Kai was sitting beside the river, the week that the old man had given was used by Kai to improve his ice which bore fruit. And, he came up with new techniques for ice instead of just utility.

Kai leaned down on the river and scooped up some water. He sipped some of it and spread the rest of the water on the grass.

"So, we're going to start now?"

Kai suddenly said without turning around. The wind blew and accompanying it was the swaying of grass. It was quite a peaceful place.

Footsteps could be heard on the grass as someone approached Kai.

"Looks like you haven't been slacking off, you could tell that I was here from over twenty meters away without turning around. And, that's not all..."

The old man held his chin and looked at Kai up and down with appraising eyes.

"This would improve your magic training... is what I would say but there are some problems."

Kai could hear the old man sigh.

"What is it?"

Kai turned his head around and asked the old man.

"I thought that with your attributes of darkness and ice, you'd be able to manipulate other elements as well but..."

The old man stepped near the river and scooped up a handful.

"It appears that the elements reject you. The elements reject you the most in this order, light, earth, fire, air, then water. Normally, if you had darkness only light would reject you but this is strange. Is it because your primary attribute is a secondary? I still haven't figured out that far but in that case, you'd have to take a trial."

Kai looked at the river.

"A trial?"

The old man sat down.

"Yes, people who undertake the trial normally take the same tests but for people who are rejected by the element, like you are subjected to another trial. But, even I don't know the details of the trial that you will be given."

Kai held his chin and closed his eyes.

A few seconds of silence pass before Kai finally spoke.

"I'll do it."

"Great."

The old man clapped his hands.

"Now, go into the water or meditate beside it, hurry."

Kai followed the old man's instructions and decided to meditate beside the river.

"Now, chant these words like a spell inside your head, imbue mana into each word. Also, place your right hand on your heart."

Kai did as the old man instructed.

"I, Kuroshi Kai, will undertake the trial of acceptance for the attribute of water. I will uphold the water spirit's rules and follow the will of the Goddess of Water to complete this trial. Trial of acceptance, enter!"

[I, Kuroshi Kai, will undertake the trial of acceptance for the attribute of water. I will uphold the water spirit's rules and follow the will of the Goddess of Water to complete this trial. Trial of acceptance, enter!]

Kai recited the old man's words and did as instructed. The river in front of Kai began to rage and pillars of water shot up. They wrapped around Kai's body but strangely, Kai didn't feel that he had been submerged in water.

Kai opened his eyes and was met with the sight of a temple.

"A temple designed from Rome?"

Kai furrowed his brows and looked around. Surely, he wasn't in the place he was before. He couldn't even sense anything here.

The whole area felt like it was underwater yet it was brightly lit. The floor was transparent and the surroundings were aquamarine, the temple was made of stone yet Kai felt that even if he had used his full power, he wouldn't be able to scratch those pillars.

Kai scratched his head and began to walk towards the stairs leading to the temple.

Upon arriving at the entrance, a huge door was placed in front of Kai. Unlike the area, it was dark and had markings of gold. On the door, words began to write themselves.

"I am large yet also small, I am immeasurable yet limited, I am calm yet raging, I give life yet also take, what am I?"

Kai read the words out loud.

"A riddle?"

Instead of a keyhole or a switch, the door was opened by a riddle.

As expected of a fantasy world. Kai thought to himself.

"There are many things this could mean, immeasurable yet limited. I could think of the stars, the universe- no, I'm not sure if that's limited. Maybe air?"

Kai looked at the words more closely.

"No, this is related to the trial of water so... water?"

The door didn't react.

"Of course it wouldn't react, it wouldn't be that simple."

Kai sat down.

"What could be related to water that's large but limited. I think by saying it's small means that when totaled, it won't even amount to much below everything else. Calm yet raging, that's definitely an attribute of water. It gives life yet also takes, also an attribute of water. Maybe a body of water? Sea."

Kai looked for any reactions, none.

"Ah, wait. [Water]."

Kai said the word like a spell and surprisingly, the door began trembling.

I remembered that the old man to tell me the chant to enter the trial by imbuing mana in my words. I guess that's how I'm supposed to handle all the riddles here.

The door suddenly began to open like it was pushed open, the door was at least twenty times Kai's height and so an oppressive aura came from it. But Kai was unfazed and simply walked through, he couldn't see through the door even if it was open but stepped inside without fear.

As he walked through the door, a bright light suddenly forced Kai to close his eyes for a few seconds and when he opened them, he was suddenly shown a whole new place- no, it was more fit to call it a world. Kai was walking through the water as if it didn't affect him and there were fish swimming as far as the eye could see.

He could see the coexistence of sharks, whales, and fish. It was a beautiful sight to say the least. Instead of the dark depths, Kai could see clearly.

Kai walked for tens of minutes before finally encountering something strange. It was a whale, but the strange part wasn't the whale. While Kai was walking, none of the animals here stayed in front of him. In fact, all of them moved away when he was walking.

It wasn't just because of Kai, the straight path seems to be a road and the animals avoided it. But this whale is sleeping on the road.

Kai planned to walk around it but the moment he tried to stray off the path, alarm bells sounded off in his head. It was Kai's instinct, every fiber of his body was screaming at him to go back.

Kai retracted his foot upon sensing that and was covered in cold sweat- he was supposed to be at least, but seeing as he was in the water he was just nervous.

He directed his eyes at the whale and began walking towards it.

I guess this is also part of the trial.

Kai walked near the whale and words appeared below its mouth.

"Strength comes from forcefully bringing out power but true strength does not need force, it only needs for strength to flow in naturally... That's actually quite strange but I get the meaning behind it."

Kai scratched his chin.

"This isn't really a riddle and more like a tip. I guess I have to move this whale out of the way or at least wake it up."

Kai looked around and decided to jump first but like before, alarm bells sounded off in his head and he immediately descended. It was as if an invisible entity would crush his body, heart and soul all at once if he decided to continue.

Kai was a bit more calm than last time and stepped towards the whale. He rubbed it to wake it up but it proved futile. Kai couldn't use his attributes but he could manipulate mana. And for some reason, Kai could vaguely feel that if he focused he could manipulate his ice attribute for a limited amount of time. Though Kai didn't want to resort to that unless absolutely required.

Kai cracked his knuckles and stretched his neck then placed his hands on the whale.

"I guess I'll try pushing it first."

Kai stomped the floor and began pushing the whale.

But instead of the whale moving, Kai was the one being pushed instead. Kai stomped on the floor again and it began cracking as he pushed to his limit. Veins appeared on his forehead and muscles and he began turning red from the amount of force he's using.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

The floor broke under Kai's pressure and Kai only stopped after a few minutes. He trained his stamina because of the gravity but now it proved futile, the whale did not move an inch. In fact, it didn't move at all.

Kai fell down on the floor on one knee and was breathing heavily.

"This might take awhile."