The quiet environment was something that had become the usual. There was no noise that could be heard when anyone came out to stretch a bit. Even that became lesser as their rooms had become rather comfortable. It was spacious and had everything they needed. The only downside was it was all the same. Once in a while coming out to the white in the lounge was enough to make them feel like they had gone outside and been given a change in scenery. It was probably part of the trial and yet staying in the same environment over and over, every single day for the past few years was starting to get to them. As the mana increased communication that made each day feel different was dwindling to the point they didn’t really talk to each other anymore.

 

Today that had all changed. At first only three people knew about it. Soon over the days Aegle and Steven would exit their rooms for a change of scenery and get drawn to what was going on in the waiting room. Only the four of them knew how long it had been going but as the days went it turned out to be more than just a single day. At first it was worrisome but it became normal before a week had passed and it started to become scary. For what the four were doing was sparing. The lounge was protected as that was where the entrance of their rooms were and so it was inadvisable, even ignoring all the furniture. It was a smaller space than the waiting room. Waiting room wasn’t very large but it was the biggest area outside of an active strength testing room. 

 

“Again.” His voice was cold and spoke with ridicule in his speech. No longer was there a carefree smile or a lazy look on his face. Amit was facing the three as he tilted his head up to look down on the three. This change had accrued after an entire week went by and they failed to live up to his expectation. He had spoken to all of them and made a deal. At first everyone agreed as it was for their own interest. Later as they started to spar it started to change.

 

He was attempting to enter his apathy state. To do so he called in Valerie, Jackie, and Rory. All three of them were needed to force him into a life or death moment to trigger his apathy state. And yet a week went back and none of them could do anything. Worse yet he was going easy on them. This was a problem as if he could go easy on them it meant they weren’t really trying as he was stronger than each one individually and while he was taking advantage of their lack of teamwork it wasn’t a power gap between them this large. After a week he stopped holding back and started to cause light injuries.

 

Instead of spurring them into the moment this caused them to shrink back. At first they were very willing to help as it wasn’t a difficult prospect. To trigger his apathy state he needed to feel death, in other words he needed to be pushed to the brick. He failed to mention the consequences of this because he feared they would shrink back instead of helping him. It was possible to face the lynx and be forced to enter the state then. This was questionable in his mind. While the lynx was weaker than him it wasn’t like he could kill it effortlessly. He wasn’t willing to let his guard down.

 

Theoretically it shouldn’t be a problem if all three came at him seriously. Keyword being seriously. The three weren’t taking it very seriously and him letting them go because he didn’t pursue their mistakes let them think they didn’t need to fight seriously. While nobody wanted to admit it, there was a line most people didn’t want to cross consciously. For the three of them fighting a single person as a group of three and putting their lives on the line was one of these lines. He had no intentions of killing them but at the moment he was too strong.

 

The three didn’t know how to work together and while all three could easily do the job because of the uniqueness of triggering his apathy state he needed to fight seriously. This in turn meant using everything at his disposal. This included the gaps when they tried to attack or cover each other. It was because of this they found it hard to get serious and seemed to think he would allow them to just stop helping and not do anything about it. They vastly underestimated what his life meant to him.

 

Glancing at the three before looking over at Aegle and Steven who stood by the open door he spoke, “Aegle I helped you before right?” 

 

Suddenly being asked this in a heavy atmosphere caused her to pause slightly, “Uhm… Yeah.”

 

“You can say you owe me somewhat considerably.”

 

“Yes…”

 

“Good, I have a favor to ask.”

 

“Okay?” There was a nervous look on her face which became more pronounced when he smiled gently at her.

 

“Don’t worry, it shouldn’t be too hard on you. I just need you to heal someone.”

 

Hearing this caused her to relax greatly, “Okay!” 

 

It wasn’t just her, everyone slightly paused after this exchange as everyone was fine and nobody needed healing. At least not yet…

 

“So the reason I asked all three of you to help is for two reasons. First, I am stronger than you three individually. In theory it would be best to fight just two of you. This would give you less trouble working together to push me into a situation where my constitution would trigger that unique state.” He didn’t elaborate too far as he didn’t wish to tell anyone more information than they needed. “Secondly, it required three even if it was harder to work together because once that state is triggered it leads to a backlash. The time we spent together means this backlash will be worse as that state hasn’t been triggered in a long time.”

 

Letting that settle for a moment he continued as his voice grew warmer as a smile played on his lips that caused the air to get colder, “Funny enough, my care and attention to your safety has given you all the wrong impression. I have gone out of my way not to nitpick at others and be as friendly as possible even though it honestly goes against my personality. I tried to be as helpful as I could so when I asked this favor it would be met without too much difficulty or cause too much stress for not having given enough to receive such favor. But you have all underestimated how important my life is to me.

 

Between risking entering this state while in an actual fight of life or death I planned to do it safely here. This safely isn’t just on my part. With the three of you, not only can you get used to working together when the backlash does accrue you would have the teamwork to work together to mitigate any problems that might occur. In this world that follows the law of the jungle between my life and possible backlash from your respective powers, which side do you think I am going to choose?”

 

As he started to slowly release his mana it reached a point that neither Aegle or Steven could withstand it and had to return to the lounge. They could still feel his mana even though he wasn’t directly releasing it on them it was simply that much. While closing the door caused a large margin to be cut off it didn’t change the fact they could still feel the magnitude of the sheer volume.

 

Inside the room he looked at all three of them one last time, “This is my last concession. If you don’t start taking this seriously I will start fighting seriously and if you don’t do the same the outcome is obvious. I will give you the rest of the day to consider. But know that if you decide to help I will do nothing. If you decide to forsake the other two while hiding in your room you can just give up the trial now because I will live in the lounge and wait for any opportunity I am given and I will kill you. If you think you can wait me out I truly ask you to reconsider, I lived alone surrounded by monsters far stronger than you in isolation for years. Do you think you can actually wait me out?”

 

As he walked to the door he opened it and turned to give them one last piece of motivation, “Ah and at the end if we both do make it out of here. If you decide not to help and I see you again and I have complete confidence I can kill you just know I will. As for consequences, we will just have to wait and see what happens. For those that do decide to go a little out of their comfort zone to help, while I won’t owe you one I don’t think it would be such a bad thing to be friends in the future.”

 

After asking Aegle to show up tomorrow to heal them he went back to his room. He didn’t lie but the time they were wasting was starting to make him desperate. He might be making a mistake, he wasn’t good with people to begin with. After being in hell his social skills were basically non-existent. Unfortunately he was growing more anxious as the days went by. The words of Ishita would echo in his mind. He had begun dreaming about hell every time he slept and his daydreams would occur almost any time he got distracted during meditation. He had reached a point he needed this to work. Though even when he was so desperate he wasn’t willing to risk the trial without his apathy state as he had found a better solution.

 

His gamble paid off. Not only did all three show up, they had a serious expression and he could see their clothes were a mess as they had continued after he left. He wasn’t sure the exact reason but he expected it had to do with his identity. He didn’t have a clear understanding of what it meant to be from a hell trial that was only available to those from the lowest level worlds. Instead what he did learn was that it wasn’t something little. The looks he was given was the first surprise behind so much fear it wasn’t possible to hide.

 

Even when they attempted to hide it they couldn’t. Even Valerie had bits of fear he couldn’t understand. She alone could fight him one on one from what he had seen. She would slowly start to lose out and if she panicked once he likely could capitalize on it but that was if he didn’t make any mistakes himself. Yet what became clear after was that it wasn’t just him they were afraid of but what it represented having survived hell. It wasn’t nearly as little as he originally thought, which was the reason he gambled using that mysterious status it held in their heads.

 

Like the first time they agreed to fight with him they all had serious expressions on their faces. As they began it was Jackie who moved first. He was the physically strongest and his speed had become even faster after fighting the golem. He was slowly digesting the abilities he had yet completely mastered. His ability mainly focused on pivoting so his movements were fluid and predictable to someone stronger. Yet when he went to avoid the fist he felt Valerie’s mana on him. As his fist went by he didn’t try to counter attack as he felt danger. 

 

When he looked at the shadow of Jackie’s fist he felt a pair of invisible eyes that were paying attention to him. After Jackie recovered the feeling went away. Turning to look at Valerie he could see her concentrating as Rory in a set of blue scale armor came at him. This time he took the blow by using his arm to swipe the fist away. At the same time he had to lean to the side as he put his weight on a single foot. As he did he was able to kick out behind him meeting the fist of Jackie who had attacked him from behind. No sooner did the three connect before he was forced away.

 

It was awkward and used up a fair bit of mana but he could take both of the blows with minimal damage. And yet the short confrontation drew blood. As he tried to distance himself like a light being shown on the wall an object created a shadow that was shaped like a blade. The blades extended out from the two’s strikes and stabbed into his retreating figure. While it was only light cuts it did in fact draw blood. Very quickly they healed but this was much better than before. While they had drawn blood before they were sloppy in execution as they hadn’t taken it seriously. It was like fighting three people at once, while before it was like fighting three people one at a time. No matter how they fought before this they only took advantage of the situation for their own opportunities. Only now did they seem to take his threats seriously and now they were a single group.

 

He didn’t stop and ask what caused this change, nor was he foolish enough to think his words were enough. They weren’t stupid and knew more than him, that included his own status. It was likely they knew he was serious but he doubted that was the reason they decided to take it seriously. He didn’t wait long before engaging in battle. He tried to make it to Valerie as she was the most difficult to deal with. As her support was something he didn’t expect as she was very headstrong and taking a backseat was beyond his expectation. Worse was the result of her taking a back seat. 

 

While he knew he could end it if he rushed forward and took her out of the fight. This would cause one if not both Jackie and Rory to retaliate and because of the amount of force it would require to take her out it would mean he would be wide open. This would surely be enough to trigger his apathy state. The problem was he would really remove Valerie from the fight meaning the backlash would be too strong for the two to handle and he would likely kill one if not critically injuring both to the point they might not make it even with Aegle’s healing.

 

He talked big yesterday but he was actually very afraid of the backing of the three. Regardless of how strong he pretended to be, or how special his status as someone from hell was. Soon these thoughts were forced out of his head by the three. The two would take turns engaging while the second would attack him to force him to be unable to focus on either of the two. With support from Valerie he was slowly being forced into a corner as he not only did not catch one he couldn’t stick to one either as her shadows would release a sharp blade to retaliate in defense of either party. It wasn’t like Jackie and Rory were weak after all. 

 

As he was literally pushed against the wall in a corner he could feel his mana start to bubble as he was getting more and more serious, “Take out your weapons and stay focused. I will control it to the best of my ability but the outburst will threaten your life if you’re not careful.” What he didn’t say was the most important but if he made a mistake and forced the apathy state the side effects were extremely bad. As a Survivalist he naturally put his survival above all else so going against that was something he didn’t dare to do again. Though this was only when he forced the issue by allowing someone to trigger it without defending himself. Essentially he needed to enter the state passively, as a life saving technique if he abused it, there were consequences.

 

As Rory took out his sword and shield while Jackie covered his fists in a gauntlet that added a bit of protection. Having not been able to use them against the ettin it brought about a bit of an emotional response from him. The biggest difference was Valarie who also had her mana explode out as it became obvious she to the point had never fought at full strength in front of anyone else. A scene that had played itself out was seen again as she was covered in a black cloak that hid everything about her. The cloak itself would shift as not all the shadows that made up the cloak were the same shade of black. This gave it a weird look that caused it to hurt the eyes as the information gathered by sight caused distortions in what the brain was trying to interpret as the shades somehow caused confusion when looking at it.

 

Pulling away he took advantage of Jackie’s emotional moment to use his top speed to attack him. As he brought his arms up he was a bit late as he showed a frustrated expression as Rory charged at him to help divert his attention. Before Valerie could say anything the shadows on Rory exploded as they created a spike wall between them. This confused him slightly but he soon felt a force take out his weight as he fell to the ground with his shield arm hitting the floor first. With only a sword to defend himself he saw Amit jump over the wall with a few cuts as he had jumped over the black wall after sweeping a low kick under the wall to knock him over. 

 

Bringing up his sword to protect himself he tried to force him back. During this time Jackie had started to make his way over as there wasn’t that large of a distance between them. As the outburst from Valerie was rather sudden she was forced to pause slightly to stabilize her mana so its usage would return to a normal amount instead of repeatedly using large bursts to use quick release by eating away at her mana pool. If she continued to do so it would drain all her mana too quickly. Because of this he was given a bit of breathing room as he made contact with Rory’s sword by coating his hand in mana. Using it as a pivoting point he brought his leg down on his head like a whip. 

 

With his arm locked under him he didn’t have a way to defend himself. Surprising him once again was that Valerie seemed to have given up on him. This caused him to feel a bit of fear before Amit’s leg made contact with the ground leaving no more than a few millimeters of space between the foot and Rory’s head. As the force used in the whip dissipated slightly the rebound force was forced up his leg as he used part of that force when he punched out at Jackie’s punch who had just arrived. This direct hit caused Jackie to be a kite with a cut string as he was sent flying. There was a loud explosion as he was sent into the wall. Luckily for him Valerie seemed to be able to keep up with Amit by a small margin as his shadow exploded out as layer after layer was used to dampen the blow. 

 

At the same time as Amit kicked off the ground causing a light crack as a large explosion of mana was felt by Valerie releasing an amount of mana that filled the two with fear. Just because they were combat experts didn’t mean they were experts with their meditation technique or mana sensitivity. Valerie was both a combat expert and had one of the strongest mana sensitivities the Abyss Clan had seen in a few generations. She didn’t know but this was one of the reasons her mother was taking the lead in her fight to take the family head’s seat. She had the means to take the seat for herself but she wasn’t alone in that fact.

 

A blade of shadow appeared from her shadow that tilted from behind her to infront as an ancient blade with mysterious text was written as the blade went from being a shadow to physically manifesting itself. It was already too late by the time the blade manifested itself and released an aura that filled even Amit with a subtle bit of fear. He couldn’t stop the momentum and had to trade blows up front with it. At this moment the two that had just recovered quickly sped off to Valerie's side. As they moved the two made contact as both Jackie and Rory’s hearts skipped a beat as a shockwave was sent flying out from the confrontation of the two.