Tower of Heaven

[Grace has been lifted. Beginning the trial.]

The message appeared in front of the eyes of all 20 participants, causing them to become alert.

Atlas looked towards Helia and Leon, nodding at them before running out the side entrance of their temple.

The temple that Atlas's team was given had a generally simple structure. There were four entrances in each cardinal direction which connected to small hallways leading to the central room where the crystal was placed.

As for that room, it was a square with roughly 20 meters of area, leaving ample space for any battle that would initiate within its walls.

While Atlas charged out the West gate of the temple, Helia and Leon left through the North gate facing the opposing castle, opting for a head-on clash. As for those two ranged attackers, they stayed back for a few more minutes before following.

On the other side, there was a temple with a parallel design. A blue-haired man stood next to the crystal as he watched his team members.

"Listen, I understand that there are no consequences with losing, as we will just be forced to retake the trial. But that doesn't mean we have that luxury. Losing means that the rewards we receive after we finish the tutorial will be lessened. And from what I've heard, that reward is the most important one."

Unlike Atlas's team, their opponents seemed to have a strict hierarchy among them, with not a single person objecting to the blue-haired man's decisions.

Watching them, the man was satisfied.

"We go for a full-on assault. In this world, no schemes or trickery can triumph over absolute power."

And this was what he firmly believed. It was the teaching that had been passed on for generations in his family.

Seeing no reluctance from his team members, he finished off his speech.

"Good. Then, we charge."

When the team charged out, they noticed that the other team had a similar idea. The only difference was the numbers advantage, as they had sent 5 while the other team only sent 4.

In the middle of the desert between two temples, a large clash ensued.

The blue-haired man took the forefront, his forearms covered in heavy gauntlets that struck towards Leon's similarly gauntlet-covered arms.

Their fists met, causing a minor shockwave to spread, sweeping the ranged attackers on both sides farther away from the battle.

Meanwhile, Helia swung her massive axe with ease, using its momentum to increase her own speed. She went straight towards the other two close combat fighters on the opposing team, taking them both at once.

The weight of her axe after all the momentum she gathered was immense to the point where both her opponents were forced to use their combined strength to block the attack.

Suddenly, a small wave of arrows brushed past their location, bringing with it a slight breeze that attempted to mess up their coordination.

The arrows were on a straight path towards the backline of the battlefields, where two other individuals were charging their attacks.

Boom-!

There was a reason they had chosen to be ranged attackers. In general, their bodies weren't as durable or trained as those who fought in close combat.

And with both of the other fights being too intertwined for them to make a positive impact, they had instead chosen to eliminate each other.

From a distance far outside the range of the battlefield, Atlas closely watched these exchanges. Noticing that the battle was at a stalemate, he turned his attention toward the temple.

'That's most likely the best move I can make right now.'

Although there were 5 more cultivators within the temple that he would have to get past, Atlas was almost certain that they'd be the weakest out of the batch.

And even without that assurance, Atlas still chose to go. He both wanted to test his weapon's capabilities and quickly end this trial.

For some odd reason, he felt slightly appalled by the thought of working with a team. It was like something inside him loathed the concept of mutual trust.

Perhaps it was the influence of him living on the streets for so many years, but he honestly thought his parents had helped remove that complex. But now wasn't the time to be introspecting.

With one last look at the battlefield, Atlas ran towards the temple.

He reached the temple at its South entrance, going the long way around to avoid attracting attention.

His hands were wrapped around the hilts of his sickles, while the chain itself was tied around his wrists. There were also small metal balls at the ends of the chains for the sake of counterbalance.

This way, if he wanted to throw the sickles, they could extend freely while he had the freedom to grab and release the chain as he pleased.

Slowly creeping through the small hallway leading to the main altar, Atlas spotted his first enemy.

He was patrolling the same hallway, his eyes widening in shock when he saw an intruder.

"Hey-!" The man tried to yell, signaling his teammates, but before he had a chance, he found a curved object flying toward his face.

Clang-!

The man had no time to react, only realizing what was happening when he saw a razor-sharp blade stop mere inches in front of his face. The man stayed utterly still, not moving a muscle even after the blade was drawn back to the person who threw it.

Even if he wanted to win the trial, he valued his life much more. And so, he didn't make a single sound as the white-haired man passed by him and entered the altar room of the temple.

Only after the man had left did he slump down to the ground, his breath labored as he realized how close he had come to death.

However, he wasn't the only one that was shaken. Although he tried his best to look calm in front of his opponent, Atlas's hands were shaking uncontrollably.

Turning the corner and reaching an area where the man from earlier could no longer see him, Atlas leaned on the wall, using it to support himself as his knees began to wobble.

'I almost…I almost killed that man.' He thought to himself, even his thoughts jumbled from shock. He had never killed another person, nor had he ever thought to do so.

Even while he was beaten a step away from death multiple times as a child, he never had the thought of retaliation. But in that moment, he had almost cut through that man's head.

It was almost hard to walk straight as he kept replaying that scene in his head. It took many minutes for him to even manage to stabilize his breath.

'Controlling these weapons is far harder than expected.'

It was the reason for the murder he almost committed. In reality, he had aimed for the man's legs, wanting to immobilize him.

If it wasn't for the fact that he instinctively yanked the chains back when he saw how badly he had missed, the man would have surely been decapitated.

On paper, throwing his chain sickles accurately only needed proper aim. But he had learned firsthand that this wasn't the case.

Even if his aim was accurate, the weapons wouldn't always follow his thoughts. This was especially so since the blades were still anchored, rather than flying freely like arrows or throwing knives. There were a countless number of factors that contributed to the actual trajectory of the chain weapons.

But for now, he didn't have the luxury to explore those factors. His entrance into the altar room quickly alerted the other four opponents of his presence.

Pulling the sickles back into his hands, he tightened his grip on them once more. Until he could properly control their movement, he would opt for his specialty, close combat.