Nameless King

Wain stared intently at the spheres that flew out of the circular platform. The altar with the blue crystal is quite far away from Wain. He could not use Lightning Lizard's Dash and get to the crystal in one step.

He had to get past the spheres somehow, but first, Wain had to find out their functionality.

Wain stepped back onto the platform, and the spheres went up. Wain waited for half a second and saw the core in those spheres glow brightly, and the next moment a multitude of beams headed in his direction. Wain ducked to dodge the attacks and stepped off the platform.

He looked at the small pits on the ground that had appeared after the rays hit and muttered, "I can take one ray hit, but not twenty. Hmm, I just need to destroy them."

Wain immediately summoned the Plasma Destruction Sword as the spheres flew out of the platform again. He swung his hand and a dark sword covered in black plasma flew towards one of the spheres. 

However, it wasn't as simple as Wain thought. The orb simply ducked and fired a beam in return.

Wain stepped back and thought, 'Damn, I probably won't be able to destroy them with Plasma Destruction Sword. Those spheres are too fast, and they understand what I want to do. If I use Kinetic Shot, I can destroy the sphere. It won't be able to dodge. But... there's no point in destroying one or two spheres, and I don't have the strength for more.'

"The best option is to run to the crystal and dodge the shots. I can also block some shots with my Plasma Destruction Sword. If I use Lightning Lizard's Dash, I can easily get to the crystal without damage." Wain muttered.

Then he walked to the edge of the platform, and electrical discharges appeared on his body. Wain instantly crossed the ten meter mark, and then twenty spheres flew out of the platform. One of them instantly attacked Wain. A golden beam flew toward him.

But, Wain blocked it with a swing of his sword and ran on. Three steps later, ten beams flew at Wain. He ducked and somersaulted forward. Then he turned sharply, and the beam flew in front of his eyes.

So after a couple of seconds, Wain finally reached the altar with the blue crystal. It wasn't challenging, but a simple person without skills and great stats at the moment would definitely die.

There were already many small craters around the platform, partially altering the surface.

Wain put his hand to the blue crystal, and the spheres stopped attacking it. They returned to their places, and the various signs and drawings on the platform glowed brightly. They transmitted their energy to the crystal.

Then a beam of light flew out of the crystal, piercing the mist and the clouds above it. Everything happened just like last time.

"Great," Wain muttered and looked around. He needed to find the next challenge, and the leaves of the living trees were to help him do it.

After waiting for a while, Wain saw a red leaf fly by. It was another sign, and Wain immediately went in that direction.

"I hope this will be the last test. I need to get the Swordsman's soul, but I don't even know where to go for now, and I'm trying to get out of this fog. This is just the beginning." Mumbled Wain.

After a while, Wain reached a place that looked like a cave. The entrance was in the middle of a clearing and went deep down. Red leaves flew in, so Wain had no choice but to go there.

Wain walked through the cave for quite a long time, but eventually, he got to the right place. It was a long stone road, at the end of which was a red crystal on an altar. But, at the beginning of the road lay a massive, human-sized bell. Wain could tell by the appearance of the bell how heavy and sturdy it was. 

Wain walked past the bell and headed toward the red crystal along the stone road. He thought someone would attack him at one point, but it did not happen. Then Wain put his palm on the red crystal, but it didn't activate.

"What? Why isn't it working?" Wain muttered. He looked around and saw a spot perfect for the bell. Wain needed to take the bell there. It was the most obvious solution.

Wain shrugged his shoulders and headed toward the bell. All his muscles tensed, and he struggled to lift the bell.

"Damn, how much does it weigh? A ton?!" Wain said indignantly and stepped forward. But as he did so, jets of fire came out of the walls. Wain immediately stepped back and placed the bell on the ground.

"Looks like I'll have to walk to the crystal tolerating this fire. Hmm, I can cover myself with the bell, but it will get just as hot in time. I have no other option, though." Wain muttered and raised the bell again.

This time Wain covered himself with the bell so that the flames could not reach him. Wain was willing to get burns on his palms if it was worth it. But, Wain thought he could get away from wounds if he quickly got the bell to the red crystal.

As Wain stepped onto the stone road, jets of flame erupted again from the stone walls. The bell gradually heated up, but Wain did not feel this heat for the first half of the journey. He had other problems.

'I can barely hold this bell. I need to hold on a little longer.' Wain muttered to himself and took another step forward.

When Wain was two-thirds through, he felt the inside getting very hot, and gradually the whole bell was heating up. Wain kept his hands near the very top. It was getting hotter slower than the main body.

But with one-tenth of the way to the end, Wain felt his hands begin to heat up dramatically. Thanks to his Stamina, Wain could withstand it, but a normal person would have already gotten severe burns.

Bam.

Wain made one last dash and rattled the hammer into place. It wasn't easy, but Wain could cope with another challenge.

He looked at his palms and muttered, "It's not pleasant, but such faint burns shouldn't stop me from fighting. Given my Vitality, they will heal in an hour."

Wain then walked over to the red crystal and placed his palm on it. Then another beam pierced through a layer of mist and clouds.

Nothing happened after that, so Wain thought he had some more testing to do.

When he stepped outside, however, he saw an energy sphere high in the sky. It was visible even through the dense fog.

Three beams from the crystals went into that sphere and filled it with energy. Then after a while, it grew to a gigantic size and immediately narrowed to a small point.

This sphere slowly descended downward until it reached the ground. Then a path of light appeared on the ground as if pointing to a way out of this place covered in dense fog.

Wain smiled and headed forward. After three trials, he had finally achieved something and was ready to go to his next goal.

After a while, Wain emerged from the fog. He looked around and saw that tall mountains surrounded him. There was nothing near him, but he noticed a structure of some kind up ahead.

He saw some sakura trees and person in the yard of this structure. Wain decided to go there. He had no other options.

'Does someone live here?' Wain pondered as he approached the gate. He wasn't sure what this area was. But Sven had told him that Void sometimes had neutral creatures even if it wasn't a neutral area.

Wain walked inside and saw a figure sitting at a wooden table. This person was drinking recent, brewed green tea.

A plasma sword appeared in Wain's hands. He did not yet know if this silhouette was an enemy or a friend. Then he took a step and slowly headed forward.

"There is no need to be afraid. I am not the enemy." Suddenly a woman's voice rang out.

Wain smirked and said, "I'm not afraid of anything or anyone. How can I be sure you won't attack me?"

The girl smiled and, without turning around, said, "At the very least, I would have attacked you by now, and I wouldn't have started our acquaintance by talking."

"Makes sense." Said Wain and headed toward the girl. But, the plasma sword kept flying by his side. The girl's word that she wasn't the enemy wasn't enough to make him let his guard down.

Wain sat down in a wooden chair and unceremoniously poured himself some green tea. He took a sip and asked, "Who are you, and what is this place?"

The girl smiled and answered briefly, "My name is Agnes Rygh, and I've been the watcher of this area for several decades."

"A few decades? You look good for your years." Wain said with a smirk.

He realized that, most likely, this girl was not human, and she could live much longer than the average human. 

What's more, once humans got souls, they could also increase their lifespan. It depended on their skills, souls, stats, and even equipment.

Agnes had short black hair and amber eyes. She wore a black and white kimono and tall, wooden geta. She had a tattoo of a dragon on her neck. Agnes was tall and looked quite strong.

Agnes said nothing and took a cup of green tea. She took a sip then said, "I will answer all your questions if I know the answer myself. Because I've been waiting a long time for someone to come here. But, before that, I'll tell you something."

Wain looked at her questioningly.

"I don't know how or why you came here, but you'd better leave, or only death will await you.. This place is dangerous."