Meanwhile outside the cave, it was tense, the various noble families waited patiently for their respective members to emerge from it. The sound of the wind blowing whistles in the air, the bright sun illuminating the area, it was quiet as it was tense, they were not exactly here for a picnic, some with worried faces, others with poker faces.

All of a sudden, a loud rumble was heard from the cave as it shook, everyone perked up and became alert, those with worried faces became solemn and the ones who were calm earlier had a change of expression with worry and furrowed brows

"What was that just now" Lily asked rhetorically with a deep frown, but she began to secretly gather her energy to battle at any moment's notice

The rest also started to gather energy secretly to not be caught unprepared, the air became even more tense but they also wanted to know just what happened to cause the cave to tremble like that.

But then, their questions were answered as the air became still, the whistling sounds of the wind halted almost seeming like time had stopped as the bright sun was blocked out by the sudden emergence of a humongous black claw which tore the void open whilst holding a person

The black claw carefully dropped the person it held and then immediately vanished like it was never there, the onlookers looked on in shock and with grave expressions because the pressure they all felt from the claw was so suffocating to the point it made them feel powerless and this was considering that all of them were in the 5th Rank!

Meanwhile, Abigail who was dropped wasn't in a good mood, her face was extremely pale, she also looked visibly older, her body was mildly shriveled as she kept on coughing a mouthful of blood. She had to pay a massive price for the summoning ritual, she struggled and looked around as questioning gazes were directed at her

'This is not good, I just had to be transported right in front of the Archduke and Royal families, I have to contact great grandfather' she thought as she tried to feign ignorance and walk towards the Brunhild Family Mageride that was a bit further away but she was stopped before she could even move.

"Young girl, care to explain what just happened?" this time it was Hilda who asked in a seemingly ordering tone. They weren't stupid, they could connect the dots and knew that she had the answers to their questions

Abigail heard that and knew she couldn't worm her way out of this as she tried to steady herself and speak albeit weakly "Your highness, that was an escape summ-"

*bleurgh*

She couldn't complete her sentence as she vomited a scary amount of blood and was about to collapse, but this time a man with a long curly green hair and brown eyes, wearing a loose plain white shirt and a grey trouser appeared behind her as he held her back and acted as support.

He looked at Hilda and spoke with his flat voice "Your highness, please sh-"

"I did not give you permission to speak" Hilda interjected immediately not wanting to compromise here as she stared at the man with a piercing gaze

She then turned and looked at the pale Abigail as she spoke again, not caring about her condition

"I will ask only one more time, what happened in the cave?"

Abigail's face became paler as her body kept shrinking at a slow and visible speed, she tried to speak but couldn't, she needed to return home immediately. Hilda was about to speak but another change occured, this time in front of the cave as a young boy with black hair and a tattered red trench coat stepped out

He passed the chaotic energy without problems as they only affect those going in, he walked a bit further before he quickly sat down in a lotus position and closed his eyes. Immediately he did, a wave of energy began to converge at his position as it kept increasing.

Hilda and the rest watched on and knew exactly what was happening, he was undergoing a breakthrough, though they were wondering why he didn't use the cleansing pool.

'Something must have happened' they thought, the ones who had family members inside became a little anxious but still steadied themselves, Aaron though, became extremely serious, his niece was inside the cave, so he turned his head and glanced at Abigail

Dominic and Lily however didn't waste any time as they flew towards Cain and stopped not far from his location to act as bodyguards and deter anyone from interrupting the process. They were also wondering why he didn't use the pool but decided to visit the matter later.

Abigail turned her head with much pain as she looked at Cain, she was filled with fear and trepidation. The power she felt from Cain wasn't what a Rank 0 should be capable of wielding, which is why she abandoned Celestine without hesitation, she didn't regret her actions as her life was more important.

Cain however was in a tough spot, he knew the process for the breakthrough thanks to the extensive information from his family but his situation was different. He could already use his bloodline power, although just the unnamed bloodline and only partly. He truly did not know what to expect here.

The reason being he wasn't practically a human, he was fused with something and was basically a new species and instinctively he knew that the energy he required to facilitate the breakthrough would be massive, the cave had to reject him as soon as he begun gathering energy.

Normally, although Rank 0 - Rank 3 are regarded as mortals, the 0 ranks are actually also called false mortals because they haven't truly begun to sense the worldly energy around them which is why they cannot use spells or access bloodline powers, their only method of fighting being through weapons or items

The minimum requirement is to be able to sense energy which is what being a Rank 1 entails, to breakthrough one either needs a supplementary technique or in the case of bloodline carriers, sufficient energy to allow the mind fully develop and expand to be able to support spell casting or bloodline powers

But things are not free in the world, to become a Rank 1, one must pass the Pain-Bewitching Trials or the Mind Tribulation as the cultivators from the Azwain Continent normally refer to it as because it just sounded simpler to them.

When enough energy is gathered, the person is then made to undergo two trials, the first being to relive their most painful moments and the second being a totally made up world which they are forced to live in where their deepest desires are fulfilled.

But the scariest part about the trial is, anyone undergoing it will have no idea it is a trial because reality is warped, the person is forced to believe that the false reality is a real world which is why a lot of deaths occur during the Pain-Bewitching Trials.

If one cannot overcome these two trials, the person's mind is destroyed along with the soul, so all that's left is an empty husk. Which is why a resource like Cleansing Pool which cleanses and provides clarity to the mind in the Cave Of Beginnings is of much importance to false mortals.

Cain calmed himself, but his body kept swallowing energy and feeding it to his mind, it seemed  that the energy he had earlier which was threatening to blow his body up wasn't enough so it kept gathering and feeding it to his mind which absorbed it hungrily.

The onlookers who saw this were shocked, this amount of energy was really too much for a Rank 0 looking to breakthrough. Lily and Dominic were worried initially but when they saw Cain's calm expression, their worries were blasted away only to be replaced by battle intent as they stared at the rest of the families.

Meanwhile, Hilda and the rest kept watching the whole process with incredulity, Ellen looked at Cain and was observing him like he was a product with keen interest as her smile kept widening till the point it seemed eerie.

She wasn't interested in anyone, she and her aunt were only here to observe him, after all he was a five year old about to become a Rank 1 Blood Mage, if he survives then he is a true monster because they did not want to believe that a five year old could survive the Pain-Bewitching Trials.

Abigail though was confident that he would succeed when she looked at him, she was certain that this young boy who did not think and behave like a five year old would overcome the trials so she had to report to her findings to her great grandfather

Meanwhile, Cain's body was still absorbing unholy amounts of energy and feeding it to his mind, this went on for more than ten minutes as the atmosphere became as tense and quiet as ever.

The members of the Archduke families and some other noble families were also observing him as their killing intents surged, they did not want to see Cain succeed, having this type of monster in the Ashel family was a huge problem but they didn't dare move as Lily and Dominic stared at them with ruthlessness and bloodlust, so it all came to a standstill.

After about forty minutes, Cain's body stopped absorbing, his mind had hit a limit. The next moment he felt extremely weak, but also very relaxed like he had taken a heavy dose of sleeping pills, he didn't fight the feeling as he allowed it to encapsulate him. He slowly lost consciousness as his mind was dragged into a familiar world.

His first trial in the Pain-Bewitching Trials had already begun!