The Strongest Beast Tamer - 135 Alter of Perseverance

“Well, that was certainly a story,” Simon remarked as he closed his gaping mouth.

“Indeed, that recording felt so mystical, it felt as though we were really there, seeing everything happen in person. It’s much more advanced than Earth’s way of recording,” Chloe said.

Lachlan couldn’t help but wondering something, if the bone pact was something that Aaron knew about, he might possibly know something about this as well. ‘Aaron, in your world did they have a method of recording where they carved into walls?’

‘Nope, the way things were recorded in my world was through scrolls and magic devices. Magic devices are similar to the phones you all use however, instead of using electricity it’s powered by the user’s magic’ Aaron explained.

‘So it’s unlikely that the dragon was from your world then?’ Lachlan asked.

‘Very unlikely. Due to the number of worlds, all of which can be connected through spatial gates, the chance of two spatial gates appearing on both planets and connecting them is incredibly low. It’s similar to finding a single drop water in the ocean’ Aaron explained.

‘Dang, that small’ Lachlan remarked. Although it made sense; spatial gates were already rare as it is, now getting two spatial gates that connect Earth to the same planet, that’ll be crazy.

‘What about the chance of a spatial gate being permanent?’ Lachlan asked, just in case the spatial gate connecting their worlds is still open.

‘Extremely low, even lower chance than getting two spatial gates connecting to the same place’ Aaron replied. ‘That’s why the spatial gate on the island is so rare, it’s permanent and follows along with the island.”

Lachlan nodded and turned to the others. “Alright, suppose we’re done here, let’s continue our search.”

The group nodded and began to leave the room. Joe stayed back just a minute later and sealed the hole back up, giving the child a proper resting place.

Getting back to the main room the group realised there was a lot more side rooms, they swiftly split up and began going through them. Lachlan went to the end of the treasury and started from there, he went into one room after the other.

Some of which were empty, having nothing but bones while others had a few rare jewels or items that might come in handy. However, Lachlan jogged into one room in particular and felt his soul shake.

Looking up he realised in the centre of the room was a statue of the king from the dragon’s world. An overbearing aura was emitted from it, crushing Lachlan down into the ground. It wasn’t that he wasn’t strong enough, but rather, the aura that the stone statue was emitting seemed to weaken Lachlan to the point where he couldn’t even stand.

He quickly lifted his head and analysed the statue before it fell back down.

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Name: Alter of Perseverance

Description: A man-made altar created with the corpse of a powerful and overbearing king. This altar continuingly releases the king’s aura, its strength is dependent on the king’s strength. This aura will test the perseverance of the challenger, beating it means an increase in the willpower of 20 – 60. Losing means losing 0 – 20 stat points in willpower. Once the trial has begun it cannot be stopped.

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‘My luck could not be any worse’ Lachlan thought. He wasn’t prepared for it at all, he didn’t expect this altar to be here; if he did he probably would have already beaten it. However, due to his carelessness and walked right into its trial.

Gritting his teeth Lachlan managed to muster some strength and stand up, but taking a single step forward the pressure increased and his strength was once again taken away. ‘Oh come on, this is some bullshit!’

Lachlan lifted up his upper body, his head turned up and faced the state. ‘I swear after I’m done with this I’m going to smash that smug head to bits.’

The king’s statue looked down towards the ground, exactly where the challenger would be once they start the trial, on the floor. Lachlan was laying there, his eyes hazy and his muscles sore. The process had cycled multiple times, he would get up and take a step before being pressured to collapse again.

Lachlan felt his mind begin to crumble as he was only half way till he reaches the statue, it felt as though it would take millennia. But after thing about Sarah, Phoebe, and the other friends that he’s made so far he grit his teeth again and stood up. Taking one more step the king’s eyes glowed, the pressure Lachlan felt was at a whole other level. It felt as though his very soul was one the brink of collapsing.

‘Don’t give up now master!’ Aaron shouted at him internally. ‘Don’t let that smug king press you down, crush its trial and smash its head apart!’

‘Yeah father, you have to smash that king’s head apart!’ Catastrophe cheered. ‘Otherwise, I won’t listen to a single command you give me in the future.’

‘A decrease of 20 will force your natural willpower to go below 20; although I’m uncertain, it could possibly mean that the other half will show itself’ Calamity explained.

‘You got this!’ Disaster cheered cutely.

Lachlan smiled at his tamed beasts’ cheers of encouragement. He lightly chuckled and looked up to that same smug face he’s seen multiple times now. ‘Yeah, suppose there is too much to lose with this trial.’

Lachlan was close to giving up, but Calamity’s words really shook him awake. The whole purpose of coming to this island was to increase his willpower, not weaken it. Not to mention weakening it to the point where his other half could possibly come out.

Gritting his teeth Lachlan stood up once more and took a step, the statue radiates its pressure again but Lachlan didn’t fall down completely. He felt on one knee and quenched from the pain, but that didn’t stop him. He got back up and continued.

This cycle continued again until he was at the stone statue’s feet, his body was crumbling under the pressure and so was his mind. He felt all his strength leave his body, he couldn’t help but collapse on the floor.

‘What the hell is up with this’ Lachlan complained. He was seriously wondering who on earth could actually complete this trial, surely not even the people of the dragon’s world could handle under this pressure.

It didn’t matter whether you were strong or not, strength played no factor in overcoming the trial. All that matter was the challenger’s determination, fortunately, the pros and cons for this trial greatly motivated Lachlan to continue.

His muscles sore, eyes heavy, breathing weakly, yet he continued one last time. He clenched his entire body and stood up once more, he reached out and slapped his hand on the statue. “Ha, now you can go screw yourself for all I care!”

A voice sounded out in his mind. “Challenge complete. Perseverance is not about beating a trial in one fell swoop, but rather, standing up countless times no matter how many times one falls. You have passed with flying colours, you have the perseverance of a king.”

Lachlan collapsed on the ground, he felt his original strength return to him but he didn’t know what to do with it. His muscles were still sore, he felt as though his arms and legs were numb. His eyelids were heavy, he closed them to give them a good rest.

Lachlan reached to his pocket where he pulled out a small water bottle; he decided to bring this just for this type of situation. He didn’t need to drink litres of the island’s water to rid himself of fatigue, but only a small mouthful which is when Researcher Anne came up with this idea. It’s similar to a caffeine shot, except without any side effects.

He felt the soreness in his muscles vanish, a breathe of life swirled through his body. His mouth opened wide as he exhaled, he felt as though he had just gone through a hundred years worth of training.

He sat back up and leaned against the statue, his hair dishevelled and his shoulders lowered. He looked up towards the king’s smug smile, it still pissed him off but Lachlan felt something within him change. It was a sense of victory, of accomplishment.

Through this hellish trial, he overcame the difficulties and continued towards the statue one step at a time. He reached to the side and tapped on the statue with the back of his hand, “You know, you’re going to be something everyone will use.”

Lachlan felt as though it was necessary for everyone to attempt it. Obviously, there was the whole other thing. If they turned their island into a school they would need something like this for the students to increase their willpower.

‘I wonder if we’re ever going to make some more progress with that whole school thing’ Lachlan thought. There were a lot more benefits to starting a school then what he initially thought. Sure, it could be the place where they nurture the young into strong soldiers.

However, there was also the connections they can make with the student’s parents. If the time comes they could ask for some assistance for certain tasks; for example, finding items that’ll increase willpower or prevent the human body from transforming,

“Hey, Lachlan! Are you alright?” Simon turned the corner and stood by the door looking at Lachlan’s exhausted self.

“Yeah I’m alright, this room can increase one’s willpower when they reach this statue here,” Lachlan said he as tapped on the statue again. A grin widened on his face as he looked at Simon. “How about you give it a try?”

Simon looked at Lachlan and knew he was up to something, but considering that fact that Lachlan was still able to talk it shouldn’t be anything too wild. Simon smiled and took a step, “Don’t mind if I d-”

He collapsed on the ground, his legs and arms shaking just by trying to get back up. He looked up towards Lachlan in shock, he himself could feel all his strength vanish from his body. Simon felt as though he was a baby trying to stand its ground in front of a storm.

“Shit, this ain’t how it’s going to go down.” Simon gritted his teeth and stood back up, once he fully stood up and looked back at Lachlan. “Ha, that wasn’t too difficult.”

Taking a step forward full of confidence and arrogance Simon’s face changed to that or shock and terror. His legs collapsed from under him, the king’s eyes glowed red.

Lachlan lightly chuckled. “Just to warn you, failing this trial means losing some stat points in willpower; winning means a large increase in willpower.” He then proceeded to walk out of the room and meet with the others, briefing them of what was happening and how it could benefit them.

They walked back and Simon was halfway through, his breathing erratic along with his dishevelled hair and murky eyes. “Damnit I give, this is way too difficult.”

Simon continued on for so many times, standing up again only to be pushed back down. His mental state was crumbling, his muscles were sore and everything just hurt. He laid down with his back facing the ground.

A voice echoed through his mind, shaking it to its core. “Challenge complete. Perseverance is not about beating a trial in one fell swoop, but rather, standing up countless times no matter how many times one falls. You have passed the threshold, you have the perseverance of a knight.”

Simon left out a burst of hefty laughter. “Haha, I passed, I passed!” His hands held up in victory as he stayed laying on the floor.