Chương 8

Climbing the damnable stairway to heaven was an implicit form of torture even without the soul-crushing pressure, like running a marathon with a ruck vest after a grueling leg day. Who would build a staircase with thousands of steps? Sadists. That was who. Even with his improved stats, Ethan had to stop many times to rest and catch his breath.

This made him think maybe he was a bit low-leveled for the occasion, but what else could he do other than suck it up, hurl himself into the abyss beneath and hope that it's a feather bed? There were not enough mushrooms for that. He made his last stop just a few steps shy of where the stairs finally ended and connected to a large platform, as big as a quarter of a football field. While waiting for his stamina to restore, he gazed underneath the platform that was made of the same golden material as the stairs.

Despite being so close to it, he had no idea what awaited him at the surface of it, yet he wasn't curious at all. The dissociative fugue state was weird like that. His mind was crystal clear, and he was ready to do whatever was necessary to survive, but he also carried the mindset of 'if I die, I die.' No, that wasn't quite right. There was barely an 'I' left to speak of. His sense of self was muddled, leaving him with no attachment to his emotions or desires.

Even survival wasn't something he wanted; it was simply the logical conclusion. Dying here would serve no purpose. Life still held too many possibilities to discard so casually. Although he still had his memories, he simply didn't understand the way he used to be. It was all too alien. That was why, as soon as he finished his climb, he switched to his old self. Regardless of its benefits, this state was too much of a wild card to tinker with in this place.

A spark of life returned to his eyes as he took a deep breath. The pressure was gone, replaced by a sudden chill that drew his attention to his surroundings. On his right stood a life-size statue of a man, extending its right hand as its palm faced upward. Around him, twelve other statues were kneeling, each with a different kind of weapon and armor. They consisted of various races–humans, elves, dwarves, and even beastkins. The one standing didn't seem to have any weapons, but he was wearing a stylish black cloak.

And unlike the weapons, the cloak was a real item, not a part of the statue. Ethan's gaze didn't linger much on them, because a pond full of water caught his eye on the left. Licking his dry lips, he advanced toward it with fast yet careful steps, but had to stop as he noticed the thin, dome-shaped transparent barrier surrounded it. He took out his blowgun with a frown and fired a dart at the pond. The barrier gleamed with a silver hue upon contact, while the dart bounced a little and fell to the floor.

Clicking his tongue, Ethan turned to the statues and narrowed his eyes. He lifted his head to the starry sky and yelled once again, ''Hello!? Is there anyone out there?'' Seconds passed without a reply. Shaking his head, he placed the blowgun back and drew near the statues. As he got closer, the chill intensified, shooting down his spine as cold sweat made his t-shirt cling to his back. On his next step, the air grew heavy, a silent pulse of energy flared from the statues, and their shadows started to sway.

Their eyes became pitch-black, then returned to normal the next instant. Swirling gray mist rose from the kneeling statues and took the shape of their statues before stepping forward. The shadowy beings snapped their heads at him simultaneously. Gulping, Ethan stepped back and raised his hands.

''N-Now, wait a minute! Honorable warriors, I'm sure you and your organization are all about fairness. Surely you won't be teaming up against this poor boy.'' They just did that. As the shadowy beings drew their weapons and charged, Ethan removed his backpack and tossed it to the side. Gritting his teeth, he unsheathed his knives and turned back, running to the pond at full speed. Just as he made it near the pond, a gray arrow struck its barrier and dissolved into the air, failing to reach his head.

With his pursuers trailing behind him, Ethan ran around the large pond closely, but the four at the back stopped chasing. The archer and a dwarf stood back, while the other two decided to block him by circling the pond from the other side. The two shadowy beings blocking his path were a knight with a greatsword and a serpentine humanoid beast with a long, hooked chain. He dashed toward them without slowing. The beastkin stepped forward and launched its chain toward his feet.

He jumped to dodge easily, but the knight was already moving. Without missing a beat, it lunged forward and raised its sword, ready to cleave him in half. Still in the air, Ethan bent a little and kicked his side. The pond's rounded barrier gleamed in silver once again as his feet touched its surface. With an explosive speed, he thrust himself toward the knight and plunged his knife into its eye before it had a chance to swing its greatsword.

As they fell to the floor, the once-solidified shadow turned vaporous along with its equipment. The mist-like substance condensed into a fist-sized gray wisp and shot toward the standing statue. It passed through it and got sucked into the cloak. Ethan only had a second to be surprised. The beastkin pulled its chain and rotated it over its head before swinging it at him. He barely managed to jump over it, but one of the hooks on the chain caught his sheath.

With an awe-inspiring technique, the beastkin switched its hands' position on the chain in an instant, revolved its torso to the opposite direction, and pulled him with a sudden jerk. His poor craftsmanship saved his life. The sheath broke apart in mid-pull. Instead of launching headfirst to the beastkin's boot, he ended up a few feet away. After gaining his balance, he spun on his back and swept his leg at the beastkin's calf, tripping it right next to him.

Seizing the opening, he stabbed its armpit and hauled its heavy body over himself to shield the incoming arrow. A sharp pain flared on his shoulder as he recoiled. The blasted arrow actually passed through the beastkin and struck his shoulder before dissolving into the air and leaving a bloody hole. At the same time, the beastkin's body condensed and shot toward the cloak, just as the knight's body had been. Ethan grunted. Really? They die as long as I injure them? At least tell me the rules beforehand, bastards.

With his pursuers catching up, he didn't linger any longer and sprinted toward the archer. Despite his complaining, his eyes shone with excitement. This was pretty much his idea of a good time. More than that, this entire set-up was extremely similar to his daily training regimen in the game of Cut-Throat. He'd spent countless hours fighting against close combatant NPCs.

Whenever his gruesome deaths subsided and he started killing his enemy with his limbs intact, he increased the difficulty by either upping the enemy's mastery or switching their choice of weapon, until a single enemy was no longer a challenge. For years upon years, he had trained in VR every night and continued to refine his skills in real life every day, with Ani offering spot-on insights on how to improve his performance. Of course, it was no walk in the park.

Simply put, no matter how much you lower the pain sensation in VR, getting gutted sucked. It took a special kind of person to yell, ' Again!' with a mad glint in their eyes after being revived for the umpteenth time. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. When he'd finally gotten bored and decided to play the game with others, a storm took over the Cut-Throat and gave birth to the notorious crime organization, The Dominion.

Now, after getting trashed by all kinds of strange beasts in the nightmare village for the past week, the chance to let off steam with humanoid weapon masters was a blessing in disguise. This was his playground. He needed this. The archer nocked another arrow, which Ethan dodged by rolling over his good shoulder, only to realize the incoming tomahawk that the dwarf threw. He flung himself sideways, but the weapon nicked both his chin and upper arm.

Not wishing to stay in the crossfire, he dashed to the archer and blocked the dwarf's path with his ally, also noticing that one among his pursuers was hot on his tail, a petite girl with dual daggers who seemed to be the only one faster than him. I think they are all on the same level as me, but their stat distributions are different. Thank God they don't use skills. The corner of his eye twitched as the thrown tomahawk returned to the dwarf's hand in a blur.

A short sword replaced the archer's bow and slashed at his neck. Ethan parried the attack, sidestepped, and cut the enemy's wrist with his other knife, sending its ass to the cloak as well. He gave his back to the statues and turned to face the girl with daggers, not forgetting to avoid the whistling tomahawks. As they clashed in a flurry of attacks, he kept backpedaling. The statues were placed several feet apart from each other.

Considering the remaining seven shadowy beings that were about to join the fray as well, his best bet would be herding them among the statues while keeping his back free. As long as he was on the move, he could find openings to injure his enemies. The girl with daggers pushed him back relentlessly, every strike aiming to take his life. Once he reached the statues, he deflected both daggers outward, dropped to a knee, and reverse gripped his knife, stabbing the girl's boot in a single motion.

The others arrived at this moment. He tilted his head to dodge a spear and leaned forward through the girl's dissipating form, slashing his knife at the spear user's belly and jumping back. The rest of the group charged like a calamity. Their teamwork was subpar, but they were all experts in their field. If not for the fact that he only needed to injure them, this would be far more challenging. Not that it wasn't already.

A large flail, heavy enough to crush his skull, missed him and hit a kneeling statue, yet it didn't even leave a dent. When he moved to counterattack, a sword blocked his path, heading straight to his heart. Ethan sidestepped at the last moment and spun on his heel, stabbing his knife to the swordsman's ribcage. He backed off immediately, but a searing pain arose on his thigh. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that the little menace had given up on throwing tomahawks and decided to join the melee.

Blocking the next attack with his knife, he kicked the dwarf's chest and turned to run among the statues, using them as stepping stones to sharply change directions. Once he singled out the elf with a saber, he engaged in a brutal close combat. The elf took the bait on his feint and lost his left arm in a clean slash, joining the rest in the cloak. A big club passed through his dying foe and hit his bleeding shoulder, prompting a loud cry as it hurled him to the floor.

He could've avoided that one, but the wound on his thigh affected his footwork badly. He needed to end this fast. Ethan rolled on the ground to dodge the tomahawk and cut the dwarf's ankle right after. Jumping to his feet, he charged at the club user and ducked the first strike. Instead of retaliating, he moved behind the big guy and kicked the back of its knee, sinking it to one knee.

Then, he placed his foot on its back and his knives to the sides of its neck before launching himself over the charging others with a backflip. He landed with a painful groan and took out the one closest in a swift assault. Now that their numbers were down to three, he didn't mind dancing amidst them and searching for openings. He let them come and play to his tune. Moving through their blind spots, he nicked and scored them from the most ridiculous places.

As the last one, a guy with a huge shield and a jagged axe, became a gray wisp and got sucked into the cloak, relief washed over him like a cooling rain on a blistering summer day, for a moment at least. The reality itself shuddered. The space started to ripple. The stars dimmed a notch. An overwhelming aura fell upon him as his ears started to ring. The atmosphere vibrated with a deafening hum as the ground buckled beneath his feet.

From the standing statue, a gray, foggy figure stepped forward and materi– Ethan threw his knife with all his might. The being caught the knife by the handle and looked down to see that an inch of the knife's tip was penetrating its chest. The next moment, it turned into a wisp and was dragged into the cloak. As the knife dropped to the floor with a clang, the oppressive feeling disappeared. He glanced at the statue and offered a sympathetic look.

''I know, right? No one cares about fair play these days.'''' Congratulations, initiate!'' A deep voice rang through the starry sky, coming from everywhere and nowhere.'' You have passed the trial and earned the right to join Inane Cultus Academy. Keep your entrance token with you when you ascend, and we will find you. Once you learn the Void Manual, you will also be able to choose a single skill from the Inner Court's Repository. After that, jump to the pond in order to leave the pocket world.''

Ethan listened with wide eyes.

''Um, sir, can I have a sip of the pond water first? If it's drinkable…'' No answer came as usual. He pursed his lips and muttered, ''Rude.'' The voice was likely a recording, but that didn't make their hospitality any better. A pocket world, huh? Did he mean the temple or the nightmare village as well? I won't be finding myself in front of the drake after leaving, right? He narrowed his eyes and looked around. Also, what fucking manu– Oh! Only now did he notice the small ring in the palm of the standing statue.

He dragged his battered body and grabbed the unassuming, silver ring. Licking his lips, he tried to send his mana, and a huge space appeared in his mind's eye, as big as a medium-sized apartment. Two items lay inside: a 6-ft stone monolith and a palm-sized black badge. Ethan clicked his tongue. Ganging up on me with a dozen people and not even offering a health potion afterward… No way I'm joining your Bullshit Cultus. And yet, his scowl broke into a gleeful smile in no time.

The rewards definitely made this whole thing worthwhile. A spatial storage ring, a mysterious cloak, a cultivation manual, and a freaking skill. Finally! After a few tries, he managed to get the items out of the ring. His mana didn't travel inside that space, but visualizing and willing the items out did the job. However, positioning them correctly wasn't that simple, as he almost broke his foot under the monolith. Putting the ring on his finger, he grabbed the entrance token first.

It had a smooth and glossy surface. The material looked ancient. Its edges were engraved with strange symbols and tribal patterns, while the center of it had a straight line cutting through a spiral. It was a curious thing, otherwise pretty much useless. He didn't even know what ascending really meant, only that it came after tier-9. Who knew how long it'd take to get there? Storing the token back, he walked behind the statue and took the cloak off.

There was no trace of the weird wisps, but the cloak itself was a fine piece. It was fashionable without being eye-catching. Its fabric looked like velvet but felt like silk, and it was as light as a feather. The moment he donned it, it shrank to hug his body and still stayed comfy. Two deep pockets were placed at the sides, and four more were concealed inside. They didn't have any spatial features or anything alike.

Actually, no matter what he'd tried, he couldn't find anything special about it, but he still fell in love with his new cloak and decided to figure out its mysteries in time. Finally, he walked to the stone tablet and placed his hand on it, sending his mana after some hesitation.

With a jolt, a torrent of knowledge surged through his awareness and taught him the complex method of absorbing the raw, ambient mana, giving it a void aspect by circulating through his mana channels in a specific way, and refining it into pure essence to store it. The stone tablet crumbled into debris a second later. Just as he thought about giving it a try, more stone tablets started to appear all around, several feet apart from each other.

With a slack jaw and wide eyes, Ethan stared at the hundred skill tablets and their short descriptions. Offence, defence, utility, movement… all kinds of skills with void/space related abilities overran the golden platform. He ran his hands through his hair and grabbed a handful, letting out a dry chuckle.

''Looks like the last test is overcoming decision paralysis.''