Grey nodded and got to work. Even if it was just Intermediate Arrays, there was strength in numbers. William's plan was to exhaust Grey and make him even more unwilling to fight.
Bernard only knew how to create Basic Arrays, which would be quite useless against Golden Core Beasts.
Instead, he used the Plant Element to create a miniature forest in the cavern. He then used the Water Element to absorb all the moisture from the trees, their leaves drying up and turning yellow as their life force was extinguished.
"Why did you do that?" William asked.
Bernard felt this was a chance to show his worth. "You have the Fire Element, right? And the last three Minotaurs will probably be of the Lightning, Ice, and Plant Elements. If that's the case, you should be able to kill whichever one appears in one go with a single fireball."
William's mind was blown. He had used the Earth, Water, Lightning Element combination before, but didn't think about a combo !
He had to admit that Bernard and Grey both had some talent, considering the number of Elements they could use. He assumed that between the two they had all seven basic Elements, since Bernard seemed very confident before when William was attempting the Elemental crystal puzzle.
Three Minotaurs appeared, each encased in a crystal like the previous ones. The Minotaur in the center was immediately trapped in the Confinement Arrays, preventing it from moving the moment it broke free from the crystal.
[Bestiary] Thunder Minotaur: +1 PP
[Bestiary] Frozen Minotaur: +1 PP
[Bestiary] Forest Minotaur: +1 PP
William took this chance to launch a giant fireball at the forest, while Bernard fanned the flames using the Wind Element. In just a few seconds, all three of the Minotaurs were dead, earning William an additional 18 Potential Points.
A pedestal rose from the center of the cavern, comically pushing aside the Frozen Minotaur whose body was still confined in the Intermediate Arrays.
Neither Bernard nor Grey moved, allowing William to approach the pedestal unimpeded. He picked up the black box but didn't open it right away.
-Completed an A-Rank Trial in the Gravitas Ruins: +500 PP
An A-Rank Trial? This wasn't even that hard...
William had a skewed perspective towards the trials, forgetting that a normal Cultivator could not take down a Magical Beast at the same rank one on one, much less one an entire realm above them.
He looked at the pair while still holding the black box. "Were you looking for something specific from this trial? Why work so hard with just the two of you, instead of informing your entire Sect?"
Bernard shook his head. "We don't have a way to communicate with our Sect in these Ruins, unlike some other Sects. We aren't strong enough to take on most trials, so we thought this one would be our chance."
"I see, but you still didn't answer my first question."
"Well...we were hoping to find some Mana Dragon's Blood Essence, but that is extremely rare. It would be good if we can find some Star Ore or an enchanted weapon."
I wonder how they would feel if I told them I had all three at one point. That's awkward...
William peeked inside the box.
-Acquired Mana Dragon's Blood Essence: +250 PP
That's even more awkward...
William closed the box and scratched his head. "That's unfortunate. Well good luck, I'm going to leave now." he started up the staircase.
"Wait, what's in the box though? I just want to know." Bernard called out to William.
"What was that? You're very far away and my hearing is bad!" William was still walking upward as he shouted back to the perplexed duo.
"Phew, I finally lost them!" William laid down on the stone floor of the Labyrinth. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ N0velFire.ɴet
Bernard and Grey seemed to sense something was weird about William's attitude after checking the box and ran after him relentlessly, even risking their lives since they knew William could easily kill the two.
It wasn't until almost five minutes had passed that William escaped the pair that were surprisingly fast despite their Core Formation Realm Cultivation.
He checked his surroundings with the Navigation Talent, pleasantly surprised to find another trial nearby. It was getting late though, so William put together a few Perfect Arrays to conceal his position.
He didn't feel like cooking any meals tonight, so he ate an Iron Stomach Pill to offset his hunger for the next few days, then went straight to bed.
As usual, the System woke him up at 6 with its Potential Farm notification. William immediately stood up to prevent himself from getting tired, then stayed standing until he was ready to go. He destroyed the Arrays in case someone could sense his aura from them, then headed straight for the nearest trial.
Much like the others, the trial was a stone staircase, but the entrance was blocked. Surrounding the staircase was a thin veil representing an Array, but William was too far away to recognize the purpose yet.
He approached the staircase to better inspect the Array, but was shocked, literally, by a lightning bolt that came out of the Array. The power wasn't too impressive, so William didn't bother to turn on his Forcefield and defended using only the Hard Skin Talent.
The lightning bolt bounced off harmlessly, then was followed by another lightning bolt that did the same. William continued walking forward amidst the lightning, then deactivated what turned out to be an Intermediate Lightning Array with just the flick of his finger.
The Array deactivated, allowing William to enter the staircase. As he walked downward, he noticed the Intermediate Lightning Array had reformed behind him automatically.
I don't even sense any other Arrays, just how strong is the person that created this trial?
He didn't bother thinking about it too much, it was beyond his means anyway. William arrived at the bottom of the staircase, where instead of a cavern was a long hallway made of stone bricks in perfect condition.
On the walls were a set of blue torches that barely illuminated the area. William could barely see, so he used 125 Potential Points to raise his Vision Talent from D to B Rank.
With the upgrade, William could now see to the end of the hallway, which was over five kilometers long. His ability to see in the dark improved, and his field of view expanded, from the basic 170 degrees horizontally to 210.
At distinct intervals of about 500 meters, William could make out various Arrays. With his improved vision, he could see that the first two Arrays had both an attack and defensive function. It seemed the creator didn't want someone to slowly whittle away each Array, setting them up so the Cultivator would also have to defend themselves while progressing through the trial.
Welcome to the Arrays Trial. I hope you have fun! The deep voice resounded through the hallway in a happy tone.
William laughed. He didn't expect the creator of the trials to have a sense of humor. Who would possibly have fun while dodging lightning bolts?
He approached the first Array, but quickly jumped back when he reached the 250 meter mark. In front of him a pressure plate had activated, triggering a massive explosion that would have killed anyone in the Core Formation Realm.