The eighth stage's opponent was a dual awakener monster with both its paths being 6/6.

It was a plant as tall as an adult. It was a beautiful blue thing and looked perfectly normal until—

Whoosh!

The room was flooded with water and the blue plant wriggled.

"Roo!"

The plant morphed into a blue…fish?

Varian only had time to blink before he sidestepped. But it was still too late.

Boom!

He was hit on the sides and was sent flying.

The next thing he knew, he crashed to a wall and broke a few bones as he coughed out blood.

"Roo!"

The fishs's scream came again. But even with Varian's hyper vision, he couldn't see it.

Lightning wings appeared on Varian's back. With a flap, Varian flew into the air.

He spread his space sense and probed the water. It was unnaturally blue, perfectly blending with the fish's own color.

But thankfully, his space sense didn't depend on sight.

'Gotcha!' Varian's eyes lit up as he 'sensed' a one-meter long blue-scaled fish.

But as he carefully observed the creature, his happy mood didn't last.

'This motherfucking combination!'

The fish kept sucking in the water mana from the water. With each flap of its fins, the water mana was more and more integrated with its body.

Elemental awakeners were usually stronger in their native element., like Sarah who got a boost in strength in the water dungeon.

But this fish took it a step further.

Its morphing entity—the blue-scaled fish seemed to be a creature that would thrive in water mana from the water bodies around it.

And by being a water awakener, it provided that very water mana to itself!

With this huge boost, it was more stronger than any level 6.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three water pillars shot out and reached Varian in the blink of an eye.

Varian teleported away and looked at the place he previously was.

The water pillars collided

Boom!

The shockwaves from the blast were so strong that they'd have killed even the best peak level 5s.

'You fucking fish.' Varian rolled his eyes and avoided another combo of water pillars.

Boom!

Varian didn't want to fight the fish in water. It was stupid and dangerous.

But if things went on like this, he could forget about winning.

'If it isn't in water…' Varian's eyes narrowed.

Yes, the fish itself wasn't a strong opponent. It was the water mana that gave it this stupid boost.

Despite being a water awakener and having water mana in its own body, it needed a water body flowing with water mana.

Or it wouldn't need to go to such lengths to keep the room's water filled with water mana.

"Now this is interesting." Varian chuckled.

He avoided the water pillars again, ableit barely. If he had been careless, he'd have taken a serious injury.

"Roo!"

The fish released the water mana from its body into the water.

The water mana dispersed and the fish had no control over it once it entered the water.

The mana swirled, clashed and finally re-entered its body, finishing the loop.

The base physical powers of the fish skyrocketed, along with its own mana control.

Boom! Boom!

"Roo!"

The fish screamed as it shot the water pillars at Varian. Its strategy was simple and clear.

Force Varian to keep dodging without any break and he'd soon be exhausted. Then, it could kill him with ease.

But all of a sudden, its mind slowed down.

A foreign force broke into its mind and in that brief moment, another invisible force formed walls around the fish, seperating it from the water body—it was the telekinetic force.

The space around this invisible wall solidified, creating a stronger wall.

"Hmph!" The telekinetic force pulled up the invisible box.

"Roo!"

The fish wasn't a weakling and with a single flap of its fins, it crashed the invisible walls and the blocked space.

At that moment, the invisible box hadn't come out of the water yet. But thanks to the pull, it was just below the water surface.

Zaap!

Right then, a very, very small lightning bolt reached the water surface right above the fish.

The lightning immediately evaporated the water it was in contact with.

Since it was very targeted, the evaporation was limited to a very small radius. This resulted in more water in the same place being evaporated.

"Roo!"

Since the fish was pulled to just below the surface, and the lightning bolt stuck in that exact position, the water around it was also evaporated.

Due to its physique, its injuries due to the lightning bolt were minimal.

But—

"Roo!"

For a brief moment, the fish had no water around it.

It flapped its fins and was about to dive in when the space around it fluctuated and a fish appeared.

Boom!

With a single punch, Varian broke the fish's head and ended its life.

A light flashed and the room lit up.

In a few seconds, the water in the room disappeared along with all traces of the fish's remains.

Whoosh!

Two red orbs reached Varian and he happily absorbed them.

'Two is indeed better than one…' Varian smirked and for some reason, Sarah and Sia flashed in his mind.

'Shut up!'

He focused back on the red orbs. It wasn't just the aura that these orbs gave. It was strange to say, but they seem to give 'insights'.

'Strange...' While he thought, he continued assimilating the aura.

Normally, any awakener took weeks to digest these insights and aura.

That's why no one absorbed the orbs inside the ruins. But Varian was different.

Splash!

Varian's

'Status'

[Body Path Level 6: 4/6 (+1)

Space Path Level 6: 4/6

Lightning Path Level 6: 4/6 (+1)

Morpher Path Level 6: 4/6 (+1)

Telepath Path Level 6: 4/6 (+1)

Telekinetic Path Level 6: 3/6 (+1)

Water Path Level 6: 500/4000 (advanced, +500)]

'If Sarah knew that I reached level 6 in less than a week after awakening…' Varian's lips curled into a teasing smile.

Of course, it seemed so easy and even effortless.

After all, he just went from low level 5 to low level 6 in less than two hours.

If it was really so easy, why didn't everyone do it?

Because it wasn't actually easy.

Of course, if only the first six stages were considered, the trial wasn't that hard.

Considering that the twenty-one golden orbs he got from the first six stages gave him almost 1000 XP, the rewards were fine.

But since a person could only challenge this golden room once in their life, awakeners tended to use the opportunity at higher levels.

'They just have to participate in the trial when they are on the verge of advancing.'

However, the golden orbs were nothing compared to the red orbs.

Not only did the red orbs supply aura, but they also seem to give 'insight'. Varian felt that these things were way more helpful for high awakeners.

Varian got the red orbs only after defeating monsters that were even stronger than his peak level.

So, if anyone wanted the same reward, they'd have to do the same.

The 6/6 awakener could easily win the first six stages.

Being a peak level 7, how could you defeat the being that was supposed to be stronger than any peak level 7?

The only way was to either be a very, very battle-hardened genius.

Or

Be a dual awakener.

'But even dual awakeners can't guarantee a victory in the seventh stage.' Varian shrugged.

'The eighth stage is even harder.' Even triple awakeners might not win it.

"So, this is the standard of Devas." Varian sighed.

{You have the potential to be a planet ruler. Do you wish to continue the trial and challenge the potential of the emperor?}

The ethereal voice sounded in his mind once again. It even seemed a bit…joyful?

"Emperor…" Varian muttered the word.

{Yes, the emperor.}

The voice replied, startling Varian.

"You can talk?"

{Basic retrieval of data from archives is enabled.}

"…what happens if I win the next stage?"

{You will be one of the few with the potential to be the Deva Emperor. You will be a Deva prince.}

"Only potential?"

{Yes. You must still compete with the other princes. The strongest one will become the Emperor.}

"Other princes?" Varian titled his head. "There are other princes?"

"…"

"Hello?"

"Yes."

"Are there other princes?"

"…"

The voice fell silent again.

Varian rubbed his chin and asked another question. "When was the last prince selected?"

The voice fell silent and when Varian thought it wouldn't answer, it gave a surprising reply.

"6500 years ago."

"…Fuck."

Varian could feel it.

He was close to it to level 7.

The only question…would the three red orbs be sufficient?

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