Raising A Few Wives in a Beast Apocalypse

"The second level, huh? I wonder how painful this will be... Well, whatever" Muku spoke to himself and jumped right in.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Muku let out a scream louder than he had ever let out before.

With the resistance he had built up from the previous level, he could scream without being burned until he couldn't take it this time.

However, that didn't mean the situation was better. Which was obvious from his scream. The pain had been multiplied again. This time it seemed to be by ten times!

That was too much of a jump. Even worse than before. He had resolved himself not to scream that time but he couldn't stop himself. He found himself screaming before he knew it. The scream was the only thing preventing him from jumping back out.

He had never felt such physical pain before in his life. It was almost driving him insane. Like if it hurt even a tiniest bit more, he would have definitely lost his mind from the pain. It was like Mrs C knew his limits inside out. Hell, she probably did. And he was paying for that.

Even if it would give better results, he wished she had been more lenient. Such inhumane levels of pain weren't something one should experience in a sequence. Especially when the next level is worse than the last. He would definitely rather fight a million beasts.

If Floor 2 was so painful, what about Floor 3? Floor 4 and so on? What about Floor 10!

Of course, those aren't thoughts Muku could entertain at the moment. His mind was completely consumed by pain. It was only after the trial that he would have the time and state of mind to think about it.

.....

Back in Room Zero...

"Umm, ma'am, can you send me for my elemental resistance trial too? That is if it's no bother to you" Raya who was looking at Muku suffering decided to do her own trial too.

The process looked so painful that she figured the more time passed, the less she would be willing to do the trial. So she might as well, get it over with as soon as possible.

"I remember telling you two that you can only have one trial at a time right? Well, lucky for you, that only applies to Muku. So, I guess if you want to go a second time it's fine. I only limited you as well for his sake. But if you can finish before him, I guess it's fine. Your dragon body is naturally better than his human body, so it's possible. As long as you're willing to jump into every level without delay or rest. You should be able to beat him despite his head start. Though, even then, you would have to start at Level One without the introductory Level Zero. Are you willing to tank the pain?" Mrs C casually exposed her favouritism for Muku in how she arranged the trials.

However, before Raya could feel bad about being held back for Muku's sake, Mrs C offered her what she wanted. Sure, there was a painful price, but she was willing to take it on.

It was better than expressing her dissatisfaction with something which couldn't be changed. And she didn't dare have any negative emotions against her scary idol.

And it made sense to her. The point of having power was being able to do whatever you wanted without having to worry about any punishment or retribution. Whether what you do is good or bad, it would all be up to you to decide.

So, Mrs C's favouring her son was only natural. Raya was sure she would have done the same if she were in Mrs C's shoes. In fact, the trial was probably solely created for Muku and she was just a tag-along.

While Muku thought that his encounter with Mrs C was random. Raya had her suspicions. After all, the way Mrs C acted was suspicious if you looked at it from an outsider's point of view.

Muku thought he was lucky, but Raya thought he was just fulfilling a predetermined fate crafted by his "stepmother". Of course, she was probably not behind what happened to him on the Blue Planet. But their accidental fall into the restricted zone seemed planned.

Muku as a foreigner, didn't completely understand how mystical the zones were. But Raya knew. It wasn't a place you could just fall into. Anyway, that was none of her business, she would just quietly enjoy the benefits as the plot unfolded.

She felt that she knew where it was going, but it was better to just let things unfold as she looked on. Keeping her thoughts to herself as she enjoyed the show....

"I'm willing. Thank you for the chance" Raya replied as she bowed her tiny head a little to show her gratitude.

"Smart girl. Okay, I'll send you in. You'll have ten seconds to mentally prepare before the pain.." Mrs C replied and Raya disappeared immediately after.

"Isn't she just the smartest? At just 5 years old she was able to figure out so much" Fake Raya's ghost appeared soon after Raya disappeared. She turned into the lady from before after speaking.

"Didn't I already say that? And wouldn't he already be suspecting something if not for the mental block deployed by his locked memories?" Mrs C replied while rolling her eyes.

She couldn't help but be confused by how the dragon lady seemed to get cocky whenever Raya was mentioned. She completely forgets her place. Should she cut her tail off and have dragon-tail soup? The tail would grow back after all.

"You know what, I think I left the stove on. We'll talk later" The dragon lady who suddenly felt a chill when Mrs C gave her a side eye made up a random excuse and left the room.

She knew that look in Mrs C's eyes. It never meant anything good for whoever was getting it. So it was better to escape the moment you got it.

"How cautious. I wasn't even going to actually do it. And couldn't she think of a better excuse? She doesn't even have a house let alone a stove! Well, whatever, better she's gone. I can focus on the trial in peace now. I believe in you, son! Momma loves you!" Mrs C spoke to herself and focused on the screen again.

The screen was now divided into two. One part showed Muku and the other showed Raya.

The show was about to get even more interesting for her.

She wondered who was going to have the more exaggerated reaction between the two.

Well, Muku's reactions seemed quite hard to beat. But who knew...

....

Raya's trial...

The little dragon looked around her curiously. She was in a corridor similar to the one Muku was in. The same golden flames surrounded her. The only difference was that the flames stayed a meter away from her in every direction. She also couldn't feel their heat.

However, she knew that it wouldn't be like that in a few seconds. She will be swimming in them just like Muku had been before her. She did wonder if she was going to scream like he did when he was in the first level or was going to be worse. Or maybe she won't scream at all and Muku was just weak or overreacting.

As the little dragon was entertaining thoughts of doing better than Muku. The invisible barrier around her disappeared. She was instantly assaulted by the heat even before the flames reached her.

The heat was excruciatingly painful, but she felt that she could take it. However, that all changed when the flames got into the mix.

Not only immediately start burning her body with all their might, but the heat which she could handle before increased to a level she couldn't handle and then...

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" A high-pitched girly scream escaped her dragonic mouth.

It was rather odd since one would expect a dragonic roar. But no! The flames stripped away her dragonic nature and left behind a young girl in pain. Her reaction was even worse than Muku's by a lot.

Her hope of doing better than him was extinguished soon after being formed...

....

Back in room zero...

"It seems he won... You would think that she would do better with her dragonuc body which naturally has a higher pain resistance level than a human's body... But then again, she was thrown directly into the first level and she isn't as used to pain as he is. Being naturally superior has spared her a lot of suffering. So, her loss is understandable. And it might be a valuable experience for future battles..." Mrs C whispered to herself as she looked on as Raya screamed from the flames.

Muku had stopped screaming by that time and had taken a familiar position as he tanked the flames while the mysterious energy built up his resistance.

She estimated that it will be a day before he can move on to the next level since the energy works even more slowly when the flames are more intense.

And there was no fun to be had in seeing a burning man sitting still. She'd rather watch Raya and her more animated reactions.

"Tsk. Sadistic old thing. Torturing my little girl like that. You're lucky I can't beat you otherwise... Hmph!" The dragon lady from before whispered to herself as she poked her head through the wall behind Mrs C.

"Hey. I've been craving dragon-tail soup recently. Do you know where I can acquire a dragon tail by chance?" Mrs C's voice suddenly sounded as she spoke out loud without looking back.

"Eeek!" The dragon lady screamed like a scared rabbit and her head got retracted from the wall. She disappeared again. This time she went as far away from Mrs C as she could.

Even if she knew that Mrs C could easily find her wherever she might hide. But it was still better to try to run away than offer your tail right?...