Viers was trying to discern the mystery of the black spark that was floating above his right palm to no avail. Viers guessed the tiny black fire the size of a bean would be crucial in this trial. With a thought Viers made the spark disappear. Aletro told them they could make the spark appear and disappear at will.

“All participants have chosen their spark. Hm, so out of 382 individuals, 176 chose white and 206 chose black. See, other me? My way is more popular.” The black-clothed Aletro said to the other Aletro with a smug face.

“We shall see, whether your way is better or not. I have faith in these brave souls who picked the harder path.” White Aletro calmly said.

“Hmph. As always, we never get along. Listen up, little chicks, this is your objective inside the trial: you must make your spark grow. For the sake of simplicity, we even make it easy for you. Simply gather as many spark shards as you can during the five stages of the trial. The more shards you have, the higher your spark quality becomes. Your reward at the trial’s end will be based on the quality of your spark!” Black Aletro spoke while leaning his face forward. The hugeness of his body made some people uneasy.

“In the five stages, you’ll have many opportunities to gain these shards. To make things fair, all of your cultivation strength has been adjusted to the average, Level 2 middle. Those who were Level 3 will not be able to use their Unreality Field for the time being,” White Aletro’s voice was calming and filled with dignity. It reminded Viers of how experienced professors spoke in seminars or universities.

“What? That's not fair to us Level 3s isn't it?”

“Yeah! Why should we compensate for the weakness of others?”

Some of the participants did not like what they heard.

“SHUT UP!” Black Aletro roared, accompanied by the flashes of lightning as well as rumbling winds as the space churned. Viers felt very small and helpless in front of such might. He had no problem believing either Aletro could snuff his life out with a thought.

With fear in their hearts, all the participants became more obedient.

“Techniques and skills you have mastered will be your tools to differentiate yourself from the others. Unique methods, special Artes, rare constitution, enlightenments, Our main body seek more than having something that can be bridged in a few months. Those with the ability to excel will excel and gain a worthy reward.”

White Aletro gave more to the silenced gallery.

“Same case with your equipment. You can use every item at your disposal should you be lucky enough to have them in person before being transported here. Feel free to use every magical and mystical item you have. Blessed shield, cursed weapon, it makes no difference. If you can use said item, it is also counted as your ability. There is one exception though, items and methods with power above Level 3 will be rendered moot. Some of you have been blessed enough to possess things like that but most don't. If you can destroy another participant with a weapon from your parents or teachers it won’t be a trial anymore so that kind of thing is unusable.”

“Too bad~” Black Aletro grinned mockingly.

“What about those that didn't bring anything? I was in the middle of a bath.”

“Blame your bad luck. In case you don't know, that is a real thing that can happen to everyone. Deal with it.”

No one was willing to retort. Among the silence, a big structure was conjured. An obelisk was erected in the middle of the colorful liquid paint space.

“Stage 1 is simple, for seven days you can take quests depicted in the obelisk. Shards for your spark are the quests’ reward. There will be no elimination in this round so all of you will participate in Stage 2 after seven days but those with the better spark will gain more advantages.”

“How long will the whole trial take? Is there any danger?” Someone asked again.

“We cannot share that information with you. Just know that Stage 5 will last longer than the other four combined. However, time works differently inside the book. One way or another, you’ll return to the outside world precisely ten days from the time you were transported inside the book. None can leave prematurely.”

“Kheh! Powerhouses are tempered by overcoming one danger after another. Of course there are dangers in this trial. But the other me took pity on you so on the first and second stage we’ll safeguard you from death, guaranteeing your life,” Black Aletro chided.

“Is gaining reward from the trial the only way to gather spark shards?”

“Hah! Of course not. As some of you have already guessed. Other than that, to gain shards you can also transfer, trade, extort, or anything else you can think of. No murder though. Unlike me, this naive guy won’t allow deaths… not this early anyway, hehehe.”

“When you take the first task, the obscuration will dissolve naturally. If you don't want your identity known to others, feel free to wear a disguise. For those that unfortunately got transported in an inappropriate time, basic supplies and gear will be given without cost.”

These were all pretty standard information, Viers was torn whether he should ask more specific questions or not in front of the whole group.

“I can see you all still have many questions but that is enough talking for now.”

White Aletro waved his slightly transparent hand and a floating mask appeared near Viers’ shoulder. Not just Viers, everyone had their own floating mask. The design had similarities with tribal masks in old Earth to Viers’ eyes. The mask disappeared shortly.

“Ask the rest of your questions to that mask. It is a communication device of sorts. Alright, brats. Stage 1 begins now. From now on you can use your time freely. You can sleep, you can eat, you can date, you can poop, do as you wish. Your progress shall be measured by how much your spark develops on the seventh day but remember, the choice you make when choosing black or white matters, as will your conduct from here on.”

That sounds like video games promise. The devs always tell the choices in-game have significant impacts and long-lasting consequences but that’s not always true. This one… I won't test it, that’s for sure.

Near the obelisk, there were seven giant white candles but only one was burning. There were time indicators on the candle’s body to help clarify the time as it burned.

I suppose digital timer is not a thing yet, huh? Viers thought so as a person from the information age.

Well, the fire has been lit. Time is counting down I will not waste even a second here!

“Girls, are you hyped up for this?”

“I don't really understand but it seems important. Let’s give it our all.”

“If it is Lord Viers, you will definitely reap a great harvest from this opportunity. Your power will rise even higher.”

“Hmn, let's see what kind of trial this Aletro fellow made. I’m also interested in witnessing the prowess of others ‘with talent’ as the phantom put it.”

Paina, Farley, and Clarissa replied.

“Speaking of which, are these two Aletro the same as us? Soul or ghosts in charge of this place?” Paina asked.

“I wonder… I can't use any Victa here so no Artes. Besides, both Aletros seem to be from a projection or will or anything else of someone very powerful. Rissa, could you create something like this back in the day as a Level 5?” Viers asked.

“If I got help from specialists and used some artifacts of the lamia race, then maybe. My specialty is combat, you see. Delicate matters such as constructing a wide-scale trial ground aren't my strong suit.”

“It would be wise to not provoke either Aletro while we’re here even though they said they can't intervene. Lord Viers, perhaps you should ask some more questions to the mask for more details.”

“Later, Farley. My adventurer spirit can’t wait anymore. Onward to the quest obelisk!”

Viers went to the tall structure that black and white Aletro created. He moved around via flying because there was no gravity or floor in this place. He was not the only one, hundreds of white shadows flew across the colorful space like shooting stars.

Ahhh, flying. I could get addicted to this. Oooh! Horizon up! Wow, I’ll definitely experience many new things here. Hehehe, marvelous!

Viers reached the obelisk in no time. The obelisk was as tall as a five-story building and seemed to be made of quartz. It was covered with quest cards like sticky notes, hundreds or even thousands. Each quest card was a quest for the 382 trial takers. The bottom part of the obelisk had the most quest cards. The higher the obelisk went, the fewer cards available.

I see, difficulty, huh?

The quest’s difficulty was clearly defined. Viers flew from bottom to the top and found there were five degrees of difficulties: easy, medium, hard, expert, impossible. There were only 5 quests on impossible difficulty, located at the top part of the quartz obelisk.

On the quest cards there were more things of note, some were written on white paper, the other was black. Only those possessing the white spark could accept the white quest and vice versa but Viers saw there were cards made half white and half black here and there. Solo or group limits also exist.

As for the quests themselves, it isn't overly special… lots of varieties though.

Fighting XXX monster, Defeat XXX as fast as possible, gather XXX item, make XXX item, survive against XXX for a specified time, the standard video game quests that Viers had seen a hundred times before.

Most are about fighting but there are quests for crafting professions also such as making arrays or crafting armors. Some were quite interesting though. Purify a polluted lake, reach the deepest part of a maze, drill a tunnel through a mountain, protect a village from a tornado, raise a dead cat, make a bridge for the populace? There are people involved? Interesting…

Not all trial takers examined the quests as Viers did. Some immediately picked a suitable quest and Viers saw they got teleported somewhere. Most picked the easy quest for the first time but not few selected the higher difficulties.

There were even some daredevils who challenged the five impossible quests.

“Searching for a group, I’m an ice mage.”

“Tough tanker here, seeking members to tackle this quest. I possess the black spark.”

There were some who tried to form groups before taking a quest.

Well, enough about other people. I won't waste any time. I’ll take this one for my first quest.

Viers took one easy difficulty solo quest card from the quest obelisk and before summoning his black spark. To activate the quest Viers pushed the card to the black flame, burning the card completely in two seconds. Viers made a savage smile as he disappeared.

Benefits! Rewards! Profits! I will have it all!