"That bastard," Darius muttered but there was a grin on his face as he finally understood that Adrian didn’t really think of him as weak.

He just wanted to light that fire of defiance within him, which would them work to send him to this place.

His rival truly was a genius.

Darius didn’t even think to question how Adrian had all that knowledge about a bloodline that anything was barely known about.

The dragon ignored his tone or the curse, and slowly stepped back, its massive form casting a long shadow over him.

{Regardless, you are here now, and that means you will be tested.}

A grin slowly forming on his face, knowing that he would also be granted a chance to awaken it, just as Adrian had promised.

"Finally."

{If you fail,} the dragon continued, {your consciousness will shatter and your body will follow.}

He then cracked his neck slightly, the grin still on his face even as he heard the dragon’s words, "sounds fun, who am I fighting first?"

For a brief moment the dragon went silent before letting out what sounded like a chuckle and saying, {you truly are similar to him.}

{But no,} the dragon continued, {your first trial is not one of strength, instead, it’s a trial of will.}

That confused Darius quite a bit, wasn’t the easiest way to prove one’s worth through a contest of strength?

His line of thinking was simple, if he proved himself strong enough, then the strongest dragon might just choose him.

So what the hell did this geezer dragon mean by a trial of will.

Before more questions could be asked, a glow suddenly appeared beneath both their feet and without giving Darius the chance to react, they disappeared.

***

Darius found himself in what seemed to be a long corridor, the place was completely empty, save for the walls with some type of texts on them.

Well, there was one other thing.

At the far end of the hallway was a single stone slab that was letting out a light blue glow.

"Where am I?" He muttered to himself, and as if an answer to his question, the dragon’s voice was heard in his mind again.

{This is your first trial and the goal is simple,} the dragon said, {reach the end.}

That was all it said before everything went silent, leaving a confused Darius.

"That’s it?" he asked, looking around the empty corridor again.

There were no beasts, nor were there enemies or even traps he could see.

Just a straight path leading to a glowing stone.

"You’re kidding me."

Still, he wasn’t about to complain, after all, the quicker he finished this, the faster he returned.

Though he would’ve very much preferred to fight something instead of just talking a walk in a corridor.

"Fine then," he muttered before rolling his shoulders and stepping forward, "guess I’ll just walk and—"

The moment his foot touched the ground ahead,

BOOM.

A crushing pressure slammed down on him from all directions.

"—gh?!"

Darius’ body immediately bent forward, his knees nearly giving out as the invisible force pressed down on him like a mountain.

"What the hell is this?!"

The pressure was like nothing he had felt before, and it was almost enough to force him to his knees.

Still, Darius remained standing as he took another step forward, finally understanding what this test was about.

This pressure was his obstacle that’d keep him from reaching that rock and he’d be damned if he let this much stop him.

Unfortunately though, the pressure was far from done, because the moment he took the third step, the pressure increased again.

"Gah!" Darius let out as he felt his knees buckle, and they started slightly trembling under him, but still, he refused to kneel or let this pressure stop him.

So he persevered, moving forward step after step, slowly closing the distance between him and the glowing stone slab.

That is, until he reached halfway.

The increase in pressure that had been gradual all this while suddenly spiked and definitely not by a small margin.

The pressure increased by an overwhelming, suffocating amount and the result was immediately visible.

BOOM.

"UGH!!"

Darius’ body slammed into the ground, and he only managed to catch himself with a knee causing a crater to be created beneath it.

His arms trembled violently as he tried to push himself back up which caused his veins to bulge as he forced himself to go against the pressure.

But it was all for naught.

CRACK.

His body was forced further down, his chest nearly pressed against the ground.

"Damn it," he cursed as he tried again, only for the results to remain the same.

As if to add insult to injury, the texts on the wall suddenly started glowing and the next second, Darius heard a familiar voice.

"I told you," the voice said, "you’re nothing but a failure."

It was Adrian’s and it was full of disappointment, but the voices were far from done.

"What a disappointment," another familiar one said, this time, belonging to the Grand Duke, his father.

"Just give up," another said, "accept that you’ll always be mediocre."

There was silence for a while as Darius was fully forced into the ground, and he lay there unmoving.

{....}

It truly seemed as if he had given up, and the dragon was about to end the trial in disappointment, but the next second,

He slowly lifted his head, his red eyes burning despite the pressure trying to force them shut.

"You think... I don’t know that already?"

His fingers dug deeper into the ground and blood began to seep from his palms.

"I know I was weak."

"I know I couldn’t do anything."

His body trembled violently as he forced one arm to push against the ground again.

"But that’s exactly why I’m here."

CRACK.

The ground beneath him cratered as he forced himself up slowly, inch,

"That feeling,"

By inch.

"...that helplessness..."

Until he was back on his knees.

"...I’m never feeling that again."

The pressure seemed to increase again, but this time, it did nothing to completely stop his movement forward.

Yes, it forced him to the ground again, but Darius just started crawling towards the slab, his vision quickly turning blurry.

The moment he was close enough, he lifted a trembling hand and a single finger managed to slightly graze the slab.

But that was enough, because the next second, the pressure vanished completely and Darius immediately collapsed forward, breathing heavily as his body hit the ground.

"...hah... hah..."

His entire body trembled, but there was a grin on his face as he said, "that’s more like it..."

{Congratulations, you have completed your first trial,} the dragon’s voice was heard in his mind again.

"And I’m guessing you’ll give me some time to rest before the next one?" He asked, hopeful that the geezer dragon would.

But its answer quickly came, {no.}

The next second, a glow appeared beneath him and Darius couldn’t help but curse out before disappearing,

"Damn you, geezer dragon!"