The Trial of Aegon

When Bruce entered the portal, he got teleported to the homeland of the dark dragons named after their ruler, The Aegon Realm. Bruce didn't even look around the realm as his body was at its limits. With his bloodied body, Bruce dragged himself to a bathtub placed in front of him. Clearly, the bathtub was prepared for him so that he could heal himself before accepting the trial.

Bruce immediately immersed himself inside the tub and felt his body constantly absorbing the water as if it was the best meal on earth. The medicinal water did its magic and eventually, Bruce fell asleep.

As his body slowly recovered from the hellish battles, a memory of the distant past came to him.

"Albert, look at all these beautiful stars surrounding us" A man with blood pouring from his body smiled as he lay against the wall on top of an abandoned tower. Below the tower were countless corpses of mighty beings feared across the universe.

"Your majesty, you need to run away now!"

"I will hold them off for you while our reinforcements arrive" Albert, a middle-aged man dressed in a black suit, kneeled before the man.

"Why do I need reinforcements when the stars are here with me?"

"Your majesty, you…" Albert could not comprehend what was going on in his master's head.

"My beautiful stars, let's dance" The man smiled as the surrounding stars shrunk and arrived by his side. His body glowed so brightly that even the darkest nights could not overshadow him.

"Human, wake up!" A deep voice echoed in Bruce's ears.

Bruce slowly opened his eyes and saw a black dragon staring at him

"Give me 5 more minutes" Bruce closed his eyes and attempted to go back to sleep. He thought that he was at home comfortably sleeping on his bed.

"Your time is up"

"If you don't want to die, I suggest you wake up now!" The dragon blew wind in Bruce's direction and knocked the bathtub to the side. Surprisingly, no liquid came out of the bathtub.

"What do you want?" Bruce grumpily said as he stretched his body. He didn't know how long he was out, but his body felt better than ever.

"Our king wants to meet with you" The black dragon said and grabbed Bruce with his giant claws.

Bruce didn't feel any malicious intention from the black dragon, so he went along with his order. He already entered the enemies' den. Looking at the dragon carrying him across the sky, he could tell that the dragon was as powerful as a Great Emperor.

After a long period of flying in the sky, the black dragon arrived at a gigantic cave. Surrounding the cave were other black dragons. They all looked at Bruce like he was delicious prey.

Bruce gulped hoping that they won't immediately eat him. He began to think of reasons in his head to tell the dragons why his body won't be to their liking.

"You may enter the cave" The black dragon dropped Bruce right beneath the entrance.

Bruce walked slowly inside the cave while feeling agitated. The chances of him winning against the dragons are zero now that he had a closer look. His life would most likely end here if he was forced to fight these dragons.

At the end of the cave, he saw a gigantic dragon laying down on the floor. The dragon was so massive that he wondered how it managed to find a cave big enough to rest.

The dragon slowly opened its large purple eyes and stared at Bruce.

"So, you've arrived, the successor of the Eternal Stars God and the God of War"

'Eternal Stars God? God of War? What the hell are you talking about?' Bruce was confused by the remark from the gigantic dragon.

"I see you also have some bloodline from the ancient phoenix in you"

Bruce felt naked before the eyes of the dragon. He started to piece information together and realized that all the techniques he had used thus far were derived from the beings mentioned by the dragon.

"Sir Aegon, how may I help you?" Bruce bowed politely. He was certain that this dragon could crush him to pieces at any time.

"Weren't you here to take my trial to gain my bloodline and techniques" The dragon stood up from its slumber.

At that moment, Bruce thought he saw the sky at night because the dragon opened its wings for the first time. This was his first time seeing the aura of a Worldly Supreme being.

Seeing that the dragon was waiting for his answer, Bruce calmed down his mind and replied.

"Yes, I am here to take on your trial"

The dragon looked at Bruce with curiosity and shook its head.

"You're too weak to pass the trial"

"Even if you possess the techniques of the most powerful gods, you will not be able to complete the trial"

Bruce gritted his teeth because he knew that the dragon was correct. He was indeed too weak to win against the dragons outside the cave.

"Do you know how many people have entered this trial?" The dragon asked.

"Not really" Bruce didn't care about the other candidates.

"It's been 500,000 years since I have been imprisoned here and only 8 people managed to reach this trial"

"All of them were much more powerful than you and none had left here alive"

"I will give you one last chance for survival since you are their successor"

"Leave this place now through the portal next to me"

Bruce looked at the lifeboat right in front of his eyes. He could just easily walk into the portal and get back to the Hell Spire and continue his journey. However, his pride refused to do so.

"No, that won't do. Who cares if I am too weak?"

"There are plenty of people who could sneeze my way and accidentally kill me"

"Sir Aegon, please let me take your trial and earn your approval" Bruce said with great determination in his voice.

"Very well, the trial will be over when I say it's over"

"The first trial is to endure in the River of Darkness for one month"

"The River of Darkness will destroy anyone who dares to enter it. Only those who have my bloodline can survive"

"Last chance human, do you dare to continue with the trial?" The dragon released its pressure onto Bruce causing him to feel suffocated. This was the worst thing he hated about other powerful beings. They always wanted him to feel puny in front of them.

"I do" Bruce glared at the dragon with no fear in his eyes.

"Have it your way" The dragon closed the portal and sent Bruce straight into the River of Darkness.

Bruce stood up and balanced himself as waves of powerful darkness energy smashed against his body.

Bruce also felt his energy rapidly depleting. After a few minutes, he got knocked down as the waves continuously attack him.

Bruce spit out the water in his mouth and put up a protective barrier around his body. The barrier unfortunately was not strong enough and he took more damage.

He tried his best to think of a solution but couldn't think of anything. After one day, he would surely be dead!

'No wait, these are pure darkness energy coming toward me' Bruce thought of something and began to try a new method.

Whenever a new wave smashes against him, he would absorb the darkness energy from the wave before it could damage him. However, the waves come in quick succession. Bruce did not have time to properly cultivate the energy before another wave reaches him.

The first trial was never about withstanding the waves because it was impossible for any being to withstand attacks at the Great Emperor level for one month. The true objective of the first trial was to learn how to control darkness energy and make it work for one's benefit.

Naturally, dark dragons would be able to do this easily because it's something inherent to them. For Bruce, he would have to learn how to be like a dark dragon.

Aegon looked at the struggling Bruce beneath the River of Darkness. His expression didn't change one bit as he mused to himself.

"I hope you won't disappoint me human. You may be the only person who can complete my mission"