...

Somewhere in the Nature-Dweller territory

Inside a big golden shimmering tree were two golden-colored squirrels with black tribal tattoos on their fur happily jumping around, hugging, and squeaking in joy.

One squirrel looked exhausted but also overly happy while hugging her brother, "Today is the day!"

The other squirrel, who was much younger, looked almost like he was crying while hugging his older sister. He, too, was exhausted but looked less battered up, "Yeah! You did it, and I am so sorry again!"

The older sister stopped and made a proud pose, "Don't worry, I wanted to be ready for my first blooming and..." She showed her biceps, "...after 20 years of slow torture, I got what I wanted! With this, I will..." She radiated her aura, pure joy, and peacefulness, "...get the [Talent] I want!"

The brother looked at her, full of happiness, "Yeah! With this, you can join the trunks! They are already waiting for you!"

The sister looked more proudly and posed again, "Yeah, Father will be proud! I stopped my progress for so long only for those skills to advance."

However, her brother suddenly looked at her worriedly, "Do you think you can do it so suddenly? Aren't you too exhausted?"

She waved her hand in dismissal, "Easy! Now go. After I wake up, we will celebrate it, and I will then help you with your spells till you leave."

Her brother jumped at her in happiness, rubbed his nose at hers, and left while looking proud at her, "May nature lead you to fortune and peacefulness!"

She smiled back at him while he left but didn't say anything herself. After her brother was gone, she quickly curled on her bed, made out of different colored leaves, and anxiously awaited her [Pain Resistance] Tier test.

Leveling resistance skills was always torture, in the literal sense. Poisoning herself, trying to endure curses or weird sicknesses for which she needed first weaken herself heavily, all for a particular [Talent] that only nature-dwellers got. However, she pushed through it while only lamenting why she didn't do it much earlier.

There was another much faster way to receive such a [Talent], which required her to have multiple near-death experiences. She was unwilling to do this, even if it was the only way. One little mistake and she would die.

What weighed on her mind, too, was that she was considered a genius in her branch, and everyone thought she would reach her blooming much faster than anyone else. Yet, she halted her progress to train the skills, which brought nothing but pain.

There were even times when she thought about stopping it altogether when she heard how some of her friends had already bloomed and joined the fight against their adversaries or went out to support the Temple in other ways.

However, it always motivated her when they cheered her on as she tried to achieve her perfect blooming. Their support was the only reason she even continued with her foolish goal. Yet, she reached it and was ready.

After the Tier test, she would pick the right talent and go immediately to the battlefield where all her friends were. She would be a fortress against their enemies and defend them with all she had.

However, before that, she would need to sleep, and by doing so, she would enter the challenge realm and have a contest with someone else who was also going through the Tier test. However, as with her other Tier tests, she knew she was better than whoever was there.

She pitied the losers as they couldn't attempt another Tier test for at least another month, yet she quickly hyped herself up again, 'No worries, they will have just to wait a little longer!'

If one wanted to advance in a skill after reaching level 100, they would have a Tier test. They would challenge others who were also trying to progress towards intermediate advancement. For now, it was easy to find someone, but when skills got higher in Tiers, it became improbable to find anyone.

When they couldn't find anyone for at least a month, the system itself would challenge her, and the trial would be much more demanding. So she hoped someone somewhere was also advancing at the same time since she didn't want to wait a month.

She slowly fell asleep while mumbling to herself, "This will be as easy as remembering where my nuts are..."

...

Challenge Realm

She woke up and looked around at the strange scenery. It looked like she had landed inside some classroom. Everything was new to her and looked extremely weird.

Books, mechanical objects, and weirdly designed furniture made of unknown materials were everywhere. It was bizarre, but luckily, many of her things from her realm were also here, bringing a natural aura to the sterile place, like plants that grew on the machinery, moss that invaded the books, or vines that slung around the desks and chairs.

She smiled with glee, 'It is 100% a dwarf.'

From her experience, dwarves were, besides gnomes, the only race that loved cold and dead objects. Yet, the books only made sense if it was a gnome since they were seen as a more intellectual race, 'Maybe a mixed breed?'

The room she was inside was an unmistakable place of learning because of the blackboard at the front, even though it was somewhat glassy and white with weird ropes hanging out of it. The other apparent clues were how the furniture was organized inside the classroom and how some desks had weird parchments and feathers on them. She heard that humans loved to learn in such rooms with many others. So, she couldn't decide who the one was who would challenge her, but whoever it was from the three races, she would crush them entirely.

Even though she loved peace and would work toward it as a devoted member of the Circle of Nature, it was a fact that dwarves, gnomes, and humans were their enemies who did everything they could to undermine them or worse. So, having them have a bad dream was exciting to her and a great talk piece at breakfast.

However, suddenly a boy appeared beside her, which astounded her at first and then made her frown, 'A beast-kin, damn.'

They were in an alliance and on amicable terms, so she quickly threw away her glee. Even though she would crush the boy in their match, she wanted to come over as friendly as possible.

Many inside the Temple believed that beast-kin were savages and barbarians who didn't respect nature and her beauty. Like many of her younger peers, she had a different opinion. Beast-kin were in constant war against the First Servants and, while fighting for their lives, protected the nature-dwellers and even took on their religion voluntarily. Even if they were much more secular in their belief, it didn't matter much for her. They were friends who fought with them against evil, and this alone was something that needed to be respected.

She tip-toed toward him while looking up at him and thought about how to introduce herself. It was impossible to hear names in this realm, and faces were heavily distorted, like many other features. At the moment, she could look for him very differently: Instead of having her beautiful golden fur, she could have a silver one, while her tribal tattoos would also be changed into something nonsensical by the realm.

However, the moment she looked at him more closely, he appeared to be young. She couldn't really discern the age of beast-kin, but from her interactions with them, he was not over 50 years old, which surprised her. She also determined that he was a feline-kin with his black furry ears and tail.

She decided to be informal even though it could be an aristocrat. She deduced it since he was so young for a test like this. Even though casual, she wanted to come over as friendly and approachable as possible.

She jumped onto a chair and waved at him, "Hello, my young friend!"

He, however, only stared into the space. She came a little closer, only to be pulled up by someone by her tail. She also heard a weird voice she had never heard before, "Give him a minute."

She turned around and saw a weird guide who walked back while holding onto her tail. After some steps, she was put down again. The guide was wearing strange clothes, which were grey. She wore a skirt and a dull, formal uniform she had never seen before. Looking to the side, she saw that the guide had a squirrel tail but no other features of what a squirrel-kin would have, so to say, her race's younger siblings.

However, the moment she looked at her face, she immediately disliked her smile as it was full of excitement and maliciousness. There was also something else bizarre about her, 'She has no aura.'

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It was like staring at a blank piece of parchment. She was either nothing more than a puppet or so much more powerful that she could have no way to discern her, but she believed in the former since guides were relatively weak, and from talking, she knew that the one she had was already one that led the elite like her.

She asked her in confusion, "What do..."

She suddenly heard how the boy started to breathe heavily. She turned around and saw him falling to his knees. He sweated heavily, and his breathing became more rugged as he could barely get any air.

After a moment, when she wanted to help him, he screamed, "Ahhhhhhh! Argh!"

It was so loud that she took a couple of steps back. The boy screamed for a full minute while crying and shaking. The scream told her a story of terror, pain, and horror. She now understood what was happening, 'A victim of torture?'

As a member of the Temple, it was unforgivable to torture someone so young and to such a degree that he would have a Tier test for [Pain Resistance]. She became furious as he started to cry while clenching his shoulders so hard that they began to bleed, 'Whoever did it, I will find and kill you...'

She cursed inwardly at the system for not allowing her to identify anyone in this realm. So, finding and saving the beast-kin boy would be almost impossible. She dearly wished he wouldn't live inside Mal-Gil but inside their territory. With this, she could deduce his whereabouts after he calmed down.

There was also a high possibility that he was an actual slave inside their adversary's territory. It would be almost impossible to save him immediately, but with some information, they would get a rough location of the evildoers and, sooner or later, liberate him.

Her thoughts were interrupted as an enormous amount of bloodlust suddenly made her shake, 'What...'

It came from the boy but also suddenly stopped as a barrier manifested around her. Their guide said, "Tsk, give him more than a minute..." She shrugged while smiling, "...I guess."

This nonchalant behavior from her made the golden squirrel furious, "What kind of guide are you?! Don't you feel ashamed of yourself?!"

Her wrath intensified as she could hear the whimpers and screams from the boy. Since it wasn't her guide but very likely the one of the boy, it was like he was tortured and mocked in every realm, 'Such a pitiful existence.'

The guide looked at her in surprise and chuckled while holding her hand before her mouth, "Hehe, oh, dear. I don't know you, but I am also only dealing with those who have at least a drop of talent, so how about you just wait and let him rage through his little moment, okay, my little furry friend?"

Something inside of her snapped. She started to use her skills and became larger and larger, so much so that she doubled the guide's height. Her muscles bulged, and sharp claws grew out of her hands. She looked like the nightmare incarnate. Out of her mouth dropped corroding saliva, which melted the floor underneath her, and her teeth became tattoed, which emitted a stink that could melt away steel. A vicious amount of killing intent invaded the guide, who stood still and smiled at her. She wanted to rip her apart.

Her voice became much more profound and full of wrath, "I know you are immortal, but I can make your stay here worthwhile by showing what he experienced so you learn your ways."

The guide's smile widened, which made her even angrier. However, she suddenly suspended the barrier and looked beside her at the boy.

She became immediately much smaller and ran toward him, full of worries, "My friend! Are you okay?"

The boy looked at her and the guide. His eyes showed a tiredness she only knew from the most vicious soldiers who served for decades on the battlefield, "What is going on? Do I need to catch rats now?"

She was initially a little surprised but then shook herself awake. Her heart felt like someone put it into a wringer, 'It is probably his first Tier test... I can't believe it.'

The guide came over, swirled her tail, and smiled joyfully, "Be a little more happy, my little pup. I put a tail on, extra for this special occasion..." She turned left and right to look slightly at her behind, "...I think it suits me quite well, don't you think?"

This comment made the squirrel want to kill her even more. Yet, she wouldn't allow to show the boy that the world was only pain and violence, so she looked up at him and smiled, trying to explain, "Don't listen to this bad person. This is a Tier test for [Pain Resistance], and we are here to challenge each other..."

He looked confused at her, "Tier test? [Pain Resistance]? I know my skills can increase in Tiers, but that skill wasn't even close to level 100."

She became confused till the guide explained, "This happens..." She shrugged and explained, "...the skill will increase, even jumping over skill tests if it is without a break in between. It is rare, but it happens..." She started to look proud, "...the system is nice, right? It would be nonsensical to stop it at level 25 even though you could go far beyond that."

The squirrel initially became confused, but after a moment, she felt like it was insanity. She couldn't believe the boy was tortured in one go, so much so that he reached level 100 with this skill.

She asked him, barely holding her tears back, "If you want, we can talk and take a break. In this space, nobody will ever hurt you."

He looked at her at first but then laughed hysterically, "Haha! Nobody hurting me? Tell her this!"

The squirrel turned only to see how the guide held her hands up in peace, "I didn't do anything..." She tilted her head and smirked slightly, "...well, it was a skill test, hehe..." She shrugged again, "...don't blame me since I am only your dear teach, right?"

The golden squirrel needed every skill to hold herself together, not to bite the guide's head off. She never experienced someone so terrible and unsympathetic. She often saw other guides in Tier tests, but this one was the worst in how she conducted herself. Some were friendly, heavily sexualized, competitive, or outright bizarre, but never had she seen someone like this.

Before she could say anything, the boy stood up again and stretched. While he was shaking a little and looked like he needed a warm bed and good food for the next hundred years, his following words sounded to her like he didn't want the break, "Thanks, my little rat friend, but let's get it over with, shall we?" Even though she didn't like the first part, he was nice enough to thank her. This broke her heart.

She wanted to stop him as he was obviously not even close to ready. The guide came over and clapped her hands once, "Fantastic! I like the attitude, but let's see who will take the trophy..." She glanced at him briefly and shrugged, "...well, I know who will win either way, so this here is only a formality."

The squirrel looked at her and wanted to say things even her parents would see as Efron to the Circle, but not in front of someone so young.

It was frustrating since she wanted to ask the boy so much more. There were specific questions one could ask that would not be distorted by the realm, and with the answers, one could get a rough estimation of their whereabouts. Yet, he wanted to go forward and quickly lose the contest, which saddened her.

She already saw such victims in her youth when she saved them from slavers and gave them freedom. Even though they were tortured and abused, they were frightened to leave, and if they did, they had massive problems adapting themselves. Ultimately, they were so heavily scarred that suicide was their only way out.

The Temple couldn't help much and had massive problems adapting their behavior toward them, especially the old folks who were literally happy if they could live in a forest and enjoy the tranquility. Yet, for the victims who needed help, it was a fight for survival when they got thrown into such a place. Fortunately, some branches started to specialize in helping them, and the suicide rate decreased.

It made her only angry that it came from the human domain and was invented by the Church's current hero. However, they would use every method that helped the victims, and she needed to admit that it worked very well even though she didn't understand it fully as she only saw the results. It had something to do with the skill [Psychology] and trying to give the victims what they needed the most, like a suitable environment where they could live. It was a little too much for her to understand since she specialized in fighting. Still, she always tried to learn about newer procedures to broaden her horizon, 'Maybe I can, while we challenge each other, ask him a couple of things, and after I find him, I can give him to one of those branches?'

Her thoughts were interrupted when the guide continued, "It's easy, you both will..." A weird box appeared in front of the squirrel with a button, "...alternate in sharing your most excruciating experience regarding pain with the push of a button. The one who gives up first loses. The experience will extend more and more after every round, easy, right?"

The squirrel snapped and screamed at her, "You deserve nothing less than the Outer Circle!..." She turned around only to see the boy curiously looking at the box she held, "...my friend, just stay here and give up after you've had enough rest, okay? I want to ask you some things and help you."

He looked at her and sighed, "Just press the damn button."

She almost started crying and knew it was impossible to talk to him. Thus, she accepted his wish and pressed the button. She dearly hoped that his experience of whatever he had gone through was over and he would be in a nice place without pain.

Tack

She saw how the boy squirmed but stood nonetheless. He at most clenched his teeth and was almost okay, 'What is happening...'

After a minute, it was over, and the box appeared in the boy's hand while it disappeared in hers. He looked at her and said something strange, "Please give up. What I experienced is magnitudes harsher than what you did."

She was shocked but shook herself awake. It was impossible. Even though she was slowly leveling her skill, it was nonetheless terrible what she needed to experience to reach this point. Every time she went through the training, the day was over for her, and she only slept and ate, trying to forget her pain.

After a moment of thought, she understood that it was probably also heightened in intensity, not only in time, so she looked at him in pity and smiled, "Just press it, my friend. I will be fine."

He sighed, "Suit yourself."

He pressed it.

Everything became black.

...

Somewhere in the Nature-Dweller territory

"Ahhhh!"

She woke up and started shaking as she even sweated through her fur. She never experienced such horrible pain and couldn't even imagine something like that existed.

She mumbled what she truly felt for the seconds she experienced what the boy probably lived with, "True Outer Circle."

It was only seen in the writings of the higher-ups who described the Outer Circle, and she couldn't believe it existed on Obis. She thought the stories were only there to scare their lazy trainees or secular believers to work on themselves and follow the doctrine. Yet, it was real, and she had only experienced a tiny portion of it.

She stood slowly up while shaking heavily. She could barely stand upright, 'I am done for today... damn, I have a meeting, though.'

She needed to meet some dryad from the Forest of Fallen Wishes. She was the representative of some Temple branch called Twin-Ancorn or something and sold cheap material for contracts that were apparently much better than what they used. So, she needed to go and bargain with her, 'I waited for the representative for months...'

Every other branch she knew of praised this material since it was so cheap and of excellent quality, so it was sold almost immediately, and now she got the chance to buy them in bulk, but she needed to be in the right mindset to haggle the price down even more.

She decided, 'I will get my little brother to meet her.'

The golden squirrel slowly and shakily moved out of her home, trying to forget the terror she experienced, but every time the thought about the Tier test appeared, she almost started crying as she pitied the boy who went through all this.