Rydel breathed out in relief when he felt that his body was whole again, his relief didn’t last for much though as he wasn’t able to move.
He was shackled to a throne made of bones in a grand glacial hall, decorated by a block of ice shaped like a table. Seated in the opposite end was a giant elf.
He was similar to frost elves, with light blue long hair and white eyes, he appeared to be about fifty years old. He wore ragged clothes made of beasts leather and a broadsword was strapped on his back. His most distinguished attribute was his enormous height.
Elves grew higher as they evolved in grades, a typical E-grade elf was about 1’85m tall. If they further evolved into D-grade, their height would reach about 2’2m. There are exceptions, as elves could be short or tall, or even shrink because of advanced age.
It also depended on the race, as high elves were known to be taller than the rest, a typical E-grade was about 2m tall in their case.
However, he either was in front of a powerhouse or a giant variant of elves. He didn’t let a wisp of aura out of his body, but his 4m frame was intimidating in itself. The indifferent eyes that examined him weren’t of any help either.
“This will be your test.” The giant voice rumbled in the room. He took a drinking horn and approached Rydel, each of his steps was like an earthquake.
Rydel tried to escape with no success. He wryly smiled as he could only wait.
The giant put the drinking horn next to his lips, Rydel’s mouth opened without his consent, and he quickly discovered that he couldn’t close it again.
[Giving up ends the current test.]
A liquid entered him and he was forced to swallow it down, as no amount was dropped out. There was an invisible barrier holding down the liquid in his mouth.
The taste reminded him of beer, which wasn’t bad as in his past life Rydel always enjoyed a good cold beer. The problem was the amount that entered him seemed to have no end.
Even with his high vitality that augmented his metabolism, he didn’t have infinite capacity in his stomach. Fortunately, even after five minutes, he didn’t feel his belly swelling.
At the thirty minutes mark, Rydel noted that the beer now contained tiny specks of spiritual energy that was quickly absorbed by his body. As time passed, the amount of spiritual energy increased.
After an hour, Rydel was suffering as he had reached his limit, his belly was as swollen as if he had eaten a whole soccer ball. He injected spiritual energy into his organs to accelerate his metabolism and finally managed to take a breather.
He constantly changed between accelerating his digestive system and regenerating his spiritual energy. The flavor of the beer was now cursed in Rydel’s mind, he didn’t want to be anywhere close to it for a couple of centuries.
Meanwhile, the amount of spiritual energy in the beer kept increasing, at the 6 hours mark, his passive intake of energy was equal to what he used.
After half a day, Rydel was forced to occasionally discharge the extra amount of energy into the surroundings. He didn’t dare to aim at the giant as he didn’t want to risk offending him.
His meridian pathways were bloated after so much energy had passed through them non-stop.
It was a difficult challenge, as he had to constantly drink from the bottomless drinking horn, but at least he wasn’t battling against a kraken. Rydel didn’t know how much time he wanted to spend here, he had all the time in the world. Would he spend ten years if he was able? That’d give him lots of merit in his overall score.
Alas, his dreams wouldn't come true so soon. On the third day, Rydel’s meridian pathways were burning from overcharge and he needed to constantly throw attacks to not explode from an overabundance of spiritual energy.
Rydel’s motion of swallowing was already integrated into his mind and he did it like breathing, without having to think about it.
The beer could now be considered a spiritual beverage, something that you’d occasionally drink as a supplement to cultivation. However, in his case he was forced to constantly drink it.
The spiritual energy of the beer was so dense, that every once in a while, the gaseous energy condensed, converted into tiny little drops of liquid energy. This was the most agonizing part, as Rydel wasn’t prepared to ingest that enormous quantity. Moreover, as time passed these tiny drops of liquid energy became more common.
On the fifth day, he was forced to make a decision. He either gave up or found a solution, throwing attacks was no longer viable. On the exterior, he appeared like a lightbulb, as every corner of his body was strengthened with spiritual energy.
His body was slowly crumbling apart, his meridians could no longer hold more energy. Rydel thought about his family, his dreams, his goals and filled himself with determination.
He redirected the energy on the meridians on his left hand, he didn’t stop until the inevitable happened. His hand’s meridian exploded and energy rushed out from there.
“AAAAAAAAAAH.” Rydel shouted and cried, the meridians represented his spirituality. Breaking one apart meant becoming a cripple, he felt the pain burning his soul.
It was like a part of him broke forever, it was excruciating, Rydel felt like his entire self was torn apart. He preferred being burned for months being able to feel each second of it than experiencing this again.
Alas, the drinking horn was merciless, in a couple more hours the beer’s energy increased above his body threshold again. Rydel hesitated but he gritted his teeth and exploded his right hand’s meridians.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH.” Rydel shouted even more, the pain was even greater, his sense of self wavered.
“I’m Rydel… I’m Rydel…” He repeated his name like a mantra, it was who he was, and he wouldn't forget. He destroyed his legs next.
***
A name was murmured in the wind by the mangled body seated on the throne of bones.
Different parts of the chest exploded in succession in the mangled body under the attentive gaze of the giant. He hadn’t moved an inch from his initial position.
“A willpower worthy of a mutated soul…” The giant said.
It didn’t reach the body in front of him, who after suffering for a week, finally exploded his own head’s meridians, he had a few breaths of life remaining.
The giant gifted something that he only occasionally awarded in those past hundreds of thousands of years. Something that only the worthy, those that preferred an agonizing death before succumbing received. He declared that Rydel had given up.
Soon, the giant returned to his throne, waiting for the next arrival…
***
Rydel’s memories came back in an instant, he breathed in and out for a minute. The Trial sucked.
First, he was forced to roll up a damn rock. Next to fight against a kraken and only Mother Earth knew what monster those fangs at the end belonged to, and lastly to drink from a never-ending horn.
Rydel was mentally exhausted and wanted to come back home. Nonetheless, the heavens didn’t want to grant him that mercy as he was still inside the Trial.
[Bonus round.]
Rydel blinked, he had to be hallucinating. The most stingy system in the universe giving him a bonus round was unheard of, he looked at his surroundings in suspicion.
He was suspended in space, inside a bubble stuck to his body, that allowed him to survive. He could see stars in the distance, along with a bright sun that was near him. Of course, near still meant hundreds of millions of kilometers away.
In the opposite direction there was a moon, Rydel felt emotions of familiarity and warmth, he stood fixated on watching the enormous natural satellite.
A cloud of energy started to form close to him, and it gently trickled into his being. Rydel felt a pleasurable sensation going all over his body and soul, he felt stronger with each passing moment.
Finally, he wasn’t thrown into some kind of hell with the excuse to increase his strength. This was how it should be, Rydel was on cloud nine.
Starting from his white hair lock, the rest of his hair turned to silver. His originally green eyes turned to the brightest tone of blue, and his height increased until he was 1’9m tall.
Energy coalesced on his back forming black feathered wings, they cocooned Rydel as he slept inside. Great changes were happening inside his body as he happily dreamed.
***
Rydel didn’t know how much time had passed. However, when he woke up he felt better than ever, powerful energy tinted in silver was coursing through his meridian’s pathways.
He didn’t have time to discern the changes when the system sent him a prompt.
[Trial (E) had been completed. Classes had been unlocked, choose your evolution]
[Elf Warrior (Race Locked): Elf specialized in close combat and the use of spiritual energy to reinforce themselves. +5 STR, +3 END, +2 VIT, +3 free stats per level.]
This option screamed boring, it was the usual option that was granted to pretty much any elf that managed to pass The Trial, he passed for now.
Even then, Rydel was surprised. The quantity of stats that was given by this class changed depending on how sturdy the foundation of the elf was, and how well he did it on The Trial. He received a total sum of 13 attribute points, which was uncommon.
The normal was to receive between 5-9 attribute points. Rydel felt pride in his accomplishments.
[Moon Worshiper: Fanatic devoted to the Moon. They can pray for the Moon to grant them different skills. Beware of the curse. +10 SPR, +5 free stats per level.]
It sounded ominous and Rydel had to admit that it was his fault to gain this class. He didn’t immediately discard it as it was true that his Daodrop was of the Moonlight, and it was a viable method of combat. However, he wanted to be free and unrestrained, and this seemed to chain him somehow.
[Night Berserker: Pain is your ally and the night is your weapon. You become stronger as you receive wounds at night. +10 STR, +5 VIT, +3 free stats per level.]
Nope. He wasn’t a masochist, if he had gotten wounded was out of necessity or because of an enemy. He wouldn't pursue getting hit out of his hobby. It was a strong class though, even if only for its stats.
[Soul Emperor: Being born with a mutated soul, you are able to channel the mystic energies in you to crush anyone barring your path. +20 SPR per level.]
This class was fierce, it also hinted that his soul was special and it took advantage of it. The distribution of attributes was a little too biased. He’d have to increase the rest by himself if he didn’t want to explode. In exchange, his soul would be unrivaled in the same grade. He’d be able to kill people without them even knowing how.
[Starborn (Race Locked): Being reborn in space allows you to strengthen the power wielded from the stars and achieve a closer bond with them. +10 SPR, +7 PER, +3 VIT, +2 free stats per level.]
This was a difficult choice, as this class attracted him a lot too. The distribution of attributes was great for him, it was more attuned to his Dao too. However, it didn’t give him any great edge against his enemies. It also hinted at his recent transformation by the system, he didn’t know why it was race locked though.
Rydel thought long about his options, he discarded the first three as they didn’t give him anything too special. He debated about the last two, as each one had its own advantages.
After what felt like a long period, Rydel chose his evolution and future path.