The door swung open, and Cain was greeted by a massive palace. It was extremely luxurious, and everything gave off a golden hue, like it was a castle built of gold. It was a complete 180 compared to the quality of the rooms he had seen earlier. For a moment he thought he had stepped through some sort of portal and entered a new place completely, however looking behind him, he saw that same plain hallway.
He walked forward and entered the Palace. The palace was shaped similar to a pagoda, and had 9 floors. Cain stepped into the first floor and the doors of the palace slammed shut behind him. A voice that sounded similar to Oldman Belmons suddenly echoed throughout the interior of the first floor.
“Welcome. If you’ve made it this far, it means you are my rightful successor. However if you think making it this far is enough to entitle you to what I’ve left behind. You are wrong, you will first have to pass my 9 tests before you can truly become my successor”
Cain was peeved hearing this, he thought he had done enough already, but to think the real test had only just begun.
“Oldman, what is this about?”
“Kid don’t get angry at me. That voice was a recording I left behind a long time ago, what he's currently saying is as much a surprise to me, as it is to you. It’s only 9 challenges regardless, are you telling me you aren’t even capable of doing this much?”
Before the two could continue arguing, the voice came back on.
“Prepare yourself, the first challenge is about to begin. You must answer my question successfully. What has 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs in the afternoon and 3 legs in the evening? You have 1 hour to come up with the correct answer or else you shall fail.”
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“You must be kidding me…”
“Hmm, old me is quite wise to ask such a profound riddle. Looks like our path ends here kid, I can’t even begin to imagine what the answer is”
“The answer is man”
The mechanical voice upon hearing Cain’s reply, responded.
“Congratulations for passing the first test, you may now head to the second floor”
A door up ahead opened, revealing a staircase that lead to the next floor. Cain entered the staircase and soon arrived at the second floor.
“Kid, you’re much smarter than I expected”
“I think old you is just a lot stupider than you remember”
“...”
Cain entered the second floor, and that familiar voice spoke up once more.
“Welcome to the second floor, young one. Making it this far is testament of your overwhelming intelligence, however this floor shall be a lot more difficult than the one before it. You must answer another of my questions. The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?”
“Oldman, don't tell me all these tests consists of riddles?”
“I’m not sure kid, but what I do know is that this riddle is far harder than that last one. No way can you solve it, in fact let's just leave right now. No need to embarrass ourselves.”
“Footsteps”
“Show off…”
Just like that, the floors passed by quickly. Soon they arrived at the ninth floor. The voice boomed out once more.
“Congrats for making it all the way to the top child. However you must pass one more test before you can truly gain my inheritance. However this exam does not involve any riddles, instead it's a test of your strength. How could my successor possibly be weak? You shall face a copy of me that shall be scaled down to be the same age as you.”
A young man appeared out of thin air. He was average looking however he gave off a firm determination that seemed endless. The only problem was that his cultivation was comparable to a tier 7 genetic warrior, much weaker than him. Cain felt like this was some sort of trick but Oldman Belmon suddenly spoke up.
“Dammit, how could old me be so stupid. I was born a commoner so my start was pretty average, it was only in my later years did I truly start to blossom. However when I was your age I was still just a weakling”
“Looks like I’ve got to thank your old self, he really made it easy on me”
“...”