noveltune Chapter 204 — Buried Before the Beginning
Chapter 204 — Buried Before the Beginning
The moment Evan stepped through the majestic gate for the second time, the world around him dissolved into an endless white expanse.His gaze slowly swept across the silent surroundings before a faint look of recognition appeared in his eyes.
He had stood here once before.
Not in this life.
But in another.
This place hadn't changed at all.
It was still the same endless void where every warrior took the first step toward true ascension.
Before he could observe any longer, a brilliant flash erupted before him.
Instinctively, Evan tensed.
A translucent panel unfolded across his vision.
[User detected...]
[Trial Protocol Initialised...]
[Beginning complete body scan...]
[Please remain still.]
The instant the final notification appeared, countless strands of pale light swept across his body.
They passed through his flesh...
His bones...
Even the mana flowing through his circuits.
It wasn't painful.
Only... strangely uncomfortable.
Like someone was inspecting every inch of his existence.
Minutes slowly passed.
"...Isn't this taking a little too long?"
Evan frowned slightly.
He mentally glanced over everything he possessed.
Five full minutes later...
Another notification finally appeared.
[Scanning in progress...]
[Scanning complete.]
[Result: Null.]
[Error... Reinitialising Scan.]
"...Null?"
A trace of confusion crossed Evan's face.
He immediately opened his status.
Nothing looked abnormal.
Everything appeared exactly as it always had.
Another few minutes crawled by.
Then...
More panels surfaced.
[Result: Null.]
[Error...]
[A security authority has been detected protecting the Host's status.]
[Authority breach impossible.]
[Scanning halted.]
The moment he finished reading...
Evan froze.
His fingers slowly rose toward his face.
They brushed against something almost impossible to feel.
An invisible layer.
"...The mask."
Only then did he realise what had happened.
The artifact wasn't merely hiding his appearance.
It was concealing his entire existence.
"I almost forgot about you..."
With a thought, he deactivated the status-altering effect.
The transparent mask faded into complete invisibility.
Almost immediately...
The Trial reacted.
[Authority restriction removed.]
[Resuming scan...]
Once again...
Light flowed through his body.
This time the process continued far longer than before.
One minute.
Two.
Three.
Five.
Still nothing.
Evan's brows slowly furrowed.
His attention shifted toward his status once again.
This time...
His eyes stopped on the Talent tab.
The list itself wasn't particularly long.
But the first five talents...
Their grades remained hidden beneath rows of question marks.
"...I see."
If the mask wasn't the issue anymore...
Then those hidden authorities probably were.
Without hesitation, Evan partially activated the mask once more.
Instead of hiding everything...
He selectively concealed only the highest-grade talents.
The visible list changed instantly; his talent tab transformed into something less monstrous.
◇ Talents:
- [Gravitic Vein] (A)
- [] (D)
- [Draconic Insight] (SSS Rank) [????]
- [Radiant Sanctum] (S Rank)
- [SwordHeart Resonance] (C)
- [Lunarch Ascension] (SSS+)
- [Enhanced Recovery] (D)
- [Iron Surge] (C+)
- [Tranquil Focus] (B-)
- [Nightstep] (A+)
The hidden authorities vanished from the scan.
Several quiet minutes later...
The Trial finally responded.
[Scanning complete.]
[User status successfully evaluated.]
[Cultivation Status: Level System]
[Race: Human]
[BoneAge: 18]
[CurrentTier: 0th]
[Physique: Monarch Grade]
[Title(s): 3]
[Bounded Item(s): 2]
[Class(s): Necromancer (SS), Mage (E), Weapon Master (F), Blacksmith (B), Alchemist (S), Rune Enchanter (S!)]
[Talent(s): 10]
[Stats have been calculated through the system.]
[Abilities: 16]
[Skills:
Passive: 13
Active: 19]
[ClassSkills:
Necromancer: 15
Mage: 8
Weapon Master: 8
Blacksmith: 0
Alchemist: 0
Rune Enchanter: 0 ]
New notifications immediately began pouring in.
[Several anomalies detected within Host status.]
[Preparing removal process...]
Evan's eyes narrowed.
The very next second—
[Error.]
[Unknown Authority detected.]
[Verifying Host Authority...]
A brief silence followed.
Then...
[Authority identified.]
[Host Authority Level:
[Anomalies authorised.]
[Continuing Trial.]
Only then did Evan quietly release the breath he had been holding.
If that authority hadn't been acknowledged...
There was a real chance the Trial would've stripped away parts of his inheritance.
As the successor of the Nexus' former master...
His authority ranked just beneath its creator.
Without it...
Today's outcome could have been disastrous.
The notifications continued without pause.
[Analysing Host's past achievements...]
[Authority clearance granted.]
[Processing soul history...]
[Calculating accumulated soul experience...]
[Evaluating Host potential...]
[Assessing Trial capacity...]
Evan quietly watched every line appear before disappearing again.
So...
This was how the Nexus determined a person's Trial.
Not merely through strength.
It judged everything.
The soul.
Past accomplishments.
Potential.
Even karma accumulated across lifetimes.
No wonder everyone's Trial differed.
Finally...
The conclusion arrived.
[Evaluation complete.]
[Primary Class Anchored: Necromancer (SS)]
[Current Trial Difficulty: Tier 0 • SS]
Another notification appeared almost instantly.
[Secondary Classes Anchored.]
[Current Trial Difficulty: Tier 0 • SS+]
Then another.
[Host Talents integrated.]
[Current Trial Difficulty: Tier 0 • SSS]
Evan silently watched the difficulty continue climbing.
It wasn't over.
[Abilities and Skills integrated.]
[Current Trial Difficulty: Tier 0 • EX-]
"..."
His expression slowly stiffened.
Then...
The final adjustment arrived.
[Physique and Bound Items integrated.]
[Current Trial Difficulty: Tier 0 • EX+]
"..."
Even Evan remained silent for several seconds.
EX+.
He had completed SS Trials before.
Even SSS.
But...
Never this.
For a brief moment, he had genuinely feared the system would mistake him for someone attempting a Tier One Trial.
Fortunately...
It had stopped at Tier Zero.
Still...
He couldn't help thinking about what would've happened if he hadn't concealed those higher authorities.
That thought alone was enough to make him uncomfortable.
Throughout the entire scanning process, he had nearly interrupted it several times.
Had the Trial attempted to erase one of his things...
He would've activated the mask immediately.
Thankfully...
His authority had protected everything.
Evan slowly looked into the endless white void ahead.
"So..."
"What exactly does an EX+ Trial look like?"
For the first time in a long while...
Even he couldn't predict what awaited him.
Almost as if answering his thoughts...
The final notification appeared.
[Trial preparation complete.]
[Host may now proceed.]
[The Nexus wishes the Host success.]
The instant the words faded...
Space itself twisted.
Evan disappeared from the white expanse without another sound.
The Trial...
Had officially begun.
...
The moment Evan's trial officially began...
Far away, somewhere within the depths of the Prime Nexus...
Something that resembled an eye turned.
Its pupil moved only slightly, looking toward a place no mortal existence could ever perceive.
It lingered there for the briefest moment.
Then...
It looked away.
That tiny movement alone was enough to shake the surrounding void.
Space fractured.
Invisible cracks spread through the endless darkness as violent ripples raced across the emptiness.
For several terrifying seconds, reality itself seemed on the verge of collapse.
Only after the ruptures slowly repaired themselves did silence return once more.
As though...
Nothing had ever happened.
Meanwhile...
Evan's consciousness returned.
"..."
Everything around him was pitch black.
No light.
No sound.
No sense of direction.
Only an overwhelming darkness that swallowed every trace of awareness.
He instinctively tried to move.
Nothing happened.
His arms refused to respond.
His legs remained completely immobile.
It felt as though his entire body had been tightly sealed inside an iron prison.
A trace of uneasiness crept into his mind.
He immediately called out his system.
Nothing.
No status.
No notifications.
He tried contacting Arven.
Still nothing.
Complete silence.
His thoughts rapidly recalled his previous experiences.
During his first life...
His SSS-ranked Swordsman Trial had thrown him into the middle of a brutal battlefield.
He had started as nothing more than a nameless foot soldier, surviving countless wars before finally clearing the Trial.
His second life had been much kinder.
An SS-ranked Trial.
He had awakened as the young master of a mid-grade clan before subduing a Level 95 beast and defending his territory from a thousand-beast horde.
Difficult...
But manageable.
This...
Was completely different.
He couldn't even move.
"Where the hell am I...?"
His voice barely escaped his lips.
The moment he spoke...
His chest tightened.
Breathing suddenly became far more difficult.
"..."
Evan immediately stopped talking.
A cold feeling spread throughout his body.
He tried feeling his surroundings.
Every direction met the same result.
A solid surface.
Above.
Below.
Left.
Right.
There wasn't even enough room to stretch his fingers.
His heartbeat gradually accelerated.
Just then...
He sensed something.
A faint connection.
Far above him.
"...My summons?"
His eyes widened.
He could clearly feel several of his undead.
But...
They weren't beside him.
They were...
Above him.
Evan's expression instantly froze.
An impossible thought surfaced inside his mind.
He extended his senses through the connection.
Several seconds later...
His face stiffened.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
He wasn't trapped inside a prison.
Nor inside a cave.
He was...
Buried.
Nearly eight feet beneath the ground.
For the first time since entering the Trial...
Even Evan felt genuine despair.
"No..."
"No, no, no..."
He immediately issued a command through his soul connection.
Every skeleton under his control instantly began tearing through the earth from above.
Meanwhile...
Evan remained completely trapped below.
The surrounding soil pressed against whatever confined him.
Every passing second...
The remaining air grew thinner.
His breathing became heavier.
His consciousness slowly started blurring around the edges.
Waiting wasn't an option.
If they arrived even a little too late...
He would suffocate before the Trial truly began.
His vision gradually dimmed.
Then...
A familiar notification finally appeared before his eyes.
[Ding!]
[Host Trial Initiated.]
[Trial Rating: EX+ (Tier 0)]
Another panel appeared beneath it.
[Current Objective: Survive]
Evan's pupils contracted.
One final notification appeared.
[Mission:Come Out Alive.]
[Description:...]
"..."
He stared blankly at the incomplete description.
Then slowly closed his eyes.
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
"...I'm really screwed this time."