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\'It would appear, your suspicions were correct.\' Ashton thought, \'Perception skill is out for the count.\'

[Hm... to think Euphoria would take out one of your most-used skills in the first trial. Us Xyran did a great job at designing that AI.]

Ashton was in no mood to hear Astaroth go on about the greatness of his species. Thankfully, he didn\'t have to. The moment he was out of the trial zone, the same receptionist from before came running toward him, followed by another individual and a plethora of guards.

Ashton quickly checked his information. This man was too high-levelled to be a participant in the trials. Nor did he appear to be a part of the guards. Also, judging by the way everyone was behaving around him, he was most likely one of the seat holders Frank informed them about.

These \'seat holders\', were technically a part of the ruling body of Euphoria. In other terms, they were like the kings and queens of various trial zones on the planet. Also, they were ranked based on the difficulty of the trial zones they were in command of.

The higher the number of seats, the stronger and more capable they were. It was due to the condition one had to fulfil in order to become a seat holder. To become a seat holder one had to conquer the trial related to that particular seat.

If someone else wanted to have a seat, they had to defeat the one occupying the seat after conquering the trial related to that seat. However, it was only the case if someone had the desire to become a seat-holder. If they didn\'t, well, they didn\'t have to.

Usually, the lower half of the seats, that is from the sixth seat to the twelfth seats, were the ones that get challenged. As most of the people were given trials for these seats. Even then, the leadership of these seats rarely changed if ever.

Even if the lower trials were easy, it didn\'t mean the ones occupying them were weak. On top of that, only the weak-minded people want to take a seat and remain on Euphoria when they could travel to space and get stronger.

As for the upper half... well, half of them hadn\'t \'won\' the seat and had \'inherited\' them instead. Considering it had been a long time since anyone had conquered the first three trials, and no seat could be left vacant, these seats were given away to the bloodline of the ones who had originally cleared the trial.

This was done in hopes that one day, a person would appear from the conquerer\'s bloodline and will do the impossible. This, however, didn\'t mean the top six-seat holders were weak. In fact, they were the strongest on the planet. All of whom were at least B-grade beings with the top three seat holders being graded as A.

\'He must be the seat holder of Hydra\'s trial.\'

[Looks like he\'s here to challenge you. I wouldn\'t blame him. If given the choice, even I\'d fight a weak E-grader than a mythical being like Hydra. Not to mention, once he defeats you, no one will be able to call him a fake seat holder.]

\'What a sly bastard. Well, it\'s not like I\'m interested in having a seat or some shit. But still...\'

[Even so... I\'d say fight him.]

\'Do you think I\'m some ultimate fighting champion or some shit?\'

[As if you could ever become something like that.]

Ashton must have had a weird look on his face upon hearing Astaroth\'s words because the following moment the bald seat-holder made a snide remark.

"Do you always look this shitty or did the Hydra give you a facial?"

The guards around the man broke down laughing as if it was the most hilarious joke they had ever heard. But to everyone apart from the guards, it was clear their laugh wasn\'t a genuine one.

None of them wanted to offend a seat holder, especially an upper one. Thus, no matter what joke the moron cracked, all of them laughed like maniacs. As for Ashton, just because Astaroth could troll him, didn\'t mean every Tom, Dick and Harry could do the same.

"You seem to know a lot about facials. Maybe you get one yourself on a regular basis?" Ashton replied with a smile, "The rest of you seemed to have some experience in the field as well, considering you\'re all so close with the lord maybe he gave you facials as well?"

This time the crowd genuinely sniggered while the guards remained dead silent. The sniggers immediately stopped once the guards glared at them. They did the same with Ashton, but he simply didn\'t give a fuck about them or their gazes. He was there to complete the trial, not to indulge with their kind... the universal kind of scummy morons.

"Oh, you\'re bolder than I had been informed. Do you not know who I am?" The bald guy forced a smile on his scarred grey face, while words were forced out of his mouth.

"Considering you\'re here right after I defeated the Hydra, you must be one of the upper seat holders of Euphoria." Ashton shrugged his shoulders, "If that is the case, then you don\'t need to worry, I have no interest in having your seat or something. Thank you for coming all the way here, but I\'ll be taking my leave."

Having said his piece, Ashton turned around to carry on with the trials. However, it didn\'t seem like someone else shared his sentiments. The seat-holder grabbed Ashton\'s shoulder and pulled him back while the guards formed a wall around them.

"Who said you could leave like that?" The baldy wasn\'t forcing a smile on his face anymore, instead, he was being openly hostile, "You think you could make a fool out of me, Jacklin? The great fourth seat-holder?"

Ashton was a bit taken aback to learn that Hydra\'s seat was the fourth seat. It essentially meant, there were three trials that were more difficult than the trial he had just faced. Just that mere thought was a bit worrying to him.

"My apologies. I did not mean to offend such a great personality." Ashton replied sarcastically before pushing Jacklin\'s hand off of his shoulder, "There, you have your apology, now I need to leave."

Saying so Ashton turned around to leave. The faster he completed the trial, the faster he would be able to leave the shitty planet. However, the guards surrounding him did not budge.

"Your apology isn\'t enough." Jacking smirked thinking he had Ashton under his control, "If you want to leave this place alive, then hand over the rewards you received for defeating the Hydra."

Ashton really did not want to fight the asshole. But now... the fucker was crossing the limit. The hairless bastard was either too weak or too scared to face the Hydra himself, yet he was asking for the rewards so shamelessly as if it was his birthright?

"Oi... don\'t you think you\'re being a little ridiculous?" It was Ashton\'s turn to drop his smile, "It would appear your shamelessness has no bounds. If you need something, shouldn\'t you beg for it instead?"

"This... fucker..." Jacklin spoke through his gritted teeth, "I want to see every fucking bone in his fucking body broken and his tongue ripped out!"

Having received their orders, the guards simultaneously jumped Ashton, only to be flung away instantly. These guards were no match for him, especially after defeating the Hydra.

Witnessing the guards being thrown away like toys left the spectator\'s mouth wide open. Ashton stood in front of them, wearing an armour made of bluish scales, and Balmond in his hands, looking like a legendary warrior.

"I wasn\'t going to challenge you for your idiotic seat," Ashton calmly said, "but considering you\'re deadset on picking up a fight with me, then I might as well beat some sense into you, you fucking fake seat."