"RUUUUUUUUUUUUMBLE"
The door made a loud rumbling sound that shook the boat as both Zeras and the old man got out of it.
Zeras watched as the door slowly opened. It was huge, so huge he was like a small stone in front of it.
The door finally opened fully, but Zera's face dropped in the next second.
The place was dark and radiated a gloomy aura. There was no light illuminating the place making Zeras look at the old man with a questioning gaze.
"Did you know in the past, thousands of people fought madly just to be given a chance to train in the Athlanthean Soldiers ground? But as time passed, it slowly grew deserted. Come with me" the Old Man said as Zeras followed behind him.
Stepping into the gate, a blinding white light suddenly flared powerfully in the place as his eyes shut tightly. The lights were incredibly piercing to the eye.
Slowly regulating the intensity, he could see the area clearly and it was just a gigantic space. The entire space was a white color that extended deep into the distance with not a single thing inside.
"Is this...Is this a training ground?"
Immediately he said that the man suddenly clapped his hands twice as a voice rang out in the hall:
"A warrior has entered into the space and has decided to challenge its levels."
"Level 1 begins."
Zeras watched as the area in front of him suddenly began changing.
The floor in the far distance sank into the ground and in its place, a battle stage slowly emerged.
A weapon rack appeared in front of Zeras lined with different tridents.
"Pick your weapon, soldier..." The voice ordered as Zeras picked up a silver-colored trident of about 2 meters in height. The weapon was incredibly light and even though taller than he was, he felt it was very suitable for him.
He walked towards the battle stage unhurriedly as he climbed on top of it.
Immediately he climbed it, a space on the battle stage suddenly sank in and a figure came out of it.
It was a dark humanoid figure, cloaked from head to toe in a red-colored armor. A red-colored trident was held in its hands as the piercing red light of its eyes shone through the armor.
The figure was nothing of a living being and looked more like a robot.
"Defeat the Level 1 puppet and you'll have passed the stage." The voice ordered.
"Oh, a puppet? Interesting."
A system notification panel appeared in front of Zeras.
[A Level 1 battle puppet has been identified]
[Quest Activated: Defeat the puppet.]
[Reward: +100 EXP]
A smile appeared on Zera's face as he just might be able to increase his strength from this, but his face changed as he felt the air violently pierced from his side.
Instinctively, he automatically slammed his trident to that area.
"CLAAAAAAAAAAAAANG"
Zeras felt as if he rammed into a wall as he was sent skidding away before coming to rest about three meters away.
Before he could even gather himself, the puppet already threw himself into him as they both clashed on the battle stage with Zeras being placed on the back foot with every clash.
Zeras was shocked and speechless by the puppet, he could every strike of its trident reverberating through his entire body, as his hand slowly turned numb. Even though it was a puppet, its movements were incredibly fluid and every slash of the trident brought about devastating power.
The trident pierced toward his face, but Zeras didn't clash this time and instead dodged the attack by horizontally kicking off the ground in the next second, giving him a 10-meter space between the puppet.
"You got distracted at the beginning of the fight, boy. That's not a wise decision." The old man said as Zeras saw him sitting on a chair and folded his hands together while looking at their battle.
"The puppet is strong, stronger than you think."
"Strong? Tch." Zeras snorted coldly as the ground beneath him seemed to rumble for a second.
"BOOM"
The battle stage shook as a figure pierced through the air with speed appearing above the battle stage.
"CLAAAAAAAAAAAAANG"
The puppet had one of its knees on the ground with its trident raised as Zeras stood above it, his trident slamming from the top. Zeras was a little surprised as he expected the puppet to be sent flying from that blow but it was only put on its knees.
Seeing the robot's position, a mocking smile lined his lips, as he slammed one of his legs on the robot's chest sending it flying.
Before the puppet could gather itself, a trident's throngs were pierced into its chest as Zeras violently plunged the trident in before forcefully removing it, metallic objects raining down from the puppet before it landed on the ground, face flat.
"Congratulations warrior, you have successfully defeated the puppet."
"Level 2 will now begin."
The ground opened up swallowing the puppets, while another one came out of it.
This one was even bigger than the former puppet with a trident two times bigger than his own.
[Congratulations, Host has completed the quest.]
[+100 EXP gained]
[Total Exp:100/400]
[New quest Activated: Defeat the Level 2 puppet.]
[Reward: +100 EXP]
A smile appeared on Zera's face as he watched the system notifications, it was time to grind EXP points.