Chapter 39: Combat Trial I
Chapter 39: Combat Trial I
The entire floor, which had shifted from a dark forest to a hellish landscape, then to a freezing tundra and finally a metallic death valley, had now returned to a peaceful green forest. A setting that should have brought serenity and calm.But nope. Not for Damian.
Instead of peace, the forest revealed converging paths—every trail exposing the surviving Beast Masters from the first trial. Each path twisted toward the same central clearing, and Damian, like the others who’d made it this far, followed. All survivors were being gathered into the heart of the floor.
Of the original thirteen, only five appeared after several minutes.
The atmosphere was so heavy that one shouldn’t even ask what happened to all the others!
Three looked like they’d wrestled a bear and lost—bruised, bloodied, and barely holding onto consciousness alongside their equally wrecked Beasts.
One was tired, but not totally wrecked.
And then there was Lyra Veyrin. Her bouncy blue slime perched on her head like a crown. The moment it spotted Damian and Kitsuul, it lit up—eyes sparkling with excitement, doing its best not to let that excitement show.
Clearly, it had been briefed on how to act.
Lyra herself still looked timid, her shy-girl act in full swing. Her eyes darted around like something might leap out and maul her at any second. She nailed the role of naive and nervous like it was second nature.
Damian just shook his head.
Before he could even take a breath, the fireworks blazing across the ceiling above began to fizzle out. He could already feel the cold, heavy stare of the massive flaming Beast that belonged to Guardian Flameborn. The creature perched above the control room, wings tucked in, flames crackling.
Damian had no idea what species the thing was—until Lyra casually dropped the info earlier. Apparently, this flaming monstrosity was a Flaming Eagle Archaeopteryx—genetically engineered and grown in the ZENTHRA labs. Because, of course it was.
Now, it spread its enormous wings and descended, revealing the grinning face of Guardian Flameborn on its back.
"Ha! Six Beast Masters on their way to becoming Trial Guardians of ZENTHRA!" she cheered. "More than expected... but perfectly poetic—six of you, six Trial Guardians. That means we’re moving on to the next phase: Combat!"
She clapped.
And instantly, the ground rumbled beneath them. The central clearing began to rise—forming a raised, circular platform that trapped the six of them inside. The lush green grass pulled back, revealing a steel-gray battle ring roughly a hundred meters wide.
From the far end of the arena, the six Trial Guardians entered.
Five wore grins that said this’ll be fun. The sixth—Serpent Queen Serena—looked about as enthusiastic as a glacier. Cold, unreadable, and definitely not here to play around.
Up above, Guardian Flameborn raised her voice again.
"Each of you will pick a Trial Guardian to face. All you have to do... is survive one full minute in the ring without getting knocked out—or, you know, killed. Just one full minute!"
Damian swore her eyes landed directly on him as she said that last bit. And there was definitely a glint in her gaze.
But she didn’t linger.
"Now, you might think surviving sixty seconds is easy. But keep in mind—if one of you becomes a Trial Guardian, it means these six standing before you lose a portion of their resources. The more of you that pass, the more their perks and privileges get cut. And believe me, some of them will fight very hard to make sure you are knocked out before the clock is up. It’s nothing personal. They just really like their honey and don’t want to share the pot."
...!
Damian didn’t react. He already knew all of this. Lyra had babbled about it nonstop—every detail about the ZENTHRA Beast Corporation and their resource-hoarding Trial Guardians.
This was something purposefully created by the ZENTHRA Beast Corporation to foster a sense of competition, because they did not lack resources to give to their Guardians, much less the weaker Trial Guardians..
With it, they created a sense of scarcity with them having to fight for resources as this would make for much more a competitive environment where every single thing Trial Guardian worked hard to get what they wanted.
To win a spot, a Trial Beast Master had to fight an existing Trial Guardian—one already enjoying those sweet, sweet ZENTHRA perks.
And keeping these perks limited would ensure that the Trial Guardians do not just remain within the compounds of ZENTHRA, and that they will excitedly delve into the Entropic Rifts under their banner to look for even more resources.
When it came to the match ups themselves...
The contestants were still Initiate Interstellar Beast Masters. Their Beasts had either Basic, Evolved, Apex, or, in very rare cases, Unique Class Traits. Serena and Lyra’s Beasts? Probably Apex Class Traits.
Damian’s furry little partner, though?
She was Unique.
Even the flaming Archaeopteryx above didn’t scare Kitsuul, which meant it probably wasn’t Unique-class. That put Damian in a very good position for what came next.
And of course, one of the Trial Guardians was already eying him like a juicy target.
The guy riding a Winged Peacock Lion had his eyes locked on Damian—like he’d already made up his mind.
"Huhu... are you all ready? Excited?! Hmm?" Guardian Flameborn clapped again. "Now... who wants to go first?"
Before any of the six contestants could answer, the guy on the Peacock Lion raised his hand.
"Guardian Flameborn," he said, voice echoing. "If it’s all right, I’d like to go first."
...!
His battle-hungry grin made Damian cold.
Flameborn gave him a look.
"You idiot. The Trial Beast Masters choose you. Not the other way around. But..." she tilted her head, eyes twinkling, "I’ll bite. Who do you want to fight?"
The guy didn’t hesitate.
Lyra frowned.
Serena frowned harder.
Other Guardians snickered and shook their heads.
The guy on the Peacock Lion strutted forward, his gaze a laser beam aimed straight at a single person.
"That so-called handsome guy over there. Therion Dark, right? Let’s see if he’s man enough to take me on."
...!
Damian blinked.
Of course it was him.