Chapter 7: Novice Trial
Wasn't this a trial?!
If this was a trial, shouldn't there be endless enemies and bloody combats? Then he would have to kill them all, like an invincible hero.
Alright, Yun Xi knew he couldn't do this since he wasn't even a 1st-ranked swordsman. However, since this was a trial in order to let him become stronger, the last boss should be the strongest, right?
At the bonfire, Yun Xi was reborn from the fire.
"Master, this is the trial the stars prepared for you. They must have a reason." Mei'er tried to explain.
"Once you finish the newbie trial you will obtain a Sword Arts Seed!"
"Hoo... I see..." Yun Xi reached out his hands and patted his cheeks.
Putting the last goal of the trial aside, the last reward did tug at his heart.
A Sword Arts Seed. Just by hearing the name, he knew it was a treasure with a connection to the sword. It was worthy of a reward of the stars.
"Then, I will give you the target map to help guide you."
"Master, come on!"
A black and white map appeared in front of Yun Xi. The dark area was temporarily not shown as it was enveloped by an endless fog.
He saw his own location and the bonfire at the beginning. Yun Xi could see a dark forest at the end. He saw a green point, which symbolized that he was staying around the bonfire.
If he left the bonfire and turned right, the path would lead to the dark forest. There was a harsh red point in the center of the path and a similar red point at the entrance of the dark forest.
In the center of the dark forest was a soft green point. Perhaps it was the sleeping beauty.
Looking at the map, there seemed to be two enemies.
The distance between the forest and the bonfire was about one kilometer. Yun Xi calculated it according to the distance he walked.
Because the route was pretty simple, it didn't even have a branching road so he didn't need to worry about losing his way.
"Hmm, seems like the newbie trial is quite easy. Perhaps I only need to defeat the two small monsters, then I can find the sleeping beauty successfully." Yun Xi looked at the map with optimism and soothed his nerves.
This Sword Seed must be something the stars prepared for novices.
Additionally, he found an iron sword that was lying on the ground by the bonfire. It was clear that this weapon was the first weapon for the novices in this trial.
Due to the erosion from moisture, the sword handle had gotten a little rusty. However, its blade was still sharp. It was already enough to be used as a newbie weapon.
"Well, let me start the trial!" Yun Xi gave up thinking where the sleeping beauty was. He held his newbie's sword and took one step forward with courage.
After crossing the small bridge and passing through the clear waterfall, Yun Xi quickly found the path to the dark forest.
Soon, he reached uphill and heard some strange noises.
"Ping! Ping!" Seems like something heavy was being knocked on the ground. Again and again, getting closer and closer.
"Don't... don't tell me..." Yun Xi had an ominous feeling. Looking at the map Mei'er gave him, the red dot seemed to be getting closer.
Soon after, Yun Xi learned a lesson.
That it was a complete illusion that the red point was only a little bigger than yourself!
Because the scale of the map... was dozens of times smaller than that of the real world!
"Boom! Boom!" With earth-shaking steps, a giant monster whose body was twice as tall as Yun Xi emerged from the corner.
Taking his own sign as the standard, the enemy which was wandering on the center of the path was a little bigger.
It had one eye, a large head, and thick green skin. Only, its leg were way bigger than Yun Xi's entire body.
It opened its big mouth. Its four sharp teeth took aim at Yun Xi while reflecting a creepy cold light.
"Ping!" Its speed was so fast that it was in a completely different contrast with its giant body type. Especially for Yun Xi who just went into the trial and was still a little stiff, it's slap was pretty powerful.
With just a slap, Yun Xi had been blown away like a rag doll. Afterwards, the green monster trampled upon his body. Yun Xi's body turned into countless lights, leaving nothing but a red smear.
"Sniff, sniff..." The green monster who killed Yun Xi with a slap then turned back and continued to patrol.
****
"What kind of common monster is this?!" Looking at the practice weapon returning to the bonfire with him, Yun Xi had a mixed feeling, "F**k you, bitch!"
Wasn't this a newbie trial? Was this a monster a newbie should face?
Look at its body type, speed, and power! Even if it was a 3rd-ranked swordsman like Hua Huo, she couldn't promise to defeat it easily!
If this monster came to the village, except for Hua Huo, it would be able to kill everyone with ease!
The novice trial was a huge problem, this was a defiance of the natural order!
"Master, come on!"
"This guy is but a hunk of meat that kills lower lifeforms. Once master gets the seed of the sword, master can easily kill 10 of them in one strike!" Mei'er's voice appeared to encourage Yun Xi.
"You should help me deal with this guy so I can get the Sword Arts Seed." Yun Xi asked his spirit, just in case he got lucky and she would give it to him.
"That is impossible, only you can defeat it through your own abilities."
"I'm not a combat-type fairy anyways. I can only support you as your system fairy." Mei'er explained that she could do nothing else.
"So, what can you do?" Yun Xi didn't know what to say.
"Warm... warm your bed?" Mei'er said shyly.
"Let's talk about this after I beat down this monster." Yun Xi took a deep breath. His face also turned red.
The fairy... warm his bed... No, forget it! It was too early for him to do such a thing!
****
"Sniff! Sniff!" The green hippo was on patrol. It paused for a while then shook its small tail.
Was something wrong? It remembered it had killed many similar invaders on this road today.
These invaders had the same characteristic, they were all holding a shoddy iron sword and their actions were so stiff, even inferior to the monkeys in the forest. It could easily knock them down on the ground with a slap then trample them to death.
Look! There was still a pool of blood left on the road. It was from the trash it killed last time.
If it counted them carefully, there were already dozens of such blood stains.
"37..." Yun Xi gasped, looking at the damned green hippo. This hippo killed him 30 plus times within the time period one would use to take a shower.
However, how could it be possible for such an atrocious, blood-thirsty, and scary hippo to exist? Once it saw you, it would give you a slap or trample you.
Luckily, Yun Xi had a high tolerance and was able to endure it 37 times.
Thirty-seven blood stains were distributed on the narrow uphill path. The most distant one was on the top of the slope. All of them held traces of Yun Xi's death.
"However, I have learned some important details." Between life and death, there is great terror. Everytime he was slaughtered by the monster hippo, he also caught some habits of the hippo.
The main attack of the hippo was its slap. In addition to its enormous size and faster speed, once he got hit by it, his fate was already doomed to be trampled to death.
Its next method of attack was quickly rolling with the intention of crushing. Yun Xi couldn't imagine how its giant body did this. However, every time he found out, it was already too late to defend or dodge.
Except for these two methods of attacks, its third method of attack was trampling, which it normally used after Yun Xi lost his balance and fell down to the ground.
Once he was knocked down, the mortality rate would be 100%. Yun Xi's 37 death experiences would help guide him.
"I cannot move recklessly, I must find a gap." By paying the cost of 37 deaths, Yun Xi gradually grasped the body of the hippo. He also became familiar with this world's specific rhythm.
Though his perception was slow, it was not entirely a bad thing. Because, at the moment of death, we are able to see more minute details. Apparently, the passage of time slows down.
