His feet shattered the cracked, shale-like stone beneath him as Leo sprinted at full speed through a barrage of lightning strikes, each step kicking fragments loose as the ground struggled to hold together under the pressure. His Voltaic Reflex helped, but the strikes themselves felt almost premeditated, as if the pattern had been decided long before he ever set foot here.

It almost felt like training. Mana would gather in the air above, prickling against his senses just before the strike came crashing down beneath it. No variations. No attempt to catch him off guard.

After around ten minutes of dodging and dashing, and running at a pace that eclipsed those of pre-system humans, Leo finally found himself free of the Lightning. He was tempted to get hit by it at least once, as he had been curious what would happen, but thankfully saner minds prevailed.

Leo changed to a swift jog, trying to make sure he conserved his stamina the best he could. It was sitting at around 70% so far, the drain not being too taxing. He chugged one of the few stamina potions he had, not that it did much for his massive pool, but he had plenty. Upon finishing the potion, Leo found himself briefly considering how ineffective these potions had become for him now. Basically obsolete.

Fifty stamina seemed like a lot when he was level one, almost half of his starting total. Now it was a drop in the bucket. It did have the tag of ‘Basic’ but still. He briefly remembered seeing an alchemist starting kit in the tutorial store and wondered if anyone in the camp had actually taken it.

Surely Cecelia would have someone learning it, although maybe she didn’t make the connection between alchemy and potions.

Thanks to the pace he was going and just pondering things as he ran, Ellie was able to be out running alongside him. She seemed almost in her element in this wasteland, hopping easily over broken stone as if the uneven terrain didn’t slow her down at all.

Suppose she did come from a land that wasn’t too unlike this. Leo thought to himself as he watched her frolic on the shale.

Leo slowed to a stop, a faint sound cutting through the emptiness around him. With his improved hearing thanks to his skill, Leo tried to make out the sounds.

“Voices,” he murmured, already turning toward the direction it came from.

Leo dashed towards the sound, hoping that whoever's voice it was was okay.

Reaching the people he heard conversing, he noticed it was people from Ruby’s group. No one he knew the name of but enough to know they were likely friendly. He approached the strange dome they were sheltered in, its surface faintly shimmering like heat haze, separating it from the harsh wasteland. None of them had looked Leo’s way and didn’t until he entered.

Upon entering, they jumped in alarm, weapons drawn.

“Easy!” Leo said, “It’s me, Leo.”

They seemed to be cautious for a moment until Ellie growled at them and they lowered their weapons.

There were four of them, all different classes and at least level 20, according to Identify. They may not have fully recognised Leo straight away, but a dragon was a bit more memorable.

The moment he stepped inside, the drain on his stamina vanished, replaced instead by a slow, steady recovery that spread through his body almost immediately. He took a deep breath and enjoyed the clean air filling his lungs.

“What is this place?” Leo asked the group.

A man in warrior garbs spoke first. “It seems to be a kind of ‘safe zone’ where you can regain stamina here before going further in. We were almost completely out by the time we found it. Although we are considering leaving, the next section is real tough.”

“Next section?”

The man nodded, continuing. “It’s like blunt blades of wind hitting you from all sides. Phantom hits, all sorts of angles, trying to knock you back and stall you. It’s hard to figure out when and where they are coming. Not to mention when they hit you it takes a chunk of stamina, hurts like shit too.”

Leo instantly felt like his theory of this being a place for people to train was correct. He assumed the original city—if it did have an origin—would have a bit of a better defense than crystals on the outside of the defensive shield and a way to break them that involved training one to get stronger.

Unless they just had idiots running the place.

“I see.” Leo shrugged. “Well, I’m not doing too bad on stamina so I’ll give it a try.”

He wasn’t lying, still being above 60% stamina meant that he could at least give this a try. Was it more beneficial to regen to full before continuing? Probably. But there was a potential reward for reaching the middle in a fast time, and being safely competitive was one of his flaws, or perhaps in this new universe, a boon.

The moment he stepped out of the dome, his breathing worsened instantly, like the air itself was working against him again.

Makes sense why they give you a safe zone before continuing, it seems like the challenge is ramping up. Leo thought.

His thoughts wandered to the classes that were not focused on Endurance and thought it was a bit unfair. Would mages get some kind of less stamina drain? He’d have asked the group of people in the dome but for one, he wasn’t going back. And two, there were no magical classes in the safe zone.

Just as his thoughts about the fact the wasteland had other people in it, his Voltaic Reflex sparked his nerves, urging him to duck. Just as he did, what looked like a spectral battering ram tore over his head. Something swept for his legs next, forcing a quick hop to avoid it.

The attacks were like the lightning, telegraphed and fairly obvious. This couldn’t just be another test of dodging surely. Leo decided to test it and started running at almost full speed, Ellie was now within his soul-space since she couldn’t quite keep up with him at this speed.

Attacks started coming in rapidly, and to the point where he could no longer progress by just dodging. So when the spectral attack came at him from both sides at once, he dodged one and punched hard into the other.

Expecting to be pushed back from the impact, Leo was delightfully surprised that the spectral attack was knocked into nothingness.

So it wasn’t just dodging this time, it was forcing him to adapt, to respond differently depending on what was thrown at him.

Leo continued to dip, dodge, punch, kick—anything he needed to do to get through the gauntlet of attacks.

As he progressed, his stamina started dropping faster. He was forced to move quicker, attack more. In doing so, he began to realise just how wasteful his movements had been up until now, how much energy he’d been burning through without ever needing to.

Up to this point, Leo had been pushing his body as hard as it would go for almost any situation. His control over his body was good, but with the massive increase to stats over such a short period, his mindset hadn't changed as much.

He’d been relying on instinct and raw power, pushing harder than necessary simply because he could. This trial could help teach him restraint and being conservative whilst still fighting.

From that realisation, Leo started moving more deliberately. If an attack came at him from two sides, he would judge the distance, the strength needed to deflect or speed needed to dodge and then act accordingly. There was no need to fully commit to a dangerous counterpunch when a well-timed deflection could achieve the same result with far less risk.

He had to admit he was enjoying this. If it wasn't for the timed rewards, he would have spent all his time here until his stamina ran out. Rested in the safe zone, then do it again. It somehow scaled to his speed and power, or at least he assumed it did because he doubted anyone else would be able to move like he did.

Eventually however, good things had to come to an end and Leo successfully made it through the gauntlet. Ellie popped out while he was catching his breath, still as peppy as she usually was. Maybe she was unaffected or got to rest within his soul space, lucky girl just got a free ride to the finish in that case.

His gaze searched the distance in front of him, hoping to somehow be able to pierce through the veil of mist that swallowed everything beyond a short distance. But alas, he was still walking blind. He wasn't sure what stopped him from going in circles or if this was even the right way to go. But so far it had worked out fine.

“Maybe it's not about direction and more about distance,” Leo wondered aloud.

If that was the case then it didn't matter which way he ran. He would still run the opposite way from the gauntlet for now, but the thought remained.

Another fifteen minutes or so of a constant jog and Leo was starting to feel the drain. Managing his stamina had never been something he'd really thought about either. The same way he'd realised how wasteful he'd been during combat, he inwardly wondered if he could optimise his stamina usage outside of combat.

“Hey Ells,” Leo said whilst jogging alongside her. “Yelp if there's anything of interest, okay? I'm gonna do a bit of self discovery, kinda.”

She tilted her head in curiosity but soon after agreed.

Nodding in thanks, Leo did something potentially a little stupid whilst running in a danger zone filled with unknown threats.

He closed his eyes, trusting his footing enough to risk it.

It was always easier to meditate or follow energy coursing through him with his eyes closed and that was usually when stationary so he really had to focus in order to try and follow the current of stamina through his body as he moved.

The energy felt like raw, untapped power sitting in his core that was slowly siphoned into his muscles in order to move them. He tried to alter the flow slightly from its usual amount, pushing more into his muscles. Pain flared as his body tried to adjust to the sudden increase. His stamina started dropping faster than ever so he quickly eased up.

Okay, so the experiment kinda worked but should probably be in a place where I'm not on the clock and being drained of the energy I'm trying to play with. Leo thought, his body giving him signs of fatigue as the extra energy in his muscles faded.

This was something to experiment with further, once Leo was in a more forgiving situation. Thinking about his skills, Fuel the Fire burned his stamina in exchange for strength, but did it only have to be strength? When he pushed more stamina into his limbs they not only felt stronger but faster too.

Excited to have a potential upgrade path for another skill, Leo opened his eyes with rather convenient timing. As he did so, Ellie gave a yelp. Another safe zone was in front of him, this one containing a few more people, including one he at least knew the name of.

Stepping in—and enjoying the sweet blessing of no stamina drain—Leo addressed the man who was sitting on the ground looking ragged.

“You alright?” Leo asked.

Gareth hadn't clocked him entering the safezone, likely due to how tired he looked.

“Leo.” He nodded tiredly. “You decided to join in? Must have gotten here fast. Only a few of us have gotten to this point and none of us have managed to get much further without having to fall back.”

Leo frowned, asking, “Is it dangerous?”

“Not in the conventional sense,” Gareth started explaining. “It's not like the endurance we've had to prove before now. It's the endurance of the mind that it tests here. I'm sure you'll see for yourself but be careful, every emotion you’ve ever felt gets dragged to the surface and amplified, weighing you down more with every step until you have no choice but to turn back.”

Hmm, maybe this is to prepare you for mental attacks of some kind or for the mental backlash of taking lives. If that's the case then they should have implemented this trial way before now.

His mind raced through the possibilities before he just gave up trying to guess the ambiguous system's intentions.

“I see. Shouldn't be too bad then,” Leo replied casually.

“You don't get it man,” one of Gareth's men said, from his side, his voice quivering. “I felt so much anger, pain, inferiority. It was like emotions burst out and exploded with the tiniest push or feeling.” The man was shivering with fear or perhaps just the after effect of too much emotional stimulus.

“Maybe I can help a little,” Leo said. Looking at his Stormforged Presence skill. Or at least one specific part of it.

Stormforged Presence (Exalted)

This is an Aura skill.

The storm does not kneel. It does not bend. Your presence becomes a force of nature, unshakeable and undeniable. Your resolve is absolute, your willpower indomitable. When flaring your aura, enemies feel the crushing weight of a storm pressing down upon them. Your allies will feel the caress and courage of the tempest.
Immunity to most fear, charm, and domination effects
Aura can be consciously flared, creating pressure that scales with your power
At higher intensities, the aura may stagger or mentally break weaker foes
Aura will grant allies resistance to fear effects and a feeling of increased resolve when active.
Scales with Will
Cooldown: None

It granted allies resistance to fear effects.

This effect these people were feeling could be something along those lines. But then again, if it was lots of different emotions then this skill wouldn’t do much. Either way he wouldn’t lose much by trying.

Flaring his aura slightly—enough to encapsulate everyone in the safe zone—all eyes landed on Leo.

“This feeling…You did something similar during the assault right? Is it some kind of skill?” Gareth asked, his visage already looking less pale as he moved his arms around testingly.

“Yeah,” Leo replied honestly. “A skill that helps me unleash my ‘aura’, gives allies resistance to fear effects and increased resolve.” Leo pointedly didn’t include any of the other effects or the skills rarity.

“Useful.” Gareth nodded. “I’ll look out for something similar. My class and profession are both commander themed. Can you keep this power going long enough to get us through?”

Leo was feeling the strain, eye twitching slightly, but could probably keep it up for a short while.

“Not for too long, it's quite strenuous. So if you want any kind of coverage we should move. Now.”

Leo, Gareth and three others set off. The minute Leo stepped out of the safezone, a wave of anger, aggression, weakness, fear—every negative emotion he could name—pressed down on him all at once, trying to drag his thoughts under with it. But it was all just so…

“Weak.”

Leo had suspected that this could happen. Since childhood he had been trying to suppress the raging emotions that were caused by his apparent bloodline. They flared, surged, and pressed all the time, and more so when he actually felt those negative emotions.

He had learned to suppress those emotions long ago. The times where he had lost it in the early days of the tutorial were behind him thanks to Iskarion’s help. Compared to what he’d already endured, this barely registered.

Observing Gareth and the others, he could tell they were suffering, even under the effects of his aura. “Keep moving, faster we get through, the quicker it’s over,” Leo encouraged, flaring his aura’s strength even higher and allowing those around him to get a bit more of a reprieve.

He could just run ahead and clear the trial, but that wasn’t his style. Leo liked to help others, even—and usually—at his own expense.

Was it foolish and would one day probably land him in more trouble than it was worth? Probably. But he’d rather help someone and pay the price than leave someone to suffer when he could help.

If he couldn’t speed ahead, and the mental training this trial was meant to give him was the equivalent of someone insulting him with lackluster insults, then he would just have to make his own training. Specifically, aura training. So far he had used it in short bursts and not very often, so his control and sustainability of it was extremely lacking.

It was a weird feeling to ‘flare one’s aura’.

If Leo had to describe it, it would be like forcing his thoughts and intent outward into something tangible, something that carried his will beyond his body. Through that feeling, Leo could tell that even without the skill’s help he would be able to project some kind of aura or power through the same act, just less focused, less powerful.

It wasn’t like pushing mana through channels, so following that method of improvement wouldn’t help. What did seem to help was just practice and focus. Almost like training a muscle, the soul muscle.

Thankfully it wasn’t all that far until they cleared the mental suppression section, and what greeted them was not the usual wasteland but a towering weathered gateway of swirling blue energy, standing out sharply against the wasteland around it.

Around it the fog had cleared. It gave off an overwhelming sense of invitation, pulling at his attention in a way that was hard to ignore. Leo looked towards Gareth and they both nodded in understanding, a few steps later and everyone stepped through.

Vanishing to whatever was held in store for them next.