Knowing your opponent is one of the most crucial factors when facing an enemy stronger than you.
And Ash knew his enemy's weakness, and mainly its personality. After being stuck in the cage and also getting brutally wounded, he realized that the Licht didn't want to kill, but wanted to torture him.
This black-robed skeleton in front of him was a sadistic son of a bitch, torturing its prey before killing them. So the only way he could survive another thirty seconds was if he played his cards right and acted perfectly.
Ash slowly lifted his hand and caressed his torn face. He then looked at his hand, which was stained red. His hand slowly shook, and his face became a bit sadder.
He slowly gazed up to see the Licht smiling in delight.
'He's buying it.' He looked down, trying to hide his smile.
He then made his breath heavier and slowly grabbed his left shoulder, but as soon as he did, a shock ran through his body, making him feel immense pain.
"Ahh!" He screamed lightly, but enough for the Licht to hear. 'I can't act rashly, my body is screaming at me right now.'
He opened the system.
Soul Trial 1
Challenge 2: Survive the Licht
Time Survived – 1 minute 37 seconds
'Around twenty seconds left.'
The Licht smiled as it brought its wand up and spawned over twenty swords made of the spell ray it had shot before.
Ash leaned on the skeletal sword as he looked up at the swords.
'Just 20 seconds, Ash... ignore the pain.'
The Licht then slowly pointed to him, making all the swords circle him and tilt towards him. It then clicked its fingers, making a sword pierce through his right shoulder.
Before Ash could think—
Click
Another sword pierced him, scraping his cheek and falling in front of him.
Click Click Click
More swords fell, and Ash's breath grew heavy; he could barely see. His breath slowed, and the control over his body decreased. The only thing he could do was move his right hand slightly.
Ash gazed up to see the Licht's smile grow bigger with each click of its fingers. It loved Ash's reaction.
But this time it wasn't a big act; it was pure and agonizing pain. His mind was only thinking about his pain—no thoughts of escaping or even surviving.
"It hurts." He groaned.
Time Survived – 1 minute 45 seconds.
46, 47, 48—the number kept increasing, and eventually, he only had to survive for ten more seconds and ten more swords.
At once, all ten swords moved and instantly pierced through Ash from different parts of his body.
The pain made him wake up a bit and then lie back down. 'Just 10 more seconds... ten more.'
Ash looked like a bloody pulp, his whole body pierced by swords. Ash's legs grew weak and fell, his knees hitting the crimson pool under him, and his fingers also got soaked.
'Live just a few more seconds... Liveeeee!'
Ash clenched his cheekbone, making his whole face throb in pain. A tear ran down his face, but it was not clear. It was dark red as it slowly dripped on his face.
His grip on his sword grew weak, and then the hilt just left his hand.
Time Survived – 1 minute ... seconds.
'Just... more seconds, pump heart, pump harder.'
The Licht walked towards Ash and lifted his head a bit. It then spread out its fingers and pierced Ash in the chest.
His face shook a bit, then he spat out blood on his face. Then, with all the power he had left, he forced his mouth to curl up and mockingly smiled at the skeleton mage, as if saying—It's your loss.
Time Survived – 1 minute 59 seconds.
The Licht used its other hand and went to pierce Ash's neck. That's when he muttered slowly, "Too late, shitty skeleton."
Time Survived – 2 minutes
Ting,
He heard a peaceful sound, then the words of the system changed, congratulating him.
Soul Trial 1
Challenge 2: Survive the Licht – complete
The trial was over, but Ash was still pierced by swords. 'End this, please.'
That's when the system played another message.
Would you like to end your trial here or
Continue your trial for a better reward.
Ash instantly spoke in his mind, 'End, End this goddam trial!!!'
Understood
Deceased Asharion
You have completed your first trial.
Ash's eyes suddenly got very heavy and then closed shut. He lost all consciousness and all of his senses—he couldn't hear, see, or even feel.
But he could still think. 'Did I die? Or did I do it?' His mind spiraled again. His face curled inwards, and a vein popped up in his forehead. 'That shitty skeleton, the next time I see it, I'll kill it... No, not just kill, but torture and break every single bone in its body.'
His eyes twitched and slowly opened. He was back at the empty, dark, spacious void.
Slurp
Behind him, there sat a mirror image of himself drinking a cup of random liquid. It wore the same attire Ash had, except it wasn't torn or even stained in blood like his was. It was clean and tidy.
The image then made an upward motion with its hand, causing the chair to slowly rise from the ground.
'Please take a seat.'
Ash reluctantly took a seat, knowing that the person in front of him had way too much authority in this space. Last time, Ash was a dunce just because he didn't know where he was—he tried to be confident to prove his strength.
But now, knowing what this world is like, he could easily say that the mirror knew he was bluffing when he showed confidence.
Ash then sat waiting for the image to speak, but it just kept sipping on its drink.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, it placed its mug in mid-air, letting it float, then started speaking.
"So, how was your trial?"
Ash didn't reply for a second. "Well, it was thrilling and painful." His voice was calm and stern.
Even though he shouldn't act strong, he couldn't just act as if he were a weakling. Deceit is way more powerful than strength. Even if it is caught, you can never be sure about what the other person is thinking.
The image chuckled. "Thrilling—that wasn't what I was expecting you to say. But it is a rather wonderful word."
"Why am I here? Shouldn't I go to the place called the Abyss right now?"
"You sure are impatient... before you go to the Abyss, you have to wait for your system to evolve, and even for these."
In its palms, there was a shard with a small soul ghost moving inside it.
"What's that?"
"This is a memory shard, and it's your wish if you want to use it or just keep it with you."
Ash said nothing and stood up, starting to walk. He then grabbed the shard out of the mirror's hand and crushed it with his palm.
"Thanks for the meal."
The soul inside the shard went through Ash's head and into his brain.
Ash then felt agonizing pain in his head. He screamed and placed his hand on his head, then started rolling on the ground from the pain.
"Don't worry, that's just an aftereffect of the shard."
"AGHGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Ash's eyes glowed light blue, and then he fell asleep.