Chapter 99: The Great Trial Begins 2

Unlike most of the other participants around him, Kent had no need for a rank badge, nor did he have any intention of attaching himself to one of the major powers.

What he really wanted was to find deposits of magical metals.

The rules of the Great Trial had mentioned this specifically: any participant who discovered a valuable mineral deposit would be entitled to a one-percent share of that mine.

That was already an astonishingly generous reward.

After all, mithril, adamantine, and magic silver were rarely found alone. They were usually accompanied by other valuable ores and minerals, which meant that even a one-percent share could amount to an enormous fortune.

Kent, however, was not particularly interested in that percentage.

Still, he had heard that quite a few participants had entered the Great Trial specifically in hopes of discovering valuable mines.

Before the trial began, every participant had been required to sign a life-and-death agreement.

The reason was simple.

The region ahead was largely unknown, and no one could guarantee what might happen once the trial began.

Even so, a large base camp had been established near the starting point.

Numerous high-ranking professionals were stationed there, and representatives from several major factions had also gathered.

Some had come to recruit promising participants.

Others were waiting for those fortunate enough to discover valuable mineral deposits, hoping to win them over before anyone else could.

After every Great Trial, there were always a few people who became wealthy almost overnight.

And if someone happened to discover a location suitable for founding an entirely new city, the reward would be almost unimaginable.

As a mage, Kent should originally have traveled with the other mages.

Unfortunately, there were only a handful of them in the entire group, and judging from their appearance, they all seemed to belong to larger organized teams.

More strangely, every one of them was a water-element mage.

As a result, the mage contingent had no choice but to travel alongside the magic archers.

Kent had no idea what the organizers of the trial had been thinking.

Magic archers were among the greatest threats a mage could face.

Fortunately, Kent knew at least one person among them.

Daphne.

Though Kent often thought of her as a little girl, Daphne was actually several years older than he was.

During the journey, Kent traded two Illumination spell scrolls for several water-element magic scrolls that interested him.

The Illumination scrolls had been personally inscribed by Kent using light-element magical power, and their effects were quite good.

Two Level Four mages agreed to exchange several of their water-element scrolls for them.

One of those scrolls contained the spell Water Healing.

Kent currently knew only two low-level water spells—Water Arrow and Water Ball—so naturally, he was interested in learning anything else he could.

Of course, merely possessing the scroll was not enough.

Wanting to see the spell in action, Kent specifically asked the two mages to demonstrate Water Healing for him.

After watching the demonstration, Kent memorized the incantation.

And so, for much of the journey afterward, he walked in silence, repeatedly reviewing the magical chant in his mind.

They traveled for roughly six days.

Fortunately, a considerable number of high-ranking professionals accompanied the group, so the journey remained peaceful.

Eventually, the participants reached the actual trial grounds.

Kent now stood in a vast open cavern.

Somewhere in the distance, he could hear the sound of flowing water.

Ahead of him, beneath the glow of magical crystal lamps, more than a dozen tunnels opened into the darkness.

The largest was nearly twenty meters wide and more than ten meters high.

The smallest was only about one and a half meters wide and a little over two meters tall.

The rules of the trial had already been explained in detail beforehand, so there was no need to repeat them here.

“How strange... Why do these tunnel entrances look so odd?”

Kent studied the dozen or so passages before him.

Something about them felt unusual.

Yet no matter how carefully he looked, he could not say exactly what was wrong.

The participants would enter in separate groups, with fifteen-minute intervals between each departure.

Those traveling alone and the smaller parties would enter first.

The large teams would go later.

Kent was alone.

After studying the tunnels for a while, he chose the smallest one.

He could not explain why, but for some reason, that narrow passage gave him a stronger sense of safety than the others.

A lone warrior had already entered the same tunnel ahead of him, so Kent had no choice but to wait another fifteen minutes.

Just then, he noticed someone approaching.

Kent looked over in surprise.

“Daphne? You’re taking this tunnel too?”

He stared at her curiously.

That was unexpected.

After all, the dark elves had formed several large teams of their own.

“I... I want to go through the Trial with you.”

By the time Daphne finished speaking, her head was already lowered in embarrassment.

The truth was, she had liked Kent for quite some time.

The first spark had been lit when danger struck and Kent stepped forward to save her. Later, when he dealt with the kobolds in Muan City, her admiration for him only deepened.

For a young girl whose heart had only just begun to awaken to such feelings, Kent had long since become someone special.

That was why Daphne had finally gathered enough courage to approach him today.

Even so, she was still a young woman, and saying such words directly left her painfully shy.

Kent found her behavior rather strange.

Daphne had never been like this before.

He still remembered how cheerful and open she had been when he first arrived in Muan City.

Still, Kent assumed that she was merely worried he might refuse her.

So he smiled and replied,

“Alright. But if you come with me, you have to listen to everything I say.”

“Alright. I’ll listen to you.”

The moment Daphne heard his answer, joy blossomed in her heart.

Just being able to stay close to Kent during the Trial was enough to make her happy.

Their place in the queue, however, changed immediately.

Now that Kent and Daphne had become a two-person party, they had to move back one position, since solo participants were allowed to enter first.

Originally, only a handful of people had chosen the smallest tunnel.

But after Kent joined the line, more and more participants began gathering behind him.

Within only a few minutes, the number had risen to nearly a hundred.

And strangely enough, almost all of them belonged to large teams.

Kent even recognized quite a few familiar faces among them.

There were Hark and his two brothers, Kobe, several dark elves Kent had met before, and even the young man whose armor Kent had once stripped away.

Kent glanced behind him.

His brows immediately knitted together.

Even a fool could see that something was wrong.

The larger the team, the more logical it should have been for them to choose one of the wide, spacious tunnels.

Yet all of these large groups had gathered behind him at the narrowest passage.

Kent’s eyes shifted slightly.

An idea came to him at once.

“Hark.”

Kent walked over and lowered his voice.

“You’d better take another route. I’m planning to test a new alchemical creation inside this tunnel. If you stay behind me, I’m afraid you might get caught in it by accident.”

Hark shuddered.

He had originally intended to remain nearby so that he could protect Kent.

But the moment he heard the words “new alchemical creation,” a chill ran through him.

He still vividly remembered what had happened during the kobold incident.

Even now, the memory was enough to make him uneasy.

Still, Hark asked with concern,

“You’re a mage. Are you sure you’ll be alright on your own? Why not join our group?”

“No.”

Kent shook his head.

“Your team has already trained together. There’s no need to disrupt that now. Besides, don’t you trust what I’m capable of?”

In truth, Kent had no intention of traveling with a large team.

Doing so would certainly reduce the danger, but it would also mean sharing anything valuable they discovered.

And Kent had no desire to divide good things among an entire crowd.

Seeing that Kent had already made up his mind, Hark stopped trying to persuade him.

As soon as Kent walked away, Hark immediately relayed the warning to the leader of the dwarven group.

The group was made up mostly of Hark’s extended family and several close friends.

The moment their leader heard that Kent intended to test some new alchemical creation inside the tunnel, he made his decision without hesitation.

The dwarves promptly moved toward the largest passage.

After all, who knew what kind of dangerous contraption that abnormal alchemist might decide to plant along the way?

Kent then leaned close to Daphne and whispered a few words into her ear.

Daphne soon walked over to speak with the leader of the dark elf group.

Not long afterward, the dark elves also changed tunnels.

In truth, most of the large teams taking part in the Trial were organized according to the cities they came from.

Once several influential groups began moving, the others quickly followed.

Within only a few minutes, the enormous crowd that had originally gathered behind Kent disappeared completely.

Not a single person remained.

Seeing the empty space behind him, the corners of Kent’s mouth curled into an almost imperceptible smile.

Not long after Kent and Daphne entered the tunnel, several people outside immediately lost their tempers.

Everything had been carefully planned in advance, yet a few words from Kent had been enough to frighten away nearly all the large teams.

Annoying as it was, they had to admit one thing.

Kent’s reputation carried considerable weight.

“No matter. I’ve already received inside information. Supposedly, all of these tunnels eventually lead to the same place. Pass the word along—adapt to the situation as it develops.”

Several different people issued almost exactly the same order.

And in every case, those orders were received by members of large organized teams.

“This place feels strange.”

As Kent and Daphne continued deeper into the passage, Kent took out two pairs of night-vision goggles.

He handed one pair to Daphne and put the other on himself.

The moment Daphne slipped the goggles over her eyes, she froze in astonishment.

The darkness that had once concealed most of the tunnel suddenly became clear before her.

Her admiration for Kent immediately deepened.

With these goggles alone, her combat effectiveness had increased by more than double.

Although Daphne was only a Level One magic archer, being able to actually see her surroundings clearly was far more reliable than depending solely on vague magical perception.

The two continued forward.

But the farther they went, the stronger Kent’s uneasy feeling became.

Something about this place was wrong.

He simply could not figure out what it was.

“What’s so strange about it?” Daphne asked after looking around carefully. “No one has ever been here before, has there?”

Kent abruptly stopped.

Daphne’s casual remark struck him like a bolt of lightning.

His eyes widened.

Then he suddenly exclaimed,

“I know what’s wrong!”

Daphne turned toward him in surprise.

Kent raised a hand and pointed toward the surrounding stone.

“There are obvious traces of human activity here.”

He looked along the walls as he spoke.

“They’re extremely old, so most of the signs have already been worn away. But look carefully at the shape of this passage.”

Daphne followed his gaze.

“It’s almost perfectly rectangular.”

Kent pointed upward.

“Natural tunnels usually have uneven ceilings. They tend to curve inward, sag, or form irregular shapes.”

“But look at this ceiling.”

“Even though the surface is covered with pits and erosion, most of it is still remarkably flat.”

Then he gestured toward the side wall.

“And look at the angle where the walls meet the ceiling.”

“In most places, it’s almost exactly ninety degrees.”

Kent’s expression grew more serious.

“That simply doesn’t happen in naturally formed tunnels.”

“Maybe you could find a short section like this by coincidence.”

“But we’ve already been walking for this long, and the structure has stayed almost exactly the same the entire way.”

He stared into the darkness ahead.

“This tunnel wasn’t formed naturally.”

“Someone built it.”