William looked at the entrance of the floor to see a nervous Cultivator standing at the entrance of the trial. It was clear that his entry was the reason for the Nascent Soul ogre.
He launched a swift fireball in the direction of the Cultivator, who didn't have any time to react before the meteor-like fireball pierced through his chest and sent him flying outside of the trial tower, shattering the Basic Barrier Array in the process.
William checked his notifications to make sure he didn't kill the Cultivator, relieved to see he hadn't lost a Humanity Point. He returned his attention to the ogre, expecting it to despawn soon.
The ogre released another low roar, then began bashing its club against the Array Puppets. Its speed was much greater than the Golden Core ogre, and its strength even more monstrous.
Glen became angry, "Damn that guy, trying to sabotage us when we are this close!"
The other Foundation Establishment Cultivators were worried. Should we escape?
They backed towards the entrance of the tower, prepared to leave the second something went wrong.
William controlled his Array Puppets adeptly, allowing them to maneuver around the ogre with extreme speed and skill. Even at the Nascent Soul Realm, the ogre couldn't keep up with their moves.
When one Puppet caught the ogre's attention, another would stab it in the back with a throwing knife. The wounds weren't deep, but it was enough to catch the Magical Beast off guard.
I need to make them better weapons... William thought as he controlled the Puppets from afar.
Their speed and strength were phenomenal now that William had improved the Arrays forming them, but fists and knives wouldn't do much good against certain enemies. The ogre had thick fat on its body, which reduced the amount of damage it took from weak martial attacks or short blades.
Of course, William had some solutions. He controlled two Array Puppets to regroup with a third. While the remaining two Puppets distracted the ogre from the front, the three approached its backside, their 1.5 meter size appearing miniscule in front of the six meter ogre.
The two Puppets picked up the third and threw it forward, its hand glowing a bright blue as an Ice Spear formed. The Ice Spear drilled into the back of the ogre's neck, causing serious damage and temporarily stunning it.
The two Array Puppets in the front rushed forward, slicing at both of the ogre's tendons, causing it to fall to its knees on the ground.
With this, the ogre remained defenseless from the consecutive attacks. William didn't bother trying to steal the kill on the ogre, since it wouldn't provide him any Potential Points anyway. He and the others watched as the Array Puppets swiftly finished off the Nascent Soul ogre.
The kill was barely fast enough to exhaust the remaining Mana of the first floor, the ogre no longer able to respawn.
William waited for a successful completion message, but there was nothing. A pedestal raised from the center of the grassy floor, a black box resting on its surface. William, Glen, and the Foundation Establishment Cultivators also received a separate, smaller black box, which contained a tiny white pebble, its uses unknown.
-Acquired Miniature Soul Stone: +25 PP
The Foundation Establishment Cultivators looked at the pebble with delight, quickly returning to their respective Sects at the entrance of the tower.
Upon seeing the black box in the center, a few Cultivators rushed inside the tower. They rushed past the Foundation Establishment Cultivators who clearly had only received the minor reward. Everyone had the same thought.
Even if the ogre spawns, I can at least escape with the box!
To their pleasant surprise, no ogre spawned even when the lead Cultivator was halfway to the pedestal.
William naturally noticed the greedy expressions of the Cultivators. Even some of his Foundation Establishment Realm followers stared at the black box with hesitation.
He controlled an Array Puppet to retrieve the black box for him, the Puppet flying past the Cultivators with incredible speed. It stopped at the pedestal just in time to snatch it away from a skinny man with a runner's build, his calves so defined they looked like they could cut diamonds.
The man frowned at his empty outstretched hand, disappointed at being so close yet so far from the treasure.
William smirked as the Array Puppet returned to his side to hand him the black box. He stored the box in his Space Ring without opening it, lest the reward was impressive enough for the Cultivators to risk their lives fighting.
He looked at the back wall of the trial floor, where a staircase rose from the floor and the ceiling opened up. The other Cultivators also noticed this but didn't rush to head inside.
Who in their right mind would enter the second floor of the trial without any information when the first floor took hundreds of years to clear?
Everyone looked at William. Those who thought about snatching the treasure were reminded that this boy was the one that cleared the trial, even if he didn't do much work himself.
The floor became silent as they waited to see what William would do.
He looked around the room, his eyes making a few Cultivators feel anxious.
-Killed a human. +5 Potential Points, -1 Humanity
Huh? How? William was confused. The random System notification caught him off guard.
System, what happened?
-The Cultivator you shot a fireball at died of blood loss.
Fuck, really? William was upset, but it wasn't like he could reverse the Cultivator's death. Even if he could, it probably wouldn't give him back the point of Humanity. He didn't feel much from killing the Cultivator, since he clearly intended to make William fail the trial.
He returned his attention to the trial tower.
"I'm going to check out the second floor. You, come with me." he pointed at the runner who was the closest to stealing the treasure.
"Me? B-but why?" the man was scared that William would use him as a guinea pig to discover the functions of the next floor.
"You're fast, just come with me. I won't ask a second time." William's eyes became cold. The Enslavement Array was partially affecting his emotions, urging him to go further into the tower.
The man nodded his head and trudged along behind William as they approached the staircase.
"You go in first." William ordered.
The man already expected this, accepting his fate. He stepped up the staircase and disappeared, only to reappear a few seconds later with a terrified expression. His hair was slightly burnt, and his face was wrinkly as if the moisture in his body had been absorbed by something.
"What is it?" William asked with slight concern.
"The entire room is lava, and there's...there's..." the man struggled to finish his sentence. His knees buckled and his pants were soiled as he fell to the ground.
"Okay you're reacting a little bit. Just tell me what you saw you weirdo." William was losing his patience with the man and was about to send in an Array Puppet to check out the situation inside for himself.
"A DRAGON!" the man suddenly shouted with tears forming in his eyes.