Inside a dimly lit room, Ela sat with her head buried in her hands. After a while, she finally lifted her head and stared into the darkness. "I should have done more," she thought, remembering how her parents, along with Damien's, had been killed.

  For her trial, Ela was reliving the day they died over and over again. At this point, she had relived it more than thirty times. It wasn’t because she was struggling with the trial; she understood what she needed to do to pass. She was just trying to find a way for them to survive or see if there was something she could do to help.

  Slapping herself, Ela shook her head, attempting to push those thoughts away. She had tried enough, and there was no saving them—not with the power she had right now. That didn’t mean she had given up, though.

  Ela focused and sat down in a meditative position. To pass this trial, she knew she needed to let go. They had passed away, and it was time to move on. With one last tear sliding down her cheek, Ela’s eyes snapped open, revealing a new resolve within her.

  She accepted that they were gone, but she also resolved to become strong enough to find a way to bring them back. It was the least she could do for her parents.

  The surroundings began to change, and she found herself in the room where Damien had been moments ago. This time, the spirit being sat in a chair with another one across from him. Staring at Ela, the spirit-like being wore an intrigued expression. “This girl has extraordinary resolve," he thought. "She has lived through such loss so many times, all for the sake of finding a path she has yet to discover…”

  “Please, sit,” said the spirit, gesturing for her to take a seat across from him. Ela walked over, took a seat, and regarded the being with a hint of caution. “I'm glad to see you being cautious. You should never trust anyone in this world whom you do not truly know—sometimes, even those you think you know should not be trusted,” the spirit said, a reminiscent look crossing his face.

  “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” Ela mused. The spirit simply smiled in response. “We are not here to discuss me. Now, before you move on to your next challenge, I wanted to have a bit of a chat.”

  Standing up the spirit started walking off a massive building appearing out of nowhere. Ela quickly stood and followed him quietly still cautious of what the spirit might do or try, “You have an amazing will and resolve you know? Most humans could never live through something like that over and over again just to find a chance to turn the situation around.”

  “Let me tell you a story of a human I once knew, he had a similar situation as you but much more tragic and brutal. His parents like your own were murdered but for him, his father was beaten till he could not move, and his mother was toyed with right in front of the boy and father. They continued to do so to the mother until she died, after that they killed the father brutally and to add insult to injury they sold the boy into slavery.”

  Ela listening to this could not help but show an expression of shock and disgust, if what the spirit was saying was true the life that boy lived through had to be one of anguish and misery. Nowhere close to what Damien and Ela experienced.

  “After going through an untold amount of misery being a slave, the boy had contemplated ending it all but he kept remembering the day everything changed for him, the day he lost those he loved. By doing so a fire was lit in the boy's heart each fueling him to stay alive and seek vengeance should he get the chance.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Eventually, that day arrived. The system reached the planet where the boy lived, and chaos erupted. By this time, the boy was 18—a young man who had survived and grown stronger. With his newfound power, he set out to find the people who had destroyed his life. However, as fate would have it, they were already dead.”

  “Having lost his sense of purpose, the young man began to drift. No longer focused on building his strength, he fell behind, and the talent that once flourished began to wither. This cycle continued for many years until he encountered someone who would profoundly change his perspective on the world and the universe.

  This person revealed to him that it was possible to bring his parents back; all he needed to do was reach the pinnacle of strength. By achieving this, he could find a way to resurrect those he had lost.

  Leaning in, Ela listened intently; the story was captivating. The character portrayed lived a life filled with endless sadness, wandering aimlessly in search of something to give his existence meaning.

  The spirit smiled, pleased to see Ela so engaged, and chuckled softly, prompting Ela to silently urge him to continue the story.”

  “Unforntaly young one, the story does not progress as you probably hoped it would. Instead, that person went with the man who told him about the ability to revive his parents, and while the young man did try his talent had long run out and he had no hope of reaching that apex.”

  “That young man is now the person sitting before you.” the spirit said with a calm smile.

  Ela was once again a bit surprised by the revelation, but not overly so. As the man recounted his story, she could see the visible expression of reminiscence on his face—the look of someone who is recalling their past.

  “Now that I’ve shared my story with you, it’s time to send you to your next trial. Let me give you the same warning I gave that boy you arrived with: follow your heart and don’t let others cloud your judgment and instincts. Good luck, young Ela.”

  As the scene began to change around her, Ela smiled at the spirit before responding, “Thank you for sharing your story; it may help me more than you will ever know.” The spirit chuckled in response but said nothing further.

  While she remained cautious of him, Ela truly believed the story was real. If it wasn’t, he had to be the best actor she had ever come across. Nevertheless, she decided to wait and see what the man’s actions would be moving forward. If he had any bad intentions for her or Damien, regardless of the story he told, Ela would stand against him.

  While Ela had just arrived inside the second trial Damien could be seen walking with a group of people, the second trial was a test based on decision-making. So once Damien had arrived he was put into a group of people tasked with raiding a dungeon.

  Damien had already had to break the group up from fighting and save a few of them who were close to being killed by the monsters in the dungeon the trolls. It also did not help that there was someone in the group constantly questioning his leadership.

  Eventually, Damien sighed and put on a show of strength after having had enough of their bullshit. Smiling at how quiet it was afterward. ‘Should have done this sooner, strength does mean everything in this world’ Damien laminated.

  Walking through the dungeon they arrived in front of a massive fort-like building, Damien quickly signaled for them to halt and be quiet. Calling over the scout of the group he instructed them to go check out how many monsters were inside and to see what they were dealing with.

  While he would love to just bust in there and kill everything he could find that was not the goal of the trial meaning he had to go about it the way a leader should. After a short while the scouts returned and reported about the inside.

  “From what we could see they have around 200 guards in total, 130 on the outside and the rest guarding the interior. The fort's leader appears to be on the inside and eating at a table.”

  Damien smiled and said, “Well done. Now, this is here is what we are going to do.”