— Hikari —
[Physique : 904]
[Mana : 1105]
[Defense: 932]
[Mind: 966]
[Height: 5.1 meters]
[Weight: 3750 kg]
[Heart of wyvern: 240]
[Telekinesis: 520]
[RazenHeir flame: 255]
Hikari emerges from the stairway.
A vast circular chamber, unlike the trial floors, which were partitioned into rooms.
Pillars support the structure's immense weight, forming a circular ring.
In the center, a circular stone wall encloses something within.
Hikari senses the tower's mana coursing right through its center.
Braziers all around the wall lit up.
Statues of knights that matched her size.
They each took a different stance.
Some wielded spears and maces.
A plaque in a lost language hung behind each wyvern knight.
It'll be quite the trilogy to share if only she could read those.
"Trial?"
Hikari looks around uneasily.
The statues stood eerily still.
She could tell they weren't mere idle pieces of carved stone.
Faint traces of their inner mechanisms as the tower's mana flows through them.
Her sensitivity to mana lets her catch a glimpse of it.
She dropped her supplies by the vault in the middle and approached the statues on the chamber's outermost rim.
Cautiously, she maintained her fighting stance.
She wouldn't be surprised if the statues came alive and charged her.
That would be one hell of a final trial to wrap up her odyssey.
The braziers between the statues flared, lighting up the vast chamber.
"Tile."
The tile had a lighter texture than the rest of the ground.
Every single trial room she encountered contained it.
And every single one of them triggers something.
Hikari takes a deep breath.
She draws her sword and swings it around to warm up her arms.
She squats to warm up her legs.
The statue opposite her stares at her silently.
It holds its sword in a basic stance.
Straight in the middle. Legs shoulder-width apart.
A well-balanced stance with no weaknesses.
Hikari holds her sword in one hand, pointing diagonally towards the floor.
Her signature stance, leaving herself deceptively open before delivering a deadly counter against an opportunistic foe.
She steps onto the tile.
It sinks gently into the ground.
The statue's mana rises.
Hikari watches its every move.
…
She finds herself in an empty arena.
A wyvern knight clad in full bronze armor opposes her.
"What-"
She finds herself in her mind space.
Her opponent takes a stance.
Sword straight in the middle, tilted forward.
Legs shoulder-width apart.
A well-balanced stance with no weaknesses.
Hikari matches it, staring into its lifeless great helmet.
The giant armored knight marches towards her.
Steady steps, maintaining an extremely stable stance even between steps.
It stood at around two-thirds of her height.
Hikari backs off, giving herself time to measure it.
Her sword was the same as the one it was wielding.
Her arms were longer, giving her a small reach advantage.
Hikari stops. The armored knight steps into her range.
It stopped.
A split-second pause.
It raises its sword over its head, steps forward, then swings down.
Hikari swings her sword upwards from its resting position by her side.
It meets her opponent's sword at an angle and pushes it aside.
The armored knight immediately winds up for another swing.
Hikari reacts to block the swing.
She was surprised the parry didn't stagger her opponent.
Their swords locked.
Hikari felt the strain on her waist as she blocked the swing head-on.
She felt the armored knight charge up for a push.
She tilted her sword, forcing her opponent's sword to slide upwards as it pushed into her.
Her kneecaps knocked its head back as it tried to rein in its sword, flying over its head.
An opening.
She tilted her body and thrust her leg into the helmet before it could put up its guard.
It staggered backward. Heavy armor plates rubbed together.
Hikari lunged, both hands on the sword hilt, and raised her sword for an overhead swing.
The armored knight regained its stance just in time to block.
Hikari ground her sword against her opponent's.
She forced it to the ground by bringing her larger weight to bear.
Then the knight's armor glowed.
Hikari backed off, narrowly avoiding a wave of fire unleashed from its armor.
The armored knight regained its stance.
Holding its sword upright, it burned with searing heat.
Hikari matches, brandishing her sword with wyvern flame.
Her opponent closes in on her.
Marching steadily to maintain its stability.
It steps into Hikari's range.
She takes the initiative.
Their swords meet.
The knight's flame barrier pushes the wyvern's flame onto Hikari.
She reacts slowly and feels the fire burn her armor.
She backs off.
The wyvern knight marches towards her again.
Hikari raises her barrier to match.
She goes for the head-on clash again.
The swords lock. Both sides release wyvern flame.
Hikari could feel the air around them boil.
The heat was getting suffocating, yet the wyvern knight did not budge.
Hikari backed off. The knight's armor was designed to withstand a head-on clash like this.
She stared at the wyvern knight as she dusted herself off after eating a flamewave head-on.
The wyvern knight stood at attention, the tip of its sword touching the ground.
…
The chamber was quiet.
The brazier burned quietly.
A distant howl of wind through the tower's thick walls.
Hikari steps off the tile.
The wyvern knight statue stayed as still as a statue should.
Not a hint of its stance out of place.
"Headache."
Hikari returns to the center of the vault where her supplies were.
She rests against the vault.
In the brief encounter with the statue, she was quite sure they couldn't actually move.
But it appears it won't be easy to beat them.
Munch. Munch. She thinks about the fight against the wyvern knight.
It all happened in her mind, but it felt real.
Exhilarating, even to face an opponent who teaches her a lot in one fight.
She couldn't stop thinking about how she could actually crack it.
Munch. Munch. She stuffs more fruit into her mouth.
Looks like she'll have to go back down the tower to harvest more.
It was only the first statue, and she was already stuck.
But first, some rest.
…
Clank! She locks swords with the wyvern knight.
The ground around them melts under the scorching heat as their flame barriers clash head-on.
The wyvern knight holds its ground.
So did Hikari.
After repeatedly dueling it, she had learned how it fights.
How it maintains a steady flow of mana even under pressure, allowing it to withstand immense temperatures without flinching.
It swings its sword with only enough weight to force its opponent to respond, but not enough to compromise its stance.
Hikari avoided head-on clashes whenever she could.
She never swung her sword directly into her opponent's and always tried to deflect and parry.
Her fighting style was opposite to what the wyvern knight showed.
The barriers flared.
Hikari stayed focused despite the heat engulfing her.
It felt like she was being boiled alive.
She endured.
Then, a soft creak.
Hikari thought she imagined it.
Creek. She gained half an inch.
The wyvern knight was buckling ever so slightly.
Now was the time to push.
She channeled more mana into her sword.
The metal glowed even brighter with wyvern fire.
But it showed no signs of melting.
The wyvern knight tried to match.
Hikari leaned her weight into the wyvern knight.
Its armor screeched against the ground as it was pushed back.
A sudden surge of power came from its armor.
Hikari focused her barrier forward.
She had learned that stepping would break the flow of mana to her barrier and cause her to take even more damage.
The wyvern knight released all its power at once.
Hikari braced.
Her hand gripped her sword tightly.
The wave of flames was over in a split second.
The wyvern knight's armor burned.
It went to one knee, resting on its sword.
…
"Argh."
Her head hurts.
She wobbles off the tile.
Nausea. She felt like vomiting, but her stomach was empty.
Sweating. She felt slimy all over.
Wobbling, she walked back to her supplies and sat down, leaning against the wall.
No, it felt even worse.
She stood up but blacked out for a moment.
Gritting her teeth, she began doing her sword drills.
Images of the wyvern knight's stance flooded back into her mind.
She closed her eyes, shutting out as much information as she could.
Swing. Swing. Breathe.
She mimics its stance.
Knees bent for maximum stability.
She feels better after some physical exercise.
Some cannonball fruit remains.
But her stomach was still churning.
More drilling.
She returns to the original upright stance that offered her the most flexibility.
The wyvern sword in her hand was too light for the wyvern knight's stance to make sense.
Though in a head-on clash, she could switch to it.
It wasn't just the stability; The stance seemed to maximize the strength of her flame barrier.
She's getting a sense of how the wyvern mana flows.
Flame barrier. She tries to channel it.
"Argh."
Her head hurts.
She needs rest.
The physical exercise had cooled off her brain enough to rest.
She leans against the vault and slouches.
The wyvern knight statue stood silently at the end of the room opposite her.
A rune on top of it lit up with a bright golden glow.
It appears that the statue has offered its approval.