Toward the Trial
There wasn't just one. A whopping three golems were charging toward us all at once.
Damn it. I had to run. But my legs refused to budge. Just as I was about to resort to using Absolute Obedience out of sheer desperation—
"Stay back." Leaving those words behind, Gwen dashed forward.
"Gwen?" I couldn't think of any reason why she would stay and fight instead of running away. But looking closer, I spotted a man fleeing in front of the golems.
"Help me!"
Gwen bypassed the man and drove her sword straight into the leading golem. That damn sense of justice of hers.
Meanwhile, judging by his ordinary attire, the fleeing man looked more like a Pathfinder than a hero.
Thud! The moment Gwen ripped her sword out, the leading Ruins Golem collapsed.
Before the falling Ruins Golem could even hit the ground, Gwen had already reached the next one. She moved at a speed that left a long, lingering afterimage of burning red light trailing from her blade.
A swift, decisive battle. This was a combat style born of necessity for Gwen, whose physical growth had halted in her adolescence due to her Precocious trait. She compensated for her lack of raw strength by relying on the piercing power of her Holy Relic, Ignis, and overcame the rest with pure speed.
Yet, even a combat style like that had its limits. The most prominent weakness was an opponent capable of resisting the piercing power of Ignis, which was, after all, only a 3-star Holy Relic.
It wouldn't have mattered if she could strike the golem's core directly, but this one seemed to have witnessed its companion's demise; it was shielding its core with its long arms. Consequently, even Gwen couldn't take this golem down in a single blow.
Though it's only a matter of time. Having personally raised Gwen at least twenty times in the game, I knew there was no way she would lose to a monster of this caliber.
Crash! The golem swung its remaining arm. Gwen dodged it effortlessly, slipping inside its guard to slice at the back of its heel.
The golem instantly lost its balance. It was a perfect opening to strike, but Gwen didn't let her guard down. She twisted her body, evading a sudden attack from the third golem.
The sequence of movements was so fast that my eyes could barely keep up. Only the intense afterimages of crimson light remained, scattering across the air like falling petals.
So this is the Rose Hero... Back when I was just a player, I thought her epithet was simply due to her crest. But seeing it in person, her swordsmanship undeniably evoked the image of a blooming rose.
And this is only Swordsmanship [S]? If so, what on earth did the S+ rank look like—the level my fully built Gwen had reached? I could finally understand why it had taken so long to reach S+.
And as for SS... it was entirely beyond my imagination. Though rare, there were occasionally those who managed to reach SS.
"Whew." Having subdued the remaining two golems in the blink of an eye, Gwen finally let out a breath and drew her sword from the wreckage. The glowing red blade cooled back to its original color.
However, she didn't sheathe her weapon. Instead, she gestured toward the man who was quietly trying to slip away from the scene.
"You there." The man froze in his tracks.
Gwen then pointed in the direction the man had been heading. "And the rest of you. Show yourselves."
At her command, a group of men materialized from the seemingly empty space. The largest man among them spoke up.
"Your skills are truly remarkable. And your perception is equally outstanding." He pointed to the man who had been chased by the golems. "Thank you so much for saving our companion. Well then..."
Just as they were about to withdraw, Gwen spoke. "You people aren't Pathfinders."
"Excuse me?"
"You're bandits. Professional ones, at that."
The man put on a bewildered expression. "What are you talking about? Bandits?"
"No Pathfinder would travel with such shoddy equipment. Rather than roaming around, it's highly likely you stay here to ambush heroes and Pathfinders."
"That's absurd! We aren't bandi—!"
Gwen pointed at one of the men. "And most decisively, that Holy Relic you have. I happen to recognize it."
In that split second, the bandits realized they were completely exposed. "Run!"
"I can't let you do that. Apprehending bandits and recovering stolen Holy Relics is also a hero's duty."
Gwen hadn't sheathed her sword. Raising her blade, she charged straight at the bandits.
However, the bandits seemed to have prepared their escape beforehand. They threw black lumps they were holding onto the ground. Instantly, dark particles packed within the lumps burst outward, blanketing the area.
"Ugh!" Blinded by the sudden smoke screen, I drew the sword Gwen had lent me and braced my senses.
Knowing how strong Gwen was, they had likely fled immediately, but I couldn't afford to let my guard down.
Just then, Gwen's voice echoed through the smoke. "I won't let you get away!" I caught a faint glimpse of a crimson flash slicing through the air. A man's scream followed. "Aaargh!"
After that, silence fell. I remained on high alert for a short while until the black smoke gradually settled, finally restoring my vision and revealing the scene.
Sizzle. The heat radiating from Gwen's blade vaporized the blood on its surface. She sheathed her clean sword. At her feet lay the corpse of one of the bandits. His heart had been pierced in a single thrust, and his fresh blood pooled heavily on the ground.
"I had a few things I wanted to ask him." Gwen picked up the spear the man had been holding. It was a plain spear without any fancy decorations, but the faint glow surrounding it made it clear that it was a Holy Relic.
"Still, at least we recovered the Holy Relic." She scanned her surroundings, then drove the spear deep into a secluded corner. She then bowed her head in a silent prayer.
During the brief moment she stood with her head bowed, I could only watch her from behind. Finishing her silent prayer, she turned to me.
"Let us go now."
"Yes." I followed closely behind her.
I didn't need to ask about the spear to understand. Ryutmila wasn't Gwen's only acquaintance. While some of them were powerful like Ryutmila and Gwen, others were weak enough to fall victim to bandits. In a way, that spear planted in the corner served as his tombstone.
"Kid, you look like you have something on your mind." It would be a lie to say I wasn't curious at all. Since Gwen seemed to have noticed, I decided not to hold back.
"Earlier, you said you had a duty to recover Holy Relics from bandits. Is it really alright to leave the spear behind like that?"
"The spear was lost."
I see.
"As long as you keep your mouth shut, there won't be any issues."
Having witnessed the brutal scene just now, I had no intention of blabbing. But I still had one more question.
"You knew the fleeing man was a bandit from the very beginning, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"Then you didn't really have to fight the golems, did you?" At that point, Gwen hadn't even seen her late companion's spear. If she knew he was a bandit being chased by golems, she could have easily ignored him and passed by. Yet, she hadn't.
"You were frozen stiff. Anyone could see you weren't in a state to run."
"Ah..."
It was true. Of course, I could have forced my body to move using Absolute Obedience, but from her perspective, unaware of my trait, I must have looked completely paralyzed with fear. She hadn't fought the golems to save a bandit. She had done it to protect me, who was standing right behind her. She really is thorough, I thought, feeling a quiet sense of admiration.
Are we finally here? After traveling through the ruins for what felt like an eternity, we finally arrived at a place that looked like the entrance to the Trial. We had walked a long way down the underground passages of the ruins.
"This is definitely the place of the Trial." A massive, hemispherical cavern stretched out underground. At its center lay a vast lake, with a thick mist clinging to its surface like a shroud. One thing was certain: this place was entirely different from anywhere we had been so far.
"It's gotten easier to breathe." It felt as though a small barrier was enveloping this space, protecting it. Though I had no way of knowing if such a barrier actually existed.
"Hmm..." Meanwhile, Gwen paid no attention to her surroundings, focusing entirely on the lake. At a glance, its depth was impossible to gauge.
"It looks like ordinary water." Kneeling by the shore, Gwen cupped her hands and scooped up some water. It was crystal clear, completely free of impurities, looking almost like purified water. Other than that, there was nothing unusual about it. She let the water trickle back into the lake.
"Come to think of it, do you know how to begin the Trial?" I shook my head. "I don't know either."
I genuinely didn't know. I had simply assumed Gwen would know, or that we would naturally figure it out once we arrived. But there was absolutely no sign of the latter happening.
Don't tell me we came all this way only to turn back because we don't know how to start the Trial. As that worry crossed my mind, Gwen spoke.
"Well, it can't be helped then. Don't look this way." She suddenly unclasped her cloak—the symbol of her status as a hero—and stored it in her inventory. Immediately after, she began to take off her top. After staring blankly for a second, I hurriedly turned my head away.
"Uh, Gwen? What are you..."
"I'm going into the water. Honestly, I'm a bit hesitant, but this is the only method I've heard of."
The rustle of Gwen undressing was the only sound echoing in the quiet cavern. After a moment, soft splashes broke the silence. *Splash, splash.*
Is she really going into the water? I felt a bit guilty, but I wanted to watch how she entered the lake. After all, I might have to follow her in. But by the time I turned around, Gwen was already gone. Only the thick mist drifted over the surface of the lake.
When did she disappear? Even after waiting for a long time, Gwen did not resurface. Before I knew it, I was the only one left in the cavern. Seeing that she hadn't returned after walking into the lake, it seemed entering the water was indeed the way to start the Trial.
I guess I have no choice but to go in too. Making up my mind, I took off only the robe Gwen had lent me and stored it in my inventory. Since she wasn't watching, I could use my inventory freely. I decided to keep the rest of my clothes on, as it didn't matter if they got wet.
Well, here goes nothing. I dipped my left foot into the lake first. I felt the solid ground of the lakebed beneath me. Relieved, I stepped forward with my right foot—and in that instant, the ground vanished.
Huh? In the blink of an eye, my vision was submerged in water. And in the next moment, an unbelievable sight unfolded before my eyes.