Chapter 5: The Adjudicator

The 17th challenge, Ron could be seen sitting atop the defeated golden Knight. The armour had been burned from the inside. Just like Fin had used his aura to defeat the knight, Ron used his pyromancy.

But since Ron already knew it's weakness beforehand it wasn't too difficult to defeat this knight. Ron didn't dare to get close to the knight, unlike fin who used his close range combat skills that had no effect.

The knight was a product of modern alchemy the diagrams drawn inside allowed it to move around and fight. It also had a legendary skill in it's arsenal, Physical Attack nullification. Ron didn't rely much on his physical skills and didn't give the knight a chance at all. He condensed his mana into a fireball and shot all it's weakspots, the eyes, knees and elbows. The inner parts of the armour were burnt to scraps, showing the might of Ron's pyromancy.

[Challenge 17: Completed.]

Ron didn't get any rewards as they would be calculated at the end based on his performance from 10th floor onwards.

.....

[ The 18th Challenge: Kill 3 Golden knights.]

The system announces the 18th challenge. Although this seems like a difficult challenge but for him with his pyromancy, he can definitely kill even ten of these types. Although it will be tiring to dodge the attacks and to stop them from using AOE attacks.

For melee players, it would be a tough opponent with it's complete nullification of physical attacks. The aura and mana users could get through it easily though, if they found it's weakness.

The three knights appear with their huge swords behind their backs. They stand up and start to walk towards Ron, showing same movement patterns as the one before them. Ron keeps backing down while preparing fire balls, the knights only slowly walk forward towards him not caring for any damage done to them. So he utilized his fire mana, making small fireballs. These fireballs shoot at extreme speeds, and enter the eyes of the helmet of each knight. The flow of the alchemical diagrams is interrupted and the knights movements stop.

Ron's amazing control over flames, let's him defeat his opponents this easily. It wouldn't be possible for others, who only began their journey.

Only Fin managed to beat the knight with luck, using his last bit of aura like that on the alchemical diagrams. But due to his serious injuries, he couldn't continue further.

"He really is a monster who can pass the 17th challenge with just physical skills and aura." Ron exclaims while remembering fin.

It was definitely Fin's bad luck to encounter this monster, although he could also win if he didn't use up all his aura on empowering his physical attacks. That last all out attack on the head was what got fin almost killed. As it gave the chance for the knight to pierce his heart.

[The 18th Challenge: Cleared]

[Congratulations, Ron Agnis, on being the first human to complete the 18th Challenge.]

"Huh, a new announcement? That's a first. Doest that mean He already cleared the previous stages then, and he still lost on the 18th Challenge. Seems like history will repeat itself, except for me." Ron grins realizing that history still had the same trajectory and him passing till this floor wouldn't be enough of an anomaly to change the flow of events for others. It'll only changes his path.

[REWARD: Unique Passive skill: Basic Regen.]

The system interrupts Ron's musings. He showed a surprised expression at the mention of a unique skill.

A unique skill was a one of a kind. It was somehow rare than even legendary skills. If one being at a time had one unique skill, no one else would possess that skill.

And this skill being passive and also a regen skill was definitely comparable to legendary skills. It'd basically work passively all the time, and keep on evolving and he doesn't even have to do anything.

Furthermore The basic regen was a skill that could regenerate his Hp and Mp automatically. Although he can't see the complete description yet as he doesn't have the status screen, he still is content with this kind of reward.

[The 19th Challenge: Kill 10 Golden Knights.]

"Here we go again." Ron mutters and prepares his fire balls.

........

....

...

[19th Challenge: Completed.]

[Congratulations, Ron Agnis, on being the first human to complete the 19th Challenge.]

[ 25 random status points have been allocated.]

"Huh, so generous?", Ron was surprised at getting so many stat points.

The stat points of a normal lv1 human would be in the single digits. Even monsters like Fin won't surpass the 10 points mark. So to reward such a number would definitely make the player broken from the get go.

But that's how the Celestial grounds work, the geniuses are rewarded heavily. Just like Ron in his past life, managed to accomplish an impossible feat and was thus rewarded with his pyromancy legacy. And even further beyond that, when he destroyed the deepest abyss, although he doesn't clearly remember yet.

His stat points will have risen to inhumane levels when he gets into the Celestial grounds but it was only compared to the normal humans.

The celestial grounds is an amalgamation of different species and races. There is no lack of monsters that have passed the 20th challenge even easily.

" I can't get complacent, now is the 20th challenge. I have to be careful at what this thing can throw at me.", Reminding himself of the oncoming challenge, he starts meditation and gathers all his mana and recovers stamina in the half hour break.

.....

...

..

[The 20th Challenge: Kill The Adjudicator.]

As soon as the system announces, a pitch black fog surrounds the whole area, and a stone door with various patterns appear.

The door opens and a bronze armored hand gets out first, then a helmet with a broken right horn.

"Another alchemical product..." Ron exclaims.

The figure walks out of the door and the stone door vanishes. Ron and the adjudicator stare each other down.

Ron's breathing quickens a bit as he hears the name, adjudicator. Ron had heard of a race of adjudicators, those guys were extremely difficult to get a hold of and were also quite powerful and resolute. While this guy seemed to only be a cheap replica created for this trial.

Ron couldn't help but look at it more closely, observing the armour and the red cape that hung behind it. It had a cool armour and the cape added to the majesty of the adjudicator.

The scratches on the armour showed the various battle's it has already gone through.

Ron contemplates how to defeat this foe as there isn't a clear, weakness in the armour this time around. Observing it for it's weaknesses, a silver necklace on it's neck, catches Ron's eye.

Ron's eyes narrow at that,"Fck, fck, how the fck do I defeat it now." He can't help but shout a flurry of curses at the system.

He knew the previous challenges were going too smoothly so now it was payback time. The necklace was a legendary item, with the fcking trait of Magic nullification.

" Spamming legendary skills and items like cabbages. Fck you system."Ron shouts at the sky and no response comes.

The adjudicator takes a stance, holding it's spear with the tip pointing at Ron. The spear looks archaic like the armour, with fiery viens covering parts of the shaft and blade. It looks like a fire-infused magical weapon. It really is a fearsome foe after all, with it's magic nullification and a magic weapon and even it's physical defense doesn't seem to be a joke.

"Alright! Come on." Ron prepares himself.

The adjudicator charges at Ron and swipes horizontally with the spear. Ron rolls under the attack. The adjudicator keeps attacking and Ron keeps dodging, sometimes sidestepping while at others rolling around. Each time the spear hits the ground, the ground bursts and a small explosion occurs. Ron tries with all his might to not let the spear touch him.

' Dodging will get me nowhere, it doesn't tire, only I'll be exhausted this way. I'll have to look for weakspots to exploit.' Ron thinks to himself while dodging the relentless onslaught of the spear.

'There', he spots an opening, so he rushes in. It is a small window of opening just after the adjudicator attacks. Catching the chance after dodging the attack, Ron rushes out and slashes at a crack in the armour, with his mana infused dagger.

Klaaaang...

A loud metallic sound echoes out, yet there is almost no damage to the adjudicator. Unphased by such an attack the adjudicator kicks Ron in the stomach, sending him flying backwards.

Ghukkk....

Ron spits out a mouthful of blood. The kick was strong enough to incapacitate an opponent and the opening it showed was merely a trap.

"Cough, cough, that hurt.", he stands up and has a hard time breathing. Even his physical attacks don't do much to it and his mana seems to completely nullified. Even while coating the dagger with mana it's of no use.

His gaze focuses on that figure exhuding a majestic air while walking towards him unhurried. Although it is only an alchemical product, it still exhudes such a fearsome unsurmountable presence.

"Nullification of magic and high physical attack resistance,Sigh... You're really leaving me no way out." Ron mutters under his breath, calming down his body and mind. Knowing that he might lose if this continues.

Ron recalls, how in the future, he gave up all his progress due to the legacy of pyromancy. He with no hesitation, gave up the path of a knight and aura. Freshly starting with mana, he gradually mastered Pyromancy. Such that His drive and his feats led him to be titled the Pyromaniac. He had faced foes far greater than this mere alchemical product. There was no way he'd simply give up after coming this far.

"Now's not the time to reminisce, it's time to kill." Ron's eyes become serious as a flame burns in his eyes.

He sits down on the ground, disregarding the adjudicator walking slowly towards him. He gathers all his mana, into his heart where small embers of aura are burning. Although he hasn't unlocked aura yet, it still is an energy present inactive in his body. What he was trying was to recklessly agitate it with his mana. The mana and aura seem to clash, so he burns a small flame on his index finger and pierces his chest, stopping right before it reaches the heart.

He then continues this process with the various acupunctures in his body, using the flames to heat up the various parts of the body and increasing the blood flow. His blood pressure increased by many fold and his veins started to bulge.

Seeing the adjudicator draw near, Ron pierces one last spot; his forehead. He shouts the name of the technique.

"Pyromancy: The Last Chapter."

"Flames of Life: Life force ignition."

Although he didn't have his legacy, nor the status menu, he had memorized most of his spells. In preparation of something like the system becoming obsolete.

He shudders and his whole body shakes, with intensity. The technique was a last resort, it forcefully combined his mana with the dormant aura. It multiplied his mana and aura, combining them forcefully to make a different type of energy altogether. But that rampaging energy is too much for his current body and will siphon off his HP every second. If he didn't want to die, he had to finish this quick.

A red flaming aura surrounds his whole body as he stands up. The adjudicator has drawn closer and attacks with his fiery spear.

The spear, inches away from Ron's face, is dodged by inhumanely small movements. Ron controls that rampaging energy forcefully, utilizing small amounts that his body can handle. He punches the adjudicator in the helmet, managing to break it's other horn.

The adjudicator damaged, still pays it no heed. It simply releases it's spear, as Ron is too close to it. So it chooses hand to hand combat. The human before it has somehow changed so it too adapts.

Ron seeing this becomes vigilant but still continues his constant barrage of punches here and there. There are already more cracks and dents forming in the armour. But the adjudicator doesn't seem to be fazed as it continues to match Ron's punching speed now. They fight for couple of rounds like that. Neither of them giving in.

Ron senses that his Hp might not last if this continues, he grits his teeth.

"Flame explosion."

He casts another skill, the flames surge in all directions as the adjudicator is also engulfed. This time as it isn't simply made of mana, the magic nullification doesn't affect the spell. The armour heats up, but it still isn't enough to melt the alchemical diagrams. These seem to be of higher quality.

Ron retreats a bit observing the adjudicator walking out of the flames, still intact. But the necklace seems to be destroyed, for forcefully negating the mana from another type of energy.

Yet it's still a tenacious foe, with many resistances so it's hard to kill. His feet touch something as he looks down, he sees the spear that the adjudicator cast aside.

"Heh...heh heh.." He smirks and picks it up. A grin tugging at his lips.

He rushes up to the adjudicator and thrusts with the spear. The adjudicator tries to block with it's hands but it causes a small explosion. And it's hands are knocked away. This was the reason Ron was avoiding the spear at all costs as it had a burst spell embedded in it.

He doesn't let go of the opening created with that explosion and thrusts again at the chest this time. The resulting explosion cause the adjudicator to stagger back and fall down. Ron rushes and pierces it's chest with the spear. He leaves the spear stuck in the chest, causing explosions repeatedly.

The continuous explosions, destroy the chest plate and reveal the hollow inside of the armour. Looking at the alchemical symbols damaged by the explosions, Ron uses his last bit of energy to completely destroy them.

[The 20th Challenge: Cleared]

"Phew, that was a close call." Ron heaves a sigh of relief and cancels the technique hurriedly. It really was a close call. In another five seconds, his HP would've become zero.

[Congratulations, Ron Agnis, for being the first human to complete the 20th Challenge]

[Congratulations, Ron Agnis on being the first human to complete all the Challenges]

The system announces loudly, in a celebratory tone. The scenery changes from the battle to the initial white space.

[Please Choose your rewards.]

The blue screen appears...

.....

....

..

..

...

[To be Continued]