Infinite Realm

"Shrrrkk!"

With a loud shriek that seemed to entail the unwillingness and sorrow of the creature, the last 4-clawed Crustan fell to the grey soil as red blood spilled from its injuries, dyeing the land a new colour.

Sato pulled out his sword from the body of the monster as he heaved out a sigh of relief. Apart from the one that had just died, the corpses of two other 4-clawed Crustans were scattered around the place. There was even a faint undulation of starlight in space, showing that a few other bodies had already disintegrated to stardust.

"Aiya. This challenge has to be the most frustrating one." Sato sighed as he fell on his butt and decided to take a break.

It had been 2 hours since Sato killed the very first 4-clawed Crustan. Ever since then, he had fought more than 20 of these creatures as he closed in on the white altar. Normally, facing more than 20 monsters in a space of 2 hours didn't seem like much of a problem but Sato had to face them in batches.

The first group was made up of two 4-clawed Crustans, which he encountered just a few minutes after defeating the first one. The next group was also made up of 2 of those monsters but the third group suddenly had 4 monsters; an extra 2 added to the previous count. The following group after that was also 4 monsters but the next was 5. From then on, the appearance of the monsters repeated in that pattern as the difficulty increased with every 2 groups. Luckily for Sato, once it reached the point of 6 monsters appearing at once, there was no increase in number as the count seemed to have reached a cap.

What was especially annoying was that these monsters didn't only appear from random spots but did so within a certain range of time.

To put it in better words, each 15 or so minutes, Sato would face another group of 4-clawed creeps irrespective of his position. However, the time wasn't exactly 15 minutes. After constant battling and experimentation, Sato discovered that after 13 minutes or so after the appearance of a group, within the space of 7 minutes, another group would appear. In other words, another group could appear either 13 minutes later, 14 minutes later, 15 minutes later till 20 minutes later, disregarding whether the first group was eliminated or not.

This had happened when Sato was taking on the first group of 2 and because he was planning to conserve his energy, he ended up using too much time and another group of 2 had appeared. In the end, Sato had to push himself to the limit to defeat the four 4-clawed Crustans quickly.

Also, with the increase in the count of the monsters, Sato would need to use more energy to defeat them. From his analysis, Sato only had 13 minutes to not only defeat the monsters but also rest and progress forward towards the white altar. One can imagine the difficulty of this goal and the amount of stress Sato experienced.

Last but not least was the fact that since the platform was located so high up in the air, where the oxygen was a bit lacking compares to the ground below, Sato used up his stamina at a much faster rate than normal.

Hence, in that space of 2 hours, Sato had barely gone past 1 kilometre as he needed to conserve his energy and recover while at it. He had also killed at least 35 monsters and each one after the 18th was done with Sato pushing his body to the limit.

This could be said to be one of the most taxing and pressuring trial Sato had ever faced but at the same time, it wasn't devoid of its rewards. Sato instinctively felt that he reaped some profit from these monsters however, maybe due to the agreement he had made at the beginning, he could only receive these rewards at the end of the trial. Also, each of the battles after the 18th kill was fought with Sato pushing himself to the limit. As a result, Sato's control over his body improved dramatically as he slowly felt his body get accustomed to this lightweight feeling and his agility seemed to improve.

'This effect is like training in a gravity chamber. However, the results aren't reflected in my stats. Maybe it's being applied to my physique.' Sato thought as he took out a bottle of water from his bag and drank it.

Before he had begun the Main Trials, not only had Sato prepared nutrients for his body in the real world, but he had also prepared for his body in IR. His stamina and endurance here depended on the state of his avatar and not his real body so he needed to care for it too.

After taking a short 2 minutes break, Sato hurriedly stood up and prepared to continue on his journey. While it was true that he hadn't recovered fully, if he spent any more time here, the next group of 4-clawed Crustans would arrive.

"It doesn't look as far as before." Sato said to himself as he stared at the white altar.

The white altar looked to be just a few hundred metres away and if he were to run at top speed, Sato could make it in time.

"Alright. [Sprint]." 

Sato sped towards the white altar. Even though he still had to retain a portion of his energy for the next battle, Sato still wanted to hurry over to the white altar and complete the Main Trials. 

It should be recalled that ever since he stepped into this place, the third challenge hadn't been announced to Sato. The situation was quite similar to the first challenge, where Sato had to roam through the [Bloodfall Lands] before when reached the [Staircase to Zolstice] where he received the mission. By using the same logic, Sato presumed that the same could be applied here; the only difference being the presence of the 4-clawed Crustans. Simply put, all he had to do was make it to the white altar ahead and the actual challenge would begin. Fighting these monsters, though they may be giving him an unknown reward, was pointless. Sato didn't let himself forget his main goal which was completing the trial.

[Sprint] only lasted for 5 seconds and after that, Sato's speed would return to normal. However, Sato unequipped his [Astral Blade] and grabbed hold of a brand new sword. The sword was much lighter and shorter than regular swords and the aura it radiated was weaker than the [Astral Blade], however, this sword had one special feature that the other didn't; it increased his movement speed.

This was a sword that Sato had forged after he had become an official Apprentice Blacksmith. Because his skills in Blacksmithing were a bit lacking compared to the NPCs, the product was much weaker than originally intended so Sato didn't use it in battle neither did he sell it. Nonetheless, this sword finally came to use now as it could increase Sato's speed to the same level as when he used [Sprint] without it, much less now he did so with it.

'After this, I need to find a few skills that can improve my speed.' Sato thought as he began to realise that [Sprint] was getting useless for him.

A 12% increase in attributes was impressive only if the base attributes were large enough. In Sato's base form, [Sprint] could barely add 3 points to his movement speed which barely increased his speed. If it were in the past, when a single difference in points could change the balance in a fight, that would have been alright. However, current players were now stronger and had good equipment that boosted their attributes too. One difference in the Main attribute could prove a bit helpful but in a secondary attribute, it was pretty much useless; even a difference of 5 was just barely satisfactory.

Sato kept running forward for 6 minutes and each time [Sprint] went off cool-down, he would use it once more whereas when it was in cool-down, he would reduce his speed and try to catch his breath.

2 minutes later and Sato felt that the white altar was much closer than before; very much closer in fact. It looked to be just 100 metres away and Sato felt that this wasn't his imagination.

At this distance, Sato could take in the scenery a bit better. The altar was a huge rectangular structure that was built with a few white stones that looked like ceramic but gave off a metallic sheen on its surface. There were tall white pillars a few metres from the altar that went around it as if forming a prison with the altar in the middle. The altar radiated an aura of sanctity and holiness that made Sato have an instinctual desire to worship it. Luckily for him, he had stronger willpower and was able to resist that feeling.

'Incredible...'

While Sato was awed by the structure, he was also frightened by it to an extent. One should know that this was a game, yet a building in it made him feel so little as if he was in the presence of a god.

*Crack*

"Shrrk!"

"Damn it!" Sato cursed as he realised something.

It had been more than 13 minutes since the appearance of the last group and the new one could appear at any second; in truth, they could have started 2 minutes ago because that was when the 13 minutes 'cool-down' for the monsters ended. Sadly for Sato, just as he was about to reach the white altar, they decided to do so now.

'No. I can't waste any more time here. The altar's just a bit close. I have to make it in time.'

Sato had this intuition that the monsters could not approach the white altar. He even believed that all their actions so far had been to stop him from doing so. If that was the case, then once he did reach the structure, they would stop chasing him as their mission would have failed.

'I have to make it.'

With a resolute expression and his eyes set on the white altar, Sato didn't stop his movements to face the monsters but increased his speed even more.

*Crack*

There were currently five 4-clawed Crustans that had appeared behind him and they all chased after him. The difference between their speed and Sato's wasn't much but because Sato had already gone past them, leaving them behind, they wouldn't be catching up to him any time soon. However, they were just 5 and not the usual 6.

*Crack*

"Shrrrkk!"

Another 4-clawed Crustan popped up from in front of Sato. The energy from this was one was a bit stronger than the rest but Sato didn't pay attention to it. The only thing in his mind was how to avoid it. Sadly, the 4-clawed Crustan didn't seem to want to let him go so easily.

"Krrr."

With a low-pitched sound that was different from the others, it lunged at Sato as it attacked with all 4 claws at the same time.

"Damn it." Sato cursed as he hurriedly switched out the sword in his hand for his [Astral Blade].

"Out of my way."

Sato focused the entirety of the pressure from [Astral Might] into his sword. At the same time, he used [Horizontal Slash] however, he didn't use the sharp edge of his sword to attack but instead the blunt part. Sato wasn't interested in killing the monster but wanted to force it away. The best way to do this was to use the body of his sword as he would be able to transmit more raw power into it and it would exhibit a better pushback effect than the sharp edge.

*Clang*

-18 (???/??? ???)

Sato frowned as he felt the resisting force flowing through his sword but he tried his best to ignore it and pushed the monster away. Because it was caught in mid-air, the 4-clawed Crustan was similarly sent back flying.

After he had forced it back, Sato didn't waste any time and resumed running. That small stop had made the other 4-clawed Crustans close the gap a bit but Sato was still confident of getting rid of them. This was because the white altar was just a few dozen metres away.

'Come on.' Sato urged himself as he ran with the full strength his body could muster.

"Shrrk!"

The 4-clawed Crustan that Sato had forced back stood up enraged and chased after him. It was visibly faster than both Sato and the other 4-clawed Crustan, as such, the gap between it and Sato closes up quickly.

'Damn.' Sato cursed but his mind was still calm.

He still had a few skills that could throw it away but that would require him to be in close proximity to the monster. Also, he would have to slow down to do so and that would enable the others to catch up to him.

'I only have one left.' Sato seemed to be hesitating in making a decision.

Actually, Sato could choose to stop and face the six 4-clawed Crustans, however, Sato noticed that the aura of the last one was a bit different than the rest, meaning that it was much stronger than the others. Adding the fact that he was exhausted from all this running, facing six 4-clawed Crustans was way too risky and what was worse was the fact that this last one was much stronger than the others. Sato suspected that it might be a Special Elite or an Elite rank monster that was extremely close to it. It might even be a level 10 Elite.

Because of this, Sato calculated that his chances of victory were slightly above 30%. In other words, staying behind to fight was suicide. His best option now laid in reaching the white altar.

'If that's the case.' Sato seemed to have made a decision as his gaze became set and he gripped his sword tightly with his right hand.

"Shrrrkk!"

The stronger 4-clawed Crustan was just 5 metres away from Sato. At the same time, Sato was just 15 metres away from the white altar. However, he didn't doubt that the 4-clawed Crustan would reach him before he reached the altar.

"Get back!"

Sato suddenly yelled as he abruptly turned around and slashed his sword at the monster.

There was still a distance of at least 4 metres between them so Sato's sword wouldn't be able to reach it, however, he wasn't worried.

At that moment, white gentle light glowed from his sword. As Sato slashed out, the light separated from his sword, forming a crescent as it exited the sword and darted towards the 4-clawed Crustan. The energy from the crescent sword light was calm; the glow from the light gentle. However, if one focused their senses on it, they would realise that the sword light gave off a boundless feeling like the void in the heavens.

[Astral Blade]

Sato had used the last [Astral Blade] attack stored in his sword to attack the 4-clawed Crustan. He didn't doubt the strength of this attack because it was even capable of severely injuring Blood King Varg. Even though this one wasn't as strong as the last, it still contained the same essence, so it couldn't be underestimated.

'It's over.'