They reached the gravesite without issue, only fighting a few more Aspirants along the way. Alex put down each without fanfare, despite two of them being more powerful than other Tier 0 snakes they’d fought to that point. After arriving next to the stone structures, Alex received a notification.

You have discovered an important location: Gravesit. Trial completion score increased by 20. Discover more about this gravesite to increase score.

It was similar to the notification from the last graves. Apparently, discovering that what they’d initially assumed was some kind of village was actually a grave didn’t cap the potential score they could gain from these sites.

“It’s interesting that there are nine graves again,” Jess pointed out the obvious.

“Has to be a cultural thing,” Alex replied, “That might be the key to further increasing our score.”

“How, though?” Anthony asked, “We don’t have any idea what their culture was like.”

“You’re right,” Alex shrugged, “I was just thinking out loud.”

“After 30,000 years, we’d be lucky to find the remains of a Tier 2 body,” Jess said, “There’s almost no chance we’ll be able to figure out anything about their culture.”

“It might not be possible to improve our score further, then,” Alex didn’t disagree with what Jess was saying, but he didn’t like the idea. It had been quite easy to improve the score from the initial five points, after all.

“Just because the prompt says we can improve the score doesn’t mean we actually can,” Jess said, “It happily told us that the first site was a village when we found it.”

Anthony nodded, and Alex just shrugged again. She was right, the Trialbringer had already shown them that it wouldn’t be helping. The prompts couldn’t be trusted.

Jess continued when neither of them had more to add regarding the prompt, “I think it’s worth the time to open each of these graves. The apertures will probably be worth a good amount back in New Chicago, even if it's just for study.”

“Same roles?” Alex queried. He knew the answer as he asked, but it was good to confirm. When Jess nodded he continued, “I’ll take down any monsters that come for the experience, I’m starting to get worried about the way it’s calculated.”

“What are you worried about?” Anthony asked.

“Well you guys needed more kills because your attributes are higher than most level nines,” Alex explained, “but we don’t know how my Connection and Capacity attributes factor into that equation.”

“If that’s the case, you aren’t getting a level up until we can face a normal trial,” Jess said, “There’s no way anything less than a high Neophyte is worth anything.”

“Which is why I’m hoping that they’re not as important as the other stats,” Alex agreed.

“Well,” Anthony said, “Good luck with that.”

With their day planned, the other duo got to work on digging out the first boulder. Alex started to clear the grass around them, maximizing their visibility once again.

The first gravesite they decided to open was the rightmost and Alex didn’t dare to venture too far, so he quickly ran out of grass to cut. Standing idle didn’t appeal, so he worked on a few casual sword forms while waiting for a monster to appear.

“Isn’t that distracting?” Jess asked.

“Not much,” Alex replied, “I’ve done these forms so much that I don’t have to focus on them.”

“But it is distracting,” She persisted.

“A little,” Alex admitted, “I can’t take another day of just standing still staring at the fields.”

His mind had been active yesterday, but he’d still managed to see every monster coming.

Jess didn’t seem pleased by that answer, but Anthony spoke in Alex’s favor, “His Perception is so high that he’ll be fine. His brain can process more information now than when we were untiered.”

Jess grimaced but nodded, “Alright, but if you don’t notice a monster in time you’re done.”

That was completely fair, but Alex wouldn’t be missing any monsters.

The practice was soothing, as it always was. The act of just practicing with his blade resonated more deeply than ever before, a clear consequence of his mana type. Even casual practice that came closer to a form of meditation was still Refining his skills.

Alex wished he could focus more on the feeling. He wanted to determine whether or not his mana type made the practice more effective, but he knew that he couldn’t explore it in the trial.

Refine was powerful, and as an Uncommon mana type he knew that it would have several little effects like that. Making his training more impactful might be a stretch, though. It didn’t feel like something his mana type could do yet.

He could be wrong, but feeling should be important when it came to figuring out the uses of his mana type. The fact that he’d now considered two potential angles and both were wrong was exciting, if anything.

The stomach pain he’d felt earlier was back, but it remained faint and isolated. This wasn’t the first time it returned, but on the jog to the graves Alex hadn’t put any importance on minor discomfort. It faded quickly again, which confused Alex slightly.

On the one hand, it made sense for minor pains and aches to rapidly fade, thanks to the improved physique his attributes offered him. Toughness and Agility both helped speed up recovery from minor injuries. Because his attributes were so high, it made sense for minor pains to rapidly fade.

On the other hand, Toughness also made any sort of cramp or muscle tear rare while empowering the body to rapidly expunge any illnesses. The initial pang was easily excused, but repeated occurrences implied there was a deeper cause.

“Anthony, can you check out my stomach for me?” The other two were working quietly, so Alex wasn’t interrupting anything with the request.

Anthony turned and raised an eyebrow in response to the question, leaving Alex to reflect on his word selection.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“You know that’s not what I meant,” He argued. He wasn’t particularly embarrassed about the phrasing, but it was just another opportunity for Anthony to banter.

Instead, the healer’s face morphed into a serious expression at Alex’s statement, “Right, sorry.”

Alex noticed mana flow towards Anthony’s eyes as he approached, “What’s the problem? I don’t see any issues.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Alex reassured him, “I’ve just been getting stomach pains. Nothing serious, but the repetition is odd.”

Anthony nodded, continuing to examine Alex’s stomach, now from only a few feet away. He didn’t speak for a few minutes, focusing on the examination. Alex could tell from his furrowed brow and frustrated expression that he wasn’t making much progress.

“There’s nothing wrong as far as I can see,” He eventually said, “This just started?”

“A few times while we were on the way here,” Alex replied, “I wasn’t going to say anything, but it’s weird that it keeps happening.”

Anthony nodded, “There’s a lot of stuff I can’t rule out since I don’t have the Enhancements to see viruses, but as far as I can tell you’re in perfect condition.”

Alex shrugged, “Sounds good, thanks for checking.” He wasn’t going to stress out about some minor pain. If it got worse they would need to figure something out, but for now, it didn’t even border on debilitating.

“Tell me if it happens again,” Anthony replied, “It’s odd because I can’t see any signs whatsoever. There should at least be something there, you don’t heal that quickly.”

Alex didn’t really have a response to that. So he just nodded, “Will do.”

Jess had taken a break from digging to watch but didn’t comment. Alex wasn’t sure if she was annoyed by the distraction or just ambivalent, but figured that she would’ve said anything if she was particularly upset.

Alex had expected that nothing would come of Anthony’s examination, so he got back to sentry duty without any worry.

A snake attacked only a few minutes later. Small, stealthy, and fast, he noticed it only thanks to the land he’d cleared surrounding their location.

Even compared to the Aspirants they’d faced, this snake was potentially the smallest Alex had seen. He almost missed it because of that size, but ultimately managed to see it because of its stealth. The magical effect was imperfect, and Alex was able to see mana flowing around the serpent as it approached.

Alex attacked without fanfare, forcing the snake to abort its attempted ambush of Anthony. The monster and man found themselves in a faceoff, with the snake happy to switch targets when Alex presented himself.

The two faced each other, and Alex managed to rotate slightly so that it was facing him parallel to his friends. This would allow him to dodge without worrying about the others coming under fire as the snake continued past him. The monster, unsurprisingly, remained focused on Alex, ignoring the angle it now had to go after Jess and Anthony.

The healer and spearwoman were both armed by now, and Alex was the one who had attacked it. Unless they got involved or left an obvious opening, he would retain its focus.

The serpent’s small size didn’t make it less dangerous. If anything, it was the opposite. The big snakes were a large target, and Alex was yet to come across a monster he couldn’t cut if he tried hard enough.

It really was incredibly quick, and when it leapt at Alex’s chest he was forced to dive into a dodge. He threw himself off balance doing it, but he could tell that stealth wasn’t this monster’s only trick. Its fangs were glowing with unused mana, and Alex did not plan on letting those connect easily.

He heard a deeper than normal exhalation of breath, and knew that Jess was considering entering the fray. This serpent was clearly the strongest out of the monsters they’d faced.

Alex easily recovered his balance, with the only damage being done to his ego. He’d underestimated just how fast the snake could attack, discarding a valuable opportunity. It didn’t matter how quick a low-tier being was, taking off into the air was an opening. Alex would be shocked to see a monster capable of more than contorting its body midair before Tier 2.

The snake wasn’t so kind as to attack in the same manner again, instead darting at his legs after it gathered itself. Alex stepped back while swiping away its approach.

Alex was clearly slower, but the matchup was comparable to a fight between him and a giant. The ability to move your body faster than your opponent meant little when you had to move so much to cover the same amount of ground. The snake tried to attack his lower legs a few more times, but Alex easily dodged.

Conversely, Alex wasn’t accomplishing much either. It was a bad matchup for him, where the snake’s fangs were worrying enough to deter any reckless maneuvers and it was quick enough to avoid any attacks he didn’t commit to.

If he was honest with himself, most attacks that he did commit to would be dodged as well. That was why he was taking the fight so slowly. The snake’s fangs provoked caution, and he wasn’t going to ignore that instinct. If this monster had a mana type that empowered its poison, even Anthony might struggle to save him.

This left them in a stalemate, which suited Alex just fine. He would last longer in a battle of endurance, no doubt about it.

The snake either realized this as well, or it just grew impatient. It leapt for Alex’s chest again, and this time the swordsman wasn’t taken off guard. His sword was held in a one-handed grip, as flexibility was far more important than power in this fight, which opened his offhand to grab the monster as it passed him.

The snake barely managed to shift its lower half to escape his grip, prompting Alex to curse softly at the near miss. Grabbing it might not have been the right call, but he hadn’t been confident in making contact with his sword.

Their stalemate resumed, with Alex reflecting that the snake was less vulnerable in the air than he’d expected. It couldn’t truly maneuver, but with the speeds it was moving at all it needed to do was twist slightly and he couldn’t react in time.

Still, Alex wasn’t worried. Seconds stretched into minutes as the two combatants faced each other down. Alex’s focus was entirely on leaving no openings, refusing to falter and become acquainted with his opponent’s venom.

The others didn’t move to assist, likely coming to the same conclusion as Alex. This snake had to be worth a lot more than the others they’d faced.

Eventually, a mistake was made. The snake attempted to follow through further on an attack, instead of retreating when its probing head was repelled. The change in tactic didn’t surprise Alex, and he made solid contact with the flat of his blade by reversing his swing.

Scales cracked under the force, and the tradeoff for such incredible speed in a mid-Neophyte was demonstrated. The monster crumpled under an attack that was far from Alex’s best, and his follow-up came much closer to meeting that standard. The fight, which had gone on for minutes without a single blow landing, ended in the blink of an eye.

“Nice work,” Anthony was already approaching as soon as the first blow landed.

“Thanks,” Alex was not surprised to see the healer going for the snake’s corpse. He hadn’t been the only one to notice its impressive fangs.

“These are high-quality,” Anthony examined the spoils, “I’m actually hesitant to take them without any gear.”

“Put the whole head in a box,” Jess agreed, taking out an enchanted container designed for situations just like this one.

Anthony glanced at Alex, who happily obliged. The snake’s head and body were cleanly separated, and Jess’s pack was a snake head heavier.

“Those fangs were definitely Enhanced by a mana type,” Alex stated, “Looks like we might be reaching those stronger monsters you predicted.”

Anthony nodded, “That still wasn’t enough?” It was a pointless question, but Alex didn’t mind.

“Nope.”

“We might need to get involved if anything stronger than this shows up,” Anthony stated, “We got a bit lucky that it didn’t have an aperture.”

“I don’t know,” Alex replied, “Monster apertures are worth good money, even with the supply from Neophyte bosses.” in Normal Mode Tier 1 trials, only the boss would have an aperture. Most monsters made up for the lack with attributes which were higher than they should be instead.

The snake’s carcass didn’t have anything of value, so they quickly buried it to avoid the smell of a dead body spreading too easily.

Their next interruption came from a snake of a similar size. Alex noticed it from nearly thirty feet away, seeing it in the grasses thanks to the mana that flowed near its head.

As the snake entered his line of sight, he quickly understood why this snake didn’t have any stealth.

Stealth was for those that needed to hide. Judging by the sickly purple hued crystal jutting out of this serpent’s skull, it didn’t fit those parameters.