Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

Cedric is currently caught in a dangerous situation.

No, it isn't a physical danger. It's a spiritual danger. His spirit was currently floating in the void, where he couldn't see, hear, taste, smell, or feel anything. Everything, except for his ability to think, was gone from him.

Anyone who fell into this kind of situation would've despaired by now, and that couldn't be blamed on them. After all, this was truly a very frightening experience.

Even more so for Cedric, who used to rely on his senses for everything. His vision is what literally propelled his career as a superhuman to skyrocket. Losing it all of a sudden was enough to make him panic, despite his willpower being sharpened to an inhuman degree.

It didn't start like this, though. When he first came here, his vision was limited. But the longer he stayed here, the more limited he became. His senses gradually disappeared one by one, starting with his sense of sight. Twelve hours later, all that remains is his ability to think.

This is what he must face if he wants to pass this trial.

**

[Trial of Spirit: 2nd Stage]

▪︎ Instructions

: Jump into the Pit of the Abyss and last for 24 hours straight.

: Please be aware that, compared to other trials you've experienced so far, this one has risks that could leave a permanent scar on you.

: The tower's staff wouldn't be held responsible for your overestimation of your abilities.

: You have 150 years to clear this trial. You may come and go as you please.

**

When he first saw the contents of the second stage of the trial of spirit, Cedric was rather surprised. He wasn't expecting the real dangers to appear this early.

According to what he learned from his fellow challengers, the Tower of Prodigies, especially at the dynamic difficulty, will dish out trials to push challengers to their absolute limits. The further they go, the more dangerous it gets. However, the rewards they receive for clearing the increasingly dangerous trials become richer too.

Some said that those who performed excellently would receive membership in the alliance, and that's just the start. Once they become members of the alliance, more opportunities will open up for them, especially since they came from the Tower of Prodigies.

However, these friends also told him that, usually, the risks only start when one reaches the third stage of the trials. Obviously, this doesn't apply to Cedric since it's already like this on his second stage of the trials.

'Last for 24 hours straight in the Pit of the Abyss.'

Honestly, these requirements look and sound easy to meet. When you experience it, though, it's enlightening to see how wrong that statement becomes.

The first thing that came was the panic of slowly losing your senses. All manner of resistance was futile in here. The abyss will slowly but surely swallow everything you know until you're left with only your thoughts.

When it reaches that point, your perception starts becoming blurry; the first thing to go was your sense of direction.
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Up, down, left and right, forward and back—these become meaningless here. You'd find yourself trapped in a shell of your mind, unable to feel anything outside of it, no matter how hard you tried to.

Cedric never experienced claustrophobia until now, and it honestly fucking sucks.

What comes after losing a sense of direction is the loss of one's perception of time.

Seconds seemingly stretch on for days, and minutes turn into years. Cedric has no other companion other than his thoughts, and even that was starting to leave him behind.

It's this very concept that caused his performance on this trial to wildly fluctuate. The longest record he had was 15 hours, which, to him, passed by quickly. But when he did his best to last for as long as he possibly could, staying at the pit for what felt like years, to his surprise, he only lasted for 13 hours.

Honestly, he felt like this trial was messing with him. He felt mad and thought that this was unfair. He wanted to file a complaint and demand compensation for this unfairness.

He ended up not doing any of that because he discovered another frightening aspect of this trial.

No, this isn't a trap. Even if it was and he falls for it, he could only blame himself.

What he discovered is that, because of his constant exposure to the abyss, he's becoming irrational, meaning that this trial is also eroding his sanity.

And my, isn't that just fucking scary? As if losing everything else wasn't enough to make this trial unsavory.

Even with Cedric's audacity, this was extremely risky for him. It was here that the system's warning finally dawned on him. Yes, constant exposure to this trial and carelessness will certainly leave a permanent scar on his psyche if he isn't careful.

That's why Cedric only goes to this trial once a month. Fortunately, he discovered the side effects pretty early, allowing him to build a guard against them.

Cedric also began recognizing patterns and searching for hints to lessen the effects of the trials on him.

With his constant planning and sharp awareness, Cedric was able to discover a few ways to do this. However, the most effective method turned out to be so simple.

Just cultivate while you're inside the pit!

Specifically, the Astral Sovereign Mantra.

Cedric actually laughed after trying this. He didn't expect that there'd be a day where he'd be so thankful for the psychosis that comes with practicing his technique. At the very least, in this way, he had company while the pit attempted to devour his thoughts as well.

Sure, the psychosis brought him a sharp headache still, but the pain keeps him alert and awake. He even started enjoying the company of the harsh whispers of insanity as the abyss continued swallowing everything about him.

And to his absolute delight, practicing the Astral Sovereign Mantra here has increased efficiency. It's as if this place was tailor-made for it.

Cedric was already enjoying the benefits of having twice the results with half the effort just by being in the tower. Unexpectedly, this became even more prominent when he practiced the mantra in the Pit of the Abyss.

His progress on the Astral Sovereign Mantra was quickly catching up with his other cultivation techniques. And this obviously made him happy.

But even with this discovery, Cedric remained prudent with his advances. He never became complacent and maintained his usual schedule of entering the trial of spirit only once a month since this concerned his safety.

He never treated this method as a foolproof way to neutralize the risks posed by this trial. Unless somebody from the tower's staff comes forward and confirms this, he will never lower his guard.

So, for the last decade or so, this has become Cedric's routine. Aside from occasionally entering the trials now and then to test his progress, he remained secluded in his room, focused on his training.

With his progress with the Astral Sovereign Mantra, he sharpened not only his willpower but also his spirit. He's becoming more and more unfathomable.

Sure, he still misses his girlfriends dearly, but it's not to the point of causing him depression. His focus and concentration have been sharpened to such an absurd degree that he's able to remain sufficiently calm even as he directly stares at his approaching death. He even bravely stated at the abyss as it looked back at him.

The trials he's facing are forging him and turning him into a true expert fit for the alliance's standards. However, Cedric cleverly hides this side of him and makes himself appear like an ordinary mortal as a form of humility.

He's not only sharpening his skills and improving his life evolution here; he's also cultivating his character and personality.

While his fellow challengers, with his limited interactions with them, were unable to discover anything different about him, his changes couldn't escape the eyes of the tower's staff.

And honestly, they're becoming more and more optimistic about him.

See, their job isn't just to invite and monitor the challengers while also maintaining order inside the tower. They're also judging the challengers based on their performance.

They have certain criteria for judging, and depending on the results, the endorsement they could offer varies.

So far, Cedric has hit some really lucrative criteria on their list, but it's too early for them to send out offers. However, it is also because he's marking this criteria this early on in his trials that they're becoming more and more optimistic about him.

In their eyes, challengers like him are rare. Because of his performance, more people are starting to pay attention to him, and he doesn't even know it.

But even if he does, so what? It's too early for him to consider anything else aside from clearing the trials he's facing right now. So, even if he knew that the staff were paying attention to him, that's all there is to it.

It neither helps him pass the trials nor gives him any immediate benefit, so why should he care?

Completing the trials and, preferrably, performing way ahead of the requirements so that he could receive more trial points were his priorities right now.