[Max's POV]
I appeared in front of yet another wooden wall, but there was a slight difference. There was a gateway in front of me. I checked around to see that every player was standing in front of a gate-type structure.
Before I could ask or say anything, the system appeared with further information.
[PHASE 2 | THOUSAND BRANCH TRIALS]
[Participants – 10 million]
[Advancement Slots – 1 million]
[Duration – 6 - 7 hours]
[Every player is assigned to one of the 1000 Branches]
[Branch Capacity – 10,000 Players]
[Branch Theme – Elemental and Affinities]
[This Phase will take place in Three Rounds]
[Enter the gateway to start the Round]
I entered the wooden gateway arch; it was simple and beautiful. I touched the wood, and it felt more alive than a normal tree. I didn't think much further and walked in straight.
[Branch of Shadows]
[Round 1 – Skill Demonstration]
[Time limit – 30 minutes]
[The player will have to face 10 Test in this Round which will determine Accuracy, movement, Defence etc.]
[Test 1 – Target Burst]
[Scoring Parameters – Accuracy, Reaction Time, Clone Detection]
Multiple silhouettes, shadows, and images appeared in front of me.
"So, I would have to be accurate and hit the correct target. Easy enough," I murmured as I activated my OGS sight; it was already very helpful in a passive state, but I didn't want to take any chances.
My eye glowed with a bluish-white glow, and concentric circles appeared in my eyes. My vision was already better, but now I could even clearly see shadows like it was daytime full of sunlight. I unsheathed my Lamina and started slicing or piercing the shadows while leaving fake afterimages aside, guided by OGS.
In about a minute, the test ended with the chime of the system.
[Passed Test 1]
[Test 2 – Path Rush]
[Scoring Parameters – Speed, Path Prediction, Avoiding Fake Illusion]
I smiled; my OGS remain active. The complete pathway in front of me becomes clear as day. I could see fake tiles, shadow pits, and shifting walls. The shadows obscuring the pathway were of no hindrance to my vision.
I soared through the pathway in 90 seconds.
[Passed Test 2]
[Test 3 – Skill Rotation]
[Scoring Parameters – Combo diversity, Cooldown management, Mana conservation]
I chuckled and said, "C'mon System, the previous phase was more challenging. I have no cooldowns; all my skills are EX Rank and the rest are something I have been doing since the second floor."
The system didn't respond, probably busy or maybe just not thinking of an answer. 5 shadow dummies appeared in front of me. I used 5 different elements in 5 different forms by applying minimum mana and passed this test like a breeze.
[Passed Test 3]
[Test 4 – Parry]
[Scoring Parameters – Perfect parries, Decoy recognition, Survival time]
This was slightly different. Multiple Shadow Wraiths and Shadow Spirits attacked from different angles; from below the ground there was even an attack from a mini portal.
I swung my sword, parrying attacks from all sides. OGS proved useful again. I was glad that I did this; I could still react to attacks even without OGS, but it would be more like reacting a moment before, but now it was more like seeing attacks coming and responding accordingly.
The attacks continued for 3 minutes; not even a speck of Shadow reached even at arm's length close to me.
[Passed Test 4]
[Test 5 – Mana Control]
[Keep both Shadow anchors separate and still in place with your Mana]
[Scoring Parameters – Stability %, Control]
There were added instructions on what to do. Two shadow anchors were stuck in the wall in front of me and were on the verge of separating from the wall and merging together.
I used my mana to form two mana hands and hold both anchors in their place without much fluctuation. After about a minute, I caught the rise of mana in the walls. I provided additional mana to the mana hands to make them more sturdy and stable. A mana pulse dispersed from the walls, but additional mana prevented any mishaps.
A few shadow blades and arrows also attacked in my direction; I kept my mana hands stable and my mana shield in front of me and easily tanked those attacks. After a few minutes, the test ended.
"Nice, this one was interesting," I commented.
[Test 5 Passed]
[Test 6 – Clone Test]
[Scoring Parameters – Synchronization accuracy, Command timing, and Co-ordination]
Moving targets and a shadow sword appeared in front of me, looking almost like Lamina, only in shadow form. I raised my brows, intrigued by such an elaborate test by the system for such early-stage tournaments.
I shoved that thought aside for now. I only have to give a command to the sword and hit the targets with the best accuracy possible.
The sword swirled a little under my mental command. I focused on all targets again, my Infinite Mind coming into play, deciding the best possible route with the best result. In under 5 seconds the sword moved with the precision of hitting a nail in heaps of nails.
It pierced every target with ease and completed the objective of this test.
[Passed Test 6]
[Test 7 – Weakpoint Exposure]
[Scoring Parameters – Weakpoint hit, Accuracy, Pattern recognition]
A shadow beast appeared in front of me; it had a few glowing dots, which disappeared as I laid my eyes on them. Instantly my brain registered that they were weak points. My lips curled up as I spoke, "So that's what pattern recognition means."
Beast lunged at me but jumped in the air slightly and took out Lamina again, coated it with mana, and moved to strike at all the weak points visible earlier.
As I finished, the beast fell and disappeared, making a strained voice.
[Passed Test 7]
[Test 8 – Survival Burst]
[Scoring Parameters – Damage avoided, Dodge accuracy, Counter Timing]
I stood ready with the information; the place became totally silent and dark, but today I was totally enjoying the superior form of night vision provided by OGS; otherwise, I wouldn't get to use it this much.
Whirlpools of darkness moved toward me; I dodged easily. Then I saw tendrils, shadow beings lunging toward me or using long-range attacks.
I weaved through their attacks like weaving through jumbled wires with the efficiency of a pro. Those tendrils, or beings, who got close to me, I attacked them with small icicles to maintain accuracy and without disturbing my dodging moves.
It continued for a minute before stopping, and I breezed through the test again.
[Passed Test 8]
[Test 9 – Puzzle Combat]
[Step on True Shadows]
[Scoring Parameters – Puzzle completion speed, Chaos Control, Multitasking]
A room appeared in front of me; at first it was a plain empty room, but the next second, the floor tiles started moving in multiple directions like someone was solving a puzzle by moving floor tiles at high speed. Walls also started moving, and floating shadows appeared on a few tiles.
I took a deep breath and exhaled, my vision filtering all 'truth' and identifying any illusions. I sheathed Lamina and readied a single ice crystal beside me in case I need to eradicate any shadows.
I jumped on the tiles that appeared 'true'; few shadows were occupying the tiles where I had to jump, so I eliminated those and moved forward. I jumped from one true tile to another to reach the end of the room.
[Passed Test 9]
[Test 10 – Duel Simulation]
[Scoring Parameters – Remaining Vitality, Clear Time, Accuracy, Illusion Detection]
"Well, this is an easy one," I spoke. A shadowy figure appeared before me, but this was more physical and real compared to others. It conjured multiple illusions and moved to attack me, but before it could move any meaningful distance.
Two large icicles pierced its body, and its body vanished in smoke, and all the illusion disappeared.
[Passed Test 10]
[Round 1 Cleared]
[You will be transferred to Arena for Round 2]