After devouring the essence stone, Kayen immediately put his hand, still holding the parasite sword, into the clear flowing river water.
The plan was simple: since the parasite sword can deliver negative effects directly to the creatures it attacks, why not try spreading those effects through the river water, which is widely consumed by monsters?
"I hope the plan works."
Kayen thought with a bit of doubt. He wasn't sure if the negative effect that appeared when attacking the rat monster would be just as strong. However, there was no harm in trying. He now fully submerged the parasite sword in the water.
Suddenly, a black liquid emerged from the parasite sword and quickly dissolved in the river water.
"Success."
Kayen didn't know if the effect would be equivalent to attacking directly, but he didn't care because all he needed was for the monsters drinking the water to suffer the negative effects of the parasite sword.
Kayen could feel the negative effect of the parasite sword entering him, but it didn't cause the negative effect that was supposed to activate. Kayen guessed the reason he was immune to the negative effects was that the sword used his own flesh.
However, consequences still appeared inside him; he began to feel nausea and dizziness faster than before. Without delay, he lifted his sword and immediately ran to the bushes, placing the parasite sword beside him and promptly vomiting.
Seeing his vomit, Kayen felt disgusted. He felt his stomach would not function normally if he continued using the parasite sword.
Kayen felt the need to rest for a moment, then took the parasite sword and stored it into the system.
Kayen then climbed a tree, intending to rest on a branch. If only he wasn't tired from the continuous dizziness and nausea, he would have made a simple tent.
Unfortunately, Kayen was in poor condition. He looked for a branch large enough to lie on, then climbed onto it. Once on the branch, he quickly lay down and prepared himself to sleep, but before sleeping, he checked the time.
[19 Hours, 22 Minutes, 39 Seconds]
Seeing this, Kayen immediately closed his eyes and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Kayen saw darkness, but inside the darkness, he could hear a voice calling him.
"Kayen!"
"Kayen!"
"KAYEN!"
Hearing the growing louder voice, he woke from sleep and fell from the tree branch.
Seeing himself fall, Kayen immediately summoned the parasite sword into his hand. He straightened himself, then tried to embed his sword into the tree and succeeded.
Kayen then looked down, seeing that the distance from himself to the ground was short. He jumped down feet first.
Upon reaching the ground, Kayen stood while thinking about the voice he heard in the dream. The voice was very familiar, but he didn't know where he recognized it from.
"Where did I Ever hear Th—"
Before finishing his thought, a system notification suddenly appeared.
[Congratulations, You Have Successfully Helped Kill Level 4 Monsters]
Seeing this, Kayen immediately smiled; he had truly succeeded in carrying out his plan.
He then looked at all the system notifications.
[Congratulations, You Have Successfully Helped Kill Monster Level 1 (31)]
[Congratulations, You Have Successfully Helped Kill Monster Level 2 (27)]
[Congratulations, You Have Successfully Helped Kill Monster Level 3 (13)]
[Congratulations, You Have Successfully Helped Kill Monster Level 4 (5)]
Seeing this, Kayen became very happy. The essence and traits he would receive would be higher than he planned. He couldn't help but say this in a happy voice.
"Amazing."
Kayen even believed he could obtain essence rank Supreme and traits rank Sovereign. Thinking like this made him unable to resist shaking his head.
The essence rank of a person also shares the same names as power ranks: starting from Mortal, Awakened, Transcendent, Ascend, Supreme, Celestial, Eternal, and ending with Origin.
As for traits, although the first two ranks also share the same names as essence ranks, Mortal and Awakened, the next ranks have different names: Arcane, Eclipse, Sovereign, Sacred, Divine, Primordial.
This means Kayen was confident he could reach three ranks below Primordial in both his traits and essence. Thinking like this made him even more impatient to see the end of the trial. He immediately checked the time.
[14 Hours, 24 Minutes, 10 Seconds]
Kayen then looked around; as he did, he was momentarily dazzled by the sun. He had come here from a portal when the sun was still shining, and now he had been here for 10 hours, which meant morning should have turned to afternoon, but the forest was still illuminated by sunlight as if it were morning.
Kayen knew the reason this happened. This was because the trial created a domain separate from the world of Ivorn, taking areas from the continents of Ivorn to be copied and manifested in the trial.
The reason why it had to be like this was still unknown, but Kayen guessed it was to prevent cheating. For example: someone who inherits a powerful clan is undertaking the trial, but because the trial takes place in the world of Ivorn, he can be found and helped by his high-level subordinates, which would enable him to receive high rank essence and traits.
Kayen thought this because the trial had strict rules for entering and undergoing it:
[1. Cannot Bring More Than One Relic]
[2. The Relic Brought Must Be at Mortal Rank]
[3. Poison-Type Relics Cannot Be Brought]
[4. Cannot Bring Items from the Real World Except Relics and Clothing]
These were only a few of the many rules applied in the trial; because of this, Kayen felt this was the most reasonable answer for the question.
He was lucky to have the parasite sword and the black light that would help him obtain high rank essence and traits.
"With essence and traits of this level, I can enter the academy and enter the best class. It's a pity I have no plans to do that."