The Tales of Draconic Warlock

It was as I thought. Nothing grand, just a basic look.

This was similar to what was written in the web novel stories that I read. The room was white and there were no windows or doors of course. It was like I was in an underground or closed space with no way out.

This is how a horror part of the horror movies starts. The character who finds himself or herself in such a situation most likely dies unless the character is the MC of the story or saving the character would make the MC famous.

Only in such situations, would the confined character survive. In other scenarios, it would be the end of the story for them.

I hope this is not like the situation in a horror movie. I don't even have anything that can pull me out of a situation like this.

I never thought I would be in a situation where I would need escape or teleportation talismans. Once I leave this secret realm, I should buy some. It would be best if they were of the highest order, no matter the cost. Being alive is more important than having luxury.

Gold can be earned as long as you are alive and its only purpose is to live a good long life. It was not like one could take the gold earned to the afterlife. I should know and I definitely didn't.

Wait, why am I thinking of getting those after I leave this?

How could I forget about the cosmic market?

I don't know whether this is a trap or not. So I should get those items now if possible. Let's see if there are any...huh?

Why is it not responding?

Wait, does this area have restrictions on using certain items?

The space ring is not restricted but the cosmic market access is. If that's the case, then there is a chance that having some scrolls or talismans wouldn't help me. The only things that are of any use here would be my skills and weapons that I can take out of the space storage.

I am a warlock and that means I can't properly use teleportation abilities but that changed when I got the space affinity.

Though it won't be as effective as a Space Mage, I think as long as I can learn some space skills it would be easy to break restrictions like this but all of that was for the future. Now if I am truly stuck here, I need to find a way out of here first.

As I was thinking about the similarities in the novels and possibly some horror movies, and how to escape, a red portal appeared in front of me.

"Please enter the red portal to start the Trial of Strength".

As I was contemplating what the portal was for, I heard a mechanical voice, which sounded a bit like a female voice.

So this portal would lead me to the place where the trial takes place, so why didn't I directly go there instead of coming here? It was a waste of time. Let's do this.

With determination, I entered the portal. There was no other choice for me from that point.

Luckily it was not a horror movie where I would be confined and be asked to complete certain tasks to escape the room. Wait, this is exactly like that horror movie.

---

After entering the portal, I appeared on what looked like a plain desert. The land is dry and there are no trees or anything in the visible range. The landscape looked as if it was going through droughts for the past few decades or so.

The creator probably thought that would be a waste of time and energy, and decided to make the battlefield a barren place. I agree with that view of point.

This trial is called the Trial of Strength and by that, I am sure that I have to fight someone or something. In a fight, the surroundings are sure to get destroyed. So what's the point of having build all that, so that it would be destroyed in the trial anyway?

It surely would be a waste of time and energy.

Enough of that. Now where is my opponent?

Roar!

A huge monster appeared five hundred meters away from me. Ah, it looks like my opponent is here.

Huh, it looks like an Asorian Lion monster. They are known for their strength. A Tier-6 Asorian lion can easily smash a small city with two or three strikes. This is why it was issued to not anger them. If there appears a situation where one has to fight an Asorian Lion monster, then kill the monster.

It is the only way. scaping is not an answer as it would track the hunters back to human habitats. It would lead to a catastrophe if there were no high-ranking humans present nearby.

So in a fight with these monsters, either kill them or die there. No other option is available.

The human official won't like dragging such monsters to the human habitats and there would be punishment mostly in the form of payment.

It doesn't matter whether you are rich or poor, you have to pay the amount depending on the damage that the monster caused.

Usually, such crimes may lead to imprisonment or death, but this world's people have seen that no matter what punishment the accused faces, it doesn't bring anything useful. So there would be only the choice of repayment.

Of course, they can repay the debt slowly over a large amount of time and if not paid, it would extend to their descendants.

There is a small loophole of course. It is that this person can escape to other nations that have enmity with their nation or become a bandit. Except that, there is no choice of escape. Oh, death is also an option that they can take but no sane person would take that.

Wait, why is that monster roaring and not moving?

"Defeat your opponent in twenty minutes to pass the exam".

The mechanical voice once again appeared and gave me the instructions.

Match begins in...

3...

2...

1...

START.