Valdis, who had just killed the bear, ran through the forest as quickly as he could, afraid that his battle with the bear would attract more beasts to his location. As a battle of that magnitude usually attracted a crowd.
Branches whipped past him. Leaves crunched beneath his feet.
But no new threat came.
No lurking presence, no ambush.
It was as if the forest itself had decided to stay silent after witnessing the fall of the Titan Bear.
Noticing this, Valdis heaved a sigh of relief but didn't slow down.
His body still hummed faintly with residual power, his body heat settling but not fully fading. The sword at his side felt heavier now—not from weight, but from the exhaustion beginning to creep into his limbs.
Still, he pushed forward.
Soon, the mountain came into view. The sight immediately slowed Valdis' momentum.
"So, this is it.... Wow"
Up close, the mountain was far more massive than it had appeared from a distance. It didn't simply rise—it dominated.
Its peak pierced the clouds, disappearing into a veil of mist. Jagged cliffs lined its sides like the teeth of some ancient beast, and faint trails of energy seemed to flow along its surface-like veins, pulsing with power.
It didn't feel like a mountain.
It felt as though he was standing before a sleeping behemoth. The aura emanating from the mountain felt extremely oppressive as it pressed down on Valdis, making the weight already on him feel even heavier.
Valdis exhaled slowly before stepping out of the forest.
The moment he crossed the tree line, the world seemed to open.
A vast clearing stretched before him, barren and still. No movement. No sound.
No other trainees.
His brows furrowed.
"…Did I arrive late?"
His grip tightened slightly as he looked toward the mountain's base.
No figures.
No signs of battle.
Nothing.
"They must have already gone ahead…"
He didn't waste time dwelling on it.
Valdis stepped forward, quickening his pace toward the mountain. Each step brought him closer to the looming structure, the pressure in the air subtly increasing the closer he got.
Thud.
Valdis stopped.
His body jerked slightly as his head collided with something invisible, which blocked his path.
His eyes narrowed.
He reached forward slowly.
His palm pressed against empty air—
—or what should have been empty air.
A faint ripple spread outward from the point of contact.
Like water disturbed by a single drop.
"…A barrier."
His expression hardened.
He pushed slightly.
It didn't budge.
No matter how much force he applied, the invisible wall remained firm, unyielding.
Valdis stepped back, eyes scanning the area carefully now.
The barrier seemed to stretch for miles around the mountain, barring entry to anyone.
Valdis thought for a moment before lifting his sword, attempting to see if he could create an opening in the barrier.
But before he could attack the barrier, a voice rang out from above
"Don't waste your energy doing that. Even if you were ten times stronger than you are now, you still wouldn't dent that barrier."
Valdis paused his actions and looked up immediately, finding the source of the voice.
The voice came from a man who casually sat in the air, reading through a book.
"Why the barrier?" Valdis asked
The owner of the voice didn't pause his reading or even look in Valdis' direction as he replied
"Alaric isn't powerful enough to protect both those in the forest and those who will eventually climb the mountain all at once, so his training is split into two sections, and the barrier is to prevent the occurrence of any unfortunate circumstances."
Valdis nodded after hearing his reply, as it sounded reasonable. He also noted the name of the instructor.
"How long will I have to wait for?" Valdis asked
"Until all the trainees that survive the first phase arrive, although seeing someone arrive here this fast is new to me. So, it's either Alaric has lost his touch, or you're just that talented, and knowing Alaric, you're probably the latter," he said
Hearing this, Valdis paused for a moment before he asked: " Why are you here then?"
"I'm waiting for Alaric to be done with you guys so I can begin my classes with you guys after he's done."
After their short conversation, Valdis sat on the ground and rested, trying to regain some energy he expended during the first phase of the training.
Time quickly went by, and no one else had arrived at the clearing. Suddenly, the man in the sky closed his book and finally turned to Valdis, who was recovering on the ground.
What's your name, young one, because it seems you're different from the rest, and your talent might even put you at the top of your generation," he said
Valdis, who had been sitting in silence, heard his voice and opened his eyes, looking straight at the man who remained suspended above, looking at him with an intrigued expression on his face.
"My name is Valdis... Valdis Ebonhart" Valdis replied
Hearing his full name, the instructor was taken aback, and almost immediately, he instantly appeared before Valdis, examining him from head to toe
"I see now the Duke and Duchess have given birth to another talented individual. The royal family isn't going to be delighted to see you," he said as he laughed
After he finished laughing, he turned to Valdis and said, "Since this is my first meeting with the little lord of the house, I can't just leave without giving you a gift."
The instructor slowly took a step backward as he contemplated what to give him. After a few seconds, he smiled and said
"I know the perfect gift for you."
After saying this, he stretched out his hand, and a royal blue sphere, which was pulsating with power, appeared on his palm.
As soon as the sphere appeared, Valdis felt his breath quicken, his blood became restless as his heartbeat raced rapidly.
"What you are feeling is your body acknowledging how special this object is." He said while observing Valdis' reaction
"What is it?"
"It's the core of a hundred-year-old Blood Devouring Tree."
Hearing the name of the object in his hands, Valdis' eyes widened in shock as he knew how useful such a treasure was to him right now.
The core of a Blood Devouring Tree can improve the blood purity of an individual while also granting them the possibility of bloodline enhancement, but that depends entirely on luck.
And that wasn't all, The Core is also rumored to be able to help someone undergo bloodline evolution. But unfortunately, that was just a rumor that no one had truly confirmed.
"Are you sure you want to give this out. It's an extremely precious treasure."
'You don't have to worry, although this core is immensely precious, it's completely useless to me, ' he replied
Valdis felt even more confused, as anyone who knew the value of this core wouldn't be giving it out casually unless...
"You've already used three cores?" Valdis asked
The instructor smiled and nodded, and seeing his response, Valdis took a step back and looked at him in shock, as encountering one depended heavily on luck, but this instructor encountered not one but three Blood Devouring Trees.
Blood Devouring Trees were an extremely rare plant that attacked anything that got too close, draining them of all the blood in their bodies.
These plants were not only rare but powerful. The weakest Blood Devouring Tree was strong enough to kill someone in the Soul Realm easily, and judging from the aura coming from the sphere, it was definitely at the seventh tier.
But while their cores had an amazing effect on anyone who refined them, there was a limit. Once someone had used up to three cores, anything extra would not affect that person. That was the reason the instructor had no issue giving him one as a gift.
After a brief moment of hesitation, he accepted the gift from him as he was about to put it into a pouch, the instructor handed him a ring.
"This is an ownerless space ring; you can bind to it after you put a drop of blood on it, just like you did when you got your weapon."
Valdis nodded as he immediately cut his finger, quickly binding the ring to himself. The moment he was done, he quickly stored the core in the ring.
"Thank you," Valdis said
Hearing this, the instructor nodded, but as he was about to respond to Valdis, his head turned as he looked behind Valdis before he smiled and looked at Valdis again and said
"Looks like our conversation will be put on hold as your fellow trainees have started arriving."
Just as Valdis was about to reply, he heard rustling sounds from behind him, which made him turn to see who had just arrived
Soon enough, a figure walked out from the forest, and it belonged to the purple-haired boy he had seen at the beginning. The boy, after stepping out of the forest, seemed surprised to see him, but after a brief moment of shock, he found a spot and sat down to recover lost energy.
Seeing this, Valdis turned back to face the instructor just to see nobody behind him.