Ross opened his eyes a moment later as the beam that brought him here dissipated. His vision returned shortly as he took in his new surroundings.
He already understood that whatever they were about to face was going to be individual so he did not expect to see anyone else here.
Ross stood on what appeared to be a sleek metallic bridge that suspended in an empty space entirely devoid of light. Besides the long bridge that went as far as his eyes could see, there was practically nothing else around.
It almost felt like he was in the void.
Suddenly, Ross trembled as an overwhelming suppression power hit him from above. The pressure was so strong that the very space around him appeared to be strained under the weight of the pressure.
He was forced to take a knee as he struggled to shake off the suppression. Yet, there was nothing he could do besides raise his head to see what was releasing such intense pressure.
'Damnit! How am I supposed to do anything or fight when I can't even move my body!'
He knew he was done for if he was attacked right now and the thought sent shivers down his spine. He began to sweat buckets as the intensity grew more and more.
Then his eyes finally landed on whatever produced the overwhelming pressure. His heart momentarily stopped, nearly making him pass out!
Above him was a pair of giant red eyes that looked at him as if they could pierce his soul and read his thoughts. The feeling of insignificance he felt at the moment nearly crippled his psyche.
He swallowed the saliva that formed in his throat. He couldn't even take his eyes off those large eyes! He didn't dare to for fear of being eradicated in an instant.
'What the hell is that and what is this space supposed to test me on?!'
He more than anything wished he could leave the space as soon as possible. There was no chance or universe in which he overcame those eyes.
Suddenly. Ross heard a voice that echoed in the quiet space. It was heavy and authoritative and left no room for defiance.
[Ross Bangu. Your final trial begins here….]
Hearing his name, his heartbeat more than doubled. How did whatever that was know his name? However, that was not the important thing right now.
"L-last Trial?"
He managed to utter those words with a lot of difficulty. His body continued to shake from the overwhelming force, yet there was nothing he could do.
[Before thee lies the path of thy worth. With every hundred strides, a new realm shall unfold, each demanding its trial. Only by proving thy mettle within shall the path reveal itself anew.]
Ross looked at the bridge right in front of him before looking back at the terrifying eyes.
[Shouldst thou prevail in four of the seven trials, the right to ascend unto the summit shall be thine. Yet, shouldst thou falter…]
The voice remained silent once it reached this point. It was already clear what would happen to him if he failed.
'Four out of seven trials…'
He swallowed nervously as he had no idea what those trials would be. He had already experienced what emotions do to a person's strength and he dreaded appearing in that space again.
Paralyzing fear was not something one could easily shake off. Then as if an illusion, the eyes disappeared along with its intense pressure.
Ross breathed out loudly before collapsing on his back. Just being exposed to that kind of aura took too much out of him.
Taking a breather was the only way he could recover enough to challenge the trials ahead.
"Reaching the summit is becoming deadlier… I wonder if the others also experienced this?"
With no way to find out, he could only sigh in resignation.
Sometime later, he got back to his feet and his eyes looked at the bridge with some dread. Just a few hundred centimetres before his was a mark that Ross guessed must be the starting point.
"Best to be cautious."
He then retrieved his great sword from his back and held it with his right hand and placed the blade on his shoulders. The sword wasn't very heavy in his hands so he had flexibility of movement.
"Huuu…."
After letting out a deep breath, he slowly approached the mark on the floor and as he got closer, he noticed the path ahead of him had dividing lines that separated them.
"The paths…"
He reached the edges of the mark and stared at it for a good minute. Then he looked around again but nothing had changed. Everything was still black besides the path that had lights coming from who knows where.
He was weary of the blackness as constructs could pop out of them and attack him when he least expected. He wasn't about to fall for things he could avoid if he could help it.
As his eyes darted around and spotted nor felt anything, he turned his attention back to the mark which his feet were just a few centimetres away.
"Hundred steps…" He muttered.
Then he dashed forward at high speed in an attempt to reach it as soon as possible. Yet what he feared happened.
The moment he took about 20 steps in his ran, he spotted several giant constructs, humanoid, each at least 2 meters tall and made of earth. Their bodies where multiple cracks could be seen glowed with their magical attributes.
"Out of my way!"
He bellowed and moved faster than before. He had no intention of breaking his momentum. He quickly approached the first construct that charged up and was ready to meet him.
Due to the bridge's narrow nature, it couldn't allow more than two constructs to stand side-by-side; a situation much appreciated by Ross.
With a defiant roar, he leapt and appeared above the construct as he delivered an overheard cleave. But the construct wasn't going to wait around for Ross's attack to land on it.
The construct flared with its lightning attribute and sent a powerful right fist to meet the sword mid-swing, intending to end the momentum gathering.
*ROAR….!*
The construct roared as well as the tendrils of lightning crackled from its entire body.
"As if!"
Ross replied to the construct's action with a loud bellow as the sword met a lightning-charged fist.
*BOOOOM!*
*CRACKLE!*
A spherical energy sphere made of condensed air and lightning spread outward from the point of impact. And if it wasn't for the unique space Ross found himself, that attack could have devasted mountains and split rivers.
Yet….