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They appeared within a new chamber that held a number of discs that reminded Jake a bit of the one below Haven. The demon ushered them all towards one of them as the group silently followed. Jake made sure to inspect the people he was with, and one general mood seemed to dominate: nervousness.

Nervous for what, Jake didn’t know. It was potentially the fact they were surrounded by more powerful people, and while walking to the disc in question, Jake also felt many auras. A lot of which he knew would be able to utterly curb-stomp him, as there were several C-grades among them.

“The entire entrance test should take about a day to finish for the fast and up to a week for those on the slower side. As mentioned, you will be allowed entrance no matter the result, but better performance will lead to more benefits upon entry. All other details will follow after the test,” the succubus said as they stood in front of the disc.

Jake looked behind her and inspected the disc.

Dungeon: Order of the Malefic Viper D-grade entrance-test

Requirements to enter: D-grade

Requirements to enter met

WARNING: Only 1 challenger per entry

It was indeed a pretty standard dungeon, and Jake was ready to go as someone else spoke up.

“Will this test involve combat or be purely focused on alchemy?” an elf asked.

“Naturally it will,” the demon asked, looking at the elf as if she was an idiot. “It will also involve tests of general energy control and auxiliary skills.”

Jake had to admit, he also found the question a bit silly. Of course there would be combat. After all, it was a dungeon designed by the Order of the Malefic Viper. At least no one was stupid enough to ask if-

“Will it include any real danger of death?” a human asked, and to Jake’s dismay, it was one of the alchemists that had come with him and Reika.

This time not only the demon looked at him like he was an utter moron, but nearly everyone did. He didn’t even get an answer as he just tried to make himself smaller as the demon muttered under her breath. “Damn newcomers.”

Draskil, who stood at the front of their entire group, suddenly just stepped forward as he walked onto the disc and disappeared. The demon nodded approvingly as others also followed suit as entire groups went onto the disc and entered together. Well, individually, but they went there together. So… together alone?

Jake turned and threw a look at Reika behind him. She nodded, and Jake felt her nervousness. He also knew it wasn’t really for herself but those she was with. Jake nodded back as he took a step forward and teleported onto the disc as he disappeared, teleporting for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

Irinixis looked on as the last native disappeared. The last few had been a bit slow, but it wasn’t like she could expect too much from natives of new universes. At least not all of them. This batch had quite a few good ones and at least one absolutely outstanding one.

The Order had not seen a Malefic Dragonkin for longer than she could remember, and yet more than a hundred had appeared during the last half a year or so. All because the Malefic One was truly back. She couldn’t help but wonder if the dragonkin called Draskil was perhaps the Chosen, but the chances were low. To meet the Chosen of the Malefic Viper was not something she could ever dream of even doing. It seemed as unrealistic as meeting the Lord Protector or the Malefic One himself.

Shaking her head, she went over to one of the transference gates and manipulated her token as she went back to the office.

“Hey Irin, that was quick,” she heard a voice say the second she entered.

“Hi, boss,” Irinixis – or Irin for short – greeted her immediate supervisor. “And yes, it went rather smoothly.”

The main office within the Order was a massive complex handling most internal workings of the Order of the Malefic Viper. These offices were all connected, even to the external branches, and usually, each Hall had one main office each. However, since there was only one Hall now, there was only one main office.

“Anyone noteworthy in the batch? Always exciting to get people from far-off places,” her boss asked again. The boss was a succubus like her but had already evolved to C-grade and gotten promoted only a few years ago. They came from the same clan, so they had always had a good working relationship, and both knew they would be colleagues of the same rank in a decade or so.

“A few,” Irin answered as she turned serious. “There was a male Malefic Dragonkin among them. Level 185.”

“Didn’t they only get integrated less than a year ago? Even with special events and Nevermore, that is outstanding,” her boss whistled. “But even so, his foundation may be a bit unstable for the test. Do you think it is possible he is… you know?”

“The reading said he carried a divine Blessing, given by the Patron,” Irin said gravely.

“That… really? Oh… oh my. That was unexpected. Luckily we have a day at minimum to prepare everything. No matter the result, have him placed in the highest level courtyards and make sure the humanoid resources department prepares adequately for him,” Irin’s boss answered.

Irinixis nodded as she hurried on with today’s work. She knew being in charge of the administrative work of this group would lead to something big with someone as outstanding as a Malefic Dragonkin carrying a divine Blessing.

Heck, maybe some of the others would also be pleasant surprises.

Jake opened his eyes once more as he found himself within a hall. Before him was a massive and intricate gate with the motif belonging to the Order of the Malefic Viper, and as he looked at it, the expected system message popped up.

You have entered the dungeon: Order of the Malefic Viper D-grade entrance-test

Objective: Complete the entry-test

“Seems easy enough,” Jake muttered as he went forward and up to the gate. A handprint matching a human hand appeared on it, and Jake naturally placed his hand on it as he felt energy enter his body. Very familiar energy, once more giving him flashbacks to the Undergrowth and the gate there. But one thing was different. This time, Jake could feel what it did.

The pulse of energy went straight for the area around his heart, and he barely felt it interact with Shroud of the Primordial as it just went straight through and scanned the outer part of his Truesoul. He knew it had just successfully Identified him without Shroud doing anything to block it, and he couldn’t help but frown.

It was like the Identify worked on some higher concept than usual. Directly system-done, perhaps due to it being a dungeon?

Either way, he felt the pulse leave his body again as, finally, he could move his hand. The motif on the gate lit up as it slowly started opening, and a figure popped up in front of him. A projection.

It was a vaguely humanoid shape, but as the figure became fully detailed, it was clear it was actually some kind of humanoid lizard, not that different from the Malefic Dragonkin. So probably another type of dragonkin.

“If this test included the ability to hide from Identification skills, you would get top marks there,” the projection said first thing as it appeared. “Sadly for you, that isn’t the case.”

“Damn, that is the one thing I bet on,” Jake just shrugged casually. He was a bit surprised at the demeanor of the projection as it seemed too… lax? Or was it just Jake who had gotten too used to uptight officials and a restrictive education system?

“Seems like we’re all in for a disappointment then,” the projection said. “Now, let’s get this started. Follow me.”

Jake did as told and followed the projection through the now open gate as it began talking. “This entrance test will test your abilities in areas related to both alchemy and combat, with alchemy being the primary subject. The tests will vary based on your specializations, but some things will be mandatory, such as testing your skill in working with toxic materials. Any questions so far?”

“Nothing related to the Order of the Malefic Viper itself?” Jake asked a bit curiously. He had expected some religious stuff to be there.

“This isn’t a test to be a cultist but an alchemist; why would knowledge related to the Order and the Malefic One matter? Also, most who take the entrance test are new to the Order, and you can’t expect much. Finally, much of the knowledge related to Order is unconfirmable and subjective. This projection was placed here in the second Era, and I am certain much has changed since then,” the projection answered quite concisely.

Jake nodded as the projection took it as a sign to continue.

“Based on your overall performance during all tests, you will be ranked from one to five stars, with each star having ten levels to it. A one-star will be considered a failure, and anything above two stars is considered above average. You can choose which segment you want to do first. Do you want to get the combat portion out the way immediately or start with alchemy and finish off with combat?”

“Any benefits to either option?” Jake asked.

“If you suck at one, you can get it out of the way, though if you suck at alchemy as a human, I have no idea what you are even doing here,” the projection answered curtly.

“Well, let’s hope I don’t then,” Jake said. He also wondered what the many additional presences looking at him were all about. It wasn’t only the projection in front of him observing, but he felt more than a hundred others. It was honestly a weird feeling being under such scrutiny, but he didn’t comment on it aloud.

“So? What first?” the projection asked again.

“I am fine with either,” he shrugged.

“Alchemy first, then.”

They came to another gate that the projection opened with a mental command leading into a large circular room, looking not unlike Jake’s own alchemy lab. The room began shifting and changing as more than a hundred boxes appeared. All of them were sealed up with items inside. Jake could only see the inside due to his sphere, but he believed each held herbs.

“The first task is to test your ability to identify herbs and natural treasures. Note that your Identify skill will be unavailable during this test, not that it would help much. There is a total of one hundred herbs; you have an hour total. Describe each herb by infusing your understanding into this, “ the projection said as a small crystal appeared floating in front of Jake. “Got any questions now?”

Jake naturally asked the only obvious question:

“Can I eat them?”

“Some of them are highly toxic, potentially lethal to mid-tier D-grades,” the projection answered. “But of course you can. Anything else?”

“Nope,” Jake answered, it all seeming relatively straightforward.

“Time begins when you open the first box.”

With that, the projection disappeared, leaving Jake alone in the locked room together with the hundred boxes of herbs.

This seems rather rudimentary for an ancient order? Jake wondered. The test was damn simple, even if it was just one of many, making him consider if there was some hidden objective or something. Then again… maybe it just was this simple? A case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” perhaps?

He chose to believe he was right as he cracked his neck and got to work, happy he hadn’t eaten breakfast.

Firstly he gathered all the boxes by sending out mana strings as he stacked them up. Each box was completely black with a small magic circle on top he instinctively knew worked to open it. He also tried to Identify a box by instinct, but the skill didn’t activate.

Jake wondered if the ability to block skill usage was something normal for dungeons. The only other time he had seen it was in the Challenge Dungeon, but maybe it was something they could all do?

Shaking his head, he decided to just get to work. The more than a hundred observers curiously looked on at what he was doing as Jake opened the first box. He only had an hour total, which seemed like a lot, but considering there were a hundred boxes to go through, it means there was only a bit more than half a minute per herb.

When the first box opened, Jake instantly focused all of his Perception on the small root-like herb within.

Water, life, nature, but… some venom? Beast-like. Once part of a lifeform using poisoned roots to attack? Plenty of toxins, but well hidden, Jake instantly thought as Sense of the Malefic Viper and his high Perception got to work.

He began infusing his understanding into the crystal as he put it in his mouth and swallowed it. He then opened the next box as Palate did its thing. Inside the second box was a mushroom of some kind. Entirely purple with spots covering it.

Lightning? But also something else… wait, time energy? Lightning and time? Aggressive energy too. Definitely going to have a spicy taste. Looks like shit and utterly unappetizing, which is unsurprising considering it is a fucking mushroom.

After his initial impression, he tossed it into his mouth and chewed, feeling the sparks of electricity coming out as his hair began standing up. Palate had also done work on the first herb and made him aware of some other interesting nit-bits.

The boxes all looked identical, but the magic circles on top varied in intricacy, and Jake quickly assumed this was to indicate difficulty. Feeling spicy, he went on to one of the hardest ones as he opened it.

Inside was a single small black leaf, and Jake’s initial impression was just one thing: Death.

He then picked it up and tossed it into his mouth. The moment it entered, it turned to a mist that bore into Jake’s body as his face slowly began eroding and melting. The energy also went into his stomach and began killing his flesh from the inside, as the aggressive energy of the leaf tried to kill him.

Jake activated Scales as his flesh stabilized, and he began healing due to his naturally high Vitality as Palate also fought the energy, and with his mouth only half-regenerated, he muttered:

“Still better than the mushroom.”