Chapter 65
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
[……That last skill was unnecessary.]
Thereupon, Rex, who fell just short of completing the , said somewhat refreshed.
[I forgot that unlike Arts, there’s this stiffness after the activation of Skills.]
Sitting on the ground where he had been teleported, he said, “I knew it would be a bad idea to swerve away from the walkthrough chart on a whim”, and chuckled.
His attitude with the earlier events though, acting as if nothing had happened, made my heart falter for some reason.
[……Aren’t you frustrated?]
When I reflexively asked him that, Rex looked at me with a face that seemed to say I asked him something unexpected.
I couldn’t help being irritated with him playing dumb with what I meant.
[If it’s ability, you definitely should have enough of that! And yet, the way it ended, aren’t you frustrated, Old man!?]
After Rex’s eyes widened at my words, he opened his mouth to say something…… but in the end, he swallowed his words and shook his head.
[Even I would like to try again if I could.]
[In that case……!]
Bracing myself for his next words, Rex just shook his head once again.
[But unfortunately, I have a meeting with the Guild. That’s why, regardless of what I think, time’s up for me.]
[No way……]
“You can just leave that aside and try again”…… were words that I couldn’t say here.
Unlike me, Rex is an important person for the Guild.
If Rex’s knowledge is widely spread among Adventurers, the world will drastically change.
That change his knowledge brings is probably more important than his personal activities as an Adventurer.
Even I know that much.
I know that but……!
[And so, I’m going back to the town, but what about you two?]
[I’m going back, of course. I don’t think I need the Class.]
After Resilia answered without a pause, a silent question pierced through me.
[I will……]
If it’s this trial, it’s not that I need to stay for it today. I can do it anytime, tomorrow or even the day after that.
There’s no point in being stubborn here.
However……
[……Then, how about you stay here for a while, Radd?]
[Eh?]
When I hesitated to answer, Rex suggested so.
I was shaken because he had seen through me, but Rex’s eyes just gently looked at me.
[If you’re bothered about something, don’t hesitate to do it until you’re satisfied. I’d be happy if you complete the for me.]
[Something Old man can’t do, I will……]
I never looked at it that way.
However……
As soon as I heard that suggestion, I subconsciously clenched my fists.
[……It seems like you got your answer.]
I think Rex knew what was going through my mind.
However, that didn’t feel bad at all.
Looking at me as if he were looking at something bright, Rex suddenly gave a wry smile.
And then, after Resilia and he quickly finished getting ready to go back……
[Don’t forget to take a break and do your best without overdoing it. Other than that…… Let’s see……]
As we were about to part ways, seemingly as if he just remembered something before he left the temple, he looked at me and spoke.
[If————–]
※ ※ ※
[D*mn it!]
I don’t know how many times I’ve failed.
I’m on the floor, staring hatefully at the ceiling and swearing for what felt like the umpteenth time.
[Why!? Why can’t I escape from that thing!?]
Since I had learned to use after watching Rex’s playthrough, I no longer failed in the first and second trials.
But even after dozens of attempts, I still couldn’t reach the pedestal at the back of the room, having lost against that last stone statue knight.
[No matter how you look at it, this is just too difficult.]
The foothold was so narrow that it was impossible to evade or even step forward to attack.
And yet, even though that special stone statue knight is similar to the knights in the previous trials in terms of attack patterns, it’s more skillful and stronger.
[With that thing around, clearing through this thing is……]
“—-impossible”, is what I’d like to say, but I just bit my lips close, holding myself back from saying it.
When I say that word out loud, it would really make me feel like it’s all over.
(……Did Master know this was going to happen to me from the beginning?)
Rex’s final words just before we parted ways came back to my mind.
I had not yet clearly realized how difficult it would be to overcome this trial, in which even Rex had failed, so I listened to his words absentmindedly.
With a wry smile on his face, Rex said this.
[Even if you asked me what I came here for……]
I was just following Rex’s lead.
If I had to say one, it would be that “it was because it was hard to train back in the town”.
Or perhaps, if it’s a more direct goal, it would be “to gain the Class”.
[Hmmm?]
For some reason, those answers don’t really seem to fit.
(Shouldn’t the answer be simpler?)
If I think about this without all the unnecessary details and other people’s intentions, then what is it that I’m here for?
The answer came easily when I stripped away all the unnecessary thoughts.
[……It’s for me to become stronger.]
I was shocked by the words that I myself had spoken.
Springing up my feet, I raised my body up.
This certainly is the case.
How could I have forgotten?
I came here to become strong.
And yet, what is it that I’ve been doing all this time?
In the , I avoided fighting with the strong enemies, the stone statue knights, just to clear the trial.
In the , I gave up even trying to be creative, and just left it to luck and hope that I would pass the trial.
What about these last few runs?
I just copied Rex’s strategy, took the easy way out, and then complained and whined when I failed only a dozen times.
[This isn’t right! All of this just isn’t right!]
When did I become such a soft and rotten person?
Now I understand.
The reason why I felt so frustrated when I saw Rex not being disappointed in his failures was that I wanted him to always be the cool guy I admired, the guy who never gave up until he overcame all obstacles.
[What the heck. I’m demanding other people to be like this when I’m like this…….]
I didn’t want to be someone who just admired the Hero.
I wanted to be the Hero myself……!
I stood up and slapped my cheeks, psyching myself up.
The intense pain helped to clear my head a little.
[Not yet, this isn’t the end! I’m just getting started!]
I can regret as much as I want later.
For now, I just needed to keep pushing forward.
And the path for my advance forward had already been shown to me way earlier.
(Rex…… Master really knows everything……)
Pushed by the passion gushing up from my back, I retrieved the magatama and firmly holding my sword and shield, I stepped into the .
※ ※ ※
(One, two, three…… One, two, three……)
Counting the beats, I danced with the stone statue knights.
It’s a dance in the midst of a dangerous battle, responding to my partner’s halberd with my sword and shield.
(I’m finally getting the hang of it!)
I have lost hundreds of times since I took off the and stopped running away from the stone statues.
When I took off the ring which allowed me to easily pass through the , let alone reach it, I couldn’t even escape from the first stone statue of the , and my magatama was broken over and over again.
I felt so pathetic.
I felt so miserable and frustrated many times.
However, I never ran away.
That is my true ability right at this moment.
I realized that this was the “right path” that Rex had shown me.
I understand now.
The true intentions of this trial and Rex’s reason for bringing me here.
(These stone statues are “teaching aids” to beat that knight in the last trial.)
The final knight was so strong that I couldn’t even fight it properly.
However, after being dropped into the abyss again and again, I realized something.
—————–That knight certainly is strong, but its strength is “just an extension of the stone statue knights in the previous trials”.
I became spoiled, and when I was confronted by that stone statue knight in the final trial, I just sulked and complained, saying “I can’t win if I suddenly needed to fight a guy like that”.
However, it was the opposite.
It was I myself who had made that trial unattainable by failing to prepare to fight against it.
The knight was certainly a formidable opponent, and I felt I was no match for him.
However, imagine this.
What if Rex hadn’t rushed into the fight at that moment, but had followed the Dragon’s Path and confronted the knight near the central scaffold?
It may be a meaningless question to ask now.
But if that had happened, Rex would definitely not have lost even to that knight.
Looking back, Rex had “stopped” to fight with the knights of the for a long time.
He only moved forward to close the distance when he blew away his opponent, but he didn’t move his feet during the entire exchange of blows.
The sign by the gate of the said it. “Show your Courage, Offer to me the Perfect Key”.
I had been mistaken about this from the start.
—————–This wasn’t a trial to “escape from the knight”.
—————–It was a trial to hone my strength and “defeat the knight”!
After realizing this, I carefully faced the trials in order, starting with the .
What I kept in mind wasn’t to rely on luck or flukes.
Rather than trying to break through, I should put more emphasis on developing my ability.
Strangely enough, as soon as I made such a decision and began to fight, I began to understand, albeit somewhat, how to fight the knights, which I had thought to be hopeless.
The important thing isn’t to stick to a pattern.
It’s to connect my actions to the next without pause.
No matter how unsightly I might end up, I should just keep on fighting.
I had already lost all sense of time, and since the light from outside didn’t reach inside the temple, I couldn’t even tell what time it was now.
Still, after following Rex’s advice to take breaks, eat and spend all other time fighting the knights, I was finally able to apply my techniques against a single knight.
Of course, I’m still not in Rex’s realm.
Fighting two knights is far from having God-like techniques, and I was still too caught up in dealing with just one knight.
The Arts I use to offset the enemy attacks are clumsy and awkward, with no regard for the power of the technique. The only techniques I can use to blow them away are which I had learned beforehand and one other technique I learned to use by imitation.
I still haven’t studied under the Class , so I naturally couldn’t use the that Rex used as a decisive move.
""
But even so……
I feel like I have finally reached the starting line.
[————–!]
With a scream filled with my determination, the knight in front of me was blown away.
Looking at the stone statue that was thrown out of the trial area and stopped moving, I slightly nodded.
[……Time to advance.]
This is the beginning of the true trials.
And it’s time for my revenge against that knight!
※ ※ ※
After that, in what felt like a really, really long time……
While I was so focused that my sense of time had faded, and I no longer knew how many times had passed since then……
As I looked at the spear wielded by the large knight in front of me, I knew clearly that now was the moment of truth.
Stamping my feet on the Dragon’s Path, which I couldn’t even walk on, I used the Arts expecting my defeat.
[
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
[……That last skill was unnecessary.]
Thereupon, Rex, who fell just short of completing the , said somewhat refreshed.
[I forgot that unlike Arts, there’s this stiffness after the activation of Skills.]
Sitting on the ground where he had been teleported, he said, “I knew it would be a bad idea to swerve away from the walkthrough chart on a whim”, and chuckled.
His attitude with the earlier events though, acting as if nothing had happened, made my heart falter for some reason.
[……Aren’t you frustrated?]
When I reflexively asked him that, Rex looked at me with a face that seemed to say I asked him something unexpected.
I couldn’t help being irritated with him playing dumb with what I meant.
[If it’s ability, you definitely should have enough of that! And yet, the way it ended, aren’t you frustrated, Old man!?]
After Rex’s eyes widened at my words, he opened his mouth to say something…… but in the end, he swallowed his words and shook his head.
[Even I would like to try again if I could.]
[In that case……!]
Bracing myself for his next words, Rex just shook his head once again.
[But unfortunately, I have a meeting with the Guild. That’s why, regardless of what I think, time’s up for me.]
[No way……]
“You can just leave that aside and try again”…… were words that I couldn’t say here.
Unlike me, Rex is an important person for the Guild.
If Rex’s knowledge is widely spread among Adventurers, the world will drastically change.
That change his knowledge brings is probably more important than his personal activities as an Adventurer.
Even I know that much.
I know that but……!
[And so, I’m going back to the town, but what about you two?]
[I’m going back, of course. I don’t think I need the Class.]
After Resilia answered without a pause, a silent question pierced through me.
[I will……]
If it’s this trial, it’s not that I need to stay for it today. I can do it anytime, tomorrow or even the day after that.
There’s no point in being stubborn here.
However……
[……Then, how about you stay here for a while, Radd?]
[Eh?]
When I hesitated to answer, Rex suggested so.
I was shaken because he had seen through me, but Rex’s eyes just gently looked at me.
[If you’re bothered about something, don’t hesitate to do it until you’re satisfied. I’d be happy if you complete the for me.]
[Something Old man can’t do, I will……]
I never looked at it that way.
However……
As soon as I heard that suggestion, I subconsciously clenched my fists.
[……It seems like you got your answer.]
I think Rex knew what was going through my mind.
However, that didn’t feel bad at all.
Looking at me as if he were looking at something bright, Rex suddenly gave a wry smile.
And then, after Resilia and he quickly finished getting ready to go back……
[Don’t forget to take a break and do your best without overdoing it. Other than that…… Let’s see……]
As we were about to part ways, seemingly as if he just remembered something before he left the temple, he looked at me and spoke.
[If————–]
※ ※ ※
[D*mn it!]
I don’t know how many times I’ve failed.
I’m on the floor, staring hatefully at the ceiling and swearing for what felt like the umpteenth time.
[Why!? Why can’t I escape from that thing!?]
Since I had learned to use after watching Rex’s playthrough, I no longer failed in the first and second trials.
But even after dozens of attempts, I still couldn’t reach the pedestal at the back of the room, having lost against that last stone statue knight.
[No matter how you look at it, this is just too difficult.]
The foothold was so narrow that it was impossible to evade or even step forward to attack.
And yet, even though that special stone statue knight is similar to the knights in the previous trials in terms of attack patterns, it’s more skillful and stronger.
[With that thing around, clearing through this thing is……]
“—-impossible”, is what I’d like to say, but I just bit my lips close, holding myself back from saying it.
When I say that word out loud, it would really make me feel like it’s all over.
(……Did Master know this was going to happen to me from the beginning?)
Rex’s final words just before we parted ways came back to my mind.
I had not yet clearly realized how difficult it would be to overcome this trial, in which even Rex had failed, so I listened to his words absentmindedly.
With a wry smile on his face, Rex said this.
[Even if you asked me what I came here for……]
I was just following Rex’s lead.
If I had to say one, it would be that “it was because it was hard to train back in the town”.
Or perhaps, if it’s a more direct goal, it would be “to gain the Class”.
[Hmmm?]
For some reason, those answers don’t really seem to fit.
(Shouldn’t the answer be simpler?)
If I think about this without all the unnecessary details and other people’s intentions, then what is it that I’m here for?
The answer came easily when I stripped away all the unnecessary thoughts.
[……It’s for me to become stronger.]
I was shocked by the words that I myself had spoken.
Springing up my feet, I raised my body up.
This certainly is the case.
How could I have forgotten?
I came here to become strong.
And yet, what is it that I’ve been doing all this time?
In the , I avoided fighting with the strong enemies, the stone statue knights, just to clear the trial.
In the , I gave up even trying to be creative, and just left it to luck and hope that I would pass the trial.
What about these last few runs?
I just copied Rex’s strategy, took the easy way out, and then complained and whined when I failed only a dozen times.
[This isn’t right! All of this just isn’t right!]
When did I become such a soft and rotten person?
Now I understand.
The reason why I felt so frustrated when I saw Rex not being disappointed in his failures was that I wanted him to always be the cool guy I admired, the guy who never gave up until he overcame all obstacles.
[What the heck. I’m demanding other people to be like this when I’m like this…….]
I didn’t want to be someone who just admired the Hero.
I wanted to be the Hero myself……!
I stood up and slapped my cheeks, psyching myself up.
The intense pain helped to clear my head a little.
[Not yet, this isn’t the end! I’m just getting started!]
I can regret as much as I want later.
For now, I just needed to keep pushing forward.
And the path for my advance forward had already been shown to me way earlier.
(Rex…… Master really knows everything……)
Pushed by the passion gushing up from my back, I retrieved the magatama and firmly holding my sword and shield, I stepped into the .
※ ※ ※
(One, two, three…… One, two, three……)
Counting the beats, I danced with the stone statue knights.
It’s a dance in the midst of a dangerous battle, responding to my partner’s halberd with my sword and shield.
(I’m finally getting the hang of it!)
I have lost hundreds of times since I took off the and stopped running away from the stone statues.
When I took off the ring which allowed me to easily pass through the , let alone reach it, I couldn’t even escape from the first stone statue of the , and my magatama was broken over and over again.
I felt so pathetic.
I felt so miserable and frustrated many times.
However, I never ran away.
That is my true ability right at this moment.
I realized that this was the “right path” that Rex had shown me.
I understand now.
The true intentions of this trial and Rex’s reason for bringing me here.
(These stone statues are “teaching aids” to beat that knight in the last trial.)
The final knight was so strong that I couldn’t even fight it properly.
However, after being dropped into the abyss again and again, I realized something.
—————–That knight certainly is strong, but its strength is “just an extension of the stone statue knights in the previous trials”.
I became spoiled, and when I was confronted by that stone statue knight in the final trial, I just sulked and complained, saying “I can’t win if I suddenly needed to fight a guy like that”.
However, it was the opposite.
It was I myself who had made that trial unattainable by failing to prepare to fight against it.
The knight was certainly a formidable opponent, and I felt I was no match for him.
However, imagine this.
What if Rex hadn’t rushed into the fight at that moment, but had followed the Dragon’s Path and confronted the knight near the central scaffold?
It may be a meaningless question to ask now.
But if that had happened, Rex would definitely not have lost even to that knight.
Looking back, Rex had “stopped” to fight with the knights of the for a long time.
He only moved forward to close the distance when he blew away his opponent, but he didn’t move his feet during the entire exchange of blows.
The sign by the gate of the said it. “Show your Courage, Offer to me the Perfect Key”.
I had been mistaken about this from the start.
—————–This wasn’t a trial to “escape from the knight”.
—————–It was a trial to hone my strength and “defeat the knight”!
After realizing this, I carefully faced the trials in order, starting with the .
What I kept in mind wasn’t to rely on luck or flukes.
Rather than trying to break through, I should put more emphasis on developing my ability.
Strangely enough, as soon as I made such a decision and began to fight, I began to understand, albeit somewhat, how to fight the knights, which I had thought to be hopeless.
The important thing isn’t to stick to a pattern.
It’s to connect my actions to the next without pause.
No matter how unsightly I might end up, I should just keep on fighting.
I had already lost all sense of time, and since the light from outside didn’t reach inside the temple, I couldn’t even tell what time it was now.
Still, after following Rex’s advice to take breaks, eat and spend all other time fighting the knights, I was finally able to apply my techniques against a single knight.
Of course, I’m still not in Rex’s realm.
Fighting two knights is far from having God-like techniques, and I was still too caught up in dealing with just one knight.
The Arts I use to offset the enemy attacks are clumsy and awkward, with no regard for the power of the technique. The only techniques I can use to blow them away are which I had learned beforehand and one other technique I learned to use by imitation.
I still haven’t studied under the Class , so I naturally couldn’t use the that Rex used as a decisive move.
""
But even so……
I feel like I have finally reached the starting line.
[————–!]
With a scream filled with my determination, the knight in front of me was blown away.
Looking at the stone statue that was thrown out of the trial area and stopped moving, I slightly nodded.
[……Time to advance.]
This is the beginning of the true trials.
And it’s time for my revenge against that knight!
※ ※ ※
After that, in what felt like a really, really long time……
While I was so focused that my sense of time had faded, and I no longer knew how many times had passed since then……
As I looked at the spear wielded by the large knight in front of me, I knew clearly that now was the moment of truth.
Stamping my feet on the Dragon’s Path, which I couldn’t even walk on, I used the Arts expecting my defeat.
[
That last skill was unnecessary.Thereupon, Rex, who fell just short of completing the , said somewhat refreshed.I forgot that unlike Arts, there's this stiffness after the activation of Skills.Sitting on the ground where he had been teleported, he said, I knew it would be a bad idea to swerve away from the walkthrough chart on a whim, and chuckled.His attitude with the earlier events though, acting as if nothing had happened, made my heart falter for some reason.Aren't you frustrated?When I reflexively asked him that, Rex looked at me with a face that seemed to say I asked him something unexpected.I couldn't help being irritated with him playing dumb with what I meant.If it's ability, you definitely should have enough of that! And yet, the way it ended, aren't you frustrated, Old man!?After Rex's eyes widened at my words, he opened his mouth to say something but in the end, he swallowed his words and shook his head.Even I would like to try again if I could.In that case!Bracing myself for his next words, Rex just shook his head once again.But unfortunately, I have a meeting with the Guild. That's why, regardless of what I think, time's up for me.No wayYou can just leave that aside and try again were words that I couldn't say here.Unlike me, Rex is an important person for the Guild.If Rex's knowledge is widely spread among Adventurers, the world will drastically change.That change his knowledge brings is probably more important than his personal activities as an Adventurer.Even I know that much.I know that but!And so, I'm going back to the town, but what about you two?I'm going back, of course. I don't think I need the Class.After Resilia answered without a pause, a silent question pierced through me.I willIf it's this trial, it's not that I need to stay for it today. I can do it anytime, tomorrow or even the day after that.There's no point in being stubborn here.HoweverThen, how about you stay here for a while, Radd?Eh?When I hesitated to answer, Rex suggested so.I was shaken because he had seen through me, but Rex's eyes just gently looked at me.If you're bothered about something, don't hesitate to do it until you're satisfied. I'd be happy if you complete the for me.Something Old man can't do, I willI never looked at it that way.HoweverAs soon as I heard that suggestion, I subconsciously clenched my fists.It seems like you got your answer.I think Rex knew what was going through my mind.However, that didn't feel bad at all.Looking at me as if he were looking at something bright, Rex suddenly gave a wry smile.And then, after Resilia and he quickly finished getting ready to go backDon't forget to take a break and do your best without overdoing it. Other than that Let's seeAs we were about to part ways, seemingly as if he just remembered something before he left the temple, he looked at me and spoke.IfD*mn it!I don't know how many times I've failed.I'm on the floor, staring hatefully at the ceiling and swearing for what felt like the umpteenth time.Why!? Why can't I escape from that thing!?Since I had learned to use after watching Rex's playthrough, I no longer failed in the first and second trials.But even after dozens of attempts, I still couldn't reach the pedestal at the back of the room, having lost against that last stone statue knight.No matter how you look at it, this is just too difficult.The foothold was so narrow that it was impossible to evade or even step forward to attack.And yet, even though that special stone statue knight is similar to the knights in the previous trials in terms of attack patterns, it's more skillful and stronger.With that thing around, clearing through this thing is-impossible, is what I'd like to say, but I just bit my lips close, holding myself back from saying it.When I say that word out loud, it would really make me feel like it's all over.Did Master know this was going to happen to me from the beginning?Rex's final words just before we parted ways came back to my mind.I had not yet clearly realized how difficult it would be to overcome this trial, in which even Rex had failed, so I listened to his words absentmindedly.With a wry smile on his face, Rex said this.Even if you asked me what I came here forI was just following Rex's lead.If I had to say one, it would be that it was because it was hard to train back in the town.Or perhaps, if it's a more direct goal, it would be to gain the Class.Hmmm?For some reason, those answers don't really seem to fit.Shouldn't the answer be simpler?If I think about this without all the unnecessary details and other people's intentions, then what is it that I'm here for?The answer came easily when I stripped away all the unnecessary thoughts.It's for me to become stronger.I was shocked by the words that I myself had spoken.Springing up my feet, I raised my body up.This certainly is the case.How could I have forgotten?I came here to become strong.And yet, what is it that I've been doing all this time?In the , I avoided fighting with the strong enemies, the stone statue knights, just to clear the trial.In the , I gave up even trying to be creative, and just left it to luck and hope that I would pass the trial.What about these last few runs?I just copied Rex's strategy, took the easy way out, and then complained and whined when I failed only a dozen times.This isn't right! All of this just isn't right!When did I become such a soft and rotten person?Now I understand.The reason why I felt so frustrated when I saw Rex not being disappointed in his failures was that I wanted him to always be the cool guy I admired, the guy who never gave up until he overcame all obstacles.What the heck. I'm demanding other people to be like this when I'm like this.I didn't want to be someone who just admired the Hero.I wanted to be the Hero myself!I stood up and slapped my cheeks, psyching myself up.The intense pain helped to clear my head a little.Not yet, this isn't the end! I'm just getting started!I can regret as much as I want later.For now, I just needed to keep pushing forward.And the path for my advance forward had already been shown to me way earlier.Rex Master really knows everythingPushed by the passion gushing up from my back, I retrieved the magatama and firmly holding my sword and shield, I stepped into the .One, two, three One, two, threeCounting the beats, I danced with the stone statue knights.It's a dance in the midst of a dangerous battle, responding to my partner's halberd with my sword and shield.I'm finally getting the hang of it!I have lost hundreds of times since I took off the and stopped running away from the stone statues.When I took off the ring which allowed me to easily pass through the , let alone reach it, I couldn't even escape from the first stone statue of the , and my magatama was broken over and over again.I felt so pathetic.I felt so miserable and frustrated many times.However, I never ran away.That is my true ability right at this moment.I realized that this was the right path that Rex had shown me.I understand now.The true intentions of this trial and Rex's reason for bringing me here.These stone statues are teaching aids to beat that knight in the last trial.The final knight was so strong that I couldn't even fight it properly.However, after being dropped into the abyss again and again, I realized something.That knight certainly is strong, but its strength is just an extension of the stone statue knights in the previous trials.I became spoiled, and when I was confronted by that stone statue knight in the final trial, I just sulked and complained, saying I can't win if I suddenly needed to fight a guy like that.However, it was the opposite.It was I myself who had made that trial unattainable by failing to prepare to fight against it.The knight was certainly a formidable opponent, and I felt I was no match for him.However, imagine this.What if Rex hadn't rushed into the fight at that moment, but had followed the Dragon's Path and confronted the knight near the central scaffold?It may be a meaningless question to ask now.But if that had happened, Rex would definitely not have lost even to that knight.Looking back, Rex had stopped to fight with the knights of the for a long time.He only moved forward to close the distance when he blew away his opponent, but he didn't move his feet during the entire exchange of blows.The sign by the gate of the said it. Show your Courage, Offer to me the Perfect Key.I had been mistaken about this from the start.This wasn't a trial to escape from the knight.It was a trial to hone my strength and defeat the knight!After realizing this, I carefully faced the trials in order, starting with the .What I kept in mind wasn't to rely on luck or flukes.Rather than trying to break through, I should put more emphasis on developing my ability.Strangely enough, as soon as I made such a decision and began to fight, I began to understand, albeit somewhat, how to fight the knights, which I had thought to be hopeless.The important thing isn't to stick to a pattern.It's to connect my actions to the next without pause.No matter how unsightly I might end up, I should just keep on fighting.I had already lost all sense of time, and since the light from outside didn't reach inside the temple, I couldn't even tell what time it was now.Still, after following Rex's advice to take breaks, eat and spend all other time fighting the knights, I was finally able to apply my techniques against a single knight.Of course, I'm still not in Rex's realm.Fighting two knights is far from having God-like techniques, and I was still too caught up in dealing with just one knight.The Arts I use to offset the enemy attacks are clumsy and awkward, with no regard for the power of the technique. The only techniques I can use to blow them away are which I had learned beforehand and one other technique I learned to use by imitation.I still haven't studied under the Class , so I naturally couldn't use the that Rex used as a decisive move.""But even soI feel like I have finally reached the starting line.!With a scream filled with my determination, the knight in front of me was blown away.Looking at the stone statue that was thrown out of the trial area and stopped moving, I slightly nodded.Time to advance.This is the beginning of the true trials.And it's time for my revenge against that knight!After that, in what felt like a really, really long timeWhile I was so focused that my sense of time had faded, and I no longer knew how many times had passed since thenAs I looked at the spear wielded by the large knight in front of me, I knew clearly that now was the moment of truth.Stamping my feet on the Dragon's Path, which I couldn't even walk on, I used the Arts expecting my defeat.
