I Became the Demon King of Lust

The blue phoenix went on to explain, "There were three things that I tested you on since you arrived here."

I couldn't help being surprised since I never thought that there were specific things that I was being tested on.

At most, I thought that it was just the trial of running a hundred laps that was a test for me.

The blue phoenix continued by saying, "First, it was a test of intelligence. I pretended to be asleep to see what you would do when you met an opponent who was stronger than you. If you had been dumb enough to think that you could defeat me, then you would have failed."

When she said this, I couldn't help giving a bitter laugh deep down.

There had indeed been a part of me that had thought that I could take down the blue phoenix in one strike. I had even thought about how I would do it and what I would do if it failed.

But in the end, I figured that there was more to gain from seeing if I could talk to the blue phoenix than if I could kill it. It was because I had talked to the small dragon that I came to this decision.

It wasn't because I was smart.

"Second, it was a test of perseverance. I wanted to see if you would persevere even when met with powerful opposition, such as dying again and again. In the end, you came back even though I killed you twice and made you fail twice, so that was enough to show your perseverance."

I could have sworn that I saw something wrong…but when she said this, it was almost as if there was this faint smile that was on her lips. It was almost as if she found something funny as she said this.

For her to be smiling as she said this, there could only be one reason and it rubbed me the wrong way, but I endured it.

However, there was something that I felt I should say.

"So if I didn't have all three attempts left, I would have failed the perseverance portion?" I asked in a very strange voice.

After a moment of thought, the blue phoenix gave a slow nod as she said, "That's right. If you didn't have all three attempts, then you would have failed."

I couldn't help revealing a bitter smile when I heard this.

Did she know just how hard that was in the first place?

If it wasn't for the fact that I had the token that allowed me to skip five stages, it would have been impossible for me to reach this point on my own. It would have been more likely that I would have been stopped on the twenty fifth floor because of the S Ranked dragon.

For her to require all three attempts to be kept…

It seemed that she really was quite the demanding person.

But there was a part of me that also thought…

"I didn't do it because of my perseverance, but because I had no other choice. Even if I didn't want to, it wasn't as if I could just waste my three chances, right?"

"The third thing that I was testing for was your patience. I made all kinds of unreasonable demands and you were able to keep up with all of them. That shows that you are a person with patience, someone that can endure when the going gets tough. It is people like that who will go far in this world."

Once again, I couldn't help giving a secret bitter laugh.

Patience?

It was just that I couldn't beat her.

If I could beat the blue phoenix, I would have already done so and moved on.

It was only because I couldn't that I had gone along with all those demands since I couldn't see any hope of getting through this trial without doing them.

So I didn't think that I had any of those traits that she thought I did.

If anything, it should be said that I just had luck because I stumbled upon all of these things.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

I didn't think that I had the abilities that she was praising me for.

Eventually, these thoughts leaked out of my eyes and the blue phoenix was able to see them.

With a chuckle, the blue phoenix said, "You shouldn't look down on yourself too much."

I was surprised when I heard the blue phoenix say this before shaking my head with a bitter smile and saying, "It's true, I really don't think that I have any of the traits that you say I do. I think that it was all luck that I passed all of those tests of yours."

The blue phoenix shook her head with a smile on her face before saying, "You shouldn't sell yourself short too much. You have much more potential than you think."

I just shook my head with a bitter smile on my face.

The blue phoenix looked at me for a bit before saying, "It seems that you lack confidence, but that's not something that I can give you right away. It's something that needs to be built over a long time and it's clear that you haven't been able to do so. I hope that when we meet again, you will be different."

I was surprised and confused when I heard the blue phoenix say this, but it didn't seem like she was about to say anything else.

Once the blue phoenix finished saying this, she changed the topic by saying, "For now, let's talk about your reward. Since you've passed my trial, then that means that I should give you some kind of special reward."

I couldn't help raising a brow when I heard this.

Does it really mean that or did this blue phoenix have something else in mind?

The blue phoenix just revealed a smile and said, "Since that dumb dragon gave you one of his children, then it only makes sense that I give you one of mine."