Chapter 105
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The fourth level was not actually too complicated. Apparently, the fourth, fifth, and sixth level all are the same type of challenge. There are Earth Creatures made of magic and their strength is determined by the challenger's strength. These creatures could not cast magic spells, their bodies were just incredibly hard and difficult to break through. On the fourth level, the challenge is to defeat 100 of these Earth Creatures that are at the same level and stage as you. The fifth level is defeating 50 Earth Creatures that are two stages above you. The sixth level is defeating 10 Earth Creatures that are a level above you. This challenge supposedly tests the challenger's talent because to defeat the Earth Creatures at a higher stage or level requires genius quality and also tests determination and endurance. The high number of opponents creates a mental strain. The altar only allows rest between levels in the altar, however, during the actual challenge the Earth Creatures will attack without any rest. They are not actual living beings so they do not get tired or need rest. The only upside is that they are simple-minded and easier to defeat then real opponents who are the same level of power.
All of Rosalie's group and most labelled as "geniuses" could pass the fourth level without breaking too much of a sweat. The fifth level is where the distinguishing between levels of talent begin while almost everyone fails at the sixth level. Only a remote few pass the sixth level before completely failing the seventh.
If others could watch him, they would be shocked by Greyson's quick progression. The fourth level did not take much time at all as he just used powerful and largely encompassing spells which would lower the numbers quickly. Although he tired from this tactic quickly, it got rid of all his opponents the fastest. Dragging the fight out with smaller and more energy-saving attacks would actually be worse for him. Since he knew that he could defeat those at his level fairly easily, there was no reason to hold back. He was not going to needlessly test himself and try to tire himself out. On the fifth level, he took a more stable and slow approach as he knocked off his 50 opponents one by one. This fight was most definitely harder than before as they were all at the magister level stage five in power. Even without intelligence, they were still had more brute force than Greyson. Before if he only needed one attack to blast the Earth Creature to dust, on the fifth level, he needed an average of 5 strikes to get rid of them. Under such circumstances, with the group of them continually attacking him, Greyson was under a lot of stress. He could clearly see why people start to drop out dramatically around this level. No normal person would get through. Though this all was true, he still steadily made the numbers go down. The time he took was longer compared with the fourth level, but still fast and less desperate than most. He was climbing the levels like ascending flights of stairs, although he eventually started feeling fatigued, he was steadily rising.
When Greyson finally struck down the last Earth Creature, a black portal opened up once more. Greyson fell onto the ground in slight distress as he let out a deep sigh of relief. Lying flat on the ground, he passed out from the exhaustion. He finally awoke a couple hours later and began to meditate to recover his mana and energy. His robe was completely in tatters, so he just tossed it onto the ground and went with his white undershirt, brown pants, and boots. All recuperated and brimming with excitement, Greyson stepped through the doorway to the sixth level. At that he just saw endless dead earth while 10 large figures floated in front of him. Recognizing these as his new opponents, Greyson slowly inhaled in preparation. Pulling out Genesis, he got into a ready stance with fire and lightning bursting off the blade while beautiful green wings sprouted from his back. A spell he learned in his free time, called the Wings of Alas. He also activated the Wind Suit on just his back in case he could not pay attention to directions. After reaching the magister level, he could create two more brands: one on his left shoulder and the other in the middle of his back. After the fifth level, he rediscovered the many uses of this spell especially in melee battle where he would have definite blind spots. It seems it was destiny that he had gone into that dungeon before he came to battle in this altar.
Bursting into action, Greyson decisively made the first move by slashing down onto the Earth Creature to the far right. Although he expected such a result, seeing Genesis bounce off with only a crack showing on the Creature's exterior, Greyson felt a slight headache coming on. But he did not give up, without giving the Creature a chance to recover, Greyson hacked down repeatedly. He only got about 10 strikes in before the other Earth Creatures finally closed in on him as well. Greyson flew up to avoid them and the punches aimed for him blew apart the damaged Creature from earlier. During his time in the fifth level, Greyson started to realize that these Creatures truly had no intelligence. All they did was come straight at him with full force. If he got hit, then he would take a lot of damage, but they also could not stop themselves from attacking each other if he maneuvered correctly.
"One down." He muttered to himself already feeling slightly out-of-breath.
Not feeling a thing after striking down a teammate, the Earth Creatures turned towards Greyson and started chasing after him. This time Greyson did not continue flying but instead dropped to the ground. Seeing them follow him, his shadow grew out and black shadowy hands grabbed onto each Earth Creature and held them down on the ground. Turning slightly pale after feeling the immense resistance, Greyson knew he had to act quickly or else they would break out too quickly. Randomly picking the closest one, he once again used Genesis and hacked down at the same point on the Earth Creature until it showed it was cracking apart. Feeling the weakness, Greyson gathered light, fire, and lightning element into his hand which turned into explosive energy and sent a hard punch into the weak spot. The Earth Creature finally burst apart, but, the others concurrently broke from their bonds. Although he was prepared to dodge out of the way, Greyson was not fast enough to move away from the one closest. A hard punch landed straight onto his back. The Wind Shield spell activated itself and blocked the attack, but Greyson was still sent flying away from the sheer force created by the shield and fist colliding.
The air knocked from his lungs, Greyson landed hard and rolled multiple times of the ground before he could stop himself and gasp for air. Genesis was knocked from his hands and the wings on his back dispersed after his concentration was broken. Seeing the shadows approaching him, he knew he could not stay like that and quickly got himself up and dodged using the familiar Air Steps. Sometimes, the most basic spells were the most reliable when he was under pressure. Landing back onto the ground, he watched as the Earth Creatures approached him once again. This time, he used to water element as the ground turned to Ice and the Earth Creatures turned into frozen blocks of ice. Taking no break, Greyson flipped his hand as Genesis was summoned back to him. Using the same method as the last, he continued breaking apart the next Creature that was closest to him. The ice was surprisingly more effective than the dark element in binding, so Greyson managed to get rid of two more before they broke out of the ice. This time, he could not avoid taking two powerful hits and his Wind Suit only blocked one while the other hit with full force. Grunting under the impact, Greyson could feel a rib or two crack as he spat blood. Sent flying once more, Greyson breathed erratically as he slightly groaned in pain.
Using his light element, he began to heal himself.
"Six left..." Wiping the sweat forming on his brow, Greyson's breathing grew labored. He had more than half to go but his mana stores were already 50% used up. Trying to contain them also took part of his concentration and mana since they were so strong. However, seeing that ice was effective, he decided to stick with this same routine. Freezing the Earth Creatures once again, Greyson managed to destroy another one, but this time they escaped faster than before. Taking a hit once more, his Wind Suit shattered under the punch and would not be able to recover for a while. Grimacing, Greyson knew he would have to take the next hits just by himself. He could not spare any more concentration to keep up a shield or armor spell. Looking at the five remaining, Greyson heaved a sigh before continuing to fight. He managed to get rid of two more using the same method, however, with three left he could feel his mana stores had only around 10% left.
Knowing that he could not use a steady tactic with the last three, Greyson had to bet it all on one attack. He ran through his different spell and decided on one finally. It was actually only a dual element spell, but extreme heat and extreme cold did were good against earth element users. Only, to form the spell took a long time. Gritting his teeth, Greyson began forming two balls in each hand. Each Earth Creature would not give him the chance so easily so they all began pounding into him. Even breathing felt hard at this point and Greyson was sure that multiple bones were probably broken. However, in the end, he still managed to form them. One radiated lava-like heat waves while the other was as cold as a frozen tundra. He combined them into one chaotic and unsteady ball. When all three of the Earth Creatures came at him once more, Greyson let the ball go as it slammed onto the ground and exploded. Sent flying by the shock wave, Greyson still closely watched to make sure his attack destroyed all three of the Earth Creatures. Relieved, he watched as the earth melting and burned into ash on one half while it froze and broke apart on the other.
Slamming hard into the ground, Greyson was knocked unconscious.
It was not until much later, that Greyson awoke gasping in pain for his untreated injuries. His body had leaned down onto a broken arm and in that moment, he woke up with a start. Confused, it took him a moment to calm down and remember what happened. Collecting himself, he began meditating to take in light element and then immediately used that mana to begin healing himself. This process took much longer than usual as Greyson's injuries were fairly severe and the light element, at least at the magister level, was not a cure-all. After around a week of this constant healing, Greyson was finally good as new. It was only at this moment that he could truly celebrate and feel proud that he beat the sixth level. He did it! Although it was far from a graceful and easy win, he still won nonetheless. The only downside, was that he looked like a wreck. His boots were covered in holes and his shirt was completely ripped apart. The only thing slightly intact was his pants. At this point, Greyson just resigned himself to the fact that he will probably get sent out of the altar half-naked. All that took up his attention was the doorway leading to the seventh level. Legends say that no one has ever beaten the seventh and final level yet at all the Beast Altars. Greyson was truly curious as to why this was, but he was not sure if he would just get immediately sent out like the rest when he got to that level. Apparently, those people who passed the sixth level failed the seventh so quickly that they could never tell anybody what actually happened and what lay in wait at the seventh level.
...
"Hmmm... It's been a day already. Usually nobody takes longer than this." Frowning, Rosalie was tapping her foot anxiously.
"Don't worry-" Ferno began.
"Don't tell me not to worry! Of course, I'm worried!" Glaring over, Rosalie quickly shut him up before he could continue.
"Now, Rosie, don't go biting everyone's heads off because you are worried. It's not like you are the only one." Aeos lectured softly.
Rosalie's expression softened slightly as she listened to his soothing voice.
"Sorry, Ferno. I'm just taking out my feelings of frustration on you." Pouting, Rosalie sighed before looking over at the twin to apologize.
"Nah, it's fine. If it were Fervis who were missing I would be just as wound up and worried." Ferno waved her off quickly showing he was not upset.
"We will continue waiting here with you. I'm sure he will come out soon. Who knows, maybe he is taking this long because he is in the seventh level." Sloan spoke up this time and encouraged Rosalie. However, the minute the last sentence left her mouth, a loud and disdainful snort sounded near the group.
"Hmph, seventh level? More likely he bit off more than he could chew and is dead. You all should quickly clear out and leave room for others coming to challenge. Waiting here like this is pointless." The group all turned and glared daggers at the newcomer. She was dressed blue clothes and had familiar blue hair and blue eyes. Her soft feminine features no longer looked genteel but instead were twisted into resentment and anger. It was the same water dragon who approached Greyson from before, Lariah. The Young Lord had refused to see her after her failure. She had bragged that she would bring any normal beast to his knees but failed miserably. Heinios had informed her that the Young Lord said there was no second chances and that he did not associate with idiots. Heartbroken, her depression quickly turned to resentment as she decided to follow the group as they left. She knew there was nothing she could do with just her strength, but she thought she could maybe cause trouble along the way. Seeing the group so glum, she could not help but come out and rub this misfortune in their faces. In her mind, since a day already passed, that kid was most likely dead.
"You b*tch! Say that one more time!" Rosalie sprung into quick action and punched her before Lariah could dodge.
"I'll say it as many times as I want. That stupid dog without eyes got his just karma for trying to go against the Young Lord!" Holding her cheek, Lariah hissed as she continued to glare. Another hard kick from Rosalie sent her flying back into the crowd.
"I'll kill you!" Rosalie's temper quickly flared as the surrounding temperature began to drop below freezing.
"Rosalie, enough! Now is not the time to waste your strength on insignificant people." Aeos grabbed onto Rosalie this time and stopped her.
"Let go! She dared to curse my brother to death. I'll make sure she dies too!" Completely losing her normal dignified stance, Rosalie was itching to beat Lariah.
Not many could understand the feeling of finally finding family after being an orphan for so long. Yes, she had her grandparents, but they were still not the same. All her friends in the dragon clan were so much older than her it was hard to fit in at first. She and Greyson just clicked. She did not think it was just because they were siblings, but because they were truly similar. In just this short amount of time, she had grown largely attached and protective of her younger brother.
"It's not worth it. Acting like this, do you really think Greyson is dead already? If not, keep your cool!" Aeos did not mince words with her and he continued to hold her back.
Hearing his words, Rosalie starting to breathe angrily but eventually her shoulders dropped back down and her mana stopped bursting out in waves. Just a dark murderous intent was left in her eyes as she took one last chilling glace at Lariah before turning around and watching the altar once more.
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The fourth level was not actually too complicated. Apparently, the fourth, fifth, and sixth level all are the same type of challenge. There are Earth Creatures made of magic and their strength is determined by the challenger's strength. These creatures could not cast magic spells, their bodies were just incredibly hard and difficult to break through. On the fourth level, the challenge is to defeat 100 of these Earth Creatures that are at the same level and stage as you. The fifth level is defeating 50 Earth Creatures that are two stages above you. The sixth level is defeating 10 Earth Creatures that are a level above you. This challenge supposedly tests the challenger's talent because to defeat the Earth Creatures at a higher stage or level requires genius quality and also tests determination and endurance. The high number of opponents creates a mental strain. The altar only allows rest between levels in the altar, however, during the actual challenge the Earth Creatures will attack without any rest. They are not actual living beings so they do not get tired or need rest. The only upside is that they are simple-minded and easier to defeat then real opponents who are the same level of power.
All of Rosalie's group and most labelled as "geniuses" could pass the fourth level without breaking too much of a sweat. The fifth level is where the distinguishing between levels of talent begin while almost everyone fails at the sixth level. Only a remote few pass the sixth level before completely failing the seventh.
If others could watch him, they would be shocked by Greyson's quick progression. The fourth level did not take much time at all as he just used powerful and largely encompassing spells which would lower the numbers quickly. Although he tired from this tactic quickly, it got rid of all his opponents the fastest. Dragging the fight out with smaller and more energy-saving attacks would actually be worse for him. Since he knew that he could defeat those at his level fairly easily, there was no reason to hold back. He was not going to needlessly test himself and try to tire himself out. On the fifth level, he took a more stable and slow approach as he knocked off his 50 opponents one by one. This fight was most definitely harder than before as they were all at the magister level stage five in power. Even without intelligence, they were still had more brute force than Greyson. Before if he only needed one attack to blast the Earth Creature to dust, on the fifth level, he needed an average of 5 strikes to get rid of them. Under such circumstances, with the group of them continually attacking him, Greyson was under a lot of stress. He could clearly see why people start to drop out dramatically around this level. No normal person would get through. Though this all was true, he still steadily made the numbers go down. The time he took was longer compared with the fourth level, but still fast and less desperate than most. He was climbing the levels like ascending flights of stairs, although he eventually started feeling fatigued, he was steadily rising.
When Greyson finally struck down the last Earth Creature, a black portal opened up once more. Greyson fell onto the ground in slight distress as he let out a deep sigh of relief. Lying flat on the ground, he passed out from the exhaustion. He finally awoke a couple hours later and began to meditate to recover his mana and energy. His robe was completely in tatters, so he just tossed it onto the ground and went with his white undershirt, brown pants, and boots. All recuperated and brimming with excitement, Greyson stepped through the doorway to the sixth level. At that he just saw endless dead earth while 10 large figures floated in front of him. Recognizing these as his new opponents, Greyson slowly inhaled in preparation. Pulling out Genesis, he got into a ready stance with fire and lightning bursting off the blade while beautiful green wings sprouted from his back. A spell he learned in his free time, called the Wings of Alas. He also activated the Wind Suit on just his back in case he could not pay attention to directions. After reaching the magister level, he could create two more brands: one on his left shoulder and the other in the middle of his back. After the fifth level, he rediscovered the many uses of this spell especially in melee battle where he would have definite blind spots. It seems it was destiny that he had gone into that dungeon before he came to battle in this altar.
Bursting into action, Greyson decisively made the first move by slashing down onto the Earth Creature to the far right. Although he expected such a result, seeing Genesis bounce off with only a crack showing on the Creature's exterior, Greyson felt a slight headache coming on. But he did not give up, without giving the Creature a chance to recover, Greyson hacked down repeatedly. He only got about 10 strikes in before the other Earth Creatures finally closed in on him as well. Greyson flew up to avoid them and the punches aimed for him blew apart the damaged Creature from earlier. During his time in the fifth level, Greyson started to realize that these Creatures truly had no intelligence. All they did was come straight at him with full force. If he got hit, then he would take a lot of damage, but they also could not stop themselves from attacking each other if he maneuvered correctly.
"One down." He muttered to himself already feeling slightly out-of-breath.
Not feeling a thing after striking down a teammate, the Earth Creatures turned towards Greyson and started chasing after him. This time Greyson did not continue flying but instead dropped to the ground. Seeing them follow him, his shadow grew out and black shadowy hands grabbed onto each Earth Creature and held them down on the ground. Turning slightly pale after feeling the immense resistance, Greyson knew he had to act quickly or else they would break out too quickly. Randomly picking the closest one, he once again used Genesis and hacked down at the same point on the Earth Creature until it showed it was cracking apart. Feeling the weakness, Greyson gathered light, fire, and lightning element into his hand which turned into explosive energy and sent a hard punch into the weak spot. The Earth Creature finally burst apart, but, the others concurrently broke from their bonds. Although he was prepared to dodge out of the way, Greyson was not fast enough to move away from the one closest. A hard punch landed straight onto his back. The Wind Shield spell activated itself and blocked the attack, but Greyson was still sent flying away from the sheer force created by the shield and fist colliding.
The air knocked from his lungs, Greyson landed hard and rolled multiple times of the ground before he could stop himself and gasp for air. Genesis was knocked from his hands and the wings on his back dispersed after his concentration was broken. Seeing the shadows approaching him, he knew he could not stay like that and quickly got himself up and dodged using the familiar Air Steps. Sometimes, the most basic spells were the most reliable when he was under pressure. Landing back onto the ground, he watched as the Earth Creatures approached him once again. This time, he used to water element as the ground turned to Ice and the Earth Creatures turned into frozen blocks of ice. Taking no break, Greyson flipped his hand as Genesis was summoned back to him. Using the same method as the last, he continued breaking apart the next Creature that was closest to him. The ice was surprisingly more effective than the dark element in binding, so Greyson managed to get rid of two more before they broke out of the ice. This time, he could not avoid taking two powerful hits and his Wind Suit only blocked one while the other hit with full force. Grunting under the impact, Greyson could feel a rib or two crack as he spat blood. Sent flying once more, Greyson breathed erratically as he slightly groaned in pain.
Using his light element, he began to heal himself.
"Six left..." Wiping the sweat forming on his brow, Greyson's breathing grew labored. He had more than half to go but his mana stores were already 50% used up. Trying to contain them also took part of his concentration and mana since they were so strong. However, seeing that ice was effective, he decided to stick with this same routine. Freezing the Earth Creatures once again, Greyson managed to destroy another one, but this time they escaped faster than before. Taking a hit once more, his Wind Suit shattered under the punch and would not be able to recover for a while. Grimacing, Greyson knew he would have to take the next hits just by himself. He could not spare any more concentration to keep up a shield or armor spell. Looking at the five remaining, Greyson heaved a sigh before continuing to fight. He managed to get rid of two more using the same method, however, with three left he could feel his mana stores had only around 10% left.
Knowing that he could not use a steady tactic with the last three, Greyson had to bet it all on one attack. He ran through his different spell and decided on one finally. It was actually only a dual element spell, but extreme heat and extreme cold did were good against earth element users. Only, to form the spell took a long time. Gritting his teeth, Greyson began forming two balls in each hand. Each Earth Creature would not give him the chance so easily so they all began pounding into him. Even breathing felt hard at this point and Greyson was sure that multiple bones were probably broken. However, in the end, he still managed to form them. One radiated lava-like heat waves while the other was as cold as a frozen tundra. He combined them into one chaotic and unsteady ball. When all three of the Earth Creatures came at him once more, Greyson let the ball go as it slammed onto the ground and exploded. Sent flying by the shock wave, Greyson still closely watched to make sure his attack destroyed all three of the Earth Creatures. Relieved, he watched as the earth melting and burned into ash on one half while it froze and broke apart on the other.
Slamming hard into the ground, Greyson was knocked unconscious.
It was not until much later, that Greyson awoke gasping in pain for his untreated injuries. His body had leaned down onto a broken arm and in that moment, he woke up with a start. Confused, it took him a moment to calm down and remember what happened. Collecting himself, he began meditating to take in light element and then immediately used that mana to begin healing himself. This process took much longer than usual as Greyson's injuries were fairly severe and the light element, at least at the magister level, was not a cure-all. After around a week of this constant healing, Greyson was finally good as new. It was only at this moment that he could truly celebrate and feel proud that he beat the sixth level. He did it! Although it was far from a graceful and easy win, he still won nonetheless. The only downside, was that he looked like a wreck. His boots were covered in holes and his shirt was completely ripped apart. The only thing slightly intact was his pants. At this point, Greyson just resigned himself to the fact that he will probably get sent out of the altar half-naked. All that took up his attention was the doorway leading to the seventh level. Legends say that no one has ever beaten the seventh and final level yet at all the Beast Altars. Greyson was truly curious as to why this was, but he was not sure if he would just get immediately sent out like the rest when he got to that level. Apparently, those people who passed the sixth level failed the seventh so quickly that they could never tell anybody what actually happened and what lay in wait at the seventh level.
...
"Hmmm... It's been a day already. Usually nobody takes longer than this." Frowning, Rosalie was tapping her foot anxiously.
"Don't worry-" Ferno began.
"Don't tell me not to worry! Of course, I'm worried!" Glaring over, Rosalie quickly shut him up before he could continue.
"Now, Rosie, don't go biting everyone's heads off because you are worried. It's not like you are the only one." Aeos lectured softly.
Rosalie's expression softened slightly as she listened to his soothing voice.
"Sorry, Ferno. I'm just taking out my feelings of frustration on you." Pouting, Rosalie sighed before looking over at the twin to apologize.
"Nah, it's fine. If it were Fervis who were missing I would be just as wound up and worried." Ferno waved her off quickly showing he was not upset.
"We will continue waiting here with you. I'm sure he will come out soon. Who knows, maybe he is taking this long because he is in the seventh level." Sloan spoke up this time and encouraged Rosalie. However, the minute the last sentence left her mouth, a loud and disdainful snort sounded near the group.
"Hmph, seventh level? More likely he bit off more than he could chew and is dead. You all should quickly clear out and leave room for others coming to challenge. Waiting here like this is pointless." The group all turned and glared daggers at the newcomer. She was dressed blue clothes and had familiar blue hair and blue eyes. Her soft feminine features no longer looked genteel but instead were twisted into resentment and anger. It was the same water dragon who approached Greyson from before, Lariah. The Young Lord had refused to see her after her failure. She had bragged that she would bring any normal beast to his knees but failed miserably. Heinios had informed her that the Young Lord said there was no second chances and that he did not associate with idiots. Heartbroken, her depression quickly turned to resentment as she decided to follow the group as they left. She knew there was nothing she could do with just her strength, but she thought she could maybe cause trouble along the way. Seeing the group so glum, she could not help but come out and rub this misfortune in their faces. In her mind, since a day already passed, that kid was most likely dead.
"You b*tch! Say that one more time!" Rosalie sprung into quick action and punched her before Lariah could dodge.
"I'll say it as many times as I want. That stupid dog without eyes got his just karma for trying to go against the Young Lord!" Holding her cheek, Lariah hissed as she continued to glare. Another hard kick from Rosalie sent her flying back into the crowd.
"I'll kill you!" Rosalie's temper quickly flared as the surrounding temperature began to drop below freezing.
"Rosalie, enough! Now is not the time to waste your strength on insignificant people." Aeos grabbed onto Rosalie this time and stopped her.
"Let go! She dared to curse my brother to death. I'll make sure she dies too!" Completely losing her normal dignified stance, Rosalie was itching to beat Lariah.
Not many could understand the feeling of finally finding family after being an orphan for so long. Yes, she had her grandparents, but they were still not the same. All her friends in the dragon clan were so much older than her it was hard to fit in at first. She and Greyson just clicked. She did not think it was just because they were siblings, but because they were truly similar. In just this short amount of time, she had grown largely attached and protective of her younger brother.
"It's not worth it. Acting like this, do you really think Greyson is dead already? If not, keep your cool!" Aeos did not mince words with her and he continued to hold her back.
Hearing his words, Rosalie starting to breathe angrily but eventually her shoulders dropped back down and her mana stopped bursting out in waves. Just a dark murderous intent was left in her eyes as she took one last chilling glace at Lariah before turning around and watching the altar once more.
The fourth level was not actually too complicated. Apparently, the fourth, fifth, and sixth level all are the same type of challenge. There are Earth Creatures made of magic and their strength is determined by the challenger's strength. These creatures could not cast magic spells, their bodies were just incredibly hard and difficult to break through. On the fourth level, the challenge is to defeat 100 of these Earth Creatures that are at the same level and stage as you. The fifth level is defeating 50 Earth Creatures that are two stages above you. The sixth level is defeating 10 Earth Creatures that are a level above you. This challenge supposedly tests the challenger's talent because to defeat the Earth Creatures at a higher stage or level requires genius quality and also tests determination and endurance. The high number of opponents creates a mental strain. The altar only allows rest between levels in the altar, however, during the actual challenge the Earth Creatures will attack without any rest. They are not actual living beings so they do not get tired or need rest. The only upside is that they are simple-minded and easier to defeat then real opponents who are the same level of power.All of Rosalie's group and most labelled as "geniuses" could pass the fourth level without breaking too much of a sweat. The fifth level is where the distinguishing between levels of talent begin while almost everyone fails at the sixth level. Only a remote few pass the sixth level before completely failing the seventh.If others could watch him, they would be shocked by Greyson's quick progression. The fourth level did not take much time at all as he just used powerful and largely encompassing spells which would lower the numbers quickly. Although he tired from this tactic quickly, it got rid of all his opponents the fastest. Dragging the fight out with smaller and more energy-saving attacks would actually be worse for him. Since he knew that he could defeat those at his level fairly easily, there was no reason to hold back. He was not going to needlessly test himself and try to tire himself out. On the fifth level, he took a more stable and slow approach as he knocked off his 50 opponents one by one. This fight was most definitely harder than before as they were all at the magister level stage five in power. Even without intelligence, they were still had more brute force than Greyson. Before if he only needed one attack to blast the Earth Creature to dust, on the fifth level, he needed an average of 5 strikes to get rid of them. Under such circumstances, with the group of them continually attacking him, Greyson was under a lot of stress. He could clearly see why people start to drop out dramatically around this level. No normal person would get through. Though this all was true, he still steadily made the numbers go down. The time he took was longer compared with the fourth level, but still fast and less desperate than most. He was climbing the levels like ascending flights of stairs, although he eventually started feeling fatigued, he was steadily rising.When Greyson finally struck down the last Earth Creature, a black portal opened up once more. Greyson fell onto the ground in slight distress as he let out a deep sigh of relief. Lying flat on the ground, he passed out from the exhaustion. He finally awoke a couple hours later and began to meditate to recover his mana and energy. His robe was completely in tatters, so he just tossed it onto the ground and went with his white undershirt, brown pants, and boots. All recuperated and brimming with excitement, Greyson stepped through the doorway to the sixth level. At that he just saw endless dead earth while 10 large figures floated in front of him. Recognizing these as his new opponents, Greyson slowly inhaled in preparation. Pulling out Genesis, he got into a ready stance with fire and lightning bursting off the blade while beautiful green wings sprouted from his back. A spell he learned in his free time, called the Wings of Alas. He also activated the Wind Suit on just his back in case he could not pay attention to directions. After reaching the magister level, he could create two more brands: one on his left shoulder and the other in the middle of his back. After the fifth level, he rediscovered the many uses of this spell especially in melee battle where he would have definite blind spots. It seems it was destiny that he had gone into that dungeon before he came to battle in this altar.Bursting into action, Greyson decisively made the first move by slashing down onto the Earth Creature to the far right. Although he expected such a result, seeing Genesis bounce off with only a crack showing on the Creature's exterior, Greyson felt a slight headache coming on. But he did not give up, without giving the Creature a chance to recover, Greyson hacked down repeatedly. He only got about 10 strikes in before the other Earth Creatures finally closed in on him as well. Greyson flew up to avoid them and the punches aimed for him blew apart the damaged Creature from earlier. During his time in the fifth level, Greyson started to realize that these Creatures truly had no intelligence. All they did was come straight at him with full force. If he got hit, then he would take a lot of damage, but they also could not stop themselves from attacking each other if he maneuvered correctly."One down." He muttered to himself already feeling slightly out-of-breath.Not feeling a thing after striking down a teammate, the Earth Creatures turned towards Greyson and started chasing after him. This time Greyson did not continue flying but instead dropped to the ground. Seeing them follow him, his shadow grew out and black shadowy hands grabbed onto each Earth Creature and held them down on the ground. Turning slightly pale after feeling the immense resistance, Greyson knew he had to act quickly or else they would break out too quickly. Randomly picking the closest one, he once again used Genesis and hacked down at the same point on the Earth Creature until it showed it was cracking apart. Feeling the weakness, Greyson gathered light, fire, and lightning element into his hand which turned into explosive energy and sent a hard punch into the weak spot. The Earth Creature finally burst apart, but, the others concurrently broke from their bonds. Although he was prepared to dodge out of the way, Greyson was not fast enough to move away from the one closest. A hard punch landed straight onto his back. The Wind Shield spell activated itself and blocked the attack, but Greyson was still sent flying away from the sheer force created by the shield and fist colliding.The air knocked from his lungs, Greyson landed hard and rolled multiple times of the ground before he could stop himself and gasp for air. Genesis was knocked from his hands and the wings on his back dispersed after his concentration was broken. Seeing the shadows approaching him, he knew he could not stay like that and quickly got himself up and dodged using the familiar Air Steps. Sometimes, the most basic spells were the most reliable when he was under pressure. Landing back onto the ground, he watched as the Earth Creatures approached him once again. This time, he used to water element as the ground turned to Ice and the Earth Creatures turned into frozen blocks of ice. Taking no break, Greyson flipped his hand as Genesis was summoned back to him. Using the same method as the last, he continued breaking apart the next Creature that was closest to him. The ice was surprisingly more effective than the dark element in binding, so Greyson managed to get rid of two more before they broke out of the ice. This time, he could not avoid taking two powerful hits and his Wind Suit only blocked one while the other hit with full force. Grunting under the impact, Greyson could feel a rib or two crack as he spat blood. Sent flying once more, Greyson breathed erratically as he slightly groaned in pain.Using his light element, he began to heal himself."Six left..." Wiping the sweat forming on his brow, Greyson's breathing grew labored. He had more than half to go but his mana stores were already 50% used up. Trying to contain them also took part of his concentration and mana since they were so strong. However, seeing that ice was effective, he decided to stick with this same routine. Freezing the Earth Creatures once again, Greyson managed to destroy another one, but this time they escaped faster than before. Taking a hit once more, his Wind Suit shattered under the punch and would not be able to recover for a while. Grimacing, Greyson knew he would have to take the next hits just by himself. He could not spare any more concentration to keep up a shield or armor spell. Looking at the five remaining, Greyson heaved a sigh before continuing to fight. He managed to get rid of two more using the same method, however, with three left he could feel his mana stores had only around 10% left.Knowing that he could not use a steady tactic with the last three, Greyson had to bet it all on one attack. He ran through his different spell and decided on one finally. It was actually only a dual element spell, but extreme heat and extreme cold did were good against earth element users. Only, to form the spell took a long time. Gritting his teeth, Greyson began forming two balls in each hand. Each Earth Creature would not give him the chance so easily so they all began pounding into him. Even breathing felt hard at this point and Greyson was sure that multiple bones were probably broken. However, in the end, he still managed to form them. One radiated lava-like heat waves while the other was as cold as a frozen tundra. He combined them into one chaotic and unsteady ball. When all three of the Earth Creatures came at him once more, Greyson let the ball go as it slammed onto the ground and exploded. Sent flying by the shock wave, Greyson still closely watched to make sure his attack destroyed all three of the Earth Creatures. Relieved, he watched as the earth melting and burned into ash on one half while it froze and broke apart on the other.Slamming hard into the ground, Greyson was knocked unconscious.It was not until much later, that Greyson awoke gasping in pain for his untreated injuries. His body had leaned down onto a broken arm and in that moment, he woke up with a start. Confused, it took him a moment to calm down and remember what happened. Collecting himself, he began meditating to take in light element and then immediately used that mana to begin healing himself. This process took much longer than usual as Greyson's injuries were fairly severe and the light element, at least at the magister level, was not a cure-all. After around a week of this constant healing, Greyson was finally good as new. It was only at this moment that he could truly celebrate and feel proud that he beat the sixth level. He did it! Although it was far from a graceful and easy win, he still won nonetheless. The only downside, was that he looked like a wreck. His boots were covered in holes and his shirt was completely ripped apart. The only thing slightly intact was his pants. At this point, Greyson just resigned himself to the fact that he will probably get sent out of the altar half-naked. All that took up his attention was the doorway leading to the seventh level. Legends say that no one has ever beaten the seventh and final level yet at all the Beast Altars. Greyson was truly curious as to why this was, but he was not sure if he would just get immediately sent out like the rest when he got to that level. Apparently, those people who passed the sixth level failed the seventh so quickly that they could never tell anybody what actually happened and what lay in wait at the seventh level...."Hmmm... It's been a day already. Usually nobody takes longer than this." Frowning, Rosalie was tapping her foot anxiously."Don't worry-" Ferno began."Don't tell me not to worry! Of course, I'm worried!" Glaring over, Rosalie quickly shut him up before he could continue."Now, Rosie, don't go biting everyone's heads off because you are worried. It's not like you are the only one." Aeos lectured softly.Rosalie's expression softened slightly as she listened to his soothing voice."Sorry, Ferno. I'm just taking out my feelings of frustration on you." Pouting, Rosalie sighed before looking over at the twin to apologize."Nah, it's fine. If it were Fervis who were missing I would be just as wound up and worried." Ferno waved her off quickly showing he was not upset."We will continue waiting here with you. I'm sure he will come out soon. Who knows, maybe he is taking this long because he is in the seventh level." Sloan spoke up this time and encouraged Rosalie. However, the minute the last sentence left her mouth, a loud and disdainful snort sounded near the group."Hmph, seventh level? More likely he bit off more than he could chew and is dead. You all should quickly clear out and leave room for others coming to challenge. Waiting here like this is pointless." The group all turned and glared daggers at the newcomer. She was dressed blue clothes and had familiar blue hair and blue eyes. Her soft feminine features no longer looked genteel but instead were twisted into resentment and anger. It was the same water dragon who approached Greyson from before, Lariah. The Young Lord had refused to see her after her failure. She had bragged that she would bring any normal beast to his knees but failed miserably. Heinios had informed her that the Young Lord said there was no second chances and that he did not associate with idiots. Heartbroken, her depression quickly turned to resentment as she decided to follow the group as they left. She knew there was nothing she could do with just her strength, but she thought she could maybe cause trouble along the way. Seeing the group so glum, she could not help but come out and rub this misfortune in their faces. In her mind, since a day already passed, that kid was most likely dead."You b*tch! Say that one more time!" Rosalie sprung into quick action and punched her before Lariah could dodge."I'll say it as many times as I want. That stupid dog without eyes got his just karma for trying to go against the Young Lord!" Holding her cheek, Lariah hissed as she continued to glare. Another hard kick from Rosalie sent her flying back into the crowd."I'll kill you!" Rosalie's temper quickly flared as the surrounding temperature began to drop below freezing."Rosalie, enough! Now is not the time to waste your strength on insignificant people." Aeos grabbed onto Rosalie this time and stopped her."Let go! She dared to curse my brother to death. I'll make sure she dies too!" Completely losing her normal dignified stance, Rosalie was itching to beat Lariah.Not many could understand the feeling of finally finding family after being an orphan for so long. Yes, she had her grandparents, but they were still not the same. All her friends in the dragon clan were so much older than her it was hard to fit in at first. She and Greyson just clicked. She did not think it was just because they were siblings, but because they were truly similar. In just this short amount of time, she had grown largely attached and protective of her younger brother."It's not worth it. Acting like this, do you really think Greyson is dead already? If not, keep your cool!" Aeos did not mince words with her and he continued to hold her back.Hearing his words, Rosalie starting to breathe angrily but eventually her shoulders dropped back down and her mana stopped bursting out in waves. Just a dark murderous intent was left in her eyes as she took one last chilling glace at Lariah before turning around and watching the altar once more.
