Volume 1 - Chapter 5: The old man finds a piece of the strongest weapon (1/2)

I opened the door to the Temple of the Primal Flame located at the bottom of the dungeon.

Unlike the display at the entrance of the dungeon, there weren’t any monsters waiting to ambush its door but rather, a mysterious organ began to play as a candlestick in the center of the temple decorated with jewels emitting an ominous red light.

[It’s beautiful.] (Selene)

Selene let out her voice in astonishment at the Primal Flame. That was the item that would allow Flaregard’s forge to continue running, however, we couldn’t immediately retrieve the candlestick early. Reason being, that the last test hasn’t begun yet.

[Everyone. This is the last test. Don’t forget that you won’t be able to receive any help for this test.] (Yuuya)

[Uhn. We understand. Luna has plenty of training from Yuuya so she’ll be fine alone.] (Luna)

[Uhn uhn. Based on what we heard from Yuuya-niisan there’s no way we can’t clear the exam.] (TIl)

[That’s right. It’ll definitely be cleared easily.] (Selene)

[Yuuya, It’ll be embarrassing if they were the ones to clear before we did.] (Phil)

I let out a wry smile as it seems I was too worried. It was time to put my faith in these children.

[How reliable. In that case, let’s go!] (Yuuya)

As we approached the candlestick, the music of the organ became louder and louder as the Primal Flame became stronger and stronger, forming the figure of a goddess as she appeared to smile.

[Welcome. Adventurers who have cleared the six trials. The seventh trial shall be the final trial to see if you are worthy of possessing the flames of god.]

Just as expected, the previous floors were trials which led up to this moment.

[The seventh trial tests your inner will. Now display your strength to your heart’s content.]

As soon as the goddess’s monologue ended, the earth began to rumble as I felt the strange sensation of floating in the air as if we were being transferred.

In the next moment, I found myself not within the temple but in a black room as I was all alone. This was a test of the individual will, and whoever that passed would be granted the right to bring the Primal Flame home whereas those that fail would lose their lives.

[I can’t afford to be the last one to clear the trial. It’s about time for me to get ready to clear this.] (Yuuya)

I sharpened my senses as I tightened my grip on my blade, staring at the person standing in front of me.

He had equipment much similar to mine and even had the same face. He was also holding a sword however he had a complete difference stance from me despite possessing the same status as me.

Just as the goddess said, this wasn’t a test of the person’s strength or status, but rather the experience, tactics and discipline, the person’s inner strength. Fighting someone who had the exact same skills and abilities you did. As if you were fighting a perfect AI-controlled character in a game, weeding out any adventurers who relied on their powerful equipment and superior abilities to overwhelm their enemies but doing the same back to them.

That wasn’t the way I had raised the girls which were why they, as well as I, had faith in their ability to clear the trial. There wasn’t any way they would lose to themselves who relied on their skills instead of their own innate abilities.

Without any hesitation, tricks up our sleeves or secrets between us, we rushed to each other head-on. As we brought our swords up towards each other, the copy activated a skill which was I was extremely familiar with Bash. However efficient it was, it was an extremely predictable skill as it’s attack trajectory and timing was telegraphed during its activation. At the end of the day, it was still a beginner’s skill and wasn’t a skill used frequently by the top adventurers aside from situations where it would be guaranteed to land. It was all about reading and countering the attack.

Rushing into close-quarter combat, I dodged the attack by taking a step diagonally letting the attack pass right past me, raising my blade up to the copy’s neckline causing blood to sprout out of his neck like a fountain. The copy immediately rose its blade to attempt a second attack as I stuck my blade to the ground, placing my palm onto its chest.

[Napalm Strike.] (Yuuya)

Heat erupted in an explosion from my palm as the entire copy’s entire body blew off into smithereens.

[There was zero chance of me losing to my own status.] (Yuuya)

Even if they had my own status, I wouldn’t lose to my own mirror image as they would have died a hundred times over back in the day. In order to survive, I had to possess skills far greater than my status. The face of my copy distorted as a monster-like lump appeared, turning into blue particles. It was a special monster which could only be found in the Temple of the Primal Flame, Mirror Clayman who was capable of replicating its opponent down to their equipment.

It was impossible to use the weapons replicated by them though I did hope that I would get their item drop. However, it didn’t drop it as I hoped that one of the other girls would be able to obtain it. Just as I was thinking that my thoughts were disrupted by the strange sensation of teleportation as I was transferred back to the temple.

Now then, I wonder if everyone made it safely.

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.

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Feeling the sensation of teleportation on my skin, it seems that I was the first to appear back into the temple. I sighed a sigh of relief as I managed to maintain my dignity as the teacher of essentially the entire party. Shortly after, I saw a second silhouette as Phil returned to the temple. Although she only took slightly longer than I did to return, her condition was so tattered that I wouldn’t call it a clean victory.

[Are you okay? I thought that if it was you, then you would clear the trial relatively easily.] (Yuuya)

[If I was even half a step slower, I’m sure that I would have been dead.. Speaking of which I was surprised. I didn’t think that it would start the battle with that technique.] (Phil)

[Is that technique something I should know of?] (Yuuya)

[Druids aren’t just capable of granting attributes and supportive magics. There are also lethal techniques that could be used against others and the image tried to use it at the beginning. In hindsight I’m glad I got to see it although I myself didn’t get to experiment with it.] (Phil)

In regards to Druids, I am completely clueless. I have never seen a druid even back in the game era.

[If it’s that strong, then it’ll be a waste if you don’t experiment with it. There’s no meaning in learning a skill you won’t use.] (Yuuya)

[That’s the point. I may not be able to use it but it’s just an insurance in the event that it is necessary. What it is though, is still a secret~.] (Phil)