Cosmic Peak

Hearing Aren's outburst, the handsome man laughed loudly and said, "Anyway, I see some potential in you, so good luck in fighting against that despair that will come to your world. Ahh, yes. you have to stay alive before fighting that despair, so...hahaha, try your best to survive and get stronger in Wild Expanse."

After saying that, the hazy image of that handsome man disappeared.

[As you have completed the quest, your buffs will be removed, and you will be transported outside in five seconds.]

[5]

[4]

[3]

[2]

[1]

...

Aren felt dizzy as the scenery changed in front of him, and he arrived right outside of the cave where they met Reto and his two companions.

However, Aren suddenly felt intense fatigue and heaviness and fell to the ground. He could barely keep his eye open and was having intense headaches and exhaustion.

'T-this...,' Aren was confused for a moment before he realized his situation. All of those nerve-wracking battles where he remained fully focused and concentrated had accumulated fatigue. When the buffs from the dungeons were gone, he experienced all of them, resulting in his current situation.

He urgently needed a good and deep sleep, but he couldn't afford to sleep here, so he hurridly thought of leaving the Wild Expanse.

But he remembered that he still had a quest about finding the two sons of that old man, which would not allow him to go outside.

[Do you want to go outside? As you have completed the hidden dungeon alone, you will be allowed to go outside one time while still having your quest.]

Seeing this, Aren was surprised, and hurridly responded with his thoughts that he wanted to go outside.

The last time Aren went out with Luna to meet up with his mother, Quinn, and Quinn's mother. They met up at the hotel beside the highway near the slum area, so Aren appeared outside the hotel at this time.

His condition was bad, and he failed to stand up and even go inside the hotel as his eyes just closed and he lost his consciousness outside the hotel, on the ground.

Other cities and the part of the highway was still bloody because It's only been barely a day since the attacks of those giants.

After the giants' attack, Aren and Luna returned to Wild Expanse and spent two hours traveling and fighting some beasts before finally finding the duchy and spending three hours there. Afterward, both of them went outside as they got Lorain's call that they formed their spirit core and were ready to get together. So Aren and Luna met up with Lorain, Quinn, and Hemila before they entered the duchy together and spent another two hours there and also accepted the suspicious quest from that old man. Another hour passed as they bought some things and exchanged their red berries with health potions.

Afterward, they went out and spent two hours roaming and killing some monsters on the way before they arrived at the location of Demon Ant's dungeon but met Reto and his companion.

They then spent six hours inside the hidden dungeon before the intense fight between Reto's and Aren's groups started. After that incident, Aren spent another hour in the first two challenges before being transported to the dark Test zone since he completed five levels of his path and reached level 6.

The time apparently stops while inside that test, so they don't count even though he spent many hours in that place. He then re-appeared in the dungeon and resumed his 3rd challenge, completing it in a four-minute time limit before finally arriving at the final boss fight.

Before the fight, Aren talked with Yakum for a few minutes. After that, the fight started, which barely lasted for a minute and some seconds since it was a high-speed battle where Aren had to defeat the mirage of Yakum as soon as possible. Aren displayed his talent twice in this hidden dungeon, as his battle senses peaked and he fought skillfully. First time when he almost killed Reto and the second time in the last boss fight.

Naturally, his eyes helped him realize his natural talent, but to process many thoughts and multi-task at that level was not something anyone could do.

All in all, so many drastic things happened in the last twenty-four hours, and here was Aren, lying on the dusty ground outside the hotel.

....

There was a glorious throne in a mysterious place filled with starry sparkles all around in the dark atmosphere. All those sparkles displayed a moving scenery focusing on a person or multiple people, and there were countless of those sparkles here.

There was a giant round entity with countless mini eyes on it that was hovering in this space as it looked creepy and mysterious at the same time.

Suddenly, a woman with otherworldly beauty appeared and sat down on the throne. She had long mysterious violet hair, a cleavage that could make any stick hard as the red dress she wore looked short and long-sleeved but extremely gorgeous, and her dreamy eyes where one would get sucked into just by looking at her.

"Hahaha, this batch indeed has some promising people," the woman muttered with a smile as she watched Aren's all performances, even in the tests of the path.

"He is the fourth one who showed the potential to change the tides and save his world against the despair after three years as long as he continues to survive and get stronger."

The woman then waved her hand as sparkles bubble with Tarrox in it appeared and muttered, "However, I have to warn this little red dragon not to interfere too much."

After muttering that, she disappeared...

...

Tarrox was at his territory and was sitting in meditation amidst the terrifying lightning zone.

The mysterious beautiful woman appeared here with her throne as she leaned on it and snapped her finger.

With that snap, time literally stopped as the lightning zone stilled. However, Tarrox opened his eyes as his body trembled a bit seeing the person in front of him. He hurriedly bowed and spoke, "Lord...."