Chapter 16 Trial (2)

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'Where am I?'. I slowly opened my heavy eyes, and a soft light immediately flooded into my eyes.

I gently rubbed my eyes, trying to adjust to the light after crawling around in the dark for a while. After a moment, I could finally see everything around me clearly.

A white room with European aristocratic architecture, with elaborately carved walls and ceilings. A large sphere emitting light was attached to the ceiling. Other than that, it was an empty room, without any other decorations. Ah no, there was something that looked like a coffin and a small table placed beside it. On top of the table was a mysterious black box.

Seeing those things, my heart skipped a beat and started beating wildly. A feeling of excitement and nervousness spread throughout my body.

"Did I pass the trial?" I muttered, my eyes still glued to the black box.

'Andrea Sword Technique'

It must be it! I could feel that inside that box was something extremely valuable. Besides the Andrea Sword Technique, what else was valuable enough to be placed in such a box like this? There was no doubt about it.

Overwhelmed with excitement, I immediately jumped to my feet. A sharp pain shot through my body. I winced and looked down at myself. Only then did I realize the state of my body.

My body was now covered in mud and wounds. My clothes were torn, sloppy, and disheveled. I couldn't help but twitch the corners of my lips and blurt out.

"This was not a dream?"

I thought that everything I experienced in that dark cave was a dream set up for the trial. How the hell did it all turn out to be real?

"Wait..." A terrifying thought flashed through my mind, making my heart ache.

"I'm going to be late for Hollis's opening day!!!". I screamed in despair.

How long had I been in that cave? 1 day? 2 days? Or more?

I didn't know the exact time, but I could be sure that I had been in that cave for a long time. It would take the same amount of time to return from that road now. I would be late for school!

"Fuck". I held my head and screamed, the overwhelming emotion temporarily making my pain disappear.

"What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?" I kept muttering, trying to find a way to solve the situation.

"Hey kid. Are you okay?" A man's deep voice rang out beside me, making me jump in surprise.

"Aaaaah".

I screamed in panic. My eyes turned towards the direction of the sound. The image of a man suddenly appeared before my eyes with a slightly surprised look.

"..."

"..."

We both stared at each other. The atmosphere immediately became awkward.

The man saw this and took the initiative to break the silence. He coughed and spoke.

"Ahem!"

"I am Andrea Aureliano. Who are you?" He spoke in a deep, solemn voice.

"Ah?" I couldn't help but let out my disbelief through my voice.

"You are?" I asked back, trembling.

Hearing me ask again, the man didn't seem unnatural. He answered me with a familiar sentence.

"I am Andrea Aureliano. Who are you?"

'Fuck!' I cursed under my breath, finding it hard to believe what was happening before my eyes.

Didn't they say this was his tomb? Why is he still alive and talking to me?

I stared at him for a while with my mouth wide open, my jaw almost falling to the ground. He was looking at me very calmly. His demeanor was like that of a nobleman.

It took me a while to come back to my senses, trying to regulate my breathing and put on a smile that I thought was polite.

"I-It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I'm Danz Grayson." I used a respectful voice to announce my identity to the gentleman in front of me.

How could I not be respectful? He is a sword master! Whether he is dead or alive, it won't change the respect I have for him.

Andrea looked at me for a while, then let out a laugh.

"Haha. Are you worried that you've met a ghost? Don't worry too much, I'm just a fragment of my subconscious that the previous me left behind before dying. And just go ahead, don't be so formal with me, I'm not a living thing after all."

Ah...

'So that's how it is...That's true that there are some skills can do that'. I let out a sigh of relief.

After a while, I finally regained my composure. Only then did I carefully look at Andrea.

He was a tall middle-aged man with short, neatly combed black hair. His deep brown eyes held the wisdom of someone who had seen much. His posture was straight as a sword, and he wore a simple white shirt and black pants. He exuded the air of an elegant gentleman, gentle yet sharp.

"It seems you've calmed down now?" He smiled as he spoke slowly.

"Yes." I nodded in response to his question.

"Is that so..."

Suddenly, the smile on his lips disappeared, a terrible pressure emitted.

"Ugh!". My pupils shrank, and one of my legs gave out as I knelt down.

I raised my head to look at Andrea. An involuntary fear spread through my heart. Cold sweat soaked through my ragged clothes. I quickly lowered my head, avoiding his terrifying gaze.

"What is your purpose here?" His voice was like a sound coming from the abyss. It was low, terrifying, and cold.

The pressure radiating from him made me suffocate. My thoughts stagnated and my body began to tremble.

"I...ugh". I opened my mouth, wanting to reply to that question, but my throat felt like it was being strangled, unable to utter another word.

But then in just a blink of an eye, that terrifying pressure disappeared. I immediately regained my breath.

"Haha, I was just joking. I know you came here for my sword technique, right?" He once again returned to his previous appearance, speaking while still smiling.

"I..."

Before I could finish my words, he interrupted me and continued.

"Someone who doesn't have a clear goal when coming here won't be able to persevere through that narrow tunnel for a long time. Just that is enough for me to know that you came here with a purpose."

"And I won't ask why you know this place, nor your purpose in obtaining my sword technique. Everyone has their own secrets that they don't want to tell others."

Hearing his words, my eyebrows couldn't help but furrow a little. I voiced my doubts.

"I'm very grateful that you didn't ask me too much. But...what if I use your sword technique for bad purposes?"

Hearing my words, he laughed out loud in response.

"No need, I can see people very well. I believe you wouldn't do that."

I was stunned when I heard his answer.

"...Just like that?"

"Yes, that's it."

"..."

I was really speechless. Was this person the same as the majestic person just now? Why was it not like what I imagined?

"Alright, enough chit-chat. You need to leave here soon, right?" He looked at me and asked.

"Ah!"

"Do you have a way to get me back to the surface quickly? It took me too long to get here. I can't waste any more time crawling up to the surface through that cave." I asked urgently.

He still kept a calm expression with a smile, he slowly replied.

"Don't worry, the long cave you used to get here is a special space set up for the challenge. It's a looping space with time slowed down by 10 times. That means the entire distance you've gone through is actually just a short tunnel that's repeated over and over again, time there is 10 times slower than outside."

"Let's see... you've been in that tunnel for about 5 days. That means only half a day has passed outside. Adding the time you were unconscious when you came out of the tunnel, it's only been about a day."

"...Really?"

"Why would I lie to you?"

Hearing his answer, I let out a long sigh of relief. The tension in my mind finally eased.

'Thank goodness... I thought I was late for Hollis's opening day'

"If you're in such a hurry, then quickly inherit my sword technique. It's in that black box." As he spoke, he pointed at the black box on the table.

"Okay." I nodded with a serious face, showing my respect for Andrea and the sword technique.

Walking towards the table, I picked up the black box and observed it carefully. It was a box that wasn't too big, nor too small. The design was extremely minimalist, without any patterns or designs, just a mysterious jet black.

I gently opened the box, my heart involuntarily started to speed up. My breathing also became a little more rapid.

When the box was completely opened, an extremely sparkling, dazzling multi-colored light shone straight into my eyes. It made me squint my eyes.

And it didn't take long for the light to gradually fade.

I slowly opened my eyes, in front of me was a small book the size of a palm that was emitting light. The book cover seemed to be made of diamond, emitting enchanting sparkling rays of light.

Even though I had read the description of the Diamond Special Skill Book from novels, seeing it for myself was still something very different.

"What are you still standing there for? Use it." Andrea said, standing next to me.

"Are you really okay with this? This is your life's work, isn't it? You're not going to regret giving it to me?" I asked my question when I saw him urging me.

"Regret? What's the point of regretting when I'm already dead? Having a good person to inherit my sword technique, not letting it be buried in the river of history is enough for me." He shook his head and smiled, gently waving his hand in response.

"This form of mine won't last long. At least I want to see my sword technique successfully inherited. Can you do it?"

"...Okay. I'll do it right away. Really, thank you very much." I looked straight into Andrea's eyes, nodding solemnly in response.

A genuine smile appeared on Andrea's face for the first time. He clasped his hands behind his back and looked towards me, waiting for me to make my next move.

'Okay, let's do it'

I made up my mind, reached out to touch the book and began to absorb it. The knowledge of Andrea's Sword Technique slowly flowed into my head.

Just like that, I began the process of inheriting the sword technique.

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