Like Alka, Sofia chose not to jump directly to the fourth floor, but instead slowly climbed up from the first floor below.
After experiencing several floors, she roughly understood the current mechanism.
Covered in wounds, bloodstained and exhausted, she successfully pushed open the door to the fourth floor.
As she pushed the door open, the bloodstained, exhausted, and wounded skin disappeared, leaving her feeling refreshed.
Before her appeared a stone platform.
Across from the platform stood a middle-aged woman, wearing tight clothing.
She calmly looked at Sofia and repeated Alka's explanation, explaining the special mechanism.
Unlike Alka, Sofia triggered the mechanism on the fourth floor, while Alka did on the fifth.
Because Sofia's strength had only just reached the third stage, she had not begun to advance from there, remaining in the ten-spiral state.
The difficulty of the fourth level is the Ten Spirals.
"Trialist, attack me! Let me see what you're capable of."
The middle-aged female instructor beckoned Sofia.
Compared to the male instructor, this female instructor was much more direct, and it was clear they were not the same person.
"I'm going to attack."
As Sofia spoke, a halo of light appeared on her forehead.
A faint glow clung to her body, and then she reached out and grabbed.
The entire stone platform was plunged into complete darkness.
Sofia vanished instantly, and the light that had accompanied her actions with special effects vanished in the darkness.
With incredible speed, Sofia appeared directly beside the female instructor and launched a whip kick.
He launched a powerful kick directly at her head.
Although the female instructor wasn't as fast as her, she raised her right hand the moment Sofia launched her whip kick, blocking her attack.
He grabbed her legs with both hands and dragged her toward him.
Then, he thrust his shoulder forward.
Sofia crossed his arms to block the attack, but it packed a punch.
It pierced her arm and struck her chest, causing her to groan.
She was sent flying backwards.
She hit the ground, tumbling several times before coming to rest.
"You seem incredibly confident, confident that this pitch-black place wouldn't be able to stop your speed."
"How, ahem, did you do that?"
Sofia clutched his chest, coughing as he stood up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.
In this pure black area, unless one possessed special wrinkles and a high priority, nothing could be seen.
"Use your heart, not your eyes."
The instructor spoke, his hands clasped behind his back, eyes closed, like a sage.
He seemed somewhat apathetic.
"Continue attacking me."
Hearing this, Sofia took a few deep breaths and stood up again.
She attacked again.
This time, Sofia's attack was no longer as impenetrable as before.
She was much more cautious.
Thanks to the extreme speed granted by the Ring of Light, she had ample margin for error. She attacked the instructor from all directions.
Occasionally, she interspersed these attacks with beams of light.
Everything seemed to flow smoothly.
However, all these attacks were blocked by the enemy.
In this utter darkness, the enemy, eyes closed, relied solely on an unknown sense to block Sofia's accelerated attack with the Ring of Light.
And yet, her strength remained unchanged at Ten Spirals, unimpressed.
The most terrifying thing was...
Sofia only noticed she had used three spells: one that increased her attack speed, strengthened her defense, and a special attack technique that could deliver a powerful impact.
Sofia knew the spells for both the attack speed and the powerful impact, or at least knew something similar. But it was impossible for her to master their use and control them with such meticulous precision.
She had only used the three most basic spells to block Sofia's attack with his treasure.
This left her feeling a little frustrated.
"Alright, stop."
Upon hearing this, Sofia leaped back, landing a few meters away, and released her fist.
The light returned to the surroundings, restoring the environment to its original state.
"Very good. Your attacks are effective and decisive, and you're very proficient in using your treasures, integrating them into your system. That's excellent.
But your attacks are too aggressive, which is not good. You only have one life, so you should leave a way out when necessary.
Always remain vigilant and maintain due humility. Face every enemy with all your might, yet remain cautious.
But before that, you need to learn to observe carefully."
Then she said, "This time, I'll attack. First, close your eyes."
Hearing this, Sofia closed his eyes.
"Use your detection ability to dodge my attacks without relying on your eyes."
Then, one magic bullet after another flew out.
The instructor carefully controlled the speed and angle of his attacks.
This continued for nearly three hours.
Sofia was already kneeling on one knee, covered in wounds, his exposed arm covered in black bruises. All of them were hit by the magic bullets because they couldn't dodge in time.
Fortunately, all the magic bullet attacks were merely impactful, their offensive power minimized.
It was like a ball being hit.
"Let's stop here for now. Remember what I taught you: find that feeling of watching carefully."
The female instructor said, clasping her hands behind her back and closing her eyes.
"You failed. I look forward to your next trial."
With that, Sofia disappeared from the spot.
Matlisa, who was waiting nearby, and Alka, who was lost in thought, spotted Sofia being teleported from the teleportation platform.
The scars covering Sofia's body prompted Matlisa to rush over.
She supported Sofia and examined her carefully. The green magic power in her hands transformed into threads, flowing into her body.
Matlisa raised her four hands, and a stream of light blue water appeared in the palm of each hand, gently massaging Sofia's skin.
Soon, the bruises on Sofia's skin began to disappear.
"Don't worry, there's no internal damage, just superficial injuries," Sofia said weakly.
It had consumed too much magic power and physical strength.
Blindfolded, trying to dodge with her senses was not easy.
"Even if you look so miserable, you must have gained something," Alka said, squatting beside her, looking at Sofia.
Hearing this, Sofia smiled and nodded.
"Of course, it was a good gain."
It seemed that Sofia was different from herself; she had already mastered her attack methods.
It looked like she was already training, and he had successfully met the instructor.
This was good; it meant he had already gained the most. While Sofia was performing a simple treatment, Julia and the others had already returned.
They cleared out the surrounding elemental creatures.
"I'll go in this time," Simon said, standing on the stage.
Placing his hand to his left, he disappeared from the spot.
"Sofia, what did you learn?" Jason asked curiously.
He wanted to hear about the difference between you and Alka.
After receiving treatment, Sofia sat down to recover and recounted his experience.
Everyone listened.
"It's definitely different from Alka. You're already learning, while Alka just got scolded."
"I wonder what kind of evaluation I'll get."
Hearing Jason's words, Alka looked at him.
"Urulius is asleep. Can you display your full potential?"
"Of course, she's past the critical stage and no longer absorbs my magic."
"Really? That's good." Despite saying this, Alka remained skeptical.
Because the Crystal Dragon's response to him was still the same as before, that level of enhancement was practically useless to Jason at his current stage.
It was like he was without a treasure.
Unless the Crystal Dragon awakened and used the same level of feedback to enhance Jason.
However, their conversation didn't last long.
Simon was teleported out, his body covered in wounds and blood.
He looked much worse than Sofia.
Mattha immediately treated him nearby.
Thankfully, none of his injuries were life-threatening, only minor. With treatment and a short rest, he would be almost fully recovered.
Sofia frowned at Simon's expression and asked, "Which level did you become like this?"
"Level 4," Simon gasped.
This meant Simon was still facing enemies on Level 4.
Thinking of this, Alka suddenly remembered.
Simon was already at Level 11. Like Alka, he was one of the first to advance to the third stage.
Alka, however, had forcibly increased his level to Level 14 thanks to the spoils of Mirmi's death.
The enemies Simon faced on Level 4 were specifically designed for him, at the top level of Level 10.
Both the environment and the offensive methods were designed specifically for Simon.
Simon's treasures weren't meant for direct combat, but rather to assist him in construct creation.
They were more of a logistical type.
Under these circumstances, he clearly hadn't defeated this enemy, who was only one spiral weaker than him.
"The beast I encountered on the fourth floor was a bear-like beast. Its defenses were too strong, and the Sentinel patrol drones couldn't do any effective damage to it.
Additionally, the icy and snowy environment affected my control of the construct.
I had almost no chance of fighting back."
Simon spoke through the pain, but as Matlisa's treatment was nearing completion, his expression relaxed slightly.
Hearing Simon's words, Alka nodded thoughtfully.
It was just as he'd expected.
As expected, a top-tier enemy with targeted capabilities. Even if they possessed a treasure, if it wasn't enhanced, they would likely fail in a head-on battle.
"Wait, I'm sure I'll pass the next trial. I was too careless this time," Simon said fiercely.
Alka nodded, undoubting it.
After all, Simon only brought a few Sentinels to this trial, and they hadn't undergone any testing or modifications.
The next time, with more preparation, the results might be different.
After all, for a mechanic, the more time to prepare, the stronger their abilities.
With Simon's departure, it was the others' turn.
...
Thus, after a day and night, everyone completed the first round of the trial.
Everyone's gains were different.
Because only a few reached the stage where the instructors provided training.
They were Alka and Sofia, the first to reach it. After that, surprisingly, only Pororo succeeded.
Simon's failure was self-explanatory.
Jason's failure was because, although he had advanced to the third stage, his equally growing Crystal Dragon hadn't fully matured.
Naturally, he didn't achieve the expected strength feedback.
Relying on long-range sniping and a few offensive tactics, Jason naturally failed in the targeted situation.
After all, he had only recently reached the third stage, and his spells and other skills hadn't caught up yet.
Julia, on the other hand, was essentially a support, and she hadn't yet fully adapted to the treasures she previously controlled.
She hadn't had time to develop them and integrate them into her system.
Furthermore, the coin, like Simon's treasure, seemed ill-suited for frontal combat.
This also contributed to her failure.
As for Lucelia, she came closest to success.
Her puppet body gave her a significant advantage, but her small stature also became a disadvantage due to the deliberate targeting of the trial.
Furthermore, her treasures required group combat for maximum effectiveness, making them virtually useless in the trial.
Unless she gathered the power of the other puppets and attached it to herself, boosting her own strength.
But Lucilia gave up.
She felt it was just a trial, and there was no need to harm her legion members.
She would only strengthen her training to improve her strength.
Matresa, needless to say, had truly poor combat skills; her other skills were entirely related to healing.
Without a treasure, failure was natural.
Juanlu suffered the same fate.
However, failure didn't mean nothing was gained.
The group had returned to their previous campsite.
They sat around the fire.
"I believe that after this trial, you've all discovered your own shortcomings, haven't you?"
Alka said, looking at the group.
The others nodded, indeed.
Although the Trial Tower would create enemies specifically targeting them and attack them,
But it must be said that since this was meant to be a test, it would naturally allow them to clearly and intuitively discover their greatest flaws.
The enemies created weren't deliberately targeted, nor were they meant to be deadly, but rather to make them aware of their own flaws.
The few who hadn't yet met the instructors.
Their most important priority at this stage was to improve their strength to the level they deserved.
Otherwise, they wouldn't even be qualified to meet the instructors and advance further.
The three who had already met the instructors were even more eager to learn with them.
Alka hadn't even mastered his offensive methods, and hadn't yet grasped them.
But from what Sofia and Pororo had said, it became clear that they were indeed learning techniques that could greatly enhance their strength, techniques they had never heard of before.
These techniques came from a glorious world 30,000 years ago, when gods roamed the world.
Anyone with a discerning eye could clearly see how precious and powerful such a skill was.
This also reassured everyone that they must reach the required level and face the instructor.
"Because of this Trial Tower, I think we might have to stay here for a while."
According to the Trial Tower schedule, they could take on one trial per week.
This was a rare learning opportunity.
Most of them were self-taught.
They had relied purely on trial and error to develop their skills, especially their combat skills.
Now that they had systematic training, how could they possibly pass up such an opportunity?
Everyone nodded in agreement to Alka's proposal, with almost no one refusing.
"Then disband. We'll continue the trials next week, and we'll have free time during this time."
After all, everyone had different ideas about themselves.
But they could also help each other with their training.
Alka sank into his dream.
What he needed first was to organize his combat strategies.
Streamlining his disorganized combat system.
He appeared in his dream bubble.
His dream bubble had changed dramatically, and Hirvi was helping him maintain it.
Alka floated into the air and constructed a training ground.
He floated in alone.
After entering, his clothes became lighter, and he sat cross-legged in the center. Alka controlled the mirror and floated out, placing it and the Dreamcatcher beside him.
He simply separated himself from the two treasures, blessing and influencing his own state.
Mana emanated from his hands.
The emanating magic transformed into a pink mist, gathering in his palm.
"...Spirit?"
This was indeed where he should focus.
The dream state was the spirit.
Alka himself was already deeply integrated with the dream state.
Even his soul possessed this enhancement and talent.
His dream state's strength was a whole stage higher than that of the outside world, which meant that his spirit was a stage higher than that of people of the same stage.
This was an absurd advantage.
No normal person, or even an abnormal person, could achieve this.
Alka, through a series of coincidental circumstances, had become so utterly detached.
So, he had no choice but to suppress his power within the dream.
Shifting his power and system toward the spiritual might help alleviate the detachment.
He wouldn't be so overly repressed within the dream.
So... what should he do?
Alka looked at the mirror he had placed beside him.
The creatures that simulated dreams were also the source of dreams.
...
He seemed to have grasped a clue. He just needed to spend more time in his dreams, thoroughly verifying it with his own power.
Then, he would expand from this point.
Finally, he would construct the path he needed to move forward.
With a goal in mind, Alka's actions became swifter.