You have completed the first floor’s trial. Would you like to continue to floor two?
He mentally accepted the notification and appeared back in the same chamber.
That was easy, he thought to himself, and twisted his head to look around. This time, there wasn’t anyone there. He was alone. At least he hadn’t seen anyone else enter or go through before he did. He wasn’t sure if that would stay the same, but the next closest person was still struggling to get to their feet.
It would be interesting to see whether each floor would be shared among the entrants or if there would be separate floors. The first floor certainly hinted that there would be other people, but he wasn’t sure about that. The chamber might have looked the same, but it felt different.
In fact, there was no giant gate in the distance, nor was there any pressure. Instead, he saw massive boulders organized in rows. He frowned and went over to inspect them.
He noticed that these boulders weren’t just made of regular stone but of obsidian. The glassy black surface sparkled beautifully in the dimly lit chamber, illuminated by the gems in the ceiling.
He couldn’t help himself and reached out to touch the boulders. The surfaces were so sleek and polished that his fingers slipped right off. He tried to send his senses into these boulders, but nothing made it through. Mana, aura, not even his spatial senses were able to penetrate the surface of these boulders.
He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t see an obvious objective like the last floor had presented. In the end, he took some time and examined these boulders and the material they were made of more closely. While it might have looked like obsidian, he highly doubted it was plain obsidian. There was a chance it was a rare variant of the glass-like material.
He lifted his fist and began channeling kinetic energy through it. Perhaps the key to solving this floor’s trial was to figure out what these boulders were. Or maybe it was simpler than that, and he just needed to break them? That was a very possible scenario.
However, before he tested out that particular idea, he decided to explore another direction. He was a changed man, and hitting things hard with his fists was no longer his default inclination. That was something Lily would call maturity. Or what Aubrey would call being a wuss.
He was still inspecting the interesting nature of these boulders when he felt something tingle throughout the space. It was slightly spatial in nature, and at first, he thought that someone from the prior floor had arrived. But he didn’t detect any objects or auras around. The chamber was still empty except for him and these mysterious boulders.
Maybe swinging my fists at them isn’t such a bad idea? He asked himself while staring longingly at his clenched fist. It was really tempting, and it took all of his willpower not to smash his fist into the boulder.
He started doing some of the breathing exercises he had learned from Freya and let his Balance Concept flow through him. He took a little more time to see what he could do about the boulders, but another ten minutes passed by, and nothing worked.
It was hard because nothing he did seemed to elicit a reaction from these boulders. And with his senses completely useless with the boulders he was at a loss. Mana, in particular, seemed to have no reaction to the material. It was like it dissipated the second it touched the surface, which included his mana senses.
Not that his aura senses had much better luck. But with nothing working and him exploring many other options, he felt a lot better about himself when he “allowed” himself to use a little more force.
He created a disc of mana and began spinning it above his palm. The whirling of the blade filled the chamber, and the chamber began to heat up as he infused it with his concepts. He prioritized his Sharpness Concept, but he also made sure to incorporate his Concepts of Force, Will, and Balance. His Force Concept gave it more power. His Will Concept provided sturdiness and kept everything together. And finally, his Balance Concept ensured the power's weight was distributed evenly and that there were no weak spots on the blade.
He knew from experience that the first point of failure would unravel the entire construct. Then, to put everything together, he wrapped his Authority around it like a shell of mana. The strength rolling off this simple disc of spinning mana was unbelievable.
It was actually a little bit scary to hold so close to his hands. He knew if he put his fingers close to it, they would have been sheared away without resistance. However, he wasn’t worried. He had complete control over his constructs.
He gently controlled his disc to tilt to the side and approached the nearest boulder. However, the second he got within several feet, he felt something finally happen. The boulders, which have been idle this entire time, finally shifted.
He stopped what he was doing and watched as the several dozen boulders all started to shake where they stood. Then, to his surprise, he felt another burst of energy come from all of these boulders. It was like a surge of mana flashed through them, and he stood there in awe when he saw the chunks of black glass break and unfold like a delicate flower.
It peeled open, and Julius suddenly realized what these boulders were. They weren't just big chunks of obsidian; they were golem-like creatures. Limbs made entirely of obsidian, Julius had no idea how they unfolded so smoothly.
Though as beautiful as they looked, there was something innately terrifying about an eight-foot-tall monstrosity made of pure black obsidian.
He was so distracted by its beauty that he failed to notice the golem smash its fist directly in his face. He had infused his body with life mana, so he wasn’t that hurt, but it was more of a surprise. He staggered back and shook his head.
“Rude,” he muttered softly, and when the golem tried to hit him again, he moved to the side, avoiding its fist, before lashing out with his leg. It felt like he just kicked a lead wall and winced when he did more damage to his own foot than he did to the creature. At least there was a decent-sized crack running along its surface.
He healed his fractured toe, and instead of hurting himself again, he threw the disc of spinning mana at the golem. The whirling blade of death headed for the golem, but to Julius’s astonishment, the mana inside the blade was ripped away, and the disc fell apart, leaving only a small mark as evidence.
It wasn’t even about willpower or letting his construct get torn apart. There was nothing he could do as the mana inside his construct was unable to affect the golem. It was really quite fascinating. Just to make sure he was seeing things correctly, he created a spike and threw it at the golem.
However, he was forced to jump out of the way when a boulder behind him had also transformed into a scary-looking golem. In fact, all of the boulders had completed their transformations into golems and were converging on him.
He sent himself straight up into the sky, using his kinetic energy to hover himself to safety. Now that he was safe, he sent a spike at the golem he had kicked before. He watched as the mana making up the spike dissipated just as easily as it had before. But there was still a mark on its hard exterior.
Making another spike, this time it was without any of his usual add-ons of aura or kinetic energy. It was just a pure spike of mana. Once it was ready, he sent it shooting toward it. This spike did even less damage when it crashed into the golem. Only a small smudge was left behind.
He was starting to understand what these golems were and that mana attacks wouldn’t work on them. Or at least on their obsidian exterior. He needed to use other methods. Fortunately, he had several other methods at his disposal.
Though it didn’t seem like these golems were going to allow him to stay safe, hovering in the air. He watched as they tore chunks of material from their own bodies and hefted them in their arms. Realizing what they were going to do, his eyes widened as he threw himself out of the way of the storm of glass chunks flying at his head.
Well, it would seem they have a way to attack long range, he commented to himself, and watched as the missing obsidian on their bodies regenerated slowly.
They didn’t move that quickly, but there were so many that it was still dangerous. Plus, he didn’t know what would have happened if they made contact with his skin. For all he knew, they would deactivate his mana-based skills with that same property the obsidian was made of.
He already had an idea of how he was going to beat them, though, and with an eager grin, he deactivated his flight. With no more kinetic energy holding him up, he dropped out of the sky, and the ground was approaching his face quickly. He didn’t try to slow down, though. Instead, he used his kinetic energy to hasten his speed. He activated [Field of the Shattered Will], and another shell of kinetic energy shrouded his body.
He dropped like a spear falling from the heavens, increasing his speed and aiming at a golem. He was moving fast, and that meant he had a lot of momentum. But instead of using that momentum to kick the golem, he funneled the kinetic energy at the last second before impact into a sharpened point and detonated all of it outward.
The golem, unlucky enough to be his first experiment, literally exploded into a million shards as the overwhelming force completely shattered it.
The obsidian material went flying everywhere, and when he landed, he made sure to siphon as much kinetic energy remaining as possible. This also ensured he could keep his own injuries to a minimum.
Afterward, he lashed out with a punch with construct-covered hands at the nearest golem. The construct dissolved the second it made contact with the obsidian, but the force behind the punch was primarily kinetic energy.
He didn’t shatter the golem, but a large crack appeared on its surface. He quickly determined that the hard obsidian shell protecting the golem was very tough and had already dissipated most of the force. Not only did these golems have a powerful mana resilience, but they were very sturdy as well. But as he’d proven with that last strike from the sky, they had a weakness.
They were very brittle.
He needed to concentrate all his forces at a single point. Like sending his kinetic energy through a needle. It was hard to break with force, but if he applied just enough force at a thin enough point, it should shatter the material.
He ducked underneath another swing of a golem while another tried to grab him within its arms, then kicked out. His kinetic energy was already focused on the tip of his heel, and while it was hard to put so much energy into a single thin point, it worked.
The shell around the golem shattered once again. It worked wonderfully, and a method was established that he started to go wild. He gathered large amounts of kinetic energy, which was also made easier by how much force he was able to siphon from these large lumbering creatures. Then he went after them. A burst of needle-point-like strikes tore apart these golems.
They weren’t very fast and only somewhat strong. Their real threat was their mana resilience and their defensive properties. Both were made useless in the face of his new kinetic application.
He wreaked havoc on these poor golems; each strike was precise, taking out a golem. He was being a bit brute about it, but he was making sure he was being an efficient brute. No useless burst of energy or wild charges. It was balanced... Or at least his own version of balance.
He calmly and ruthlessly crushed these golems within a few minutes. And when he was done, there was nothing left in the chamber except him and a pile of shattered black glass.