Trial of the Sun

Fran turned her head to the side, straining to make out what the dark figure was in the light, but the intense light made it impossible for her to see anything.

Seemingly noticing that Fran was looking in their direction, the shadowy figure continued speaking even though Fran hadn't spoken:

"Let's head back first. There's no point in you charging straight in like this; you'll only lose your life in the Sunflame."

As he spoke, the dark figure strode quickly to the back, while Fran pondered for a moment before turning around and walking away.

Fran followed the shadowy figure, wanting to see what insights the other party had.

When the two returned to the spot where Fran had seen it as soon as she arrived, Fran finally saw the full form of the dark figure.

The other person was wearing a suit of armor covered in rust, but some details revealed that the armor was originally yellow.

The surface of this armor is not smooth, but has many inexplicable protrusions and depressions, which are neatly arranged on the armor.

The other person was wearing a full-coverage helmet, Fran couldn't see anything like an observation hole; it seemed that the helmet itself was the other person's face.

Just then, the armored man in front of Fran suddenly turned his head and slowly moved to the right on the red soil. Fran knew that this was to prevent the temperature in their area from rising rapidly.

Fran started moving along with the movement, and just then, the armored man in front of Fran spoke.

What do you want here?

Fran replied without hesitation:

"I have come here to undergo the Trial of the Sun."

After Fran said those words, the armored man remained silent for a moment. Just when Fran thought he hadn't heard her, the armored man suddenly spoke.

"You've come at the right time, but also at the wrong time."

Fran didn't know what the armored man was trying to say with such a riddle, and just as she was about to ask, the armored man continued:

"You can call me Zali. I'm the Domain Lord, and I happen to have the Trial of the Sun that you need."

Fran was overjoyed to hear this; the Trial of the Sun could be completed here, which was exactly what she feared most—that she would lose it.

Fran had already guessed what the armored man had said earlier; he probably meant that the current Trial of the Sun might be very difficult.

But it doesn't matter, as long as she found this place, that's enough. She's not afraid of how difficult the Trial, she's just afraid of not finding it.

Zali continued:

"I imagine you're quite pleased that you've found this Trial of the Sun, but I must tell you that finding it doesn't guarantee you'll become Sunflame Knight."

"I don't care if you got the information about the Sun Trial from the Adventurers Guild or from your family's heritage, you want to come here to become Sunflame Knight."

"What you need to know first is that the Trial of the Sun is inherently difficult; you need to master the Arts of Sunflame to have any chance of passing it."

"However, the real difficulty you encounter is not the Trial of the Sun itself, but comes from elsewhere."

Fran raised her head in confusion, looking at Zali's helmet, which remained motionless.

"What do you mean? The difficulties come from other places."

"Yes, the Trial of the Sun may be difficult in itself, but no Sunflame Knight has been born in hundreds of years, mainly due to other factors."

"What are the other impacts, then?"

"I can't tell you that right now, because it's best if you don't know such things."

"All I can say now is, do you really want to participate in the Trial of the Sun?"

"Remember what I said, you only have one chance to pass the Trial of the Sun. If you fail, it will be the same as death."

Hearing this extremely enigmatic conversation, Fran frowned, keenly sensing that there was more to the other person's words than met the eye, as if...

"I'd better not know... So, can I find out later and then refuse the Trial?"

"Can."

Fran looked at the other person speechlessly after hearing this answer.

Then she said directly:

"Then let's be direct. I still want to know more before making a decision."

Fran initially thought it was something serious, but judging from Zali's attitude, it didn't seem like a big deal, not something Fran could never turn back from once she found out.

"Then I'll speak. I think you should know about the gods who have a significant presence in the Spirit Realm, right?"

"Know."

Zali paused for a moment, then said:

"That's the problem. The gods don't want any new Sunflame Knight to appear here."

"Why?" Fran asked curiously, eager to know the answer.

Zali's words were very informative, making her eager to know the reason.

"I don't know either. Perhaps the Gods, being stars, were jealous of the sun's Radiance."

Fran raised her hand, but after thinking for a moment, she lowered it. After all, she still needed to extract information from the other party, and couldn't just go up and kill him like that.

"Tell me specifically how the Gods prevented me from completing the Trial of the Sun."

Zali glanced at Fran at this moment before continuing:

"Because this is the Spirit Realm, and the Sunflame Knight is a second-tier Profession, the Gods have taken advantage of the Spirit Realm's rules to include the Trial of the Sun in the Spirit Realm's Promotion Trial."

"If you choose to begin the Trial, you will be participating in it alongside those undergoing Promotion Trial Trial some additional Spirit Realm Traveler who have been brought in. During this process, you will have to compete with these people to complete the Trial."

"But the Gods' intervention is not limited to this. You will not only undergo Trial with these people, but you will also face an even more terrifying group—the Gods ' Proxy."

"Due to the characteristics of a second-tier Profession, all those Proxy of the Gods will also be First Order Profession."

"However, you must not underestimate these Proxy of the Gods. At lower levels, the power they receive from the gods is extremely strong, far exceeding that of ordinary First Order Profession."

"They are even stronger than those First Order lords in the Material Realm who have received the blessing of their territories. Sometimes they can contend with second-tier lords with just their First Order Order."

"They will obey the Deity ' command and, once the Trial begins, hunt down those Profession who are not Proxy, causing them to fail in this Trial."

"After the Trial ends, they will collect everyone's faces and then, through special Deity means, pinpoint your location in the Material Realm."

"After failing the Trial of the Sun, you must wait three years before you can attempt it again. But before that, you will be killed in the Material Realm by those Proxy."

"So, do you still want to undergo the Trial? If you Trial, I will help you."

When Zali uttered his last words, his voice carried a hint of melancholy, for he was being targeted by the Proxy of the Gods.

Over the centuries, he witnessed countless people who aspired to advancement die at the hands of those Proxy, and even with his best efforts to help them, not a single one succeeded.

Nevertheless, Zali did not give up. He respected everyone who came here wanting to try the Sun Trial, and if they wanted to try, he would do his best to help them.

After hearing these words, Fran thought for a moment and then asked:

"Does it mean that each time, those Proxy of God kill those who are not Proxy first, and then they kill each other?"

Zali kept his gaze fixed on Fran, then said:

"Yes, each time the Proxy enter the Trial, they count the number of people and then attack those who are not Proxy."

"After those who are not Proxy are killed, although some of them will fight among themselves, they will not generally kill each other to the last person."

"Sometimes they simply find a place and pray to the Deity to let them out, while others fight there, and some even try to complete the Trial of the Sun, but that's useless; they won't gain anything."

"What those Proxy do after killing non- Proxy is irrelevant to the difficulties you're facing. You should focus more on passing the Trial of the Sun before those Proxy kill you."

This is certainly related to Fran, because Fran is now the Proxy of the Lord of Radiance, and she is wondering if she can infiltrate the Proxy's ranks to make it easier for her to pass the Trial.

Perhaps she should talk to the Lord of Radiance about this, although judging from the information the Lord of Radiance Lord of Radiance given her before, he was unaware of this matter.

Otherwise, if the Lord of Radiance was also one of the Deity who wanted to prevent the birth of the Sunflame Knight, then the Lord of Radiance should know that there was Trial of the Sun within the Sun Domain.

Either the Lord of Radiance wants her to become Sunflame Knight and will tell her directly that there is Trial of the Sun here, or the Lord of Radiance doesn't want her to become Sunflame Knight, in which case the Lord of Radiance should not tell Fran anything.

The Lord of Radiance told her this, but didn't mention that there was indeed a Trial of the Sun inside, which means that the Lord of Radiance truly didn't know there was Trial of the Sun here.

Perhaps she could infiltrate the Trial through the Lord of Radiance, using the identity of his Proxy, and then complete it secretly.

Of course, the specific details would need to be determined after understanding the situation, but given these favorable conditions, Fran ultimately decided to participate in the Trial.

After all, it's hard to find a second-tier melee Profession advancement, not to mention that the Sunflame Knight Profession looks incredibly powerful, and Fran, as a mage, is also curious about the Sunflame Knight and the sun.

This gave her no reason not to participate in the Trial, so she said directly:

"I want to participate in the Trial of the Sun, how exactly do I do that?"

Zali looked at Fran with a complicated expression, feeling both happy and sad.

The good news is that after ten years, finally someone is willing to accept the Sun Trial; everyone before him chickened out when he explained the consequences.

Sadly, he didn't believe Fran could pass such Trial; she would only die because of Trial.

"Trial must be reported to the Spirit Realm a week in advance; this is the mechanism of the Spirit Realm's Trial..."