Death and Weakness

My legs hurt, and my body feels like it's splitting through half.

The walk continues, and by my calculations, it has now been three days of walking without food or water.

My body is already on the verge of collapsing, and I'm not sure how much further I can walk.

Even my thoughts are starting to jumble at this point, but when I lose my mind, I only hear Eve's words when she says she believes in me. So I didn't stop and kept walking.

Perhaps it was a test of willpower, but I couldn't, or rather, will not, stop.

Several hours had passed.

Sweat was dripping down my brow as I walked, and I had long since exceeded my physical limits; by this point, I was fueled solely by willpower.

My vision became blurry, and I could only just make out that I was moving in the right direction.

This total loss of power was far more painful than I had anticipated.

I continued at a painfully slow pace, becoming more and more feeble with each step.

My mana core's residual energy was constantly drained, and I could feel death approaching with each step.

The agony caused by my exhaustion was fading, and it felt as if my soul was drifting to another world. This was actually a very soothing sensation.

I even began to have hallucinations about my previous life and the work I did as a tool rather than as a human. All orders are being accepted.

When I tried to break free, my real mother, who died saving by feeding me with her last milk, started telling me not to give up. And my adopted family, as well as my adopted siblings, who have always looked after me.

Mainly, Eve and her words. We've only known each other for a day, but hearing words and seeing her weirdness and awkwardness has made me feel as if I'm confident in surviving a single man's war with a Kingdom's army.

I bit the tip of my tongue until a current-like wave spread through my mouth, and the sharp pain quickly dispelled that false sense of comfort.

At the same time, my body thumped violently down onto the ground, unable to move even a half-step.

The impact of landing sent out a shot of adrenaline and dizziness through my head, as well as I felt as if my soul was about to vanish.

"Uh"

The female voice that greeted me suddenly rang out in the deathly silent golden world as I walked about about another day's calculations.

"The endpoint is five metres away."

Hearing this, my heart jumped, and I forced myself to look ahead.

My vision was already completely blurry at this point, but I could see a red smudge appear in the distance.

My mind told me....Eh...that was the conclusion.

"Is this for real?"

When I heard that, I took a deep breath and attempted to get to my feet, but I discovered that I had lost all feeling in my legs, and the simple act of getting up was completely beyond my capabilities

No, I must continue! There are only five meters remaining!

I couldn't walk anymore, so I crawled and clawed my way to the target with my hands.

My frozen legs trailed behind me, and despite the fact that all of my vitality and mana had long since vanished, I was pushing myself forward by sheer force of will.

I had to finish this trial!

Walking further and further, my hand finally came into contact with that red line, and an indescribable sense of relief washed over my body.

The same comfort I had felt when I was on the verge of death returned, and all of my pain was instantly relieved as mana slowly refueled my body.

The ground gave way beneath my feet all of a sudden, but I couldn't even muster the emotions of alarm and panic. I guess my sense of danger has worn off.

I was immediately submerged in a vast expanse of warm liquid, which began to nourish my body. Is this holy liquid contained within this holy tree?

The crushing sense of exhaustion returned, but I was able to sense my own body again.

The liquid did not cause me to recover immediately. Instead, it was slowly and subtly nourishing me. My exhaustion faded gradually, just as slowly as it had accumulated.

My consciousness returned to me as well, and after an indeterminate amount of time, the same female voice rang out within the place.

"Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heaven. The path from Hell leads to Light and freedom, with pain and suffering journey. Death is never the most painful thing, but choosing death is a choice to retreat. Everyone's conclusion is different, but you were able to persevere until the bitter end, demonstrating your unyielding will. Congrats! you have conquered, Death and Weakness!"

As soon as the voce was heard, the path opened up, and quickly a hundred or so number of steps raised for me to climb up towards the next floor.

I first sat down and completely recovered my mana through meditation. This first floor was already a hell to pass, but it was really effective. Still with the mana core...wait? wait? What?

I made a breakthrough?  I'm now in the Dark Yellow stage!

Woah!

This was remarkably successful. Only with shear will I guess I survived by walking for at least four or five days without food or water, expanding the last vitality in my mana core. Now that I'm starting to regain my mana, the core has become more refined than it was when I first started the trail. This is a major discovery. I never imagined I'd make a breakthrough without using magic!

Its all thanks to My Mother who's watching me from the heavens, My adoptive family, Mr.Blue Grim and Importantly Evana.

Its time I climb up the next floor now.

***CHAPTER 29***