Chapter 244: Special Challenge
Twelve hours passed before Priam slowly opened his eyes.
At that moment, he felt a gentle warmth nestled against his chest. Looking down, he saw Mirra curled up, sleeping deeply and restlessly. The fabric of her clothes, right where her little head rested, was slightly damp.
Priam sighed. The brat had left the inner space without his permission, but he couldn’t be too hard on her. After all, he knew how terrifying that desperate fight must have been for the little girl.
Everything he went through, all his effort and desperate struggle at the limit, had been seen by her.
Even at such a young age, Mirra must have already understood the harsh reality of that world. Life was a brutal jungle, and if she didn’t struggle with every fiber of her being, she would eventually become a helpless burden—and a burden, in that place, meant the death of those she loved.
Priam carefully hugged her and sat down on the cold rock.
The movement made Mirra tremble. She slowly blinked her eyes, opening them still hazy with sleep until they focused on his face.
"Pry!" she exclaimed, her voice choked up and her pupils instantly welling with tears.
"I’m fine," Priam said, letting out a soft sigh. "You did an excellent job. I noticed how much you improved your control over nature energy... You used as little of your Ether as possible, healing only the critical injuries that would have prevented me from continuing to fight."
Mirra nodded, her lips trembling and her face tearful.
Deep down, a feeling of helplessness was eating away at her. If only she were stronger, if she had more Ether... If she could channel nature energy at a high level to raise wooden barriers and protect him, Priam’s life wouldn’t be so difficult.
Priam attentively felt all that chaos inside her.
After all, it was the first time she had seen her protector pushed to his absolute limit. The terror of watching him come so close to death had been shocking. With her simple, childish mind, she hadn’t even been able to remember that Priam still had other cards up his sleeve.
At that moment, a fierce and wild determination sprouted in the girl’s heart: she needed to become strong. Desperately strong.
She finally understood that she couldn’t relax even for a minute...
"Hey..." Priam called her gently, touching her chin so she would look into his eyes.
"I’m glad you’re motivated. But you can relax a little. I guarantee I won’t die anytime soon. Everything has its time. When I tell you it’s time to study, you study. When I tell you to play and relax, you don’t need to worry about anything else."
She blinked, clearly confused.
Priam had always seemed strict, constantly demanding that she study and advance her Rank. Now that she had finally understood the urgency and wanted to push herself as hard as possible, he was holding her back?
Priam gave a slight smile when he saw her perplexed expression. "Don’t you trust me?"
"I do!" the girl’s pure eyes and determined voice answered without hesitation.
"Good. I don’t want to raise an obsessed and weird girl. I want you to properly live your childhood and develop mentally at your own pace, the way you should," he explained patiently. "You’ve already increased your Rank, and that’s more than enough for now. Just observe the world around you and relax a little."
Mirra nodded, although her childish mind still couldn’t completely grasp the logic behind it.
However, she decided to stop overthinking and simply obey. After all, the figure in front of her was her safe haven and her entire world.
Taking advantage of the break, Priam accessed his spatial ring and took out a generous amount of supplies.
Heating the food with a spark of his magic, the two feasted until they were completely satisfied.
Mirra sat on his lap, holding a plate as she ate voraciously without stopping. Priam smiled without reprimanding her, eating as well.
They both enjoyed the moment, sitting in the middle of that dusty underground chamber that smelled of burning.
But the dirtiness of the surroundings hardly mattered; what truly mattered was the peace of that small shared moment.
...
After another hour of rest, Mirra returned to the inner space.
Priam finally stood up and walked toward the back of the chamber, where a huge open tunnel was already waiting for him to pass through.
As he crossed the portal, he stopped dead, staring in amazement. The new cavern was completely white and brightly lit. Every wall was covered in white runes, giving the place a naturally eerie feeling.
He had barely taken a few steps when glowing particles burst from the void, forming new words in the air:
Congratulations on completing the Common Challenge.
Score: 100/100
Rewards:
Divine Martial Art — Emperor’s Body
Immortal Inheritance of the God of Fists
The next second, two gleaming runes of pure knowledge materialized in the air and floated toward his forehead. Priam absorbed them with a satisfied smile.
Using only his body and Ether, his speed and offensive power had already taken an absurd leap with just the first two Martial Arts. Now, with this third one focused on bodily toughness, along with the reinforcement of the Immortal Inheritance multiplying his entire potential, his physical power would grow to an indescribable level.
That would only be his natural combat strength. Once he activated everything else at his disposal, the difference in power would be absurd.
Ever since arriving in the divine plane, Priam had relied excessively on Power Runes to fight. Even his offensive Magical Art was becoming increasingly useless. But that situation had now changed for good.
The light in front of him flickered, reforming the text:
"You may now proudly call yourself an official disciple of the God of Fists. However, by achieving the perfect score of 300 points across the three challenges, you have unlocked the Special Challenge — reserved only for the most audacious."
"If you triumph in this final trial, you will inherit unimaginable rewards. The entire arsenal accumulated by the God of Fists was left behind, and you may claim every legendary treasure he considered invaluable."
"Throughout the entire history of this temple, only four individuals have reached this level. Three of them accepted the Special Challenge... and none survived. Therefore, all the treasures remain untouched, awaiting the first victor."
"If you wish to accept the challenge, proceed to the center of the arena. Otherwise, head to the right of the entrance, where you will find a teleportation stone that will safely send you out of the temple."
Priam read every word and gave a crooked smile.
All the treasures of a Deity accumulated in one place? All for the first person to win? The offer was far too tempting.
However... the demonic puppet alone had nearly sent him to his grave; the difficulty of this Special Challenge had to be truly insane. It was no surprise that all his predecessors had been wiped out.
Rolling his neck and cracking his shoulders, he focused himself to the absolute limit.
Inside the inner space, Mirra remained silent, extremely nervous.
Without hesitation, Priam took calm and determined steps toward the center of the vast underground arena.
As soon as he stopped at the epicenter of the chamber, he waited.
*BUZZ!*
The entire colossal chamber trembled.
"!"
Blinding beams of light shot out from every direction, converging and engulfing Priam before he could react.
Immobilized by the luminous aura, he froze in place. However, he felt no killing intent—otherwise, his Transcendental Anima would have screamed a warning.
Then, dozens of mysterious runes began condensing in the air around his body.
Priam’s eyes widened, his expression turning into one of absolute shock.
"What?!"
He recognized the power within the runes. They were Bloodline Runes!
There, manifested before him, were the essences of the Cursed Forest Elves, Vancularis, Eyes of the Wind, and Pyrix.
The temple wasn’t stealing his power; it was mapping and perfectly replicating each of his bloodlines!
It was an unsettling sensation. Under the scanning of that light, Priam felt completely stripped bare, as if even the deepest secret of his existence was being dissected by an omnipresent energy.
More runes burst from nowhere, merging a few meters in front of him.
An amorphous silhouette began gaining density, metamorphosing into a solid and defined figure.
When the process was complete, two eyes, one blue and the other violet, slowly opened.
Staring at Priam with the same posture and aura... was Priam himself.