The lounge was almost appearing to be a ghost town. There wasn’t much activity going around. At this point the trial was coming to an end. Their journey together would be ending soon. While there was some friendship and their journey was a pleasant one it didn’t change the fact that until they reached the intermediate worlds, it was questionable if they would still be remembered. It was at that point with a delay in progression from difference in ability it would become possible to check up on other people. From intermediate worlds and up one was given an identity. That was to say everyone before reaching the intermediate world didn’t matter. Even those that didn’t descend were to a lesser degree often seen as lessor and didn’t get the same identities as those that climbed their way up. It was cold and ruthless but it was only once one made it to this point they could move about. Even before that it was more about the quality of information that could be sent between worlds.
The resources to send information down were expensive and the reward was not worth it because it was one way. To send information up from below that point cost far more amounts and the information wasn’t guaranteed to make it to the party intended. Thus all that could be shared was public information and it would then get spread to the relevant worlds. Pieces that could really spread were more types of rumors and false information. For that purpose it wasn’t well known but his information had already spread to the intermediate level worlds. At this point nobody believed it. Because of the nature of the way worlds were separated it was unlikely this information would become concrete for a while. Still none of this was relevant to him at the moment.
With a sigh he moved like a lonely ghost through the lounge and made his way to the strength test. He would likely be the only one moving through the lounge. Everyone else was locking themselves in their room to take every last moment they can in absorbing the current mana. Even he, with the terrible sensitivity of neutral mana, could feel himself growing stronger. What was once a gradual progress turned into peeking cliffs giving them the ability to leap from edge to edge in a quick rise that was hard to come by.
In conversation between them it was stated that they would likely appear in an intermediate lowest level world. It was possible they might even scratch the surface of a highest lowest level world. Regardless, the journey to initial worlds was very much so in reach. It filled him with excitement and questions. It was said that when one steps into the next level world they have a chance to unlock the next level of their class. There wasn’t a large amount of information but it was clear that if enough understanding of the class was given they would be able to advance by leaps and bounds. Unlike them he didn’t know much about his class.
For the most part he knew for sure he would enter an apathy state if pushed or put in a position he felt his life was in danger. This gave him a unique sense of danger that was more acute than most people and seemed to rival super sensitive individuals that were above even most creatures. He also had what appeared to be an insane sense of changes in mana. This had no translation in making him stronger but explained why his sense of danger was so acute. He couldn’t confirm it but at the moment he was finding it easier to compartmentalize his emotions to a certain extent. These emotions would slowly be eating away over time, but if he failed to control them and they burst out. This would end badly and the emotions that were bottled up would explode and wreak havoc on him.
He had both apprehension and wonder mixed with some excitement at the prospect. Ignoring the fear of what was to come. He rather focused on the possible future, it helped diminish a little of his anxiety. If he gained more control of his class it would help him feel a little bit of control in his life. Something that reminded him of hell. He continued to pass in and out of daydreams of that place. Deep inside he hoped Ishita was wrong. He rather not come to terms with some unknown fate connected to that being. Still there wasn’t very much of a choice as throughout his journey in this new world he had been in close connection to that being.
Closing the door behind him he took a deep breath as he calmed himself down. At the moment he didn’t plan to get put in his apathy state. He had drawn many conclusions about his class and he suspected that if he made a mistake or wasn’t in a good state of mind the chances of a mistake would increase. That was to say he came to the conclusion that if he didn’t pay attention or grew distracted there was a very good probability he would induce a mistake by himself. When going into the strength test he was already putting himself at risk. To do so further would create more complications. He would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy his time around other people.
He fully planned to force an apathy state once he took the actual trial. In fact he was planning to do it three months early. No matter how he tried it was difficult to sit still and concentrate on meditation for hours on end. With the sheer amount of mana in the environment it was worse as there wasn’t a need to sleep. The vast concentration of it was enough to feed the body and outside of being uncomfortable he wouldn’t need to sleep, eat, or drink. Though the last one was a bit questionable. Hell had taught him this, if he could survive with no food and less sleep he could easily do it in an environment with so many psychological amenities that was close in density of mana to it. If he could help it he wanted to prolong entering that state as once he did it was likely he would leave the rest before leaving that state.
At the moment he was too important to attack or belittle. Obviously they could easily do the trial again. The people he was grouped with were monsters amongst monsters. He had no doubts if he died they would be able to pass with a couple more attempts. It wouldn’t be easy and would require some luck with team members. It wouldn't change the fact that he believed they all could move past this. Even knowing this they wouldn’t risk it as it would take too long. The atmosphere was a perfect example of that. He didn’t know if he would ever find that again. Outside of Ishita these were the first people he had met that he didn’t find disgusting.
Giving his confirmation he felt himself being moved. It was artificial as in reality the body was given the false sense of being teleported as the entire world around them came into being. The first thing he noticed wasn’t the tall trees with sharp protruding branches with dangerous looks. It wasn’t the brightness of the sun’s light bouncing off the snow. He could feel it. There was a natural bloodlust in the air. This wasn’t something completely unique. This was the bloodlust of a creature that was the master of a territory. This was a familiar feeling to him.
When in hell the last period of time he wasn’t able to stay in the demigod’s territory and he realized whose territory it was. He was forced to flee for his life as he could hear and feel shockwaves and sounds that made it appear like the entire world seemed to be ending behind him. After escaping the place he had called home for almost three years he was pushed into the natural environment of hell. During his time in the altar he spread the rumor in hopes of gaining some friends but in the end he was only able to get information. While his life was no picnic it was by no means matching the descriptions of hell and the travesty that was spoken about by survivors.
He had only really experienced hell for that short period of time. The number of unknown creatures and the attacks continued to the point he wasn’t sure how he survived. In the beginning they didn’t really attack as he could feel them stalking him. For one reason or another they didn’t immediately attack, in time he did have to fight for his survival; it wasn't against normal creatures. Each one of them were monsters, half of which he had to fight without ever seeing what they were.
Some would send waves of normal creatures at him while others could attack so quickly he was barely able to defend or he was forced to take the hit and continue running. There were even one or two that attacked him with mental methods that caused him to hear and see things, each time he found a hidden place to try and sleep he would soon wake up from a nightmare as he continued to realize he was being attacked even in his sleep. Regardless of which method was used he could feel a type of bloodlust during each event.
This was it, during his time in the altar the head judge once shared a story. He had attempted to take the trial they would be facing soon and in this trial he came face to face with a creature with such a strong bloodlust it could be felt even when the creature was simply existing. It wasn’t aware of his existence but it continued to move around and any time it met another creature they would flee and scatter. Not a single one would confront the creature. He wasn’t sure of what the creature was, he only knew it was the owner of that territory and everything else needed to bow down to it or flee.
Shifting through his memories that might prove fruitful he could feel a sense of dread and his body was stiff. Partially from the cold but on the other hand the bloodlust was affecting his nerves. If he screwed up even once it was likely he would trigger the apathy state or worse he might just die. The bloodlust could be felt but it wasn’t exactly unstable. The feeling was constant and while he was given the impression it was moving he wasn’t sure if this was true. The worst aspect was that this was numbing his other senses. From his five bodily senses to his class’s mana sensitivity were both covered in a thin veil making it hard to understand the signals being sent to him.
He didn’t pull out his branch, partly because of what Valerie had said but most importantly he knew the weapon was not easy to hide as the smell was supposedly strong. He had carried it with him for over a year and so he was used to the smell, but when he used it around them they could instantly tell because it reeked. This strength test was giving him the feeling of being back in hell. He instantly drew himself in. Using a thin bit of mana he created makeshift snowshoes that spread his weight. It was extremely consuming but he wasn’t planning to explore but he moved to the tallest tree. The tracks he created were gone with a breeze and while he lost a good portion of his mana to him this was an equivalent exchange.
Climbing the tree took time. He was careful not to break the bark and each time he reached a new branch he would move like a sloth. The tree itself was around fifty to a hundred feet tall. Without a gauge to put it against he was unable to easily estimate the size. If he had to guess it had taken him roughly an hour. It was time consuming and uncomfortable but it was necessary. Creatures in this world were extremely sensitive and cautious. The majority of the creatures from hell with similar bloodlust wouldn’t even attack him as he slept and would usually send small creatures or give him nightmares to drain his strength. Maybe it was all a waste of time, yet when weighted against his life he was willing to waste an entire day.
He needed to take care so as to not break the bark or chip it as it was impossible to know if there was sap or anything that would discrete from the tree. While looking like a pine he wasn’t very sure about pine trees even if it was the exact same. If there was something that gave off a smell he might not be able to smell it but the creature had the possibility of smelling it. If he moved too quickly on the branches they would lose the snow and could look unnatural. The trees were tall but they were sparse. Even halfway up the tree he could see a great distance around him. It wouldn’t be too difficult for the creature to notice a tree that had less or no snow on its branches.
When he made it near the top he started to explore his surroundings. To the north was downhill, the terrain was bumpy and filled with a number of cliffs that were visible. From those he did see it was possible there was far more he couldn’t see covered in snow. To the south was the tip of a mountain. There were two peaks that were connected by a small slope between them. East and west were similar in nature. He wasn’t sure if it was an actual place but the twisting mountain was swallowed by clifftop as he was able to see some uncovered slopes that reached down until he was unable to look further. He was too high up, he could feel the cold but didn’t really have much of an opinion as it wasn’t hard to use mana to insulate and heat up the body.
This problem had to do with the fact that the bottom of the mountain was covered in clouds. He was so far up that he was above the clouds. There were likely a number of issues but he could only think of two without having any experience or knowledge of what other dangers there could be. The first was temperature but with mana he didn’t have to worry too much. The most important aspect was oxygen. The altar saw many from the lowest level worlds with science so it wasn’t surprising that most of them there knew a bit or a lot about it. As for their experience they weren’t sure the extent of mana in this case.
It was clear that it wasn’t difficult to replace sleep with mana, as for food it was difficult but density could be overcome. As for drinking that one was known to exist but it wasn’t easy to replace the loss with mana but it had detrimental effects on the body if the level of mana was below intermediate and it was rumored to still not be recommended if possible there either. Because of the change in the body it was unknown what was now natural and what part was the ability to starve the body of oxygen for a prolonged amount of time with the replacement of mana.
He had a large lung capacity but he was unsure what fighting in this environment would be like so he needed to make the best of every opportunity he could find. As he observed he continued to feel the bloodlust move but for a great amount of time he was unable to even discover what was releasing it. It wasn’t until the sun was starting to set he was able to finally catch movement on the horizon. At first he didn’t see anything, only once it came really close was he able to find the creature. The creature was feline in size and shape, its color was silver and easily mixed into the snow making it difficult to make out its exact features. Making matters worse it was moving towards him while facing the sun. This caused its shadow to be hidden under its body and only once it came close was he able to really see it as he was able to spot the small bits of its shadow behind it appear.
