The Third Trial
Sometimes you catch an unexpected side of someone you're close to.
It had happened several times in Woojin's life already…
"But this time, it's truly unexpected."
Lying in bed, Woojin sank into thought. He replayed the events of the past few days in his mind.
Claire and Arwen.
People he had shared a long history with had recently shown unfamiliar sides of themselves.
To be more precise, perhaps it was better to say they had finally revealed feelings they had always hidden.
Arwen had suddenly rushed forward and confessed her love, and Claire had accepted it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
A chain of completely unpredictable events.
But the most bewildering part was…
"…Why did I act so immaturely?"
Sometimes you discover unfamiliar sides even within yourself.
Why hadn't he acted more decisively?
Looking back, Arwen had shown her affection many times before. They were signals that couldn't really be dismissed as simple loyalty. Even after seeing those signs, he had silently allowed it to continue. Almost as if he were leaving room for it.
And while he stood there thoughtlessly…
At some point the line had been crossed, and things had ended up like this.
"It's something I should reflect on."
In the end, things had turned out well enough, but his relationships with the people around him had nearly collapsed.
Something like this must never happen again.
Determined not to repeat the same mistake, Woojin pondered for a long time before finally falling asleep.
***
The next morning.
After waking up, Woojin looked around. The scene he saw was no different from usual.
Manta was sprawled lazily in a corner of the cave, while Arwen and Coco were sitting by the fire cooking together.
"Coco, cut this for me."
When Arwen held out a large cow bone, Coco wagged his tail energetically.
Crack!
With a single strike, the bone split cleanly in half lengthwise, like a log being chopped.
Woojin watched with slight admiration.
"The cut is very clean."
"Oh, Jin. When did you wake up?"
"Just now."
After exchanging brief morning greetings, Woojin gestured toward the split bone.
"Why did you cut that?"
"I wanted to cook with it."
Arwen replied as she stirred the campfire with a poker. She gathered a lump of glowing hot ash and pulled it out.
Then she placed the freshly cut bone half-buried in the ashes.
Bubble… bubble…
The marrow inside the bone began to boil. A rich aroma, like melted butter, drifted through the air.
It was a dish commonly known as marrow.
"That's interesting. Where did you learn a cooking method like that?"
"I learned it in Paradise when I was young."
Female pixies trained in domestic skills from childhood. Field cooking was one of them.
Arwen smiled.
"Jin, you can relax. It'll take a little while for the food to finish."
"Alright."
He answered that way, but…
Just sitting and waiting made him restless. To pass the time, Woojin started organizing his travel bag.
There's a lot of miscellaneous stuff in here.
Along with camping supplies and food, there were also quite a few artifacts engraved with spells.
They were gifts Cindy had given him long ago—artifacts capable of casting fairly powerful spells. But because they were single-use, he had felt they were too precious to use and had just kept storing them.
Now it feels a bit awkward to use them.
Over time, Woojin's own spellcasting ability had improved greatly, to the point where he no longer needed artifacts like these.
They were too wasteful to use casually, but since they were gifts he couldn't bring himself to throw them away. As a result, the items had simply remained in his bag.
Isn't there some way to make better use of these?
As Woojin pondered while holding a ruby ring he had taken from the bag—
Slither.
The silver snakes coiled around his wrist suddenly lifted their heads. They glanced back and forth between Woojin's face and the ruby ring.
They almost seemed to be asking for permission.
Woojin nodded readily.
"Do as you want."
As soon as he agreed, the silver snakes lunged toward the ruby ring.
Gulp!
The one on the left swallowed the ruby ring whole. Apparently satisfied with the taste, it licked its lips with its tongue.
Seeing that, Woojin felt a bit startled.
…Do these guys need to eat artifacts?
He had noticed they seemed a little sluggish lately. After swallowing the artifact, the snake suddenly seemed full of energy, swaying its head like it was dancing.
It reminded him of the first time he had met them—two silver snakes coiled around a pure white gemstone they had bitten into.
That gem hadn't been a simple ornament. It had seemed more like a feeding bottle that supplied the snakes with nourishment.
Chirr!
One of the snakes let out a dissatisfied cry.
It was the one that hadn't gotten the ring.
It looked resentful about being the only one left hungry. Seeing that, Woojin rummaged through his bag and pulled out a ring with a green gem.
"Here. Eat."
When he held it out, the snake happily swallowed it.
Burp.
The silver snake gave a small belch.
Woojin took out another ring and offered it, but it didn't seem interested anymore. Both snakes closed their eyes as if ignoring him.
Perhaps because they were small creatures, they didn't seem to want to eat much.
"Jin! Come eat!"
It seemed the cooking was finished. After feeding the snakes, Woojin walked over to the fire to satisfy his own hunger.
Hot vegetable stew, freshly baked bread, and cow marrow roasted to a delicious golden-brown.
It was quite a feast.
The group sat together, eating and chatting leisurely.
"After breakfast, I think I'll go check the ruins."
"Really? I thought you said you wouldn't go there for a while. Didn't you say Claire was very busy?"
Woojin gestured toward the snakes on his wrist.
"These guys have extremely expensive tastes. I think I need to talk with Duran."
He had often heard that high-end sports cars had terrible fuel efficiency…
These silver snakes were even worse.
"I think I'll have to feed them artifacts regularly. I'll go see the Tower Master and ask him to sell me some spare artifacts."
It wasn't like he had many things to spend money on anyway. He might as well use his spare funds to stock up on artifacts.
"That's a good idea. It's best to buy rare items in advance and store them."
"Right? You should get ready to go out too."
"…I'm going too?"
Arwen blinked in surprise. Woojin nodded.
"Since we're going anyway, I'm planning to buy an artifact for you as well. It'll help if things get dangerous."
Arwen was quite skilled at using everyday magic, but her proficiency in combat magic was lacking.
If she carried a few pieces of jewelry engraved with spells as insurance, they would be a great help in dangerous situations.
At those words, Arwen hesitated slightly.
"Hmm…"
"Why? Don't want to go?"
"I can't exactly say that's not the case. To be honest, meeting people from the Church Alliance is a bit uncomfortable."
Because of her past as a former priestess of the Dark faction, Arwen disliked facing members of the Church Alliance.
Woojin replied calmly.
"You can't keep avoiding them forever. It might be better to get acquainted with them sooner."
"…That's true."
In the end, Arwen nodded.
After finishing breakfast, the two of them stepped out of the cave without delay.
"Coco. Take good care of the campsite."
"Piiit!"
Having received the order, Coco puffed out his chest proudly, as if saying they could trust everything to him.
After patting Coco on the head once, Woojin infused mana into the snake bracelet on his wrist. The two snakes split apart with cracking sounds, emitting light.
They seem to be in better condition than usual.
Perhaps because they had been fed, the snakes released light at a remarkable speed. In an instant, the light gathered together and formed a wide, flat shape.
It looked like a carpet.
Woojin climbed onto it and beckoned to Arwen.
"Come on, get on."
"Will it be able to carry my weight too?"
"It'll be fine."
He had done a test flight recently, and it had been more stable than expected. And even if they fell, Arwen had wings anyway.
The two sat together on the carpet. Soon it began to slowly rise.
Whoooosh—!
It shot forward smoothly.
Compared to the board-shaped version he had made before, it was much slower and consumed more mana, but the flight itself went very smoothly.
Soon the base camp came into view. They landed nearby and approached the ruins.
The campsite seemed unusually noisy.
"Is it normally this loud?"
"No. It's worse than usual."
Had something happened?
Curious, Woojin wandered through the camp. As he listened closely, he could hear fragments of conversation coming from various places.
The topic was…
"…A new trial."
It seemed that a new secret chamber and trial had been discovered in the ruins last night. Many people were now attempting to pass it.
The topic sparked Woojin's curiosity. He wanted to see it for himself.
"Let's buy the artifacts later. First, let's go to the ruins and check out this new trial."
"That sounds like a good idea."
They headed straight down into the underground ruins.
Finding the way wasn't difficult. They just needed to walk toward the place where the noise and the crowd were the biggest.
While walking there…
Woojin made eye contact with a familiar man.
A holy knight carrying two shields approached with a smile.
"Sir Jin. It's rare to see you these days."
"Indeed. It's been a while."
Woojin shook hands with Theodore.
He was a holy knight from the Order of Devotion and a comrade who had recently passed the "Feast of Heroes" trial alongside Woojin.
Woojin immediately asked what he was curious about.
"I heard a new trial has been discovered. Do you happen to know anything about it?"
"So you heard the news too, Sir Jin. I just went to take a look earlier. Interestingly enough, spectators are allowed for this trial."
"Spectators?"
What did that mean?
"It'll be easier to understand if you see it yourself."
Theodore guided the way. As the reliable knight walked ahead, the dense crowd quickly split to the sides, opening a path.
When they reached the inside, a strange sight appeared before them.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
The sharp sound of footsteps echoed repeatedly.
On the stage, a slender figure was dancing.
It looked like a mannequin carved from steel. Its movements were precise and elegant.
When the short dance ended…
The mannequin jerked its chin toward the person standing across from it.
A blonde female mage.
I know that face.
She was the mage who had once guided them at Claire's request. He remembered hearing her name back then, though he couldn't recall it clearly.
Was it Angelina?
While Woojin was trying to remember…
The female mage suddenly began dancing.
Clack! Clack!
Her movements closely resembled the dance the mannequin had just performed.
"…What exactly is she doing?"
Woojin asked in confusion.
Perhaps sensing the bewilderment in his tone, Theodore chuckled slightly and answered.
"The theme of this trial is to perfectly imitate the mannequin's actions."
"And what does that mean?"
"We think it's testing one's refinement."
So far, the excavation team had cleared two trials.
The first trial had been a number puzzle—a grid puzzle similar to Sudoku but more difficult. It was believed to test intelligence.
It had been relatively simple compared to the others, and clearing it had rewarded them with a copper key.
The second trial was the "Feast of Heroes." That was the one Woojin's group had recently completed.
It was a dangerous trial that tested combat ability, wisdom, and teamwork.
Many people had risked their lives attempting it. Clearing it had granted them a gold key.
Strength, wisdom, and intellect.
Those who had come to the underground ruins had already passed trials embodying these virtues.
"So we suspect the third trial is meant to test refinement."
Dance, etiquette, and manners.
The steel mannequin performed various gestures that reflected the culture of an ancient era—formal greetings, ballroom dances, even lighting incense in a burner.
It looked almost like a court instructor teaching proper etiquette.
Participants had to reproduce the mannequin's demonstration and pass a certain standard.
"Just hearing about it, it doesn't sound very difficult."
"That's right. It's not a life-or-death trial. The problem is that the standards the mannequin demands are quite high."
Just as he finished speaking—
The female mage made a small misstep.
Seeing this, the mannequin shook its head.
Thud!
The mannequin firmly gestured toward the door, as if telling her to disappear immediately.
The discouraged mage was chased out of the room.
It was a sight that naturally drew sighs from the spectators.
The trial wasn't dangerous, but it was extremely strict.
"Does even something like that count as a failure?"
"Yes. It doesn't tolerate even a single small mistake. That's why everyone's been struggling."
Many mages came from noble families.
Even those who had learned etiquette since childhood had attempted the trial, but none had yet met the steel mannequin's standard.
Arwen murmured quietly,
"For a trial… it looks too simple."
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