Once again he declined to allow the trial to place a covenant on him as they all passed the boundary, seeing what it contained as they each took in the vast space. Like so many he’d done in the past it looked like an area without end, even if it had to be some trick of magic making it seem that way as he wondered on it.

Maybe it’s done by warping space? Make it big enough and I won’t accidentally see the back of my head but that would still be mana intense. Of course, this entire thing has to be disgustingly mana intense, it wouldn’t be shocking if they’re empowering it with faith too. Of course, if they are, that leads to the question of how Galwax’s trial kept going at full power, but that’s something to think on later. Looks like it’s starting.

While the area at first seemed barren, it wasn’t some empty expanse like he’d dealt with in the past. There was proper ground beneath him and a few tall trees near and far helping to soak in some of the coming buff as the first few creatures made their appearance, all of them looking like monsters that actually lived in the world as beasts began to fill the land and sky, all rushing towards them.

“Steph, could you open a portal to them?” Thera asked as she prepared her magics, not the earth or life that she typically relied on but her new non-affinitied branches she needed to practice as crystals of solid mana began to float around them. “I want to start chipping them off while we still have some distance.”

“You got it.”

No more than a second later did a hole in reality open between them as beasts were reduced to blood and meat, leaving three of them nothing to do while the carnage took place. Though Ben and Sachel both had some long-range attacks, neither of them could add anything that Thera couldn’t manage herself, while Sonya had nothing she could do at a distance, everything she’d trained for being too hands-on to help, at least until things drew closer.

So that’s the first fifty-four down with no problems at all. Sure hope any watching gods are embarrassed about how this is going right now after only the first few minutes of work, that just leaves what’s coming next.

“Pretty sure we’ll be seeing some coming from below us soon,” He chimed in as Thera was moving.

“Already working on it.”

Beneath their feet a barrier appeared, willed into existence under Thera’s power to separate the lot of them from anything that might come from below, just in time for them to feel the first strike as whatever tunnelled through the ground smashed against it. The force was enough to raise them all though and her new magic was still weak; it only took a couple more hits for it to shatter, not that that raised the danger. The moment it did, she simply switched to a power she was far more familiar with, her earth magic moving to crush the dirt the hidden creatures were crawling through, killing them all before any could have a chance to reveal themselves.

“Going back to practicing things with a poor magic control really sucks.”

Her control with her awakened magics had grown to be as good as what anyone else could expect, and both dark and telekinesis were high enough in level that she wasn’t having major problems with either, but her new ones she was staring from the bottom again, with things only a bit easier thanks to her practice and levels with the rest she wielded. She wasn’t doing bad, but it was obvious to her that she still had a ways to go.

Not that anyone was going to complain when she’d ended the problem as soon as it started while Ben continued his quiet countdown of what was left with only sixty remaining.

Of course, we should be feeling everything that appears getting more powerful, but if Thera can keep things up at this pace then we’ll be fine. Hell, better than fine even. We’re absolutely speeding through this floor.

It was hard to not feel good about it. After all he’d been through in other trials, he couldn’t help but feel he was really going to get a win as he got to watch Thera continue her slaughter, the number of incoming creatures going down as the rest would get the benefits of her work.

Which I’ll absolutely need to show some proper appreciation for after. I have money to abuse, maybe I should rent out an art gallery or museum for a day to get us a private tour, that could be fun.

He let some minds keep up with those small plans in the back of his head as he eventually called out to get her attention.

“Twenty left. It honestly doesn’t look like you’re going to struggle even if you keep at it, but if you’re not feeling confident I’d try catching the rest to finish off at once.”

She gave him a quick nod, doing just that. It wasn’t that she didn’t think she could handle it. While it was obvious the beasts around were getting faster, none had gotten the chance to end up near enough to show off any strength, but she’d been in two trials herself and understood the value in playing it safe, so she changed from her non-affinitied options to the earth she was so comfortable with, encasing the beasts that were already rushing forward on the ground and entrapping any that were using the sky before bringing them all to her and using the magic the tower was there for to finish the job as she let loose the life mana within her to play havoc on their bodies, blocking connections to their brains and equivalent organs as each remaining life was snuffed out only seconds later, a way out appearing in exchange.

Sonya, Sachel, and Steph were all at a loss. None of them had expected things to go so easily, nor to have finished a floor so soon. Steph especially, having the experience of taking the space trial, had been expecting at least a few hours, not less than half of one.

The experience couldn’t help but fill them all with a bit more confidence, even if they’d each done little to help in getting through it. It was just the first floor so they were sure things would get worse, but at the very least it seemed manageable.

Ben and Thera were feeling best of all as they went through the door, with Thera enjoying the feeling that she could handle whatever was thrown her way while Ben was already thinking of the next section and ready to rush through, eager to get it over with.

“Alright everyone, are you ready to move on to the next bit or do any of you need a break at all?”

They looked amongst themselves for a moment and it was Sonya who answered, giving a confident nod.

“It’s not like most of us have any reason to be tired, I think we should be fine to go through so long as Thera doesn’t need a break?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about that.”

“Cool,” Ben smiled. “So remember what I said about the second floor then. We’re dealing with something that is going to be pretty damn hard to kill, even ignoring the fact that it keeps coming back for more after each death with different magic tricks up its sleeves.”

He went on to explain what the effects he was aware of from what he’d seen in Jake’s memories. Its incredible level of self-healing it displayed along with the way each life it came back with would blend with another affinity, fire making its attacks burn not just flesh, but a person's life force, death working off of that same thing, letting the beast steal the life of others to raise its own healing rate even higher, water seeming to alter the way a body handled its fluids and more from there, with some he hadn’t seen thanks to Amy and Jake’s teachers killing it before those effects could be shown.

“Okay, but what’s it look like?” Sachel wanted to know. “I don’t personally want to be blindsided by anything like a leviathan.”

“Ah, nothing like that. It looks… Well, honestly a lot like Falk, but nobody tell him I said that.”

The beast would be sufficiently ape-like for the comparison, though it stood taller than his already very impressive teacher’s eight feet, the coming monster being around twelve high. More than that, it had strength and speed beyond what one would expect from its frame.

It’s going to be dangerous, but nothing that we can’t handle, and in an open field it will be an easy target for Thera’s magics. Absolutely going to need to make up for how much we’ll all be relying on her later.

He couldn’t help but feel confident in everything after just how easy the first floor had ended up, and with everything there was to warn them of out in the open he wasted no further time going to the door, pushing it open and walking through as he was greeted with the dense forest beyond.

…Fuck.