"What the..." Amanda frowned as she felt the entire place shaking.
"Miss Amanda, look!" Ruby's eyes widened as she pointed at the hundreds of portals that suddenly appeared before everyone.
"Hey, what the hell?"
"Where did these portals come from?"
"Wait, fuck, it's trying to suck me in!"
"Ah,noo"
"Damn!"
The people who were comprehending were startled by the sudden shaking and began cursing. Their expressions turned to horror as multiple portals appeared and directly started sucking them in.
"Shit," Victor cursed when he noticed a portal forming right beside him, pulling him in without giving any chance to resist.
"Victor!" Amanda and Ruby's eyes widened as they saw him being sucked inside.
---
"Ugh..." Victor groaned as he slammed against the ground, pushing himself up with another groan.
"Where the hell is this place?" Victor muttered, raising his guard as he warily looked around. The entire place was completely white—the ground, the surroundings, and even the smoke that surrounded the entire place. He couldn't understand where he was and let out a sigh.
"Let me check the new skills I got," Victor muttered as he opened his stats.
< Name: Victor Vane >
< Level: 1 >
< Tier: 0 >
< Class: Not obtained yet >
< Bloodline: ???? (Unawakened) >
< Race: Human >
< Title: Irregular, Sword Saint >
[ Skill Tab ]
Skills: Technique Transmission, Flame Dragon Burial , Moonlight Sword Art - First Form - Quick Slash, Moonlight Sword Art - Second Form - Moon Steps, Moonlight Sword Art - Third Form - Multiple Indivisible Moon Strikes
Unique Skills: Akasha Eye
Bloodline Skills: None
[Moonlight Sword Art - First Form - Quick Slash]
[Rank: S]
[Description: The user silently draws the sword from its sheath and instantly returns it, releasing an extremely fast sword slash made of moonlight that reaches the target almost instantly. If the target does not have good reaction speedband defense, than there is chance the target will die instantly]
[Moonlight Sword Art - Second Form - Moon Steps]
[Rank: S]
[Description: An extremely fast movement technique that wraps the user in moonlight, allowing them to travel at incredible speed and strike their target.]
[Moonlight Sword Art - Third Form - Multiple Indivisible Moon Strikes]
[Rank: S]
[Description: An extremely powerful and lethal sword art that releases multiple destructive strikes toward the target. If used during the night, the slashes become completely invisible, greatly increasing their lethality.]
"Heavens... all of them are S Rank." Victor's eyes widened in disbelief when he saw the ranks of these techniques. He finally understood why he had been able to pummel mage bloodline users before.
Shing
Victor raised his hand when he heard a sharp sound and saw hundreds of portals opening one by one, his face turning grim.
"Fuck, is this a Dungeon Break? If it's like last time, I'll die," Victor muttered in panic. He didn't even have a weapon with him and couldn't defend himself. The last time a Dungeon Break occurred in the city, Amanda had saved him—if the same situation happened now, he knew he'd be as good as dead.
After a few more sounds, he saw multiple figures being spit out by the portals and mumbled, "Huh… they're not monsters. Did other people also get sucked into the portal like me?"
Victor saw multiple people hitting the ground just like him, and soon a commotion broke out.
"Damn, where the hell am I?"
"I was trying to comprehend a spell at the Technique and Spell Association, and the next thing I knew, a portal appeared and swallowed me whole!"
"You too, brother? I was in the middle of comprehending a D-rank technique before becoming a Ranker. Damn, I went on so many missions to save enough money for this opportunity. I was almost done comprehending the technique when this happened, and the next thing I know, I end up here!"
"Tsk, so you're just a lowly knight, and from the lowest floor trash at that. Don't talk to me so casually. You must be a filthy commoner, judging by how desperate you were to learn a mere D-rank technique. I, on the other hand, am a Ranker of the mage bloodline, born on the 12th floor in a noble family. Don't even think you're on my level."
"Oi, you bastard, you got a problem? I am a commoner and a knight, and I climbed all the way from the lowest floor to the 31st floor. I'm pretty damn sure I can crush you like an insect!"
All sorts of conversations erupted within minutes, but one in particular caught Victor's attention as he picked up new information.
'Sigh, nobles and mages really are so arrogant… but I didn't expect that not all Rankers come from the lowest floors. Well, it makes sense,' Victor thought. At first, he assumed all Rankers started at the bottom, but now, hearing this conversation, it seemed that many were actually born directly on the higher floors. He should have guessed earlier—if a Ranker had children, would they really send them to the lowest floor?
Victor also realized that Rankers born in higher floors looked down on those from lower floors like insects. Another thing became clear: even people from the higher floors were teleported here from the Technique and Spell Association.
Shing
Suddenly, a strange aura washed over everyone, and at the same time, a message from the Akashic Record appeared on their retina.
[ Ding Dong ]
[ The Trial of ??? is about to begin ]
[ Everyone's strength has been reduced to Level 1 temporarily ]
[ Use your skills and resilience to complete the trial ]
When they saw this, their eyes widened in shock, and panic spread among the crowd—especially among the Rankers who had spent years building their strength. They hurriedly checked to confirm, and their faces turned pale when they realized it was true. Their strength had been forced down to Level 1.
"N-No way… my strength dropped from Tier 4 to Tier 0!" a man stammered, collapsing onto his buttocks in disbelief.
"Damn… what kind of trial reduces someone's power to the lowest level?" another person muttered with a frown.
Most Rankers remained grim and silent, their expressions heavy. The only ones who seemed remotely pleased were the weaker Rankers, who now had a better chance to compete against the powerful elites from the higher floors.
Rumble
The ground trembled violently for a few moments before, under everyone's gaze, hundreds of swords emerged from the earth.