“Comprehend the Initial Stage Mystery permeating in the Trial Space, and use the Artificial Oren around you to create a prototype of the Mystery.”

  “You will be provided with an endless supply of Artificial Oren.”

  “There is no time limit to the Trial. You can experiment and create your prototypes however many times you want.”

  “The Trial will end once you chose to submit your prototype.”

  “You must not summon any natural Mysteries. Any violation will result in disqualification from the Trial.”

  “Perfect clearance condition: Creating a prototype with at least half the effect of the original Mystery.”

  “Record 1: Creating a prototype in 33 minutes, 43 seconds.”

  “Record 2: Creating a prototype in one try.”

  “Record 3: Creating a prototype with 73% of the original Mystery’s effects.”

  “Your Trial will begin at the count of 60.”

  “60.”

  “59.”

  “58…”

  Thirty three minutes. Roughly half an hour. That did not sound like too long. Except, half an hour was the record time, and this was just the first Trial. By the time he would complete the tenth Trial…

  “36.”

  “35.”

  “34…”

  Alnea supressed the doubts in his Heart, and cleared them away. It was not as if he could change the contents of the Trial anyway. Why waste his time thinking about things that were not in his control? It would be better if he thought about the Trial itself, and see if he could break some records.

  “24.”

  “23.”

  “22…”

  Breaking the second record was simply impossible. The first record… It could be broken, but he was not sure. This was his first time encountering Artificial Mysteries. He did not know how long it would take for him comprehend it, and create its prototype. Especially since the Mystery itself would be obscured by the Trial Space. Though the obscurity for the first Trial should not be high.

  “13.”

  “12.”

  “11…”

  Regardless, trying to break the first record would be difficult. The third record though… Maybe it would take some time, but as long as he tried, there was still a chance to create a prototype with better effects. He just had to try to keep his tries to a minimum, and complete the prototype as soon as possible.

  “3.”

  “2.”

  “1.”

  “0.”

  The blood red panel floating in front of him shattered, with its shards spreading out, and falling towards the ground ever so slowly, like little flakes of snow, drifting on the wind, melting into the darkness around him before they could actually touch the ground. The Trial Space did not wait for the shards to completely fade away though, erupting with a bright white light, forcibly dispersing the darkness, creating an endless expanse of white.

  Usually, this was where the Trial Space’s transformation would end. But not this time. As Alnea looked around, reorienting himself in the white world, searching for the promised Mystery, a strange, orangish fog began materialising around him, expanding endlessly in all directions, until it had covered every part of the Trial Space.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Artificial Oren? Probably. It was not as dense as the Oren of Origin Sea. And it did not sap away his Spirit Power when he tried to move around either. Yet, what else but Artificial Oren could explain endless nature of the fog? Or the strange phenomena that began materialising in different parts of the fog?

  Just like only Oren could bear direct manifestation of Mysteries, similarly, only Artificial Oren should be able to bear direct manifestation of Artificial Mysteries. Even the way that the fog stood absolutely still, not being affected by his movements, was the same as Oren of the Origin Sea. Most importantly, there was nothing else in the Trial Space which could be described as either Oren or Mysteries.

  Having confirmed what the fog around him was, Alnea did not hesitate in stepping forward towards one of the areas where the fog was behaving strangely. Unlike the rest of the fog, which stood still, the part in front of him was showing signs of abnormal movement, as if it was being manipulated by some unknown forces. The Artificial Mystery.

  Or so Alnea assumed, and was proven correct when he stepped into the part of the fog behaving strangely. The way that the fog moved—No, the fog itself was not moving. It were the small particles making up the fog that were moving around. They were still confined to the layer they belonged though. Just like—

  And just like that, the small particles were gone, leaving behind smooth layers of fog. The strange but familiar way of changing forms… It was Oren, alright. Even if it was Artificial, it was still Oren. And the way it moved around was depicting the Artificial Mystery. He just had to figure out what those strange movements represented, and then recreate those movements.

  But first, he had to observe those movements. That was the first step of comprehending Mysteries. Observing. And so, he Cleared his Heart, emptying his mind of all thoughts, except for the strange movements of the fog around him. From a ripple to a wave, and from waves to a cacophony of superposing waves, vibrating with enough strength to tear apart the layer of the Oren itself, creating the illusion of small particles that he had seen earlier.

  It was just an illusion though. Oren never existed as particles. Even if external forces tore it down, it existed only as a smaller form of a larger whole. So, when the cacophony of waves, with their source having been extinguished with the layer of Oren being torn down, died away, the smaller droplets of Oren came together, and created a smooth whole once again, marking the end of a cycle.

  A rather simple and crude cycle compared to the cycles of Mysteries he had seen in the Origin Sea. Then again, what else could he expect from an Artificial Mystery. The Mystery may be of Initial Stage in name, but in terms of its effect and strength, it could be compared with only Seed Ranked Mysteries at best. But that did not mean that he looked down on the Mystery.

  On the contrary, Alnea was looking forward to comprehending the Mystery. It was his first Artificial Mystery, after all. And unlike the Origin Sea, where he had to be careful with every step that he took, and every move that he made, he could let go of all his worries in the Trial Space and concentrate solely on comprehending the Mystery.

  Once, twice, thrice… He could comprehend the Mystery as many times as he wished, comparing his new comprehension with his old one, constantly making changes, until he comprehended the entire Mystery. Though that would probably take a long time. A long, long time. It would be better to restrict his comprehension sessions to three or four times. That should be enough to gain more than just a simple perfect clearance.

  Having made up his mind, Alnea did not hesitate to reach out the layer of Oren around him, and brushed his fingers over its surface, trying to interact with—

  It began with a ripple, creating a disturbance in the quiet and calm of the void, flowing along its surface like a wave. And as a wave of the void, it inherited the characteristics of the void. Quiet, calm, and domineering. So, when it met another wave of its kind, created by another ripple some distance away, it refused to back down, clashing head on with its counterpart. And it was not alone.

  In the void that it was part of, there were countless other existences of its kind. Waves, as they were called. And without fail, all of them were clashing with each other, vying for their dominance, proving themselves to stand at the top. Unfortunately, there was no top. For the void, all were equal. And they were all part of the void. So, when they tried to tear each other, they were not just tearing themselves, they were also tearing the void itself.

  They never realised the folly of their ways though, tearing each other, until they finally ceased to exist. The void though… It was omnipotent. Even if the world itself would cease to exist, the void would still exist. How could some mere disobedient waves bring it down? At best, they just tore a hole in its fabric. A hole, that it soon patched up, returning back to its smooth self. And so, the cycle began anew.

  Ripple, waves, collision, destruction, hole, and patching. A cycle, that perfectly embodied the Artificial Mystery permeating the Trial Space. Though, from what he saw and understood, the phenomenon he experienced was not so much as a Mystery than an expression of the Void’s Rule. But that was probably because the Artificial Mystery’s inherent flaw, and its low level.

  Regardless, since the Trial Space had deemed it as a Mystery, then it was a Mystery. All that he had to do was to comprehend its essence, and figure out how it worked, before creating its prototype. Which he could do right away. The Mystery was not too complicated, after all. And its obscurity had not reached to a level where he could not comprehend it on his first try. It was just that he was not ready to create a prototype just yet.

  Although he had understood the Mystery’s expression, and had confidence to create a prototype right away, he was not sure if it would be enough to meet the requirements of the Trial. Even if he could pass the Trial, he would probably not gain a perfect clearance, let alone break a record. Though, if he picked up his pace, and stopped caring about how effective the prototype would be, then might just have a chance of breaking the first record.

  Then again, what was the point of creating such a useless prototype? To pass the Trial? Get a better score? And what would he do with a better score? Maybe, it would help him in the city, but once he left the Black Desert, everything about the city would lose its meaning. All that would be left with him would be his experiences, and the fact that he dared to disrespect a Mystery. Even if that Mystery was Artificial, it was still a Mystery. An inherent, and a sacred part of the path of Arcanists.