Aditya did not know how much time had passed or where he was.
He had pushed his body to the brink of exhaustion. He was both physically and mentally drained to the point where he didn’t think he had another fight in him. The last fight was completely one-sided, and if not for the Stellar Surge, he wouldn’t have been defeated or worse, maybe even killed.
Only Frank knows how much time has passed since his last battle with the Obsidian Golem.
Aditya finally regained his consciousness.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a bed.
Looking at the familiar ceiling, this was still the battlefield in which he had previously fought the Golem.
His vision then moved down to notice an opposite facing the bed on a chair and reading a book with great interest.
Aditya recognised that this was one of the many books that he was gifted on his birthday.
Frank felt something and raised his head.
[You finally decided to wake up!] Frank closed the book with a small smile.
"How long have I been unconscious?" He asked Frank. His voice did not sound weak. But he still wasn’t back to 100%. Some of the injuries on his body still needed a few days to completely heal.
But Aditya could feel it. He felt way better than before. Especially, his mental state is much better compared to when he began the fight with the Golem. At that time, his mind was a mix of calmness and chaos.
He was able to keep his calm due to the 3rd passive ability from his Void Walker class. The 3rd passive ability was called Nebula Harmony. It was an ability that let him stay calm almost all the time.
He could think and fight very calmly, but his head felt heavy, and there were a lot more unnecessary thoughts. In short, it was a mix of chaos and calmness, making him feel overwhelmed.
[It has been almost 2 days.]
[I had no choice but to use your storage ring without your permission; for that, I apologise.] - After 5 to 6 hours of the battle, Frank took out several healing pills and other potions and fed them to Adtiya.
If he had done that, right after the battle had ended, his body would have outright rejected the pills. There was a chance that this might cause internal bleeding and put Aditya in other hidden dangers. He had previously noticed that the Monarch’s body was almost rejecting the pills that he took to recover for the next round.
"It’s alright!" He knew that this old man did this merely to save his life.
Without Frank’s intervention, he might have been in a worse state or even very close to death.
"Here, you can have your book back." Frank flicked the book at the Dragon King, who easily caught it and put it in his ring. This book was a gift from his General. He cherished it and wasn’t gonna let someone keep it.
[Anyways, you have achieved something so special that no one since the foundation of the trial has been able to accomplish.] - There was a big smile on Frank’s face. Now he was more confident that the decision to ally his tribe with Aditya was the right choice. As long as Aditya broke through the next Realm, his chances of going against the Fake King of the Celestial Dragon Emperor and winning would significantly increase.
[Congratulations on clearing the fifth stage of the trial. You have become the first and only person to reach the sixth stage of this trial.]
[Since the establishment of the trial, millions have tried to conquer this trial, but all have fallen. You are the only person to reach the very end of the trial.]
Despite repeated emphasis that he was the first person to reach the sixth stage of this trial, Aditya did not feel anything special. There was no overwhelming joy or excitement in achieving something so extraordinarily. He was too exhausted and wounded to care about what he achieved.
Right now, he just wanted to take a good rest and think of nothing. Even two days of rest weren’t enough for him.
But this wasn’t the time or place to stop. He was here on a mission to help Laura.
At the same time, he was having doubts whether he should give up willingly or at least try to face the sixth stage and make an attempt to conquer this trial.
’My body is too messed up right now.’ Some of the bigger wounds were still very fresh.
’The only way to have any chance of clearing the sixth stage would be to break through right now.’ Aditya closed his eyes and thought for a few minutes. There was no reason for him to keep suppressing his cultivation to Peak fourth order. He knew that he had reached his limit within this realm.
Frank paused as he noticed that his friend was lost in deep thought.
Frank already considered Aditya an ally. He was a descendant of his Close friend. Not only that, but he was also really talented, but not arrogant. All the traits the Monarch showed so far made Frank like him even more.
He was sure that if he were alive, then it wouldn’t take long for them to become best friends.
His expression softened for a second.
[Aditya, you have essentially earned the right to get the highest level of reward from this trial. If you want, you can quit now. You will still be known as the genius who conquered the fifth stage and became the only person to reach the sixth stage.]
Hearing this, Aditya opened his eyes and looked at Frank.
[To be honest, when we made this trial, we intended for it to have five stages only. But later I decided to add one more stage, which would be the final stage.]
[So, tell me what you want ?]
"I want to continue. But I want to know what kind of opponent I will be facing in this stage." Knowing early about his opponent would give him time to think of a strategy.
Frank responded with a smirk.
[Your Final Opponent is me]
Aditya was stunned, and then he couldn’t help but smile. Even if Frank was just a soul fragment of the original, he saw it as a tremendous honour to face such a legendary figure.
"It would be my honour to have the right to face you in a battle."
"But what happens if I defeat you? Will you disappear from this place?" This worried Aditya a little.
[Well, if my soul fragment is seriously harmed, then I won’t be able to remain long.] - So this battle wouldn’t be so serious as the previous one.
[If you think that just because I am just a fragment of my former self, you can easily defeat me, then you are mistaken. This is the sixth stage. This means the difficulty will be greater than in the last stage. ] - The old man wasn’t gonna hold back. And he was very excited to have the chance to fight someone after countless years, finally.
[Just remember to hold back and not kill me altogether, otherwise I will completely disappear from this place.]
If it was before, then Frank would’ve asked his opponent to end his life, which is the main reason why he left a soul fragment in this place so that he could die in a battle. But now his tribe was going through a rough time, and Frank wanted to see how the future of the Celestial dragon empire and the main continent would shape up because of this young man.
Soon, his tribe would go through a crisis. As the founding father of his tribe, he needed to maintain his soul fragment to guide his tribe through these turbulent times. Once that time has passed, maybe then he can start planning for his final battle.
"Alright!"
"But first let me break through."
With a grin, Aditya jumped from the bed and rose into the air. Once he was 100 meters above the ground, he stopped and closed his eyes.
’System, I want to break through Peak 4th-Order and reach the Next Order.’
Suddenly, a powerful Aura enveloped Aditya.
His entire body began glowing in an intense, bright light. The light was so bright that there was no shadow or darkness left in any corner or inch of the battlefield. Even Frank had to cover his eyes with his palms and look away. It was like the sun itself had come to this underground battlefield.
Aditya kept, like the chains around his soul loosening and then breaking up.
He felt almost endless power pouring through his body.
In Frank’s eyes, the process lasted 5 minutes before everything calmed down.
When Aditya opened his eyes, he was no longer a mere 4th-order. He was a powerful Beginner 5th-Order Cultivator in both Knight and Mage Paths.
Seeing the improvement in the current Aditya, Frank’s pupils trembled as he thought. ’This Dragon Monarch could defeat the Golem within 5 minutes and without needing to rely on that strange attack that won him the battle.’
But this only made him more excited about the thought of facing him.
Aditya opened his eyes and looked at Frank with a grin.
"Frank, let’s fight."
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Really, thank you very much to all those who sent support with valuable golden tickets and gifts. I hope we can keep it up!!!
Finally done with this trial arc Chapters. It was my mistake to write such a long Chapter. Writing each of these Chapters was so tough that midway, I lost my motivation to write as it was getting harder and harder to find tougher opponents for Aditya or to increase the stakes of each battle. But finally, it’s done and we can move forward.