Billy looked around curiously, but he frowned when there was nothing but fog everywhere. Still, Billy remembered Zac’s words. This magic statue was dangerous. Of course, Billy was smart enough to understand that without Zac telling. The statue was able to grow in size so much that Billy could fit inside without problem, so how could it be normal?
Zac was just trying to help though, so Billy wouldn’t point out his friend’s silly mistake. Billy was a bit confused why the statue in Zac’s house made Billy so annoyed though. It was almost as handsome as Billy himself, so he should like it.
He couldn’t figure it out, so he just gripped [Bonker] even harder as he walked forward. Finally, there was a change in the fog as a smaller statue appeared, standing just a bit taller than Billy himself. Billy frowned at the sight, and something about this statue man was really annoying Billy as well. It felt like the statue was really asking for a beating.
“Welcome, descendant. I am Thrak, the Titan. Prove your worthi-“ a loud voice shouted out from the stone, but it did get any further before [Bonker] slammed into its head, utterly reducing the whole statue into rubble.
“Stupid stone, trying to talk like a person,” Billy said with a snort, anger smoldering in his chest.
Wait, why was Billy angry? Something about the talking stone had made Billy extremely annoyed, but he couldn’t remember why? Had Mama warned him of talking statues before? No, that wasn’t it. Billy looked down at the broken stone for a few seconds before he shrugged and kept walking.
If Mama hadn’t mentioned it, and he couldn’t remember, then it couldn’t be too important.
Still, the hidden space within the big statue started to annoy Billy. Zac had said that there would be a lot of good things inside, but there were just crazy stones and mist. He kept trying to remember Zac’s other ideas, but Billy had been busy looking at the big octopus when he talked. It was a lot bigger than the ones he had seen at the aquarium, and it even had more arms.
Mama said that a lot of people thought octopuses were really yummy, but Billy had never tasted it. He wondered what Big Blue tasted like. Billy bet it tasted real good since it had so many arms. He couldn’t help but drool a bit as he thought about it. Perhaps he should ask Thea if she could give Billy an arm? Big Blue already had so many.
An hour passed and Billy finally gave up on finding the treasure. Perhaps it was buried under the ground, but it was too hard to dig in, even for Billy. He took out a bed from his Magic Pouch and lay down, and thunderous snores soon echoed across the inheritance site.
“You’re back,” Statue Man said.
“Ah! Billy remembers now!” Billy roared in anger. “You’re the one who sent the talking stone to trick me! You’re the one who stole Billy’s good things!”
He immediately ran toward the statue, and [Bonker] ripped through the air as it shot against Statue Man’s head. But [Bonker]‘s bubbly skull was stopped by the shield, meaning that Billy wouldn’t be able to destroy Statue Man today either.
“Calm down. I haven’t done anything to steal your good things. In fact, I’ve been trying to give you good things for months now,” the statue said, like Billy didn’t know that Statue Man was a trickster.
But in this case, it seemed like it was telling the truth. Billy was smart, so he could tell when people were lying.
“Oh, it’s wasn’t you?” Billy said with confusion. “Why didn’t you say so, trying to confuse Billy. Stupid.”
“… Anyway,” Statue man sighed. “What’s going on? What talking stone? Why do I sense a familiar aura from where you are sleeping?”
Billy considered whether he should tell Statue Man or not, but he eventually decided he could use some help. Billy had been lost in the mist for too long, and he was starting to get bored. Perhaps the Statue Man could help him figure out how to dig for treasure in the hard ground. Or perhaps he was even friends with the other Statue Man.
“Billy’s friend had another Statue Man, and he let Billy go inside to look for treasures. But Billy couldn’t find any treasure anyway. Statues are all bad,” Billy said.
Statue Man was a bit stupid as usual, needing Billy to repeat himself multiple times before he understood what Billy was talking about. But he eventually understood.
“So you’re inside a trail created from a descendant of our clan? Small world, no wonder it felt familiar. The bloodline is weak and impure, but it has undergone a real awakening,” statue-man muttered. “This is good. I can only provide you with theory through this realm, but this half-blood child might be able to help you take the first steps with your bloodline,” the statue said.
“Billy has told you, Billy is human. Billy doesn’t need any blood either, Billy’s body is full of it,” Billy snorted.
“Nevermind then,” the Statue said. “But what about treasures? There is a lot of treasure outside, but you won’t be able to find it without help. So let me help you find some treasure, ok?”
“How?” Billy asked skeptically. “Billy knows you can’t get out. Billy won’t draw the thing outside to let you free.”
“How about this?” the Statue said. “This time when you wake up, you will remember me for one hour. If you shout ‘Statue man, help me!’ I’ll be able to come out and help you, but only for 10 seconds. Any more than that might hurt me and the place where you are.”
“How does Billy know you’re not lying?” Billy said skeptically.
“I swear on my mother that what I said just now was true,” the statue said solemnly.
“Good! Billy will trust you this time!” Billy said with a big smile.
However, Billy knew now that Statue Man was a liar. He never swore on his mama when it came to drawing that thing outside. Billy had actually considered drawing it before, but now he definitely wouldn’t. Some statues are just too stupid.
“But first, explain to me how the trial works,” the Statue said, drawing Billy out of his thoughts.
“Billy doesn’t know. Billy only saw a talking stone. It was annoying so it got thwonked,” Billy shrugged. “Then nothing happened.”
“The Inheritance Trial seems to have been pretty poorly crafted to allow such a situation to occur without any fallbacks,” the statue muttered. “Well, just call for me outside, and I’ll find the guy with the treasure for you.”
Billy woke up a bit later, and he actually remembered Statue Man this time, just like he said. However, he didn’t immediately call for him, but rather looked around for a while longer. Billy didn’t want to call that guy unless he had to. However, there really was just mist everywhere, and Billy finally gave up.
“STUPID STATUE MAN, COME HELP ME!” Billy roared, and a terrifying pressure spread out the next moment.
Billy’s eyes widened in shock as he looked for the threat. However, he was afraid that [Bonker] wouldn’t be able to help him right now. Not even that old spear guy during the hunt was as scary as this. He felt a bunch of bad feelings in his chest, just like those days he had to protect mama from papa when his mouth smelled funny.
Why had Billy cast the spell to let Statue Man out? Was it actually he who was the stupid one?
“IN THE NAME OF THE EASTERN MOUNTAIN, HELP THIS CHILD”, a thunderous voice suddenly echoed out across the area, causing the whole world to shake and most of the mist to disappear.
The terrifying pressure was gone the next moment, and Billy could breathe out in relief. Statue Man really didn’t lie this time and went back inside Billy’s dreams.
“Ah? The Eastern Mountain?” a startled voice answered from nowhere the next second, though Billy felt it was a lot weaker than the earlier voice.
Wait, what earlier voice?
Billy frowned with confusion, feeling like he had forgotten something again. Whatever, he had finally solved the riddle as the mist was going away, opening a tunnel to somewhere that shone with light. A wide smile spread across Billy’s face as he hurried along, and he could already see himself decked in treasure, looking rich enough to make even the golden ghost jealous.
No stupid trial could trick Billy for too long.
However, Billy stopped in his tracks with confusion when he realized he was standing on a cliff on top of a mountain. He quickly looked back, but the mist was gone, and the flat place he had walked around in for so long was no longer there. This really was a mysterious statue to hold a whole mountain and magic mist.
“Welcome,” a deep voice said, and Billy looked toward the source of the voice with vigilance, but he breathed out in relief when he saw that it wasn’t another stone, but a man that actually looked a lot like Billy himself.
“Hello! I am Billy. Do you have treasures to give out?” Billy said as he walked over with quick steps.
“I do,” the man grinned. “A lot of good ones. Are you really a descendant of Brazla? You look much more handsome than him. Almost as handsome as Thrak himself.”
“Brazla? Who is that?” Billy said with confusion. “Billy came here because Billy’s friend had a house full of large statues. Zac said that if Billy jumped into the Titan statue, then Billy would get a bunch of good things.”
“Haha, that greedy bastard kicked the bucket!” Thrak roared with laughter, and the whole mountain shook with his laughter. “That’s what you get for tricking Thrak!”
Billy didn’t say anything and only looked at the muscular man with suspicion. He seemed a bit stupid, could he really have good treasure?
“Who was it that spoke earlier? Are you really someone from Eastern Mountain?” Thrak asked with almost burning eyes, and Billy started to feel a bit uncomfortable.
It was a bit troublesome to be the world’s most handsome boy, even if it made him happy when mama complimented him.
“Ah? Why do you keep asking Billy weird stuff? Billy was lost in the mist, then Billy fell asleep. Suddenly I found you after I woke up,” Billy shrugged as he took a step away.
“Interesting. I can still feel that aura on you though, so I definitely didn’t dream,” Thrak rumbled. “Well, whatever. I’ll help like the great ancestor asked, but rules are rules. Do you want my treasures?”
Billy hurriedly nodded in agreement, his eyes scanning the mountain for good places to start digging.
“Only someone strong can get the treasures of Thrak. It’s a rule. Prove you’re strong by bashing that rock,” Thrak said as he pointed next to Billy.
Billy looked over with confusion, and he saw that there was a round rock just twenty meters away. It was over ten meters tall too, and Billy didn’t understand how he had missed it earlier.
“I just need to thwonk the stone?” Billy said skeptically. “Can Billy use [Bonker]?”
“Its name is Bonker?” Thrak laughed. “Good name!”
“It called itself something else, but it was stupid so Billy renamed it,” Billy shrugged.
“Sure, you can use your club. Just turn that ball into small stones and I’ll give you treasures,” Thrak smiled.
Billy shrugged in confusion, but he still walked over to the stone. He had thwonked a lot bigger things than this stone, so it didn’t really feel like a challenge to break it. He still took the mission seriously, so he walked over and swung at the stone with a lot of power and the impact caused a shockwave to spread out all around them.
However, the rock was completely fine.
“Tsk, you’re pretty weak, huh?” the man said from behind, immediately igniting a fire in Billy’s chest.
Billy glared back before he looked over at the stupid rock again, and this time he activated [Disintegrator], which gave the club a huge destructive power. This was the skill Billy used to break apart that golden ship earlier. Surely it should work on a rock? But Billy even infused the Seed of Expansion in the strike.
The air around [Bonker] started shaking as popping sounds echoed out across the mountain, and Billy bashed the stone with everything he had. A huge explosion erupted, as the air around the stone was sucked into a ball the size of a marble before it exploded with the force of a missile. This eruption repeated six times, each explosion larger than the ones before, and even Billy was thrown away twenty meters from the shockwaves.
Six times was just one worse than Billy’s record, and he victoriously looked up at his work. However, Billy’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he saw that the rock didn’t as much as move from the attack, and it only got a small mark where he hit. The ground around it was turned into sand like expected, but the ball was fine.
What kind of super stone was this?
Thrak didn’t say anything this time, but Billy couldn’t help but blush when he heard a snicker from the side. No holding back anymore. Billy got back up on his feet, and he grew one meter every step he took toward the stone. Power coursed through his veins, and he suddenly felt connected to the whole mountain beneath him.
He now realized what he had missed. The Dao of Expansion wasn’t right. [Bonker] rose into the air, and it suddenly turned heavier as it was imbued with the Dao of Boulder, and Billy swung down with everything in his body as he activated another skill. The mountain shook, and the ball finally cracked.
“Good! Good seedling! I understand why the Eastern Mountain is interested in you!” Thrak roared from the side.
“So, will you give Billy treasures now?” Billy panted.
“Of course. But before that. How about you stay with Thrak for a few days and learn a thing or two?” the man smiled.
“What can you teach Billy? No offense, but you seem a bit stupid,” Billy said skeptically.
“Haha I am stupid, but that doesn’t matter because I am strong,” Thrak laughed as he thumped his chest.
He suddenly started growing, and Billy’s eyes widened when he saw Thrak using the same trick as himself. However, he was a bit different from Billy. Billy got golden hair when growing for some reason, but this guy’s hair stayed brown. But he was a lot better at growing than Billy, and Billy gaped when the man became as big as the mountain they stood on.
What was this?! One fart from him and his town Billyville would be blown away.
“See? Pretty strong, right?” Thrak laughed, and his voice alone caused the whole mountain to shake.
Thrak shrunk again after flexing his muscles for a bit, and he was soon enough just a bit taller than Billy again.
“Now let Thrak teach you how to bash without getting bashed. It took Thrak a lot of effort to figure this out, so listen well.”