Courage huh? Well this should be interesting, just how many trials are there I wonder? I guess it doesn't matter, I just need to clear them as fast as possible and get back to the others.

As I push the doors open I can't help but hope all the trials have good rewards like the first one. From everything I have seen so far my stats make me OP in this world already, if they continue going up like this I shouldn't have any worries in the future. I want to be strong enough to protect everyone, these girls who have become friends and maybe more.

You have entered a restricted zone! Your level has dropped to 1!

Well, I can see that being hard for others, but I don't have any levels to begin with! This trial might just be a cakewalk after all. The fact that is configured to reduce levels though, why would that be?

Krenocia told me that my system was my soul adapting to the new world, other than that only heroes have a level system. Does that mean these trials are meant for heroes? Maybe, no way to know for sure I guess, anyway no point in worrying about it.

I step forward into the room and the door slams shut behind me. After a minute my enemies appear, from their looks I would call them orcs. There are ten of them surrounding a woman, it would be suicide for a level one to charge ten orcs. So that is why this is a test of courage?

Doesn't really matter to me since I have no levels, but orcs are nothing to me. I draw Blitz and charge at the orcs, as I do they turn away from the woman and target me. It only takes me four swings to kill the ten orcs, they don't even manage to scratch me.

The woman I saved, who happens to be quite attractive, gets up and walks over to me. She reaches up, pulls my head down, and gives me a very passionate kiss before she disappears. I am really glad Ruby and Myria weren't here to see that!

Second Trial Complete! Reward Aura of Courage!

First Clear Bonus: +10 Wisdom!

Aura of Courage

Passive

All allies within 100 feet get +20 vs Fear

'Well, that will be useful for everyone else.'

Again, not a bad reward, now I am starting to hope that there are more trials. The doors opposite from where I came in swing open silently revealing another short hallway and a third door with writing on it. I calmly leave the room and walk over to read the title of the next trial.

Third Trial: Endurance!

Wait, there was no first clear bonus after the first trial, does that mean someone before me beat the ogre? For a human to beat an ogre barehanded it must have been an amazing martial arts master. Wish I could have met him!

As I push open the doors to the next trial I can't help but wonder how many people have died in here. Obviously, no one made it past the second trial, which means I should get first clear bonuses from now on. Who would have thought that falling into a hole while running from soldiers could have given me such a great opportunity to grow stronger.

Although I would be happier if I wasn't trapped underground, again. I can feel that as I progress I am getting deeper and deeper underground, I hate the feeling of all that weight above me waiting to crush me. Once I get out of here I never want to see another cave again in my life!

As I step through the doors and they close behind me, magic once again strips me. Leaving me naked to face the new room, which is different, the first two rooms were large but square. This room is rectangular and stretches out ahead of me for over three hundred feet.

The fact that the room is the length of a football field is slightly worrying, especially since the trial is called endurance. With my first step I find out the purpose of the trial, two invisible blades strike me from either side. It doesn't do much damage but it causes extreme pain, even with my pain resist at level six.

With each step I am hit again, it's a gauntlet of pain! After taking my tenth step it suddenly becomes harder, my body feels heavier as if the gravity has increased. With my strength the extra weight isn't too bad, but if it keeps increasing I might be in trouble.

My normal stride is fairly long, I cover about three feet per step, meaning I have to endure for one hundred steps to clear the trial. I have no choice, I can't go back, I just have to accept the pain and keep walking forward.

Step by step I push forward, when I take the thirtieth step the gravity doubles again forcing me to my knees. My body feels so heavy, and it is getting harder to breathe! I stay on my knees for a few minutes until my breathing evens out and I am able to stand once again.

Each step becomes an act of pure will, knowing the pain I will face yet still stepping forward into it. I have experienced so much pain since I came to this world, Ruby and the others are the only good thing that has happened to me. But for their sake I can't give up, I have promises to keep!

*DING*

Congratulations! Skill Pain Resist has progressed to level 7!

Pain Resist

Level 7

You feel 70% less pain.

Physical damage reduced by 7%.

'I was wondering if that would level up! It helps a little bit.'

With the level up I am able to push on and make it to the seventy-fifth step. Just twenty five more to go, but it won't be that easy. The slices until now were one from each side per step, but now they start hitting me constantly.

Even though each one only does a little damage it starts adding up fast now that the hits are constant. Ten steps later my health hits the halfway point, fifteen steps to go. If I stop now I am dead for sure, I think of Ruby and Myria in particular as I force myself to step, and step again.

Thirteen steps to go, the agony is constant now and my mind is starting to wander. Everything fades away until all I know is pain and numbers. Twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

HP: 211/1576

As I take the last step the slices stop and the extra gravity disappears, but I don't even notice. The pain lasts for several more minutes, enough that in my state I think it will never fade. When it finally fades all I know is that something cold is pressing against me and then the darkness takes me.