The Clueless Prince

Chapter 28: The Mystic Legacy Trial (Pt. 5)

A/N: I think sleeping super late is starting to get to me. I'm exhausted right now and I only edited today... Oh well! Three more chapters left! I'll be taking a nap after this!

I'll be posting the art at the bottom because *cough* spoilers. I have THREE from a (relatively) new reader! More about that in the end.

Enjoy!

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CONTENT WARNING: GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF VIOLENCE AND/OR DEATH! You have been warned.

Ophelia woke up near the ocean. She looked out and saw a large vine tree at the edge. She shook her head.

Every part of her body was screaming at her not to approach it. She began to walk away from it, deep in thought.

She hadn't accomplished much. Not nearly enough. During the 1st trial, she was weighed down by Jain—as guilty as it made her feel to admit that—and in the second trial, she had barely fought off the bats before she returned to space.

So this time, she wanted to do better! The mission for this last trial was... survival. So she just had to survive! It wouldn't be too hard, especially if she stayed out of danger.

She wandered around in place, stumbling upon a large garden. She stared at the fruits and slowly walked around the garden. It was too conspicuous not to be dangerous.

After walking for a while, she stumbled upon a baby chick that chirped for attention—practically begging to be picked up. Ophelia quickly ran away from it. She'd already seen the Rocs in the sky—it was too much of a coincidence, it had to be a trap.

She sighed as she passed by several danger points that had killed countless other students.

"That chicken was so cute too..." she muttered under her breath. But this wasn't the time to be upset. She paused when she thought she spotted a familiar figure. They stood in front of the tall tower, staring at it with wonder.

"Mersana?"

The girl whirled, staring at Ophelia wide-eyed. And then she wore a brilliant smile.

"Ophelia! What a lucky coincidence! Would you like to enter this tower with me?" She eyed the tower and slowly shook her head. But she stopped herself.

Wait. Wasn't this the perfect opportunity to prove her worth!? She had to use this opportunity to improve herself as much as possible—especially with how she still had a scheduled duel with Helm.

"S-sure." Her voice wavered. Mersana's eyebrows twitched but her smile didn't falter.

"That's good, I'm sure the tower might have something valuable inside them, let's go inside!"

She grabbed her hand and dragged her inside, as though scared she might run off. Ophelia let out a sigh as they entered the tower.

They started from the bottom and had to climb to the top. But several rooms stood in their path. Ophelia glanced at Mersana. She was relieved to finally meet someone familiar here. She wanted to know how things had gone for her, but the tension was too thick for her to ask. So she stayed silent, staring ahead as they walked up the flight of stairs.

They stopped, seeing the first room empty, the only traces of a monster being a pool of blood on the ground. The two girls exchanged glances.

Had someone come here before them?

They continued to walk, noticing that the 2nd floor was also empty, and the 3rd floor—

By the time they reached the tenth floor, did they finally hear the sound of clashing metal. They quickly ran up the stairs, running into the room on floor 11. Mersana rushed in first, bursting through the door. She froze, and so did Ophelia.