' ' Master.. May I please do something else than these grueling exercises which I have ecplised already.. ' '
Natheniel irked Eulysess to allow him to do something other than running laps around mountains, anything! Anything was good enough for the young adventurer..
Unable to take it anymore Eulysess silently injected mana into her eye, a technique to strengthen the eye to see what you normally couldn't..
She used this to gauge Nathaniel's strength, judging wether he was worthy enough for his next trial.. Prior to this moment she believed it would take 5 months for him to be strong enough yet..
In her eyes his entire body was glowing, filled to the brim with mana, how did he achieve this? Who knows. But what matters is that he's already formed 1/10 of the 4th circle in just 3 months..
She sighed reluctantly before deciding to give Nathaniel..
Buwooom!
' ' Ack-! ' '
Nathaniel's entire body shook as Eulysess unleashed a wave of killing intent meant to dearm and neutralize someone without killing them
'This pressure.. It's insane.. So this is "killing intent" Huh.. Using your Aura to unleash a wave of pure power..'
Even in pain Nathaniel couldn't help but smile, he knew this was a test as this killing intent.. It was too weak.. Almost as if Eulysess was controlling it
Gritting his teeth he began to manifest his aura..
'My aura is too weak to fully cover my body.. I need to concentrate it to where I am strongest..'
Using all his mana available he coveted his lower body with aura, thanks to his.. Unconventional (?) training of running laps around a mountain his legs were nearly metal..
As the ground shook under the test, Nathaniel placed his hand on his thighs to further support himself.. But unbeknownst to him..
Buwooooom!!!
The killing intent grew stronger, the pressure in the air grew stronger, and it was even getting harder to breath
'Is she insane- how am I supposed to survive this-?!'
He grittrd his teeth until a lesson Eulysess taught him at the very beginning returned
...
' ' Master, may I ask why I have to do this? ' '
Nathaniel asked Eulysess who had once again forced Nathaniel to run up and down the mountain, a sort of speed and stamina training to prepare him..
' ' To be able to run away when there is a foe you cannot face.. ' '
She answered with a calm face, ever since she took him in, the only thing she had trained Nathaniel as of the moment.. Was how to survive..
...
With all his might Nathaniel forced himself to open his palm, sparks flying in all direction as a glowing sphere of flames appeared in his hands
With all his might he threw the fireball at his feet, using the momentum to send himself out of the strongest concentratoon of killing intent..
'I can move..'
Again he continued to back away, again and again he slowly created a large distance between himself and Eulysess and then..
Clap!
The killing intent died down as Eulysess clapped her hand, a small sly smile appearing on her face as she spoke with a tone of approval
' ' You pass.. I suppose you can do the 1st trial.. Live for 3 months inside the middle layer of the forest.. Return to the outer layer after, it doesn't matter what you do in the middle, there will be plenty of monsters stronger than you in the middle that's why I needed you to understand when to run and when to fight.. ' '
With a nod she gave him a bag, supplies for only a few days, it was clear what his master wanted.. To survive with nothing.. That is why the training she made him do was focused on survival. She needed him to get used and introduced to the forest..
' ' I understand.. I'll be back. ' '
He replied and turned away but before so, he paused, why? Why did he stop to walk..
' ' Please take care of Fenris for me, master.''
He smiled as he continued to walk..
'The Middle layer huh..'
The Forbidden forest, it was.. Abnormal, not just because it was heavily dense but by structure as well.
It was a forest with a strangely circular structure divided into 3 layers, the first 12 Kilometers were known as the outer layer, the most dangerous beasts here were B-ranks..
In the middle layer, Nathaniel's destination it occasionally had S-rank beasts reigning as their emperors, the middle which streteches from the 12th to the 30th kilometer mark is divided into multippe territories..
Each territory has a designated "Emperor" an S-rank beast that you must avoid at all costs.. These beasts are the reason most expeditions failed..
And lastly, the Inner layer, every monster here is at least relevant to an Emperor.. Truly terrifying.. Only one expedition reached this layer.. And that is the expedition that discovered and managed to take the divine weapon, "Bow of Artemis.."
' ' Sigh.. This is going to be very "fun" ' '
He spoke sarcastically as he ventured even deeper..
To be continued