Averting his gaze over to his system logs, Shinto was greeted by the rows of notifications post-battle. Soon after, he scanned through the messages.

[ The (Weakened Vision of the Devourer of Flames, Refrinz) has been defeated! ]

[ You have obtained (Trial of Duality Key) ]

[ You have obtained (Efrinz's Ore) 10x ]

[ You have obtained (Torn Page of [???] #4) ]

[ With the passing of the first trial, the duality of two has been opened. Choose between the two gates and proceed with the next trial. ]

"Hmm...?" While reading through the line of notifications, Shinto's brow raised in interest as his eyes fixed on the words: 'Weakened Vision'. "...a weakened vision of Refrinz?" he thought to himself. "No wonder he had so little health. It was just a phantom of him and not the real thing."

A vision was like that of an illusion. A mirror-image of the one that it was mimicking. Some would say it was a weakened clone or one that attempted to copy the original that it was envisioning, though with far lower stats.

"Had I fought the real one..." he shuddered at the thought. If Shinto had gone up against the original Refrinz, he would surely be unable to win. After all, with the constant rain of hellfire and the damage that he would receive overtime, he stood no chance against the beast. "...I would need Hikari to continuously use her AOE healing skills for me to even dream of enduring everything. Otherwise... It'd be impossible to solo."

There were cases where Shinto majorly required support, one that could aid him against bosses like Refrinz. If not, he couldn't dream of ever defeating the demon without one. It wasn't a question of solo or not, it was just the mechanics of the boss.

"Ugh... The only way to fight him one on one would be to have a high health pool or high fire resistance..." he pondered on the matter. "But even then... It'd be a tough time soloing. So just how on earth did the huntress defeat him alone?"

He frowned at the thought. From the stories he had heard, the fight with Refrinz and the huntress was a one on one match. In the end, the woman won over the demon and sealed him away. There weren't any records of backup that came to aid the huntress, thus stating that she alone defeated him.

"Could she have had an item that nullifies fire attacks?" It would explain how the huntress won without suffering the burns of hellfire. However, there seemed to be a missing part of the story. "...just what am I missing here?" his brows creased as he continued to ponder. However, he was left empty of thought. "...sigh. This isn't getting me anywhere. Let's just put this aside and check out the details of the rewards instead."

With a sigh, his attention now landed on the items in his inventory. With the defeat of the weakened Refrinz, he obtained a few interesting things.

[ Trial of Duality Key ]

Rarity: Dungeon Item

The Trial of Duality lies before you. The overseer, the "truth" between two sides that are of the same coin rests within the cavern's interior. Choose your path wisely for which you shall obtain a blessing.

*Key will break upon usage.

Effects: Opens either the gate of "Brilliance" or the gate of "Shaodon"

Condition(s) of use: [Player] must first clear (Girzo lu Rtmfh) to be eligible.

Weight: 10

...

[ Efrinz's Ore ]

Rarity: Unique

Type: Material

An ore produced by the demonic being of hellfire. As hot as the underworld's blaze, this red stone naturally sits at the highest temperature when ignited. It is said that the embodiment of Efrinz's heat rests within these ores.

Weight: 35

...

[ Torn Page of [???] #4 ]

Rarity: Unknown

A piece of a page numbered [#4]. It seemed to be lost in history as only pieces of what little words remained. Though, what remaining words appeared to be undecipherable.

—"Tlw uliyrwh gsv uligfmv. Gslf hszm'g xilhh gsv ormv yvgdvvm ortsg zmw wzipmvhh. Lmob dsvm wfzorgb rh xlnkovgv, hszoo blfi wfgrvh yv ufouroovw."

Weight: 5

...

"...so it seems I can advance further into the dungeon using this key," Shinto muttered to himself as his eyes slowly glanced over towards the two gates by the front of the room. "...but, what's this about Brilliance and Shaodon? Are they perhaps indicating the next trial? The Trial of Duality?"

With what little energy he had left, Shinto began pulling himself up from the ground. "Hmm... Well, since it specified, I guess I'll need to closely check up on the gates before deciding which way to go," scanning around the area, he noted the still prevalent heat within the room. "...huh? That's weird... How come his hellfire is still here?"

Despite having defeated Refrinz, the aftermath of the battle still remained. His hellfire and flames were everywhere in the room, as such, creating an incredibly warm atmosphere.

"Hah... I best get out of here soon before I end up drenched in more sweat than I am now," as his eyes averted away from the flames and towards the gates, a sudden thought came to mind. "...wait. Where's the monolith?"

The monolith that he had initially seen and touched to begin the trial was gone. There weren't any traces left of it. No fragments nor broken pieces. The warm burning hue that he had thought was from the monolith was instead from the hellfire, thus he was caught by surprise at the sudden disappearance of the stone tablet.

"Could it have been burnt to the crisp during our fight?" he reasoned. That was the only logical explanation for this. The monolith couldn't have just up and disappeared away, right? "...damn. If it's like that then, it looks like I missed out on some explanation."

With the disappearance of the monolith, it meant that whatever words that he saw on it could no longer be found. He somewhat regretted the inability to read or translate such language, however, it couldn't be helped.

"Tch... It looks like I really need to find the clues to translate the language urgently. With the piece of paper having it as well... Hah... I'm in for a long tiring dungeon run..." he sighed tiredly as he glanced around the area, noting that nothing else had changed. "Well, whatever. I can only advance ahead since that's all I can do for now."

With his next goal set on moving towards the gate, he took a step forward. However, at the moment that he had done so, a sudden rumble began shaking from around him.

"...?!" In the next instance, the hellfire that had remained in the area began to spin around aggressively and uncontrollably, soon enveloping the entire room with an intoxicating and unbearable heat. "What the...?!"

Shocked and panicked at the sudden eruption, Shinto hurriedly unsheathed his sword whilst taking out a potion to heal himself back up into the green. Then, he prepared to counter any attack that may come at him at any time.

"..." The hellfire continued growing out of control, spinning around the room without stopping. As the temperature rose to its peak, the flames felt as if they could melt away anything. However, just as suddenly as the eruption began, the flames stopped. "...?"

With the fire stopping mid-way and slowly dispersing away into nothing, Shinto saw the familiar sight of a black obelisk at the end of the room. Though, compared to the one at the entrance, this one was dyed crimson red whilst giving off a fiery aura around it.

[ The demonic hellfire has scattered away into ashes. ]

[ With that, one of the ten obelisks has revealed itself. ]

"Another one?" With the appearance of the black slate in front of him, Shinto felt a sudden wash of relief over him. "Phew... It was just that, huh?" he laughed at his wariness. "Well... This is the fifth one," walking up towards the black stone, he soon observed it.

The fifth obelisk that Shinto had encountered depicted a mural of that of a blacksmith. Within a fiery volcano, the man hammered down the steel into many weapons and tools. However, those tools paled in comparison to the one on his anvil. It was a legendary work of art, perfection.

"...so it's a blacksmith now?" analyzing the pillar before him, he tilted his head. "Just what is the connection?" Whilst he was working his brain, he heard an alert from his system logs.

[ You have found five out of ten obelisks! ]

[ Current progress: 5/10 ]

"..." his expression was confused whilst attempting to connect two and two together. "An Elementalist, a Magician, a Huntress, some Priest and a Blacksmith?" He knew nothing of the connection between these five. Though individually, out of the ones that he had found, he knew four of their stories.

The legend of the Bladedancer of Elementals.

The Legendary Great Magician who devoted his life to magic.

The Huntress who had received the blessing of the hunter, to strike down her foes with potent accuracy.

And the Blacksmith whose works became national treasures and artefacts of the kingdoms.

Each of them was a famous legend, passed down from generation to generation within the worldview. However, Shinto could not correlate them to Altric at all. Just what do these legends have to do with Altric and the meaning of Truth?

"Then there's the third obelisk of a man divided between dark and light... Just what legend is that?" he muttered to himself. He had not heard of any legends in regards to a priest. Perhaps it was the Princess of Prayers? However, that sort of depiction from the third obelisk was far off. "...could he maybe be a fallen angel? But, what does a demon have to do with this?"

There were so many questions, yet no answers.

"...duality," his line of thought continued as his eyes averted towards the key in his hand. "Dark and light... The Trial of Duality... Maybe I can find out for myself just what legend this is."

Now moving his gaze over to the gates, he noted a symbol above each. On the left gate, was a sword facing upright. While the other was an opened eye. The two were coloured white and purple respectively.

"A sword and an eye..." he walked closer to the two pathways to get a better look at it. "Could it represent light and dark? The sword being light while the eye being dark..." he was in deep thought as he considered which gate to choose. "Since I mainly deal light damage... Perhaps heading into a dark-based trial would work."

Shinto's main class: Lunar Swordsman, specialized in speed and damage. His skills were mainly attributed to the element of light, thus, he benefits against dark elemental enemies as he deals high damage against them.

"...right. The right gate it is," with the key in his hand moving towards the keyhole, he inserted it in. At that moment, the gate and alongside the key began disappearing away as darkness consumed it. "...!"

[ The (Gate of Shaodon) has been opened. ]

[ -Trial 2: (Girzo lu Uilhg) shall instantly begin upon entering the chamber. ]

"Girzo lu Ullhig...?" he blinked at the notification that had popped up. "So it's related to ice? And not dark?" he was left confused for a moment as he doubted the message that he saw. "But... This key should open the Trial of Duality, right?"

He questioned. But, the only thing he could do was to step forward and find out for himself. Thus, Shinto took a deep breath as he calmed his mind. In the next moment, he entered the Gate of Shaodon.