Eren was inside the underground space again.

It was the same space where he had fought Rog the assassin.

This time, he had come prepared to enter the testing ground meant to be used by the Hexers of the Bear’s Creed. He quickly placed the two keys in their place and waited for the door to open.

Creek!

The runes of the two giant doors lit up when Eren placed the keys of the door in their respective slots. He heard a distinct sound as the doors creaked open.

A seemingly dark and gloomy passageway opened its maw in front of him. Taking a deep breath, Eren entered the belly of the beast, hoping that he’d be able to come back out alive from the so-called testing grounds.

Tap tap tap

Eren began walking towards the other side of the passageway. He had conjured a flame on his hands with his fire-element mana. But all he could see at this point was a passageway made from old limestones.

Finally, after a few more minutes of walking aimlessly, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

Eren didn’t rush and spread his mana in front of him before walking toward the light.

“Oh? A challenger has finally appeared. Hehehe!

Just perfect. I was getting bored anyway.”

A voice sounded in Eren’s ears when he stepped into a large hall that had nothing but two passageways connected to it. The hall was illuminated by the illuminating stones placed at various places.

One of the passageways was where Eren had come from. The other was the passageway that was connected to the other side of the large hall.

The hall was about 300 meters in length, 100 meters in width, and about 20 meters in height. It offered plenty of space for battles.

“Hello. I believe a formal introduction is due.”

Eren said to the voice while glancing around. He had read from the books he had bought that the testing grounds would often have caretakers assigned to them. They could be anything and anyone, alive or artificial.

“Hehe. That is indeed true. But what if you die in the first test? You need to earn the introduction you want by winning the first test.”

The feminine voice resounded in the hall once again. Eren had failed to detect the source of the voice. So he could only give up before accepting the proposal.

“Alright. What do I need to do?”

The feminine voice didn’t take long to answer.

“Survive the onslaught of your opponents for 30 minutes and you’d win the first test. The more enemies you destroy, the greater your rewards for clearing the first test.

Simple isn’t it? Should we get the party started?”

Eren nodded without a second’s delay. He had come prepared to face everything and anything that gets thrown his way. This was why he had taken his time to enter the place. Thus, he had nothing else to think about.

“Hehe. Such a fierce determination. I like you. You are the first challenger of this site. So I don’t have any reference to compare your performance with the other rankers.

Therefore, I’ll start with the default setting first before gradually increasing the level of difficulty. Of course, you can tell me if things get too much for you. But remember, the more you perform, the better your rewards will be.”

The voice said to Eren in a playful tone. He understood that the first test demanded that he knew about his own limits.

​ Clear the level using default settings and the rewards won’t be impressive. On the other hand, if he increases the difficulty too much, he risks his life.

The challengers could contact the voice in real time if they found out that the current level is not right for them. But the caretaker would only be able to raise the level one-sidedly before the end of the test. It will not be possible for her to lower the level once it has been raised by the challenger himself.

Eren understood the rules of the test and told the voice to start the first test. He retrieved his Tachi sword and prepared himself to face his opponents, whoever or whatever they might be.

A large array lit up on the ground and a bunch of shadows was conjured in the hall. Eren focused his gaze and locked his mana sense on his newly summoned opponents as soon as they appeared.

“Puppets!”

Eren blurted out as he saw his opponents. They were seven puppets holding various weapons in their hands.

These puppets were made of a strange material that looked like it was a fusion between wood and plastic. They were all shorter than Eren, measuring up to 5 feet. But they all had prominent mana signatures, placing their power somewhere on his level.

The puppets were dressed in long black and brown cloaks. They had featureless faces and their limbs looked like they were too rigid to move freely. The joints in the puppets’ limbs also looked strange, as if they would not have the normal stride humans take.

“Your battle begins in about five seconds. Try to not eat more than you can chew. Hehe!

All the best, Eren!”

After saying this, the voice stopped speaking. Eren gripped his Tachi hard before bracing himself for the multi-opponent fight. He expected that since he was fighting with puppets, they wouldn’t be able to coordinate as a team.

And that he would be able to pass the test without much difficulty.

Eren was right. But only partially.

He soon found out that another array had appeared on the ground the puppets had stood on. It didn’t do anything to the puppets. Furthermore, it did not summon more puppet warriors. It just released a dense cloud of green gas that started to spread all around the hall.

Eren frowned when he saw the green gas getting released. But at this time the countdown turned to zero and the puppets’ eyes glowed red.

The test had started.

Swoosh. Attack. Boom.

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