A couple hours later.
A man who resembled Joker from Persona 5 but held a jeweled Rapier at his side could now be seen laying on his back, full of sweat and released hot puffs of air coming out of his mouth. Despite showing such a tired look in his eyes, it was likewise full of accomplishment. Shortly after, five other figures appeared at his side, gathering around him. In the near distance, three large Magic Knights soon vanished into nothingness. Each one glowed in a purple light.
Of course this man was me. Placed inside a temporary construct, courtesy of the Gamer System. I successfully managed to land the final blow on each Magic Knight. It's a shame these didn't individually drop experience points, but a lot of Trials are like that. You get to do what are called Trial Doors in Reverie, offering various kinds of challenges for its players. They would mimic hard opponents, and make you fight against one or multiple at once. They are challenges for a reason, after all.
And Phase 0 of the Vermillion Trials was no less to that. Not long after did the Gamer Notifications start to appear. Most of them only impacted me, considering I was the owner of the Gamer System. But there was one at the very end that all six of us could see. I do recall Phase 0 of the Vermillion Trials Quest had a limit of 5 for my Party, but perhaps that isn't including me? Either way, I started to review the Gamer Notifications that kept rolling in. My interest grew and grew with each passing moment.
[Ding! Gamer Naoto and his Party have successfully defeated Magic Knight Ashurei x3. Phase 0 of the Vermillion Trials Quest is now complete. Now issuing rewards...]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has received the Otherworldly Slayer Title. Titles can be swapped at will.]
[Ding! Quartz Stacker Function has been unlocked. Gamer Naoto can now compile duplicate Quartz to strengthen them. Two Tier I Quartz are required to make a Tier II Quartz. Four Tier II Quartz are required to make a Tier III Quartz.]
[Ding! Due to the introduction of the Quartz Stacker Function, a new Tier IV has been unlocked for Quartz. Gamer Naoto will see a (+) indicator to Tier III Quartz. Eight Tier III Quartz will be required to create a Tier IV Quartz. This Quartz Stacker Function is also applicable to unique-named Quartz, and not just for the basic ones.]
[Ding! Quartz Stacker has detected multiple copies of a Quartz. Gamer Naoto can stack these Quartz to strengthen them.]
[Ding! Five Quartz have been issued to Gamer Naoto as part of the Quest rewards.]
[Ding! Attack 2, Haze, EP Cut 1, Sleep Blade, Mind 3 Quartz have been deposited into Gamer Naoto's Inventory.]
[Ding! Now issuing 200,000 Experience Points to Gamer Naoto.]
[Ding! True Harem Seeker Title is presently equipped. Three girls have been detected in Gamer Naoto's Party. Now re-calculating experience gain...]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has received 380,000 Experience!]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has Leveled Up! Lv15 -> 16 (27,000/27,000)]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has Leveled Up! Lv16 -> 17 (30,400/34,000)]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has Leveled Up! Lv17 -> 18 (34,000/34,000)]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has Leveled Up! LV18 -> 19 (37,800/37,800)]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has Leveled Up! Lv19 -> 20 (41,800/41,800)]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has Leveled Up! Lv20 -> 21 (46,000/46,000)]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has Leveled Up! Lv21 -> 22 (50,400/50,400)]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto has Leveled Up! Lv22 -> 23 (55,000/55,000)]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's Current Level: 23 (57,600/59800) Total EXP: 522,000]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's Status Window and Stat Preview have been adjusted and are now available for viewing.]
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's Party has successfully cleared Phase 0 of the Vermillion Trials. The Proving Grounds have been unlocked. Temporary adjustments will now be lifted.]
"Oh...", I uttered, drawing everyone's gaze back to me. Before I could do anything, the same light that engulfed me prior to this battle showed up once again. My 'temporary construct' as the Gamer System called it was beginning to dissipate. I felt my body shrink at a visible rate. Honestly, it's quite a strange feeling. The first time, it felt like my soul was being tugged. But now, it was being placed back into a container. My own body, to be specific.
Before long, the same violet-haired golden-eyed boy appeared before everyone. Despite the change, I saw Aurelia smile.
"Guess we beat the mission at hand seeing you change back, Naoto. Does that mean this place is going to crumble apart?", Aurelia asked, wondering what was going to happen next. "And why does it feel like you suddenly got stronger?"
"That is true. I did see those blue screens appear one after another. 'Level Up', I think it said?", Prince Olivert also asked, musing to what was written on those Gamer Notifications. Guess they saw those after all. We are still bound by the Gamer System, so it makes sense for them to see it.
"That's the gist of my ability. What you saw is correct. I can grow stronger, which is equivalent to a 'Level Up'. It also carries additional abilities, like inviting you all to this Party. It will be disbanded shortly, so you will no longer be able to see your information. And on top of all of that, I can do other things. Generating this Dungeon is one such instance. No pun intended.", I answered, staying honest. They are already exposed to the Gamer System by now, so what's the point in hiding what I can do? It's not like they can do anything against it. I have full control over the Gamer System.
It is as I said previously. I can choose who and who can't join me in the Party. And if more Instance Dungeons appear in the future, those around me may be different people than who are standing with me now.
"Now I see why you were so confident earlier, Your Highness. Either way, we managed to clear this 'Dungeon', as you call it. It is clear you were rewarded, but do we get anything out of it, by chance?", Ein asked. To be honest, sometimes in The Gamer story, it would reward those in the Party with Gamer-related rewards. I wondered if that was going to happen. I saw the rewards were only for me, so I wasn't sure if anything was going to happen.
But to my surprise, I heard more Gamer Notifications following suit. More that everyone could see. In fact, each Gamer Notification appeared before all five people beside me after I received the first couple ones.
[Ding! Due to participating in Phase 0 in the Vermillion Trials, those who are in Gamer Naoto's Party will be rewarded. Now calculating the reward...]
"Looks like I spoke too soon.", Ein said, smiling. After that, each person saw that blue screen appear before them. They all had the same message appear.
[Ding! Party Member Prince Olivert has learned Craft - Vermillion Storm.]
[Ding! Party Member Mueller has learned Craft - Tempest Sword.]
[Ding! Party Member Roselia has learned Craft - Blooming Bloodmoon.]
[Ding! Party Member Ein has learned Craft - Judgement's Gaze.]
[Ding! Party Member Aurelia has learned Craft - Golden Waltz.]
[Ding! This concludes the Instance Dungeon: Dreichel's Plaza - Ashurei of Vermillion Trials's Phase 0. Time will now flow again. Gamer Naoto's Party will be disbanded and be warped out.]
We all paused. The Gamer System didn't even give us enough time to review these new Crafts before the area around us began to twist and distort. Visible cracks began to appear around the barrier that was placed around Dreichel's Plaza. It shattered into pieces like breaking a mirror. Seeing this change, I could only guess time was now flowing again. We weren't warped back into Valflame Palace into the guest room. No, it warped near the statue of Emperor Dreichels. That was where the Proving Grounds were located. I think it's that complex magic circle at its feet.
I had enough stamina again. Everyone saw me walk toward Emperor Dreichel's statue. It was a transfer node of sorts, very circular and contained symbols I didn't know. The only one I could recognize was the golden stallion, which was Erebonia's insignia. However, the node was not emitting any blueish aura like you'd see in the games. It just looked like an old piece of stone right now. If I had to relate this to something, it'd be like the Old Schoolhouse where you could move between floors. It was clear this magic circle acted as a device to transfer me somewhere.
But the question is, where does it lead to?
"Hmm, I guess this is where the next phase of the Vermillion Trials continues...", I uttered, wondering where this will take us.
"Indeed. Your ability named this space, Phase 0. I am inclined to believe there are more Phases of your Trials. It doesn't look like anything is happening, though. There's probably more conditions to meet first.", Ein said. That was likely the case here. Sure enough, I heard another notification sound off inside my mind. Now that we are back in the real world, the Party has disbanded. My True Harem Seeker buffs ran out with it. I just felt my own strength again, just slightly stronger because of the Level Ups. As for everyone else, their strength returned to normal. We were no longer at Level 100. I do not know where everyone's individual Levels were at, but if I tried to use Vermillion Eyes, I would likely be out of luck.
[Ding! Gamer Naoto's Level is currently insufficient to challenge Phase 1 of the Vermillion Trials. Access to the Trials has been restricted. Please grow stronger to challenge the rest of the Vermillion Trials. It will remain in an inactive state.]
'Heh, that's one way to spell it out. All I have to do is grow stronger. Sounds simple, right?', I thought.
Well ain't that just peachy?