The place where Robert appeared after stepping inside the Ascension Tower could be best described as the arena. Circular, and surprisingly large, it had a flat surface without a single object inside. There were barely any gaps between tightly fit stones, making an unnaturally smooth surface akin to an ice rink. However, there was still something to keep his attention. The most obvious were the walls. Painted in blue, they were filled with many complex symbols, almost creating a web of hieroglyphs and runes. If Robert needed to describe this obvious formation, it would be an attempt to research the precise difference between the physics and laws of nature in thousands of realms at once, using the all-known primitive language of ancient and, more importantly, barely sapient beings. Focusing his sight, he noticed that there were layers upon layers of these inscriptions, each made from a specific material and color. However, despite such labyrinthine schematics, the effect was far easier to grasp.
The first one made the place much bigger from the inside, stretching the space to fit the whole massive place. The next was to make the walls as tough as possible, as even a light punch had failed to damage the smooth surface. Robert’s insensitive fingers felt like everything was coated in a force shield without any visual effects like a glowing after an impact. Obviously, he didn’t try to use all his strength, not speaking about disintegrative energy, only testing the waters. Still, it withstood the hit with ease, confirming the true purpose of this potential arena. Last but not least was the huge sign, located on the opposite wall, turning it into an odd variant of a TV screen that was currently transmitting a message. Made with calligraphy perfect letters, the short text had a quite simple meaning.
Step inside the center… Okay.
Obeying the written order, Robert made his way toward the illuminated spot in the center of the circular area. The moment he did, something hot washed over his body, somehow penetrating his metal nature. There was a flash-like thought to back off to avoid the unknown, but Rob decided to follow his curiosity. At this point there was no fear about any potential consequences – his pitiful experience was hard to beat by a weird machine inside the dead cultivator’s sect. Moreover, he couldn’t remember when he actually felt something, making this energy bath quite a pleasant thing. Especially when it changed its temperature to cold, almost turning into some kind of contrast shower.
The soul imprint is copied. The trial is starting. The resulting position will depend on the stage reached… Yep, indeed a combat test.
The next moment the opposite wall moved, pushing five identical stone blobs out of itself. The latter was already melting under the invisible energy, quickly turning into five humanoid figures. Snow-white to the point of almost shining, they resembled ball-jointed puppets. There was no attempt from their creators to make them look like real humans. No face, just a flat surface on a cylindrical head. The limbs with the same thickness. Spherical huge joints. Only the big frame of these roughly made dolls made them a bit imposing. That, and the weapon that three of them had in their hands – a long-shafted spear, a straight dual-edged sword, and a thick two-handed saber with a curved blade. The fourth was clenching his fists, obviously relying on straightforward martial arts. However, the fifth was an archer with a weird asymmetrical bow. This ranged weapon almost had the height of the puppet with a grip in the lower third and not in the center.
There was no sign of the start. All five non-living opponents simply rushed at Robert at once, showing physical strength and agility far exceeding a normal human being. Acting like a trained group, they formed a semi-circle to face him as one entity. However, the first one to attack was the archer. Pulling a string in one fast motion, the puppet sent the arrow directly into Rob’s eye… only for it to shatter against the metal surface. Robert didn’t even blink, meeting a projectile with a curious glance from his pale pupil. The others were already amid their simultaneous attack, swinging their weapons at the motionless statue.
Side-stepping the thrust, Rob absentmindedly repelled the hit of a two-handed saber, putting his forearm against the sharp blade. The latter immediately bounced back, dulling itself in the process, despite the visual simplicity of the block. Robert, on the other hand, proceeded with gripping the tip of the flying sword. The weapon that was aimed at his neck was suddenly pulled away, changing its trajectory dramatically. Accelerated by unstoppable strength, it pierced the stomach of the saber-wielder, diving even deeper with Rob’s help. Not checking the result, Robert shot his leg forward, lightly kicking the knee of the martial artist. The leg bent backward, sending the puppet out of balance. Dropping down forward, it threw its own throat right on Robet’s prepared palm. In the next moment, it was ripped off, beheading the opponent at once.
Catching the following arrow that attempted to hit the other eye, Rob elbowed the sword-wielder, while avoiding another thrust of the spear. Grabbing the shaft with his now empty second hand, he struck with the arrow using it as an improvised knife and pushing it through the puppet’s white chest. The force appeared too big for the non-living enemy to handle, tearing a hole inside the stone chest. Therefore, clenching his fist, he raised the now “dead” opponent, putting it against the next flying projectile. Then he simply smashed this “corpse” against the sword puppet, sending both onto the ground. The following stomp smashed the lower abandonment of still moving enemy into a paste, allowing Rob to pick up the fallen spear. Rotating on the spot to free quite a lengthy weapon from the dead hands, he threw it at the archer, who was already preparing for the next shot. Somehow, the puppet’s death from the spear went in the most cinematographic way possible by going directly through the arrow before penetrating its chest.
That was refreshing… No matter how tired, broken, and morally exhausted I am, a good fight seems to work just fine to raise my mood… Unfortunately, they were too weak to fit this category… And I even didn’t need to be creative, using the things I made multiple times before – like that move with smashing a corpse… I definitely remember doing it… Or it’s not the end. Nice.
Noticing how broken puppets were pulled right to the surface before reforming on the previous spot in pristine condition together with their weapons, Robert tilted his head in curiosity. Then the walls around reacted, shining with ominous light and bringing pressure on his soul. It wasn’t on the level to impact his movement but was far from being ignored completely, staying somewhere in the background as a persistent disturbance. The puppets were next, gaining their portion of symbols. Filling a part of their snow-white bodies, they created a web that connected their limbs and potential inner organs, creating something akin to a network.
A raise in difficulty? It seems to compensate for the lack of the puppet’s strength, the tower increases the pressure on the souls to make it harder for contestants… Very thoughtful if you can’t make puppets too strong.
As if to confirm Rob’s assumption one of the puppets moved, immediately going for the attack. Having no weapons in its hands, the artificial martial artist proceeded with a flying kick. Deciding to speed things up, Robert simply made his weight bigger, turning into a heavy obstacle that met the strike head-on. Hitting his face, the puppet failed to even shake Rob before its leg was grabbed. The sudden acceleration and following loud smack when the test enemy was squashed like a bug against the surface had ended the fight. The pause wasn’t long, and the reforming process was repeated once again. However, this time simultaneously two puppets stepped forward, preparing to fight.
Yep, it’s both for quantity and quality… These guys definitely became noticeably stronger. Still, not enough to make the fight even a bit entertaining.
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The cycle continued until he beat all five opponents at once before the level of danger rose once again. This time the jump in the “soul-gravity” was at least tenfold, creating an uncomfortable feeling. Rob still could endure the effect without much of a problem, but he couldn’t lie that it wasn’t doing anything. It was as if instead of a previous lazy stroll he started to jog slowly. Nothing exhausting, but active enough to wear anyone down after some time, even the most trained athlete. Still, even all five puppets failed to threaten him, lacking the power behind their strikes even to cut through his unarmored body. The only noticeable thing Rob inwardly noted were sudden jumps in physical strength, as if the artificial enemies could empower occasional strikes with energy.
What followed next was another spike in difficulty. The pressure increased once again, adding an imaginary scorching sun without any shadow to the slow jog. The puppets, on the other hand, got an addition to the massive web on their bodies in the form of painted vortexes, slowly feeling the snow-shite “skin” with complex inscriptions. However, the bigger change was in combat power. Each of their strikes now felt empowered, exceeding even the strongest attacks from the previous stage. Not stopping on that, the robotic opponents got a new weapon in their arsenal, which caught Robert off guard.
The first one was the archer. Preparing to smash the flying arrow to the side, Rob was surprised to see how the projectile suddenly flashed before multiplying right in the air. He managed to hit the original and two copies, while the last one dodged his hasty move and smacked against his shoulder. Barely diving inside his metal flesh, it still left a noticeable scratch. The latter disappeared in a blink, but it made Robert more wary about the puppet’s capabilities. Therefore, when the thrust of the spear suddenly was turned into another projectile, he was ready, sidestepping the attack. The flaming fists of the martial artists failed to burn him. The water-like body of the saber wielder saved the opponent from a single missed strike before the next one simply splattered the puppet over the walls.
Robert was only astonished by a puppet with the sword. Swiftly swinging its weapon, the enemy coated the blade in black Qi. The hard block left a small cut on Rob’s forearm, while his fist was already shattering the head of the puppet. Still, even beheaded, its attack repeated itself with a short delay. Rob’s restored arm suddenly felt another strike from an invisible blade in the exact same spot as if the event itself had decided to occur again. Looking at the broken body of the puppet and his cut forearm, Robert couldn’t hide his surprise at the sneakiness of such a technique. Still, in the end, you simply couldn’t beat the overwhelming power.
The fourth cycle made another step forward in terms of difficulty, adding a noticeable incline to his slow jog under the unfriendly sun. The puppets got big circles around their lower abdomen, making it almost the center of the complex schemes painted on their surface. Exactly this change finally explained what was happening to Robert.
They seem to mimic the cultivator’s realms… Those things do look like dantians – the energy centers and simultaneously the vessels for the Qi. I better become more cautious. Overconfidence kills.
Therefore, not playing around anymore, Robert conjured his pitch-black armor, creating the destructive layer on the top. For the first time after inventing this type of battle state, he almost failed to do it at once. It took noticeably more concentration and effort to keep it active, confirming the soul pressure started to make its impact on him. Fortunately, it didn’t affect his combat capabilities, especially, when Rob abandoned any restrains to test his melee skills and went directly for the kill from the start. Thus, the improved versions of the techniques disintegrated against his protection, why he was turning the puppets into melted and mangled pieces of stone, despite all their upgraded techniques.
The fifth stage went in a similar manner. His jog had to meet an insane humidity, creating the atmosphere of a wet sauna. It felt like each imaginary breath had to be made through the enormous effort and there was still a clear lack of oxygen in the hot air. In these circumstances, Robert was more focused on keeping everything running, including his own reactor core than on the fighting. Crashing them as fast as he could, despite their flashy techniques and insane strength, he tried to search for the way out between the fights. However, there was no sign of the exit, hidden under the glowing inscriptions. Therefore, he decided to make it by himself, but not before dealing with the forced enemies.
Ducking under a wide swing of the two-handed saber, Robert tried to punch the guts of the puppet that now changed its white body, painting into yellow. Instead of the tough stone shell, his glowing fist was met with the liquid. The latter immediately attempted to trap him, but Rob already knew its tricks. Tensing muscles in his legs, he simply jumped forward using all his strength. The speed was so fast that he almost vanished from the spot. Still, the puppet managed to react, unnaturally tilting its head backward. A glancing blow melted the outer surface of its face, but otherwise, it was unaffected… until its inner guts followed the jumping motion, being torn out from the stomach. Rob, on the other hand, wasn’t done. Increasing his weight to the maximum at once, he abruptly cut his own high inertia, making gravity take over. The following fall hit smashed the disorientated puppet, half breaking, half turning into nothingness.
The moment he touched the surface, Robert pushed himself to the side, avoiding the barrage made from dozens of arrows. Rolling on the ground, he gripped the remnants of the already destroyed sword-wielder before sending it toward the archer, who was already in the process of pulling the string. It left him open to the attack of the martial artist. However, despite the growth in the strength, hitting the disintegrative layer with bare hands was a bad idea. Not that the puppet could act somehow differently, having a clear purpose of fighting. Therefore, when the flame fist connected with Rob’s bald head, for a fraction of a second the qi helped, saving the arm of the artificial opponent. But the power behind the strike kept pushing the fist forward by inertia until the fire vanished. The whole arm followed next, evaporating in an instant. Then it was its owner’s turn. Left alone, the arched didn’t last even ten seconds, ending the fifth cycle.
There was a short pause when Robert was desperately searching for any hint of where the exit could be. Unfortunately, there was nothing, not a single sign of how to get out of this trial. Just the same walls with glowing inscriptions, which light was only intensifying with each passing stage. He attempted to crush them with his row strength, but they stood far better than any energy shield Robert faced before.
Why the hell are you so tough? Let me out, damn it!
Considering the constant jumps in difficulty, Rob was sure that he went beyond what was expected on the first try. However, the was no confirmation of this idea. It could be not the entrance test but something akin to a ceremonial trial to become a leader of the sect. Or the graduating exam to have an opportunity to leave the sect. Or suicide trial from ancient times with no clear goal for all he knew. What did he know was that the sixth cycle started without any delay. A flashing thought about the initial message with mentioning something about “position” was wiped out immediately.
The first to appear was the very same pressure. Dropping on him like a concrete plate onto an ordinary man, it tried to squash him from the start. His metaphorical jog was turned into a sprint without a change of awful conditions. As if several hungry hounds were added behind him to ensure that he wouldn’t slack off. The air itself became viscous on a level comparable to tar, making each motion an effort that took concentration on top of overcoming just to do it. His strength was still present, but now it had to face the ethereal obstacle, which made it lose most of its effectiveness. Even keeping his reactor core felt like a challenge, not speaking about his armor or even fighting. However, precisely the latter he had to do if he wanted to avoid being beaten into a metal pulp as the puppets were already reformed.
Their yellow body under the web of lines, the image of vortexes, and the core near the stomach – everything had vanished, replaced by olive green. It felt like this step was entirely different, merging everything together to paint the opponent in such color while raising his might far above the previous state. Robert almost gulped at this sight, as the combination of overwhelming pressure and the visible might of the enemy made his situation quite unpleasant. Even one of the puppets caused him to feel the danger with his inner being, and soon he had to face five of them at once. The worst was the lingering thought in the background of his mind that whispered that it could be not the last stage.
But you know what? Bring it on!