‘I could get addicted to this.’ I thought as I looked at my ever increasing Merit Points.

[Statistics: 42 mobs, 61 opponents, 43 rivals defeated]

[Killing grants a 2x multiplier]

[Received: 43900 Merit Points]

[Merit Points: 48700]

Who would’ve known that this was the most efficient way to grind for points. Although I did use a couple hundred mana potions, it was more than worth it.

There was a likely chance that the next couple trials will be able to get me up to 50000 points. Once that happens, I will immediately splurge on the coupon that would get rid of this curse.

I had expected all of this to be a waste of time, but it turns out I was wrong. Not that I was going to thank Merlin or anything.

“If you’re done touching me, then get on with the next trial. “I said as I watched Merlin poking my body as if I were a test subject.

“Hmph, fine.” He said after giving me a hard glare.

Since he was so aggravated, I decided to let him analyze my body as he pleased. He obviously found nothing abnormal about my body condition.

I bet he was thinking something along the lines of, ‘this does not make any sense! Where does his limitless mana come from?!?’ Hehe, I didn’t even need to try in order to figure out his inner monologue. He was just that easy to read.

“The fifth trial will test your mental strength. As long as you can stay awake for a single minute, you pass. It shouldn’t be too hard.” He said.

The surroundings morphed back into a dungeon chamber with a clearly painted number five on the side.

“Start.” Although he said that, was I supposed to just stand here? I didn’t really feel any difference.

Now that I thought of it, he said something about staying awake, right? That was literally the easiest thing for someone like me with the sleepless skill. Falling asleep was an impossibility as long as I was well nourished; I did in fact eat a lot of fish in my last meal, so I was all good.

As I finished thinking about other things, Merlin hit his staff on the ground.

The five on the wall was now a six.

“The sixth trial will be testing your agility and footwork. Being able to dodge attacks is an essential skill for anyone. You can’t use your wings or your weapons. Survive for a minute.”

With a snap of his finger, an arrow suddenly flew at me from the left. As I ducked, I saw yet another arrow coming from the ceiling. It was fast, but I knew I was faster.

Shifting backward, I was able to catch the arrow by the shaft.

Two more arrows came from the sides. Using the arrow in my hand, I parried one of them while avoiding the other. Looking at the place where the arrow landed, it seemed to disappear upon making contact with the wall.

The arrow that I used to parry was half bent, showing that it could no longer be used. I threw on the ground and sure enough, it disappeared with a wisp of smoke.

As I dodged more and more arrows, more arrows were being shot with each round until it became a complete barrage.

It was to the point which not even I would be confident of dodging, but I somehow made it through with my natural flinching reaction. Dodging arrows was surprisingly easy as long as you could see them.

After a couple more rounds of arrows, the trial came to an end with the six on the wall turning into a ten for some reason.

“After all, I have seen today, I admit that you are definitely a special individual. There may actually be a chance that you could clear my dungeon without my help. Which is why I want to propose a deal to you.” He said.

“Originally there are supposed to be four more trials left, but seeing how you easily cleared the first six, I decided to make it much better for you. Since you want to clear my dungeon as fast as you can, how about I make an entirely new trial just for you? In exchange, if you can clear it, not only will I give you my possessions, but I will also pass onto you my Eye of Formations without you becoming my disciple.”

As I was about to ask him what his Eye of Formations was, he said. “Oh, you don’t have a choice in this. From what I saw already, you would have easily cleared the rest of the trials. Since this is the case, I decided to scrap them entirely and create a new one just for you. It wouldn’t be called a trial if it weren’t challenging after all.”

With that said, he snapped his finger and hundreds of colorful magic circles that caused different spells surrounded me.

“The last trial is surviving against my barrage of magic.” He vanished completely, and I could only hear his irritating voice.

Sh*t. Did this con man seriously change the trial because he was scared that I would actually clear them? I get that he had a worthless ego to protect but this was just downright shameless.

So how was I supposed to get out of this array of magic circles? Knowing that my opponent was the 9th Circle Wizard, I knew he was just messing around with me. If he truly wanted to kill me, he would not have invoked the magic circles and would have just cast the spells directly. Did he invoke the magic circles just to intimidate me? How sadistic.

If he actually hit me with all those spells, I knew I was screwed since no amount of healing potions could save me from an instant death. It didn’t matter if I could heal, if I was one-shotted, I was dead.

So how could I get out of this situation? It wasn’t like I could cut through magic, right? Right? Why do I feel like I just triggered some sort of foreshadowing?

[Requirements: Fighting someone far out of your league]

[Requirements have been met]

~~~~~~~~~~

Heaven Defying: Void Severing Scripture(???):

2. Second Sword:

The sky will scatter for your entrance.

Absolute Counter: Cuts through the tangible and intangible.

~~~~~~~~~~