Cosmic Peak

In the following trap path, Aren saw three blessings. He took one for himself and then finally gave one to Hemila while leaving one to Reto and his groups.

"There are two blessings in here, and I have left one for you," Aren said after he, his mother, and Hemila reached the safe zone.

"Where is it?" Kozark spoke with an ugly expression.

Aren pointed at a place, and Kozark immediately dashed there.

"Wait!"

"Stop, fool!"

Reto and Lamila called out at the same time.

"Relax, since you said that we can't clear this dungeon without all blessings, I won't plot to harm you," Aren spoke indifferently, 'As if...humph.'

Indeed, nothing happened to Kozark, and he received a blessing.

Kozark looked embarrassed as he knew his own mistake, "S-sorry...I acted in the heat of the moment."

"Humph, start moving." Reto snorted as he, Lamila, Quinn, and Luna started walking through the trap path that was now almost empty.

Now everyone has at least one blessing on them, while some had more than one.

Aren has three blessings.

Reto has two blessings, and he believes that Aren also has two blessings.

Lamila also has two blessings, but only she, Kozark, and Reto know of this. She got this second blessing after defeating the monster in the first challenge.

On the other hand, Kozark, Lorain, Quinn, Luna, and Hemila have one blessing each.

As they walked forward in the safe zone, they encountered another misty gate.

Seeing it, Reto spoke with a grimace, "We need a pure offensive-type blessing to clear this challenge according to the scroll."

Kozark pointed his spear at Aren and said with a grimace, "Boy, you will use your blessing in the challenge. After all, you got two blessings."

Aren snorted and said, "What if I don't? Anyway...,"-He glanced at Reto and continued-, "Reto also has two blessings."

"Bastard! Don't think that we are equal because you all got blessings!" Kozark shouted.

"It's fine; I will use my blessing. We are in the same boat right now, and there's no use fighting against each other," Reto said before he looked at Aren and continued with narrowed eyes, "You already know that I was acting outside, and I only wanted cannon fodders for this. But since you can lead the way, we three won't need to get injured by traps and can clear this dungeon without the trouble of traps. So let's honestly work together."

Lorain and others looked at each other with surprise while still feeling suspicious of Reto's words and looked at Aren, who revealed a thoughtful expression.

'Whatever, I'll just nod and go along with his words right now because he is likely doing the same,' Aren thought as he nodded towards Reto and said with a plain expression, "I won't completely trust you but...fine. We can work together for this one goal. Anyway, If I see any suspicious activity or malicious intents towards us, then I'll immediately use blessings and attack you."

"Alright," Reto nodded indifferently while frowning inside,' Is he really willing? Hmmm...This damn brat is annoyingly cautious and sharp, so I can only take his words with a grain of salt.'

He then entered the misty gate first this time while Kozark and Lamila followed after him.

Seeing that, Luna and others were surprised.

Quinn frowned and said, "They went first. Are they not worried that we will run away?"

Aren frowned as he felt tricky, 'Should we try running back?'

"What do we do, Aren? should we try running back?" Luna asked.

After thinking for a moment, Aren shook his head and said, "No. Let's enter inside. The gate is still open, and they can come out. If we try to run away, they might attack us. Moreover, even though we can't trust their words entirely, we can't completely ignore them. There might not be a way back even if we run away."

"Yeah, do you remember the first challenge? It only started after we all entered inside. So..." Lorain said but didn't continue as everyone understood.

"Either it will start after we all enter inside or after we all die," Luna uttered with a grim voice.

'Wait...,' Aren suddenly thought of something, 'I am missing something major.'

"Hey! What are you dilly-dallying for? Enter inside so we can start the damn challenge!" Kozark came out of the misty gate and shouted.

Quinn snorted and said, "Fine, fine. Let's go, everyone."

Aren and others then entered inside as they watched Reto using a blessing to defeat a beastly monster that was seven meters tall with three heads of three different animals: Tiger, Lion, and Horse.

Its lower body was that of an element with scales on it.

The monster looked extremely deadly and scary, with a red, blue, and green flame-like aura covering its body.

Aren couldn't even see any of its stat, even with his upgraded eye.

'Hmmm, Its presence is stronger than Rosflin but weaker than his father,' Aren thought while looking at the monster.

At this time, Reto's body was covered with black and green lightning. There were also two cannons floating on top of him with black and dark green material that bombarded the monster.

The monster also attacked Reto with its deadly breath attacks, but Reto dodged its attack with his fast speed as lightning cracked whenever he moved.

Within one minute, he defeated the monster as golden light shone on him.

This time, Aren and others watched the fight because Reto didn't say anything about them turning around.

'What was that golden light?' Aren thought, 'Is it some kind of reward?'

"Let's go. In the next challenge, we will have to use three blessings," Reto said as he turned to look at Aren.

Aren narrowed his eyes as he nodded and said, "Alright, I will use one blessing."

Reto nodded as he turned around and started walking towards the misty gate that appeared after the monster was killed. But before leaving through the misty gate, he chuckled and said, "Also, I know that the next trap path will have at least four blessings, so leave two blessings for us."

Internally, he was planning something different, 'Humph, It looks like I'll have to close this game earlier.'

...

After everyone left through the misty gate and arrived at the following trap path, Aren was surprised.

'Five blessings! So he was right about this path having at least four blessings. But...,' Aren frowned as found something amiss, 'If there are so many blessings here, the cannon fodders of their plan would likely take some blessings before dying. However...Reto said that we need all blessings to clear the hidden dungeon. What's going on?'

While thinking, he started moving and took three blessings for himself before he arrived at the safe zone.

He then led his mother and auntie Hemila to the safe zone before Reto moved and took two blessings for himself.

Once everyone reached the safe zone and started moving forward before encountering a misty gate, the sign of a challenge.

But Aren had already caught the tail of Reto, 'Oh Reto...hehehe, you shouldn't have said that we need all blessings to clear this hidden dungeon.'

Even though he was unsure if his conclusion was right or wrong, it didn't matter anymore because even if he was wrong, they would remain safe if he used the life-saving item.

"Let's go, Reto. Since you took both blessings, I suppose you will use two concurrently, right?" Aren asked.

Reto nodded indifferently, "You also took two, but it's fine. I will use two blessings while you use one. And since I got both offensive blessings, then you should have gotten one defensive, right? Use the defensive one because it is necessary to save ourselves."

"Alright," Aren nodded. Among the three blessings he got, two of them were defensive-type blessings.

Aren--"Who among you has offensive type blessing?"

Quinn--"I have one."

Lorain--"I also have one, Aren."

Luna--"I have some sort of devouring whale, and its effects are all defensive."

Hemila--"Hmm...The blessing I have is a large field type blessing in which enemies are suppressed while we receive buffs."

Aren started walking towards the misty gate after Reto entered while talking with others through spiritual call and told them of his plan and next move.

Aren--"Got it? Don't hesitate and be decisive."

Quinn and Lorain looked at each other, and both of them were determined.

Lorain--"Son, even if we haven't killed people before, we have seen deaths and hell. After all that, we have to kill if we must!"

Quinn--"That bastard Reto killed those people brutally! He is like a beast, and his partners ought with same! I won't hesitate to kill them. Human or beasts, both are living and for our survival...I will kill them!"

Aren smiled as he had long resolved to kill if he must. Since he was small, he had seen all life as equal, despite knowing the brutal nature of the world. It was also not like he would stand up for chicken slaughter since the whole world was eating them, nope. He just thought of them as unfortunate for being weak, just like how many humans and other animals were killed for various reasons and murder...just like how...weak ones were suppressed in the slum. He and his mother had lived the life of suppression, but...the appearance of this new world was a chance for him.

He also felt sad for many humans being killed by giants. But he only felt sad, not depressed. After all, they were not his relatives. That brutal sight only made him determined to get strong so that such a thing doesn't happen to him and the ones close to him.

Even before that giant calamity, when everything was normal, people were dying every day.

Everyone, every single human, knew that deaths were occurring. They would see them in newspapers or on TV channels. Every day, there would be cases of murder, ****, arson, unfortunate accidents, etc.

What did you feel about it? Did you spend days mourning for those strangers? No! You only spoke some comforting words to yourself like "may they rest in peace" or felt sad like "How sad..." You felt anger for those rapes and murder, "How dare they!?" but...that's all. You changed the channel, you turned the page, and you moved on. "Justice will be served!" "They will rot in hell." " God will punish them." etc... Barely a minute or two would one use for them and then move on....which is very normal.

Well, there might be someone who considers the whole world as his family...wait, really? Who knows. But Aren was not one of them.

He had long learned to care only for himself and his family in the slum. If someone helped him, he would help in return due to his conscience, and if some tried to kill him, he would kill them. He had seen a murder in the slum and learned to remain silent about it as well.

To him, whether killing a chicken or a wolf beast, or a human, it was all the same for him as long as it helped him and his close ones survive.

As such, Aren had decided to make his move first. He couldn't wait to let Reto make his move first, if he was making one at all. Even if Reto was not planning anything, Aren didn't know and he didn't want to wait for it.

According to him, the statement of Reto saying that they need all blessings to clear the dungeon didn't match with his plan of bringing fodders to clear the path.

Aren felt that either they didn't need all blessings to clear the dungeon, or there was a way to get blessings of the dead; maybe they will be transferred to those who are alive? Whatever of the two it may be, Aren felt that he and the company would benefit.

In the end, If he failed to clear the dungeon because He, Quinn, and Luna used their blessings to kill Kozark, Reto, and Lamila, he will call it quits and use the life-saving item.

Now, If Aren had to guess why Reto didn't make his move yet, it is likely because Aren and others got blessings to fight back and also because Reto wanted Aren to clear the path ahead.

As everyone finally entered the misty gate, they were shocked because it was unlike the other two challenge venue. Instead, They arrived in a vast barren plain with a bright sky and no end in sight.

Suddenly, ten portals appeared as monsters started to spawn from them.

'Kozark and Lamila, you two know what to do! Once we clear this challenge, make your move and kill them. Better yet, once they are absorbed in watching the fight, sneak attack and kill them. Don't give them a chance to use their blessings! As for this brat Aren, I will handle him.'

Lamila and Kozark nodded as they turned around and looked at Quinn, Luna, Lorain, and Hemila.