Upon entering the trial, I encountered a spirit. The spirit explained that on each step of the staircase was the tomb of a hero. In each tome was a soulstone. The soulstone could be used to enter a dream world where the hero still existed. In that dream world I was to duel them. If I failed to defeat them, I’d lose the trial. If I defeated them I could advance to the next stair. Unlike a normal fight, these duels were conducted to the first blow. Unlike in other trials I didn’t know how far this one went as the staircase steps only appeared one at a time.

In the beginning I faced minor heroes, everyday men like Edwin Valeheart who rose to the occasion and had a good dose of luck. I was more than equal to the task, striking each blow home with all the determination of a master swordsman. It was an honor to face such men and learn of their heroic deeds. After nine such battles I reached a treasure stair. On it was an iron-tier magic crystal chest, and I gladly received the 4 magic crystals it provided.

The 11th stair began with more substantial heroes, ones who hadn’t just got lucky. Tia Alenia, was the first of many and these duels were more involved. It took combination attacks to land a blow. I wasn’t yet pressed to my limits, but I felt challenged. The 20th stair provided more treasure, this time a silver tier magic crystal chest containing 10 magic crystals, I was happy to have 18 crystals again, not far from improving an item.

By the 21st stair I was facing heroes about whom I’d heard stories. Heroes like Farrah Farstrider who had slain the spider lord. Dueling such heroes was no simple matter and I was pushed to my limits in complex sequences of give and take. I trusted my finely-honed sense of dodging and chose not to activate the ring of air until I needed it to escape a situation. I continued up the staircase, reaching the 30th stair and yet another reward. On this stair, I opened a chest and received a stone tablet. I looked at the tablet in awe. This was a single-use passive technique tablet. I decided to study it immediately, slowly understanding it was a vision technique. I then learnt it pertained to understanding the properties of opposing skills. Finally, after hours of study I learnt the technique.

Elementary True Sight, Basic Passive Technique

Identify the properties of any Tier 1 skill as it is being used. This includes whether a skill can be blocked, whether a skill can be parried and whether a skill can be dodged.

On the 31st stair, I was immediately glad to have studied the technique. Jain Riviere, first king of Orleans, and slayer of the beast army that once inhabited these lands, used a mix of normal, unblockable and unparryable techniques. Knowing which was which let me react accordingly, and avoid losing the duel to something like trying to block an unblockable move. By the 35th stair, undodgeable moves started to be used as well. I struggled through and managed to reach the 40th stair, earning a new reward. Inside was another tablet. It was very similar to the first and I quickly realized it was a more advanced version of the same technique. I learnt it immediately, but when I realized what the upgrade was I sincerely hoped I wouldn’t need it.

Junior True Sight, Intermediate Passive Technique

Identify the properties of any Tier 2 or lower skill as it is being used. This includes whether a skill can be blocked, whether a skill can be parried and whether a skill can be dodged.

The pattern changed at the 41st stair. The hero, Elias Bloodborn, was substantially stronger and I needed to use air manipulation to keep up, hoping to win the duel quickly before the cooldown came. Fortunately, my rapid speed made this quite possible. I waited for the cooldown before advancing to the next stair, the 42nd stair had another reward chest. It was another tablet, this one containing the advanced version of true sight.

Senior True Sight, Advanced Passive Technique

Identify the properties of any Tier 3 or lower skill as it is being used. This includes whether a skill can be blocked, whether a skill can be parried and whether a skill can be dodged.

The 43rd stair had a legendary battle. The tomb was the tomb of the unknown hero and the spirit that presented had forgotten his name to the passage of time. The hero was an ancient and his deeds long forgotten. He fought with unfamiliar skills, also lost to the passages of time. I was hard pressed even with air manipulation, the strange skills and fighting style was difficult to adapt to. Fortunately, he had an equally hard time with my modern style. I landed a glancing blow to the shoulder, and thought it was enough to win. I nearly lost the trial when I paused briefly afterwards, the blow hadn’t been enough to count and his continued fighting nearly took me down. I recovered but was forced on the defensive for a good time. Finally, with a minute left in the duration of Air Manipulation I was able to regain the initiative and attack fiercely, pushing the man back. I was lucky as he stumbled on uneven ground and it was enough to land a well struck blow.

I waited for Air Manipulation to come off cooldown before advancing to the 44th stair. On it was a mystery box. I opened it and received the item I had come for. I spent 18 magic crystals to evolve it 4 times and 60 trash gauntlets upgrade it.

Gauntlets of the Swordsman, Divine Growth Type

Currently Silver, Level 12 +48 Str, +48 Agi, +48 Con

192 Def, 192MDef, Durability 96/96, Requirements: 96 Str

Sacrifice 5 Trash items to upgrade.

Sacrifice 20 magic crystal to evolve.

Reduce level of Attack Prevention & Attack Redirection skills by level of plate

Reduce level of Attack Prevention & Attack Redirection techniques by level of plate

Improve Attack Speed Tier by 0.02 levels/level

All swordsman skills +0.02 levels/level

The trial wasn’t over however. I equipped my new gauntlets and my attack speed reached a whole new level. I was ready to fight my next opponent. My next opponent was Kylian Windblade, a legendary swordsman from 3000 years ago. He had slain the Black Dragon, Eragor and would make for a powerful opponent. I activated my Air Manipulation skill and relied aggressively on my attack and movement speed increases to fight. My swords became like a tornado as I whirled my way through combat. I was able to parry both naturally and through the skill better than I ever had before. But my opponent was able to keep pace. Legendary swordsmen didn’t grow on trees, and defeating one in a duel was no small matter. Finally, I was outmaneuvered and about to be hit. Remembering the glancing blow from earlier that didn’t count I activated Earth Manipulation. Earth Manipulation decreased the impact, and made the blow not count. The swordsman was momentarily paused when he struck me, expecting it to end the duel and I took advantage and stuck home. I wasn’t his equal, but my unexpected skill had carried the day.

I advanced to the next stair, on which there was a chest and a portal. In the chest was another passive technique tablet, this one at the ultimate level. Even with my high Concentration it was a bit early for me to study such techniques. I put the tablet away in my inventory, and exited the trial through the now open portal. It was a new day and I had a new dungeon pass, it was time to solo raid Hell mode of Banesdeep.

Corwin Swordborn

Spoiler : Level 10: 25% of level 11

Str: 1113 (base:25)

Agi: 1178 (base:70)

Con: 1113 (base:25)

Int: 409 (base:25)

Cha: 409 (base:25)

Lck: 197 (base:5)

Cnc: 197 (base:5)

Sta: 197 (base: 5)

Def: 2837

MDef: 2021

HP:12130/12130 (base: 1000)

MP:6090/6090 (base: 1000)

Gear:

MW: Epic Tier Level 12 Longsword, +192Str +192Agi +192Con

Base Damage: 240-288, Def 288 MDef 240 Durability 384/384, Requirements: 384 Str

OW: Epic Tier Level 12 Shortsword +192Str, +192Agi, +192 Con

Base Damage 196-240, Def 240 MDef 196, Durability 384/384, Requirements: 384 Str

MA: Silver Tier Level 12 Plate, +48 Str, +48 Agi, +48 Con

192Def,192MDef, Durability 96/96, Requirements:96 Str

LA: Silver Tier Level 8 Plate Cuisse, +32Str, +32Agi, +32Con

128Def, 64MDef Durability: 64/64 Requirements: 64 Str

B: Currently Silver, Level 12 +48 Str, +48 Agi, +48 Con

192 Def, 192MDef, Durability 96/96 Requirements: 96 Str

G: Gold Tier Level 12 Plate Boots +96Str +106Agi(10 Gemstone) +96Con

384 Def, 384MDef Durability 192/192, Requirements: 192Str

H: Gold Tier Level 12 Helm, +96 Str, +106(10 Gemstone) Agi, +96 Con

384 Def, 384MDef Durability 192/192, Requirements: 192Str

RR: Epic Tier, Level 12 Ring of Hidden Attributes (+192 All base attributes, +192 All Hidden Attributes)

LR: Epic Tier, Level 12 Ring of Elements (+192 All base attributes,

Ignore 2.4 Levels, Ignore 2.4 Equip Levels

AM: Iron Tier, Level 8 Amulet (+16 All base attributes)

Skills:

Time Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 9

Space Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 9

Air Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 9

Earth Manipulation, Special, Tier 0 Level 9

Thunder Slash, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Wave Chop, Rare, Tier 0, Level 0

Wind Charge, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Disrupting Blow, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Double Slash, Uncommon, Tier 0, Level 2

Slash, Common, Tier 0, Level 2

Pierce, Common, Tier 0, Level 2

Parry, Common, Tier 0, Level 2