Spirit Soul

The third trial was much more complicated than Kyle had first assumed.

Not only would he be thrown to the start of the jump and run every single time he fell into space, but it also looked like the entire game would change after he failed it a few times in a row.

Kyle was not sure if the changes made the level easier or difficult.

But, what he knew was that the game or level was extremely difficult from the beginning.

Nevertheless, Kyle didn't think about using his Swift steps movement technique, or the wind affinity to jump across the empty space.

He also intentionally stopped himself from circulating soul force through his body.

This was not because he wanted to successfully pass the third trial without using anything else but his physique and brute force. In fact, Kyle had a completely different reason!

If he were to use either his soul force, the wind affinity, or even his movement technique, passing the parkour would be extremely easy.

However, would the trial end after he passed the parkour, or was there more behind the trials?

Thinking about this question, Kyle could easily tell that all of the trials had a deeper meaning than simply making him run around.

The fact was evident after the Undead powerhouses had decided to intervene in his trials.

They had been observing and judging him from the beginning. Kyle could clearly tell this from the fact that he had seen the woman with the crimson eyes the moment he had entered the Castle of the Undead.

As such, the third trial couldn't be something as easy as passing through a single parkour.

To him,it didn't even look difficult if he were to use anything else other than his physique.

Because this didn't make any sense, after being challenged by the undeads in the trial before, Kyle decided to simply improve his reflexes.

Additionally, he focussed on his body's flexibility, agility, and so on by taking the most difficult way in order to pass the parkour.

This required lots of stamina and his entire focus.

His entire body was slowly wearing down from the fact that almost every single muscle in his body was straining in an effort to reach the end of the parkour.

Sweating profusely, Kyle finally reached the spot at which he had seen the Banshee before, only two days later.

Initially, he had planned to reach there in a few hours.

But after understanding the difficulty of the parkour, he decided that even a week would be okay for him to pass through it.

Kyle wanted to leave the castle quickly.

At the same time, the Lich had said that the Sadorla forest was far away from the Razkadan Castle.

When he heard this, he was not sure if the Lich was lying.

However, then, there was not really a reason for Li to do so.

Thus, Kyle understood that he had to adjust his view of the castle and his current situation.

He still hoped to see the Lich being beaten up for being unnecessarily overbearing.

In the end, he had no hatred against the others, and even Li seemed to be rather pitiful after Kyle thought about it.

The Lich seemed to be the oldest amongst the Undeads he had seen until now.

That was if he had correctly understood the Death-aura.

As such, being the oldest, the Lich's cultivation should have long since deteriorated.

Yet, instead of being weaker than Knirg and Lahan, the Lich was still much mightier.

Both the Death Knight and Dullahan were war veterans and extremely powerful, even after they had restricted their strength much lower than Kyle's. Yet, they were no match to Li.

This clearly showed that Li gave his everything to avoid becoming weaker.

He wanted to achieve everything he desired before his soul would finally be freed of the regrets and desires he harbored.

An ordinary desire or regret was not strong enough to force a body to continue moving.

Thus, a soul that was forcefully imprisoned into their dead body was unable to remain sentient under normal circumstances.

Kyle wasn't aware of all requirements to become an Undead with sentience.

But considering that there were only a handful of sentient Undeads in the entire Castle, it clearly showed that something was going on.

After all, those beings were also the most powerful.

Amongst all Undead powerhouses, the Lich seemed to be the strongest, but also the most desperate.

This was the reason why Kyle couldn't hate him, even if Li had caused his past trauma to resurface.

Yet, Kyle also knew that he had been forcefully suppressing the trauma, and attempted to simply forget it, by never thinking about it again.

However, that was foolish, and definitely not something he should have done.

This was because even the slightest trigger made him relive those memories all over again.

Accepting the past, and moving on was what he had to do.

And, even if it was difficult, Kyle would have to accept the fact that not everything would go according to his plans.

There would always be problems no matter what.

He would always run into stronger beings that would give their utmost efforts to prevent him from becoming stronger.

Some might not even hesitate to kill him if his existence were to become a threat to them.

At the same time, there would also be beings like the Lich, Li, who wanted to exploit him.

Even the other Undeads certainly wanted something from him, but they were simply more patient than Li.

As such, Kyle had thought a lot about all kinds of things during the last two days.

His mind had been running wild with thoughts of his past, what had changed after his reincarnation, and what kind of mess he would certainly encounter once again.

Other than that, Kyle understood that he had to improve his self-worth and have a strong presence.

With that nobody would treat him as if he was insignificant, exploit him, or act however they pleased.

Through this, he wanted to create a specific line that others would not dare cross, or he wouldn't accept what they were doing.

Because of these thoughts, Kyle's personality was slowly evolving.

Though, it was something that should have already happened in his first life.

However, having been subdued, and held back from doing what he wanted, Kyle felt as if he was just becoming an entirely new existence.

The earlier doubtful self and worried self that had cocooned itself in nervousness was freeing itself of the shackles.

Slowly but surely, a new and confident version of Kyle was evolving.

But for that to happen completely, he had to step out of his comfort zone!

With that thought in mind, he just reached the last step on the parkour.

Turning towards his right, Kyle had assumed that he would touch solid ground again.

But against his expectations, there was nothing, except the open space.

As such, he didn't really know what to do.

Even asking the Banshee was not feasible anymore either because she seemed to have disappeared from the spot.

Confused about what to do next, he stood on the wooden planks and waited for a few minutes.

During that period, nothing happened and he began to wonder if he had to do something else.

However, before he could even do anything, the space around him twisted.

The wooden planks below him suffered the same fate as a hole manifested at the spot he was standing on.

While falling through the hole, Kyle was confused.

Though, he was not worried because he would at worst end up in the same room where he had thrown up.

In fact, this was exactly what happened, which confused him a little bit.

Yet, before he could ask and attempt to communicate with those who were observing him from a safe distance, a second door began to manifest near the position of the first wooden door.

Through this, Kyle could quickly comprehend that he had only solved one of several parkours, which was one of the assumptions he had beforehand.

Thus, not using his soul force, movement technique or affinity to cross the first parkour had been extremely helpful.

For the first time since entering the castle, he had relied on pure physical strength, without any additional factor.

And, it had not failed him, because his body was becoming stronger without cultivation, through physical training!

Being more flexible, learning how to perfectly use his strength and almost every single muscle in his body was extremely useful.

With that in mind, Kyle opened the second wooden door.

Stepping inside, he saw much longer parkour, that was also not straight, but more like zig-zags.

At the same time, the previously empty walls were now filled with wooden planks that were hovering in the air.

Some of them were so oddly placed that Kyle wondered if he had to use them for something.

But without testing, he wouldn't know that.

As such, Kyle began with something simple.

He took the first step on the wooden plank that was right in front of him.

Knowing that he could extract more potential out of his body, he didn't start using soul force yet.

Instead, his physique was the only means that Kyle allowed himself to use in order to advance right now.

It was a simple restriction he put on himself, but also something that made everything several times more difficult than it was ought to be.

Nevertheless, it helped him to properly get to know his body's strengths and weaknesses.

It was something he never truly did while being on the run in Sadorla forest.

In the end, he had just been reincarnated a few months ago.

And, even if his body was that of an 18-years-old man, Kyle hadn't lived with that body for such a long time.

Because of that, it was already a miraculous feat to have adjusted to the body quickly.

He had been able to achieve his current progress with the body that was not perfectly under his control yet.

Kyle had improved rapidly since he had reincarnated.

But getting into perfect shape whether it was his control or his physique was extremely difficult and a never-ending process.

As such, Kyle had to calm down, and not let his emotions interfere in the progress, believing that he was too slow.

In order to get into shape, he required time, lots of it. It was possible to accelerate the process, and Kyle was currently trying to do this by exceeding his capabilities.

Nevertheless, he had to relax and use his head.

Otherwise, he would be lost before anything could happen.

Thus, he did not only use his physical attributes to advance through the second floor but made use of his highly refined brain. Through this, he tried to create multiple paths that allowed him to find a way through the chaotic second parkour.

In the end, Kyle was not even sure what exactly the second parkour should look like.

Compared to the first one,  there were more hovering obstacles than anything else.

Additionally, the ground below him had more empty space than wooden planks on it.

As such, he had to use his upper body in order to advance through a part of the parkour, while also using the planks on the sides of the walls.

Ignoring that everything was shaking was also not quite easy, and it made everything more difficult than it already was.

He had to continue focussing on maintaining his balance while advancing further.

Following that a few hours passed, and to Kyle's misfortune, he was lying inside the room that was also the starting line of the parkours.

He was utterly exhausted and unsure of whether it was even possible to pass through the second parkour without using a single trace of soul force.

'Can I really do it?' He wondered.

However, before doubts could fill his mind, Kyle slapped his own cheeks.

That cleared his head as he pushed himself from the ground, taking the first step to allow his mind to exceed its limitations too!