x.x.xX Continent, Area 52 Inheritance.

10 minutes have already pa.s.sed since the disembodied voice told Aurus about preparing for the second trial of the three trial inheritance, which focused on logic.

"The 10 minutes of preparation are now over. The Trial of Logic shall now start." At the very instant the 10 minutes were up, the disembodied voice resounded throughout the large stone room, prompting Aurus to open his sense of vision that was closed all this time.

"Well then, I wonder if my hypothesis is correct this time," Aurus muttered to himself. "I don't know why but it seems that it is easier for me to think up of abstract ideas than before."

At the start of the 10 minutes, Aurus started thinking up of ways to clear the second trial, his mind instantly bombarding him with tons and tons of information which he thought did not exist in his mind in the first place. The influx of information surprised Aurus quite a bit, but he was able to remain calm and use it to his advantage, creating multiple conclusions around halfway before deducing all of it into one conclusion.

Now this influx of information was brought about by the enhancement in his soul through the Soul Sigils, which was boosted once more by the [Essence Refinement] skill, which is now at the S-Transcendent grade. Of course, Aurus did not know this as he did not expect the skill to enhance the effects of the Soul Sigils. He instead took this influx of information as a sort of temporary gift from the inheritance as he cleared the trials.

If only he knew.

As he opened his sense of vision, the large stone room, whose walls were visible to Aurus all this time, started to dim and become pitch black, as if his sense of vision was being limited. This black fog also started to expand towards Aurus, limiting his vision even more.

Yet rather than panicking, Aurus maintained his calm as he commanded the system, "System, change my mode of vision to that where the black fog does not hamper me in viewing the surroundings."

Ding!

'Vision mode change in process...'

Whoos.h.!.+

In an instant, a huge part of his field of vision cleared up thanks to the [Soul Perception] skill he had, which was now at its grade version, giving him a larger field of vision rather than its C-grade version.

As the fog around him gradually cleared up to the skill's limit, Aurus became shocked as he noticed that the floor became part.i.tioned, turning into multiple blocks of stone with some sort of viscous fluid flowing between the cracks.

This transformation started at the corners of the stone room before making its way towards the center, the final block being made underneath where Aurus was.

Once the transformation was finished, the disembodied voice from the inheritance resounded once more to tell Aurus about the mechanics of the second trial.

"The second trial is also known as the Trial of Logic. This trial shall test whether the inheritor can listen to the words of command and deduce the meaning behind those words, creating the decision that would be the difference between life or death."

"The inheritor will have eight directions to move towards, only a quaint few will lead the inheritor towards the clearance of the trial."

After hearing the mechanics of the second trial, Aurus could not help but light up as his aura tuened slightly cheerful. "To think that my hypothesis this time was correct... somewhat."

"My hypothesis was something along the lines of being a piece on a chessboard, where one decision of mine will be the difference between life or death."

"I guess this is close?" Aurus could not help but chuckle as the disembodied voice resounded once more.

"Now let the Trial of Logic..."

"Begin."

Whoos.h.!.+

In an instant, the eight blocks surrounding the block where he was standing in glowed a faint red as a voice resounded from the inheritance, exuding off a hint of vitality and wisdom as it said, "The first move in this trial shall decide whether you can continue to traverse the trial, or leave without any reward."

"Listen to my words, as I'll only say it once," the voice stated, giving Aurus no time to voice out his opinion. Well... it's not like he could voice it anyway.

"You are the commander of a centurion, and your centurion is a troop hidden by your army from its intelligence to change the tides to your army's advantage."

"You received a report from your army's intelligence that the enemy army will attack you from the front, but you had a hunch that it was a diversion tactic by the enemy army, leading you to fall back. If you followed the army's report and fell back, you might be attacked by the enemy army if the diversion tactic was true. But if you didn't follow the army's report and moved forward, you might be attacked as well if the diversion tactic was not true and the enemy army was truly moving from the front."

"As the commander, what move shall you take?"

At the very instant the voice was finished explaning the situation to Aurus, he was instantly at a loss for words as he did not know whether to follow the situation's words or follow his own instinct.

"What do I do? What do I do? If I fail on the first move, my eligibility for the third trial will be gone!" Aurus could not help but panic as he knew that failing the inheritance would lose him the chance of obtaining the key of the inheritance.

Oh, and the Comprehension Leaf as well.

It took Aurus a solid minute to calm his mind down and think things through one more time.

"This is the Trial of Logic, in other words, abstract reasoning. Is it abstract reasoning? I don't know, but anyways, this is a test of the mind."

"As the voice said, you have to deduce the right decision that lied underneath the words said."

"Think Aurus. Think." While talking to himself, Aurus closed off his sense of vision in order to tap into the influx of information he used to create hypotheses before the second trial started. After 30 seconds, Aurus opened his field of vision once more before flying towards the block of stone on his left.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

At the very moment Aurus landed on the block of stone to his left, all the remaining blocks cracked and broke down as they were absorbed by the viscous fluid that flowed through the gaps not long after.

Ding!

Not long after that, he heard a chime sound that was akin to a gameshow's sound that played whenever the contestant was correct.

"Good job, inheritor. Your first move was correct," the voice from before congratulated Aurus. "By moving through the sides, you avoided the attack from the back, as well as the attack from the front. Of course, in reality, that would not be the case as war tactics go far beyond than that."

"There are only 9 moves remaining before you successfully complete the trial."

"Let us now start your second move."

On another stone room within the Area 52 Inheritance, a branch covered in red fluid was gasping for air through its body as its surroundings was also covered in red fluid.

Not long after, a voice resounded throughout the b.l.o.o.d.y stone room, alerting the branch that was tired from fighting.

"Ruler candidate, it seems that you have successfully conjured the [Condensed Sanguine Aura]. Good job on that, I truly mean it. But for now, your trial ends here."

The branch, who was still gasping for air, could not help but become shocked as it screamed out, "What? Why? Is this truly the end of the trial? Have I reached a dead end?!"

"This is unfair!" the branch could not help but snap and complain as the memories of clearing 25 waves of enemies in order to enhance a single skill surfaced in its mind.

Of course, this branch was none other than Herellia.

As if the trial was talking to her, it replied, "Of course, that does not mean that your trial is over. To be honest, it is far from over. Obtaining the [Condensed Sanguine Aura] is only enough for you to be considered a Sanguine Ruler candidate. There are still many ranks before becoming a True Sanguine Ruler."

"Sanguine Being, Sanguine Elite, Sanguine Count, Sanguine Duke, Sanguine Marquis, Sanguine Prince, Sanguine Lord, then Sanguine Ruler."

"Those are the remaining ranks you have to trek before becoming a bona fide Sanguine Ruler."

"Don't think that I am barring you from continuing the trial as your body would not handle the next trials at that state." As if the trial could see Herellia's current state, it replied with this statement, making Herellia's voices of complaint die down.

"But that does not mean you would be leaving the trial without a reward for your hard work."

Ding!

Hearing a notification sound from the system, Herellia hastily opened up her notification log to see a new skill being obtained from the trial.

'You have obtained the skill [Sanguine Ruler Body — Basics].'

As if the trial was reading her mind, it continued, "This technique will allow you to last longer in battle, as well as give you the power to absorb vitality from enemies, but only by a little amount. By becoming a True Sanguine Ruler will you truly absorb vitality from enemies to their death."

Whoos.h.!.+

In an instant, a bronze key started to hover above Herellia's body, causing her to be slightly startled as she did not expect for the inheritance key to manifest at this time. But when she saw the transformation the key underwent, she then understood.

The inheritance key, which was bronze, instantly turned into a crimson color as the head became more intricate, revealing a design that was similar to design from the Gothic era. The tooths of the key also changed a bit, becoming more blade like rather than key like.

The inheritance key then disappeared afterwards as the voice resounded again.

"I have changed your inheritance key to that of the Blood Ruler key. If you come back here, you will instantly come back to this trial. I hope you master the skill I gave you to at least the Adept level."

"For now, this is farewell."

"Strive hard, future Blood Ruler."

Whoos.h.!.+

And just like that, Herellia, who had joined Aurus in entering the inheritance, was finally out.