Chapter 13 Of Fire And Earth
The end of the gravity trial was marked by an announcement from the will of the realm followed by teleportation to the next trial, the trial of destruction.
This trial aims to test the maximum damage an individual can make. So here he was in an empty world except for the large black wall facing him. He is the only one present in this space.
The will of the realm told Gehald just like it told others that to pass the test he must attack this resilient object. He rose into the air to inspect the walls for anything special, he wasn\'t hoping to find a weakness, but to analyze the structure before him.
When he rose to a sufficient height he found out that the wall was the side of a very large black box. He could do anything about the situation, he could only attack the sides. Of all the trials he knew he would be facing, he has the least confidence in the trial of destruction because of the attacking capabilities of his body.
For the first reason, he didn\'t use a law capable of strong attacks to form his body of law when he became a titan. For the second reason, he used the law of life which is more capable against living organisms not against something inanimate.
But thankfully he had focused on his soul instead of his body when he was creating his origin passage so he could use his immensely powerful soul to his advantage. He doesn\'t have enough quality to create powerful attacks but his powerful soul can increase the quantity of the attack to compensate for his weakness.
He had done most of his killing using terrifying weapons and the temporary boost of strength from the law of life. The law of life grants its wielder perfect control of their life processes. He can enhance the strength of his body with it but only temporarily. A weapon can take advantage of that brief strength to produce devastating attacks.
Even though he doesn\'t have his weapons he is going to try anyway. He could get lucky and get a mark for this trial too. He is confident in the remaining two trials after this, with seven marks he would be able to skip the remaining trials and move directly to the last section of the trial of heaven, the reward and challenge section.
He continued rising and started preparing an attack. He had decided to use his law of fire and earth to create an attack. He fashioned a huge upside-down volcano. He took his time and spent almost all the Origin energy in his body to create this attack. When he was done his face looked tired but his eyes were glowing.
He had great expectations for this attack. He started the attack by letting go of his control of the violent forces in the volcano. Fire agitated the earth which made the volcano shake then erupt in a fury of fire, rocks, ash, and magma onto the top of the square.
The eruption lasted a while as it wrought destruction on the black square-shaped structure below. When it was done, he got to see the amount of damage he had done before he was teleported out, it wasn\'t much. The volcanic eruption would have surely decimated the better half of a plane but it hadn\'t managed to crack the cube.
He found himself in a very large fortress, it is here that the next trial would take place. He was surprised the last trial hadn\'t ended yet, he thought he took his time but it turned out others could take longer.
This wasn\'t his first time seeing a fortress like this one. It is also present in the lower trials, just much larger and more numerous because of the larger number of participants.
The fortress is supposed to house the participants of the trial. He decided to rest so he walked into a room not far from him. Other sovereigns or grand gods would select a room to rest and wait for the start of the next trial when they are teleported here.
The lack of the result of the last trial has created some sort of tension in most of the participants, very few can calm down with such uncertainty over them, especially when it concerns their chances at living. Those that can calm down probably have a mark already, so they won\'t worry too much.
The tension should have been released when the last participant was teleported to the fortress and the result was announced. But it became heavier for some, while some others released sighs of relief. Gehald didn\'t get the mark, he didn\'t mind because it was within his expectation. He knows his strength and weakness.
Even though he had fashioned his attack out of the laws of fire and earth it wasn\'t an attack from a concept. Sometimes quantity cannot make up for the lack of quality no matter how much you wished for it. He wasn\'t disappointed, he doesn\'t think he is a perfect existence, and that\'s why he had made his grand plan. So the loss didn\'t get to him as much as others.
He returned to his earlier plan of recovery during this precious period of rest before the next trial began. After a year of rest the next trial started, the battle trial. In this trial, the fortress will be beseeched from all sides by mad beasts and the participants will try to kill as many as possible from the near uncountable amount of enemies.
The trial doesn\'t have a set time limit, the attacking siege could end anytime, and during this unknown time, the 30% with the largest amount of kills will pass the trial.
The uncertainty of the allocated time and the previous tension culminated to create a killing frenzy. This is going to be the second to the last trial in the first section and you may be surprised to know that more than 50% of the 22,862 sovereigns and grand gods don\'t have a mark.
So there is a rush to kill as soon as the barrier surrounding the fortress came down. Gehald joined the crowd as they rushed into the roaring hoards of monsters. This trial tests killing efficiency, the amount of damage, and the amount of killing within a period against a defending target in a battlefield of variables.
The previous trial tests the maximum amount of damage a person can make given time for ample preparation. It is not realistic, your opponent will not give you time to prepare flashy attacks in a battle, and your opponent won\'t sit still while you wait on them.
Such an open battlefield leads to a need to make a decision of efficiency between single target damage or area of attack. There is also a need for energy and stamina efficiency. The trial could end any moment so they were all throwing spells about. It\'s not because they are stupid, but this is a life-and-death race, and sovereigns have a large store of energy.