Max woke up at the bottom of a lake.
Naturally, as any individual would be he was startled to see that he was surrounded by water and not air as his survival reflexes kicked in and he immediately held his breath as his heart rate spiked.
" Calm down boy, You are in a safe environment " A deep primal voice that Max recognised to be Angakok's sounded in his ears as he calmed down a little and realised that he had a peculiar seaweed sticking out of his mouth which was helping him breath at the bottom of this lake.
Max surveyed his surroundings, there were no fishes around him but only peculiar glowing yellow plants that were pulsating a calm beam of light at regular intervals.
' Where am I? ' Max wondered as he felt like he was in some extremely mystical place.
The place where he was seated was unusually calm to the point where it was eerie.
There was not the slightest waves inside this lake, not even a slight ripple as everything seemed harmonious.
There were only the plants and him who was seated in the eye of some mystical ancient formation.
' I'll be damned, this is the lake of enlightenment! ' Drax shouted excitedly in Max's mind as he recognised this place instantly.
' This is the ancient place where only the most privileged came to be promoted to tier5 before the system took over the universe.
These plants around you are special, they hum rhythmically with the profoundities of the universe exactly 108 times a minute.
Lord Agni became a tier5 powerhouse at this very spot. ' Drax explained as Max understood the situation he was in.
He had passed out after completing stat maximisation of the agility stat and since all of his stats had been maximised and it was time for him to go attempt the promotion test, Angakok took it upon himself to save time and abduct him to the bottom of this lake.
Max had began to really dislike Angakok's approach, the Shaman God was too cold, he was calculative with every word he said and despite offering Max some sound advice from time to time, it was clear that he was on some sort of a tight schedule and Max improving rapidly was one of his agenda.
Not only did he have no regard for Max's personal safety or well-being, from the evil grin he displayed while Max suffered from the effects of absorbing the spirit of the Gryphalos, it was clear that he was fully aware of the dangers of the ritual and that it held considerable danger to Max's life but chose to not warn him beforehand deliberately.
The only question now was why?
Why did he want him to improve and so fast at that?
Why was a god that had lived thousands of years suddenly worried about wasting a few extra days?
It made no sense, and everyday his behaviour made Max grow more and more wary of his motives.
This sort of attention from the cold blooded god could only mean there was something seriously messed up in store for him in the future.
" Close your eyes boy and start circulating your mana in cycles inside your own body following the longest path you can find in your own mana circuit.
About 1 day into this process you will enter a deep meditative state that will trigger your tier promotion test.
Although, I would have loved for you to stay out of the queen's influence, it seems like she has taken over this place as well, so once you enter a comprehensive state, she will most likely send you a system notification". Angakok said as he informed Max about what he needed to do next.
Max did not like being pushed around like this, but there was nothing he could do in this situation except comply.
Swallowing his anger as a bitter pill, Max closed his eyes and began circulating his mana within his own circuits as per Angakok's instructions.
The process was boring and it was easy to be distracted mid-way, but thankfully he had Drax who kept his mind from straying away to useless things and helped him focus on the cycle.
It was going to be a long next 24 hours for the primordial vampire.
**********
( Meanwhile Sebastian )
After landing on Gravethorn Sebastian immediately regretted ever deciding to come on this mission.
The planet was a freaking monster map with all sorts of exotic undead that he had never even heard about like mutated durahals, giant skeletons and six legged Netherbeasts at tier4 strength and above roaming throughout the planet.
' Thankfully I had the good sense of promoting myself to tier4 before I came to this planet. Even the mob monsters here are tier4, I would be the weakest creature here if I had walked in at tier 3 strength ' Sebastian murmured inside his head as he tried to calm his fast beating heart.
Sebastian studied the mysterious map, which indicated that the treasure he sought could be found within an ancient temple built by the Necromancer God himself.
The temple was about 30 minutes walk from the area where he had landed, but Sebastian took a full 15 hours to cautiously move from creepy tree to creepy tree to approach the temple as he made sure to not be dragged into any fights with the undead.
Although his cowardly nature made him dread the idea of entering a necromantic temple, Sebastian couldn't ignore his intense desire to not be left behind in power by his talented friends. This was the only reason he forced himself to take this risk, rather than seeking the thrill of adventure.
As he approached the temple, Sebastian's heart raced with anxiety. The eerie structure loomed before him, a bizarre amalgamation of opulence and decay. The temple's walls seemed to be made of a peculiar dark stone, adorned with intricate carvings depicting scenes of the Necromancer God's numerous victories and conquests.
The entrance was framed by towering, twisted columns, which were topped with grotesque gargoyles leering down at any who dared approach. Despite the oppressive atmosphere, the temple was also adorned with gold and silver accents, hinting at the vanity of the Necromancer God who sought to be revered and admired in equal measure.
Sebastian couldn't help but scoff at the temple's peculiar design. It was as if the deity had tried to blend grandiosity with a macabre aesthetic, resulting in a disconcerting, unsettling ambiance.
" The necromancer god was a narcissistic idiot who has no sense for aesthetics, absolute fool " Sebastian said out loud as he tried to gather courage to enter the temple by cursing the one who built it.
Finally reaching the entrance, Sebastian hesitantly stepped into the dimly lit temple, where he was immediately confronted by a colossal statue of the Necromancer God who was seated right across the grand entrance on a throne-like seat.
Its outstretched arms seemed to command the very forces of life and death, while its cold, imperious gaze pierced through him.
Before he could react, the statue's eyes flared with a sinister light, and a deep, commanding voice echoed throughout the chamber, "Only necromancers may enter. Begone, weak thot!"
Caught off guard, Sebastian's cowardice took over. Instead of trying to fight the dark energy that erupted from the statue's eyes, he turned on his heels and ran as fast as he could out of the temple, narrowly escaping the deadly attack.
" Oh fuck no " Sebastian commented as he had goosebumps all over his body from this near death encounter.
" Why does that statue move? It doesn't make any sense? You have been fucking dead for a thousand years can't you just leave behind an immovable statue like some normal god?
Of Course not.
You just had to make a moving one with unparalleled fighting abilities that can detect whether the entrant is a necromancer class practitioner or not.
How predictable " Sebastian cursed as he looked towards the heavens and balled his fists in anger.
There was no way in hell that he was ever going to confront that idiotic statue head on, he absolutely did not want to face its necromantic powers of doom in a pointless fight.
There was no guarantee that this was the last trial that the necromancer had set to gain his treasure or not either, maybe the sadistic pervert had set up a chain of trials that one needed to pass before gaining his treasure, but Sebastian had no intentions of playing his game.
He was not going to give up on his quest to claim the necromancer's treasure, but he was going to find his own creative way to solve this problem, one that was in-line with the way of the coward rather than facing the challenge head on like some courageous MC.
" Alright! I'm going to figure out the layout of this temple from the outside, figure out where the heck you made the treasure room and then dig a hole to enter that place directly!
Fuck you and your trials.
I'm gonna cheat my way through" Sebastian declared as he thought of his own unorthodox solution to the problem.