Looking at the vivid portraits and the legendary deeds recorded beneath them, Marcus felt his blood stir. Glory, fame, overwhelming strength—these were the things people chased in every era.

As for becoming a hero, he didn’t particularly care one way or the other. But strength was different. Power was something he absolutely wanted. After all, every hero possessed incredible strength, and without strength, becoming a hero was impossible in the first place.

The Temple of Dragon’s Peak Citadel only had five High Clerics, so finding the person responsible for class change trials wasn’t difficult. Before long, Marcus arrived at the Great Bell Hall, where High Cleric Lonely Bell presided.

"Elder Lonely, I’m here for the Level 50 class change trial."

Inside the hall stood a middle-aged man who gave off the gentle, approachable air of a kindly grandfather. Although he looked to be around fifty years old, this was actually one of the Temple’s five High Clerics, Lonely Bell. Despite being one hundred and thirty-three years old, years spent immersed in music and divine arts had left surprisingly few traces of age on his appearance.

"Stonehaven, you’ve already reached Level 50’s threshold?"

Lonely Bell looked Marcus over and quickly confirmed that his Level 49 experience bar had reached 100%, a look of genuine surprise crossing his face.

"Heh." Marcus chuckled. ’If anything, my progress has been slower than expected.’

Opening the level rankings, he saw that RogueTheory, the player in second place, was still only Level 47. The Level 49 bottleneck was no joke. Even with nonstop grinding, reaching Level 50 would probably take RogueTheory another ten days or more. As for third place, that player was only Level 45. Marcus honestly couldn’t understand how people who seemed to spend every waking hour online were still leveling so slowly.

"Very impressive."

Lonely Bell studied him more carefully, unable to hide the admiration in his eyes. For some reason, he felt that the young knight standing before him possessed extraordinary potential. Even the so-called peerless geniuses of the continent, figures like Dreamland’s Jade Maiden, Princess Celeste herself, might not necessarily surpass him.

His gaze drifted toward the hero portraits displayed outside the hall, and a thought quietly surfaced in his mind. Perhaps the long-peaceful Dreamland Continent was finally about to produce another hero worthy of legend. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to directly examine a Chosen One’s innate talents. Otherwise, he might have been tempted to forget his status as a High Cleric and secretly investigate Marcus’s attributes for himself.

"Elder Lonely, can we begin the trial?" Seeing the man staring into space for several seconds without speaking, Marcus finally broke the silence. For a moment, he wondered whether something had gone wrong.

"Ah, yes. Of course." Lonely Bell quickly gathered his thoughts and returned to the matter at hand. "Stonehaven, once a warrior’s experience reaches 100% at Level 49, they must complete a class change trial. Only by passing the trial can they break through the bottleneck, advance to Level 50, and seek out their class instructor for their second class advancement."

Marcus immediately caught something odd. Passing the trial allowed advancement to Level 50, but what happened if someone failed? Before he could ask, Lonely Bell continued.

"The trial you receive is determined at random. Strike the Great Bell beside me, and your trial details will be revealed. Trial difficulties are divided into four categories: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Special Hard. Easy has a ten percent chance of appearing. Medium accounts for thirty-five percent. Hard accounts for fifty-two percent. The remaining three percent belong to Special Hard trials."

"Elder Lonely, does a higher difficulty mean better rewards?" Marcus asked immediately, his eyes lighting up. At the same time, he began wondering whether he should try his luck and aim for a Special Hard trial. Three percent wasn’t much, but he had always been fairly confident in his luck.

"Rewards?" Lonely Bell looked at him with obvious confusion. "Stonehaven, a trial only has two possible outcomes: success or failure. If you succeed, you advance. If you fail, you don’t. Why would there be rewards?"

Marcus stared at him. "Not even a little?"

"None," Lonely Bell answered with complete certainty.

Marcus was speechless. ’How stingy can this system possibly be?’ He had completely misunderstood the situation. If there were no rewards tied to difficulty, then the best outcome was obviously getting an Easy trial and clearing it without any trouble. Why would anyone voluntarily want a harder one? With his luck, though, getting an Easy or Medium trial shouldn’t be too much to ask.

While Marcus was silently adjusting his expectations, Lonely Bell continued explaining. "Every trial has a time limit. Complete the objective within that limit, and if your experience remains at 100% of Level 49, I will immediately advance you to Level 50. If you complete the trial but your experience falls below 100% during the process, you only need to restore it to full afterward. Once you do, I can still advance you."

"And if I fail?" Marcus asked. By this point, he could already tell that reaching Level 50 wasn’t going to be simple.

"If you fail, your level will drop below the Level 49 threshold. There is no additional punishment from the system. You simply regain the lost experience and attempt the trial again. However, if you fail while your experience is currently capped at Level 49, the system will automatically reduce you to 100% experience at Level 48. You will need to level up again before making another attempt."

Marcus nodded slowly. That was harsh. Passing meant advancement, while failing meant losing at least an entire level. And because Level 49 was a bottleneck level with extremely slow experience gain, recovering from a failed attempt would likely take several days of grinding.

No wonder so many players were stuck. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how significant this mechanic was. It would create constant movement on the level rankings. Some players would break through immediately, while others might fail repeatedly and fall behind. The competition at the top would become much more unpredictable. And perhaps most importantly, since trial difficulty offered no extra rewards, players lucky enough to receive an Easy trial held a genuine advantage. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"For the Level 50 trial, there is one exception," Lonely Bell said, raising a finger. "If a person fails eight consecutive attempts, the system will automatically allow them to advance to Level 50." As he spoke, he pointed toward the enormous bell standing beside him. "Stonehaven, if you’re ready, strike the bell and receive your trial."

"I’m ready," Marcus nodded confidently. With the strength he currently possessed, he had no reason to be nervous.

Without hesitation, he walked up to the Great Bell and struck it.

Bong!

A deep chime echoed through the hall. The massive bell trembled lightly, and moments later its polished surface rippled like water. A screen of light slowly appeared, revealing the details of Marcus’s class change trial.