Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Nessa and Violina also had things they wanted to ask, especially when they saw Zach's sunken cheeks fill in and color return to his face. But they weren't alone. And it wasn't the time.

[Trial (3/12) complete. Eighteen survivors confirmed. Determining next Trial. Trial (4/12) set. Preparing…]

Before any of them could say anything or wish the others good luck, walls shot up around them. It only took a few seconds before everyone was alone. Well, except the summoners. They had their familiars with them.

The Labyrinth trapped their entrants in tiny cube-like rooms. A lamp sprouted from the ceiling, and a table grew from the floor.

[Finish the puzzle.]

On top of the table, a dozen wooden pieces with varying shapes and sizes appeared. Some were smooth and curved. Others were jagged and bent or had sharp turns.

Zach understood what the Trial was. He had to put together the wooden pieces correctly. He smiled and rolled up his sleeves.

"Now, this is a real challenge!"

Zach excitedly started on the puzzle. It wasn't something arbitrary that relied on something stupid like a sense of direction or something like the first Trial that relied on something silly like requirements and luck.

Simple feeling and a pair of sensitive hands were all it took to solve a puzzle like this.

Zach had, after all, spent a large portion of his childhood alone.

Yanael and Alzara's gazes changed slightly as Zach explained how he was so good at puzzles.

He hadn't had much to do. Reading was fun occasionally, but it got boring pretty soon. He wasn't allowed to spend time with the family's guard dogs and other pets after the incident with the pond and the family of dogs.

His family…They did what they could. But his parents were busy people. His siblings were only a few years older than him, and they had their own things to do, whether it be socializing with the Empire's young elites, studying, or training.

Zach spent a lot of time alone. And when he wasn't alone, it was mostly his family trying to ease his pain by showering him with gifts like toys, plushies, kid-friendly daggers, jewelry, books, and eventually, puzzles of all kinds.

That was why Zach could sit and talk and just let his hands move. He grabbed the pieces, inspected them with his hands, and almost lazily started fitting them together.

Sometimes they fit like they were one piece but it still didn't work with the rest of the pieces. Other times, the pieces didn't look like they were supposed to even go to the same figure until another piece slid in between them and made it a perfect section.

With a bit of trial and error and a lot of experience fueling his motions, Zach finished the puzzle.

It was the first Trial he didn't rely on his familiars.

The figure he completed, surprisingly enough, looked like Soara of Death and Transcendence. It lit up with a dull white light the moment he completed it. But nothing happened with the statue afterward. So, when the lamp, ceiling, walls, and table started sinking away, Zach grabbed the statue.

There was nothing that said he couldn't take it. If the Labyrinth didn't like it, it could do something about it.

But he had gotten a couple of levels from the first Trial. The second Trial had given him and his familiars insight into the abilities of deities. The third Trial had given him knowledge and experience with monsters that had to be from another dimension.

It had also unwittingly made Zach aware of the something in the air and his body that replaced his need for food, though, that was thanks to his barrier.

It was only right that the fourth Trial also gave him something other than a nostalgic break from the stress of the Labyrinth.

Zach's reasoning was unreasonable and selfish. The Labyrinth didn't owe him anything, nor was there a reason for him to take the statue. But that didn't matter.

Zach took it and waited for the rest of the rooms to come down.

It was boring. Unlike the previous Trial, they didn't end up at the same time when they finished. Zach was still amazed at how that had happened. He was also a little disgruntled.

The others didn't have to wait more than a few minutes or hours when they finished before him and he was late. But now that he finished first, he had to wait for all the others however long it took for them to finish their puzzles.

Zach wondered if they also got statues of Soara to build. He got his answer after a few hours when a nearby room disappeared to reveal Derot with a figure of Wir of Greed, the cat.

Before either of them could talk, Black also finished his puzzle. He didn't have anything in his hand, and he glared at the other two, quickly souring the atmosphere.

One by one, the rest of the labyrinth entrants finished. Nessa and Violina were in the top seven. They were both surprised but not surprised to see Zach and hear that he was the first to finish.

He hadn't excelled in the last Trial, and he had circumvented the first Trial. But surprising people was his standard.

Finally, the eighteenth person, Frank, finished his puzzle, and they could move on to the fifth Trial.

At this point, the entrants were unsure what to expect. The Trials had mostly been about solving problems. Nothing had needed any extreme measures. The six people who had died probably didn't agree, though.

[...Trial (5/12) set. Preparing…]

Continue your journey on empire

The stone platform expanded until they stood on a large circular stone area. The distance from one side to the other was big enough that it was difficult for ordinary people to make out the face of someone standing on the opposite side.

The entrants looked around in confusion. Was this it?

Then, the Trial came.

[Dodge.]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om