Chapter 30
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Isolation
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Finding the way wasn't difficult.
Excluding the flooded sections, there was only one passage available. Ullan steadily pressed on, banishing the darkness with his torch.
A short while later.
"Huh?"
Silpi let out a puzzled exclamation.
She came to an abrupt halt, scrutinizing the floor and walls before her eyes suddenly widened.
"The path's different from before."
"Different how?"
"It was all bumpy just a moment ago, but from here on, it looks like a well-paved road. Almost like someone deliberately smoothed it out."
Just as Silpi described.
The path stretching ahead was far smoother than anything they'd traversed so far. It even looked easier to walk on.
As they continued, the walls grew increasingly sleek under their touch. While observing the gradually changing passage,
the group came to a stop once more.
"It's blocked."
There was no path forward.
A massive slab of what looked like metal barred the way. That's when Ivela, scanning the surroundings, shouted as if spotting something.
"There's writing here."
Ullan and Silpi hurried over.
Sure enough, strange symbols were inscribed there. The problem was, they'd never seen anything like them before.
"Can you read it?"
"Sorry. It's a script I've never encountered."
As Ivela gave an awkward smile,
Silpi's eyes suddenly rounded.
"Ah! This is the language of the ancient desert kingdom."
"Desert kingdom? You mean the heretics' tongue?"
"From a modern perspective, yeah."
"How do you know the heretics' language..."
She recognized it at a glance?
Before he could finish asking, Silpi anticipated the question and replied ahead of him.
"When I was little, I traveled with my parents and had chances to learn various languages. So I can read it a bit."
"What does it say?"
"Ahem! Let me give it a read."
After a short cough,
Silpi slowly deciphered the text.
"O chosen-not hero. Despair not. Prove your worth through this trial. And wisdom and power to battle the abyss shall be granted unto thee."
It was a flawless translation, clear enough even for Ullan to grasp.
"Sounds like something straight out of a fairy tale."
"Ahaha, yeah, it does."
Silpi laughed in agreement with Ivela's mutter. But Ullan didn't smile. A familiar word had caught his ear.
'Trial.'
His initial sense that this place resembled the Hero's Trial hadn't been a mistake, it seemed.
As Ullan's gaze deepened,
"Ah, there's more writing here."
She'd found fresh symbols.
"Can you read that too?"
"Of course."
It was all in the same language.
Silpi promptly began translating.
"This is the hero's trial. O one who has steeled thy resolve. Open the door and face the trial. But only those with the minimal qualifications may open the door."
Hero's trial? Not Hero's Trial?
Ullan tilted his head.
He'd never heard of a "hero's trial" in his previous life.
"Ah, so this is the door."
Meanwhile, Ivela tapped the metal slab blocking the path. She took a deep breath and shoved it with all her might.
"Hnnngh!"
Her arms and legs trembled.
All her strength focused into her palms and arms, turning her face beet red in an instant.
She strained desperately, but it was no use.
The iron door didn't budge an inch. Panting, Ivela furrowed her brow.
"Ugh, no good. It won't move at all."
Let's rest a bit and try together.
That's what she meant to say.
But there was no need.
Krunch! Grreeeeek!
The iron door, utterly immobile moments ago, now screeched open with a deafening rumble. By Ullan's hand. Ivela stared blankly and asked,
"...How'd you do that?"
"Just pushed."
A bit harder than usual.
At his nonchalant reply, Silpi offered an awkward smile.
"Guess the 'minimal qualification' meant minimal strength."
With that quiet murmur,
the group resumed their march.
The passage beyond the iron door was far better maintained than anything before. Though dust had accumulated from long neglect.
"Wow, it looks just like an ancient ruin!"
"You seem oddly excited."
"Of course! I never imagined a place like this in the Mana Spring."
Her eyes sparkled like stars.
Rumored to major in ancient history, she was probably thrilled by the ruins.
How much time passed like that?
Suddenly, Ullan blocked her path.
"Halt."
"Huh? Why all of a sudden..."
"Heard a noise ahead."
The moment he spoke,
Ivela and Silpi clamped their mouths shut. Moments later, a sound indeed reached them.
Slither... Ssslither!
Like a snake gliding across the floor.
Or perhaps ragged cloth dragging along the ground. Tension mounting, they swallowed dryly.
Soon, the source revealed itself.
"H-Human?!"
As in Silpi's startled cry.
Emerging from the shadows was a human. A diminutive figure draped in tattered robes.
But Ullan thought differently.
"Wrong. That's no human."
"Huh? But..."
As Silpi started to protest,
Ullan kicked off the ground. Closing the gap in a blink, he decapitated the figure outright.
Crack! Thunk!
Like tearing dry husk,
the head parted from the body and rolled away like a ball. The girls stared in shock at the sudden assault.
"U-Ullan?!"
"What the hell..."
"Calm down and look at it."
Ullan coolly pointed at the corpse.
In that instant, the fallen torso writhed as if alive.
Crunch! Crackle!
The body twitched with eerie sounds.
Even the severed head in the corner squirmed like a living thing. Ullan muttered with cold eyes.
"If it were human, it wouldn't move after losing its head."
"..."
Confirming it like that?
Ivela and Silpi fell silent, speechless at the brutal method.
"My tribe has a saying."
Unaware or uncaring,
Ullan continued explaining.
"If you're unsure whether it's a person or monster, smash the head first. Your doubts will clear."
Probably meant to act decisively without hesitation. But from Ullan, it sounded entirely different.
Awkward expressions forming,
Ivela pointed at the floor.
"More importantly, what is this?"
Specifically, the torso flailing under Ullan's foot. His answer came promptly.
"This is an undead."
"Undead?"
"Sometimes called the undying. Zombies, skeletons—never heard of them? Common in deserts or jungles."
"Ah, I've never left imperial lands."
Ivela smiled awkwardly.
Ullan, meanwhile, looked puzzled.
Because in his past life, it was Ivela who'd introduced him to undead.
'So that means...'
They must have encountered them after graduating the academy. Ullan nodded in understanding.
Around then,
an unexpected gasp erupted.
"Th-That's an undead?!"
"Yeah. You know of them?"
"Yes, from books. To destroy undead, you need holy weapons, holy water-coated ones, or silver-plated... "
As Silpi trailed off,
Slither... Ssslither!
The familiar sound returned.
Emerging now were more identical to the one Ullan decapitated.
This time, in great numbers. Over twenty visible at a glance. And these wielded rusted swords.
"W-What now?!"
Silpi cried in panic.
Ivela bit her lip.
"Any other ways to deal with them?"
"Sadly, not that I know of..."
"There is."
Ullan cut in.
Gripping his axe, his eyes flashed.
"Chop them until they stop moving. Most undead lose combat ability that way."
"...Huh?"
As Silpi blankly echoed,
Ullan shot forward like lightning.
Then, like a wolf pouncing on sheep, he swung his axe with feral fury.
Splat! Crunch! Snap!
Flesh tore, bones shattered.
Heads split in two, torsos pulverized. Ullan wielded his axe like a madman.
And the result?
The foes turned to dust in seconds.
Poof!
The last undead's head squished under Ullan's boot into paste. He smeared it across the floor casually, then spoke flatly.
"That's the fourth way to destroy undead."
"No, that's..."
A method only you could use.
Silpi swallowed her words. Meanwhile, as the fight wrapped up, Ivela suddenly rummaged through the undead remains.
"I-Ivela? What are you doing?"
"Grabbing swords."
"Eww, doesn't it creep you out?"
"Yeah, but better than no weapon."
True enough.
No guarantee more wouldn't appear. After securing usable gear,
"Then let's press on."
Ullan's group hurried deeper into the ruins.
3.
Meanwhile, at that moment.
Noa finally stopped crying.
The situation was spilled milk.
Regaining composure, she decided to accept reality maturely. With the gloom lifted, she recalled the hidden event details.
'Event name: Hero's Trial.'
This event was a hidden piece for named characters unable to challenge the Hero's Trial.
Perhaps because of that?
Clearing it granted power and rewards nearly rivaling a hero's—not quite, but substantial.
Or awakened potential.
Either way, generous rewards.
'Difficulty's lower than Hero's Trial.'
If anything, one step down.
Plus, Ullan—who cleared Hero's Trial—was already there. No real trouble expected.
'And maybe...'
Ullan might emerge with rewards. Ideal for Noa.
One issue, though.
'Three ordeals.'
The Hero's Trial featured 'ordeals'—mini-game-like tests requiring three characters.
'The strategy guide said that each person faces their own ordeal.'
Details unspecified, but minimal combat ability essential. Likely battle-related.
'Ullan and Ivela are fine.'
Ullan needless to worry, Ivela had decent prowess.
Problem: the gray-haired girl swept up with them.
'No face or name in memory—probably an extra.'
Please be a mage.
Then she'd breathe easy.
As she prayed inwardly, a familiar voice tickled her ear.
"Finally calmed down, I see."
Professor Miel, arrived unnoticed.
Seeing him recalled her earlier blunder. Noa bowed her head.
"...Sorry for the unsightly display."
"No matter. Friends vanishing before your eyes would rattle anyone. I understand—don't fret."
Kind reassurance.
Then it hit her.
Professor Miel oversaw Class 3. He'd know the gray-haired girl's major.
"Um, one question."
"Hm? What?"
"Among the missing three, which course did the gray-haired girl enter?"
"Hmm, gray hair—Silpi, right? General studies. Didn't you know?"
"Huh? G-General studies?"
"Aiming for ancient history."
As Professor Miel finished,
Noa smiled in resignation.
'Farewell. Hidden event.'
Happy while it lasted.
Tears welling anew,
Noa clasped her hands prayerfully.
Rewards be damned—may Ullan's group return safe.
4.
Quite some time later.
Exhaustion etched Ivela and Silpi's faces. Understandable—they'd fought five battles trudging endless passages.
Ullan remained unfazed.
After ten days in Hero's Trial, this was mere stroll.
How much farther?
Another dead end.
"This is..."
A vast chamber for hundreds.
Alert, they searched for clues. Sure enough, desert kingdom script appeared.
Silpi translated deftly.
"O three heroes challenging the trial."
Right after,
Silpi yelped in shock.
"H-How'd they know we're three?"
"Coincidence?"
"But too spot-on for..."
"Read the rest first, then worry."
Silpi nodded at Ivela and continued.
"To face the final trial beyond, first overcome three ordeals. Prove your knowledge, strength, and talent."
"Ordeals..."
"Time to fight."
Ullan gripped his axe.
But Silpi shook her head.
"No, this seems different."
"Different? How?"
"See these three words? They translate to 'knowledge,' 'strife,' 'talent' respectively."
Knowledge, strife, talent.
Three, matching the ordeals. Like themes for each.
"Pick one each?"
"Probably."
"Then Silpi takes knowledge, Ivela and I strife and talent."
Ullan proposed.
Ivela startled.
"M-Me, talent?"
"Yes. You have sword talent."
Serious-faced Ullan.
Meeting his gaze,
Ivela sealed her lips. Wanted to deny it, but words failed.
'...Can't say no to those eyes.'
Full of conviction and faith.
Ullan, the only one expecting from her. Unwilling to betray that, she replied resolutely.
"Got it. You take strife then."
"Leave it to me."
Ullan grinned fiercely.
A smile brimming with battle lust.
"Anyway, ordeals assigned. Now, how to select..."
Silpi spoke calmly,
then abruptly cut off.
Not mid-sentence—voice vanished outright.
And more.
The group's presences vanished. Silpi's, even Ivela's. Ullan sensed anomaly.
"This place..."
Not the prior chamber.
Narrower, darker. Like summoned elsewhere. As he turned to survey,
Whoosh!
Flames erupted.
Devouring darkness, writhing like alive. Etching symbols in air.
'That's definitely...'
The recent script.
Identical to what Silpi traced and read.
Memory surfaced.
Soon after,
meaning revealed.
First Ordeal: Knowledge
Ullan scowled.