After a few hours, Zenith woke up only to find himself in a hallway again.
"Is this another labyrinth?" he thought to himself as he tried to stand up, however, he stopped when he felt an intense pain assaulting his body.
He looked at his bruised arms which were shaking a little and felt somewhat numb. He also felt like he had broken a rib, and even breathing itself was causing him pain. Zenith gave up on getting up as he sat against the wall carefully while trying to take a few slow but deep and steady breaths.
Zenith opened his backpack and took out a small glass bottle with red liquid content. It was a valuable spirit medicine that could help him heal his injuries which he had bought prior to coming to this mountain. He only had one of them due to how expensive it was.
He drank the medicine slowly and when he emptied the bottle, he placed it back in his backpack. His injuries didn't heal right away. The spirit medicine wasn't a miraculous elixir that could heal everything in an instant. It would still take some time for his injuries to heal, and it also wouldn't be able to heal life-threatening injuries. In such cases, it could at most only ease the pain.
When Zenith was done with all that, he analyzed his battle against the lycan.
In that fight, Zenith barely won. He didn't come out well and uninjured contrary to how he acted in front of the lycan.
It might seem like he was dominating their fight but it wasn't as easy as he made it appear to be. After defeating the lycan, the available Nu he had remaining in his spirit core was only 0.9%. Had the lycan put up more resistance and extended their fight for a few more minutes, he would have been in deep trouble.
That was also the reason why he left quickly. Even in that bad a state, the lycan was still alive and slowly regenerating. If he gave the lycan enough time, it would've recovered completely because of its immortality.
If Zenith had the time, he would've investigated the lycan thoroughly and tried to figure out the identity of the god that gave it its immortality. He would study that god's blessings carefully and once Zenith was done with that—!
Killing an immortal wouldn't be an impossibility.
However, this was a time-consuming method that required many special means— something that he didn't have access to. It needed a lot of preparation and resources to pull off which was why he could only drop that thought and leave the lycan behind.
Zenith checked his spirit core. He had 8.7% available Nu so he must've been unconscious for around three hours.
The lycan really did a number on him. Even though it was a lousy opponent, it was still at +A-Rank. Zenith only won due to special circumstances. If not for those, it would've ended disastrously for him.
To start things off, the lycan couldn't use its Nu. It was a major weak point of the lycan which brought its abilities down by two whole ranks.
Next, the lycan hadn't had anything to eat for years. Due to its hunger, it wasn't as sharp as it was originally. It was already fatigued. If not for that, Zenith wouldn't be able to match it even without its Nu by just relying on its exceptional physical abilities. That was why the lycan rejoiced upon seeing him. Not only could Zenith free it from its restraints with his Nu, but he was also food in its eyes.
Before this temple was transferred to this mountain, the lycan had probably enjoyed a lot of human sacrifices. The skeletons in the graveyard back in the labyrinth were a huge proof of that. However, after it was placed at the peak of this mountain, the number of sacrifices had dropped considerably to the point that the minotaurs in the dungeon had resorted to eating the bones of the deceased just to survive.
With too few people entering the mountain, the minotaurs didn't have enough food for themselves. They naturally didn't have food to give to the lycan anymore. This brought the lycan's abilities down by another whole rank. The lycan might have been immortal but it could still feel pain, hunger, and fatigue.
Moreover, Zenith had seized the momentum in their battle. He went all out and overwhelmed the lycan. He kept taunting it throughout their clash and made it feel like its attacks weren't working against him. This made the lycan frustrated and unintentionally expose even more openings to Zenith who unhesitatingly took advantage of them. Zenith's words and demeanor spoiled the lycan's heart until it lost its will to fight.
With all of these factors added together, it allowed a +E-Rank human like him to defeat a +A-Rank beast like the lycan— a feat that would've otherwise been impossible! If anyone heard of this, they certainly wouldn't believe it!
Defeating someone one whole rank above them was already an exceptional achievement. Anyone who could do this would be among the strongest of their generation.
However, defeating someone four whole ranks above them? That was already the work of a god. The difference between A-Rank and E-Rank was like the difference between heaven and earth. Throughout history, not many people had achieved such a feat. Those who got close to achieving such a thing would've surely left their names in history.
Zenith felt the pain in his arms subsiding. Upon checking, the bruises had become fainter as well. It was still far from healing completely but it was going in a good direction.
He continued resting as he thought back to his conversation with the lycan earlier.
The lycan acted like it was on good terms with the Sword Saint, however, the one who intruded into this temple back then and placed the shackles around its limbs should've been none other than Sword Saint himself.
Sword Saint came into this place with his Nu unrestricted so when it saw him get past the minotaurs and arrive in the dungeon, the lycan must've realized that he could his Nu, and thus, might have a connection with the Sword Saint. To test its hypothesis, the lycan asked him these questions;
"Didn't Sword Saint send you here to rescue me?"
"Did Sword Saint tell you something about me?"
The lycan must've been worried that Sword Saint told him about its existence. If he did, Zenith would've been wary of it. But unknown to the lycan, Zenith was already wary against it from the start. During their entire conversation, he was only going along, and he even managed to gain some information from it.
This also made Zenith think.
If Sword Saint already went into this place in the past, why didn't he just take the seed in the altar himself? Why did he still send him here? Furthermore, there was still that great evil that the lycan mentioned. Did Sword Saint take that great evil away like what the lycan said or was it still in this place?
Zenith felt that he was getting closer to the answer.
After thinking that, Zenith opened his System Seed's experience points.
Zenith Victor
Title: The child who challenged a god
Race: Human
Rank: +E-Rank
Attributes
Power: +E-Rank (?) (1,792/8,000 Exp)
Dexterity: +E-Rank (?) (3,136/8,000 Exp)
Durability: +E-Rank (?) (3,074/8,000 Exp)
Vitality: +E-Rank (?) (6,199/8,000 Exp)
Hidden Attributes
Speed: +E-Rank (?)
Perception: A-Rank
Willpower: S-Rank
Luck: D-Rank
Charisma: A-Rank
Core
Spirit Core: E-Rank (?)
Remaining Experience Points: 10,000 Exp
When he got past the lycan and found the exit of the dungeon, he earned 10,000 Exp. It was more than enough to increase two of his attributes by one rank.
With that said, Zenith decided to add 5,000 Exp to his Durability and 2,000 Exp to his Vitality.
Zenith Victor
Title: The child who challenged a god
Race: Human
Rank: +E-Rank
Attributes
Power: +E-Rank (?) (1,792/8,000 Exp)
Dexterity: +E-Rank (?) (3,136/8,000 Exp)
Durability: -D-Rank (?) (74/16,000 Exp)
Vitality: -D-Rank (?) (199/16,000 Exp)
Hidden Attributes
Speed: +E-Rank (?)
Perception: A-Rank
Willpower: S-Rank
Luck: D-Rank
Charisma: A-Rank
Core
Spirit Core: E-Rank (?)
Remaining Experience Points: 3,000 Exp
His Durability and Vitality had both gone up to -D-Rank and he still had 3,000 Exp remaining. He decided to keep those remaining experience points temporarily. Depending on the situation he might face, later on, he'd either put all of his experience points to his Power or Dexterity.
When he was done with all of that, Zenith made himself comfortable. He ate the minotaur meat he brought with him and rested for a few more hours to fully recover his Nu.
...
More than nine hours had passed— Zenith had finally recovered his Nu back to 32%. The bruises in his arms had already disappeared thanks to the spirit medicine and his upgraded Vitality, however, his broken rib had yet to heal.
He still wasn't in his peak condition, but even so, he could no longer wait for it to heal anymore. It would take him at least a week to completely recover but the supplies he brought with him could only take him two more days at best.
He didn't know what was still waiting ahead of him so he mustn't finish his supplies in this place only to run out of it. If he ever got into another fight and had to wait for a long time to recover his Nu again, he would no longer have food to eat in between his rests.
In any case, waiting further would do him no good. Even if he waited for a few more hours, the recovery of his broken rib would only be minuscule. It would need a few more days at least to have any obvious improvement.
Zenith started walking forward in the hallway. In every few steps he took, torches on each side of the wall would slowly light up. This went on until he reached the end of the hallway where there was another door.
The door didn't have any lock. It just needed to be pushed to open it completely. Zenith was about to open the door when suddenly, his hands froze midway.
The temperature seemed to have dropped considerably as Zenith's entire body had gone cold. Beads of cold sweat rolled down his temple as he stared at the door motionlessly. As he stood still, there was a strong feeling of hopelessness in his heart. He had the same sensation he felt before he entered the temple.
Whatever was behind this door, it was a creature terrifying enough to make the lycan look like an ant in comparison.
Zenith took a deep breath. When he finally composed himself, he pushed the door open.
Upon coming inside, Zenith's eyes constricted. He was inside a spacious room with a beautiful golden throne. However, what he saw sitting atop that throne...
...was none other than the corpse of a god.
[https://i.imgur.com/EU1T0TG.png]