This challenge yielded the greatest gains for two people.
One of them was the central figure of this challenge—Ais Wallenstein.
Although she did not directly defeat the strongest mercenary, Albert, she managed to kill him once despite being heavily injured. That alone proved she had the qualifications to enter Level 8.
The second, of course, was Bell Cranel, who directly took part in this challenge.
He defeated two individuals standing at the pinnacle of Lv.8—a mercenary and a Spirit—and used them as nourishment to take that final, crucial step.
At long last, Bell had secured his ticket to Lv.9.
Yet even after obtaining that ticket, Bell's first action upon returning home wasn't to perform a Status Update. Instead, he immediately checked the two "740" souls and placed them into the vessels he had prepared long ago.
Albert and Aria, whose souls had been placed inside, opened their eyes the moment the transfer was complete.
Their first sensation was the emptiness within their bodies, followed by awareness of where they were.
It felt like a culture tank.
They tried to breathe, but just like infants suspended in amniotic fluid, their breathing seemed sustained by the liquid in the tank; their bodies currently lacked the ability to breathe on their own.
Then their gazes locked onto the boy standing outside.
"Mm, the soul placement went smoothly. As expected of vessels cultivated from direct bloodlines—they can fully carry your respective souls."
Bell examined the compatibility between the two souls and their new bodies and nodded with satisfaction.
Using bodies cultivated from direct bloodlines had indeed been the correct choice. There wasn't even the slightest sign of soul rejection.
"But the physical quality really is a bit lacking."
These two bodies weren't particularly strong—at best, they matched the standards of an ordinary human. Compared to their peak forms, they were nowhere close.
But that couldn't be helped.
These bodies had only been growing for about half a year.
Even after absorbing so much solution condensed from Spirit Trees, reaching the strength of an ordinary human was already quite impressive.
To strengthen them further, he would need to accelerate their maturation through time manipulation; otherwise, their physical capabilities were capped at this level.
"Whether they can be enhanced through later training… that will require future observation."
After jotting down this final note, Bell closed the notebook and sealed it away.
He clearly would not be conducting any follow-up observation himself—he didn't have the time.
For the next two months, he would need to work extremely hard just to stay on schedule.
Even if he ended with time to spare, that time had to be used to consolidate and stabilize his own foundation—not for researching other matters.
After sealing the notebook, Bell walked up and tapped the wall of the culture tank.
"You should understand the situation now."
"Your original bodies were completely corrupted by the Dungeon. Magic stones like those in monsters had already formed inside you. When those stones shattered, your bodies disintegrated into dust just like monsters do."
"Originally, even your souls would not have survived. But you were fortunate—you kept your souls preserved, preventing the Dungeon from touching them. That alone made it possible to keep your souls intact."
At this point, Bell couldn't help letting out a yawn.
After such prolonged mental tension and today's intense battle, it was only natural for him to relax a little now and feel fatigue creeping in.
He quickly steadied himself.
"Ais will come tomorrow. For today, just stay inside the tanks."
Without caring what the couple might think, Bell left the underground workshop with another yawn.
Left behind, the couple exchanged a silent, knowing look.
Inside the tanks, unable to speak, they relied on the unspoken understanding built over years of marriage. Simple lip movements were enough.
'That boy doesn't lie.'
Albert immediately saw through Bell's excuse.
'If he decided to save us on a whim, he wouldn't have prepared bodies for us beforehand.'
'These bodies must have been cultivated for a long time. That child decided long ago to use them to save us.'
It was obvious.
Albert needed only a moment of thought to arrive at the conclusion.
'He said he used Ais's blood to cultivate these bodies.'
'Can ordinary blood really produce bodies like this?'
Even though Albert felt unprecedented weakness in this body, he understood that creating even a body like this was no easy feat.
And Bell had essentially performed resurrection.
If resurrection were truly simple, it wouldn't be a forbidden act.
Aria shook her head gently, denying Albert's hypothesis.
'Creating a body isn't something that can be done easily.'
'And most created bodies suffer uncontrollable defects—most notably extremely short lifespans.'
Artificial bodies often lacked fundamental components. Aside from their high cost, they offered almost no advantages.
But Aria could clearly sense that the Body 1.0 she was in now was not that kind of product.
Especially the liquid filling the culture tank—she could feel it was composed of extremely expensive materials. The astonishing vitality emanating from it made that obvious.
'These liquids are incredibly valuable materials.'
'And since they are now part of our bodies, that must be why our bodies currently feel so weak.'
Of course, Aria didn't know the precise state of her own body—she was utterly exhausted.
But even so, she couldn't fall asleep.
Who knew if, upon waking, she would discover it had all been a dream?
Aria didn't dare close her eyes, terrified that the world she woke up to might differ from the one she believed in now.