The Star Seekers returned to their mansion tired, exhausted, and confused, each facing their own problems. Some of them were suffering from low self-esteem, while others were just simply doubting themselves, and what they were doing, wondering if it was even worth it. If they should just give up, and let their fate take over. It would be much easier, or so they thought. Probably.

  Still, at least they had some thoughts. There were a few in the Star Seekers, who did not even bother to think. Though, in their defence, it was their ignorance which saved them from suffering too many problems. Alnea, on the other hand, was suffering from the problem of thinking too much. While trying to guide his teammates, he himself kept hesitating, not knowing how to face his Heart. No, not face, but defeat.

  He had faced his Heart the day he acknowledged Vestia. It was a selfish Heart that refused to give anything up. That was probably the reason why he was hesitating so much. That, and the Curse of his Fate. It was nearing that time of the year, after all. Yuri had said that things would get better with time as he got acquainted with his Heart. Yet, as it stood, things seemed to be only getting worse for him…

  Fortunately, things had not reached the worst point yet. There was still some time before the advent of the month of Inkah. Not much, but enough. Suppressing his hesitation within the depths of his Heart, Alnea directed everyone to go back to rest, while he himself went back to his room to meditate. To get rid of the inner conflicts and insecurities that the Shadow of his Heart had dredged out from within his depth…

  The next day, everyone walked out of their room refreshed, and ready to face the Trials once again. Or at least half of them did. The other half had already completed the Mystery Trials, so they stayed back to get some rest. And by rest, Alnea meant to train the whole day. He made sure to be clear, so that everyone understood what he meant. As such, when everyone met at dinner once again, the ones who had stayed back seemed to be more tired than the ones who went to challenge the Trials.

  Karl and Norren secretly gloated at Zain’s haggard appearance, teasing him from time to time, as they returned back to their mansion. The very next though, they joined along with him in lamenting at their fortune. At least Zain did something different for a day. They had been spending the past three days in the Trials of the Arcanist Hall, and would have to continue doing so for at least six more days. Maybe even more, if things did not go according to plan…

  Tired and annoyed as they were, everyone still did their best when it came to the Trials. Especially Ralph. Although he did not do exceptionally well, and even completed the least number of Trials, he was always the last to leave the Trial Space. And he never complained. On the contrary, he took the initiative to ask Zain about tips to improve himself. As for asking Alnea himself…

  Karl had already done so on the second day of the Mystery Trials. With someone skilled enough to break the records of the Trials by their side, it would have been a waste of resources to not ask of his insights. The problem was, they could not use his insight. Trying all possible combinations of Oren activity to understand how the Mysteries worked? Using additional methods to increase the potency of the Mysteries? Even deliberately making the structure of the Prototype unstable…

  At that time, all of the Star Seekers had only one question for their Captain. Did he even listen to what he was saying? The first tip was still understandable. At least it made sense. Maybe, if they were challenging Initial and Intermediate Stage Trials, they truly could have tried it. It was just that, Peak Stage Mysteries generally had ten to fifteen variations of Oren activity.

  Even if the Mysteries in the Trials were Artificial, they still had around seven to ten variations on average. If they tried all possible combinations for those activities one by one, they would not be able to even comprehend the Mystery in a day, let alone create its Prototype. As for using the Prototype to create an Arcana…

  Karl could only thank Alnea with a stiff face, and then go back to challenging the Trial in his own way. Even Zain, who prided himself on being an Arcanist, looked at Alnea with a complicated gaze, before closing his eyes to adjust his Heart, and let it forget everything that he had heard. Although breaking records in the Trials was tempting, it was not tempting enough to put their lives on the line. Even if the Trial Space could ensure their safety, they did not dare to take the risk.

  In the end, the Star Seekers could only seek solace from each other as they progressed through the Trials. Still, it was not as if they did not listen to any of their Captain’s advice. Rather than just clearing their Trials, they tried to learn from them. And to their surprise, their results did get better. Not by much, but enough to improve their ranks by at least a hundred positions each.

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  By the time the Star Seekers cleared all the Trials of the Arcanist Hall, everyone had managed to break into the top five hundred rank of the Arcanist Hall. Karl and Aren even managed to push themselves all the way up to the position of top hundred Arcanist in their Blood Hall, with Karl nearing the top fifty rank. Zain, on the other hand, directly reached the tenth rank to become one of the ten best Arcanist in the Sixth Blood Hall.

  “I am having a little trouble reading my Blood Card,” Zain said with a grin, fanning his updated Blood Card in front of Karl’s gloomy face. “I must have forgotten the Blood Symbols from all the Perfect Clearance records I received. Can you help me read my Blood Card, Karl?”

  “…Just go get a memory crystal then.”

  “Huh? What did you say? It said that I am at the tenth rank in our Blood Hall?”

  “…I am in the top hundred rank of all three Halls.”

  “It means that I am one of the top ten Arcanist in our Blood Hall?”

  “…There is no need to be too smug. You are still weaker than the girls of our team.”

  “What can I say? Sometimes, I scare even myself with my talent…”

  It was not just Zain who was pleased with himself. The rest were the same. Especially those who did not walk on the path of Arcanists in the first place. For them to make their way into the top five hundred ranks of the Arcanist Hall was almost like a dream. Some of them even began wondering if they really should dabble in the path of Arcanists. While they were all using different means to express their happiness though, Alnea could not help looking at his Blood Card with confusion.

  “What happened?” Vestia said when she noticed his daze. “Are you not happy for finally conquering all the Trials?”

  “I am happy. It is just that… Weren’t there supposed to be a hundred and twenty nine Trials? Three hidden Trials in each Hall. How come I reached the first rank in all three Halls, without going through the Trials?”

  “Are you trying to show off?” Cecilia said with a snort. “You have already reached the first rank. What else do you want?”

  “…I don’t know. It just feels a little… incomplete.”

  “…I think the Trials feel more complete this way,” Yuri said, with her lips spread in a thin smile. “Being too obsessed with something is not good. Sometimes, we have to learn to let go, and accept our imperfections…”

  “I agree with Yuri,” Vestia said, nodding with a smile. “Besides, how can you be sure that we have not completed the Hidden Trials?”

  “…What do you mean?”

  “They are called Hidden Trials for a reason. Would they not lose all their meaning if you knew about them?”

  “…I guess that’s true too…”

  “…Why are all of you still talking about Trials?” Cecilia grumbled. “We have finally conquered all the Trials. Is that not enough?”

  “…I never thought I would say this one day, but Cecilia is right. We really should not talk about Trials for a while…”

  “How about celebrating then?”

  “I think that is a good idea. Especially since we have barely had any rest recently. Even on our rest days, a certain someone would just not let us rest.”

  “Then celebration it is. Now, we just need to decide how to celebrate…”

  “…I think the three of you are getting a little too ahead of yourselves,” Alnea said, shaking his head. “Technically, we have not conquered all the Trials. Let alone the Final Trial that we know nothing about, there is also the Black Desert Trials that we have yet to conquer. And we still have a lot of ranks to climb in the Arena…”

  Alnea paused, as he felt a chill climb up the back of his spine. At first, he thought that someone was trying to ambush them. When he glanced around himself though, all he found were three pairs of eyes glaring at him, daring him to complete his words.

  “…But celebrating once in a while would not hurt anything, I guess…”