''The Test of Will...'' one of the Academy staff mused inwardly as she watched the current participants taking on that challenge.


    ''It''s a test where the participants are forced to face the things that they are running away from. It drags them by the hair to confront their worst nightmares, forcing them to face their worst fears.''


    ''This test broke numerous participants since it was established.'' She sighed, ''Turning them to numbskulls, wimps, or even worse, dead.''


    ''It will force people to confront the things that they throw at the very far back of their minds so that they can function daily. It will force them to face their insecurities, their fears, their personal hell...''


    ''The illusions aren''t just limited to worst experiences either. Sometimes, it would show the participants a scene where everything about their life has gone horribly wrong, and will force them to live that kind of life.''


    ''It doesn''t help the illusions are incredibly life-like too. Any sane person would fold under this constant pressure. This was the injuries that we talked about, and it''s also something that we could easily heal. Additionally, the higher you climb, the worse it gets.''


    She watched as all 10 participants paused at different stages of the steps with a curious gaze.


    ''At first, I too was puzzled as to why the Headmaster included this test.'' She sighed inwardly, ''I was also included amongst the party who voted against adding this test. Later on, though, I would realize that we were a fool for not recognizing the benefit behind this test.''


    ''All of us have confronted our own versions of hell. Whether that be in the form of Hell Dives or things like this, the Test of Will.''


    ''In essence, we are in the constant flux of war. Either with the demons or with ourselves.''


    ''Willpower is an ethereal force. Nobody could truly exin just how exactly works. You don''t get that just by being foolishly brave or unafraid of dying. It depends on how you chose to live your life so far.''


    ''If we want to raise Young Heroes to be the future pirs of Humanity in hopes of ending this....overdrawn war with the Demons, they must have a strong will, an indomitable one would be even better!''


    ''Because only by possessing a sharp will would one be able to resist the extreme temptations of the Demons.''


    ''With a fortified mind, one could walk the path of the extreme and see the path beyond the stars.''


    She then saw Cedric, the true star of this batch of participants, climbing up the 4th step. She nodded after seeing theplex emotions suffusing from his gaze and a smile appeared on her wizened face.


    ''Indeed...don''t be afraid of your emotions, don''t throw them away. Allow yourself to feel them, to express them. Nurture them, and master them. It is what makes us humans, after all.''


    ''This young man isn''t bad, indeed.'' She inwardly smiled, ''I reckon that the reclusive folks out there are now looking forward to his matriction.''


    ''But you still have a long way to go, Young Man. These flight of stairs came from a torn corner of the real thing, after all.''


    ****


    As Cedric climbs up the stairs, the illusions he faces are bing more and more convincing. They were bing too good for his senses to notice, and that resulted in him sinking deeper and deeper.


    Each time he extricates himself out of a scene, memories of what he experiencede rushing at him, making him feelplex.


    In the 3rd step, he was forced to re-live his memory of facing the Demonized Harold. And despite feeling absolutely horrible about it, he ended up still bringing him peace by ending his suffering.


    He has already moved on from this but that doesn''t make the memory less painful than it did during the first time.


    In the 4th step, the illusions lulled him into the opposite spectrum of his emotions. He relived a peaceful memory where his family was still alive. They were spending a leisurely time together at a pic with his parentsughing at his and his siblings'' shenanigans.


    He felt so warm, so contented, and so peaceful that he became extremely reluctant to part with it, even after realizing that this was just another illusion.


    Real or not, the warmth he felt was there, and oh how he missed that so much. However, as much as he wanted to stay in that ce, he had to leave it behind and continue. His work hasn''t even started yet so he couldn''t afford to settle down.


    In the 5th step, he was given an insight into his future. He saw a scene of him bing one of the most prominent figures of Humanity. He''s apanied by several wives and together, they lead Humanity into a brighter tomorrow.


    This scene gave him immense satisfaction and contentment, but at the same time, it also bred stagnation. Since he was already at the top of the world, what else is there for him to achieve?


    In that memory, he already expelled the demons and cleansed the world of filth, turning it to its original state. There''s nothing more for him to achieve aside fromzing around and raising his kids.


    Although he was immensely satisfied with his achievements, the feeling of stagnation poisoned his mind but it was also the factor that woke him up from this dream, allowing him to extricate himself out of this powerful illusion.


    Upon regaining rity and returning to the real world, he paused his climb for a moment. He allowed himself to sort out his memories so far and acknowledge everything he felt.


    He didn''t rationalize his decisions nor did he criticize the versions of him in those scenes. He merely allowed himself to feel theplex emotions he felt.


    Having enough time to rest, he nced behind him and saw that only five of them were left at the flight of stairs. ncing outside, he saw the retired participants with hollowed looks on their faces.


    Whatever they saw or experienced during their climb must''ve really gotten to their system. Even from where he was, he could feel theplex emotions they were trying to suppress, just so that they could function again.


    Shaking his head, he decided to climb up the 6th step and as soon as he did so, he had forgotten everything about himself.


    In this scene, Old Bull was present once more but instead of handing his te to him, Old Bull chose to give it to Harold instead. Simply put, in this scene, Harold was the one who inherited the Godking''s Eyes.


    He watched as his friend soared up to the clouds. Reaching absurd levels of strength he never thought possible. Harold brought him up with him, giving him plenty of opportunities and lucky encounters because of old feelings.


    However, Cedric''s sarcastic and bitter outlook in life just became several times worsepared to before. It came to a point where, somehow, he took Harold''s kindness as an act of humiliation, causing him to start hating the only person, who was still alive, who cared for his well-being.


    By the end, he colluded with the Demons by joining the cult. His work caused too much pain and agony to the world and even reached the point where he became the turning point of the war.


    He ripped Harold''s heart and ate it, he then drank all of his blood, sucked his marrows clean, and imnted the eyes that he inherited from the Godking.


    That was the highest point in Cedric''s life but that''s also its end, because at the same moment he reced his eyes, his entire being exploded into a bloody mist because of the tiny wisp of the Godking''s will that''s still present in the eyes, rebuked his existence.


    Cedric jolted awake, he was sweating coldly and his heartbeat was a mess. Shockingly though, he was still on the 6th step, meaning that he''s not out of thepetition just yet.


    Just like before, Cedric felt a rush of memories hitting him. As usual, he took all of the memories in with an open mind. He embraced all the awful things he had done and turned them into a lesson.


    Of course, it wasn''t as easypared to the previous ones but Cedric had time and he wasn''t in a rush. By now, he didn''t care about the test at all, his priority lies with restoring his peace of mind.


    If he was expelled from the test because of this, so be it. This test wouldn''t make a difference in his end result anyway.


    By the time he reached the 7th step, Isabe and Garrick reached the 5th and were eliminated right after.


    And just like Cedric, they didn''t care about their results because they were too upied by the things they saw at the 5th step.


    In the end, only Cedric was left. He moved on steadily, one step at a time until he arrived at the 10th and final step where he was expelled as soon as he was done assorting the memories he gained from there.