n

n

n

"Trial of control? What the heck is that?

"

nDant's eyes shot wide open in surprise as he saw the message on the status screen.

n

"I am thinking the same thing,

" he replied.

"Sound like some kind of test of courage or something. What do you guys say, any ideas?

"

nEveryone shook their heads.

n

"None that I can think of!

"

nHis eyes blinked as he tried to make sense of the message tilting his head to the side. His lips arched into a woozy smile.

nHe tried to think of possibilities. But nothing that came to his mind did any good.

nHis brows wrinkled more and more as he was lost in thought.

n

"Test of courage, hmm?

"

nHe nodded.

n

"Doesn't this sound like those quests that main characters from the movies have to do to grow in strength?

"

nDant had seen many shows and movies. Even when he was back on earth weekends had this usual routine of movies and potato chips. A small fraction of these movies were fantasy ones. He had always watched the main characters encounter some form of fortuitous events. These change their life making them much stronger than before and increasing their chances of survival.

nThese encounters always began with some sort of trials.

n

"Doesn't this sound like a good opportunity?

" He smirked.

nHe didn't know what was inside this so-called trial but what was the harm in checking out? He had a team to back him up. Wasn't most dungeon exploration done in teams?

nEverything seemed a bit too perfectly laid out. They had fought tooth and nail ever since they came here. And the members of this group have survived through it all. They had proven themselves and now when they were facing a bit of difficulty with the increasing monster strength, the divines was giving them another opportunity to grow and get a boost in strength so that they could again fight against future challenges.

n

"Wasn't this the perfect plot for a story?

" Dant thought.

nHe turned to his teammates with a grin on his face.

n

"Guys I think we should try this. This must be just what we were looking for!

"

nflashback ends

nKlautz pierced his little finger in his ears as he shook them violently to clear the dirt and wax. He had the nonchalant poker face which told everyone that he didn't care about the death that had happened in front of him.

n'So many deaths happen every day. If I care about every death when am I ever gonna take action?'

nEven now he was contemplating whether he should pester the group for moving onto the next stage or should he let them be and allow them to lament for a while.

n

"They are going to hate me anyway at the end of all of this. Then why should I care? Why not hate me from the very start?

"

nKlautz made his decision. Being quick as always in judging the pros and cons. He was not gonna let them off either now or later.

nHe walked up to Dant.

n

"Hey, pull up your socks already. We need to move to the next stage as soon as possible.

"

n

"W—!?

"

nDant almost jumped when Klautz caught him off guard from behind. In his heart, he had the budding fear that didn't tend to cease.

n'What if someone figures out that I am the culprit?' That was what always ran in his find. He was grateful for his lady luck for no one yet being able to figure him out, but his fears never fell to cease.

nKlautz's loud declaration didn't pass unnoticed to the now teary group. They were on their knees crying, but Klautz's declaration made them turn their heads and tilt them to the side.

n

"This **er! Can't he see that a child has lost his life here?

" Kristie cursed.

nBut Klautz didn't even turn to him. He moved away as he continued butchering the remaining parts of the beasts.

n

"Better make it fast. I won't wait for long.

" He shouted.

nBoth Kristie and Bert were angry but they couldn't do anything against Klautz. He was stronger than them and he was the only one who could fight the monsters.

nMeanwhile, Verona's eyes were stuck on him.

nShe felt guilty that she wasn't able to save a child from her death. But wasn't Klautz strong enough to do so?

n

"If he had been in the battle from the start then Blair would be among us at this point,

" she whispered for no one to hear.

nShe had mixed emotions. On one hand, she felt anger at the man for the death that he had caused. She held him responsible for Blair's death. If he had been in the battle from the start how could have Blair died?

nShe completely failed to judge and compare Klautz's strength and the beast's. The only thing she judged was based on the last exchange between Klautz and the beast. Her analysis had a lot of flaws. But she didn't know that. If Klautz had fought the usual way from the very beginning he could have sustained injuries. But even if she was able to guess that, to her, the life of a person is much more important than some injuries on that man.

n

"But why did he appear after so long? After Blair's death? Did he want him dead so badly? What had the child done to offend him?

" She was thinking hard as her forehead was wrinkling more and more.

nNothing that she could think of made any sense to her. From the beginning till the end Klautz and Blair had no exchange amongst each other. So there should be nothing between the two.

nWhat Verona failed to notice was that Klautz attacked at the same point when the beast was eating its prey, when it had let go of its defences. How could she miss such intricate detail? She was just a newbie in hell. Her analysis capabilities were much weaker than the oldies here. It wasn't too unrealistic for her to miss that out.

nHer pupils rippled as she watched the man dismantling the beast.

nSweats were pouring down his face as he pants from tiredness. No matter how much he works, he couldn't seem to stop as he butchered the beast from limb to limb. His hands and knife had dyed black with the beast's blood. He gently wiped the sweat away that had gathered around his forehead. He was wearing a black shirt with brown shorts. At the sides of the shorts, there were some recently sewed pockets made of monster hide. With one look, people could tell that he was an amateur in the field as the sewing as the stitches were not in-line and were crooked here and there. There was a belt made of animal carcass attached to his waistline and his shoes were made of the same materials as well.

n