the monarch

Once again the illusion was broken by the boy. This time, he walked a few more steps without any illusion and the boy found himself in front of floor number 89. The illusion this time was on a completely different level.

Kayden was a god. He was a god in the truest sense of the word. All he had to do was think and something would be done. Planets or galaxies were generated with a simple wish from Kayden. The boy saw his parents from his past life. Even resurrecting Ryan was possible. Everything could be done everything within his reach could be accomplished. Time had no meaning. Kayden was an immortal being. Days or millennia were the same length for him.

And in the end, he broke this illusion like all the others. This time, he almost got lost. What brought him back was his path. He felt that even though he was a god, he was incomplete. Almost as if I had gotten there the wrong way, as if a part of the process had been skipped and that part meant more than anything.

As soon as Kayden came out of the illusion, he found himself stuck in reflection.

'One day, one day, I'll get there.'

Kayden didn't know how long this would take. Maybe he wouldn't even be able to stay alive after tomorrow. But a new goal appeared in his mind.

What came after this degree of power? Was this level possible to achieve? Kayden didn't know it, but a desire arose from the bottom of his heart to reach that level.

The boy stepped on step number 90, breaking all previous records for this test. As soon as he regained consciousness within the illusion, he found himself facing a dragon. But not a simple dragon. This one was entirely black, its scales looked like they were handmade, and they were simply perfectly symmetrical to each other.

"Hello, child. Don't be scared by what you'll see here. The truth can be hidden, but not buried."

The phrase resonated directly in Kayden's head, taking the boy by surprise. And before he could say anything, he found himself floating in space.

Everywhere I looked, there were stars. Below him was a huge blue mass that he quickly recognized as planet Earth. But that wasn't what caught his attention. Floating in space were the dragon and... Adam?

Kayden wasn't sure about the last person. But he was 90% sure it was Adam. His memory reminded him perfectly of an old man with a clean beard and striking golden eyes.

"I believe the apprentice has finally surpassed the master, don't you?"

Adam had a voice with perfect intonation. His sentencing revealed some more information for Kayden.

"You are not my apprentice. A traitor has no master."

The dragon's voice echoed throughout the room. Kayden didn't know where the sound was coming from. It seemed that reality itself expressed its words.

"You were a threat to the human race. I had to arrest him."

Adam made his sentences the source of truth.

"You are not the owners of the planet. The barrier that protects our planet from alien invasion was raised by me. Remember your place."

The dragon maintained his neutral tone at all times, even when his sentence seemed like something only an angry person would say.

"No dumb animal is going to be able to save us when it falls."

Finally, Adam loses his composure, revealing a dark side to his personality.

"Get out before I kill you. You are banned from any territory dominated by beasts."

The dragon gave Adam an ultimatum. And when the man tried to open his mouth to say something, he found himself on his knees, floating in the air.

Even Kayden felt the pressure the dragon emanated. It wasn't even close to the will of the world, but it was still beyond ridiculous for any living being. Adam looked like an ant before a god.

"Humanity will betray you one time or another, child."

That was the last sentence Kayden heard before losing consciousness.

*********

The boy woke up in front of the medical team again. This time, he knew he had failed the test, not because of any mistake of his own, but because what he saw probably had nothing to do with the step illusion.

The boy asked to be placed on the floor. He needed to go to his tent and reflect on everything he saw. There was a lot of information that had to be fresh in his memory for him to make the best of it.

The journey to the tent was completed in less than half the time. Kayden ran like a rocket and didn't even notice the looks he was getting. The boy still didn't understand the extent of the fame he achieved that day.

As soon as he arrived, he didn't even greet David and sat down to reflect. The minutes began to pass and he made some frightening observations. First, that Adam was alive.

He was already powerful centuries ago and now he should be humanity's greatest power. His second realization was that there was something stronger than him on many levels. The dragon appeared to have been trapped for decades and yet subdued the man as if he were a child.

His third and most important conclusion was that the Garden of Eden was unreliable. The organization was not as beautiful as it was described in the story, especially with Adam being their leader.

Kayden didn't want to take sides directly, but the impression Adam gave when he observed the man was of someone who wasn't really what he let on. His speeches and attitudes seemed false.

The boy sighed. This wasn't something that would make a difference to him at the moment. He was still too weak for any of the real chess pieces on this planet to care about him.

Putting that aside, Kayden began to think about the next day. Tomorrow, his life would change forever or he would die a fool.

*********

Kayden sat in one of the VIP chairs reserved for participants eligible for the last test, in this position he had a privileged view of the entire arena below, the structure of the gym was truly gigantic.

 The arena alone reached almost 1 kilometer in diameter with its circular shape and around it, there were gigantic stands capable of easily accommodating thousands of people.

 Most wore a type of glasses sold for a few silver coins, these glasses zoomed in on their vision without losing image quality, this meant that even a person sitting at the furthest point from the event could watch as if they were right next to the event.