couldn't help but grin, as he pointed at him and ran a finger across his throat. The general seemed amused and a flick of his hand, sent the enemy troops rushing in. With the increased control over his body, the fight that followed after looked like it had been scripted by a professional choreographer. he opponent performed as if part of an intricate dance and each of Owen's movements barely moved him out of harms way, while several of his attacks defended against other blows.

Pure devastation, that was what Owen had become while he moved closer towards the enemy general. A look of fear had dug its way into the general and he stared at Owen's movements if he was an asura of death. Owen felt annoyance flair as the general retreated, while he sent more troops in to block Owen's path. Despite his new prowess, Owen still got hit from time to time and while his physique stat allowed him to heal from it quickly, his mana was draining at a prodigious rate, as he kept his boosting skill burning at max power.

He knew he only had a couple minutes at most before he was completely helpless. He couldn't push himself harder, so while grumbling, he ordered his cavalry to come help his clear his path. It gave Owen a moment to think, while he cut his way through fewer and fewer opponents. The opposing general was level 200 and yet Owen could immediately tell that the general was weaker than he was, when using resonance. Which brought up the question of how he was able to confidently fight a level 200 and yet someone like Malik terrified him.

One of the biggest aspects was that, there was no perfect enemy in the gates so far. Each opponent was missing something, at least until tier ten. Before that, each enemy had made sacrifices that made them strong, but weak against those with stronger foundations. Malik was someone who hadn't cut any corners and yet still had reached the insane level that Owen's current opponents were at. He had been able to tell from the Malik's aura, that he had a 1st grade soul and body temper.

Which meant Malik also only got 25% experience from each opponent killed. That was what had been scary, while this opponent, Owen couldn't even sense a strong temper and it didn't even seem like the general had a beneficial title. The gate had been more of a test of battle knowledge so far, as well as how well you could control the battlefield against your enemy. Which made Owen an unfair opponent in this type of gate, as he was able to decimate the enemy troops on his own.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The clean up of the fight ended quickly and Owen had more than half of his remaining troops left by the time they had completely routed the enemy.

*You have successfully cleared a tier nine gate.

250,000 credits gained

50,000 bonus credits gained for clearing with more than half of your remaining troops.*

Owen didn't bother to let himself bask in his own success and exited the gate as quickly as it would let him. He expected to see Malik waiting for him, but instead there was nothing and Owen gave himself several seconds to hope. It all fell away as a hand clapped Owen on the back, once he fully stepped out of the gate. "That was really fast, you're good, but I won!" Malik said, grinning from ear to ear. "Yeah, you did, congrats man!" Owen said, trying his best to sound enthusiastic.

Malik walked around Owen a couple times before nodding. "I've got a day or so, before I have to head back to the closest town. I'll try to catch you up with the others, cause I have no idea how you're so far behind the rest of us." Owen didn't have a chance to ask what he meant, before feeling the entire world blur. Owen fought against his body to try and stay conscious, but even the smaller movements, caused ripples of unconsciousness. When it stopped, Owen barely managed to keep himself from throwing up, before the world shifted again.

*You have entered the tier ten gate, Trial of Daedalus

Make your way through the labyrinth and defeat Daedalus before the time runs out.

23:59:58*

Owen felt his stomach wrench, but forced himself to take some calming breaths. "Sorry man, I forgot that your stats are still too low to handle those speeds." Malik said, not sounding sorry at all. "Alright, if you're going to be part of the challenge, I need to catch you up on levels. Sadly, I'm only going to bother with you for the rest of today, so you'll have to figure it out after that." Malik said. Owen felt like everything was moving too fast, he wasn't even sure what Malik was talking about. "What do you mean?" Owen asked through calming breaths.

"Come on, you don't need to play those games with me, to be honest I thought it would be obvious with how strong I am." Malik scoffed, before turning his attention to the dark corridor in front of them. "Sadly, I don't remember the exact path through this gate," Malik said frowning. Owen watched as he rapped a knuckle against the wall, before throwing a bunch that seemed to cause the entire world to shake. "We are going to take a short cut, since this gate can be annoying." Owen watched in horror as Malik's hand grabbed his shirt and the gate world blurred.

Wind whipped at his face and small cuts appeared all over his face and hands. Owen wanted to speak when Malik had paused, but instead of words, vomit poured out of his mouth and Owen gagged. Wiping his mouth Malik looked over with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm actually sorry this time, I thought your stats were high enough to handle those speeds when you didn't throw up the first time." Malik said sheepishly.

Owen only let himself try to gather his thoughts for as moment, before he let loose a barrage of questions. "Why did you make it sound like you cleared this gate already? Why are you so adamant on trying to help me catch up? And more importantly who am I supposed to be catching up with?" The words tumbled out as Owen fumed. Malik only looked confused, before shaking his head. "Of course, your god didn't tell you about it, that's why your level is so extremely low." Malik said and his face brightened.

"I guess I get to be your senior brother in this moment!" Malik half cheered. Owen tried, he really tried his best, but he couldn't help but cringed as the words left Malik's mouth. Malik only laughed at Owen's expression and gestured towards the next room. "One of the minotaur is in that room, so watch your movements when you go fight it. I'll explain during the fight, so you can consider it a part of your training."

Owen sighed, but he wasn't too worried. Experience in tier ten gates would hopefully be worth the effort, especially since the common enemies would be stronger than most bosses in tier nine gates. Owen immediately activated his boosting skill at full power and focused on his mobility skill as well, as he moved into the room.

He immediately felt like giving Malik a thrashing, as not one but four different minotaur were standing in the four corners of the room. Owen tried to to back out as is keen eye activated, but Malik grinned while blocking the door. "Trust me, this fight will be worth it!" He grinned.

*Blessed: Stone Minotaur - Level 200

Cursed: Stone Minotaur - Level 200

King: Stone Minotaur - Level 225

Emperor: Stone Minotaur - Level 250*

Owen felt panic rise in his chest and his heart beat became the only sound his ears as it rhythmically thumped with increasing speed. Each Minotaur stood over three meters tall and wielded enormous two handed weapons. The only one that didn't, was the emperor, who had a large staff, which began summoning dozens of small mana constructs, each thrumming with different affinities.

Owen forced himself to calm down as he looked around the room and scanned the monsters with combat in mind. They looked like flesh and blood creatures, but most of their body was covered in a stone like armor that reminded him of an armadillo. His thoughts raced through what made tier ten gate monsters a nightmare. They had titles, skills, a class, and a secondary class. He tried to play out the fight in his mind, but not knowing their skills or their classes, everything he would be able to think of was worthless.

Regardless, Owen forced himself into a ready position, his bracers changing into their war pick form. He heard a gasp of surprised from Malik, who stood in the corner looking interested. "Alright, good luck!" He heard from the same corner, before the first Minotaur burst forwards. Owen barely managed to dodge the attack, before he heard words echoing in his head. The distraction almost cost him and arm as he started another dodge slightly too early. His mobility skill was the only thing that saved him as his body contorted, before Owen was able to launch his first counter attack.

"Wow, you're already doing better than I thought you would," Owen heard inside his head. The voice sounded remarkably like Malik and a snicker confirmed it. "You have mental resonance?" Owen tried thinking back, but he didn't hear a response immediately follow. Owen had to turn his focus from the voices in his head, as his resonance slash barely managed to chip the natural stone plating of the minotaur. He cursed, but had to dodge again as the second and third minotaur joined the fight.

Glancing blows began to slowly wear Owen down as even with his boosting and mobility skills, it wasn't possible to dodge everything. The whole time Malik's voice echoed through his head. "So, several of the gods have this bet, to see who the next successor will be of their pantheon. Which made all of the half step deities lose their minds in an attempt to win the bet. Essentially all of us are part of this bet to see who's choice will win. That's the whole point behind the sponsors, at least as I understand it." Owen didn't have a chance to ask any questions or even consider the weight behind Malik's words as he performed a series of dodges that gave him the first opening in several seconds.

Rather than use it to ask questions, he turned it into a slash, as his bracers changed to their sword form. A slash imbued with resonance and mana, tore through one of the gaps in the mage minotaur's stone armor, severing both of its arms. A loud roar echoed through the locked chamber and the shockwave sent Owen flying. He managed to land on his feet, but immediately had to dodge as the three minotaur's stormed into melee range again. Owen had a brief hope that Malik was done with his short lecture, but as soon as the melee began again, so did Malik's voice.