Chapter 1011 (2/2)

Finally, the spell was broken; Someone in the crowd gulped down a mouth full of saliva. Even Vye couldn’t help but feel her heart begin to pound. The past week had been so filled with training and weird exercises and rules that she had forgotten what it was like to make her own decisions.

If she touched an Image Stone… she could decide for herself to take a break. Any time she wanted.

Of course, the reason that Vye stuck with the training was she could feel how much she had improved after even one week. And at her core, that dream of being able to seize the freedom to travel the land with impunity was still the engine that drove her forward. But even so…

Vye’s fingernails drew blood on her palm as she regarded the three Image Stones. Having a modicum of control like a break day was definitely the first step she needed to take.

This is the first time there has been a reward like this… it's practically an announcement by Randidly Ghosthound that this is the strength that we need to have to reach his level. I’ll touch those fucking stones if its the last thing I do…

After giving his short speech, Naffur walked off to discuss things with Ajax. Which meant that the aspirants were free to wander toward the standing stones to investigate.

With slow and deliberate motions, the aspirants split into groups of two or three and wandered around the outside of the newly renovated area. There were three stone steles about the size of a person arranged in a wide triangle. Around each was a series of circles that had been carved into the ground. The outer distance of the largest circle was twenty meters, but there were also circles at ten and five meters.

In addition, there were also piles of rope with hooks on the end laying about. The aspirants regarded each other in confusion. They looked back over to Naffur. He seemed to be completely content to allow the aspirants to explore, so they returned their focus to the image stones and carefully studied them. They had learned in the past week that Naffur wouldn’t instruct them when they were meant to find things out on their own. So it was up to them to perform their own investigations.

That was the way of the Order Ducis. It wasn’t just strength that was revered here, but also the ability to make confident decisions under less than ideal circumstances.

Vye made her first realization as she began to walk at the edge of the twenty-meter line around the Image Stones: they weren’t kidding about this being a type of training. There seemed to be some engravings at the edge of the twenty-meter circle that veiled the outside from the image stones, but there was still a palpable pressure as they moved through the area.

The pressure was something that you barely noticed at first, but it rapidly became apparent that although the strain was small, it quickly added up. Many people began to frown toward the Image Stones.

Gritting her teeth, Vye turned to Garrett. The man’s sour expression didn’t change at all after entering the area, so Vye inwardly softened her choice of words about the Image Stones. “This… is certainly one sort of training.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” Garrett said again. Vye rolled her eyes. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised. If there was one thing that was predictable, it was Garrett’s gloomy outlook.

But then she looked to the side because Valor Rend was rolling up his sleeves and walking directly to the edge of one of the twenty-meter circles.

Of everyone amongst the aspirants, Valor would be the unanimous frontrunner to join the Order Ducis. He wasn’t as fast as some other people, or as strong, or possess ranged Skills that were as overwhelming as some others, but he was probably close to the top in every category. Like Randidly Ghosthound himself, he pursued the Path of an all-rounder.

His hair was even short like Randidly’s, although Valor’s was a golden-blond. His bronze skin and heavy muscles somehow made the constant film of blood and dirt that covered all of the aspirants look somehow heroic.

At the edge of the circle, Valor raised his chin. The focus of all of the aspirants settled on the golden boy. After a breath, Valor stepped through the circle into the inner area.

“Huh…? Urgk!”

Immediately, Valor grunted in pain. His eyes widened, and it was obvious even from this distance that his pupils dilated. But the man gritted his teeth and took several steps forward. Yet that just caused his eyes to widen further.

“I will not be stopped here…! My destiny…!” Valor bellowed as he stretched his arms wide. Then he took two more firm steps forward.

After swaying for a second, Valor crumpled to the side. His face smashed into the ground with an audible noise. It was only a few seconds later that his body slowly rolled to the side.

He was foaming at the mouth and clearly unconscious. There was no circle in the area he collapsed, but from the few steps he had taken… he probably hadn’t even made it to the fifteen-meter mark around that Image Stone.

“I suppose that’s what the ropes are there for…”

Vye turned to look at the speaker; the barefooted and bushy-eyebrowed Aldo stood next to her, regarding the collapsed Valor. At her gaze, he shrugged and gestured toward the body. “He faced the full force of the Ghosthound’s image. Is this little bit of mental damage a surprise? Just be glad he wasn’t eviscerated by roots…”

The brightest star of the Order Ducis recruitment camp continued to lay on the ground, foam studiously bubbling up out of his slack-jawed mouth.