I couldn't close my eyes the entire night; the events at the USJ kept replaying before my eyes… And all of these events pointed to one fundamental truth: my current strength and the capacity of my Ether Core had their limits.
"My Lord," Agron's cold voice echoed in my mind. "While your body is regenerating, your Ether structure has hit a bottleneck. If you wish to command more powerful shadows and face what is to come at the Sports Festival, you need a breakthrough."
"I know," I answered quietly, sitting up. "My current state isn't enough."
Suddenly, the walls of my room trembled slightly. The light from my desk lamp flickered off for a split second, and the air in the room turned ice-cold.
Out of nowhere, a giant system panel popped up before my eyes, wreathed in purplish-black lightning that illuminated the darkness of the room.
[Required level achieved.]
[Generating unique instance quest: Job Change.]
[Warning: Once you enter the trial zone, you will not be able to leave the quest until it is completed or you die.]
[Do you accept the Job Change Quest?]
[ [YES] / [NO] ]
"Agron... are you ready?"
"Do I have a choice, my Lord? Let us take what is rightfully yours."
In my mind, I pressed [YES].
At that exact moment, a portal appeared directly in front of my face—just like the ones I had seen in anime. As I stepped closer, another system window popped up:
[Notice]
[Time in this reality will be stopped for the duration required to complete the "Job Change" quest.]
[Good luck, Host.]
As soon as the panel vanished, I walked through and found myself standing inside a massive, windowless Gothic cathedral. Tall stone pillars towered all around, and blue flames burned in iron torches along the walls. The air was heavy, reeking of ancient dust, rot, and concentrated magical energy.
Another system window appeared before me:
[You have entered the trial zone: Citadel of the Blood Knight.]
[Trial Rules:]
Potions and healing items from the inventory are BLOCKED during the trial.
Use of passive regeneration is restricted to 50%.
Access to the next phase requires defeating the Throne Guardian.
Clanking metal and heavy footsteps began to echo from the dark corners of the cathedral. Out of the shadows between the pillars emerged dozens—perhaps hundreds—of figures. They were iron knights in heavy armor, wielding massive two-handed swords, halberds, and shields. Beneath their helmets, their eyes glowed with a crimson, murderous light.
[Phase 1 Objective: Survive the wave of the Knights of the Blood Order (0 / 150).]
"Hundreds of armored targets... the perfect warmup," I growled, raising my hands.
I gripped my shadow daggers tightly as they condensed from the pure energy of my core. Ether lightning began to dance across my arms, and my eyes flared with a crimson aura.
"Agron, stay in the shadows until I tell you. I need to conserve as much energy as possible..." I noted.
"Understood."
The knights charged forward. The lightning-fast battle for my new job had just begun.