The red box began to spin, rotating faster and faster with each second. The yellow star pattern disappeared as the box continued to rotate, reappearing in front of William as a star-shaped button on a flat patch of earth.
The box slowed in rotation, eventually stopping in its original position. Where the star pattern used to be was now a display with tiny writing on each of the five legs of the star. He inspected the display more thoroughly, noticing that four legs had the word LOSE written on it, while one simply read WIN.
Trial of luck...do I have to press this button and hope it lands on win? What if I lose?
William became slightly nervous. He wouldn't say his luck was bad, but it wasn't good either.
One out of five chance of winning...
William stopped thinking about it. The trial tower wouldn't insta-kill him anyway right?
He pushed the button, his anxiety rising as the legs of the star lit up and turned off in a circular motion. William stared intently as the spinning lights started to slow down, eventually landing on the leftmost leg of the star.
"What does it say?" William leaned forward to read the small writing.
A rumbling noise sounded from behind. William turned around in panic to see a group of two ogres much smaller than the Golden Core ogres he fought before stumbling in his direction.
His panic instantly subsided as William flicked his finger, releasing two tiny ice spikes that penetrated both ogre's skulls and killing them instantly. They turned into particles of Mana that rushed to the ceiling of the trial.
It seemed that killing more enemies wouldn't be the answer to clearing this trial.
Was that it? Were those at the Foundation Establishment Realm?
William realized something. He spun a second time, the wheel stopping on another LOSE.
Again, there was a rumbling from a few meters away, this time to William's right. He turned his head to see three ogres walking in his direction, all of them the same size as the previous two.
The trial issued a punishment after every time the wheel landed on LOSE, meaning William would have to fight Magical Beasts every time it happened. It seemed that the amount of enemies increased each time he failed the trial, but that wasn't a concern since they were all in the Foundation Establishment Realm.
William guessed that the trial would have sent Golden Core ogres if a Core Formation Cultivator was present, meaning he actually had an insane advantage here!
He killed the three ogres and continued to press the button, dealing with the successive number of enemies with ease.
Four, Five, Seven, Ten Foundation Establishment ogres rushed after him with each press of the button. While they weren't a challenge to William, he was becoming increasingly upset with the trial.
I've spun six times and still haven't landed on the right one, this is ridiculous! William was beginning to feel that he was unlucky after all.
Perhaps the Loot Goblin Title was the main reason for Williams good luck on the outside, but that wouldn't help him here.
He pressed the button once more.
"Roar!" a group of fifteen ogres rushed at him from the left.
"Are you serious!" William was pissed. He launched a giant fireball, killing all fifteen ogres with a single spell.
"Again?!?" William was on the verge of tears.
"You're messing with me!"
It took William eleven tries, but the word WIN was finally lit up. He collected the black box from the pedestal, which reminded him that there was another box in his Space Ring waiting to be opened.
He opened both at once, starting with the one from the first floor. Inside was a small white pebble about the size of his finger. Rather than Mana or Spirit Qi, the pebble emitted a pale blue light that seemed like a type of energy of its own.
-Acquired Soul Stone: +100 PP
-Acquired Luck Pendant: +150 PP
Luck Pendant? William asked the System about their functions since both were free.
-Soul Stone: Increases Soul Strength.
-Luck Pendant: Worn as a necklace. Passively doubles the wearer's chance of experiencing good fortune. Does not apply to finding treasures, combat, or finding rare Talents in the Talent Shop.
The Luck Pendant seemed extremely strong at first, until William read the last sentence of the description. So basically, I just have a better chance at winning a game of cards. Thanks System... Read full story at Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
He stored the Soul Stone with the Miniature Soul Stone he received earlier, then put on the Luck Pendant. Even if it had a lot of limitations, William knew the effects of the Pendant were probably quite strong regardless.
A staircase had risen from the back end of the floor while William was inspecting the items. He took an hour to fully recover his Mana then traveled to the fourth floor.
It was another grass plain, a massive blue creature wearing a tattered loincloth standing idly in the center. It raised a massive club in its hand and used it to scratch its back, releasing a slight grunt as it reached for an itch.
Because the Bestiary didn't seem to work on artificial creatures, William had to find out from the System that he was looking at a troll.
The creature was at the Nascent Soul Realm, clearly not dependent on William's Cultivation. He released ten Array Puppets simultaneously and controlled them to fight with the troll, relieved that he didn't have to focus on protecting himself or any nearby Cultivators.
The Array Puppets surrounded the troll, one acting as bait for the giant club. The troll's intelligence wasn't high, so as long as the club was avoided, the troll wouldn't be a major threat.
The biggest problem was the troll's regeneration, which would quickly heal back any minor damage caused. Even when a few fingers were cut off and the troll was forced to drop its club, they regrew in a matter of seconds.
William used the Array Wheel to instantly raise an improved Perfect Lighting Array, targeting the troll with massive lightning bolts that burned its skin and slowed its movement. The Array Puppets closed in, slicing at the troll's wrists and tendons to disable the creature.
The troll's regeneration was still quite fast, but with the Lightning Array constantly causing damage, it was enough for William to finish it off in just a few minutes.
The troll fell to the ground, turning into a mass of Mana particles that flew into the ceiling. A pedestal rose from the ground signaling the end of the trial.
William sighed in relief. He was hoping that this trial wouldn't require him to kill multiple of those damned trolls.
He retrieved the black box and opened it to reveal a small vial of silver liquid. As he twirled the special vial around, William noticed a minute amount of seemingly ordinary salt.
-Acquired Ascension Dragon Tears (10 Drops): +250 PP
Salty tears, delicious... William thought sarcastically. The thought of consuming the tears of a dragon was a bit unsettling, but he had already tasted Mana Dragon's Blood Essence and it wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed.