Chapter 42 - The Three Targets

"Alright, so the 'Stairs of Ascension' have been used for multiple millennia and during that process, the Magician's Society, the general term for all Magician's, have determined the average distance each Cultivation Rank can climb up the 'Stairs of Ascension'. For example, it has been determined that a Late Stage Natural State Rank can climb up to around 45 steps before they cannot continue any longer. Obviously, this is just the average Magician. If it were someone of say, my caliber at that rank, I could probably double that amount!" The Guardian Spirit bragged as it pointed to itself with a show-off grin.

'Heh...' The little kitten just rolled her eyes.

"Due to the difference in strength between Magician's and Magical Beast's, the two groups actually have two different averages. This is due to the particular nature of each sides cultivation. While human's are rather fast in their cultivation, reaching the higher realms twice as fast sometimes, their cultivation ranks suffer from being a tad weaker than a Magical Beast's equivalent rank. For example, an Early Stage Minor Transcendent Beast could square off against a Mid Stage Inner Haven Ranked Magician. In exchange for their superior base strength though, you Magical Beast's take longer to cultivate, especially at the later ranks."

"Is that the case?" The little kitten felt enlightened by all this knowledge and she noted it down in the back of her mind before returning her attention to the Guardian Spirit's next words.

"In the case of the Stairs of Ascension'. While the average for a Late Stage Natural State Magician is 45 steps, for a Late Stage Minor Beast like yourself, the average is actually 50." The Guardian Spirit concluded his explanation.

'So to pass this test, I only have to pass the average?' The little kitten's eyes lit up in confidence, but returned to normal as she seemed to recall something. 'Wait, you said that 50 steps were only the minimal requirement. What are the other targets, and why should I care about them?'

"Kekeke, you're really straightforward, quite accurate to your feline nature." The Guardian Spirit laughed. "With every target you meet, the better your reward. Usually in the past, when I would use this item to test someone, the rewards would purely be a Magical Item of a certain level. But in your case, with every target met, I will also add in one more question that you will be allowed to ask me. But I'll warn you now, there are many things that I simply cannot answer... Or in the smallest of chances, there will be some... Certain things that I just simply don't know or have the right to know."

Those last words seemed to be spoken with a huge amount of reluctance from the Guardian Spirit.

The little kitten's eyes lit up in excitement and she immediately begun to work out in her mind the questions she would like to ask about her origins... Instantly, she came across one question she was most desperate to find out. That question would definitely be the first one she would ask!...

Before she could continue thinking every possible question she wanted to ask, the Guardian Spirit's voice broke her out of her thoughts as it continued on with its explanation. "Kekeke, let's not get ahead of ourselves puny cat, let me tell you the targets you need to meet and the rewards that will follow if you meet them."

"Meow!" The little kitten mewed enthusiastically. She was rather excited to see what kind of items she might win, even if it was the questions she found most important. She felt that finding out the possible info he might find out here might not be the easiest to come by again. Who knows if she tackles another 'Blessing of the God's', would they take their time to do the same? She highly doubted it. This was a big chance.

"By passing the minimal requirement of 50 steps, I will reward you with a Blue Rarity Dull Ranked item of your choosing. This item can be a weapon, shield, trap, or whatever else you can find in my inventory."

'Oh, I get to choose my item?' The little kitten was glad about this. 'This would be the first item I earned on my own in this world! Those four spells and two Magical Items I have received in the past have all been bought by Jonathan... Hmm, I really have to pay him back some day, all those items couldn't have been cheap... *cough* some day...'

"Indeed, its always interesting to see what items people can lure out of that inventory." The Guardian Spirit seemed to have a wistful look before it shook his head and returned to its explanation. "The next target is 75 steps, where you would be rewarded with your second question and a Purple Rarity Dull Ranked Item. I should note that you will only get one Magical Item, these don't tally up."

'That makes sense.' The little kitten nodded her head in understanding.

"And finally, the final target is 100 steps, which would reward you with your third question and a Gold Rarity Dull Magical Item!"

'Oh, Gold rarity!' The little kitten held an excited gleam in her eyes at just the thought. She couldn't imagine how powerful such a rare Magical Item could be. 'Though, I was honestly expecting you to add a few more targets. Like 200 steps for this super awesome item of legendary proportions!'

"Kekeke, that would be the usual fantasy of you Magician's and Magical Beast's, wouldn't it?" The Guardian Spirit laughed, surprisingly softly. "However, while I might like to have a little fun most of the time-"

'Some would call it being irritating.' The little kitten interjected with a grin.

"*Cough* *Cough*... As I was saying, while I might like to have a little FUN most of the time, I still take my work as a Guardian Spirit seriously. My job is to test out a person's abilities, their strengths and weaknesses, and give a little guidance and reward them appropriately to boost their abilities further. In truth, the Magicil Items are but a carrot to lure Magician's and Magical Beast's so we can temper the present and future generation. If I were to say, at 200 steps, I'd reward you with a Blue Rarity Vibrant Magical Item. Not only would that be dangerous, it would also not be an appropriate to award you with an item that is beyond your means. Such an item would only bring upon danger to you, being as weak as you are compared to those that would covet such an item." The Guardian Spirit explained seriously.

'I understand, I was simply curious.' The little kitten nodded her head solemnly.

"Hmm... That's fine, though they say curiosity killed the cat, keke, one should also not let their eyes be closed to possible gains, lest they miss a golden chance." The Guardian Spirit smirked. "Now then, puny cat, are you ready?"

"Meow!" The little kitten confidently replied. 'Let's do this, red freak!'

The Guardian Spirit narrowed its playful eyes before simply shaking its head and sighing. It was not going to escape this nickname, was it...

"Whatever, let me take you to the 'Stairs of Ascension'." The Guardian Spirit announced.

Before the little kitten could respond, she found her sight darkening for an instant before a feeling of nausea took over.

'Dammit, teleportation again!' The little kitten gagged as she held back an incoming vomit.

"Kekeke, looks like you are truly un-fated with teleportation." The Guardian Spirit laughed at her misfortune.

As the spinning began to cease and the feeling of nausea was being whisked away, the little kitten could finally take the time to survey her new surroundings.

To her surprise she found herself in a world of white and below her, a clear reflection of herself. She was reminded of the area she had first entered this Trial in several hours earlier. Everything was the same, except from the so called 'Stairs of Ascension' that stood tall, ascending into the far off horizon of the lifeless sky.

The 'Stairs of Ascension' were rather simple surprisingly, being a blanket white colour, much similar to the world around it. On each side of the stairs were decorative railings, but aside from that, there was little else of note about these stairs... Just that it was monstrously long.

'So this is the 'Stairs of Ascension'?' The little kitten walked forward until she was standing right in front of the 'Stairs of Ascension' and she let her eyes study them one more time, her eyes gazing up to gawk at the horizon where the stairs vanished into the horizon of the white sky once more.

Letting out a small breath, the little kitten turned to face the Guardian Spirit.

"You ready?" The Guardian Spirit asked after letting the little kitten adjust to the new landscape.

'Hmm...' The little kitten was about to agree when she suddenly noticed a problem. 'Aren't the steps a little too high for me?'

Hearing this, the Guardian Spirit turned to look, and indeed, the height of those steps would require for the cat to extend extra effort with each step as she would probably have to leap to get to the next step.

"Oh, I forgot. Its been a while since I've had a large or small Magical Beast ascending the stairs so I forgot to change the size from the normal human settings." The Guardian Spirit smiled wryly. "Give me a few moments, let me use some of my Rune Formation skills to change the size of this 'Stairs of Ascension'!"

With that, the Guardian Spirit walked up to the grand stairs side and its ten fingers began to glow in an azure light. The Guardian Spirit seemed to be tapping at the air as it got to work. As it did so, unseen before runes lit up in an azure glow all around the white stairs of the 'Stairs of Ascension'.

"There we go!" The Guardian Spirit smirked and the azure glow of its fingers and of the runes were whisked away just as an amazing change was taking place with the 'Stairs of Ascension'.

'Whoa!' The little kitten watched in amazement as the 'Stairs of Ascension' begun to visibly shrink before her eyes.

Soon, a 'Stairs of Ascension' fit for her smaller size was visible in all its glory in front of the kitten and the Guardian Spirit. The little kitten was amazed to see that despite the 'Stairs of Ascension's' shrinking of size, the length of it still extended out of the horizon.

The Guardian Spirit turned towards her at this point and seeing its gaze, she nodded in return. 'I'm ready!'

"Then ascend forth. Everything is ready... Be vigilant and don't underestimate or overexert yourself too fast." The Guardian Spirit nodded before hovering off to the side, its gaze steady on the little kitten as she stepped steadily towards the first step of the 'Stairs of Ascension'.

With a long breath, the little kitten quickly took her first step. The first step of the many to come...

'My target is 100!!' The little kitten declared internally!