Unlike Alex who encountered a mirror duel, Ross had a much easier time. With his fighting prowess and new weapon; a great sword he used in situations that did not require the use of mana.
Over the course of the two hours since the beginning of the event, Ross had been able to climb two floors and he did so with ease; at least from his perspective.
On the first floor, he battled through a large horde of celestial constructs; humanoid beings standing at 2.5 meters with different variations. Some had flame properties, lightning properties and so on.
The celestial constructs were powerful and knew exactly how to use their abilities. Yet, Ross blazed through them like a wrecking ball, leaving trails of broken beings and destruction in his wake.
After the wake-up call he received from the Veilstorm event, Ross had determined himself to become the best version of himself and although only a day had passed since then, his mind had gotten stronger.
There were no traps that could stop him, teamwork that could bring his charge to a halt or tricks that could throw him off.
Through it all, he had a resolute look on his face and wasted no time in playing around with his opponents. They wanted his life and he hadn't the luxury to play.
Eventually reaching the third floor of the celestial tower, Ross looked around with vigilance as he took in the environment. And unlike the previous environments he had blazed through, this particular environment was not a physical one.
All around him was a canvas of colours; yellow, blue, red, green and all other colours one could imagine made up the abstract environment. There was no floor yet he stood perfectly. There was no up or down and there was no left from right.
The environment was mesmerizing as it was emotion-inducing. Ross could feel all sorts of emotions rise within him. Emotions he didn't have any control over.
"!"
Suddenly he realized something.
"This place…. It's messing with my emotions."
He deduced what was going on instantly. Ross had always been a hard guy and rarely wore his emotions besides his blunt mouth which had been quiet now since Alex became more vocal.
His eyes looked around cautiously, half expecting a construct to pop out and half expecting to be affected by a status effect.
At least one-half of his guess was correct as a moment later, Ross suddenly felt an overwhelming level of fear wash over him like nothing he had ever felt!
His body trembled as he took a knee trying to stay focused and the more he fought it, the more intense the fear got.
As he continued to struggle with the overwhelming emotions, he suddenly felt a sinister and horrific aura wash over him. The feeling was so strong, that Ross was on the verge of passing out!
He hadn't even seen what was staring at him, yet the instilled feelings of fear and the presence of whatever construct popped out paralyzed him as he could not even turn his head.
His breathing grew ragged, his heartbeat increased and sweat dripped from his head. The vivid expression of fear on his face showed how much affected he was.
'No, no, no, no, …'
Like a broken record, Ross dreaded what was to come. He eventually lifted his head to see what was approaching and when he actually saw it, his breathing froze.
Approaching him was a grotesque monstrosity that was neither humanoid nor beastial. Its appearance induced a level of repulsion that Ross felt like vomiting.
'What the hell is that?!'
If what the strange space brought out of him was the feeling of fear, then whatever monstrosity he was seeing was actually fear-inducing.
He was almost paralyzed on both fronts.
The creature or whatever it was slowly approached Ross and every step it took shook his heart. The resounding echoes of its steps resonated with his trembling eyes and the bile he felt in his throat began to push to be let out.
Every fibre of his being screamed at him to run as far away as possible. If he stayed behind, he would die a horrible death; it was a feeling that came deep from within.
Yet, Ross refused to budge despite the paralyzing fear overtaking him and the disgusting creature it faced.
'If I ran now, I fail.'
He gritted his teeth as he tried to suppress the feelings of terror. With much effort, he got back on his feet and then retrieved the great sword from his back and held it in both hands, pointing at the ghastly monster.
The hands holding his weapon trembled continuously with no signs of stopping.
'Failing here means dying. And if I have to through this to become the strongest possible version of myself, then so be it!'
The creature observed Ross's action for a few seconds after seeing its prey refuse to run as they normally did whenever they encountered it. It always made things easier for the creature.
But the prey before it now seemed to stand his ground despite what it was going through just looking at it.
*GROWL...*
The monsters let out a threatening growl at Ross. It didn't like the prey's attitude.
Suddenly, Ross noticed the creature disappear from where it was and then appeared right before him. It threw a sharp tendril at lightning speed towards Ross's left side.
Ross's eyes widened in shock as the creature appeared right in front of him and attacked. The attack moved too fast for the near-paralyzed Ross.
He couldn't evade even if he wanted to.
'Tch!'
With resolute eyes, Ross moved the weapon in his hands and directed its blade towards his left side where he somehow managed to bring the sword over just in the nick of time.
*BAM!*
"Ugh!"
Still, the assault was too heavy to be completely blocked as Ross was sent flying at incredible speeds.
His vision became dizzy as the force behind the blow disoriented his senses. Adding that the dread already present and Ross was in big trouble.
How was he going to fight such a thing if he wasn't in his optimal state? It was a question he wandered about as he shortly came to a crushing stop within the abstract space.