Chapter 1994 [Trial One: River of Eternity] |
Nux stared at the giant gates in front of him with a lost look on his face, then, as if an unknown force was calling him in, he started walking. The action felt almost unconscious.
Nux only returned to his senses when his hand was just about to touch the gates.
He wanted to stop and understand what had just happened, but it was already too late.
His hand had pushed through the gates. The giant gates opened with unintended ease, almost as if they were waiting for another participant.
The moment the doors opened, Nux’s body was sucked in.
It was an odd feeling.
Nux tried to resist it, but once again, he couldn’t.
For the first time in a long while, things felt like they were out of his control—an experience that scared him, but it was also something that made him look forward to this place even more.
A few seconds later, Nux found himself inside a white space. The place had no walls; it stretched endlessly with a white floor and a similar roof above him.
It wasn’t just the space around him, even his own body was similar.
He stared at his hands and realized his entire body had turned white as if someone had painted him with white paint.
No, that was not it.
This…
This wasn’t his body.
Nux finally realized it.
His powers were gone. Even his physical strength wasn’t the same as before.
Not just that, he couldn’t even connect to his Universe or his wives. He even tried returning to his Universe and realized he couldn’t do it.
Now that he was inside, he was on his own.
While the mass and body structure of this body felt similar to his own, Nux knew it wasn’t his own body.
He…
He seemed to have been trapped inside a body of a mannequin that was modeled after his own body.
’What the…’
He wondered.
He waved his hand, wanting to summon a mirror to look at what his face looked like, but he couldn’t.
His powers didn’t work.
Law of Space, or the storage ring, or any other power for that matter—no matter what he did, nothing worked.
His powers were gone.
Even his physical strength wasn’t the same as before. Not just that, he couldn’t even connect to his Universe or his wives.
He even tried returning to his Universe and realized he couldn’t do it. Now that he was inside, he was on his own.
He had turned into a Mortal again, just that because of his body structure, he was an absurdly strong mortal who should be able to defeat at least 10 other mortals without any issues.
’So it did work on me.’
Nux seemed impressed.
When he read that some of the Trials stripped away the Trial Takers’ powers, he wondered if it would work on him considering who he was.
But now…
’I underestimated this place.’
Nux admitted.
Then, as he stretched and got somewhat used to his new body, he started walking forward. He didn’t know where he was going or what he was supposed to do, he just felt like walking, so he did.
As if sensing that he was prepared, a screen appeared in front of Nux.
[Trial One: River of Eternity]
’Well, this brings back memories.’
Nux chuckled as he saw a screen hovering in front of him. The screen was in no way similar to his system.
It was a simple translucent gold screen with a small message.
As the screen appeared, Nux’s surroundings started to change.
The white floor beneath him began to form dust as it started its transformation. Within a few seconds, Nux was standing on what seemed like a beach.
He looked ahead and saw a large ocean with strong waves ahead of him.
At the very end of the ocean, there seemed to be an island, and as Nux’s eyes fell on the island, another screen appeared in front of him.
[Cross the River of Eternity and reach the other end.]
Yes, that was it.
That was the first trial.
And Nux, who saw this, stared at the screen in front of him as his mouth twitched.
’Who in their right mind calls this a river!?’
He cursed.
He recalled the records of Trials he had read, and some of the Trials were similar to this.
Even Vashti had passed through such a trial, and according to her reports,
The water in the River of Eternity isn’t normal water, but a physical manifestation of time itself.
Of course, Nux had no clue what that meant.
Neither did Vashti bother explaining it. It was similar to how one’s comprehension couldn’t be taught to someone.
While the records did contain the information regarding the Trials, they didn’t mention a way to clear those trials—else everyone would have done that already.
Nux was indeed on his own.
’Meh, no point thinking about it.’
Nux shrugged.
Since he was told to cross the river, that is what he was going to do.
He stepped into the water.
First, it was his right leg that stepped in, then it was his left.
Then it finally happened.
The right side of his body shrivelled up. His skin got loose, muscles weakened, and wrinkles started appearing all over his body.
Yes, the right side of his body had aged up—so much that his knee couldn’t even support his body.
This, however, wasn’t the only problem he was facing.
Rather, this might be the easier part.
While the right part of his body had aged, the left part had regressed.
His arms and legs were now comparable to that of a toddler’s. He didn’t even dare to look at what his face currently looked like, and honestly, that was the least of his worries.
The biggest problem was his inability to walk.
With his body completely disproportionate, he fell into the river, with absolutely no control over his body.
’What is this place…?’
He wondered as he stayed on the water. The only thing he was relieved about was that his body was still on the ground, so the water current didn’t take him away.
This, however, didn’t solve any of his problems.
His body still seemed like it was changing, with the right side getting older and older, and the left getting younger.
He had to do something, or else he would perish—and he would in an extremely bizarre manner, with the right side dying of old age, while the left disintegrated out of existence.
’I am royally fucked, aren’t I?’