Just as Cercius was about to set off and take a closer look at his surroundings, a blue, translucent window appeared right before his inner eyes, making him stop in his tracks.
[A special chain-scenario begins: "The Six Trials of God: First Trial."]
[First Trial: "Hunt for the Sacred Boar"]
[Task: Enter the endless forest of monsters and, within 72 hours, hunt down the natural beast: "Sacred Boar."]
Cercius paused, watching the scenario announcement in surprise, when another type of message appeared right afterward.
[A multitude of Constellations show interest in the new scenario.]
["Throne of Wisdom" is curious and wonders why it has never heard of such a scenario before.]
["King of Knights" looks forward to a new adventure and the birth of a new hero.]
A few more messages from Constellations followed.
Cercius, however, was not too surprised by all these messages. His master had already informed him in advance and told him about these transcendent beings called Constellations.
Experiencing it firsthand, though, made him quite excited and very curious about these beings, the vast world, and all the secrets it held.
Cercius had always been a very curious child. But since he had worked as a slave from an early age, he had never had the chance to indulge this curiosity. Even during the year of training in Avalon, he had done nothing but train or explore the island — which, however, was too small to hold anything truly special to see or experience.
["Demon Who Spreads Fear" suggests you enter into a pact with him. He declares that you will gain incredible power and benefit from making a pact with him.]
A demon from the endless war-hell immediately saw the potential of the boy, who had become the protagonist of the first special chain-scenario, and did not hesitate.
"Hmpf." Cercius, however, simply ignored the last message with a scornful snort and got to work.
Of course, his master had also told him about angels and demons, the two celestial races that were always at odds and never missed a chance to bash each other's heads in.
On Avalon, Cercius had learned many things — about the World Tree, the other mortal worlds, angels, demons, and so on. There was so much that shattered his worldview and made him all the more excited to explore this galaxy.
Because of his master's warning and her detailed explanation about the selfishness and malice of demons, he had decided never to come into contact with one, nor even pay them any attention.
["Throne of Wisdom" likes your attitude and mocks the lukewarm attempt.]
["Throne of Strength" shows interest in your past.]
And so, messages kept pouring in, but Cercius had no time to concern himself with them and chose to ignore them.
Now, what mattered was passing his trial successfully.
The first of the Six Trials of God: the hunt for the sacred boar.
It was, in fact, a very simple task and, considering the current strength of the challenger — who had not even awakened yet — it could not be too difficult.
The trial, as its name already suggested, was simply about finding and catching a sacred boar in the mortal world, which resembled a vast forest.
But a sacred boar was no ordinary animal. It was a natural beast — a creature that could develop further through mana, yet not turn into a magical beast.
By becoming a natural beast rather than a monster, it retained its rationality and even lost all forms of bloodlust. It truly became a pure being that desired nothing more than to live, absorb the natural energies of the world, and continue to grow.
Natural beasts were a distant, related species of mystical beasts. They were able, like the Awakened, to grow stronger through mana and eventually rise and gain intelligence until they reached the level of a true mystical beast.
Unlike mystical beasts, however, their potential was inferior — only slightly better than that of a magical beast or an ordinary Awakened, and hardly worth mentioning. They also lacked the special talents that mystical beasts possessed, talents passed on through their unique bloodlines.
After looking around, Cercius quickly began running through the forest in search of his prey.
Thanks to his hard training, he had learned how to save and manage his stamina. As a result, when it came to just running, he could easily keep going for hours, if not days, without collapsing.
Truly, the physique of beings of the World Tree, regardless of race, was far superior to that of ordinary humans from Earth.
This was partly due to the mortal energies of the world, which embedded themselves into their DNA and nourished them, as well as the inherent mana — or life force itself — that living beings of the World Tree possessed, an energy vein most Awakened could not even access without sacrificing their lives.
Cercius ran for a whole hour through the forest without encountering his target or any noteworthy creatures. Only a few times did he come across some rabbits or elk.
Hm~ This is difficult… I don't know how large this forest is, and I don't have enough time to explore everything. If this keeps up, it'll be hard to even find him, let alone catch him.
After a while, Cercius finally stopped.
He looked around for a moment, but as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but trees, bushes, and grass. Then, suddenly, he knelt down, pressed his ear to the ground, and began applying what his master had taught him.
Tracking.
Morgana had taught him tracking specifically for this trial, and he had mastered it at a shocking pace.
One might almost think he was a genius at it, for he had learned to track and decipher important clues in less than half a year.
He even seemed to have a special ability — the ability to hear the earth itself whenever he, like now, placed his ear to the ground and focused on the earth and all the sounds around him.
Morgana had first thought this might be a developed talent Cercius had acquired during his time in the mines.
It had been vitally important, in such cramped places that could collapse at any moment from the wrong movement, to tread carefully and know where and where not to step.
Thus, she speculated that he had acquired a certain talent for hearing the earth — though it could hardly compare to a true Awakened ability.
HahHuu Cercius took a deep breath in and out, then held his breath to focus better and not be distracted by the sound of his own breathing.
As soon as he began, various noises reached his ears: the rushing wind, the leaves rustling in the breeze, branches falling to the ground, and even a few animal sounds — the steps of elk, the hopping of rabbits, the rustling of bushes.
Cercius held his breath for several minutes, fully concentrating on the sounds of the forest and absorbing them all.
It almost seemed as if he were in some sort of trance, diving into the very atmosphere of the forest itself.
["Dragon Slayer" is astonished by your concentration.]
["Throne of Strength" praises your perseverance.]
With this breath-holding endurance, the fifteen-year-old even surpassed Olympic divers. But just as his air was finally running out after several minutes, something happened.
He picked up a faint sound in the distance — a grunt.
Cercius's eyes widened, sparkling. He jumped to his feet and instantly dashed toward the direction from which he had heard the grunt.
With an impressive speed one would never expect from an ordinary fifteen-year-old boy, he charged forward.
Such speed he could already reach without even using mana.
After about ten minutes, he seemed to be getting closer to his target. Though everything around him looked the same — trees, bushes, small animals, endless greenery — he seemed to be able to orient himself well, navigating masterfully through the dense forest.
Past one tree, then another, over a bush, past another tree again.
Finally, Cercius caught sight of a clearing, free of trees, with a pretty meadow bathed in sunlight. On this meadow, a small group of grunting, wandering pigs could be seen.
There!
Cercius quickly recognized a chance, possibly having found his target, and studied the meadow from afar, his eyes intense and sparkling.
Just as he was about to speed up and draw his bow, he noticed something on the meadow. He froze instantly and hid behind a bush at the edge of the clearing.
It was a pleasant view: pigs wallowing in mud, deer wandering about, a few doves fluttering around. But there was also something else — something, no, someone dangerous.
Those are… goblins?! Cercius stared in shock as he saw a troop of goblins for the first time.
A troop of about a dozen goblins — small, humanoid creatures with green, wrinkled skin and animalistic instincts. They were armed with short stone swords and dressed in scant, tattered, leathery clothes made of animal hides.
The goblins crept around the other side of the meadow, seemingly preparing to pounce on the peaceful animals and make a fine catch.
As Cercius's gaze swept across the meadow, the animals, and the goblins, he paid special attention to the pigs. But he was somewhat disappointed not to have found the boar he had been searching for — they all turned out to be nothing more than ordinary pigs.
What's more, he now faced a dilemma. He had stumbled upon goblins, who could become dangerous enemies if they noticed him.
What should I do? I'm sure my target must be somewhere nearby… but if I reveal myself, it could come to a fight, and I can't handle so many alone!
He thought briefly about how to act and quickly made a decision.
Instead of putting himself in danger and searching elsewhere, Cercius chose to remain hidden and carefully observe the goblins.
If I'm lucky, they might even lead me to my target…!
And so, Cercius spent an entire hour hidden in the bushes until the goblins, after a successful hunt, finally left the now empty, blood-stained meadow.
Cercius waited a moment until the goblins had disappeared, then followed them at a distance, sneaking on tiptoe.
After a while — night had already fallen — the goblin troop reached a small village where more goblins lived.
That looks like… a goblin village.
Cercius kept his distance, watching from a few hundred meters away as the goblins entered the village with their prey. Immediately, a small crowd gathered around them, apparently admiring their catch.
The village itself looked rather primitive, with nothing more than a few tents and wooden barricades surrounding it.
Now that he had found the village, Cercius decided to search the surroundings, being careful not to get caught by the goblins. At the same time, he checked the time display to see how much time had passed since the trial had begun and how much remained before it ended.
[49:43:30]
Already more than thirteen hours had passed, yet his target was still nowhere in sight. Instead, he had stumbled upon a potential threat that could hinder his hunt — the goblin village.
But since it was already night, and dark, and likely no goblins would leave the village now — he assumed, since the hunters had just returned — he could search in peace.
Cercius spent the entire night wandering around the goblin village's surroundings. But as soon as day broke and the goblins left their village to go about their daily lives, he decided he had spent enough time in this area and moved south in search of his target.
Time flew by, and already more than half a day had passed.
[29:20:19]
By now, Cercius had less than thirty hours left to complete the trial, and he was beginning to sweat.
Haah Haah
Cercius sat leaning against a tree trunk, taking a short break. All this running around had left even him, after his long training, clearly exhausted.
Most of the time, he had been running around and following different tracks, but they had all led to nothing. He had still not found his target, nor even come close.
"Urgh~ It's really much harder than I thought," he sighed, eating a few berries he had plucked from a bush.
After a short break, he set off again, heading southwest.
There was no time to rest for long, so he had no choice but to continue searching.
This time, Cercius followed the tracks of some deer, which he quickly found. Since they weren't his target, however, he just followed them quietly and secretly, feeling that they might somehow lead him to his prey.
Please, please lead me to my target!
By now, he was quite unsure and anxious inside, even worrying about what might happen if he failed.
After a little more than half an hour, the deer finally led him to an interesting place — a rise on a cliff.
Right on the cliff was a small lake and a waterfall, cascading down the cliff into the abyss below, where it became a narrow river.
But even more, on this basketball-court-sized cliff, there were various animals, even natural beasts among them, basking in the sunlight or frolicking about.
There were ordinary deer, field rabbits, and bears peacefully inhabiting the lake. Pigeons fluttered about while ducks and storks relaxed on the water, enjoying the cool spring water and letting themselves drift.
But the most striking were the natural beasts: the celestial crane, faintly radiating mana; the blazing fox, whose tail could burst into flame at any moment; and, far off at the forest's edge — the sacred boar.
Cercius gazed in wonder at the scene, the fantastic gathering of animals and even natural beasts — such a rarity — until finally his eyes locked onto his target.
It was unmistakably the sacred boar he intended to capture.
"Wow, it's really beautiful here…" he murmured in awe, until his gaze darkened at a thought. But once the goblins or other monsters find this place, it will surely be destroyed, costing countless innocent lives…
The thought saddened him, imagining such a peaceful, beautiful place being ruined. Yet he would not — at least, he did not intend to — disturb this peace himself.
But he had no other choice than to risk disrupting the harmony of the animals living here.
Even if this peace meant a lot to him, he had to take the risk in order to complete the trial.
For he knew that if he succeeded in completing all the trials, he could one day create a place where peace reigned — where various animals and races could live together in harmony.
That was his goal.