Chương 108: The Price of Choice

"Okay, just forget about the past. I am here to help free all of you. So, just answer my questions genuinely." Susanne discarded all the thoughts in her mind.

"You cannot save us. No one will save us unless you bring the Treasure. The Deity promised us she will free us once she obtains the Treasure," the Ratkin said, continuing to insist on bringing back the Treasure.

"Tell me about this Deity. Where does she live, and what was the purpose of making all of you her slaves?" Susanne ignored his blabbering, directly asking what she wanted to know. Hearing this, the Ratkin fell silent and did not answer anything.

"Kill him before he signals the others," Natalie suggested.

"Why would I need to kill him? In fact, I am here to save him and his people. If he does not believe me, it is fine. That does not mean I should kill him. Let's go. We will find out who this Deity is by ourselves," Susanne said, looking at the silent Ratkin. Although her speech was noble, it was also the truth. Why should she kill the same people she was here to save?

"Which way should we go now?" she asked. Aside from the tunnel they came from, there were three other branching tunnels.

"This one." Natalie pointed to the straight tunnel they had walked towards earlier.

"Let's go then." Giving the silent Ratkin one last look, she walked away from that spot. She had expected at least a small clue as to who this Deity was after revealing she was here to save them. Although that did not warrant him telling her everything, she had at least expected he would believe her since she was of a different race.

"You cannot defeat her." However, just as she was ten steps away from where the Ratkin lay tied, she heard a voice. Sighing, she turned around and looked at him.

"You already said that, and I know that myself, but that does not mean I should run away." Susanne knew reality. She did not have a Core Layer, she had no Affinity, and she possessed no Strong Innate Ability. However, she knew that this was a Trial, and a Trial always had more than one way to complete it.

"If you want to defeat the Deity and free us, you need [Chaos]," the Ratkin said.

"What is [Chaos]?" Susanne asked.

"It is a [Ritualistic Item]. It will help you against the Deity's curse on you," the Ratkin said.

"Where can I get this Ritualistic item?" she asked. This revelation seemed genuine. Thus, she needed to obtain this item in order to defeat the Deity and break the curse.

"It is in the Shrine, but it is very difficult to get. You will be caught and killed as soon as you enter," the Ratkin said.

"Natalie, I believe you have a way to enter the Shrine?" Susanne asked.

"How did you know that? Indeed, I know a shortcut to enter the Shrine," Natalie said in surprise.

"Thanks for the information. I will see you later." Saying her final goodbye, Susanne started walking down the tunnel. The duo walked through the tunnel without taking any rest again. Natalie insisted on not staying in the tunnel any longer. Since they had already stayed in the tunnel for a very long time, they would be detected once the other Ratkins came for their rounds.

"Do you know anything about [Chaos], like what it is or what it does?" Susanne asked Natalie, who sat on her shoulder.

"I do not know anything about it. Since he called it a Ritualistic item, it should be some kind of artifact used to defeat the Deity. However, that is just my speculation," Natalie shared her thoughts based on the description she had heard.

"Do you know where it is placed? Why would an item that could be used against her be kept in her own Shrine?" Susanne was a little confused when she heard the Ratkin say it was inside the Deity's Shrine. Was this genuine clue, or was he trying to get her caught while entering the Shrine?

"Well, it is a Shrine, so there would be plenty of items available. Also, one more thing: it was not the Deity's Shrine," Natalie stated.

"What do you mean it was not the Deity's Shrine?" Susanne was taken aback. A shrine belonged to a deity. Was this not the usual case?

"The Shrine is just a Shrine; it belongs to no one. She was only called a Deity due to the power she holds," Natalie explained.

"Maybe the crown she holds comes from the Shrine as well, granting her the ability to curse and control others." Susanne pieced the things together. However, this was still her own theory; the reality might be different. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

"I do not know about that, but sure enough, the power she holds must come from the crown," Natalie agreed, voicing a similar thought. Following that conversation, the duo walked through the entire tunnel without taking any rest. This left Susanne suffering from sleep deprivation. She definitely needed some rest if she wanted to walk any further. If she were to enter this Shrine in her current state and face an enemy, she would be defeated easily.

Thus, when they finally exited the tunnel, Natalie led her to a spot that would be safe to take a rest. While walking, Susanne's eyes automatically darted far away. At the edge of the horizon, she noticed something obscuring the rising sun. She narrowed her eyes to get a better look at what she was seeing.

"What is that building far away? Is that [Pollux]?" Susanne asked, remembering Natalie mentioning that once they exited the tunnel, they would appear within the range of Pollux.

"That is the Shrine you want to go to," Natalie said.

"That is the Shrine? Then where is this [Pollux]? The Shrine is just a quick stop to get [Chaos]," Susanne asked.

"Lucky for you, that is the Shrine and that is Pollux. The [Pollux Shrine]," Natalie said. She then jumped from Susanne's shoulder and dashed toward the left side of the building Susanne was looking at. As the building began to reveal itself in the sunlight, it appeared entirely white. It looked as if it was fully built from white marble, possessing at least two stories with large pillars standing in front of it. It did not look like a Shrine in any way, shape, or form.

"Quick, follow me," Natalie called out.

'That is the place the Ratkin elder wants me to go to,' Susanne muttered. As she followed Natalie, her eyes still lingered on the faraway building.

"Cecil, tell me about the Maw Trial."

"I do not have any idea about a Trial called the Maw, Sire""Is it? Okay, what about a Trial called Concentric?"

"A Concentric Trial is a Trial that was created to allow multiple candidates to participate in a series of Trials. Once a person enters the Trial, he or she must participate in all of the Mandatory Trials, of which there are seven. However, the Trials would be fair,""Trials would be fair? I heard that 'no one enters the Maw and returns'."

"I do not know where that'no one enters the Maw and returns' originated, but once one enters the Trial, they have to participate in all the seven Trials. That is for sure."

"But I heard that one eventually has to face an [Omega] Standard monster. That does not look like a fair Trial. Most people would be dead since they awakened weak classes. Even I would fail to defeat the Omega Standard monsters."

"I do not have concrete evidence regarding your claim, but Main Concentric Trials are designed based on a person's strength. Your Trial's difficulty is directly proportional to your strength," Cecil stated.

"However, the rewards of the Concentric Trials are abundant. Often, people get greedy over the rewards and make the wrong choices. Your claim about how'no one enters the Maw and returns' must be related to this factor."

"So, if you are a genuine person and do what the Trial says, you will get the abundant rewards and exit the Trial."

"Yes, that is true. However, that would be very difficult for us, the races possessing higher intelligence."

"Are you saying people die in this place not by monsters, but out of greed?"

"No, people could still die to monsters, but the probability is very low. Instead, the probability of dying from greed is high."

"Okay. In that case, if I finish the seven Trials, I can easily exit the Trial."

"Yes, but people can do more than seven Trials if they want to earn more rewards. It is called the [Trial Tree]. Every time you finish a Main Trial, you will receive a reward and an additional Trial, that is called Branch Trial. However, the additional Branch Trial is optional. You may choose to attempt the Branch Trial or move on to the next Main Trial."

"So, I get one additional Branch Trial for every Main Trial?"

"Yes and no. You will get one branch Trial once you complete the Main Trial. This is optional. You can discard the additional branch Trial and return to the main Trial Tree. However, if you choose to attempt the additional branch Trial and complete it, you will get one more additional branch Trial. Thus, you will be given a total of seven branch Trials in one Main Trial."

"Oh, I did not know that. So, there are seven Main Trials, and the additional Trials I can get for each Main Trial are also seven, making a total of..."

"49 Trials."

"Right, 49 Trials. That is a huge number of Trials. Is this the cause of the high casualties in these Trials? So, this is why people call these Trials dangerous."

"Yes. One thing I forgot to tell you is that the additional Trials will double the danger of the previous Trial. Thus, only the Main Trial will be a fair test of your true strength. If you want to move to the additional Branch Trials, you will face a stronger enemy in each Branch Trial."

"Well, that explains the saying surrounding these Trials. But do the rewards also increase?"

"Yes, of course. The rewards for the additional Branch Trials are abundant. They are specifically designed to lure candidates into participating. It is very dangerous if one is not in control of themselves."

"Understood."

"Although it is dangerous, if one were to complete more than 80% of the Trial, they would get a chance to visit a special Trial called the [Torical Trial]."

"The [Torical Trial]?"

"Yes. The [Torical Trial] is considered the highest rewarded Trial within the Concentric Trial."

"Tell me about it."

"Of course."

"The [Torical Trial] is the ultimate rewarding Trial under the [Deep] Rank Trial..."

"Wait, wait. What is this [Deep] Rank?"

"Very well, let me explain the different types of Ranks in the Trials. We have five Ranks of Trials. The higher the Rank, the higher the risk and reward. The Ranks start with [Outer], [Inner], [Deep], [Core], and [Origin]. These are the five Ranks of Trials. The [Outer] Rank Trials are single-person Trials. [Inner] is a Party Trial. In a [Deep] Rank Trial, a group of people gets to participate. [Core] Rank Trials also allow a group of people to participate, but they require eligibility to enter the Trial.

As for the last one, the [Origin] Rank Trial, i am afraid, I lack knowledge about this Trial."

"Oh, so even you do not know certain things."

"Of course, Sire. Knowledge is a sea; I only know a fist-sized amount of it."

"Very modest."

"Thank you for the praise, Sire. Now, back to the topic of the [Torical Trial]..."