As the fog dissipated, Faust found himself still in the forest. The crimson moon loomed above, its scarlet light drenching the world below in red. Ahead of him, colossal trees partially blocked his path.
He looked around when a voice echoed in his head:
"Slay one of your kind."
He was slightly surprised to still be in the same area. As for the trial, he had already expected something along these lines.
So... this is the sixth trial? Unlike the second and third, I can still sense the runes I left hidden at the camp from here… Interesting. So the fifth and sixth trials are somehow connected? That's a nice change of pace... or maybe I'm wrong? Hm, can't be sure yet.
A few runes had been left hidden by Faust during the second trial, but none could be sensed after reaching the third. More were placed during the third, yet they vanished from awareness in the fourth. That hadn't been an issue outside the dungeon—but inside, it served as a useful clue.
The realization came slowly: runes actually had a distance limit. This limitation had never been confirmed by him before—when he tested it earlier, outside the trials and of the dungeon itself, he found no limit on them, leading to the mistaken assumption that the distance he could feel and activate them was limitless.
Now, things were different. He had two theories, either the trials were separated by an unfathomable distance, or something else had actively severed his link with the runes. For him, the second option was much worse.
While scanning the area, his thoughts drifted toward something else.
A lingering thought worried him since the second trial, as he realized he wasn't using the runes to their full potential, but didn't know how to change that. The dream he'd seen of Red came to his mind, where Red had used two runes—poison and fire—in seamless combination. He wanted to do something like that too but didn't know where to start.
His runes didn't seem to work well together, simply because they were too direct. That likely had to do with their rank. Excluding Bind and Devour, which were intermediate and advanced respectively, all his other runes were basic.
Detonation was straightforward: direct attacks or traps. Heal was purely restorative. The Obedience rune failed against trial creatures, and Rest was nearly useless here—beasts ignored it, and humans felt no sleepiness. He had even tested it on himself; it had no effect.
Lastly, his drawing of the Devour rune still failed, though his attempts had grown sharper. As for Bind—a try to use it was made during his first Slasher hunt, failed. No activation, but the rune had glowed brightly. Its activation wasn't too far; just needed more mana.
"I should return to camp to confirm... and see if Arien survived the Slasher. If she did, I could strike while she's weakened."
He was hoping she would still be fighting the Slasher or would have lost and run away but remained nearby—an opportunity to land a clean kill and complete the sixth trial, though the chances were extremely low.
He muttered the words as he moved through the trees.
With his hands on the sword, he started to go towards the camp, distrusting even his own deductions—they'd failed him before. As he walked, an odd sensation prickled his spine. Not a vision, but a... remembrance. He turned. The crimson moon glared back.
Is it glowing brighter..? Probably not.
He resumed walking. The runes he'd hidden on the camp weren't far—around two hours away, less if he ran. By the time he arrived, the odds of finding Arien would be slim—but not zero.
I hope she's not dead yet. That would mean wasting time searching for someone else.
Another thought surfaced, as his mind went back to the man that tried to kill him earlier in the fifth trial.
Is that why the man who stole my prey wasn't taken by the fog? Maybe he wasn't in the fifth trial at all... but the sixth. Which would make me his real target.
He had assumed the man failed to progress because the Slasher had been too injured to count as his kill. But that made no sense now he thought about it. Faust had used traps to weaken it, and the trial had still accepted his victory. Apparently, only the final blow mattered.
That guy... he was strong. Without my traps, I'd probably have lost. His sword skill was better than mine.
His injuries still ached, though the Sacred Stone had dulled the worst of them. Heal runes remained—he activated one as he walked. Most of his runes were either Detonation or Heal, with a few useless Rest runes.
As the camp neared, his pace quickened.
******
Meanwhile, in another part of the forest.
Snake stood atop a tree branch. In his hands, a steel cutlass; his slick, black hair clung to his pale frame.
His green, triangular eyes glowed in the dark as he watched an Armored Beetle below, feeding on plants and fallen leaves.
I have to kill either a black beetle or a carapace mantis… shouldn't be difficult.
Although he thought that, his pale body looked even sicker than before, covered in numerous light injuries. His fourth trial had been brutal and dragged on far too long. He had been locked inside an arena, where animals appeared non-stop.
They were all normal creatures: wolves, bears, boars, rabbits, foxes, and others. In fact, he hadn't had much trouble killing them. But the sheer number gradually overwhelmed him. With little time to rest, he had fought for over a month without having time to recover.
Is there's anything here above beast level? I've walked for a while and seen nothing. But I shouldn't rule it out. If I'm caught by surprise by an Abomination-rank or above monster, It will be a problem.
Monsters were officially divided into levels by the adventurer guild, a classification known even to non-adventurers. The weakest category was called "Beast"—creatures stronger than normal animals, but not particularly dangerous. Any silver-ranked adventurer could handle them without much trouble.
The next level, "Aberrant," consisted of monsters that demanded considerably more caution. They were typically capable of fighting a group of silver adventurers, some were even able to use mana. Beyond them came the "Abominations," threats so severe they required gold level adventurers or higher to be defeated.
Then there were the monsters known as "Monarchs" and "Calamities." These were considered nearly uncontrollable forces of nature. Only elite warriors could hope to face them and survive. Against such enemies, a gold rank adventurer was little more than cannon fodder.
There were theories about monsters that existed above this level, but no one could confirm.
Snake eyes slinted as he watched the black beetle, a Beast level enemy.
The moment the creature stopped feeding, he jumped from the tree and twisted mid-air.
He spun and slashed the black monster, his sword cracking its carapace with ease, but the creature was still alive.
It quickly turned, but Snake leapt from its back to the ground.
The monster charged at him—he braced himself.
The moment they were about to collide, he jumped again. The creature didn't stop and dashed past.
Snake landed on its back and slashed at the cracked area. The creature writhed, trying to shake him off. But he plunged his blade into the exposed flesh beneath the carapace and dragged it through the tissue.
A black liquid with a strong odor seeped out as the creature flailed, noiseless but desperate.
The cutlass was pushed deeper, slicing through organs. After only four strikes, the beast collapsed to the ground… dead.
He had slain a black beetle, an Armorer, in less than ten seconds.
So much easier than the fourth trial… I hope I get enough money from this mission to finally open my restaurant. I'm tired of working for that old guy.
Then he looked up at the glowing crimson moon. His green eyes stood in stark contrast to the red above.
Ten years already, huh…
Suddenly, a voice rang in his head as he shook his head back to focus.
"Slay one of your kind."
A sad smile crept onto his face.
Of course… more killing…
He sighed as he sheathed his cutlass, and his body was enveloped by fog, before vanishing and reappearing somewhere else.