Chương 114: Chapter 112: Worst Lesson Ever

They arrived at a training area where many people were dueling. It didn't look as grand as the one where Thalion had trained his sword skills. He had to hold back a scream of pain as Theryx dropped him to the ground, breaking some of the bones he had just managed to heal. Okay, seriously, what was up with the people here? He definitely would pay this dimension a visit after he had become a god and mess with them.

"Now we will begin the duels. I will award you points based on your performance. After accumulating a certain number of points, you will be eligible to attempt the final test of the soul. If you pass that test, you may undergo the ultimate ritual to become a holy warrior," Theryx announced proudly. Theryx called out the names of two individuals at a time to duel, awarding points to the winners after each match. The battles continued, each more intense than the last.

The participants' power levels were far beyond Thalion's abilities—even in his true body, he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against any of them.

"Next, Rylak and Sabrak," Theryx announced at one point. What the heck? Thalion thought. I can't even stand. How am I supposed to fight? Without a word, Theryx grabbed Thalion by the ankle and flung him into the ring. He landed hard, and several of his already broken bones shattered. Pain shot through his entire body, and it took all of his willpower not to scream. He had been practicing suppressing his screams a lot lately, so no cry escaped his lips even when he wanted to.

If the challenge would be to hold the hand above a candle and the first withdrawing loses. He would win for sure. Sadly, it was not. Sabrak didn't hesitate and immediately unleashed a burning attack on him. Thankfully, Theryx intervened by appearing before Thalion, blocking the attack with a mana shield that surpassed every skill he had ever seen. Good job you get five points, Theryx said to Sabrak and Thalion spotted how, for a second, a sinister smile appeared on his face.

Next, he grabbed Thalion's foot and threw him out of the ring without explanation. Meanwhile, the other students erupted into laughter on seeing how Thalion landed on the ground. Some were rolling on the ground, tears of joy streaming from their eyes. Oh, laugh all you can; I will come back, Thalion thought with absolute hate at those people.

"Now, for the last challenge of the day," Theryx said, completely ignoring the commotion around him. He appeared beside Thalion, grabbed him like a sack of grain, and a moment later, they materialized in a grand hall filled with massive pillars. In the center was a ritual circle over a hundred meters wide.

"This will test the strength of your soul and determine if you are ready for the great union," Theryx announced loudly. Most of the students stopped laughing, turning their attention to the ritual with interest. Theryx threw Thalion more than fifty meters into the center of the circle, where he landed with a loud thud.

"Seriously, what is wrong with these people?" Rylak exclaimed in Thalion's mind. Thalion didn't have the energy to respond. He was too busy trying to repair his body and manage the overwhelming pain.

"When this circle activates, it will measure the strength of your soul. If all three pearls glow, you will be deemed ready to undergo the grand ritual and become a holy warrior," Theryx proclaimed then continued.

"Even if you don't have enough points, it almost never happens that someone passes this trial without enough points. Those who do are seedlings of rare quality, who inherit a strong will beyond the norm." So the union was the ritual that bonded an outsider to a host, Thalion realized. The explanation made sense, but his throbbing pain prevented him from caring too much.

"Is it even worth testing that guy?" a male voice sneered as Thalion heard footsteps behind him.

"Everyone must be trained and tested. It is the will of the holy one." Theryx said with a smile appearing on his face for a second. Thalion couldn't see who had spoken since his head was turned in the opposite direction. Well, he knew Theryx's voice, but that guy was on the top of his killlist anyway. What he could see were three large pearls resting on a pedestal connected to the ritual circle by glowing golden runes. He couldn't help but notice how many different shades of gold there were in this palace.

It annoyed him too.

"Yes, please go ahead and test him. Do you think even one pearl will glow?" Another voice laughed loudly, enjoying himself by the sound of it. The next moment, Thalion was flying through the air, landing hard in the middle of the circle. The onlookers burst into laughter again, but Thalion focused on the runes beneath him as they began to glow with intense power as the circle was activated. He didn't even know what to do, or how to flex his mental muscles.

"I don't think he's trying hard enough," a woman's voice mocked.

"Here, let me help." The "help" came in the form of a mana bolt, striking Thalion and spinning him around to face the jeering crowd. Thankfully the attack wasn't meant to harm him, but at the moment everything hurt like hell as his body still had multiple broken bones, and that his teacher had just thrown him over twenty meters into a magic circle didn't help the healing process at all.

"I would've preferred to watch the pearls," Rylak muttered in Thalion's mind. Thalion silently agreed. As the laughter subsided, Thalion noticed the mocking expressions on the students' faces slowly shift into looks of shock.

"Why are they looking at us like that?" Rylak asked, confused.

"Hopefully they are not throwing us again, as I don't like it when the vision spins so fast." It took Thalion a lot to not comment on the last sentence, since the guy didn't have to feel the pain at all.

"Those pearls must be broken," one muscular man muttered, standing in the front.

"No, they're not," Theryx hissed with annoyance and maybe hate, which was a rare display of emotion from him.

"That's impossible! How can this guy have a soul strong enough to light all three pearls?" A beautiful woman exclaimed in disbelief.

"What does this mean?" asked another man with long golden hair.

"Just look at him! His body is wrecked—how can his soul possibly be so strong?"

"Rylak, you will now be teleported to the higher stages, where you will gain access to advanced classes and training halls," Theryx announced through gritted teeth, looking as though he had bitten into something extremely sour. Seeing that filled Thalion's heart with joy and it almost made up for the intense suffering the past few days. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. A moment later, Thalion was teleported yet again.

At least this time, he found himself in a room similar to the one his former teacher had shown him. Exhausted, he closed his eyes, ignoring the pain in his battered body. He didn't need sleep, but after the day he wanted to escape the pain for a while, his body should be repaired enough to survive a few hours on his own. <-- What Thalion didn't know was that it wasn't Theryx who had teleported him.

He also didn't know the pained face the guy made when he recognized that someone much stronger than himself was interested in Thalion. It would have filled his heart with even more joy. Two beings didn't miss out on the face as they started laughing loudly after teleporting the little brat away. Xyrolth, the holy one, and the god who had built this palace so long ago had a good laugh with his wife Lymara, who, hidden under an illusion, had acted as Thalion's former teacher.

To have their little fun with the little brat who had acted so disrespectful to her beloved daughter seems only right for them.

"Do you think little Thaly will be mad or will laugh too when she sees the recording?" Xyrolth laughed out loud, holding his belly.

"I think she is going to like it, but we should leave the guy alone for now. In my opinion, it's fair game now." Lymara also laughed. They both couldn't even remember when they had laughed so hard that golden tears were rolling down their cheeks the last time. It didn't take that long to appoint a trainer for the newbies who hated those low-born brats. They had a few choices, but Theryx was just perfect. All three of his daughter had fallen in love with a rat from the slums.

Because his daughter loved the guys so much he had allowed the marriage. It turned out they all didn't love his daughters and when it came out, almost brought ruin to his noble house. To this day, the other nobels were laughing at him and his family. It took a few workarounds to bring the guy to the golden palace as trainer without causing suspicion, but it was all worth it in the end.

"Not gonna lie, I kind of respect that brat a little bit after holding on for so long." Lymara commented when they saw how he fell asleep in his new room.

"Yeah, I am curious what he will do next," Xyrolth laughed, still amused.

"Hey, wake up! How long are you going to lie there?" Rylak yelled in Thalion's mind.

"Ugh, how long was I out? I feel like crap, and some of my bones are still broken," Thalion muttered aloud, still sprawled on the ground where the teleportation had dumped him.

"Maybe an hour? But it's so weird being trapped as a passenger in my own body when you close my eyes," Rylak replied, sounding thoroughly annoyed. It should be enough. He wouldn't be able to sleep again anyway. Thalion turned his focus inward and began to heal his body using his blood. The process weakened him, but there was nothing he could do about that. He already lost most of his strength in the last days, so that last bit shouldn't matter too much now.

"Alright, let's see what we've got here," he thought aloud, turning around after he had finished repairing Rylak's body. There was a giant bed that looked like it had been built for an emperor. The floor was adorned with several magic circles, one for teleportation and another, probably for cultivation too.

"Great, so I have no idea where the teleportation circle leads. This palace sucks." Thalion concluded with a sigh. It was time to focus on soul cultivation. After all, he had already been deemed worthy of the final trial—or torture, to be more accurate, but that didn't matter anymore. He was one step closer to his goal. According to the memory crystal's information, he should have at least two years to prepare. However, that information was ancient and might not be entirely reliable.

What if they reached his room earlier, pulling him back into his real body? If that happened, everything would be lost. Still, he calculated that one year should be safe, which left him with around nine months for training. Thalion sat down and activated the magic circle. It began to hum with power, glowing an almost white color—an unusual sight in this overwhelmingly golden world. It was far superior to the large circle Zyra had created for him.

Energy from the circle surged toward him, almost forcing its way into his body. Thalion carefully drew it in. This setup was perfect: the passive effects of the circle enhanced his blood's strength, while he actively worked on his soul. Even now, he avoided directly altering his soul core, choosing instead to wrap it in more spirit veins. This process had become much easier over time. He remembered the frustration of his first attempts—when the veins constantly tore apart. God, that had been annoying.

Now, with precision, he slowly wrapped his soul core in spirit veins while his blood absorbed the circle's power. More accurately, his entire body was greedily devouring the energy. After sitting in silence for half a day, Thalion finally felt strong enough to try one of the teleportation circles. He stepped into the first one and vanished. When he reappeared, he found himself in a gigantic library. Calling it "gigantic" was an understatement. He couldn't even see where it ended.

Endless rows of books stretched ahead of him, with people appearing out of nowhere, grabbing books, and vanishing again. Looking around, Thalion noticed a problem. There was no magic circle beneath him. That meant he had no idea how to return to his room. And since his room had no windows or doors, it was unlikely he could simply find his way back. Well, at least I can read something, he thought. He had always been interested in runes and magic circles.

He also wanted to learn more about combat techniques and body tempering. His body felt stronger than before, though he wasn't sure if that was due to the circle or the mountain's influence. Like a normal library, this one had headings to organize the books. There were sections on potion brewing, cooking, and countless other topics he couldn't see from where he stood. Thalion began running through the rows, searching for a heading of interest. It took him over two hours to find one: "Beastmasters."

This could be interesting, he thought. Maybe there were tips for evolution options for the umbral predator, eagly, and the nuclear weapon. The shelves were over 50 meters tall, with helpful labels pointing out categories like flying beasts, water beasts, fire beasts, elementals, dragons, and more. Dragons piqued his curiosity. Dragons were beings of absolute power and majesty on Earth, while elementals intrigued him for entirely different reasons.

After some searching, he found a book that promised to answer many of his questions about dragons. Scales of Time: The Evolutionary Path of Dragons This book traced the evolution of dragons, from primitive reptiles to majestic, intelligent beings capable of wielding powerful magic. It detailed their adaptations, including fire-breathing, flight, elemental affinities, and even rare psychic abilities. This was perfect. Thalion sat down, leaning against the bookshelf.

The book was thick, its cover adorned with the head of a golden dragon. Alright, this is better than I imagined, he thought as he began reading. The book explained the different kinds of dragons in extraordinary detail. First, there were the dragonborn, which were born when two dragons loved each other or one got raped. Then there were self-made dragons. At certain levels of cultivation, beasts could alter their bodies, allowing something as small as an opossum to eventually become a mighty dragon.

However, this transformation usually required nurturing by a powerful being and a lot of time. Why did so many beasts choose to become dragons? The book explained that dragons were exceptional all-rounders. Their scales provided immense resistance to both physical and magical attacks. They were large, strong, and possessed powerful breath attacks, which varied depending on the type of dragon.

These dragons were relatively common at certain cultivation levels but were hunted frequently for their valuable parts—scales, teeth, claws, and even their flesh. The third type of dragon—the true dragon—was a creature of legend. True dragons had all the attributes of normal dragons, but amplified to absurd levels. Entire armies were often required to take one down. They were incredibly rare and required vast amounts of time and resources to reach their peak form. True dragons couldn't even be born directly.

When two true dragons mated, their offspring were regular dragons. These young dragons could be empowered through rich environments and natural treasures, much like the techniques used by the ant queens for their young. Finishing the section on evolution, Thalion explored the different types of dragons: fire, ice, wind, earth, water, poison, light, darkness—the list went on endlessly. What would be the best form to become a dragon? Thalion mused.

The umbral predator was already incredibly strong, but evolving it into a dragon would make it even more formidable. Eagly had made significant progress since he had taken the form. Thalion considered pushing it toward a wyvern form—the beast he had spotted above the mountains when he found the crystals. According to the book, wyverns came before the evolution to real dragons, and many beasts used them as stepping stones before becoming full-fledged dragons.

However, only a handful of beasts in an entire galaxy managed to become wyverns, and even fewer became dragons. True dragons were even rarer. The book couldn't provide an exact comparison, stating that only one true dragon emerged every thousand galaxies or so. This was a weird way to say that something was very rare, Thalion thought while a goal solidified in his mind. Eagly would evolve from an uncommon bird into a true dragon. What better story was there than that?

From the start, he had wanted to empower eagly to unimaginable heights. True dragons were the pinnacle, and Thalion preferred dragons over any other creatures.