If they had simply known, the crowd wouldn't have reacted so strongly.
The problem was that they empathized with the world's pain, truly bearing it.
They were merely swept away by the tide, while the pain was vast as the ocean.
Such pain... was beyond the comprehension of life.
This was pain the world itself could hardly endure.
When everyone gathered again in the captain's cabin, they sat around the round table in silence, the atmosphere growing heavy.
Julia, in particular, could see her haggard face, as if she had suffered a serious illness. Her face was as pale as snow, her lips were purple, and her eyes were dark.
"After a night, I believe you've all come to your senses.
Then I will do my utmost to save the world, to rescue it from its suffering."
Arka said, finally looking at the crowd.
"Okay."
"Save."
"I'm willing to save, too."
"Roar!"
Everyone expressed their opinions one by one.
Until only Julia remained. Alka, already resolute in his choice, looked at her.
He began, "If you don't do your utmost to save... you're clearly unworthy of destruction."
Hearing this, Julia looked up at him.
Then turned back to look at the others.
He took a deep breath and nodded.
"I'm willing... to do my utmost to save."
It was natural for Alka to choose this path.
The world had been so indebted to him; he had to do something.
Julia was striving for this because she had persisted in her efforts and responsibility for a century.
As for the others, it was because they were born into this world.
A closer look revealed this. The teachings of the Four Gods contain, to varying degrees, tenets related to preserving the world.
However, none of them make it their primary purpose.
Even now, Julia buried the thought of destroying the world deep within her heart, waiting to destroy it when salvation became impossible.
But the gaze of life that had left her remained unreturned.
She still spurned some of life's tenets.
"Though we have set our goals, the question is how we will act?" Sofia asked from the side.
The unforgettable pain they had experienced remained deeply etched in their hearts.
They could not ignore it.
If they did not continue to strive, this unforgettable pain would forever haunt their souls.
For it was the pain of those they had borne.
Alleviating the world's suffering and making it a better place did not conflict with their respective goals.
But the problem was that they had no direction to strive for.
Hearing this, Alka shook her head helplessly and looked at the crowd, saying, "Although we're arguing about these personal choices, we don't have the ability. We're too weak."
Saving the world isn't easy. With their current strength, they don't even qualify to participate.
They don't even have the capital to alleviate the world's suffering.
"Roar! Boogie..." The crystal dragon next to them roared something incomprehensible.
Jason listened and nodded repeatedly.
"Wait for her to grow a little more. When we all reach the fourth stage, she'll take us to a place."
Jason said from the side.
After yesterday's events, they all knew the crystal dragon's origins—perhaps even more different than they'd imagined.
She had only gone through the first stage of growth, the stage from hatchling to juvenile, and had already gained some knowledge related to the world's pain.
And it was clear that she had experienced the onslaught of the world's sorrow.
This legacy came from his father and grandfather.
Clearly, the identity of this crystal dragon was somehow connected to saving the world.
Perhaps their ancestors had been striving for this very purpose.
"There's a saying that goes, 'This world is ultimately based on strength.' Without strength, you're not qualified to do anything," Alka said.
"Alright, let's bury the memories of these past two days deep in our hearts. Just let them stick."
"Now we have more important things to do. Let's focus on the task at hand and improve our abilities."
As Alka finished speaking, everyone nodded.
They each left their seats and continued to train their abilities.
This Trial Island is a rare place.
...
Two days later, everyone once again arrived at the base of the Trial Tower.
"Just one week has passed. Are we about to begin another trial?"
The triangle floated nearby and asked.
"Let's begin. I'll go first again."
Alka said, standing on the teleportation platform.
Disappeared.
This time, there were no previous trials; they were transported directly to the fifth floor.
As Alka pushed open the stone door,
The instructor's figure appeared.
"Has it been a week already?" He muttered to himself as he watched Alka enter.
Then, looking at Alka as he approached, he suddenly froze.
He just stared at him intently.
"You're different."
Hearing this, Alka stood there, looking at him curiously. Then, he looked at himself, seeing nothing unusual.
"What's different? Nothing?"
"No, there's a huge difference. You've shouldered... a heavy fate you shouldn't have to bear."
The instructor looked at Alka with a heavy expression.
Hearing this, Alka looked up at him and suddenly smiled, "Can you tell fortunes?"
"As an instructor at the Tower of Trials, I don't have to reach perfection in every path, but I must walk every path.
Otherwise, I wouldn't be qualified to be an instructor at this Tower of Trials, to become a trainer of the Aspiring."
He was clearly very satisfied with his position.
Then he said something else outrageous.
Walking every path...
Alka's scalp tingled at the thought. Is this something a normal person could do?
Only those who have truly lived in this world and experienced it know that all-rounders are almost nonexistent.
"Have you decided? Bearing such pressure? If you were just an ordinary person, a gifted young man, suddenly burdened with such pressure, I wouldn't mind."
"But the problem is, your abilities, your bloodline, and your duty all give you the power to pursue this path."
At this point, the instructor's pupils suddenly dimmed, and he stared at the false sky simulated by the trial, unsure of what to think.
"The most terrifying thing isn't having lofty goals, but the illusion that those lofty goals seem graspable."
If an ordinary genius vowed to save the world, for various reasons, they would realize they simply didn't have the ability and give up.
But if one possessed such power, influence, and authority, such lofty yet illusory dreams would become graspable.
They would drive people to pursue them forever.
After saying a few words, he looked at Alka, who was lost in thought.
A magic bullet flew past.
Just as the magic bullet was about to hit Alka, a shattered mirror appeared, blocking the attack.
Alka looked up at him.
"Alright, don't dwell on this. Move forward. I don't know what you've set your sights on, but I'm holding you to higher standards now. Enjoy the rest of the training.
If you don't meet my standards, I won't let you take on the challenge."
The instructor, holding five magic bullets in his hand, smiled at Alka.
"Huh?" Alka was puzzled. "I need your approval to participate in the challenge mode?"
Hearing this, the instructor stood still, looking at him with a strange look. "Of course..."
Then he suddenly fell into deep thought.
"It seems like things outside have undergone tremendous changes... I've been asleep for too long."
He regained consciousness, looked at Alka, and made a promise.
"Just remember, I'm raising my expectations of you. Sorry, as an instructor, I have the right to do so."
"I couldn't ask for more," Alka said with a smile.
For years, he'd lacked any goals, living solely on a playful mindset.
Now, with a firm goal, he naturally felt more motivated.
For someone who was essentially an alien being, this was a profound change.
A mirror surfaced, but this time, it wasn't on Alka's face, but directly in his palm.
The mirror quickly transformed into a deer head, which he securely placed on his face.
His entire body underwent the same transformation, with arched deer legs replacing his legs.
The fur cape and the wild-scented attire transformed Alka's entire demeanor.
The dreamcatcher crystal ball emerged, floating beside him.
Seeing the instructor hesitate to initiate the attack, Alka didn't wait. A thick pink mist began to fill the entire space, thinning until it was no longer visible.
A huge mirror appeared on the top of the field.
A crackle of light shattered, filling the entire space. Various fragments floated around.
The instructor remained standing, observing the floating debris. "Can you start faster? Does it cost a lot of mana?"
"Yes, it requires practice, but the cost is acceptable." Hearing Alka's response, the instructor nodded.
Suddenly, he raised his hand and grabbed the dagger that had suddenly appeared in front of him.
A flash of silver light flashed from his side.
The hand holding the dagger suddenly rose, trying to dodge.
The card's attack was too sudden, and a wound appeared on the instructor's hand.
The dagger he grasped suddenly exploded.
A thick magic shield blocked the dagger's impact and the scattered debris.
The instructor kicked his legs hard and retreated several meters, trying to gain some distance.
In the distance, Alka, wearing a deer-head mask, remained standing and slowly approached.
He was about ten meters away.
His footsteps made a crisp sound on the stone floor.
The instructor's magic bullets began to rapidly attack Alka in the distance, flying directly towards him.
But a shattered mirror appeared, blocking the attack.
All the magic bullets were blocked by the shattered mirror.
The mirror was so large that it just blocked the magic bullets and exploded in the air along with them.
"Precise defense... Hmm, automatic interception?"
At the instructor's words, Alka, wearing the deer head, nodded.
The mirror fragments used for blocking were actually automatic defenses.
When an attack came within a certain range of Alka, they would appear in front of the attack, blocking it.
When used normally, it couldn't defend against the enemy from too far away, but once Alka altered the environment,
The mirror's blocking became incredibly precise.
Alka raised his hands, and eight mirror cards appeared.
With a gentle flick, they glided in various strange arcs, flying towards the instructor.
As the mirror cards flew...
Not only did the arcs become distorted, but even the cards themselves flickered, appearing and disappearing.
Watching this attack, the instructor didn't hesitate.
The shockwave he had used last time was once again unleashed.
However, the cards that appeared and disappeared were unaffected.
He suddenly raised his hands.
A thick magic shield enveloped him.
All the cards exploded nearby, releasing flames, golden light, and water chains, all blocked by the magic shield.
The entire magic shield was rippled.
Suddenly, the shield vanished.
It wasn't due to any external force, but rather the instructor was suddenly frozen in place.
For just a moment.
A dagger appeared behind him and thrust forward.
The tip of the blade didn't pierce his body, but melted and stuck to his back.
At that moment, the instructor woke up and abruptly turned and retreated.
The magic bullet transformed into a beam of light and shot out instantly, but there was no enemy behind it, and it dissipated into thin air.
The instructor looked at the dagger stuck to his back and pulled it out.
"An effective attack," the masked Alka said with a smile.
"In just a week, it seems you've still found your way, even without my reminder last week. You seem to have had an idea long ago."
The instructor saw the dagger and tossed it aside, smiling.
"That invisible attack... is from the dream realm, right? Dreams are the most difficult realm to reach. Even I can only guarantee my own immunity.
This move will ensure you have unimpeded access to anything below stage six. Very few can break it."
The instructor was extremely impressed. Alka's unique attack method, already strongly associated with dreams, was incredibly advantageous.
"Alright, it's my turn now," he said, stomping the ground hard.
A large amount of magic power erupted into the air.
It transformed into countless magic bullets, which flew towards Alka.
At an extremely fast speed.
In the blink of an eye, it exploded around Alka, blocked by shattered mirror after shattered mirror.
The exploding magic power stirred a turbulent atmosphere around Alka.
The air itself became distorted.
In the distorted air, the instructor had already arrived and smiled at Alka.
He clenched his right hand into a palm and thrust it out.
The blue magic power gathered there exploded, breaking through the countless blocking mirror fragments and reaching Alka's chest.
This thrust was unstoppable; the mirror fragments couldn't even slow him down.
Before Alka could react, it struck his chest.
The magic power was channeled into Alka's body.
"Cough, cough..."
Alka coughed, but felt no pain.
The instructor smiled and said, "You're holding back, so how can I really hit you?"
The palm of his hand against Alka's chest gave a powerful push, sending Alka flying backward.
Then, he bent his waist and spun, swinging his left fist with his movement.
A dagger attack appeared where the instructor's head had been, but it missed as his hip bent.
The left fist swung out, striking the air.
A semicircular circle of air could be clearly seen expanding outward.
But there was nothing there.
Seeing this scene, the instructor spun without hesitation, shooting out like an arrow.
Alka, who had just been pushed forward, hadn't even regained his balance when he saw the instructor rushing towards him.
The shattered mirrors floating around instantly turned towards Alka's location.
Alka instantly vanished from the spot.
The instructor's right leg braked forward, halting his body with a sharp sound.
He clenched his right hand, a massive magic bullet in his grasp.
His body bent like a bow, and then he flung it forward like a baseball.
"Squeak!" The fist-sized magic bullet shattered the air.
The sharp, piercing sound was shuddering.
It shot out with immense force.
Alka, who had just appeared in the distance, widened his eyes as he watched the magic ball approaching him.
There was no escape. He had just landed.
He crossed his arms, shielding himself against the layers of mirrors and magic shields.
"Crack!" The magic bullet instantly shattered the thick layers of mirrors, the sound of shattering filling the entire space.
The shield was shattered.
"Bang!"
The magic bullet hit Alka's hands and exploded.
The force of the explosion was circular, pushing out the surrounding air, forming a series of air rings.
Alka was sent flying backwards.
He hit the ground and bounced several times before coming to rest in a long, drawn-out trajectory.
Alka felt as if his entire body was falling apart.
The instructor must have held back in this attack.
The impact of the explosion, while it had thrown him far and knocked him to the ground several times,
the impact only touched his body, leaving him sore all over.
There was no fatal injury, not even a minor one.
The only wound was the blood stains he wiped off his body.
He did his best to roll over.
He saw the instructor squatting beside him, smiling at him.
Alka shook his head helplessly.
"How did you know I'd be there?"
Under the influence of the pink smoke and the shattered mirror, Alka's every movement would become extremely concealed.
His control over the environment would also be greatly enhanced.
His teleportation speed was fast enough, and his landing point was concealed enough that even the fluctuations of his magic power could hardly be transmitted.
But it was clearly predicted.
He didn't detect or even notice any fluctuations that might indicate his landing point.
The instructor smiled and said, "The experience and intuition of the elders."