Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

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The [Torch Dragon's Gaze] is an extremely powerful occular technique.

It's creator got inspiration after witnessing the might of the real thing—tthe Torch Dragon from the Wise Dragon Race. It is said that the Torch Dragon was responsible for the day and night cycles; it also held sovereignty over numerous elements, and even more so over light and dark.

According to the myths of the elusive Torch Dragon, it is impossible to directly gaze into its singular eye. Those who dared to have experienced vivid nightmares or have directly gone mad. These results are what the skill's creator was after.

The [Torch Dragon's Gaze] could either induce blindness through sheer brightness or submit the target to fall in an endless void accompanied only by their thoughts until they go mad or insane.

One could only imagine just how strong this skill was. Moreover, the effects last longer and become stronger with one's mastery of this skill.

In addition to this, practicing this occular technique also elevates a person's visual acuity immensely and gives them increased affinity for the light and dark elements.

Cedric certainly did not expect to have an immense affinity for this skill. He found it unbelievable that, within 2 months of constant practice, he increased his mastery over it to the Advanced Stage.

At the Advanced Stage of mastery, the Torch Dragon's Gaze required no eye contact anymore. So long as the user of the skill has a line of sight with his or her target, they will be affected by this skill.

Upon reaching the Perfection Stage of mastery, Cedric would only need to know his target's name and a short glimpse of their appearance to subject them to the horrifying effects of this skill.

This achievement was truly unexpected for Cedric. It got him thinking that maybe he had a latent affinity for occular techniques or skills, probably because he inherited the eyes of the godking. Well, he couldn't test this for now, but if the chance presents itself, he wouldn't mind confirming whether this was true or not.

Another skill that surprised him was the progress of his mastery of the Breath Holding Technique.

To be fair, it's a fairly simple technique. It's all about control, which is something that Cedric already excels at. By exercising control and discipline over one's physical, mental, and spiritual aspects, one could also control the fluctuations of their power.

Cedric was also used to this. In fact, this was one of the core aspects of the fundamentals that he diligently practiced until it became second nature to him. Therefore, it wasn't so surprising that he already reached Advanced Mastery over the Breath Holding Technique that quickly.

At this stage, he could pretend to be a Planetary Warrior instead of a Planetary Grandmaster. In fact, unbeknownst to even Cedric himself, his control far exceeds the skill cap, so that even those who are actively searching for traces of people using the Breath Holding Technique would find it difficult to discover them on him.

He's already unknowingly improving the skill itself, and it's simply because he had a really good grasp on the fundamental requirements of this skill.

His progress with the Fiendgod Celestial Scripture and the Astral Sovereign Mantra was slow, and that's quite understandable. He could only endure a few cycles of physical and mental refinement each day since it puts a huge burden on him.

That said, what Cedric didn't know was that his adaptability was helping with his progress immensely.

Both the Fiendgod Celestial Scripture and Astral Sovereign Mantra were well-known Grand Solar cultivation techniques in the alliance, partly because of their excellence but mostly because of the steep and demanding requirements to practice them.

The pain and burden of training these techniques were too much for the common folk to endure. He's not aware of this yet, but Humans' innate adaptability (boosted even further with the evolutions he underwent) and tenacity were just the right qualities that one must have to achieve success with these techniques.

Right now, both the Fiendgod Celestial Scripture and Astral Soverign Mantra have reached the late Beginner Stage of mastery; just a few more refinements, and he'd push it to the Intermediate Stage which would count to accomplishments and requirements to pass the 1st stage of the Trial of Mind.

Then there's the Spacetime Concept Diagram, which was the most difficult homework that Cedric ever laid his eyes on.

Even after staring at them for several hours each day, he still couldn't grasp them properly. He already had a foundation with Space Laws, it's the Time Laws that's making this extremely challenging. Even after months of meditating over the diagram, he's still fumbling to grasp insights about Time Laws, which locks his progress at a half-step to the Beginner Stage of mastery.

As for the techniques he gained earlier, the Nine Suns Empyrean Codex, Five Elements Concept Diagram, and Heaven Shrinking Steps are at the late Beginner Stage. The Myriad Sword Catalogue and Runic Heaven Records have reached the Intermediate Stage of mastery.

With these two, in addition to the Torch Dragon's Gaze and the Breath Holding Technique, Cedric only needed one more skill to reach the Intermediate Stage of mastery and clear the 1st Stage of the Trial of Mind.

That said, Cedric wasn't in a hurry. Even if all of the skills he learned from the Ancient Stone reached the Intermediate Stage of mastery, he wouldn't apply for clearance just yet.

It's mostly because he didn't know what would happen next. Will he immediately move on to the 2nd Stage or be allowed to remain at the 1st Stage for the remainder of the time allotted for him? Cedric wanted to ask the other challenger first before making a decision.

Additionally, he wouldn't find any other peaceful and excellent place to go in seclusion like this one. Sure, it's a bit lonely here without his girlfriends, but loneliness was his old friend.

If he applied for clearance and discovered that the remainder of time he had left wouldn't carry over and be added to the time limit of the 2nd Stage, it'd be a damn shame. He wants to make wise use of his time here.

**

[Welcome to the Trial of Body]

This is the text that greeted him as soon as he entered the door leading to this trial.

**

[Trial of Body: 1st Stage]

[Stipulation #1: Fight and kill to your heart's desire]

[Stipulation #2: Your enemies become stronger the longer you last.]

Stipulation #3: Everything that moves is your enemy. Kill!]

[Requirements for clearance: Survive for 24 hours.]

[Tip: Whether you admit defeat or die within this space, neither will jeopardize your chance. If you can survive for 24 hours straight, you'll clear this trail regardless of how many failed attempts you have.]

[Time Limit: 10 years]

**

Before entering this place, Cedric did not meet his fellow challengers, but that's fine with him. Cedric got hints of what this trial was all about from Howler and Backpack Fatty a few months ago, so he already managed his expectations for it.

'Just how many coincidences can there be?' Cedric muttered inwardly as he stood tall in the middle of a desolate battlefield alone while waiting for the countdown to be over.

Just sprinkle some corruption in this place here and there, and this would resemble the Purgatory of Prime Earth. Hell, even the contents of the trial itself felt incredibly similar to what he's used to.

As the countdown ticked to a single digit, Cedric saw creatures appearing out of nowhere. They're weaker than him, but their auras were still formidable.

He slapped the sword case, and a total of 20 training swords floated around him.

As soon as the timer hit zero, the slaughter began.

Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh!!

The training swords around him turned into streaks of light that pierced the skulls of the unnamed creatures. He killed them in a blink of an eye, but at the same time, more appeared just as fast.

Nostalgia was truly out to get him because the way they appeared was also similar to how the undead usually swarmed him. It was so similar.

Cedric decided to put this idea aside for now and focus on the battle. As he slayed his opponents, he's also taking note of their appearance and unique qualities.

These things weren't the undead. Each one was unique; anybody could tell that from a glance. However, in this trial, despite being different from each other, they all fall into the same category: enemies.

Cedric looked relaxed for the most part, but in truth, he's actually making slight adjustments to his movements.

He came here because he wanted to train. Cedric had no desire to clear this stage in his first attempt. He wanted to feel the pressure of the real battlefield to squeeze out his potential and accelerate his progress.

As time passed, Cedric gradually fell into immersion. With a sword in hand and many more flying all over the battlefield under his control, he was getting into a rhythm when, all of a sudden, he was struck by something that killed him before he could even retaliate.

He awoke with a gasp just outside the trial door, and with a wry smile, he realized what happened.

"So when you said that 'Everything that moves is an enemy', you actually meant 'everything'...huh, alright, got it. Message received."