Cosmic Peak

"Temple head, why did you send him to that Witch?" one of the Tenju asked with a curious expression.

"Indeed. That Witch Queen is dangerous," said the other Tengu.

"Hahaha, it's fine. I am sure Aren will benefit there," the Temple Head said with a laugh.

"How can you say that for sure?" asked the Tengu one.

Temple head smiled as he sipped the tea before speaking, "If you saw his performance in the trial, you would be sure as well."

...

"What the hell...," Aren muttered as he looked around inside the giant mouth.

"Why it's not pushing me down or digesting me?" Aren wondered as he saw several fleers inside the mouth that surrounded him.

Aren floated towards the teeth, and thoughts of attacking this creature occurred to him, but he held back.

'Since I am not in danger, I shouldn't provoke this creature,' Aren thought as he just floated inside the mouth using his gear armor.

He focused on the creature with his eyes to get its information, and...seeing the information caused him to start sweating.

-----

[King of The Swamp]

-Lifeform: Legendary-5

-???

-???

-???

-???

...

-----

"Fuck...," Aren cursed and got super nervous.

His heartbeat increased, and he couldn't calm down because this was an extremely dire situation.

HE COULD DIE ANYTIME!

However, he held the hope of surviving because this legendary creature had not eaten him yet and he had not died yet. After all, if this being wanted to kill him, he would've died by now.

'What should I do? Just wait? but...,' Aren was in a mess of thoughts as he couldn't figure out his next course of actions.

This was a damn Legendary lifeform, and he was sure that his attack wouldn't even scratch it.

Suddenly, Aren saw a tiny fish materializing in front of him, which seemed to be smiling at him?

Aren was dumbfounded.

"Boy...I am not going to eat you, so don't worry."

Aren rubbed his ears, but he was sure that the voice came from this tiny emerald fish in front of him.

Aren took a deep breath and asked, "why won't you eat me?"

"What? would you rather want that I eat you?"

"No! No...of course not," Aren shook his head hurridly with some panic on his face.

"Hahaha, I am not going to eat you, but...you will be put on a little test if you want to meet the Witch Doctor," the Fish roamed around Athan while speaking.

"What test? How do you know that I am here to visit the Witch Doctor?" Aren was surprised and asked.

"Because Witch Doctor told me that you were going to come here and told me to put you on her little test," the Fish spoke while smiling.

"Alright, now get ready," said the Fish before it vanished.

"Ready? for wh-"

Aren suddenly felt dizzy and couldn't see anything. He also failed to manipulate his gear armor and fell down on the sticky liquid before losing consciousness.

...

At an unknown place in the Swamp of DeeQeen area...

This place was hidden from all, and only a handful of people knew about it.

There was a big open-air pavilion in this area, a flowing river that was a hundred meters in front of the pavilion.

Additionally, there were three people on the ground outside of the pavilion. These three people were sleeping on the ground.

Among them, there was a boy who wore a silky white suit with sparkling gold patterns. He had a wand in his hand.

The second person was a girl who wore a leather ranger outfit, and there was a beautiful bow beside her, covered in three colored glowing patterns that pulsed every few seconds. However, there wasn't any quiver around her.

The third person was none other than Aren.

After a few minutes, a lady wearing a large emerald dress, a crown on her head, and a staff in her hand came out of the pavilion.

"Let's see how is the new guy doing," the lady muttered with a smile as he pointed her staff at Aren, which released a thread towards him before it connected to Aren's forehead.

After five minutes, the lady took back the thread and nodded with satisfaction, "That old man indeed sent a good one to me this time."

Suddenly, a tiny emerald fish jumped out from the river and started flying towards the lady.

After arriving near her, the Fish asked, "Lady Dee, how is that Starking's son doing?"

"Humph, that idiot has been in there for three days, but he is not as good as Starking described," Lady Dee snorted with dissatisfaction, "the new guy's willpower is way better."

Suddenly, the sleeping girl woke up and shot to her feet with a wary and shocked expression on her face.

She noticed Lady Dee and pointed her bow towards her before speaking warily, "W-who are you? How did I arrive here?"

"Calm down, girl," Lady Dee smiled gently, "I didn't expect you to finish today. Even you are better than that good for nothing beside you."

Hearing that, the girl looked at Aren to her left side and then the guy in a glittering suit to her right side.

She didn't know who out of the two was good for nothing, but she didn't want to know as she took a deep breath and looked at Lady Dee before speaking, "can I leave? I need to get strong and take revenge."

"So it was revenge indeed...," Lady Dee nodded before she sighed and gestured towards the girl to come inside the pavilion, "come inside. Since you stumbled upon my abode and passed the test, you won't leave empty-handed."

...

On the other hand, Aren didn't know what the heck was going on with him.

However, a voice told him to climb this large stair of 100 steps, and he had to defeat a monster every ten steps in a unique game that is proposed by the monster.

With no other choice or way to leave this mystical place as he couldn't even use his gears or any power, he started climbing the stair.

And when he met the first monster, he was pleasantly surprised.