YM778.TV Chapter 202: Zodiac Trials
They\'re a group of legendary people who made large contributions to Humanity\'s survival...
A few examples would be: the Aquarius Saint discovering a way to cleanse the putrid rivers of Azure Terra, making it safe for humans to consume. The Cancer Saint developing a cure for a Demonic Plague that killed millions of civilians and Superhumans. The Capricorn Saint preserves Azure Terra\'s nature.
And the 1st Leo Saint who broke through the Planar Traveller Realm, the first one to do so and inform Humanity about it.
And these are just to name a few. Some saints had multiple achievements throughout their lives and each one is just as valuable to Humanity as the last.
Cedric never had a direct connection to the Zodiacs before. In fact, he only knew they existed thanks to his System Authority being high, allowing him to gain access to their biography.
Well, there was one time that he had an encounter with one, even then it wasn\'t a direct involvement. Back at the Black Thread City, he discovered a cult base, and apparently, members of that particular branch hate the current Leo Saint. This was as far as he knew though. Cedric had other things on his plate so he didn\'t pay much attention to these people.
Now, he kind of has to, especially because he\'s about to take the Zodiac Trials - something that the Zodiac Saints left because apparently, they\'re alumni students of this academy as well.
The Zodiac Trials could be found in the Astral Observatory...a place that Cedric hasn\'t visited before for some reason.
During their first day here, Orion gave them a tour and brought them here. However, they didn\'t go in, he just brought them to the entrance to show it and then moved on.
It\'s not like he had completely forgotten about it. He just didn\'t see any reason to come here since he had other ways to increase his strength and earn academic points - things that the trials provide for their challengers.
He heard some people from his batch coming here to train but Cedric mostly ignored it because, once again, he was too occupied with his stuff.
The Astral Observatory was a large and stocky building with a domed ceiling. Upon arriving here, Cedric could see a couple of people going in and out of the building, most likely challengers of the Zodiac Trials as well.
He also saw a couple of his batchmates here and there, they nodded at him in greeting - which was how it had been since their time at the army, Cedric\'s image became well-known to them after all.
The guardian asked for his credentials so he showed it, after that he was allowed entrance to the building. Once inside, he immediately saw how this was gonna go.
Looking above, he saw several stained glass portraits of Zodiac Symbols. The dome-shaped ceiling was equally divided into 12, each panel depicting a certain Zodiac Sign.
The interior of the building was circular as well. Overall, think of a half-capsule shape divided into 12 equal parts. At the very center, there\'s a podium and a stand. On top of that stand, there is a stone tablet with words carved on its surface.
Cedric was drawn to that so he went there first. The stone tablet contains the rules and regulations of this place. Nothing surprising, just the usual; no fighting allowed, no cheating in the trials, no littering, etc. The tablet looks old though, probably created during the foundation of this academy, that\'s why it\'s preserved like this.
There were no hints available for the contents of the Zodiac Trials. Cedric figured that he could probably ask Chrissy and Erica about it, but where is the fun in that?
Cedric has been observing his surroundings. Through that, he learned how to enter the trials. But the question is...which one does he pick?
\'Hmm, why don\'t I give each one a try? There are no rules against that. That should give me an idea of which one to pick.\'
This idea sounded good to Cedric so that\'s exactly what he did. He walked up to the Leo Sign corner and closed his eyes. The System\'s emotionless voice echoed in his mind, asking him if he wanted to enter Leo\'s Trial and he responded yes.
He then felt himself being transported somewhere else. When he opened his eyes, he discovered that he was standing on a peaceful prairie and there was a phantom standing not too far from him.
Above him, the system window appeared. It displayed the contents of the trial, and Leo\'s Trial was:
[Struggle with Leo: Meet the 1st Leo\'s Phantom in a clash of steel and push him back. You have 30 minutes to do so.]
After reading that, Cedric\'s gaze landed on the Leo\'s Phantom. Even though its features were mostly obscured, Cedric could fill out the rest.
This phantom takes after the silhouette of the 1st Leo Saint - a 7-foot-tall man with bulging muscles and, most likely, dark-skinned. His upper body was bare and covered with all sorts of scars. He had long wild hair that nearly reached his buttocks and he was wearing loose pants while holding a poleaxe.
Cedric could feel the aggression emanating from this phantom. He isn\'t one to stereotype but this one was too obvious. A combat nut, just like Garrick, of course, his trial would be strength-based.
Sighing to himself, Cedric took out Solaris Edge. He didn\'t bother putting on his armor because it wasn\'t necessary. He accepted the challenge and a countdown started. Once the countdown was over, what followed with a quick exchange.
The 1st Leo\'s phantom charged towards him with his poleaxe raised. Cedric remained on his spot and received the blow without so much as a flinch. He used a single hand to hold his sword and when their steel clashed, sparks flew out. The struggle occurred for half a second before Cedric exerted his strength to push the phantom back.
He didn\'t just push him back though, he made the phantom fly out of his sight, dissipating into nothingness once it hit the ground.
This marked his clearance of the 1st stage of Leo\'s Trial.
To Cedric\'s surprise though, he was rewarded with plenty of APs; he received 1000 APs for clearing it, he also received a bonus for killing the phantom, amounting to 500 APs, and finally, for clearing the 1st stage in under a minute, he received another 1000 APs.
That\'s 2500 APs in total. For regular students, that is a lot! To Cedric though? This much was enough to buy him 10 kilograms of Tier 5 material, which isn\'t a lot considering how much he needs. He ain\'t complaining though, APs are APs, and he wouldn\'t say no to more.
He was asked if he wanted to move to the next stage but Cedric refused. He exited the trial and found himself returning to the Astral Observatory.
Next, he moved on to Capricorn\'s Trial and it was a mountain hike. The task was to reach a certain distance up the mountain within a time limit and under gravity squared. That was nothing to Cedric so he cleared it in record time.
FTL movement ignores gravity since it operates under Astral Laws. Thanks to this, he received another hefty sum of APs.
Cedric proceeded just like that, entering the Zodiac Trials one by one to discover what they were all about.
And just to name a few: Aries\' Trials was a gauntlet run, and Cancer\'s trials were to experience illnesses and survive for a certain amount of time. Libra\'s trials was to memorize things. Gemini\'s Trials was a \'Spot the Difference\' game...and so on.
After an hour, Cedric finished clearing all 1st Stages of the 12 Zodiac Trials, earning him loads of APs, he even received a bonus for clearing all 1st stages as well.
Right now, Cedric was taking his pick. The requirements to be promoted state that he only needed to clear the 3rd stage of any 2 of the 12 Zodiac Trials.
\'I\'ll pick Leo\'s and Scorpio\'s Trials.\' Cedric mused to himself, \'Leo\'s because it\'s plain and simple, and Scorpio\'s because it is fun.\'
Scorpio\'s Trials was a \'dodgeball\' game. Just change the \'ball\' into poisoned stingers that could cause soul injuries and that\'s pretty much it.
While some people would be terrified to take this trial, Cedric does not. He had the Eyes of a Godking and could move faster than light at this point. He could see the stingers before they even appear to his naked vision and predict their movements. His speed was way faster than those too so this was just a fun game for Cedric.
Since he had made his decision and he had time to spare, he went in directly. Why postpone it later if he could finish it now?
He returned to Leo\'s Trial and clashed with the phantom up until the 3rd Stage. Doing so was effortless on Cedric and he cleared it easily. Following that was Scorpio\'s Trial and honestly, he had fun dodging those scary stingers.
After another hour, he\'s done. He already left a record of clearance so he didn\'t stay here. Now, he just needs to wait for the Academy\'s e-mail informing him that he\'s promoted to a Sophomore Student.