Aion along with his pets enter the third gate.
What greeted them this time was a night sky, filled with silent stars. Aion took a cautious step forward—and from the darkness, a figure emerged.
Aion's eyes narrowed slightly. A Shadow Leopard…
It, too, was Peak Rank 3, sleek and deadly, but what caught his attention was the tattoo-like mark glowing faintly on its forehead. He immediately knew—this one would be tricky.
The timer appeared again—15 minutes.
He ordered Hazel to deploy her shield the moment the Shadow Leopard moved. As the timer started, something astonishing happened—the leopard split into two and surged forward at lightning speed. Hazel immediately activated her shield, but both the leopard and its clone vanished from sight, disappearing from both Aion's and Hazel's view.
Aion's eyes darted around looking . "Where—?"
Suddenly, one leopard lunged from Hazel's own shadow, slashing with Shadow Claw. The shield reflected the strike, sending the beast away—but before Aion could breathe, the other one emerged from his shadow, claws raised and struck Aion from behind. The little Umbriss coiled on his hand sensed the attack, but there was no time to warn him. The strike hit, and Aion, along with his beasts, vanished from the third stage.
Aion along with his pet beast appear in a dark room.Aion was momentarily stunned, his hands trembling and his heart pounding in his chest.
This was the first time he had truly felt what death was—so close that there had been no time to dodge. He had "died" at the hands of the attack of the beast in the illusion.
He looked down at Hazel and the little Umbriss coiled on his hand, both staring at him with concern. He gave them a small reassuring smile. "I'm fine," he said softly.
Moving closer to Hazel, he gently praised her. "You fought brilliantly. It's my carelessness that cost us the third round."
In the first two rounds, the beasts hadn't attacked him directly, which had made him a bit complacent, assuming the trial was only testing the combat skills of the beasts.
In reality, a beastmaster at early stages is vulnerable if their beasts' talents aren't battle-oriented. Only when a beastmaster reaches Rank 6 (King Rank) can they use their beasts' skills to defend themselves, providing some measure of protection. Until then, a beastmaster can only support their beasts—and some of the wealthier ones even train their bodies to withstand attacks, though that was a luxury few could afford.
Aion clenched his fists, determination sparking in his eyes. He will train his body, once he get out. He didn't want to feel this weak again.
Shaking off his thoughts, he glanced around the small room, ready to see what came next.
Then the room shimmered, and a mechanical voice echoed—
> "Two stages cleared. Rewards granted."
Finally, it was reward time, and he had been eagerly anticipating this moment. Then three glowing lights slowly descended into Aion's hands. His eyes lit up with excitement seeing the reward information.
The first—a Rank 4 Beast Storage Ring, capable of storing captured beasts and rare materials. Aion's eyes gleamed. This will cost million in market.
Next one is a Rank 4 Protective Gear, strong enough to nullify most attacks from Rank 3 elites and even resist some Rank 4 strikes. A true life-saving treasure which Aion really needs at his current stage.
And the third—a small wooden box. When he opened it, a soft purple glow filled the air.
Inside lay a fruit streaked with violet light—the Violet crest Fruit. A rare Rank 4 treasure that allowed beasts and beast masters at Peak Rank 3 to advance smoothly to Rank 4 without side effects quickly.
Aion smiled faintly. "Heh, not bad at all."
Though the fruit wasn't useful to him right now—his level was already rising naturally even without doing meditation after his talent advanced but he can sell it for a fortune.
He asked in the room if he could challenge the trial again, but a prompt appeared:
> "Time limit: One attempt per challenger every 7 days."
Seeing this, Aion realized that attempting the trial again would likely be impossible for him. Yet, after witnessing the rewards for clearing the first two stages, his desire for more grew. He decided to consider it carefully and see if it might be possible after a week.
Maybe, just maybe, he could try again later.
Another message appeared:
> "Would you like to leave your name behind?"
He decided not to leave his real name—that would only alert the Clark family to his presence like hounds on a scent.Instead, he scribbled a random name: Hiddenfoot, just to make them think some mysterious stranger had already sneaked into their secret realm. Suppressing a chuckle at his own little prank, he vanished and reappeared at the very spot where he had first entered.
When he reappeared, he was back at the secret realm's trial entrance from where he entered The white monkey was waiting for him there.
It's voice enters Aion mind how many stages have you cleared?
"Two," Aion replied simply.
The monkey's eyes flickered toward Hazel, surprise glinting in them. It clearly hadn't expected the soft-furred hare to be that powerful.
"Did you collect the resources?" Aion asked eagerly. "If yes, then let's finish our contract."
The monkey nodded, and Aion grinned faintly. His heart still raced from the battles, but now it was filled with satisfaction. Soon, he'd have a new companion—and more stories to tell.
For now, though, he simply sat down beside Hazel and Umbriss, resting as they are exhausted mentally.