Where's my reward?

"Is me!" The Hermit said excitedly, "You'll be my new Disciple."

The hermit had created this trial to help the divine find a successor, but he never thought he would also find his next potential successor here.

Qing silently assessed the old man. The Hermit didn't look strong like the lumberjack. Nor did he look calm or wise like Grandpa Bai. The Hermit just looks ragged-up old man wearing rustled-up clothing. His hair looks as if he hasn't washed it in years. Qing did not believe this old man could teach him anything.

The hermit looked at The Divine's glowing figure in the air. He had to impress the kid. In Order, to accept him as his new teacher. The Hermit's body started glowing green. His eyes shined with a divine green color and he becomes another glowing figure like the divine. A small hexagonal core appeared on The Hermit's solar plexus.

The Hermit was also a divine being. A weaker or older one compared to The Divine's dominating aura.

{Get down here} The Hermit ordered The Divine. He was done cleaning up The divine's messes. The only reason he a part of this trial was due to the fact the divine begged him to help. After, seeing Qing's performance he knew he had to reward this young soul for the fruits of his labor. {Go reward your successor unless you want me to take him}

Qing stood there. He could not understand a single word The Hermit had spoken to the Divine, but he felt waves of mana emit from words.

Sensing killing intent, The Divine instantly teleported to the area the hermit was. He felt that something was going to be stolen from him. The Hermit usually wasn't this aggressive towards him so he rushed to see what was going on.

{First, let down the outer barrier you've created}The Hermit ordered The Divine. {We planned a Trial, but you initiated it. Give the kid his rewards}

The Divine let down the barriers it created. Before getting another look at the Lumberjack. The Lumberjack look particularly familiar he felt like he'd seen him somewhere. However, The Divine had seen many things throughout its thousand-year lifespan.

It prepared a reward for Qing when he passed. However, it was too focused on maintaining the barrier. Based on Qing's performance. The Divine just didn't have a worthy enough reward based on Qing's Performance.

{I don't have one} The Divine Admitted. Qing had exceeded the Divine's expectations. The rewards he had prepared beforehand would not suffice.

(A/N: {} would mean an unknown language is being spoken I will probably use them as language barriers in the future)

[You don't what!?] The Hermit questioned.

The Hermit was disappointed in The Divine. When he prepared for this trial. In all the other Trials he assisted in, the Divine beings he helped were prepared for any situation. This was the first time he helped a monarch and it was already going downhill. The Hermit was sure he had taught The Divine the importance of a trial and the rewards.

{You're a Monarch. A MONARCH. How did you forget? Don't tell me the Old woodcutter beat you senile?} The Hermit questioned the Divine. He learned even if you make a hundred correct moves one wrong move can ruin your whole reputation.

{Can you let me off once master? I didn't expect the Trial to escalate so quickly. I thought you said he just going to fight your pet boar not the guardian of the forest} The Divine noted. No one expects the guardian to go rogue and multiply the difficulty of the trial. Not even his old master would have expected this.

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Qing stood there wondering when he could go home. The two glowing figures have been standing there for the past twenty minutes now. Qing just wanted to go home. Qing just started taking a good look at the guardian. He noticed The guardian's center core, which protruded out of its chest, had a bright green glow. The guardian also had many smaller cores on its sides. They looked like gemstones made from mana.

"Boring right?" The Guardian asks him. It stopped standing and sat down to appreciate the view. The Hermit and The Divine had been planning Qing's trial for years now and were waiting for the day Qing would step into the forest. 'Maniacs, ready to torture a child at a moment's notice.' The Guardian thought

The guardian was locked in the forest for a year just to assist them in their planning. The Divine had to limit and test the barrier he created so that no one would interfere with the barrier. Tell The guardian what trees to avoid so it doesn't ruin the formation.

"Yeah, so were you trying to kill me earlier, or were you just doing your job?" Qing asked it. When the guardian was a Boar it had an aggressive aura around it. Now The guardian had a calm aura like a light gentle breeze.

"At first, I was trying to kill you. Since that was my job. After, you messed up the whole forest. I was still trying to kill you. Please note, I'm getting paid by the minute," the Guardian told Qing. The Guardian was also trapped inside the forest for a long time. The Divine and The Hermit would not allow him to leave and meet his children. Whom he missed dearly.

"Since they're taking so long you want to make a contract with one of my daughters?" The Guardian was hoping that Qing would make a contract with one of them. So, he could bring one of his children to meet him from time to time. They've all grown up and moved to other areas of the continent. Shu the water spirit would visit from time to time. Everyone else was just too busy to see their father.

Qing figured that the guardian was a spirit. He had never seen a boar turn into a deer. The guardian turned itself from a house-sized boar into a regular-sized deer. It was an astonishing site for Qing to witness.

"Okay," Qing said. He'd never made a contract with a spirit before so he wonder how this would go.

The guardian went through his mind the children he had and which one would suit him best. Qing used Slime magic and light to attack from a long distance. This limited Qing down to a light or dark spirit. Then he took into account the other aspect of Qing's fighting style. How if desperately needed Qing would go into the fight himself. A spirit with both the capabilities of light and dark magic would be best.

The guardian touched Qing's head to its nose and imprinted golden onyx a dot on his head, "This daughter of mine would best fit the capabilities of your fighting style."

"Thank you," Qing said to the Divine. He did not know what the Guardian did, but Qing knew he was going to get a contract with a kind spirit.

"The Imprint I gave will call my daughter when you summon your first spirit. Please, take good care of her," The Guardian asked. His Daughter Hun was still young in this world. Hopefully, he made the right decision by giving her a contract with this young man.

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The Divine and The hermit continued to fight like an Asian family fighting for the bill.

{What if I gave him a golden apple?} The Divine asked. A golden apple was always a good reward for a trial. When he did his trials he received plenty of golden apples as a reward. Which gave him more mana and mental clarity. Which allowed him to ascend to the monarch position he is now.

{You can't give him that. He doesn't need that much mana anyways} The hermit replied { I already agreed to teach him}

{You agreed to teach him? I was going to teach him.} The Divine original plan was to teach the kid, but if he added to Qing's group of teachers. It would overwhelm the child.

{What good could you teach the child?} The Divine asked the hermit. The Hermit could even prepare him properly for his first successor. The Divine wants to retire like all the other Monarchs his age. Live out the world or do what his master does. Assist in others' trials.

{I taught you and you became a divine being} The hermit noted to The Divine

{And Look what I become} The Divine said as he point to himself and the situation he's in right now. The Divine was unprepared and didn't know what to award Qing. {How about I give him a skill?}

{You were the one who gave him the trash slime summoning skill. What other 'good' skill could you give him?} The hermit noted. He has never seen a Hero be given a skill that could only summon Slime mucus. QIng had the serious talent to have even beaten the Guardian at 7 percent power.

{I can give him a skill like Metal manipulation. He likes being a blacksmith} The divine replied.

The kid had already said a similar skill. That skill the divine was recommending was useless. Giving a lower-rank divine being had never been so hard for him. His patience was reaching its limits. Normally, the Divine had a general idea of what they wanted to give to their successors, but the Divine at this point wasn't any divine being. He was The Northern Monarch, The Monarch of Ice and snow, The Thousand blades Terror, and one of the four pillars of the continent.