Chapter 22. Obvious I fell back as the strength left my body. My axes fell on the corpse and started to absorb every last drop of blood that flowed out of the hobgoblin's body, me being completely oblivious to the event. All I currently felt was weakness and I let it take over me. I faced the sky as I brought up the level-up notifications and everything slowly came to light, the concentration, the syncing of my abilities, it was all due to my new skill. [Focus] [Enter a state of concentration that allows your mind to function at 500% of its current capabilities.] And the power that slowly kept on increasing was probably [Carnage], while the skill that allowed me to complete this trial was [Bloodlust]. 'Looks like my gamble paid off, and it was not a loss. Not at all.' I was beginning to doubt these two active skills but seeing the results that they had provided, I was glad I chose them over others because the others would not be able to give me a way out of this situation. I tried to get up but my body just won't listen, it wanted to stay down and it would probably continue to do so. I saw the notifications was excited for what was to come next. A second class. I wanted a healer, it could be a wrong choice but I liked to fight alone, and if the people I cared for fought somewhere out of my sight, where the possibility of death of real, unlike this tower. No, didn't want to think about it. Mantra and demon's perception had finally reached fifteen. I still had to max out the other skills and would probably find out if it went past twenty-five in time. I still had a few minutes left before I was transported and my body was finally agreeing with me, moving a little. I sat up and my gaze fell to Thirst and was left shocked. The axes had absorbed every last drop of blood and only a husk remained of the unstable hobgoblin. "What is going on?" I picked up both of them but something was weird. One of them was twice as heavy, probably even more while the other was as light as a feather. "Like seriously what is going on?" My fighting style was based around these two axes, changing something was close to impossible. If nothing else occurred, I would be on my way back to Earth in a few hours. I had no idea of the current situation there and being at my best was the least I could do. But now even that was not possible. But still, there was a small amount of ease holding them like that and while thinking about my next move, I was once again teleported. I opened my eyes to the space I was brought after completing a trial floor. I wanted to select my second class and get used to the new weight balance but The Records happened to have something else planned for me. [Unique Quest] [Gamble] [An opportunity that is not presented to everyone, and those who were given a chance, failed. Are you ready to take the gamble but remember the cost of failure is your life.] [Objective: Complete the bonus trial.] [Reward: ???] [Failure: Death] [Yes/No] I thought that was all but it gave me another surprise, [Select one item that you wish to take out from the Tower.] The choice was obvious it was going to be bloodthirster, I did not know what I was going to get from the unique quest but leaving behind my weapon was not one of the options. I had sacrificed my arms for it, there was an emotional connection you know. Still, I felt the reward was not going to be as simple as an item. Maybe I was still high from my earlier victory or just had gotten overconfident but this was the first time that the quest itself was talking about the possibility of death. I did not notice it because for me every quest was almost a death sentence but the Record was talking about death. And I was about to know why. "Another one this year. The last one, you're already over the limit. I won't even consider before I erase their existence after this. Well, it won't change the result. No one will be able to clear my trial. It was a ridiculous one from the start." A ruin. That was where I was brought to after accepting the quest. It was a little cold, giving the area a ghostly atmosphere. I stood before a gate or an entrance to what looked like a temple. I started walking towards the ruin and was about to take my first step in when something pressed me down. "Are children so rude nowadays that they won't even pray before entering a temple?" "I don't believe in... 'Gods'," I replied while gritting my teeth. The pressure was enough to shatter my bones if relaxed for even a second. I had to use all of my strength to just stand upright. "Who says gods are the only beings people worship." The pressure once again increased and I fell to my knees. There was a pop and I felt the blood flowing out of me. I pulled out my axes and brought them in front of me in a defensive position. The pressure did not decrease but the being did get surprised. "You have a bound weapon already. Interesting, certainly different from everyone before. Let me have a closer look." The pressure that was pressing me down was now binding me. Unable to move, a force, extremely similar to the one that I felt during teleportation acted and the next thing I see is an eye. An eye with a slit in the middle, the slit being as black as void while the rest was blood red. The eye was huge, I was not even as tall as the slit. It was now that I realized, 'This was an opportunity that I was given. The risk of death was almost a hundred percent and I was here to seize that opportunity. Either I die and become on the 99% that died or become the 1% that was left.' "There is no 99 or 1. Everyone before you is dead." The voice said, knowing exactly what I was thinking about. It didn't stop and continued on, "There were many before you, some of them could have been leaders in their own sectors, some could probably even be capable of holding their own before me." "But did I care about that? No, I was and still am waiting for the fated one. A specific person but you are that person." "Are you going to kill me?" I ask the being before me. I did not know what or who was in front of me. The only thing visible was a huge ass eye. The being paused as the eye went away from me. Receding in the darkness. "Not at all. Even though you are not the one that I have been waiting for you are still a little special." A man appeared to my right and he sniffed. "You smell like him. Similar but not the same. There's a scent coming from you, the scent of-" he paused as he looked me in the eye. The eyes, those of the huge being but now the same size as mine. "A demon."