Mixed Blessing System

"That sounds really complicated..." Lothur commented to those beasts, feeling that the prizes ahead would be even more impressive considering this difficulty.

He then asked. "How far have you gone? What about those 2nd stage beasts?"

The lizard then said. "Our limit is the next level. As for them, even though they are weaker than us, reaching the fifth corridor is not that difficult for them."

The crocodile added. "The problem with the fifth corridor is that we can't get past it on the first try, and every time we come back, it gets harder. So for us, it's almost impossible to get past that level, while it's not hard for them to get this far, even though they have inferior strengths to us."

"But not only that, since they have different levels and take different tests than us, their test is a little less complicated..." The creature next to the yellow crocodile said. "It's just a shame that none of them made it through that corridor the first time."

"Now that they are already in such a situation, only if they become Nascent Soul Transcendents will they have a chance to overcome that barrier."

"Oh? Then why haven't any of those leading beings in the area overcome that barrier?" Lothur asked.

"Because beings of that level can't enter the labyrinth because of their size." The crocodile replied. "Some can't even get past the initial well you fell through earlier."

"Consequently, none of us can get past that place... At least that is what has always been the case."

'I see... That place must not have been purposely made to make beasts like those in the area reach the end of the labyrinth.' Lothur pondered this after hearing those creatures' explanations.

'Well, I can't afford to waste time here, so I must complete the labyrinth on my first attempt.'

With that in mind, he soon put out the fire from earlier and went from there beside the beasts about to challenge the fifth level.

But Lothur did not go to their side to partner with them and use this to ease his way through the labyrinth. It was impossible to make groups in this place and defeat opponents in one's way by fighting together.

When one tried to do such a thing, the labyrinth beings judged this as trickery and naturally increased the difficulty of the tests. In other words, this was an excellent method to decrease one's chances!

So neither Lothur was pursuing this, nor were the 2nd stage beasts accompanying those two Transcendent beings with them because of this!

Everyone knew that fighting their opponents cleanly and without cheating was the easiest way to succeed. With this, everyone soon went on with their purposes.

Some went along the same paths together, while others ventured along different routes since most were forced to choose the path they had taken on their first attempt.

Only Lothur and the demon, who was making this journey for the first time, could choose their path without being limited.

Since Lothur already knew that those beings had not chosen the right path, after all, none of them had passed beyond this level, he chose the path of least choice.

Thus, in the blink of an eye, Lothur and the demon lost sight of the various beasts they had encountered earlier.

Not only that, it did not take long for them to encounter their first challenges!

...

Pow!

"Ouch!"

Lothur moved quickly, leaving his afterimage image behind, the front of a metal dummy, while his body was already on its back.

When he found his ideal position to attack, Lothur used his defensive technique to concentrate part of his strength on his left shin. Then he kicked one of the dummy's knees with great force.

With this done, Lothur hit that part of the last of his opponents at this dead end, causing the creature to go off balance.

Unfortunately, even though he was already very resistant and managed to attack his opponent, Lothur could not help but feel pain because of his movement.

He felt an intense pain in his shinbone. At the same time, the muscles in that area of his body seemed to have been crushed because of how hard, and resistant the opponent's leg was.

Luckily this creature, composed of a mixture of several types of elements, could not hurt Lothur with most of its spiritual attacks. So this being only had its robust body, which was slowly losing its characteristics due to the attacks of the young Ritter.

As Lothur faced his last opponent, sweating profusely, with several bruises all over his body, the demon suffered the worst of what it could suffer in this place.

It technically should not have made it this far into the labyrinth, as its strength was low for it to challenge beings from this area. But still, it had reached the fifth level of this place because of Lothur's help.

That was considered trickery, so this creature was facing stronger and stronger opponents, individuals who were even more powerful than Lothur's opponents!

Because of this, at present, only its brains and internal organs could be seen in that area near where Lothur was standing as its enemies crushed it.

Vuup!

Lothur ignored the plight of his hostage and attracted the Elemental Staff away from him into one of his hands before leaping at the individual falling in front of him.

When such a weapon reached his hands, he immediately struck out toward the cracked neck of this being, which he had already weakened in the last few minutes of the fight.

Crack!

When that weapon hit the weak point Lothur had created in that metallic being, cracking sounds reverberated from that shock point while the being lost the sparkle in his eyes.

In this way, the leader of those opponents who were facing Lothur, who had the item from this point of no exit in its possession, finally fell!

Seeing this, Lothur did not miss the opportunity and promptly took the black vial shaped like a triangular pyramid, which had fallen from the hands of this destroyed being.

[Dark Essence] [Rating: quasi-Gold]

[Characteristics: this item is a condensed nutrient for powers based on negative Natural Laws and elements of the exact nature.]

[Reminder: dark essence can corrupt its user if they have a high affinity for positive elements and Natural Laws. It can drive them insane and even increase the chance of cultivation deviation in the future.]

'Oh?' Lothur saw this and pondered the difficulty of the labyrinth, judging that it would be good to use this and another of his prizes in this place.

With that, he looked at the demon suffering at the hands of 3 opponents, who were ignoring him since he had beaten his own opponents and only then taken possession of that item.

'These beings will only cause problems for me when I try to get the demon out of the area... Since they are stronger than the others I have faced, I had better do that after I have absorbed such a thing.'

He then sat in a meditative position and took that black vial and another weak one, a spherical and orange one, and prepared to ingest them.

When he did this, he immediately began to feel the changes in his body, as if he had drunk a relaxing, extremely pleasurable remedy.

...