"Hmm... I guess I should check my physical prowess first," Daz decided.

"My wound isn't healing, so I don't have Regeneration nor my halo's Lifeforce restoration, at the very least." He looked down at his bleeding hand and shook his head in disappointment.

To think that he'd cut his hand open on his own weapon when fumbling about in the dark... It was almost funny.

He did some basic jumps and ran around in a circle for a bit before he came to a stop and frowned. "Just... back to normal. If I had my stats then I could jump out of the grate or pick up the boulder and smash the wall with it..."

Daz sighed a bit and then carefully wiped his injury with his shirt to clean it of the blood that was trickling out of it. Not the best method, admittedly, but his options were just as limited as his knowledge of first aid for such things.

Even in all of his years of being mistreated by his father or the man's hired muscle, he'd never been stabbed or sliced open. Madison usually patched him up when he returned covered in bruises. A cut though? This was new territory for the man.

He ripped off a bit of his undershirt to act as a bandage. "That should stop the bleeding, at least. Can't do much better than that right now."

No response met him. "It's a bit lonely without Reika and Mofolo, to be honest... This is a bit like that trial of weakness from the auction, but at least there I had my instincts..."

He moved all around the room and inspected the golden strip that was on each of the four walls before he gave the torches a good once-over.

"That golden strip definitely looks like it can pop out, but how? The torches are made of metal, but I don't see any kindling or fuel keeping them alight... If I dismount them, will they go out?" So many questions, so few answers.

"Well, I guess speculation won't get me anywhere. The only thing that I can really do is try to get the boulder in the hole, right? I have a feeling that I shouldn't do that though. It's too obvious... Hmm..." Daz was locked in thought.

It wasn't long until he had come to a decision. Daz had dismounted all four of the torches. Thankfully, they didn't go out, which was a relief. Had they stopped providing light then he would have been forced to rework his entire plan.

He laid them out in a row to the side of the boulder that was atop of a golden pedestal, so when he knocked it off, he could still move it.

If he was right, the thing would roll along them, though he might put his back out in the process, so he was really hoping that he wouldn't have to do anything more than get it off of the pedestal.

It was massive, after all, so he didn't even know if he was capable enough to move it with or without the help of the torches.

Daz had also successfully wedged Hamson under the boulder, though not before heavily chipping the blade. Clearly, the shovel no longer maintained its boosted durability nor its ability to self-repair.

"Here's hoping my weight is enough. Fingers crossed too that you don't snap in half, Hamson. You aren't linked to the system, sure, but your blade is still tougher than steel," Daz mumbled from atop of the boulder.

He then jumped off and landed directly on the small part of Hamson's blade that was poking out from under the boulder. Daz had avoided the shaft and the handle out of fears that he'd snap the tool, which would be disastrous if he needed Hamson later on in the following 19 trials.

Now, something unexpected happened. The boulder was lifted slightly but then bounced back immediately and began rocking, though only slightly.

While conventionally unexpected, Daz had predicted this from the start. It seemed only likely considering the boulder's massive size.

He wasted no time and immediately pulled Hamson out when the boulder had rocked to the opposite side, then, he began hitting the humongous rock as hard as he could with his trusty shovel whenever it would roll in his direction.

Hamson was slowly bending, but, at the same time, the boulders rocking-arc was getting wider and wider.

'There must be a semi-sphere built into the pedestal. Predictable given the boulder's shape, but still sneaky... My arms are getting numb, so this thing had better go as planned. If it rolls towards me, I won't be able to control it and it might end up in the hole,' Daz thought as he continued.

This fear was the sole reason he was using Hamson to add force to the massive rock's roll instead of well-timed pushes. If the thing did decide to roll his way then he could drop Hamson and bolt out of the way.

Five more good strikes with the flat side of Hamson's blade and the boulder slowly tipped off and fell straight towards the laid out torches.

Daz closed his eyes and hoped for the best. If everything went right, it would stay in between the two sets of two torches. Worst-case scenario, it would just roll over them and go wild in the room before it lost all momentum or rolled into the semispherical hole.

A loud crashing sound filled Daz's ears, but nothing more. Slowly peeling his eyes open, he sighed in joy. "Today must be my lucky day. Honestly, the whole torch thing was a real shot in the dark... Now I can roll it as I need to... maybe."

He leaned over and looked into the golden pedestal where the boulder once sat. "Thought so," he said as he smirked. "Lucky me."

Almost all of the golden structure was hollow save for some track which the boulder had used to roll on. At the bottom of the pedestals insides was a large button. Reaching down into the thing, Daz pushed the prominent protrusion.

With a loud rumbling, the golden strip lining the room slowly came out of the wall and then rotating to a 45-degree angle, making it possible to climb up to the top of the room, though only one side of it, and only up to an edge at that.

"Well, that was unexpected. I guess I need to figure out how to get from up there to the grate now, right?" Daz asked himself.

He spent quite a while relaxing his arms since they were practically numb at this point. While he did that, he made sure to check out the locations where the golden strip - now a hollow square - was. The wall's new depression was free of hidden buttons, sadly.

Daz sighed. "Fuck. I'm gonna have to climb up this thing and jump to the grate, aren't I? It looks like a 20-foot drop though... I'd rather not die... I kind of want to take a torch with me too, so I'm gonna have to move the boulder first since it's on top of all four of them... This is going to take a while..."

"Curious."

"What is?"

"The male exterminator, he is rather creative, if not foolishly cautious."

"Oh? Did he avoid the socket?"

"Indeed. He felt it was too easy, instead, he chose the harder option - stopping the key before it could naturally fall into the socket. Right now, he's using his torn up legwear to act as a makeshift rope so he can swing himself over to the ceiling escape."

"Ah, yes, quite foolish. Still, he's shown his resourcefulness."

"I suppose, though his tool is bent and he is running out of clothes fairly quickly. An infection is also starting to manifest on his hand's wound."

"A lost cause then. Even if he can climb to the top of the pyramid, he'll soon die in the following ones."

"A shame. How are the others doing? Everyone else I was managing is dead."

"All of them? I have four survivors."

"Yes. They crushed themselves with the key. Are there any interesting potential inheritors amongst the remaining four?"

"Indeed. The female exterminator, the elderly human, and the strange foreigner. The fourth is simply lucky. He found the hidden switch on the floor after tripping over and smashing into it with his face. He did the same in four more rooms, admittedly, but I suspect his fortune will run dry soon enough."

"Indeed. The foreigner... How did it complete the room without opposable thumbs?"

"It was able to create a spherical transparent wall of some sort and it used said wall to destroy the room from the inside out. It is already on the 17th pyramid."

"A spherical wall? I assume some foreign power the creators did not expect. Label it as an invalid and eject it from the trials."

"Yes, I think that would be wise. There, done."

"Excellent. What of the female exterminator and the older human male?"

"The male is very intelligent. He has solved 8 entire pyramids thus far with nothing but his mind. He is the best potential inheritor thus far, I think. If he can continue to refrain from using force or from overexerting himself like your male exterminator is doing, then I will be happy instating him as the new inheritor."

"I agree."

"As for the female exterminator, she is very simple. She seems to be using the most obvious means to complete the trials. She is at the 6th pyramid thus far."

"A shame. If she does not change how she approaches the trials soon, she will die. I hope she is not connected to a powerful exterminator bloodline. We do not need another war."

"Unlikely. She seemingly has not managed to retain her ability within the walls of the creator's city."

"Neither has the male, from my observations. Regardless, he is far too quick to use his energy just to solve a single room. I doubt he is of any import."

"I agree."

"Fuck..." Daz could feel his mind going cloudy as he stumbled and held onto a nearby wall to avoid toppling over.

He still had the torch from the first room of the initial pyramid with him but he felt like he was done for at this point. Currently, he was stood in the 5th pyramid's - or trial's - 3rd puzzle room.

He scrunched up his bandaged hand, resulting in waves of agony washing out from the limb. The pain helped keep him awake. "I didn't think it would get infected so quickly and so seriously... Shit, such a stupid mistake is dragging me down so much..."

Regardless, he stumbled forward to attempt the challenge the room presented.

"How oddly perseverant."

"The male exterminator?"

"Indeed. He can barely keep his eyes open, yet he has made his way to the 8th pyramid all the while as he is carrying one of the everburst torches and his broken tool."

"Broken, not bent?"

"He snapped it in two during the 7th trial."

"Ah. I see. How is he doing, specifically? For reference, the older human male is on the 16th trial while the female exterminator is on the 13th. Her progress has greatly slowed ever since the simple solution became the incorrect one."

"And the lucky male human?"

"Still alive. I suspect he is being protected by something not of the mysterious being's creation nor from an exterminator's bloodline. He has finished the trials and is waiting in the final chamber."

"Curious. As for the male exterminator, he is in a perpetual state of almost collapsing, but he does not seem physically able to fall. He simply continues to move and struggle his way through the trials one by one. I almost feel proud of him for his ability to endure, however, he is of an exterminator bloodline."

"Indeed. Should luck be on our side, he shall not persist for much longer."

"Indeed."

'I didn't know... that I was really... this weak,' Daz struggled to think. 'Just... how much have... I been... relying on... the system?'

Daz wasn't sure how much time had passed since he had begun the 20 Trials of El Dorado nor was he aware of which trial he was currently on.

His infected hand felt like it was on fire, his entire body ached, his stomach growled at him furiously, and lastly, his head was pounding so badly that he almost wanted to give up.

'All because of... a stupid cut...' Daz clicked his tongue as his feet pulled him forwards despite his closed eyes. 'One stupid cut... No, my injury... isn't solely to blame... Damn it. Not having... my instincts is... pretty deadly... I'm so suspicious of... everything...'

He had been trying to rely less on his inherited power of late, but now, at a time where it would be critically useful, he was without access to it.

The throbbing in his head became even worse with every step he took. Daz didn't even know where he was going or what he was doing, in truth.

He was certain that any moment now he would topple over like a tower of cards but his legs kept moving, his arms continued to utilise his broken shovel and the torch he had carried with him all the way from the first puzzle room still shined brightly.

"Arrg..." Without warning, blood started to seep out of his closed eyelids. 'What the... hell?'

At that moment, his body finally gave up. Daz weakly fell to the ground, oddly enough though, he wasn't unconscious.

Everything was cloudly, but Daz was certain that past the ringing in his head, he could hear a... voice.

"... ken..."

"W... hat?" Even moving his lips was a struggle. Daz had a strong urge to open his eyes, but no matter how hard he tried, it was like they were glued closed.

"... aken... on..."

Daz wanted to chuckle, but the only motion his mouth was allowing him to make was one of utter agony. 'I... must be... hallucinating... again... like... back in... Atlantis...'

"... waken... m... on..."

"Heh..." Letting out that small sound to mock the feminine voice that he could hear had taken quite a surprising amount of effort.

He found his current situation laughable at best. He figured that if someone found him right now, he'd look like a mess.

His Travelling Gear of Altros - as well as his under-clothing - were in tatters after having been used to assist him in the trials. His weapon was snapped in two and was so chipped and bent that it would be a stretch to call it a shovel anymore. His hand was wrapped up but under the wrappings was a blood and puss-covered mess of an infected wound. Blood was leaking out of his eyes and he was probably littered head-to-toe in other filth.

'I really... can't... afford to die... here. Hey, System... Throw me... a... bone, would you?' Daz asked jokingly.

"Awaken, my son!"

This time, the voice was crystal clear. A black energy seeped out of Daz's body and swirled around him menacingly. It lifted him into the air and then it all rushed into his mouth.

He floated there in silence for a few seconds before his eyes snapped open. The right eye was shining with a brilliant golden radiance while the left eye was blacker than sin.

No emotions could be seen on Daz's expression as he remained in the air motionlessly. Slowly he turned his head to look in a certain direction and his gaze lingered there for a moment before whatever was holding him up let him back onto the ground softly.