《Class: 1,000,000 and None [LitRPG]》 Chapter 1: Fight! Chapter 1
Fight! A claw swiped at his head. The teenager ducked, putting him in the path of another. The plate-sized natural weapon bowled him off his feet, leaving three deep, throbbing red lines on his thigh and sending the uniformed schoolboy tumbling across the needle-covered ground. Without a second to spare, Elijah pushed himself up and rushed through the pine branches; dry twigs flew as he struggled to flee from the three-headed beast. What the Hell? The young man thought. He was on the verge of panic. His injured leg gave out, and he stumbled. A bite from the leftmost head snapped the air where the sixteen-year-old¡¯s pulsating jugular had been a second before. What the Hell?! The adrenaline-filled boy shouted internally, pushing off his good leg to avoid the middle head¡¯s slobbering chomp. Elijah was desperate; he didn¡¯t see the tree that slammed into his back. The wind was knocked out of the student. His vision swam as he struggled to focus on the monstrous dog. It had recovered from its failed attacks and was preparing the strike that would end him. Taking the pained, wheezing breath that he knew to be his last, Elijah let out a deafening cry that channelled his fear, confusion, and anger: ¡°WHAT THE HELL??!!¡±
You have DIED Potential rewards will suffer as a result of dying whilst undergoing the Trial.
The pain swiftly faded, as if it were naught but a dream. Except, this was all too real. Elijah looked at the videogame-esque window that appeared before him in the blackness. He had seen one like it only minutes ago. The first transparent screen had said something about a trial, but before he had time to read it, he had been interrupted by¡ª ¡°Grrrrrr!¡± A growl came from a patch of ferns that failed to hide the giant Cerberus. Elijah was alive again and standing in the same spot he had been unwittingly transported to the last time. His heart still hammering in his ears, the raven-haired boy didn¡¯t waste any time. The second he felt as much as heard the nightmarish beast, he launched himself at a nearby tree. Elijah had never been much of a climber, and the lower branches were small and fragile, but that didn¡¯t matter. The memory of his painful death was fresh in his mind, and it spurred him on. He shimmied up the pole-like trunk to the safety of the canopy. Flakes of bark filled his hair, and tiny scratches covered his pale hands and face, but he didn¡¯t care. Looking down, madness lurking behind his bright grey-blue eyes, Elijah saw the horse-sized beast pacing around the base of his safe haven. ¡°What the hell is going on!¡± The words came out softly through shivering lips; he didn¡¯t truly expect an answer. The young man nearly jumped out of his cotton socks when the mysterious blue screen appeared before him, as if in response.
The Trial of Evolution 1: Cerberus You have reached Lv 25 as an immature Cerberus! Welcome to The Trial of Evolution: beat the Evolved Cerberus to prove your right to undergo the first Evolution. A better performance in this trial will lead to a more powerful Evolution with stronger monster Skills and Traits.
Accompanying the strange message were a series of barks and yips that sounded as if they could have come from a puppy version of the creature that still paced atop the roots. Nothing felt real. This couldn¡¯t be happening! Elijah passed his hand through the hovering screen. His digits went through without any resistance, and the electric blue window rippled slightly. None of this made any sense. The last thing Elijah remembered was walking home from school with his two best friends, talking about girls, when he had slipped and fallen into a crack in the pavement¡­ somehow. Next, he was here, running for his life. Is this a prank? No! VR is nowhere near this good; it doesn¡¯t let you feel pain either. Did I crack my head open when I fell? Am I sitting in a hospital somewhere in a coma? It was the best Elijah could come up with, though he knew in his heart that this couldn¡¯t be the case. Elijah felt airy, as if in a dream, but as soon as he pushed slightly on the rough bark with his finger he felt a prick that returned him to ¡®reality.¡¯ Wait¡­ he wasn¡¯t an immature Cerberus! That message didn¡¯t make any sense. ¡°I¡¯m not a mangy dog!¡± Elijah shouted, waving at the screen, trying to vent some of his rising emotion. The action was foolish and nearly sent him tumbling from his perch. One of the beastly heads below yipped in excitement when it thought he was about to fall but bayed in annoyance when he was able to regain his grip. The window reacted to his words. It fizzed slightly and went static.
ERROR
A glitchy ERROR message popped up over the text for a moment, then the whole thing winked out. ¡°What the Hell!? You can¡¯t just disappear on me. Fix this!¡± Elijah demanded. There was no response. Before the young man could think of how to get that blue window back, a tremor went up the tree and nearly sent him flying. The Evolved Cerberus had grown tired of waiting. Two of its heads shook off the impact; the left was knocked out cold. Still, it backed up, ready for another charge. Even through the fear he felt, Elijah noticed that its front left paw was limp. Why? It¡¯s not injured. Unless¡­ The second charge struck the tree. Elijah was able to hold on now that he knew it was coming. It didn¡¯t stop his stomach from dropping out of him as he heard the terrible sound of cracking. One more attack and the tree would fall. Thinking quickly, Elijah looked around for something, anything, to use. There wasn¡¯t much. He was in an endless pine forest; small shrubs dotted the ground. One patch of brambles in particular caught his eye. When his tree fell, he might be able to jump to another, but then what? He didn¡¯t want to die again; he didn¡¯t want to feel that pain. He had to do something. CRASH! The Cerberus struck Elijah¡¯s tree, turning the trunk into splinters. It tipped and began to fall. With the beast injured, now was his chance to act. ¡°Timber!¡± Elijah cried. The tree fell one way, and he pushed off the other, falling right on top of the still stunned monster. He landed atop the beast with an oof from both parties. With the few seconds he had, Elijah smeared his sap-covered hands over one of the head¡¯s eyes, trying to glue them shut. It didn¡¯t work as well as he would have liked. Its eyes were clearly sore as it kept blinking. He didn¡¯t have a chance to assault the final head before teeth were gnashing at the boy squirming about on the splayed-out beast¡¯s back. It was time to move! Elijah¡¯s ribs ached from the fall, and sucking in air was painful, but the dog had broken his fall well enough. The sixteen-year-old could still run, and so he did. It didn¡¯t take the Cerberus long to get back to its feet and launch after the boy. Elijah had only made it halfway to the bramble thicket he had spied earlier before two giant dog heads were nipping at his heels once more. He looked back and saw the frothing muzzles bare inches behind him. Desperate, Elijah catapulted himself sideways. His body looked like a ragdoll being thrown. One moment he was running full speed, the next he was flung aside. It was a trick he had used ad hoc when roughhousing with his mates. It worked, and Elijah was afforded a few precious seconds as the monster skidded on the loose dirt, trying to turn after him. School shoes danced between trees as he wove his way towards the bramble patch. The Cerberus¡¯s central head led the way. The left one had been knocked out, and the right was still trying to clear the sticky stuff from its eyes. It was up to him to end this pesky human. The middle head¡¯s eyes alighted with murderous fervour as the Cerberus rounded another tree and found the thing that had vexed it just standing there, facing him with its arms outstretched. This was it; he could already taste the creature¡¯s blood. Elijah threw himself to his right. The Cerberus, having seen this trick before, threw itself to its left to catch him. Or it tried to. With the leftmost head still out of it, the Cerberus¡¯s left front paw was lame, and it went tumbling into the spiky brambles. That wasn¡¯t the end of it, however. As the beast crashed through the underbrush, it revealed the sinkhole, which had been Elijah¡¯s target all along. He had done it! He had actually done it! Panting for breath and holding his side, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but let out a cry of delight as he plodded over to the edge of the earthen pit and looked down to see the Cerberus trapped below. The fall of twenty feet or so wasn¡¯t enough to kill the beast. That said, as Elijah watched the canine paw at the crumbling earth that walled the pit, he was sure it could not escape. Keeping his eyes on the deadly predator, Elijah slumped down against a tree to rest. Despite himself, he couldn¡¯t help but feel bad for the dog. That was until he realised: I must have passed the trial! I can get out of whatever nightmare this is. No sooner did he have the thought than did the game-like window return.
The Trial of Evolution 1: Cerberus This trial is not complete until the Evolved Cerberus is defeated. Hint: Violent Monsters rarely admit defeat until they are dead, and sometimes not even then.
Again, the visual message was accompanied by barking and general dog-like noises. Whatever this thing was, it clearly still thought Elijah was a Cerberus. He decided not to correct it. The young man needed answers, and he didn¡¯t want to scare it away again. Elijah tried to look straight at the screen in order to properly address it, but wherever he turned his head, it remained in the top left corner of his vision. Giving up on the fruitless endeavour, the sixteen-year-old sighed and spoke his thoughts aloud: ¡°Where am I? What is this place?¡± he asked, hoping for some kind of proper explanation. The window rippled and refreshed.
The Trial of Evolution 1: Cerberus You have reached Lv 25 as an immature Cerberus! Welcome to The Trial of Evolution: beat the Evolved Cerberus to prove your right to undergo the first Evolution. A better performance in this trial will lead to a more powerful Evolution with stronger monster Skills and Traits.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Well, that was useless, Elijah thought, reading over the information again. Whatever this glowing blue thing was, it acted like some kind of game in that it had set responses. Elijah had played a lot of a certain scrolls-based computer game series, and although he loved the worlds that the developers had created, he had lost count of the number of times he had selected a greyed-out dialogue option only to hear the same response over and again. That meant he wasn¡¯t asking the right questions. ¡°What are you?¡± Elijah enquired, doing his best to ignore the incessant growling that came up from the sinkhole. Whatever it was, it didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Am I in some kind of game?¡± Again there was no response. Recalling the Isekai he had watched and the LitRPG he had read, Elijah tried another tack. ¡°Information,¡± nothing, ¡°Attributes,¡± nothing, ¡°Status,¡± nothing. Stumped, Elijah bumped his head against the stump he was leaning against. What word do I have to use to see my stats! Elijah wondered, racking his brain for more words. No sooner had he had the thought than the game-like window expanded to fill his entire vision.
Level: 0 Title: None Name: Elijah L. Chim?ra Race: Human (Earth) Age: 16 Class: None Skills: None Traits: 1 Attributes: Health: 24/30 Stamina: 3/50 Mana: 0/80 0
That was a lot. Like, a lot a lot. There was so much text that Elijah couldn¡¯t see anything except the glowing, translucent screen in front of him. ¡°Wait, did you just react to my thoughts? Can this thing read my mind?¡± Elijah asked, with a mixture of fascination and disgust. There was no response. Returning his attention to the screen in front of him, Elijah examined it. No Title, he guessed that made sense. In any game he had played, someone only received a title for doing some great feat; he was still only 16. It felt creepy that this computer-like hallucination knew his full name; that was unless this was some kind of dream. A part of Elijah still held out hope, but the rest of him couldn¡¯t deny that this was real. He had been transported to another world! Elijah had thought that, if he were ever put in this position, he would stride forth and become a hero. That couldn¡¯t be further from how he presently felt. His school shirt was drenched with sweat, his thigh twitched with phantom pain, and he wanted nothing more than to go home. Shaking off the sudden melancholy, Elijah reminded himself: ¡°Focus on what¡¯s in front of you.¡± In this case, that was the stats page¡­ his stats page. That felt weird. Level, Race, Age, and Class were no surprise, but having 0 Skills felt like a kick in the teeth. Elijah consoled himself with the idea that, since this interface was reminiscent of a game, Skills were likely something different than he was used to. Maybe something magical? Traits, surprisingly, had a listing. With his attention focused on the word, a new screen opened up in front of the first.
Traits: 1 World Slider: Luck permanently set to -10. You have slid, unnoticed, through a crack between the planes of reality and not become a smear on some Eldritch nightmare¡¯s windscreen. That was lucky! Too lucky. Lady Luck feels she is owed a debt: -10 Luck for the rest of your, probably short, life.
Elijah cursed at the suddenly smug-seeming screen. ¡°What?! I lost luck just for being Lucky? That makes no sense! And even if it did, surely being unlucky enough to ¡®slip through a crack in reality¡¯ would be enough to more than offset that.¡±
Congratulations! Lady Luck has heard your pleas and has responded. Trait: World Slider has been updated. World Slider: Luck permanently set to -20. Try me!
Elijah fumed but wisely chose to keep his mouth shut. They¡¯re just imaginary numbers on an imaginary screen, he reminded himself, though it didn¡¯t seem to lessen the sting.
Wisdom +1
Elijah huffed and, with a thought, cleared away all the windows that were blocking his character sheet, for lack of a better term. Pouring over the numbers somewhat calmed him. They were numbers to be proud of. At least he assumed so. Elijah had no real point of reference. There were no surprises at least. Average-looking Strength and Endurance made sense; he was not the first pick for P.E., but neither was he the last. Low Vitality Elijah had to admit also made a lot of sense. He had always been prone to illness and had gotten into trouble with his attendance as a result. Perception was nothing too special, no surprise there. High Agility likely came from playing football on the local 16 and under team; high Dexterity was probably due to ten years of playing piano and guitar; high Intelligence was in line with his mock exam maths and further maths scores. Wisdom was nothing special; that tracked; he was still only 16 after all. Initiative seemed flatteringly high. Then again, he had been able to come up with a successful plan to trap a horrifying and slightly cute, if not for all the wanting to kill him, monster in a matter of minutes. Elijah pointedly ignored the last stat as he was looking over the list. Having no capacity for Mana was annoying; Elijah had often dreamt of slinging fireballs and firing icicles. But he doubted it would change anything even if that number wasn¡¯t 0. If this whole thing was real and he had been transported to some magical world governed by a System, that didn¡¯t change the fact that he didn¡¯t know the first thing about magic. What was he supposed to do? Feel the power in the tips of his fingers and toes and shake it out? Elijah laughed at the thought. No, what he needed to do was go back home, and to do that he needed to complete this Trial. With that thought in mind, he stood up, dismissed the window, and peered over the edge of the pit at the dog-shaped monster. He altered the system to show Health, Stamina, and Mana (which was greyed out) bars at the bottom of his vision, in the centre, to the left, and to the right, respectively. Elijah had hoped that the beast would have calmed down and admitted defeat whilst his Stamina recovered. That couldn¡¯t be further from the truth. The third head had woken up, and now the trio were snarling and barking in chorus, working each other up into greater and greater frenzy. Something had to be done. As Elijah began searching the forest for heavy rocks, he reminded himself that he was no stranger to gruesome necessities. His grandfather had taken him hunting a number of times. He always enjoyed the dishes his grandmother would make with whatever they shot, but he had never liked gutting the animals. Still, his granddad had insisted he learn, and he was grateful for that now. The first rock struck the beast, causing the skin on its hind leg to crack open. Thankfully the creature didn¡¯t whine; it only grew more angry. Elijah didn¡¯t think his churning stomach could have taken it if the Cerberus had started grovelling. It took fifty-two stones in total to fell the beast, one for every week of the year. Even till the end, when it looked like nothing more than a bruised and battered mess, the monster was still defiantly growling and barking. Elijah threw up; his vomit added to the horror show. The world around the boy faded to black and disappeared as the glowing window took centre stage.
You have defeated a Lv 26 Cerberus Slasher: Extra Xp is awarded for defeating an opponent of a greater level. Less Xp is awarded for defeating a defenceless opponent. 1286 Xp awarded. Xp will be held in escrow until you earn a Class.
Congratulations! You have completed the Trial of Evolution 1: Cerberus. Grade: F Objectives: Rewards: You have earned the right, if barely, to Evolve from an immature Cerberus into 1 of 1 mature Cerberus Evolutions: Choose Now!
ERROR: You are not a Monster and, as such, cannot Evolve.
ERROR: You have completed a Trial of Evolution and must Evolve.
E?R?R?O?R?:? ?Y?o?u? ?a?r?e? ?n?o?t? ?a? ?M?o?n?s?t?e?r? ?a?n?d?, ?a?s? ?s?u?c?h?, ?c?a?n?n?o?t? ?E?v?o?l?v?e?.?
E???R???R???O???R???:??? ???Y???o???u??? ???h???a???v???e??? ???c???o???m???p???l???e???t???e???d??? ???a??? ???T???r???i???a???l??? ???o???f??? ???E???v???o???l???u???t???i???o???n??? ???a???n???d??? ???m???u???s???t??? ???E???v???o???l???v???e???.???
E????R?????R????O?????R????:???? ????Y?????o????u???? ?????a?????r?????e????? ????n????o???t???? ????a??? ???M????o????n???s????t?????e???r????? ???a???n????d????, ????a???s????? ????s????u????c????h???, ???c?????a????n???n????o?????t????? ????E????v????o????l????v????e????.?????
A buzzing began to fill the empty space as the two ERROR messages opened on top of each other time and time again. With each cycle, they became more and more glitched and started to fuzz with static. Elijah looked around for an escape, but there was none. He was suspended in a black void of nothingness. The fuzzy sound of vacuum tubes became more insistent as the messages came faster and faster until¡ª Pop! With the sound of a fuse blowing, the screens winked out, leaving Elijah in complete darkness. It terrified him. All sensation was absent; it could have been a millisecond or a year, but after some time, Elijah¡¯s saviour, the screen, reappeared.
New Evolution Class E?v?o?l?u?t?i?o?n? C???l???a???s???s??? E???v????o?????l????u????t????i????o?????n??? C??????l???????a???????s????s??????? ¡­ Unlocked!
The glitchy window quickly fizzled out, but this time it was replaced by Elijah¡¯s character page. A new entry had been entered under Class. If Elijah looked at the page from one angle, it seemed to still say ¡°none,¡± but if he shifted his head slightly, it appeared to say ¡°1.¡± Curious, he mentally clicked on the tab. A new window opened up before him. Its edges were ragged, and it was a pale yellow in colour. It looked like a page torn from a very old book. Through scribbled-over, glitchy text, Elijah made out the name of his new Class: Cerberus Slasher. Yet another window appeared on top.
New Class Skill Unlocked! New Class Skill unlocked: Cerberus Slash: F Use 25 Stamina to enhance the damage of your slashing attacks.
¡°Cool,¡± Elijah said, unenthused, ¡°Can I go home now?¡± To his surprise, the emptiness answered, not with words but with action. Mountains began to form around him, along with green lakes of what looked like acid. A new screen appeared in front of him, explaining the change.
The Trial of Evolution 1: Slime You have reached Lv 25 as a Slime! Welcome to The Trial of Evolution: beat the Evolved Slime to prove your right to undergo the first Evolution. A better performance in this trial will lead to a more powerful Evolution with stronger monster Skills and Traits.
This time the words were accompanied by a weird slurping, sloshing noise. ¡°Bollocks!¡± Chapter 2: This is a Slime? Chapter 2
This is a Slime?
You have reached Level 1 in C???????e????????????????r?????????b????????e?????????r?????????u???????????????s????????????? ????????????S???????l??????????a??????????s??????h?????????e???????????????r??????????! +1 to Strength +1 Endurance +1 Vitality
You have reached Level 2 in C??????????e???????r???b????????e??????r???????????u???s????? ?????S??????l????a???s?????????h???????e?????????r??????! +1 Strength
The pop-ups obscured the world forming around Elijah. He was too distracted to notice the translucent tentacle that shot towards him. The gelatinous whip scored his arm, melting through the schoolboy¡¯s blazer, burning a line in his flesh. Elijah yelped, stumbling back on the pumice-like rock. That was enough for the system. The prompts winked out, leaving only the Health, Mana, and Stamina bars at the periphery of his vision. One eye watched as the Evolved Sime¡¯s appendage slipped seamlessly into a glowing green acid pool, and the other kept track of his Health. It dropped by a quarter. The throbbing in his arm grew and grew. Elijah did his best to ignore it and scan his surroundings for the next attack. The series of acrid pools were connected by gaps in the volcanic rock. Toxic mist swirled above. The only safe areas were thin, spindly pathways, one of which he was standing on. There was a slight stirring in the water-like liquid behind him. Without thinking, Elijah threw himself aside and spun around in one motion. He was just in time to watch as another green whip cracked past his face, dripping burning acid on his cheek. The pain nearly distracted the frayed boy as his momentum sent him right to the edge of one of the deadly acid pits. His arms wheeling, he heaved. A jolt of his head was enough to pull his feet fully back onto the uneven surface. This was no good; he couldn¡¯t win like this! About a hundred meters away, there was an area of safety, a large circle of cleared ground. Elijah set off at a sprint, determined. The Slime was having none of that. As soon as it realised what the human was doing, the attacks began in earnest. A tentacle shot at Elijah¡¯s head. He ducked. Droplets of acid rained down, sizzling holes in his blazer but not making it all the way through. A second limb swiped along the ground; Elijah was forced to jump. Just as he thought himself safe, a third tentacle dropped down like the hammer of god. Stuck in the air, he was unable to dodge. Acting on instinct, the raven-haired lad spun his arm around to block, which caused the rest of him to move out of line. The attack sizzled into the skin of his forearm, and the homesick child was sent tumbling along the path, his arm half melted through. Elijah screamed, his eyes filled with tears. The burning pain was too much, and he wasn¡¯t able to recover in time to avoid the next strike. SSSSSssssssSSSSssssss. The sickening sound of flesh searing accompanied a whole new wave of agony. It felt like his legs had been doused in petrol, set alight, stabbed through with needles, then sliced to ribbons. Looking down, through the unimaginable torment, the crying boy saw why. His eyes didn¡¯t believe it. He had been sliced in half, and his organs were crackling and popping in caustic liquid. Elijah let out one last cry of pain and fear before the darkness once more claimed him.
You have DIED Potential rewards will suffer as a result of dying whilst undergoing the Trial.
The pain disappeared with his death, but Elijah knew it wasn¡¯t over. This couldn¡¯t be happening. He wanted to go home. He could just see it now:
he would open his door;
Light began materialising from the outside in.
mum would call out from the kitchen.
The far-off mountains were the first thing to return.
She would be tired from the long hours being a nurse demanded.
The pits of burning death came next.
Still, she would be making dinner without fail when he came home.
Glassy stone reflected a sun Elijah hadn¡¯t noticed was orange.
Elijah would walk into the kitchen and sling his blazer over the chair.
He caught a brief glimpse of the monstrous Slime¡¯s outline,
His mother would take one look at him and ask,
before the acid rendered in.
¡°What¡¯s wrong, honey?¡±
Elijah had been right; the only safe place was that circle.
To which he would reply,
The colours seemed to saturate seconds before,
¡°Nothing, just a bad dream.¡± ¡°Must have been bad if you¡¯re still thinking about it.¡± ¡°Mmm.¡± She would wrap an arm around him and kiss him on the head. ¡°There, there, everything''s gonna be alright.¡±
the reality he found himself in snapped back into existence.
The Trial of Evolution 1: SlimeEnjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. You have reached Lv 25 as a Slime! Welcome to The Trial of Evolution: beat the Evolved Slime to prove your right to undergo the first Evolution. A better performance in this trial will lead to a more powerful Evolution with stronger monster Skills and Traits.
Elijah let out a loud, mournful sigh; his mind was off somewhere else, his body very much wasn¡¯t. A probing tentacle came slapping through the window, dispelling it. A strike across the stomach sent him flying, the pain blossoming anew. With the clothes on his top half already melted, he had no defence against the blow. It snapped him back to reality. This wasn¡¯t right! His mother would be sitting on the kitchen chair fretting, and his supper would be getting cold. He shouldn¡¯t be here! Unfortunately, he was unable to act on his emotions as the initial hit had sent him straight into one of the acid pits. Elijah let out a gurgled cry as his lungs liquified.
You have DIED Potential rewards will suffer as a result of dying whilst undergoing the Trial.
Mountains, pits, Slime, acid. The world reconstructed itself once more. It looked like a game loading. Elijah was angry. He would get out of here. He would go home. There was no wasting time this go-round. The screen appeared once more, but he ignored it. His feet slapped the ground as he ran; his shoes had melted off. Tiny spikes of stone bit into his feet. Swishing tentacles flailed about wildly. Acid roiled. None of this mattered; Elijah had one goal, one focus. He was going to make it to the circle of land, out of reach of that monster. It was the first step in making it back. One jelly-like tendril melted through his head, and another went through his chest, destroying his favourite pen on its way through. That only added to his rage. Elijah dismissed the death notification and jumped about impatiently in the nothingness. The second he could, the sixteen-year-old shot off like a whippet. The pain of the beastly Slime¡¯s lashes still hurt, but for now he was able to push it down with anger. The next run didn¡¯t go much better. He made it thirty meters before becoming a bubbling puddle. It didn¡¯t matter; anger still burnt hot in his veins. Fifty times he hit his head against this wall with no change. He simply couldn¡¯t make it past thirty-five meters on grit alone. And that was in short supply. His anger could only last so long. He tried to reignite it by thinking of how his grandparents would react when they learnt Elijah was missing. It worked for a time, but that thought soon flamed out. Not even the anger he held for his father could stay alight forever. ¡°You son of a bitch, just let me through!¡± Elijah screamed. It didn¡¯t work. There was no bargaining with this thing. If anything, it killed him quicker. Slowly but surely, with each attempt, he lost energy. Not his physical energy; his Stamina was refreshed each time he died. Despite this, he grew tired. By the one hundredth attempt, he had completely given up. Two points were added to Endurance because of all the running but he didn¡¯t even notice. His mind had been through so much pain that it couldn¡¯t take anymore. When he spawned in, he just stood; eyes staring unfocused at the distant mountains. Elijah was catatonic. His thoughts were blank as he stood silently. It could have been seconds or hours; he truly had no way to tell. It wasn¡¯t until the wind peppered his face with volcanic dust and he sneezed that Elijah realised it had been quite some time since his last death. No sooner had he had the thought than a familiar Slime¡¯s tentacle came out of the acid to greet him. Elijah died, yet again. That was strange, he thought absently. He felt lethargic. His brain was too tired to put together what had happened, so he returned to standing there, unmoving. It wasn¡¯t until he died two more times, the first after slipping on a rock, the second after yawning, that he finally realised what had happened. If he remained completely still, the Slime didn''t attack him. With something to focus on, he was drawn back from the dark place he had mentally gone to. He finally had something he could use. It wasn¡¯t hopeless. Now, the question is, what is it sensing? Did it hear him? Could it feel him move? Did it sense the flow of air? It couldn¡¯t be the latter; he had been breathing this whole time. It was probably sound. To test his theory, Elijah steeled himself and whistled. It hadn¡¯t become any easier to die. The pain was still just as bad; he was only better at forgetting it. For a moment, nothing happened. When Elijah began to think he had been wrong, a tendril of Slime slipped silently out of the acid from his left. The creature blended in so well to its acidic home that the sixteen-year-old was taken by surprise and couldn¡¯t react before the creature cut through him like a hot knife through butter. A tinge of annoyance shot through him as he was greeted with the death screen yet again. How was this thing a Slime? In any game he¡¯d played, slimes were low-level creatures that could die from being tripped over by a passing adventurer, not silent predators with near-invisibility in their chosen habitat and a deadly corrosive touch. He let go of his frustration with a breath; emotionally, he was wrung dry. When he spawned back in, Elijah was sure to be silent. With incredible slowness, he raised his foot. Nothing. He moved it forward. He eased it down in front of him. A pebble shifted slightly. Pain. Death. He tried again, even slower. He set his foot down to the left of the stone. Silence. He let out a breath in relief. His reaction was slightly too loud. Pain. Death. He came back, with no choice in the matter, ready to try again. This time he made it a full ten meters before he stubbed his toe and swore. Pain. Death. This wouldn¡¯t work. Elijah was moving at a slow and measured pace; whenever he messed up and the Slime attacked, which always happened, he couldn¡¯t move quickly enough to react. Unfortunately, it took him seven more deaths before he realised this. Somehow, Elijah needed to move slowly enough to be silent yet spring into action quickly when the need arose. But that was impossible! Unless¡­ When he had tried to run for his goal, the Evolved slime had lashed out, striking in quick succession. With all the noise it had made, there was no way it was able to accurately tell where he was. He had just been running full force in a straight line; it wouldn¡¯t have been hard to guess where he was and attack. Elijah started the next attempt with a sprint, though not a blind one this time. As soon as the monster realised what he was about, it launched its frenzied attacks once more. The second it started splashing about wildly, Elijah froze in his tracks. An attack swiped out in front of him. He stepped over it calmly. Another tentacle ran along the ground further ahead, and a third crashed down from above in the spot he would have been if he¡¯d kept running. Wait? Elijah thought, I recognise that attack. It was the same sequence of moves that had killed him on his first run and several times since. The creature couldn¡¯t tell where Elijah was when it was making all that noise; it was just using combinations to try and kill him.
Perception +1
The System all but confirmed his revelation. Sadly, the young man took too long marveling over his discovery and was struck down by a tentacle. That didn¡¯t bother him, at least it didn¡¯t when the pain wore off and he could repress the experience. Elijah had something to work towards. Again he started at a run, carefully watching where the tentacles came from. One from the right, then the left. The creature would then realise he was running and start its wild strikes. Elijah would switch to the defensive and remain still unless dodging was required. The slime would think it had killed him and calm down. At which point he would take off again. This technique became his bread and butter and with each run he learned more and more about how the monster moved, coming closer and closer to his goal. With a sense of progress after each excruciating death, he didn¡¯t even notice how many times he was sent back to the start. It was in the hundreds. Elijah got to a point where he knew where the attacks were going to come from without thinking. At least until there was a twist. The Slime clearly wasn¡¯t smart, either that or it got reset each time he died. Elijah would be able to tell exactly where every blow was going to come from as it followed the exact same pattern every time, so long as he did. That was until the random attack came. Before every vicious spate of wild attacks, a blow would come from a new direction and he never could tell where it would be. It was as if it was RNG, except it only struck where he was least expecting. Elijah suspected it had something to do with his Luck. In response to this random attack, he was forced to improve his dodging. After far too many deaths to count, Elijah was just about able to evade the strike by reacting alone, something he was fiercely proud of. Any achievement in this hellscape was worth celebrating. The System seemed to agree.
New General Skill Unlocked! New general Skill unlocked: Dodge: C Use 15% of your Stamina to raise dodge chance to 70%. Passive Dodge chance raised by 1%.
With his new general Skill, whatever that meant, Elijah was able to more reliably dodge the random attack, and before he knew it, his ordeal was over. On a run like any other, he pushed forward and reached the centre of the cleared land, out of reach of the probing tentacles. He had done it! He had actually done it! For a moment he just stood there in stunned disbelief. The young man had been so focused on not getting hit for so long, he didn¡¯t know what to do. Then a tide of euphoria smashed into Elijah, and he threw his hands in the air, dancing a little jig as he cried out in jubilation. Happiness doesn¡¯t last. It was a lesson that Elijah was about to be taught in the school of hard knocks. The trial was not to survive but to defeat the Evolved Slime, and the creature wasn¡¯t beaten so easily. Elijah¡¯s jaw dropped, and the colour drained from his cheeks as he watched on in horror. The Slime, finding its prey out of reach, emerged menacingly onto land. It was a towering, translucent green monster with seven tentacles that whipped about it as if tasting the air. Slurp, Slurp. It moved slowly towards him. Elijah had been wrong; this was not a safe haven; he had just entered a boss arena. The real challenge was yet to begin. Chapter 3: Boss Battle! Chapter 3
Boss Battle! Be be be da, be be ba da, be be be tss. Jazz was the music of the day. Elijah dodged and weaved the slashing tentacles in time with a beat only he could hear. Two, four, Two, four, Two, four, his top half moved with the backbeat, swaying around one tentacle only to snap back to avoid another. His feet moved constantly, keeping time. Slash, swipe, knock, knock, slap, slap, POW. There was his opening. Elijah snapped his naked hand out, hitting in time with a big cymbal beat. Slime was sent spraying, and Elijah tissed in annoyance; his skin sizzled. The repeated exposure to acid had actually raised his Vitality, but only by one point. For two weeks, as best as he could tell, the sixteen-year-old had been trying to defeat this monster. The first section had become trivial by this point; he could run through it with his eyes closed and actually had a couple of times out of boredom. Now, he knew every single move the giant corrosive slime would make seconds before it did. At first, he had been too scared to do anything but run away from the slow-moving monster. But that couldn''t last; the second he entered the boss phase, the twisting path which led to the arena was swallowed by bubbling acid. There was no escape! Elijah had run around in circles for hours. Well, more like a light jog; the thing wasn¡¯t fast. Even so, without the refreshment of constant death, he grew tired. As it turned out, even in this strange game-like simulation, he needed to sleep, eat, and drink¡­ so long as he didn¡¯t die, that was. Suffice to say, his first bout with the Slime did not end well. By the time he was finally killed, Elijah felt as if he were more jelly-like than the monster. The only good thing that came out of it was an extra point in Endurance, apparently pushing one¡¯s self to the brink of collapse was more effective than lots of short runs that ended in death. And when he came back, Elijah actually felt there was a difference from the stat gain. He seemed more solid, running appeared easier. Maybe it was the sudden revival that his death brought about; he couldn¡¯t tell. Since then, he had actually tried to fight. Not that it was much of a fight. Dodging seven tentacles at once was hard. His Dodge Skill saved him more than once, but when his Stamina was depleted, he felt like a walking corpse. At that point it was easier just to die. Elijah was slightly disturbed by how comfortable he had become with his own death. It was natural to fear the end, but the naked teen would kill himself for the silliest of reasons. Started the run on the left foot; that¡¯s unlucky; jump in acid. Received a burn to the back of the leg and can¡¯t run; make as much noise as possible to get the slime to kill you quicker. Didn¡¯t make it through the first phase fast enough; dive headfirst into the emerging Slime. Got a tangle in his hair¡­ you get the picture. After so many attempts, he could dodge every one of the Slime''s attacks without hardly trying. But that didn¡¯t matter; he couldn¡¯t truly hurt it. On attempt number 123, he had spotted the slightly darker spot in its centre, which he assumed to be a core. So what? He couldn¡¯t get anywhere near it; he would melt long before he had a shot at destroying the thing. Maybe he could have tried to use his clothes for defence, but they had long since been destroyed, and, unlike his body parts, they did not return upon respawning. At this point, he was just toying with the monster. That was until¡­
New Trait Unlocked! New Trait Unlocked: Unkillable: A You have successfully evaded 1,000,000 attacks that would have killed you. Enemies who do not resist will receive 1% of the damage of an attack you dodge. X10 if the attack would have been lethal.
Excited, Elijah ended himself quickly. Tap, ta, ta, TSHH. The world went black in time with the last cymbal of the song as Elijah shoved his head inside the acidic Slime. He had tried using the Cerberus Slash Skill, but it didn¡¯t do anything; he was a human and couldn¡¯t do slashing attacks; he even tried using his nails, but it refused to activate. This Trait on the other hand was truly something! Now that he had a new body, he couldn¡¯t wait to test it out. But first he needed a rhythm better suited for this sort of thing. Elijah started by humming the guitar riff, jumping over tentacles in time with each note. Then it was time to sing: ¡°Coming out of my cage and I¡¯ve been doing just fine,¡± The monster¡¯s combination attack landed with the last two notes, and Elijah expertly dodged. ¡°Gotta, gotta be down because I want it all.¡± Again, two strikes hit nothing but air as the kid stopped suddenly, avoiding the first, then slipped under the second. So it went on through the first verse, with Elijah¡¯s movements slightly muted and small. But as soon as he reached the pre-chorus, he started picking up speed. He timed it so the beast¡¯s heaviest attacks landed on the words ¡°Chest¡± and ¡°Dress.¡± He had ¡°Taken control.¡± He made it to the arena when the chorus began and immediately turned round to ¡®fight¡¯ the boss. The Slime was more than happy to launch attacks with abandon. Elijah frantically jumped, ducked, slid, and dodged, trying to evade as many attacks as possible. As soon as he finished singing the chorus, he took a step back to rest, evaluate the damage, and hum along to the interlude. Tiny pieces had been nibbled out of the Slime in seemingly random places. The monster hadn¡¯t seemed to notice and was stubbornly dragging itself towards him. This was perfect! Elijah ignored the string of ¡°Trait: Unkillable has been activated¡± notifications that flooded in, took a breath, then launched back into the fray just in time for the second verse. So the fight continued, with Elijah putting himself in the way of more tentacles when the song rose in intensity and stepping back when it lowered. By the time he got to the end of Mr. Brightside, Elijah guessed he had reduced the Slime¡¯s mass by 10%, but he was tired, and that wasn¡¯t nearly enough. This was a marathon, not a sprint. With that in mind, Elijah switched up his mental playlist to something with a slower tempo. The sixteen-year-old would have looked mental to an outside observer. Dancing around naked, singing Purple Rain and lighting up in excitement each time the attacks of a giant Slime came within inches of his skin. There was only one problem. When the Slime shrunk, its attacks became slightly weaker, and the retaliatory damage Eliljah¡¯s Trait did would lessen. The Evolved Slime had decreased from the size of a small house to that of a large dog, and he had sung twenty-six songs when he realised that this strategy had become too slow. Not even Queen was getting the job done! Throughout the ¡®fight,¡¯ the core had remained the size of a fist. Not thinking about what he was doing, so that the fear of pain wouldn¡¯t slow him, Elijah used a brake in the still vicious assault to shoot his hand into the gelatinous blob¡¯s centre. Skin sizzled and flesh began to burn in the less than a second it took the young man to retrieve the core. As soon as it left the Slime¡¯s sucking flesh, the monster collapsed. And a good thing too. Elijah''s arm, up to the elbow, was nothing but exposed muscle; it was difficult to think straight. He had thought that destroying the core would be necessary, but the System had other ideas.
Congratulations!This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it You have completed the Trial of Evolution 1: Slime. Grade: None Objectives: Rewards: You have earned the right, somehow, to Evolve from an Lesser Slime into 1 of 1(should be 0) Slimes: Choose Now!
The absurdity of the objectives would have made Elijah laugh if he weren¡¯t gritting his teeth against the pain. Were Slimes supposed to be some kind of ninja in this world? That was ridiculous! Thankfully, his suffering was short-lived as the world fell away and he felt no more. In the darkness, a series of new screens opened.
You have defeated a Lv 26 Acid Slime: Extra Xp is awarded for defeating an opponent of a greater level. Xp awarded 1429. Xp automatically placed in Class: C?e?r?b?e?r?u?s? ?S?l?a?s?h?e?r?.
You have reached Level 3 in C???????e????????????????r?????????b????????e?????????r?????????u???????????????s????????????? ????????????S???????l??????????a??????????s??????h?????????e???????????????r??????????! +1 Endurance
You have reached Level 4 in C??????????e???????r???b????????e??????r???????????u???s????? ?????S??????l????a???s?????????h???????e?????????r??????! +1 Vitality
New Threshold Met! You have reached 10 in Endurance! This would be the cap for Race: Human (Earth), but the System allows you to push beyond your limits! Having reached the first Threshold, Stamina now depletes at a slightly reduced rate, and physical feats will seem easier. Endurance can no longer drop below 10.
New Evolution Class E?v?o?l?u?t?i?o?n? C???l???a???s???s??? E???v????o?????l????u????t????i????o?????n??? C??????l???????a???????s????s??????? ¡­ Unlocked!
ERROR: You cannot gain a second Class until the first Class has reached level 100.
ERROR: You have completed a Trial of Evolution and must Evolve.
ERROR: You are not a Monster and, as such, cannot Evolve.
ERROR: You have completed a Trial of Evolution and must Evolve.
E???????????R??????????R??????????O??????????????R??????????????????????:??????????? ?????????????????????????????Y?????????????o??????????????????u??????????? ??????????????????c?????????????a?????????????n???????????n???????????????o??????????t?????????????? ?????????????????g???????????????????????a??????????????i????????n?????????????????? ????????????????a?????????????????? ????????????????s??????????e????????????????c????????????????????????o??????????????????????n???????????????????d???????????????????????? ????????????C????????????????????????l??????????????????????????a??????????s?????????????????????s???????????????? ???????????????????????????u????????????????????n??????????t????????????????????i?????????????l???????????????? ???????????????t?????????????????h????????????????e??????????????????????????? ???????????????f????i????????????????????????r???????????????s??????t?????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????C?????????????????l??????????????a????????????????s????????????????????s???????????????????????????? ????????????h?????????????????a??????????????s???????????????? ????????????????????r??????????????????e????????????????????????a???????????????????????c?????????????????????h???????????????????e?????????????????????????d???????????????????????? ??????????????????l??????????????e????????????????????????v?????????????????e???????l?????????????? ?????1??????????????????0????????????????????0?????????????????????.???????????????????????
E???R???R???O???R???:??? ???Y???o???u??? ???h???a???v???e??? ???c???o???m???p???l???e???t???e???d??? ???a??? ???T???r???i???a???l??? ???o???f??? ???E???v???o???l???u???t???i???o???n??? ???a???n???d??? ???m???u???s???t??? ???E???v???o???l???v???e???.???
E???R???R???O???R???:??? ???????????????????????????????Y?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????o?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????u????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????h?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????a???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????v?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????e?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????c????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????o???????????????????????????????????????????????????????m???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????p????????????????????????????????????????????????????????l??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????e????????????????????????????????????????????????????t??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????e????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????d????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????a????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????T????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????r????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????i??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????a??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????l???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????o?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????f????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????E?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????v???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????o????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????l??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????u?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????t???????????????????????????????????????????????????i?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????o???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????n??????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????a????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????n??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????d??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????m?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????u????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????s???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????t????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????E??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????v??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????o??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????l???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????v?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????e????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????.?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
E????R?????R????O?????R????:???? ????Y?????o????u???? ?????a?????r?????e????? ????n????o???t???? ????a??? ???M????o????n???s????t?????e???r????? ???a???n????d????, ????a???s????? ????s????u????c????h???, ???c?????a????n???n????o?????t????? ????E????v????o????l????v????e????.?????
Elijah was amazed that he had, apparently, reached the peak of human Endurance. He could feel it; as soon as the notification appeared, he felt a power suffuse his body; everything, even breathing, became slightly easier. He was happy, despite himself. Elijah wanted to see how far he could push this power. Just as he was wondering how jacked he would be if this continued for a year, another ERROR loop occurred. With the sound of a fuse exploding, Elijah was plunged back into that unstimulating darkness. It was like oxygen had finally returned and he could breathe again when the screens finally came back.
New Class Trait Unlocked! New Class Trait unlocked: Slimy: None You are Slimy! Objects are more difficult to hold on to, and sometimes you will slip on nothing.
Elijah felt a thin layer of mucus suddenly appear all around his body like a slug. He tried to wipe it off his arms but more instantly replaced it. There wasn¡¯t much, but it was ever present. ¡°What the Hell kind of reward is this! It took me ages to beat that Trial!¡± Elijah shouted, but there was no response. Instead, the System just continued to load a new Trial world. It looked like he wouldn¡¯t be going home just yet. Elijah sighed and repeated one of his grandfather''s favourite sayings: ¡°Just focus on what¡¯s in front of you.¡± Chapter 4: Is this ParaNormal? Chapter 4
Is this ParaNormal? Elijah dismissed the trial-announcing notification on reflex. A wall of white swept towards him. In the milliseconds the young man had to react, he realised that he wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge. Holding up the Slime core that was still in his hand, he desperately tried to defend. The attempt was useless. Before the sweeping shadow could touch him, the Slime¡¯s core pixelized, then disappeared in a mist of square particles. The white engulfed Elijah. He braced for the pain he knew was coming. There was no pain. There was no pain? If anything, he only felt a slight cold breeze. Opening his eyes, he was greeted by a notification.
Mana Core: medium grade, has been added to your Inventory.
¡°I have an Inventory? Wait, why aren¡¯t I dead?¡± Elijah wondered aloud. It was only then that the young man actually got a chance to look at his surroundings. He was enclosed by a horseshoe of long, rectangular tables bedecked in all the finery a mediaeval banquet required. A full roasted pig was in the centre, piles of duck legs, mounds of vegetables, and boats filled with gravy surrounded it, creating a shrine to gluttony. None of it looked appealing. Everything was mouldy, covered in dust, and decorated with cobwebs. Elijah¡¯s stomach rumbled despite the food''s state. It had been too long since he¡¯d eaten. The sound drew his attention to the terrible wailing, which filled the gloom. Following his ears, Elijah spun around and found what had attacked him. There, floating in the air beneath a dark chandelier, was a ghostly woman. A massive dress plumed out around her. No, she wasn¡¯t just ghostly; she was a ghost! Her body was a smoky white with greyish blue undertones. Her eyes gleamed a sinister red. She sang a haunting aria as she spun about in the air, stretched her arms to each side revealing talon-like fingers, and swooped towards him. It was strange seeing something so clearly human and yet so clearly not. He had spent too long alone; Elijah was slow to react. Using Dodge, he was able to escape the attack. Cups filled with stale wine crashed through the air as he hurtled over one of the dining tables and right into something bony. Not bony; it was actual human bone. He had failed to notice; the food wasn¡¯t the only thing rotting. The diners had been left to time. As he evaded one horror, he stumbled into another. Elijah screamed as he untangled himself from the mummified corpse. This was too much! A shiver went down his spine. The wail of the ¡®singing¡¯ Ghost chased him from the hall. He didn¡¯t stop after running through the oaken doors. He didn¡¯t slow as the screaming cry followed him down dank stone corridors. He didn¡¯t cease when he came to yet another door with a grey light streaming from beneath it. He threw it open. Then, and only then, did Elijah finally stop. He was forced to. There was only a short strip of muddy path in front of him, a single tree, then nothing but a dark navy void. This was a dead end! Turning around, the sixteen-year-old expected to see the undead monster whose wails still shook his ears, only to realise that there was nothing save the corridor from which he exited. Nothing dogged his every step. The screaming he still heard was his own. The world went quiet with the clicking sound of a jaw snapping shut. Too quiet. There was no sound whatsoever. It was as if the world had been muted. The great bluish-black void was the culprit; he could just feel it. The sound of his feet squelching in muck had its echo stolen as he spun around, trying to get a handle on himself. Elijah looked up. He had exited the side of a grand mediaeval castle. He debated going back in, but the grotesque sight of that eyeless¡­ the emptiness was preferable. At least it was not the all-consuming nothingness he was forced to endure between death and life. This place at least emitted an otherworldly light. Shaken, Elijah slumped down against the tree on the cliff''s edge and just sat there, recovering. Some time passed before he realised the Ghost was not going to suddenly appear. He could relax. Once in a better state of mind, he opened his notifications to see what he had missed.
The Trial of Evolution 1: Ghost You have reached Lv 25 as a Ghost! Welcome to The Trial of Evolution: beat the Evolved Ghost to prove your right to undergo the first Evolution. A better performance in this trial will lead to a more powerful Evolution with stronger monster Skills and Traits. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
So he was right; it was a Ghost. Great! Elijah had always had a fear of the occult. He couldn¡¯t leave for the bathroom at night without repeating, ¡°I surrender, we surrender, I surrender,¡± under his breath. They were the words the characters in a certain TV show had to say to escape a long-dead mummy. It helped assuage some of his worries, but nothing could get rid of the constant fear that he would hear, ¡°Who turned out the lights?¡± Elijah shivered at the thought of that silent library. He reminded himself, ¡°Focus on what¡¯s in front of you.¡± At the present moment, that was a System window. What was that about an Inventory? Sure enough, as soon as he had the thought, a new pop-up popped up, showing an inventory screen that one might see in any game. It had five categories he could select, his total encumbrance out of 80 (10 times his strength), and a gauge of how much silver (in lbs) he had, 0. That was just odd, who uses pounds of silver as a currency? The weapon, armour, consumables, and quest items tabs were empty, but there was something listed under misc. Clicking it, Elijah came face to face with an exact digital replica of the Slimes mana core. Focusing on it, a description window appeared.
Misc: Item: Mana Core: medium grade Description: This is a Mana Core. It can be used as a source of mana, to recharge magical tools, to power enchantments, or as a potion ingredient. This Mana Core has come from an Evolved monster and has traces of acidic mana. Its capacity is medium. Number: 1 Condition (%): 100 Mass (kg): 0.8 Value (lbs): 1.5
He focused on the object, and it appeared in his hand, only to slip right out thanks to his new Trait. It started to roll towards the edge. Elijah tried to will it back into his Inventory, but nothing happened. It was nearly gone forever when the young man was finally able to reach it with a Slimy finger. That was enough; the sphere turned into squares and particleized. That was close! Elijah wiped the mucusy sweat off his brow and leaned back against the willow. He couldn¡¯t bear to have lost the only thing that acted as proof of his ordeal. If he¡¯d only known about his Inventory sooner, he wouldn¡¯t be naked. He wouldn¡¯t have lost the pen his grandmother had given him, a keepsake from her father. It sucked, but he wasn¡¯t going to beat himself up over it. In the last Trial he hadn¡¯t exactly had the time to sit, think, and work his way through things. After nearly an hour of playing about with the System in an attempt to distract himself from the thoughts that ran rampant in his head, Elijah found himself missing the constant action of the Slime Trial. There wasn¡¯t much more that the System could do. It tracked his glitchy Classes, Traits, and Skills. If he wanted, he could make a progress bar appear that showed how close Cerberus: Slasher was to levelling up, but that was about it. His Slime Class had remained at level 0 since he gained it after getting the Xp from killing the Trial boss. There were a few cool tricks he could do with the Inventory system. The armour tab showed a 3D model of him, complete with shiny slime, and indicated armour slots, all of which were empty. The weapon tab did a similar thing. He could set a weapon to appear in his left or right hand if he had any. Eventually, Elijah was unable to sit and stew in his thoughts any longer. Hunger had begun to gnaw at the inside of his gut, a sensation he had become completely unfamiliar with. Since he had come to this place, he had been satiated by the nourishment of death. At least it was warm here, next to a castle island, floating in nothing. The kid readied himself whilst he stared at the door. He knew that the lead-up was the worst part, so he didn¡¯t think of his fears as he pushed in. Bravery was one thing, stupidity another. Although Elijah had a phobia of all things supernatural, he didn¡¯t try to combat it by launching back into the castle screaming. His steps were soft, muffled by the strange power that suffused this place. The thick layer of dust that covered the walkways remained undisturbed as he moved. The young man¡¯s head was on an oiled swivel, no squeaks. His attention shifted quickly between one object and the next. From a tapestry of some long-forgotten war, the lines filled with spearmen, broken by the occasional hero wielding fire or lightning bolts, to a blood-red, sealed vase that gave off a sinister aura that had been put out on display. Although this castle was long-abandoned, plaster melted off the walls, and the smell of mould stagnated the air; it felt more alive than the empty husks Elijah had visited on school trips. The wear on the carpets, the scuff marks behind doors, and the presence of curtains on the arrow slits - all of it made the place feel lived in. Or at least, lived in at some point. There was the ever-present feeling of death hanging in the air. Elijah retraced his steps with care. At first, he had not wanted to go anywhere near the horror show that was the great hall, but he had to know, for sure, where the Ghost was. His suspicions were all but verified as he drew closer to the hall. The faint sound of mournful, off-key singing growing louder told him that she had never left the starting room. Elijah stood around the corner from the hall for a few minutes to ensure that the monster wasn¡¯t moving. She wasn¡¯t. At least her voice seemed to come from only one direction. He didn¡¯t dare draw close enough to actually see her, for fear that he in turn would be seen. As he stood there, taking slow, shallow breaths and listening to the ghostly melody, he found that, despite himself, he was intrigued by this paranormal creature. Had she ever been human? How had she ended up here? Why was she singing?
Quest Unlocked! Quest: Nimueh¡¯s Revenge Objective: Rewards: A better understanding of magic. Accept Quest? Yes/No
Chapter 5: A Murdered Mystery! Chapter 5
A Murdered Mystery! N¡¯doy, of course Elijah accepted the quest. This might be a chance to fix his greyed-out mana bar and learn magic! Not to mention, he was actually interested in what had happened here. It might shed some light on his situation as a whole: why he was here, and what these trials were. The teenager remembered reading something about pen and paper being packed as an essential on lifeboats so one can come up with games to play to keep one from going crazy. He needed to do something to keep his brain occupied, and this Quest was better than hangman. Elijah decided to start his search for clues in the kitchen, partly because, ironically, it was furthest from the dining room, and partly because he needed something to eat. Pushing open the crudely constructed door, Elijah found himself in a room that rivalled the great hall in size. At the far end was a massive fireplace, easily large enough for him to both stand and lie in. Stacked to either side were piles of logs, ready to be burnt. Everything, from the knives neatly laid out on the tables to the bushels of now brown herbs hanging from the ceiling, said that whoever had been working here hadn¡¯t expected to abandon the place. Luckily, unlike the room he started in, there weren¡¯t any nightmarish corpses. The people here must have been able to escape whatever calamity befell this place. With a mind on his stomach, Elijah checked the cupboards. The bread was black and furry, the grain was growing, and maggots had eaten the cheese. He did manage to find a pot filled with honey. A lucky find! It was hard. It stuck to his teeth as he chewed. But to the young man, it tasted like ichor, the blood of the gods. Unconscious of himself, he moaned slightly. Before he knew it, the pot was empty; its contents disappeared. With his appetite momentarily sated, Elijah became thirsty. He looked about for a sink, but of course this place didn¡¯t have running water. The pantry was bare, the barrels were empty; that left one place to look. In the corner of the room, there was a set of stairs going down into darkness. Though the fortress couldn¡¯t be described as bright, there was enough sourceless light to see comfortably. That was not the case for the archway and beyond. It was pitch black and led who knew where. He clicked his suddenly very dry tongue, considering what to do. In the end, it was his Quest that decided matters.
Quest Update: You have discovered a clue to the mystery behind the Lady of the Lake¡¯s death, enter the wine cellar to learn more.
Elijah, in preparation, fetched the flint and steel. Lifting a tallow candle off the wall, he created fire. As if he had brought colour into a realm of black and white, the world appeared to change slightly in the area of its radiance. It was enough to notice, but not enough to know what exactly you were noticing. Shaking off the strange chill that spread up his spine, Elijah put a foot on the first step, determined to uncover the mysteries of this cellar, and maybe get something to drink. His foot landed on the first step. He raised the other leg to follow. He slipped. Crash, Bang, Wallop. Elijah tumbled, arse over teakettle, down the smooth stone steps. This Trait was really annoying! The young man found himself lying flat on his stomach at the bottom of the steps, darkness all around. Dink, dink, dink. He turned to follow the sound. The tallow candle, in its ceramic holder, was following him down the stairs, illuminated in its own little bubble of light. Miraculously, it hadn''t broken, so Elijah reached out, snatching it before it could fall another step. As he stood, he checked himself for injuries. He was fine; nothing but bruises. Grumbling to himself, the young man began exploring the subterranean room. The light didn¡¯t behave as it ought to here. It reached a certain distance and then just stopped, instead of dispersing slowly. Because of this, Elijah was forced to keep the poor man¡¯s candle close. The room wasn¡¯t very large, at least in width; its length could be endless for all he could tell. Gingerly, he began investigating. To the left was a tun, a giant wine barrel resting on its side. He found a tap and tried to turn it. Nothing came out; it must have been empty. There was another barrel, a small thing, about the height of his shin. When he got it open, there were white crystals inside. Curious, he dipped a finger in and tasted. ¡°Salt!¡± Elijah exclaimed, spitting out the strangely tasteless mucus that had also entered his mouth. Eagerly, he laid a hand on the barrel and added it to his Inventory. If he ever found himself in a world filled with fresh meat or vegetables, this would be invaluable. It saddened him slightly that he had just assumed he would be trapped here for another Trial. Nonetheless, he had been buoyed by the discovery. Pressing on, he finally found something promising. Racks of bottles lined either side of the narrow chamber, and they didn¡¯t look empty. Eagerly, he searched through the cubbies, looking for a bottle without any sign of mould. There it was, the perfect bottle; it gleamed in the light of the candle. Just at the end of the racks, beside the end wall. The glass was clear, and the cork looked fully intact. With excitement, he set off towards his prize. The teen stubbed his toe on something. ¡°OWW! Son-of-a¡­¡± Looking down to see what he had hit, Elijah paled. There was a corpse, dressed in the finery of a nobleman, a pool of dark red surrounded his head. It was a struggle for him not to run screaming from the room. The only saving grace: the body was lying face down; he didn¡¯t have to see those mummified features again. Elijah tried to calm himself as he examined the man from as far away as the candlelight would allow. There was a large piece of folded parchment in his hand, a letter of some kind. Assuming the body would get up and attack him at any moment, Elijah very carefully stepped over it, picked up the wine bottle, picked up the letter with great care not to touch the figure¡¯s hand, then started back up towards the stairs; his eyes never once leaving the corpse. He made it back up the steps without incident, and only then did he survey his haul.
Quest Update: You have discovered a clue. Read the letter to find out more.
Elijah didn¡¯t have to be told twice; flakes crumbled off the skin as he unfolded it. Written in a fancy, curling script was a hastily scrawled missive.
Sir Gwalchmei, I must speak with you urgently. I have reason to believe there will be an attempt on the King¡¯s life at the banquet this evening! I don¡¯t have any proof, so I cannot go to the guards with this. I don¡¯t even know how it might be done. They may have subverted some of the guards, infiltrated the serving staff, or poisoned the wine! Do what you can, then meet me in my infirmary, and I¡¯ll tell you more.
Quest Update: You have read the letter and have learnt of a plot to kill the King! Go to the infirmary to learn more.
The wine was poisoned, huh? Elijah thought, eyeing his hard one prize suspiciously. It would make sense; the man he had seen in the basement was surrounded by a red, sticky puddle. Blood didn¡¯t have enough sugar to still be sticky. In the end, he wasn¡¯t ready to face that ghost again unprepared, so, with reluctance, he stored the bottle in his Inventory, bringing his encumbrance to 32.3/80, most of that the salt. He would just have to live with being thirsty. Smacking his dry lips together, he set off in search of the infirmary. Elijah tried opening random doors and found a number of noble¡¯s rooms. Rummaging around inside, he found very little of use. He took a small purse of silver coins. Interestingly, it didn¡¯t add to his encumbrance and wasn¡¯t listed as an item in his Inventory. Instead, his Silver (lbs) value increased. If he wanted to retrieve a coin, he could materialise one of any size, up to the max of his Silver (lbs) value. By the end of his robbing spree, he had 1.69 pounds of Silver from pennies! After raiding both the noble¡¯s and servant¡¯s rooms, he had also found three full outfits. Tired of being naked, he had kept an eye out for clothes. Most were moth-eaten, falling apart, or didn¡¯t fit, but of the ones that satisfied him, there were: Elijah thought the last was particularly fine, and he was careful not to get his mucus on it when he stored it. Until he solved his Slimy problem, he would only wear the plainest garment. He checked his Inventory. His encumbrance had been raised to 42.6/80. All the clothes had been added to the armour tab, so he would be able to quickly swap them on or off. Interestingly, all of them had a defence value of 0 except the footwear, which was uniformly 1. The young man, now properly clothed, as properly clothed as a man could be in what was essentially a dress, continued his search of the castle. He kept his eyes out for anything useful; he had grown fond of the thrill he got from making items disappear. He noticed, as he moved from what looked like an older area of the castle to somewhere newer, the decor changed. Where before, the magic-wielding warriors and mages were a part of the battle lines in many a tapestry or painting; in the newer section, they had become the enemy. Wizards were hunted, witches were hanged; all the while the people seemed to be celebrating. It was¡­ disconcerting. Elijah finally found the infirmary when he opened the door to one of the many tower rooms. He knew immediately it was the right place, not only because of the shelves filled with multicoloured bottles but also because another message appeared.
Quest Update: You have entered the infirmary. Search for clues.
He did as he was told and began searching the room. Again, there were no bodies, thank God. Apart from the cellar, the only place with corpses appeared to be the great hall. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Elijah looked over the bottles of what he assumed to be potions. He couldn¡¯t tell what any of them were supposed to do; they were almost all unlabelled, and those that were only had symbols. He even tried storing them in his Inventory to see if it would be able to identify them. It couldn¡¯t and just listed them as unidentified potion, effect: unknown. None of them looked quite right to Elijah; something just felt off about them, so he let them be. He also found a number of mundane healing supplies, bandages and the like, but he left them as well. It was easier just to die to recover. In the back, there was a small room with a desk, chair, wardrobe, and bed. On the desk was an open diary. Elijah picked it up and started reading. And kept reading. And kept reading. He found the story of the man in these pages, the court physician, fascinating. There were highs and lows, love and hatred, a man¡¯s entire life put down on paper. It was enthralling. After he eventually reached the end with no idea how long he had spent reading in another man¡¯s bed, he received a notification.
Quest Update: You have learnt of Nimueh''s attempted revenge. Find a way to enter the King¡¯s chambers to complete the quest.
It took Elijah a moment to realise what the Quest was saying. He had been so engulfed by the physician''s life that he had forgotten he was supposed to be looking for clues. Concentrating, the relevant information came back to him. Nimueh, or the Lady of the Lake as she was formally known, was a sorceress. She used to be the court sorceress and a friend of the physician whose diary Elijah had read. One day, she had been called on by the King. He and his wife were unable to have children, but he needed an heir. He had gone to the physician, but there had been nothing his alchemy could do. Nimueh initially refused His Majesty, but after the proud man got on his knees to beg, she caved and revealed that there was an ancient magical ritual that may work. Initially, the King was eager to try until she revealed the cost. A life for a life. Nimueh thought this would be enough to dissuade the King, and while it did give him pause, he agreed. The physician tried to dissuade His Majesty, but the man was adamant. The King was not a young man, and he saw the continued prosperity of his kingdom as more important than his own life. On the night of a full moon, Nimueh, the King, and the Queen went to the Quartz Ring alone, and to everyone¡¯s surprise, they all three returned. His Majesty and all his courtiers were delighted, but Nimueh was terrified. She came every day to the physician to air her concerns and constantly urged the King to prepare his knights. One couldn¡¯t escape the power of the ancient magics. A life was required to create a life, and Mother Nature was not owed debts. Nine months later, on a stormy night, a Prince was born and a Queen died. The physician had informed Nimueh before the King, fearing what his wrath might wrought, and he was right to do so. His Majesty blamed the Sorceress. When he sent his Knights to seize her, they found her chambers empty, and the woman fled. But the physician had been wrong about just how far the King''s grief and anger would take him. The man blamed not only the sorceress but all things arcane. He banned magic and turned the people against those who used it. That could have been an end to it, but it wasn¡¯t. The King arrested Nimueh¡¯s son, a miller by trade. Although he had no ability with magic, he was publicly executed as a warlock, to the cheering of the masses. Nimueh had long since left the kingdom and had thought her family would be safe. When she heard the news, she was distraught. Only one thing gave her focus. Revenge! She would take a leaf out of Mother Nature¡¯s playbook. A life for a life! The physician had caught wind of this through a mutual friend, and, ever the loyalist, he had tried to sniff out her plan. He failed. She was able to sneak into the castle as a famous singer, sent to perform for the King, magic hiding her features. As soon as she began her song at the noble¡¯s banquet, all were ensorcelled. All save the King, for in her anger she had forgotten the protective pendant she herself had long ago made him. Despite his hatred for all things magical, he had kept it. Before she could act, he had fled to his chambers, behind the great hall, taking his infant son with him. Nimueh could not follow. His Majesty''s rooms only had one entrance, and many years ago, she had warded it so that no one born of the five races, living or dead, save the royal family, could pass the threshold. In her anger, she had killed the noblemen and banished all others from the castle, determined to wait the King out. That was as far as the man¡¯s diary went. There were no answers as to why this place was being used as a Trial for Ghosts, or how a castle had been transported to some kind of void. Whilst he mentally recounted the tale, Elijah had been walking to the great hall. He knew there was only one proper way to tackle this. Now that he had learnt more about the situation, he couldn¡¯t let his fear control him. Still, the young man¡¯s hand trembled as he pushed the door to the hall open. The ghost instantly locked eyes with him. What had looked like the red of anger now appeared to be the soreness of grief. She swooped down towards him, emitting an ear-piercing wail and brandishing her claws menacingly. He remained still. When the ghost screamed louder and slashed her arms about, he had to bolt himself to the floor to stop from fleeing. Still, he stayed. She passed through him. He took no damage, and he knew he had been right. When he had first gotten here, she had attacked him, but he had felt nothing but a cool chill. That should have told him something, but he hadn¡¯t been thinking straight. The second heads-up was when he dodged her attack. There hadn¡¯t been a notification from his Trait: Unkillable, which meant she hadn¡¯t been trying to damage him. She was angry, but not at him. As she turned around, clearly trying to be scary and unaware he had figured her out, Elijah spoke: ¡°Wait, I want to help you. I am not of the five races.¡±
Initiative +1
She stopped. Elijah could see the flames in her eyes flicker as she cocked her head silently. ¡°I know why you are angry. You want to get in there,¡± he said, pointing to the ornate door at the far end of the room, behind a throne-like chair at the head table. When she didn¡¯t answer, he took that as permission to continue. ¡°You warded those doors. No one born of the five races, living or dead, can enter, save the royal family?¡± She inclined her head slightly. ¡°I am not born of the five races.¡± Elijah declared with false confidence. Truth be told, he didn¡¯t know whether he was or wasn¡¯t, but his character sheet had listed him as Human (Earth), and he hoped that was enough of a difference for his plan to work. The ghost looked intently at him, and he had the impression she was looking at something he couldn¡¯t see. Then she nodded and pointed towards the door. Elijah walked quickly across the room, focused on nothing but the far end. His eyes tried to wander but each time he pressed his nails into his palms until he could regain focus. He did not want to see those horrific figures again; he already feared the nightmares he would have. He reached the grand oak doors, embossed with the image of a dragon, and pushed. They opened easily on oiled hinges; they hadn¡¯t even been locked. Bracing himself, he shut his eyes and took a step, and then another. Nothing stopped him.
Quest Update: You have entered the King¡¯s Chambers. Discover the reason for Nimueh¡¯s death.
Opening his eyes, he found himself in the King¡¯s bedroom. The teen dismissed the notification without reading it then scanned the room. His eyes roved over the four-poster bed, the ornate furniture, and the fine art until he found what he was looking for. In the corner of the room was the waif-thin, skeletonised corpse of a man. From the crown alone, Elijah knew this to be the King. The figure''s lower half was lying on the floor, its upper half propped up on the edge of a crib, the eyeless eyes looking down tenderly on a bundle of blankets Elijah refused to look at. A tear welled in the teen¡¯s eye as he yanked the corpse away with shaking fingers. He wanted just to kick him out into the great hall and forget this ever happened, but he knew that would be missing an opportunity. In his mind he repeated: ¡°You are not here; you are somewhere warm; you are in your happy place,¡± whilst in the real world, his hands reached around the royal¡¯s neck, took off the amulet, stored it in his Inventory, and then did the same with the man¡¯s scabbarded sword. Still grossed out by what he had done, Elijah dragged the corpse outside, rolling it over the threshold to the waiting Ghost. He didn¡¯t cross himself. She seemed pleased, in a twisted sort of way, but after a moment, she looked up at the young man. ¡°No. The child was innocent. Whatever you plan to do with him, by all means do it. But leave the kid out of it!¡± Elijah¡¯s voice sounded more certain than he felt, but on this point he would stand firm. The Lady of the Lake clearly wanted a son for her son, but the sins of the father are not those of the son. After a tense moment, she relented and nodded slightly. Elijah let out a breath. Then she beckoned him over by crooking a finger. He wasn¡¯t stupid; Elijah was not about to leave the safety of the King¡¯s chambers. Then he thought, ah, what the hell, it¡¯s only death; let''s see what she wants. He stepped out of the room, maintaining his confident guise. She didn¡¯t suddenly attack as he¡¯d expected but stayed still and continued to beckon. Now curious, he walked before her. The Lady reached into her chest and withdrew a ghostly organ. It was a pale blue, looked like a narrow heart, and as it left her ethereal body, it became real. Blood dripped onto the floor. Elijah twisted up his face in revulsion, but before he could take a step back, Nimueh grabbed him by the shoulder, holding him in place with a vice-like grip. Even with 8 Strength, there was nothing he could do. He looked up and saw the smile in her eyes. His blood ran cold. Looking down, he saw why: She had plunged her hand into his body. He screamed, half out of fear, half out of pain. His eyes watered, but before he knew it, his ordeal was over. He stumbled to the floor, his body paralysed. All he could do was watch as the Lady reached inside the corpse and withdrew, kicking and screaming, a spirit. She grinned with manic delight. The pair disappeared in a flash of ghostly flames. The darkness returned as the world faded away, and Elijah once more felt hail. Except there was something different, a taste in the air, a chill in his veins, the smell of ozone. As ever, the System provided answers.
Race Updated: The Lady of the Lake has given you her own Mana Heart. Mana stat now unlocked! Since no Human, Earth or otherwise, can possess a true Mana Heart, you can no longer be considered Human. You are unique and have been given a new race to reflect this. Race updated to, Elijah.
What the Hell? Elijah thought, She looked human to me, if a bit pale. And that¡¯s not a name for a new Race; it¡¯s just my name! The System didn¡¯t care about what he thought. It just carried on throwing notifications his way.
Quest Complete! Quest: Nimueh¡¯s Revenge Objective: Hidden Objective: Rewards: Additional Rewards: 6027 Xp Rewarded
Before Elijah could smack himself for forgetting the whole point of the Quest, a new ERROR loop began. This time it was about him having more than one Class. Apparently the System didn¡¯t think he should be able to have a second one until the first reached the cap of 100, so it didn¡¯t know what to do with his Xp. Just as he was bracing for another explosion, the buzzing stopped, and it actually found a solution.
Temporary Solution Found: User may now choose which Class to place Xp in. Xp will be held in escrow by US 2.7.1. until the user decides.
With that apparently fixed, the notifications continued.
Congratulations! You have completed the Trial of Evolution 1: Ghost. Grade: B Objectives: Hidden Objective: Rewards: You have earned the right to Evolve from a Lesser Ghost into 1 of 4 Ghosts: Choose Now!
Elijah actually had a chance to choose for once, which meant he could open the Evolution descriptions and learn more. He didn¡¯t, choosing instead to pick Nimueh¡¯s Successor. She was a woman who had single-handedly taken down a castle full of Knights. He could do with that kind of power.
New Class/Evolution Unlocked: Nimueh¡¯s Successor S You have unlocked a new Class created by Nimueh to help guide her successor.
New Class Skill Unlocked! New Class Skill unlocked: Mana Manipulation: A This skill allows you to manipulate mana with ease and purpose.
Chapter 6: Theres sNOw Rabbit? Chapter 6
There¡¯s sNOw Rabbit? Black turned to white as the snow-filled world began to form around Elijah. Again, distant mountains formed first, and that was it. The rest of the trial was filled with empty white tundra, nothing but snow as far as the eye could see.
The Trial of Evolution 1: Snow Rabbit You have reached Lv 25 as a Snow Rabbit! Welcome to The Trial of Evolution: beat the Evolved Snow Rabbit to prove your right to undergo the first Evolution. A better performance in this trial will lead to a more powerful Evolution with stronger monster Skills and Traits.
Elijah looked around. A Snow Rabbit, huh? he thought, keeping a wary eye on the white powder. He saw nothing¡­ absolutely nothing¡­ anywhere. As the wind whipped across the empty plains, biting at his mucus-covered flesh, the teen was grateful for what little protection his clothes provided. He wanted to check some things, his new apparent ability for mana for one, but the cold was already getting to him; he was shivering. He knew about the three threes of survival: three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food. Except, the young man didn¡¯t feel like he could last three minutes out in this weather. As if agreeing with him, the System chimed in.
Status Effect: You have been afflicted by the Status Effect: Cold. Find somewhere warm, or else this Status Effect will worsen. Movement Speed -10%.
This was not good. There was only one thing for it. He wished he had taken the logs from the castle with him; then he could have made a fire, but now Elijah had to resort to the only other thing he could think of, digging. The soft, icy snow bit at his hands as he started excavating the never-ending white stuff. He had only made a hole half as deep as he was tall, when his hands turned bright red and began to sting. It was so cold that the teen could hear his breath turning to ice right in front of him. He was thankful that the slime that coated him didn¡¯t seem to want to freeze. If it had, he would have been turned into a human popsicle. That said, his Slimy Trait didn¡¯t do anything to insulate the young man, so he still would have preferred not to have been burdened with it.
Status Effect: Cold has progressed to Very Cold. Movement Speed -20%, and Maximum Health -10%.
This was not good. He needed to work faster, but already he could feel the effects of Very Cold. It felt like moving through molasses. Every few seconds he would forget what he was doing and just sorta crouch there. ¡°You¡¯re building an igloo,¡± the young man reminded himself, forcing his hands to return to the task. When he thought he had dug deep enough, he stood up, his eyes barely peeking over the edge of the hole.
You have DIED Potential rewards will suffer as a result of dying whilst undergoing the Trial.
¡°What just happened?¡± Elijah asked aloud in the void. It took him a moment to realise that he had died. The teen just felt¡­ confused. He hadn¡¯t seen anything. Wasn¡¯t this Trial supposed to test some kind of rabbit monster? What? Are rabbits assassins in this world? ¡°Oh great!¡± Elijah exclaimed aloud, realising something. All his progress would be reset; he had learned this in the Slime Trial. The pumice pathways were covered in acid each time he entered the second phase but were uncovered when he died and came back. Just as he was preparing himself for another freezing slog, the teen spawned in. And fell nearly six feet. Maybe the different trials had different rules? It didn¡¯t really matter; this was perhaps the best possible outcome. His death had been instant and painless; the Cold status had been reset, but his progress on the shelter had not. With renewed speed, the young man continued his construction project. He dug a tube with an arched roof so that it wouldn¡¯t collapse. Then, he excavated more snow, giving himself more space. Even just having a small cubby, fully insulated by snow, made a huge difference. The next time he was killed by the invisible creature, still with no idea what had happened, he was only suffering from Cold, rather than Very Cold. It took three more deaths for Elijah to figure out a pattern. Roughly the same amount of time passed between when the young man died and when he spawned in. This likely meant his enemy started a distance away and had to get to him. Also, he only ever died when he surfaced to remove the snow from his growing base. The predator either preferred striking above the snow or saw it as a good opportunity to ambush him.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Before too long, he had a completely sealed, under-snow den. The warmth was actually decent when he blocked off the entrance. Still, he had to equip his other clothes in addition to the green smock to stop from incurring the Cold debuff. The reds and yellows at least increased the feeling of warmth in his dark hole. Even in his desperate state, he still refused to use the fine clothes he had gained from the castle. They were just too good to waste. Now that he was finally settled in and relatively warm, Elijah had a chance to assess his new gains, or try to. Despite his best efforts, the System would not provide a tutorial on how to use his new Mana Heart. He was on his own. The first thing he did was use the Skill he had revived from gaining Nimueh¡¯s Successor: S, Mana Manipulation: A. Instantly, the shadowy snow cave came to life with dancing colours. There was lots of blue, which he instinctively knew was the colour of water. It was held in suspension by its white warden, which he suspected was cold, or ice mana, though this one didn¡¯t feel so obvious to the lad. Elijah looked down at his swaddled body and saw, through the layers of fabric, a rich, blue network of pathways that pumped something powerful throughout his body. Unlike the water or ice mana, this stuff didn¡¯t have any unique feeling to it. This was just energy, pure and simple. At the centre of the network, which glowed under the effects of Mana Manipulation, was a beating, pulsating heart, slightly too thin to be normal. His regular heart still pumped on the left of his chest, but this new one beat on the right. It seemed to suck in mana from around him, concentrate it, then send it around his body, in his blood. It was simultaneously cool and gross to look inside himself like this. Elijah checked his pulse, just to make sure he understood this right. Sure enough, when he placed two fingers to the side of his neck as his science teacher had taught him, the teen could feel not one but two heartbeats. It was thoroughly surreal. The whole experience was surreal in truth. Before he could get bogged down in the wonder of it all, he reminded himself of the words that had become his motto. ¡°Focus on what¡¯s in front of you.¡± In this case, that meant getting out of this frozen hell! Elijah wasn¡¯t opposed to spending some time resting in one of the Trial worlds, but this wasn¡¯t it. To achieve his goal, he would need to defeat a Snow Rabbit. That sounded easy enough if they weren¡¯t apparently undetectable. He hadn¡¯t seen, heard, or smelt hide nor hair of the hare. The question was, how could he use these gifts the Lady of the Lake had given him to track down the creature? The first thing to do was learn how to use them. There was power in his blood; he could feel it, but that didn¡¯t mean Elijah knew how to access it. He started by chanting random words in Pig Latin. ¡°Firius Warmacus,¡± nothing happened, ¡°Findian Rabbicus,¡± still nothing, ¡°Hocus Pocus,¡± nothing. His face beet red, Elijah stopped striking poses and reciting nonsense. This clearly wasn¡¯t how it was done. Next, he tried to force the glowing blue energy out of his veins and arteries. At first, nothing happened. However, after pushing with all his willpower, his veins bulging and his eyes bloodshot, Elijah saw some of the glowing liquid break free from its confinement and begin to leak out into the environment. He was ecstatic. He had actually controlled mana. He had done magic! Then, he realised the error of his ways. He had been pushing so hard that the glowing liquid was not only leaking from where he had intended but was now spilling out from a hundred tiny holes throughout his body. When he began to rapidly bruise all over, the young man remembered that the glowing, ethereal mana was being carried by his still very real blood. When an intense headache struck him, only getting worse by the second, he fully comprehended how badly he had messed up.
You have DIED Potential rewards will suffer as a result of dying whilst undergoing the Trial.
When Elijah plopped back into his hole, he couldn¡¯t stop the smile from spreading across his face. He had created a spell! Sure, it was useless to most people as it gave you an aneurysm and expelled all of your mana at once, but that didn¡¯t matter to the sixteen-year-old. This was what he had dreamt of! Besides, it could actually be of some use to him if he became trapped somewhere and needed a quick way out. Sadly, the System didn¡¯t award him with a Skill for his momentous feat, despite his pleading. Still giddy with excitement, Elijah crawled back into his hole for warmth and set about refining his method. Clearly, what he had attempted was not right, but he had learnt something. He tried forcing the mana all around him to bend to his will, but he couldn¡¯t interact with it directly. Focusing on only a tiny bit of mana in the tip of his finger so that he wouldn¡¯t have another accident, Elijah began trying to change its shape. When the power was still inside his body, his Mana Manipulation Skill worked wonders, and he was able to shape the tiny speck with ease. It did make his digit feel like it had pins and needles, but that was a small price to pay. With care, he focused on a tiny mote of water mana in the snow walls, then tried to imitate it. First was the colour, a clear, water-like blue. That was easy to match, but it didn¡¯t do anything. Next, he tried to emulate its movements. This was considerably harder. It was engaged in a constant, random dance. Only, the motions weren¡¯t random. Though Elijah couldn¡¯t see any pattern to the routine, each movement held the quintessential essence of water. It flowed like a river, crashed like a waterfall, all the while upheld by the strength of an ocean. It was mesmerising. He hadn¡¯t realised it, but that¡¯s why he had, at first glance, identified it as water mana. Now that the teen understood the trick to it. He tried to get his own mana to move, not copying the water mana mote, but dancing it¡¯s own dance inspired by Elijah¡¯s own understanding of water. It worked! Small beads of water mana began gathering around his finger, seemingly curious. As the sixteen-year-old moved his hand back and forth, the little living balls of watery light followed. Water began condensating in the air in their presence. This was actually useful! If he could do this on a larger scale and with more control, Elijah thought he had a way to clear this level. Then he remembered he had Xp sitting in what was essentially a savings account. There were three Classes he could put it into, but there was only one that had a chance of helping him here. He dumped all his Xp into Nimueh¡¯s Successor, raising it to level 9, and immediately regretted it. Only one stat point every 3 levels! It was supposed to be a rank S Class, but it only raised his mental stats each by 1. Cerberus Slasher gave three points on its first level and one on every subsequent one, and that was supposed to be rank F! Elijah was forced to let go of his frustrations. After all, he had gotten exactly what he needed when Nimueh¡¯s Successor reached level 8.
New Class Skill Unlocked! New Class Skill unlocked: Water Manipulation: B This skill allows you to manipulate water using your own mana. With this Skill, the process becomes a part of you, and you no longer have to think to use basic water magics.
Chapter 7: The White Death! Chapter 7
The White Death! She was death! Her claws were razors; she cut through the snow with silent ease. Her ears were all hearing; they reacted to the slightest sound. Her fur was pristine; it hid her completely in her icy home. She was death, and she knew it. The Snow Rabbit, with her small size, was used to being looked down on, though never more than once. In life, she had been a terror to the monsters and people of the region of Tir Eira. She had been known far and wide. None had ever seen her, so she had been called simply: The White Death. She liked the name. If someone ventured into her frozen tundra and didn¡¯t return, people knew it was the work of the White Death. Adventuring parties had been sent after her, never to return. The higher her bounty grew, the prouder she became. The Snow Rabbit had hoped that one day, a truly powerful Adventurer would be able to give her a challenge, but none ever did. She met her death, as many of her kind had before, in the trap of an accursed fox. But that was fine. She still held some hatred for the foul creature¡¯s ignoble trickery, but most was washed away by the position she was provided in the afterlife. In this Trial, she was able to train those rare few of her kind who were strong enough to be worthy. The one in a million Snow Rabbit who could make it to level 25 and earn the right to evolve. The White Death had been content with her role, able to raise the next generation of terrors, but her peaceful life ended when a human entered her Trial. When she first noticed the error, she was excited. Perhaps this was a return to her youth. Maybe she could finally have an honest fight with a human strong enough to circumvent the System. She had been careful, only moving when she was certain the creature would have no chance of catching wind of her. It was behaving strangely, digging a warren like one of her kind, something she had never seen one of the five races do. Then again, everything the two-legged ones did was strange to her; she was just grateful; it gave her an opportunity to sneak even closer. Then her chance came; its head emerged over the lip of the opening. The White Death launched her attack, a claw aimed at its neck; she guarded against the counterattack she knew would come. He must have dodged; she felt no resistance as she shot past. No. It¡­ it was dead. She reset, back to the start. The White Death was confused. She had assumed the human would be strong in order to get inside her Trial; it should have been able to put up a fight. But that wasn¡¯t what really bamboozled her. The human had respawned. It had not just snuck into her world; it was undergoing her Trial! She wanted to rail against the System for allowing such an indignity. This was her Trial! The place where she could teach her kind how to hunt the two-legs. But there were rules; the System controlled what she could do. She could only attack the creature and not the System, so she did. She ran straight for the human¡¯s den; she wanted him to hear his death coming and fear it. Despite her best efforts, it was impossible for her to be loud enough for the oblivious creature to notice. Whatever the White Death did, she couldn¡¯t make the stupid human scared. Her anger waned, and she resigned herself to whacking the bipedal mole each time it surfaced from its hole. Once, it even killed itself, proving its kind¡¯s inferiority. This was boring. She wasn¡¯t getting the challenge she craved. Then, the human stopped emerging from its hole. She was patient; to hunt, one had to be. Even so, he was not coming out, and the System demanded they fight; she could only restrain its compulsions for so long. She would have to venture into the human¡¯s den. With contempt, the White Death jumped into the humans pitiable attempt at a warren. The walls were uneven, and the opening was clearly visible; this creature would never stand a chance of beating her with digging Skills that bad. She would be stuck with it. Tisking in disgust, the Snow Rabbit knocked down the thin layer of snow that blocked the den with the thump of her foot. This creature would learn not to keep her waiting! She spied into the snow cavern. It was lying in the corner, asleep. It was sleeping? In her trial? This couldn¡¯t stand! She launched herself across the room at it, intent on making the thing¡¯s existence short and miserable. The red gleam of madness in her eyes reflected the blue of something she didn¡¯t understand sparkling in the air. Droplets of water began to appear all around her, glistening as they rapidly froze in the harsh tundra weather. Seconds too late, she realised, this was a trap! ¡°Accursed Fox!¡± she screamed as she froze solid.
You have defeated the Lv 26 White Death: Extra Xp is awarded for defeating an opponent of a greater level. Xp awarded 1072. Xp automatically placed in escrow, US 2.7.1
Congratulations! You have completed the Trial of Evolution 1: Snow Rabbit. Grade: C Objectives: Rewards: You have earned the right to Evolve from a Snow Rabbit into 1 of 3 Snow Rabbit Evolutions: Choose Now!
Elijah let out a breath of relief. He hadn¡¯t been sure he would succeed. Even with the Water Manipulation Skill working in tandem with Mana Manipulation, the teen was just barely able to figure out how to summon water at will. He wasn¡¯t able to create water cutters, pressure jets, or thunderstorms as he had seen his favourite characters do. There was simply no substitute for actual knowledge, and about magic, the young man had very little. Despite this, he had still been able to devise a plan, using his limited powers. The sixteen-year-old knew that he would never stand a chance at catching the Snow Rabbit in the open; it was simply too good. He hadn¡¯t even seen it once. So, he did the only thing he could; he set a trap. The little motes of water mana weren''t really alive, as such. However, Elijah was able to gather a large group of them from the surrounding snow, making it strangely dry, and order them to remain together in the middle of the chamber. Then, he could keep one close by; it would dance when the others were excited by something. Elijah didn¡¯t hear the rabbit enter the snow cave. He would have doubted the signal dance of the water mana spark if not for the increase in light as his sanctum was breached. Elijah made all his mana imitate water. He had discovered that this really excited the water mana and allowed it to draw power from him, and in turn, it did what it did best: created water. He felt there must be a better approach; his mana was sucked up in seconds, giving the teen a terrible headache and making him feel slightly sick.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The white mana of cold, seeing the water mana moving about freely, quickly moved to put a stop to that. It froze the giant sphere of water, which filled the snowy den in less than a second. Something about the magic here reinforced the cold climate, and Elijah had taken full advantage. There was only one downside to his plan. Feeding the motes of water mana all 80 points of his own mana produced a lot of water. He knew he would be trapped as well; if the rabbit escaped, he would have been screwed. It did not; now the young man was given a choice between Classes.
Evolution Unlocked: Greater Snow Rabbit: F The larger version of a Snow Rabbit, the Greater Snow Rabbit, Evolves more towards strength than speed. While formidable, their greater size makes them lose the Snow Rabbit¡¯s high ability with stealth.
Evolution Unlocked: Arctic Hunter Rabbit: D A hunting-based Evolution; the Arctic Hunter Rabbit leans into the Snow Rabbit¡¯s innate stealth. You will become harder to detect, and stealth attacks will deal more damage.
Evolution Unlocked: Snow Blinder Rabbit: C A Rare Evolution of the Snow Rabbit that was obtained by demonstrating an ability with magic. This Evolution uses a mixture of stealth and sudden, blinding light spells to take down its enemies.
Elijah was slightly bummed that the System wouldn¡¯t reveal what stats each of the Classes provided; he was still feeling put out after wasting so many on a ¡®rank S¡¯ Class, but he couldn¡¯t deny the info was useful. Greater Snow Rabbit was immediately ruled out. It sounded like a tanky Class, and he already had Cerberus Slasher for that. Snow Blinder Rabbit had an almost irresistible draw to him. Elijah had a love for magic, and now that he had had a taste, he longed for more. But he followed his grandfather¡¯s way of thinking. He should complete one thing to the best of his ability before starting another. Light magic could wait; besides, he assumed that Mana Manipulation had given him the tools he would need to wield all mana. After all, Water Manipulation hadn¡¯t really added an ability; it only improved his aptitude with water mana. That left Arctic Hunter Rabbit only a rank D Evolution, but a tempting one all the same. Elijah had spent many hours playing a certain scrolls-based game, and each of his characters would always default to stealth archer; it was just so strong. In addition, it would help balance his Classes, hopefully giving the young man points in Perception, Agility, or Dexterity. Plus, this would add some balance to his Classes. He chose Arctic Hunter Rabbit.
New Evolution Class E?v?o?l?u?t?i?o?n? C???l???a???s???s??? E???v????o?????l????u????t????i????o?????n??? C??????l???????a???????s????s??????? ¡­ Unlocked!
New Class Skill Unlocked! New Class Skill unlocked: Light Footed: D When active, you are 50% harder to detect. Uses 1 point of Stamina per second when not moving, Stamina consumption rate increases with speed.
ERROR: You are not a Monster and, as such, cannot Evolve.
ERROR: You have completed a Trial of Evolution and must Evolve.
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E???R???R???O???R???:??? ???Y???o???u??? ???h???a???v???e??? ???c???o???m???p???l???e???t???e???d??? ???a??? ???T???r???i???a???l??? ???o???f??? ???E???v???o???l???u???t???i???o???n??? ???a???n???d??? ???m???u???s???t??? ???E???v???o???l???v???e???.???
E???R???R???O???R???:??? ???????????????????????????????Y?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????o?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????u????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????h?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????a???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????v?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????e?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????c????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????o???????????????????????????????????????????????????????m???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????p????????????????????????????????????????????????????????l??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????e????????????????????????????????????????????????????t??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????e????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????d????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????a????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????T????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????r????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????i??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????a??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????l???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????o?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????f????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????E?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????v???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????o????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????l??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????u?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????t???????????????????????????????????????????????????i?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????o???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????n??????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????a????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????n??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????d??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????m?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????u????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????s???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????t????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????E??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????v??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????o??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????l???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????v?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????e????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????.?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
E????R?????R????O?????R????:???? ????Y?????o????u???? ?????a?????r?????e????? ????n????o???t???? ????a??? ???M????o????n???s????t?????e???r????? ???a???n????d????, ????a???s????? ????s????u????c????h???, ???c?????a????n???n????o?????t????? ????E????v????o????l????v????e????.?????
Blackness engulfed the young man once more as the System yet again exploded. Interlude 1: What is the System? Interlude 1
What is the System? Kchshhh. The hermetically sealed door opened, revealing a strange mixture of the regular fire and brimstone one may expect from Hell, superimposed atop the layout of a modern office, complete with cubicles filled with overworked drones. ¡°I have to say, I like what you¡¯re doing here!¡± A middle-aged, almost friendly demon said in his low and gravelly voice. His dark red twisting horns scraped the top of the eleven-foot door frame as he entered, and his goat legs were forced to bend to admit him. The shirt and tie that strained to hold his muscular bulk creaked with the motion but held, if barely. ¡°Who¡¯s in charge?¡± he asked with the tone of an uncle bearing gifts. With a delighted smile, a bright green, octopus-like demon scurried over, its singular horn glowing a vibrant yellow in happiness. The miasma in the room thickened as the myriad demons maintaining this sector of the System project groaned silently. Squidulous was a slave driver, and if its torturous methods were being applauded, their conditions would only get worse. Squidulous bowed before its manager, disgustingly smug grins plastered over its many mouths. Faster than any of the technicians could register, Squidulous¡¯ beaked head was severed from its flailing tentacles. The temperature in the room simultaneously plummeted and rose. The lower-ranked demons froze in fear, their blood and other juices running cold. Steam rose from the now terrifying manager¡¯s bald dome. A rugged black sword, too heavy for any man to wield, dripped luminous blue blood on the shag pile carpet. He roared in a flash of frustration and anger, causing a pillar of flame to burst out all around him. The lesser demons who had been spared the fate of the pit because of their above-average intelligence were incinerated, to a one. ?? Something had been wrong with Faun¡¯s infernal brew. He suspected Squidulous had spiked it with something when he bothered to point out a mistake in the Trial¡¯s code. That was the worst kind of demon to work under; it would smile to your face and then turn around and stab you in the back. Because Faun had dared to question its work, he had been rushing in and out of the crap trap all day. He flushed for the hundredth time then walked out, over to his desk. Pulling out his chair he sat, and fell straight onto a still smouldering floor. There was no chair; there was no desk. The entire office had been turned into nothing more than a scorched mark on the basalt floor and ceiling. For a moment, he just sat there, stunned. Faun didn¡¯t even notice the greater demon as he retrieved a new suit from his inventory and put it on.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°You!¡± a gravelly voice demanded, snapping Faun out of his shock. The half human half goat quickly got his hooves under him when he realised what was going on. Faun bowed with his head to the floor before the powerful demon. ¡°What can I do for you, oh great and powerful one?¡± Faun asked in the most subservient tone he could manage. He had learnt that demons, as a whole, had huge egos. If he wanted to survive the next few moments, it would be best to butter this one up as much as possible. The large infernal creature huffed out dark smoke from his red nostrils in a sound that may have shown approval. ¡°You¡¯re now in charge of Universal System, department 2.7.1. The Prince has staked his reputation on this System; there will be no more errors.¡± The large demon''s words were surprisingly soft, but there was no hiding the command in his tone. These statements were irrefutable orders. Faun lifted his face, eyes and mouth twisted into an obsequious smile. He lowered and raised his horned head several times to show that he understood, his hands rubbing together nervously. ¡°Yes, of course, sir. It will be none¡ªdone,¡± he spluttered in correction. The giant of a demon nodded; this was the only response he expected. His horns twisted as he turned to leave, but after a moment¡¯s thought, the behemoth spun back around. Faun held his breath as fear filled him. ¡°I will have a new team sent to you right away. As for the decor¡­¡± he trailed off, snapping his claws. At his signal, a two-headed scarecrow demon with a pink and a purple floppy hat appeared in a splash of aquamarine sparks. ¡°Yes, Master?¡± it asked, its voice a duet of male and female. ¡°Fix this,¡± the manager said, gesturing to the office before exiting back out into the fiery hell of Hell. The scarecrow creature chittered happily before jumping about on its single stick leg. Everywhere it touched was reconstructed, as if it had never been destroyed, sans personal effects. Faun¡¯s mind was still reeling when seconds later, the building was repaired, and a fresh batch of demon hatchlings poured in, waiting for him to give them orders. Ever since the f?ling had been dumped in the demon realm, he had been forced to scheme and connive to survive. But none of that mattered in the face of absolute power. A slime demon with too many tentacles for Faun¡¯s taste asked in a gurgled voice: ¡°What should we do?¡± Faun had to bite back his instinctive reply. He was shaken and had nearly ordered them to fix whatever was throwing up so many errors. He knew where to look; his stomach rumbled to remind him of the experience. There were issues in the Trial code and he would bet Squidulous¡¯ buggy mess was to blame. But then again, anything that could cause this many problems was an opportunity. Now that he had been promoted to middle management, against his will, the clock was ticking on Faun¡¯s life. He had seen it time and time again. Sooner or later, someone in his position would get too greedy, overreach, and be smacked down with deadly force. It didn¡¯t even matter if he stayed in his lane; someone above Faun would assume that he was lying low to hide a plot against them and kill him just to be safe. It was the nature of demons. He needed a way out of here now more than ever. At most, he had a cycle. Faun quickly outlined the basics of regular System maintenance before nature once more called, and he was forced to rush back to the throne. In the privacy of the bathroom, he began skimming through the interface he had been awarded with his promotion, scanning through the surprisingly long list of error flags that were now visible to him. Faun had no idea how Squidilous thought it could just ignore this. It probably was too proud to admit there had been anything wrong with its work and had died for its hubris. The f?ling would need some time to find the source of this problem, but when he did, he hoped to leverage whatever loophole was causing this to his advantage. In the interim, he believed he had a way to mask the errors so that he didn¡¯t meet the same fate as his predecessor. In the bog of a multidimensional office complex, nominally hosted in the bowels of hell, the Faun set to work trying to undermine a System that had existed for millennia. Chapter 8: Water Buffalhigh! Chapter 8
Water Buffalhigh! A torrent of water sliced the air. The air squealed in pain. Elijah narrowly twisted aside. It wasn¡¯t enough. The edge of the attack ripped along his naked arm. He wasn¡¯t losing any more clothes! The motion was too much, and his foot slipped off the giant lily pad. With a herculean effort, Elijah backflipped onto the next floating flower¡­ or tried to. As it turned out, he couldn¡¯t do a backflip! He flopped onto the massive leaf, sending ripples across the endless world of water, barely evading a liquid blade aimed to take his head. His Unkillable trait activated, but it didn¡¯t matter; this creature was basically unkillable itself. Elijah was forced to scramble on all fours to yet another lily pad to try and escape the monster''s flying charge. He failed, miserably, and ended up liquefied in a jet of water.
You have DIED Potential rewards will suffer as a result of dying whilst undergoing the Trial.
Elijah spawned back in. He slipped over immediately, thanks to his other Trait. Across the line of lily pads, flanked with the lily¡¯s flowers, the Water Buffalhigh lowered its head to charge. This strip of bobbing leaves was the only ¡®solid¡¯ land in this Trial, so there was nowhere for the teen to dodge. When Elijah first appeared in this world, he had laughed at the System message. What kind of monster was a Water Buffalhigh? As it turned out, an extremely deadly one. He really should have expected as much. In the few seconds it took the creature, made entirely of water, to build up enough speed to fly, Elijah desperately tried to call upon his own magics. He was slow and couldn¡¯t do much more than summon water, which was useless here; the monster was healed by water. Every time Elijah was able to do the tiniest bit of retaliatory damage, a thin stream of fresh water would float up to the creature and repair it. By the time the Buffalhigh was soaring through the sky, preparing its first flyby, Elijah had managed to summon a fistful of water mana motes to him and was desperately feeding them his mana. His hope was to somehow disrupt the monster¡¯s attack. It didn¡¯t work. As the two water magics clashed, the Buffalhigh¡¯s water hammer vibrated Elijah¡¯s forming water bubble until it was nothing but raindrops. He didn¡¯t even succeed in slowing the attack. The young man was forced to leap aside to avoid the strike. Droplets of water peppered his back as he jumped away from the lily pad-destroying blow. That wasn¡¯t good. Elijah needed to stay above the surface. The Water Buffalhigh may have been powerful in the air, but it was twice as strong underwater. The monster scoffed loudly as it ripped through the skies overhead. Clearly, it didn¡¯t think much of Elijah¡¯s attack, but it was the best he could come up with. The teen had tried striking with his fists, but punching water didn¡¯t really do much. He had even attempted to use the King¡¯s sword, gained during Nimueh¡¯s Revenge, but as soon as the young man unsheathed the weapon, a flashing notification jumped to his attention, and the sword plummeted, like a lead train, out of his hands. Elijah was barely able to catch the weapon through his foot and store it back in his inventory before it was lost to the endless freshwater depths. Apparently the King¡¯s sword had a hard stat requirement, 24 in Agility. Hoping for a miracle, he dumped all his Xp into his newest Class, Arctic Hunter Rabbit.
You have reached Level 1 in A???r???c???t???i???c??? ???H???u???n???t???e???r??? ???R???a???b???b???i???t???!??? +2 to Perception +2 to Agility
You have reached Level 1 in A???r?????c????t????i????c??? ???H???u????n???t????e????r???? ???R?????a?????b?????b???i????t???!???? +2 to Perception
New Threshold Met! You have reached 10 in Agility! This would be the cap for Race: Elijah, but the System allows you to push beyond your limits! Having reached the first Threshold, you are now more flexible; movements that would have seemed impossible are now easy. Agility can no longer drop below 10.
New Threshold Met! You have reached 10 in Perception! This would be the cap for Race: Elijah, but the System allows you to push beyond your limits! Having reached the first Threshold, your eyes now see further; details that would have passed you by are now obvious. Perception can no longer drop below 10.
Now those were some stats! When Elijah¡¯s Agility hit ten, he felt like a rubber acrobat. He could bend over and touch his toes, backwards! It was no wonder he thought he would be capable of doing a backflip; apparently that feat required more technique than he thought. Perception reaching its Threshold was another big jump. He could see the pores on the end of his own nose! Elijah was sure that if there had been anything but clear water on the horizon, he would be able to look upon it as if it were right next to him. Even with these powerful buffs, it wasn¡¯t enough. The teen was surprised at the difference in stats between his Classes, but he didn¡¯t have the time to sit and figure it out. He didn¡¯t have the Agility to use what he suspected was a very powerful sword, and, even with his newfound flexibility, he wasn¡¯t able to dodge the monster''s attacks forever. Hence, he had resorted to magic. Or tried to. What he was currently doing wasn¡¯t working; his ¡®attacks¡¯ were just too slow and too weak to have an effect. His water magic was useless. That was when he thought, What if I learn from the Water Buffalhigh? As far as Elijah could tell, with his very limited understanding of magic, the Water Buffalhigh was a master of manipulating water mana, not too surprising since it was entirely made of the stuff. The teen, not knowing anything about mana outside of fantasy novels, might describe the violent animal as a water spirit or some such. Combining Mana Manipulation with his newly enhanced Perception, he was able to observe the monster as it constructed the water spells it used to attack him, even hundreds of feet away. By the time three of the dozen lily pads were annihilated, Elijah had learnt to differentiate the subtle hues of the mana the creature used to attack and the mana that it used to maintain its existence. When half of the dry platforms were sunk, the teen could correctly tell when his foe would release its attack, giving him ample time to dodge. Nine of twelve lily pads were down before Elijah began to comprehend exactly what the Water Buffalhigh was doing. By the time the final bed-sized refuge was destroyed, forcing the young man to jump into the clear waters, he had a splitting headache and his eyes began to sting, but he thought he had figured out the monster¡¯s trick. Despite the refreshing taste of freshwater, water which Elijah had tried to store in his inventory without success, the young man knew that he was dead. The Water Buffalhigh trotted down proudly from the sky. The second it hit the crystal-clear, bottomless liquid, it shot off like a rocket. Elijah barely caught sight of the trail of bubbles, moving faster than a speedboat, before it was over.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
You have DIED Potential rewards will suffer as a result of dying whilst undergoing the Trial.
You have DIED Potential rewards will suffer as a result of dying whilst undergoing the Trial.
You have DIED Potential rewards will suffer as a result of dying whilst undergoing the Trial.
It took two more deaths before Elijah was sure of his observations. The Buffalhigh wasn¡¯t using the mana around it in the same way the teen was. Instead of letting water mana feast on its own power, as Elijah did, the Water Buffalhigh was able to absorb the mana into itself without becoming the same shade of water mana that comprised it. Then, it was able to impress its will upon the mana, creating a spell, be that a paper-thin, six-foot blade, a hammer that used water tension as its striking surface, or any number of other attacks Elijah had seen the Buffalhigh use. In the short respite the young man was granted between bouts, the time in which the monster gained enough speed to take off, he tried to imitate what he had seen. Even the first step was surprisingly difficult for him. His Mana Heart was constantly sucking in mana, but it immediately ripped it apart into the pure power that coursed through his veins. After three failed attempts, he was able to subvert a few motes of water mana before they were destroyed inside his second heart. Unfortunately, the attempt had taken too long, and he had lost focus. A pressurised jet of water, moving like a whip because of the speed at which the Buffalhigh flew overhead, sliced him in two. He was forced to start over. Next time, Elijah got it right on the first try. He stored the water mana in his arm, making the appendage feel strangely wet. Now that the motes were actually inside the teen¡¯s body, much to his discomfort, Water Manipulation worked as described, and he was able to change it so that, the moment it left his body, it would be able to take any shape he wished. Now, the problem was getting it to leave. He hadn¡¯t actually figured out how his mana heart had been able to get mana into him without forcing its way through his veins and killing him; after all, that was exactly what had happened when he had tried to expel his own mana. Perhaps that was the problem; he was trying to force it. When oxygen enters the blood through the lungs, it doesn''t barge its way into the body, pushing muscle and bone aside; it uses osmosis. His musing took too long, and he was crushed under a metric tonne of water. He started over. This time not using the mana that was being sucked in by his Mana Heart but trying to do it himself. He stopped mana from flowing into his finger, making it feel like it was going to drop off, then shoved it directly into the water, where the most mana motes were located. It was surprisingly painful, but it worked! Slowly but surely, water mana filled the veins and capillaries of his finger, bringing a strange, liquidy sense of life back to the digit. It almost felt like his finger was about to turn into water, but that was something he could explore later. His time this go-round was already running short; the Water Buffalhigh had taken flight once more. He shaped the mana into an edge and imparted the intent to cut upon it, then moved his finger to an area devoid of water mana. As if pushing drugs out of a syringe, Elijah slowly let his own mana refill the base of his finger, speeding up the process. It was still slow. After ten seconds, all the mana left him, at which point several things happened at once. His spell completed when all the mana used to make it was present, and a tiny water blade, about the size of a razor blade and just as sharp, zipped through the air and into a lily pad, slicing a small laceration. Simultaneously, Elijah was severed in twain by a much larger and better-controlled, water blade. The young man was giddy with excitement. That was his first real spell. But it wasn¡¯t enough; he knew he could do better. He returned to observing the monster, determined to learn more. To his disappointment, there was little more to see. With every attack, the monster just repeated these three simple steps. Absorb. Shape. Expel. However, after nearly an hour of careful observation and too many painful deaths to count, Eljah was startled by some good news in the shape of a System window.
New General Skill Unlocked! New general Skill unlocked: After more than an hour of observing a monster at close range, you have unlocked the general Skill, Identify. Identify: D By focusing on a living creature, and expending 10 points of mana, you can learn information about that creature. This Skill is a must have for Adventurers.
Now, that was something worth writing home about. Elijah had been craving this essential fantasy world Skill since he landed in the first Trial. Immediately, he used it on the Water Buffalhigh, the mana disappearing from his blood, as if by magic.
Identify: Level: 26 Monster: Buffalhigh-Flyer Description: The Buffalhigh-Flyer is an evolution of the Water Buffalhigh, focused on aerial combat. Unlike their unevolved brethren, they can, for short periods, leave their freshwater homes, but, like their junior kin, they require a constant supply of pure water to survive.
This was awesome! It was exactly what Elijah wanted. It gave him a way to beat this beast. When he reset, he started to run. Before the monster could charge, he began his own. With his increase in Agility, he could move like never before. His strides ate up the lily pads, and wind whistled past his ears as he flew. The Buffalhigh saw that it wouldn¡¯t have the room it needed to take off before Elijah got to it, so the monster decided to stand its ground for once. That didn¡¯t matter to the teen; if he was right in his assumptions, it wouldn¡¯t take much to take down this creature.
Elijah liked fishing. Growing up by the sea, he had learnt a thing or two. When he was young, his dad took him a few times before¡­ Suffice to say, he liked fishing. An interesting thing about the fish of the sea is that they can¡¯t survive in freshwater; the same is true of the reverse.
Elijah knew that, at the speed he was running, he couldn¡¯t fully dodge the water blade aiming to cut him down the middle. It didn¡¯t matter. He was able to pivot just enough to live, sacrificing an arm in the process. He willed the pain away as he did what he had to do. The manoeuvre had given him the time he needed to reach the monster. Startlement filled the Buffalhigh-Flyer¡¯s sparkling eyes as it looked up in confusion at the human who had run it down just to¡­ lay a hand upon its side? The water spirit chortled. What did this stupid, fleshy creature think it could do to a mighty Water Buffalhigh? Then something appeared in its watery body, and it immediately felt dizzy. The creature stumbled to its knees; it turned a sickly brown as the barrel of salt Elijah had dumped inside it began to dissolve. With a wet splat, the Buffalhigh was defeated, transforming into normal, if murky, water that ran across the top of the lily pads. Then, and only then, did Elijah scream, the pain overwhelming. Thankfully, it did not last long. Soon the world fell into darkness, and he was made whole by the void once more.
You have defeated a Lv 26 Buffalhigh-Flyer: Extra Xp is awarded for defeating an opponent of a greater level. 1072 Xp awarded. Xp automatically placed in escrow, US 2.7.1.
Congratulations! You have completed the Trial of Evolution 1: Water Buffalhigh. Grade: F Objectives: Rewards: You have earned the right, if barely, to Evolve from an immature Water Buffalhigh into 1 of 1 mature Buffalhigh Evolutions: Choose Now!
ERROR: You are not a Monster and, as such, cannot Evolve.
ERROR: You have completed a Trial of Evolution and must Evolve.
Elijah expected the usual error loop to continue as normal, but it didn¡¯t. Instead, a new window appeared.
ERROR Loop Isolated: Error loop detected in Trial program. No more Errors may be reported by this user''s System interface until the issue has been investigated. Parameters set by manager Faun.
That was¡­ interesting. Elijah was mildly concerned, but at the present moment something else caught his attention. In the second before the next notification, informing him of his new Class, the teen caught sight of another error message, normally covered by the glitchy errors, normally covered up.
ERROR: Cannot find the coordinates on Terra Torus from which the Trial participation was teleported.
Temporary Solution Found: A game of heads or tails shall be played to decide whether to return the Trial participant to coordinates (0,0,0) or hold them in the next Trial until a permanent solution is found.
Tails: Trial participant shall be sent to the next trial until such time as a permanent solution is found.
¡°Curse my Luck!¡± Elijah exclaimed, tantalised by the hope of an end to this nightmare.
New Evolution Class E?v?o?l?u?t?i?o?n? C???l???a???s???s??? E???v????o?????l????u????t????i????o?????n??? C??????l???????a???????s????s??????? ¡­ Unlocked!
New Class Trait Unlocked! New Class Trait unlocked: Dishonourable: F As a dishonourable Earth Buffalow, you gain 10% when attacking another before they are ready or with a method against which they have no defence. You are looked upon with disdain.
Chapter 9: Tree… Ant? Chapter 9
Tree¡­ Ant? A warm breeze tousled raven-black hair. The sound of gently rustling leaves added a calming ambiance to the heathland. Gorse bushelled up around the few sparse trees that sprouted between low-lying shrubs. Elijah¡¯s toes were tickled by gently swaying heather. Looking down, he saw the odd bilberry poking out from the thick mess of plants that blanketed the ground. Looking up, he was greeted by a wide and open sky. The summer sun warmed the air. In a word, peaceful. A slow breath in, filled with the dry, fresh scent of familiar foliage. A long breath out, purging the mounting pressure that had been growing insidiously in the back of the young man¡¯s mind. When he opened his eyes, his head was clear for the first time in far too long.
The Trial of Evolution 1: Treeling You have reached Lv 25 as a Treeling! Welcome to The Trial of Evolution: beat the Evolved Treeling to prove your right to undergo the first Evolution. A better performance in this trial will lead to a more powerful Evolution with stronger monster Skills and Traits.
Elijah calmly turned his head, examining the nearest tree; it was more than a hundred feet away. So long as he maintained his distance, he should be fine. Deciding that immediate combat wasn¡¯t a risk, the teen equipped his garishly coloured, and slightly Slimy clothes. With slow and measured movements, he began collecting heather. Following the steps a survivalist had taught him on a school trip, the sixteen-year-old created a fairly decent mattress. Taking a moment to gather a handful of bilberries, he lay down on his new bed and relaxed. The only noise that interrupted the soothing sound of crickets was the occasional popping of the blueberry-like fruit as he tossed them one by one into his mouth. It may have been an hour; it may have been longer. Elijah had no idea how long he had napped for, but he woke up feeling thirsty. He took a moment to survey the few trees that interrupted the horizon. His paranoia was unwarranted; none of them had moved. He gathered what little water mana there was in the air and created a handful of the life-giving fluid directly in his mouth. It took a few minutes, as opposed to the few seconds in the previous world, but Elijah was in no hurry. With his needs met, he returned to his peaceful sleep. He wasn¡¯t awoken by a violent attack. He wasn¡¯t awoken by a death notification. He wasn¡¯t awoken by a sudden blast of cold. Elijah awoke to the gentle caress of summer sunlight. It seemed that, wherever this endless hillside heath was, or wasn¡¯t, the sun always shined. Elijah was grateful. While this had been a well-deserved respite, the teen knew it couldn¡¯t last. He still hoped to escape this place; he couldn¡¯t do that whilst lazing around. He opened his Character Sheet and began examining. There was still something that stumped him. Why did the Class, Nimueh¡¯s Successor, give such bad stats? He had just come to the conclusion that the Skills it gave must be worth a lot more than he realised when something new appeared in the translucent HUD. An icon in the shape of an envelope was flashing. Did he have¡­ post? Interested, Elijah mentally clicked on the image. It opened, and a new window materialised before him.
Message From Manager Faun: I don¡¯t have much time. If I stay in here all day, people will get suspicious. I know you are the cause of the ERRORS. You will no longer receive any ERROR messages; I have blocked them. I don¡¯t know how you ended up in the Trials of Evolution nor why a Goddess is doing everything in her power to keep you there. I do know, however, that there is a way out! Right now, when you complete a Trial, the System doesn¡¯t know where to send you. My predecessor wrote a contingency for this. You should have a 50% chance of being sent back to Terra Torus, but Lady Luck has changed it to -50% somehow. Your only option is to beat all the Trials, at which point it will have no choice but to eject you. And no, I cannot change the code. The higher-ups are watching too closely for that. I should be able to hide you from them, but that¡¯s about it. In return, I¡¯ll need your help further down the line. You¡¯re not the only one who¡¯s trapped. For now, you need more Attribute points! I have no idea how you¡¯ve made it this far in life, let alone the Trials. Your stats are that of a child, seriously! I¡¯m considered weak, and my lowest stat is Strength at 138. You won¡¯t stand any chance against the real monsters. In the end, nothing beats raw power. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. To this end, unlock the first level of every Class you can, and DO NOT level up Nimueh¡¯s Successor, whatever that is, anymore! The Xp you get from defeating a monster is determined by your level difference, and, at the moment, your level is only being read as the level of your highest levelled Class. You on the level? Oh, and one more thing¡ªsomeone¡¯s here; I have to go.
Quest Unlocked! Quest: Escape! Objective: Rewards: Text to be added here. Accept Quest? Yes/No
Well, that brought a very sudden end to what had otherwise been a very relaxing day. Quite honestly, Elijah didn¡¯t know what to think. Was that the reason he had been given -20 Luck? Why? To keep him here? To what end? The teen tried to find a reply button; he wanted clarifications. There was none. There didn¡¯t seem to be any way to get in contact with this Manager Faun person. Elijah had no idea whether anything that was said in this message could be trusted. And yet, he wanted to. Elijah needed a sense of purpose. He chose to believe in this message. He would pass all the Trials, be sent to Terra Torus, then find a way back home. Just this small change in outlook helped to bolster his morale to no end. The young man had been alone for too long and he was desperate for the hope of escape. With that thought in mind, he accepted the unfinished Quest. As for the content of the message, it made a disturbing amount of sense. Unlocking the first level of every Class he had gained was good advice. He seemed to get more stats from that first level. That was definitely smarter than just dumping it all into whatever Class/Evolution he thought would be useful at the time. Elijah slowly added one point of Xp at a time from his escrow account into his Earth Buffalow Class. At 100 points, he got to level 1.
You have reached Level 1 in E???a????r?????t???h???? ???B?????u????f????f?????a????l????o???w???!???? +2 to Strength +1 Vitality
New Threshold Met! You have reached 10 in Strength! This would be the cap for Race: Elijah, but the System allows you to push beyond your limits! Having reached the first Threshold, you are now stronger; things that once seemed heavy can be lifted with ease. Strength can no longer drop below 10.
The rush from reaching the first Threshold in Strength was exhilarating. He watched as his muscles became more toned and defined. He felt like he could crush rocks with his bare hands! With excitement, he picked up a stone from the earth to see if he could. Elijah squeezed. Something cracked. He proceeded to howl as he grabbed at his hand, hopping around in pain. Though he had gotten stronger, his body hadn¡¯t; something in his hand had given out. Once the agony subsided, leaving a dull throb in its place, Elijah realised something. On their first levels, both the rank F Classes had given three points. The rank D had given four. Assuming there was no rank E, that could be a pattern. He hated to do it, but if he wanted to learn more, he would have to place 100 Xp in the Slime Class, whose rank was none. He was loath to level up the Class that had given him such a terrible Trait but Elijah had to admit it was the wisest thing to do.
You have reached Level 1 in S???l????i???m????e????!???? +1 Vitality
Yep, that sucked. Though he did feel moderately healthier, it didn¡¯t change the fact that his hand was still broken, but it did prove that having more stats would be better. That said, levelling up wasn¡¯t the only way to get them. Elijah had received several levels from what was ostensibly training. If he were smart, he could use his presently peaceful Trial as a gym. He was definitely weak by this world''s standards; he refused to believe that a Slime was supposed to be that strong! But before the training montage began, he wanted to be sure of what monster guarded this Trial. He hadn¡¯t seen any action on the part of the trees; then again, they were trees. He also wouldn¡¯t mind dying to fix his smarting hand. The trees were the obvious foe. This was the Trial of a Treeling, whatever that was. Elijah had scanned all the twisted and peeling trees with Identify; none had registered as monsters. On second thought, that didn¡¯t mean much. The Skill was rank D and apparently very common among Adventurers; of course, monsters would have a way to hide from it. With trepidation, the young man walked cautiously over to the nearest wooden plant. Touching it with a tentative toe, nothing happened. It was just a normal tree, cover for the monster to blend in with. The same was true of the second and third. Elijah was beginning to believe that a Treeling wasn¡¯t a tree-type monster at all when he came to the fourth. Something was different about this lichen-covered arbor. It itched at the back of the teen¡¯s mind, but he couldn¡¯t place a finger on why. The pain in his hand had dulled his focus somewhat, and he didn¡¯t realise what was wrong until the tree he was nearly touching emerged from the ground, roots and all. The earth cracked, and dirt was sent flying as a creature surfaced from the dry earth. It wasn¡¯t a tree at all, but an oversized backpack for a large and very angry ant!
Identify: Level: 26 Monster: TreeAnt Description: The TreeAnd is an Evolution of the Treeling that moves its consciousness from the tree itself to the body of an ant it is bonded with, granting the creature an increased size and creating a guardian and method of transport for the normally stationary Treeling.
Chapter 10: Training Montage! Chapter 10
Training Montage!
Dun de de, dun de de, dun de de, dun de de, Dun de de, dun de de, dun de de, dun de de, Dun de de, dun de de, dun de de, dun de de, Dun de de, dun de de, dun de de, dun de de.
_, _, _, _, Dun, Dun dun, Dun, Dun dun doon, _, _, _, _, Dun, Dun dun, Dun, Dun dun doon.
In Elijah¡¯s mind, he looked exactly like the Italian Stallion as he trained his arse off. He was a fan of the iconic character. Growing up in the countryside, technology was decades behind the rest of the world. Elijah still had a video player at home. That may have also been because of his family''s relative poverty, but that didn¡¯t matter to him. He had grown up with a bevy of classics other kids his age had never heard of. Sweat poured off his naked brow, evaporating in the heat of the ever-present sun. Dying to that monster had been¡­ unpleasant, but when he respawned, it went right back to being a tree. So long as he kept his distance, there was nothing to worry about. So that¡¯s what he did; he ran down the endless, gentle hill into the distance, away from the monster. He found out, after many gruelling hours under the summer sun, that the world wasn¡¯t actually endless. At some point, he knew not when, it looped around on itself, putting him back where he started. This did at least mean he couldn''t get lost, but he did have to be careful to always avoid the trees. Running, as an exercise, wasn¡¯t producing much fruit. Apparently, when a stat reached the first Threshold, it was exponentially harder to train. Where Elijah had been able to earn several points in Endurance during his time in the Slime Trial, he hadn¡¯t yet earned one here. That didn¡¯t matter. It was still a great way to start his routine, and it gave him a goal: get all his Attributes above 10 before moving on. The teen rested beside his heather mattress, hands on his knees, sucking down breath. He had passed it thirty times which meant he was done running for the day. Once he recomposed himself, the next thing he needed was water. So far, he only had two ways of getting it. Gather as much water mana as there was in the dry air, make his mana imitate water mana, and let the water mana motes feed off it to produce water. There were a few problems with this. First, the water mana motes always took more mana than he would like. It took time to concentrate on the mana in his body and change its form. During that time, the mana, with no self control, would invariably drain him dry, leaving the lad with a splitting headache; not the best thing after a long run. The second method required he first take the mana into himself. To do this, he had been evacuating his own mana, and the blood that carried it, out of a region, say his arm, before letting the sparse water mana diffuse into the void. Then he would control it and expel it as a ball of water. The biggest problem was time. In this arid arena, it took a while to build up water mana to create enough of liquid to quench his thirst. This, in turn, led to excruciating pain as he watched his arm turn funny colours from the lack of oxygen. There had to be a better way. His best technique was copied from a monster, and designed for its physiology. After recovering from running or ¡°Endurance training,¡± as he called it, Elijah began his next attempt at a constructive exercise, learning to backflip. It had really embarrassed the young man that he hadn¡¯t been able to. He was determined to change that. In an attempt to increase his Agility, Elijah was half flipping onto his heather mattress. It was slow and painful, but he was approaching something close to his goal. While definitely not the best way to learn, he didn¡¯t know any better. Sometimes, something was better than nothing, another pearl of wisdom his grandfather had shared. Agility had already passed the first Threshold however and did not appear to be leveling up any time soon. Once the young man thought he had made enough progress, or was too sore to continue, he moved onto the next exercise. Wisdom was his lowest stat and he had been scratching his head in an attempt to find some way to train it. After the more physically demanding exercises were finished, Elijah spent at least an hour meditating on Wisdom. After more than a week of this routine, he finally came to a conclusion. With some annoyance, he admitted to himself, there was none. Wisdom could only be gained through experience and not manufactured. When he was sure of his conclusion, he gave up on the pointless exercise.
Wisdom +1
Well, that was both frustrating and rewarding. Though it did prove he was wrong, which was invaluable information to have. Apparently spending enough time contemplating something, he could improve the Attribute. Elijah decided to take time to meditate on his issues whenever he could going forward. He dismissed the mixed emotions the unexpected success had brought about and moved on to the next exercise in his ¡®daily¡¯ routine. Intelligence was at 9, only a point away from reaching the Threshold. For however long the lad had been training, he didn¡¯t know, as time was difficult to track in this timeless place, he had been challenging himself to solve mathematical questions in an attempt to increase his Intelligence. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He sat, cross-legged, in front of his cleared section of dirt, stick in hand. He would warm up with factorisation. After he had separated a cubic equation into its factor, next came integration. Then trigonometry. Then expressions of imaginary numbers. Then matrices. And finally a unique problem, which he would construct for himself each day. Today¡¯s problem: Four points are chosen at random on the surface of a sphere. What is the probability that the centre of the sphere lies inside the tetrahedron whose vertices are at the four points? (It is understood that each point is independently chosen relative to a uniform distribution on the sphere.) This was a head scratcher. It took him nearly three hours. But when he finally got it, the rush of dopamine was only rivalled by the second one that came when a new notification appeared
Intelligence + 1
New Threshold Met! You have reached 10 in Intelligence! This would be the cap for Race: Elijah, but the System allows you to push beyond your limits! Having reached the first Threshold, you are now smarter; calculations that would have normally taken minutes can be done in seconds. Intelligence can no longer drop below 10.
¡°Woo Hoo!¡± Elijah cheered. He had finally done it, and with a doozy of a problem to boot! It took a good few moments for him to get down from his intellectual high. He didn¡¯t feel any different, but when he tried to divide 3456 by 17 and instantly estimated 203.3, he knew something had changed. With confidence, Elijah started his Dexterity exercises. The young man assumed the stat had started high because of his musical ability, but without a piano or guitar to practice on, this wasn¡¯t a valid way forward. Instead, he had taken to learning finger tricks. The teen had once been mesmerised by a friend of his who was able to flip a pen over their thumb absentmindedly in class. Elijah had taught himself this trick but had not stopped there. By this point, he could flip one on each hand whilst juggling a third between his fingers. It wasn¡¯t enough. No more stat points were earned that day, despite Elijah¡¯s efforts. He was barely awake by the time he went to sleep. Despite his success, he was disappointed that he hadn¡¯t managed to get the point in Dexterity. The next day, he woke up and started all over again. When he got hungry, he would eat bilberries and blackberries until his body needed more, then feed himself to the TreeAnt. His routine did not include Vitality as the only way he could think to train that would be excessively painful, and he had a feeling there would be ample opportunities to face such conditions in the future. It took a further three weeks of relentless effort, but at the end, Elijah received a notification that made it all worth it.
Dexterity + 1
New Threshold Met! You have reached 10 in Dexterity! This would be the cap for Race: Elijah, but the System allows you to push beyond your limits! Having reached the first Threshold, you are now more dexterous; movements that would have been beyond you are now trivialised. Dexterity can no longer drop below 10.
Ten sticks whirled around the boy¡¯s fingers without him having to spare them any mind. This was power! This was also more than enough training. Elijah was sick of it. From here on out, unless an unpassable opportunity presented itself, he would get all of his stats from Evolutions. With that thought in mind, it was time to kill a TreeAnt! ???? Wood creaked with the wind. Not that which travelled the skies; oddly, there was none in this stagnant trial. No, the wind that moved this tree came from beneath. With each breath the sleeping guardian took, there were slight movements in the bark. It was subtle, incredibly so. Elijah had taken hours to realise there was any movement at all, but once he had seen it, he couldn¡¯t unsee it. After spending so long in this Trial, spotting which tree held a monstrous secret beneath its roots was trivial. He swaggered over with nonchalance. Each time Elijah had sacrificed himself to the creature, he had tried to learn something new to aid him in this fight. Sneaking up on this thing was impossible. As soon as he came within six feet of the monster, it would react, no matter what. Since stealth didn¡¯t work, the young man didn¡¯t even try. He stamped a foot into range and then immediately jumped back. The TreeAnt woke up furious, as usual, and, as usual, attempted to smite the young man with an immediate attack. Lunging its back legs out of the earth, it was able to slam the entire trunk down on the ground, exactly where Elijah had stamped his foot. Elijah was already behind the beast. Though this opening attack was powerful, even with his increased stats, it would have turned the teen into paste; it had one major floor: it left the monster¡¯s rear wide open. Using his newfound Strength, the young man slammed a sharpened rock into the gap in the carapace that marked the joint between the TreeAnt¡¯s back leg and its abdomen. The creature thrashed in pain, but Elijah was able to both evade and snake in a kick that cemented his makeshift chisel in the joint with his recently acquired Agility. The monster rocked back, pulling the tree up right, then roared in pain as the extra weight caused its already injured appendage to snap clean off. In anger, its ant-head spat acid towards its rear. No one was there; Elijah had already circled around for another attack. With its head turned about like so, now was the perfect time to strike. Elijah stood above the exposed monster and withdrew the King¡¯s sword, which immediately slid from his under-Attributed grasp, straight through the ant¡¯s head, killing it instantly. Elijah stored away the weapon, dusting off his hands in triumph. Lovely jubbly. That was quick and easy, exactly how the young man liked his fights.
¡­
Only Elijah¡¯s increased Intelligence saved him from dying a gruesome death¡­ again. For the first time in the fight, the tree moved on its own, whipping a razor-sharp branch towards the teen''s head. In the split second he had to react, he was able to figure out two things. First, the trajectory of the attack, allowing him to throw himself aside in the nick of time. The second thing he figured out was what the hell was going on. In milliseconds he was able to recall the description of the TreeAnt given to him by Identify. The Ant was only a bonded guardian into which the TreeAnt could place its consciousness. That is to say, the monster had returned its mind to the Tree now that the Ant was dead. Elijah caught flashing glimpses of the monster through his tumbling arms and legs as he rolled away. Three slits had opened up on the tree¡¯s trunk. Two revealed wicked red eyes filled with murderous fury and grief, whilst the third unveiled a mouth filled with wooden, spiky teeth. It screamed. An ear-splitting sound that pierced the air. Roots rose like vipers from the ground. Elijah thought he was out of range, but he clearly wasn¡¯t. He had been caught in the centre of a maelstrom of thrashing white death. Resolve filled his eyes as his agile dance barely preserved his life. Elijah was wrong; the fight wasn¡¯t over; he had just started the second phase! Chapter 11: Why Won’t You Die? Chapter 11
Why Won¡¯t You Die? Elijah wiped the blood from his naked body, grateful that he had chosen to go into this fight like a Dark Souls veteran; the few garments he had would have been shredded by the TreeAnt¡¯s manic attacks. Storm clouds brewed as the fight continued. Elijah dodged desperately for his life, struggling to outlast the vicious burst. His legs strained as they tossed his body about. His core arched; he had to constantly throw himself around to survive. His lungs stung. Too often the teen was forced to use his Dodge Skill to escape death, and his stamina was running low. Finally, a break came in the constant storm of attacks. Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate. He threw out the water mana stored in his arm. It formed into a blade, one foot in length. The liquid weapon zipped through the air, scoring one of the monster''s eyes. It roared in pain, though barely a scratch was left on its bark. The onslaught began anew, fuelled by even more fury. Despite his Agility, Elijah couldn¡¯t outdistance the TreeAnt. Its roots were more than just deadly, spindly knives. They could also grab onto the terrain and pull it along. There was nothing the teen could do but grin and bear it. After a minute that felt like an hour, his health was down by half. Shallow cuts infested his body, despite his best efforts. The red paint of blood, smeared all over by his desperate ducks and dives, was washed away as the heavens opened and rain began to fall. Lightning struck a distant tree. It burst into sizzling flames, despite the falling sheets of water. The fire illuminated the darkening arena. The TreeAnt was exhausted. Its second wind had ended, and as the growing gale tousled raven-black hair, Elijah knew it was time to strike. Except, he couldn¡¯t. His body was broken; each step pushed him further into the depths of agony, but still he pushed on, closing the distance. Each second he wasted gave the TreeAnt time to recover. He wouldn¡¯t survive another root storm. The tang of ozone mixed with that of blood on his tongue. Red stripes followed him along the ground as he took limping step after limping step. Elijah grabbed the Tree through the eyehole with an iron grip. He shoved his hand into the flesh of its peeper, covering himself in viscous, transparent jelly. The creature''s laboured breath turned into a shriek of pain that then turned into a dying howl as Elijah released another water blade inside the creature. Water spewed from its openings; its roots wiggled about like hoses. Elijah rested against the trunk for a moment; water rushed down his face and clung to his lip before drip, drip, dripping down to the ground. He was tired. His breath came out in ragged gasps, filling the suddenly cold air before him with condensation. His mana and stamina were almost spent, his health was low, and the young man ached all over, but he had done it. The monster was finally dead.
¡­
No kill notification! Elijah¡¯s adrenaline spiked once more as panic washed through him. Electricity chose that moment to light up the sky and reveal the truth of the matter. Elijah was not resting against the corpse of a TreeAnt but a hollow husk. As he watched, the wood crumbled to dust, mixing with the intensifying rain and becoming sodden paste. It clung to his skin, sealing his weeping wounds. The teen spun about, coating himself and stopping the Status Effect: Bleeding, but that wasn¡¯t his aim. He desperately sought the TreeAnt, who had somehow slipped its bark and could end him any second. The downpour had only gotten heavier. The sky was dark with clouds. Mixed with the blurry vision brought about by pain and rain, he struggled to see anything more than a foot away. Still, he continued to spin, sure the next attack would come from behind. It did, and he wasn¡¯t ready. A bloody red tentacle spouted from the boy¡¯s right shoulder. The thrust had passed straight through him before he could react. His health dropped to 10. The spike of muscle fibres withdrew, leaving a leaking hole in the young man¡¯s chest. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Unconsciousness nearly took him. He squeezed his own hand so hard his nails dug out the centre of his palms, but he was just able to hold on. His health dropped to 9. His distraction had cost him, however; the monster had slipped back into the murky gloom. In an attempt to seal the wound, Elijah took a handful of mud and roughly shoved it into the hole, sending a fresh wave of agony through his twitching body. His right arm was no longer functional, but that didn''t matter. He would kill this monster if it were the last thing he did! Looking for safety, he moved towards the only light in the ever-darkening storm: the still-burning husk of the lightning-struck tree. The world spun and wobbled as he dragged himself over with nothing but grit and determination. Elijah was lucky; just before he made it to the halo of firelight, he caught sight of the next questing tendril reflected in a puddle. It struck like lightning towards his back. Elijah wasn¡¯t allowed to be lucky. The wobbly perspective glimpsed in a watery mirror was misleading. His lurch to the side caused the drill-like tentacle, covered in lamprey teeth, to puncture his already useless arm, mangling it. Had he done nothing, it would have missed. A scream leapt unbidden from the teen¡¯s mouth as he fell towards the burning pillar of illumination. Even as his health dropped to 5, he was determined not to waste this opportunity. He grabbed the fleshy tendril, bringing the peak Strength of Eliajianity to bear. It squirmed disturbingly in his grasp, but he refused to let go. When its struggling became tired, he started reeling in the monster, morbidly curious what shape it had taken. The silhouette was the first thing to resolve itself from the rain. It looked like a melted candle clodged haphazardly into the shape of a human. Its arms and legs, a malformed mess. With a final heave, the creature was brought into the circle of burning radiance, and Elijah had to struggle to keep from throwing up. The thing was nightmarishly hideous. It looked like someone had skinned a person, leaving their muscles and still pulsating organs on full display. His Intelligence informed him that, since the bark was this creature¡¯s hide, that was basically exactly what had happened. It didn¡¯t help. He still felt sick. When it was finally dragged close enough, the pair locked eye. One of the TreeAnts seeing Orbs was completely mangled. Rage filled Elijah. Rage filled the TreeAnt. The monster lunged out with the twelve-foot, needle-pointed arm that wasn¡¯t trapped, determined to kill its attacker. Elijah had just enough stamina left to use Dodge and evade the attack, but he was too slow to avoid the follow-up. A trunk-like foot made a heavy squelching sound as it struck the side of his head. Colours flipped. Red was blue. Blue was black. Elijah¡¯s vision filled with the turquoise of blood as he desperately held onto the monster. That attack had taken a lot out of the creature, and it was still recovering. Elijah¡¯s health dropped to 3. Both combatants were exhausted, and there was nothing left but to slug it out. Elijah summoned what little Strength he had left, pulled on the appendage that was still lodged in his arm, and put his whole body into a punch that sent the monster¡¯s teeth flying. They both stood there for a moment, leaning on each other to stay upright before the TreeAnt returned the favour, ringing Elijah¡¯s bell. His health fell to 2, but he was still standing, barely. The slight lessening of the stinging in his ears told the teen that his Mana Heart had recovered some of his mana. Lacking the focus for any kind of sophisticated attack, Elijah just summoned as much water as he could in an attempt to crush his foe. It worked¡­ kind of. The creature was squished against the muddy ground, and Elijah, still tethered to it, was brought down into the muck as well. The two rolled about, desperate to survive. Its wooden teeth bit into his side, dropping his health to 1. All reason left the lad, and, with pure anger coursing through his dangerously empty veins, Elijah picked up a rock and just kept hammering away at what looked to him like a wooden-encased brain, over and over, over and over again. Each strike bled away what little energy he had left. Only after the monster was still for several minutes did he stop. But that wasn¡¯t enough. Gulping down a lungful of air, Elijah heaved the corpse of the TreeAnt over his head before slamming it down onto the still-burning pyre, impaling it on the splintering spike of flaming wood. Madness filled the young man¡¯s eyes, and he barely saw the notification that appeared before him.
You have defeated a Lv 26 TreeAnt: Extra Xp is awarded for defeating an opponent of a greater level. 1072 Xp awarded. Xp automatically placed in escrow, US 2.7.1.
Congratulations! You have completed the Trial of Evolution 1: Treeling. Grade: C Objectives: Rewards: You have earned the right to Evolve from an immature Treeling into 1 of 3 Treeling Evolutions: Choose Now!
Chapter 12: Admiral Benaft! Chapter 12
Admiral Benaft! Elijah¡¯s consciousness had been robbed from him. When he awoke, wind howled, rain poured, and lightning filled the sky. The teen shivered. He struggled to make sense of where he was, what was going on, and why he was naked.
The Trial of Evolution 1: Treasure Seeker You have reached Lv 25 as a Treasure Seeker! Welcome to The Trial of Evolution: beat the Evolved Treasure Seeker to the treasure to prove your right to undergo the first Evolution. A better performance in this trial will lead to a more powerful Evolution with stronger monster Skills and Traits.
The familiar yet different message helped in returning his memories. As soon as it all snapped into place, he shot to his feet, expecting to find some manner of monster trying to kill him. But no, that was not what the window had said. For once, he was not in a battle but a race. Despite the realisation, Elijah did not calm down. His heart rate only rose as he looked at his surroundings. He had been sleeping on the edge of a cliff! Mere feet away, the land fell. Sharp, jagged granite spikes obscured his view of the white horses that charged the base, sixty feet below, determined to wear down the rock. The sea was angry, riled up by the storm. His breath caught in his throat, and he was forced to cough up water. If not for the purple lightning, this could be home! Nothing was exactly familiar, though everything was close. The refreshing smell of salt, the harsh storms, the grey, nearly blue rock peppered with gems of reflective quartz, the lack of vegetation, the cliffside trail beneath his feet. The cliffside trail beneath his feet? That meant there were people somewhere around here. Or more ghosts. ¡°Focus on what¡¯s in front of you,¡± Elijah reminded himself. He was slowly freezing to death. The trail, though surprising to find, could be useful. It most likely led to somewhere warm and dry, he hoped. Before taking off in search of shelter, the young man took a moment to select a Class, having remembered that was an option. He chose Beech Berserker; he felt too squishy, and that seemed to deal with the problem. He then placed 100Xp in it, bringing it to level 1.
New Class Skill Unlocked! New Class Skill unlocked: Berserker¡¯s Bark: C Uses 3 Stamina per second to cover the body in bark. Damage blocked by this protective layer can be added to an attack while the Skill is in effect. This Skill automatically uses Health if Stamina is depleted.
You have reached Level 1 in B????e?????e????c?????h???? ?????B???e?????r???s????e???r????k????e????r???!???? +3 Vitality +2 Endurance +2 Strength
New Threshold Met! You have reached 10 in Vitality! This would be the cap for Race: Elijah, but the System allows you to push beyond your limits! Having reached the first Threshold, Your life force is bolstered; it is more difficult for you to contract diseases. Vitality can no longer drop below 10.
That brought a pep to his step. A rush of healthiness flashed through his running body. His boosted Agility ate up the ground, and his Dexterity ensured he didn¡¯t slip on the wet, muddy rocks. His Health had been raised to 110! His skin was still a ghostly shade of white, and his eyes still held their customary bags, but it somehow no longer looked unhealthy. ¡°Now those were some stats!¡± Elijah commented aloud. His theory had been right. Beech Berserker was a rank C Class, and it gave him 5 Attribute points on its first level. As a bonus, it was in an area in which he was lacking, Vitality! Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. That Skill, Berserker¡¯s Bark, wasn¡¯t half bad either. Curious, he tried it, just for a second. His skin turned a wrinkly grey. Poking at himself, he couldn¡¯t feel a thing; he still felt perfectly normal; his movements were unencumbered. He only noticed when he dismissed the Skill that there had been an awareness of how much damage he had taken in the back of his mind. If he had wanted to, he could have added the strength of that poke to a punch or kick. This was Awesome! Elijah¡¯s mood was dampened somewhat by the constant downpour of rain and the seemingly endless barren cliffs. Had he been wrong? Was this to be another repeating, empty world? No. The teen crested another rise and finally saw something he had sorely missed. With his Perception above the first Threshold, Elijah was able to see the squat little stone building, nestled between two rocks, hiding from the storm, with ease, despite the rainy night. A tear may have welled in the corner of his eye at such a familiar sight, though no one would be able to tell for all the rain. This place looked like it would fit right in at home, with its traditional materials and construction. His pace increased as he ran down towards it, nearly slipping twice. The teen didn¡¯t dare hope that the firelight pouring out from the windows or the sound of raucous laughter were actual signs of life. He had spent so long alone that he couldn¡¯t believe it to be real. A sign flapped about in the tremendous gale. On its surface was painted a noble-looking ship¡¯s captain, sword in hand. It was strange, however, as the person depicted was not facing towards the viewer but away. He checked both sides, but Elijah was unable to see the person¡¯s face. Beneath the odd image was engraved a name:
The Admiral Benaft Inn
There was a porch separating the inside from the outside with heavy, wooden doors. Elijah entered, drying himself as much as possible before equipping his clothes. The yellow and red items went underneath, and the faded green smock on top. He looked ridiculous, but it was better than being naked. As he placed a hand on the brass knob, prepared to enter into the lively tavern, the teen hesitated. He felt nervous. It was ridiculous, really. He had fought and beaten monsters the likes of which would have terrified him mere weeks before, but the thought of a room full of people had him rooted to the spot, his hands shaking slightly. This was more than nerves; it was¡­ fear? He was afraid he wouldn¡¯t know what to say. He was afraid that the people here might reject him and he would be left alone again. He was afraid. Elijah had learnt how to deal with the fear of death in the Slime trial. Just don¡¯t think about it. Eyes closed, head first, can¡¯t lose! Before he knew it, the young man was striding into the common room, filled with drinkers and revellers. Despite his fears, no one reacted. He was just another face in the crowd. These were people, actual, real humans. Elijah couldn¡¯t believe it! He tried using Identify on them, but it didn¡¯t work, proving they weren¡¯t secretly monsters. They weren¡¯t the sort of people Elijah was used to seeing; they all wore clothes one might expect to see at the Empire LARP fest, except more real. This was not a modern society, but that didn¡¯t matter. Elijah walked up to a skinny lad, dressed in simple linen, sat at a table, alone in the corner, nursing a tankard. He shook his arm, still not quite believing this was all real. ¡°Excuse me? Are you real?¡± Elijah asked, not quite with it. The man turned to him with a weasely grin, held up a squirming sack he had been hiding under the table, and asked, ¡°Interested in buying a pig?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Interested in buying a pig?¡± the man asked in the exact same tone of voice with zero deviation. ¡°No?¡± Elijah half said, half asked, not sure what was happening. ¡°Then scram!¡± The man replied, suddenly turning nasty and dismissing Elijah. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Elijah said, not scramming. At his words, the other man¡¯s face switched, appearing just as amiable and slimy as it had before; he asked: ¡°Interested in buying a pig?¡± The sack wriggled. A hissing sound could be heard from inside. ¡°I think that¡¯s a cat.¡± Elijah said. ¡°Interested in buying a pig?¡± the man asked for the fourth time in the exact same way. The world spun around Elijah, and he felt something horrible brewing in the depths of his gut. Slightly manic, the young man rushed over to the barkeep. ¡°Excuse me,¡± he began. ¡°Beer?¡± the rough man asked, not looking up from the mug he was polishing. ¡°What''s your favourite colour?¡± Elijah asked, thinking of a question at random. ¡°Beer?¡± the barkeep asked. ¡°What¡¯s the capital of france?¡± ¡°Beer?¡± ¡°What''s one plus one?¡± ¡°Beer?¡± It sounded like someone had recorded the one line and was just replaying it over and over. This couldn¡¯t be happening! Elijah examined the people more closely. They weren¡¯t real. They looked perfectly fine, but the truth lay in what they did. A gambler at one of the tables dealt cards, looked at his hand, sighed, threw them down, gathered everyone¡¯s up, then started over, repeating his actions ad infinitum. A drunk took huge gulps from his flagon but never seemed to run dry; even the conversations people had were just the same words on repeat. These were not people; they were like NPCs in a video game, devoid of any soul. For a brief moment the young man had dared to think he had escaped the hell of endless death he had been thrust into. It felt like someone had removed the ground from beneath him. His consciousness seemed to float as he began to feel detached from ¡®reality.¡¯ The room fell silent, and Elijah was snapped back to himself. Everyone was looking at the door. An old man with bandages covering his eyes, clearly blind, had just walked in. The only sound in the pub was the tap, tap, tapping of his stick as he walked slowly along. People moved out of his way, not because of respect, but out of fear. Everyone seemed to believe that touching his black, ragged cloak meant certain death. The tension grew as he continued walking. He stopped at a table with a lone occupant, a drunk man with a great bushy grey beard. Silence filled the room, only broken by two sounds. The dripping of rainwater off the blind man¡¯s cloak and the snoring of the drunkard. A bony hand gripped the wrist of the sleeping man with surprising strength. He awoke suddenly with a jumbled mix of sounds that may have been words. A note was pressed into his hand. The audience gasped. In the centre of the parchment, visible to all, was a black spot! Chapter 13: Is This Pirated? Chapter 13
Is This Pirated? The occupants of the bar were quick to skedaddle after the ominous blind man left. To where, Elijah had no idea. There were no signs of human civilisation other than this pub, at least none that he had seen. Then again, they weren¡¯t real people. For all he knew, they just turned into smoke the second they walked out the door. Curious, he poked his head out of the window; his guess had been close to the truth. He saw people leave through the front door, but they never made it to the road outside; they simply disappeared, their purpose fulfilled. This left only Elijah, the silent innkeep, and the panicking drunk in the bar. The old, grey-bearded man looked out of sorts as he searched himself for something. He patted the pockets of his sodden, pirate-like garb desperately. The man let out a burp of relief when he pulled out from around his neck a key. Wild, bloodshot eyes quested about the establishment, full of fear and need. They landed upon the oddly dressed young man who had been watching from the corner like a cuck. ¡°You there, boy, come here,¡± the strange wino ordered. There was an easy authority to the man¡¯s words, even with his rum-fuelled slur, and Elijah found himself coming over before he knew what he was doing. Wait, Elijah thought, is this an actual person? He reacted to his surroundings. Elijah daren¡¯t hope. In an attempt to test his suspicions, he asked another random question. ¡°How many moons are t¡ª¡± ¡°Good,¡± the man began, not even letting the kid finish his question before continuing with the script this Trial seemed to have. ¡°Now, follow me,¡± he instructed, before lunging to his feet and falling over drunk. Elijah sighed but helped the man back up. He then proceeded to assist the drunkenly staggering man over to the stairs in the corner. The teen looked to the barkeeper for help, but he had also disappeared when he wasn¡¯t looking. The elderly man muttered incoherently and swigged from a bottle of dark rum intermittently as he made his way, with Elijah¡¯s help, up to one of the rooms of the inn. The pair burst into the cramped quarters, illuminated by a small fire. The old guy didn¡¯t waste any time; with urgency, he rocked and rolled over to a heavy-looking chest in the corner of the room. With shaking hands, he unlocked it, throwing the lid open. It was filled with worn and tattered clothes that stank of the sea, atop which was a rather battered-looking tricorn hat. The grey-head withdrew a large rusty knife from nowhere. Elijah stepped back, but it wasn¡¯t aimed at him. The seaman thrust it into the inside of the lid, cutting open the lining and revealing a square of battered parchment. He looked at it longingly for a moment before thrusting it towards the teen. ¡°Here, boy, take this,¡± he offered. When Elijah didn¡¯t move to accept, he took a laboured breath, then chose to elaborate: ¡°The, The Mosquito, he¡¯s coming for me. I¡¯ll be lucky to last the night,¡± he continued, panting and growing sweatier by the second. ¡°He¡¯s after this,¡± the old man insisted, shaking the parchment at the young man, ¡°I can¡¯t let him have it! I can¡¯t. Take it, take it, and keep it safe.¡± Elijah, curious and confused, took the parchment. The second he did, the drunk man grasped at his heart and keeled over, dead. The teen checked his pulse to be sure. Yep, dead as a doornail. As soon as this weird Trial no longer needed something, it seemed to immediately get rid of it; given this was a System thing, was it saving memory? Elijah didn¡¯t know nor care. He couldn¡¯t bring himself to be moved by the old-timer¡¯s death either; he hadn¡¯t known him long, and he thought him some kind of hologram or illusion, so there was nothing to mourn over. He was moved by that nice-looking leather captain''s hat sitting in the chest, so he snagged it, placing it firmly on his head. It fit snugly and gave him, he felt, a more demanding presence. He took a moment to search the container for anything else of use, but there really were only old, ratty clothes, none of which he was interested in taking. Now, to address this mysterious note. Moving closer to the fireplace for light, Elijah unfolded the parchment, revealing what was no doubt a treasure map. An island was depicted, titled: Treasure Island. Coordinates, latitude and longitude, were written on the side, as well as a great big red X. Elijah knew immediately this had to be buried treasure! This being the objective of the Trial, and because finding pirate treasure was a childhood dream of his, Elijah started off at once. He strode through the inn and out the front door. Nothing was as he remembered; a green sun shone overhead in a light, purple sky, and ¡®people¡¯ bustled about. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Somehow, he had been transported to a Renaissance seaside town. He turned around, but the pub he had just left was not there. It was slightly disconcerting to be moved like that, against his will, but he reminded himself it was, none of it, real. It would be best just to keep moving, to, ¡®Focus on what¡¯s in front of him.¡¯ In this case, that was the giant mast of a square-rigged ship, looming over the town. Elijah had visited the Cutty Sark in London and thought it quite something, but it didn¡¯t compare to this thing. That was a clipper, a low-hulled, fast ship, designed for speed. The hull of this ship stood as tall as a house. Covered cannon ports, hundreds of them, pointed towards the town. It was a Man O¡¯War; Elijah recognised the design from the best AC game. With no plan in mind, Elijah strode through the town. The NPCs took one look at his hat and moved out of the way. He passed traders peddling wares, fish hanging on sticks, and streets coated in human waste as he walked confidently towards the docks. There were two muscled guards, sailors with tattoos of lucky pigs and chickens on their arms, standing at the entrance to the docks proper, stopping pedestrians from entering. They were not fooled by the fancy hat. The teen tried to stride past, acting as if he belonged, inspired by videos of people who illegally climbed buildings, but it didn¡¯t work. The old hi-vis jacket and clipboard wasn¡¯t enough for these men. A weighty arm barred his path, and a shrewd eye looked down upon him from underneath a sailor¡¯s cap. ¡°What business have ye here?¡± the gravelly voice of the second man asked, laced with suspicion. Elijah looked around for an excuse. On the prow of the ship he was headed for, there was a sculpture of a mosquito. It struck the young man as odd, then he remembered what the drunkard had said before he died. ¡°I work for The Mosquito,¡± Elijah said, in a tone that suggested he was annoyed that anyone dared stop him. The arm in front of him trembled slightly. The teen watched as fear washed over the two men. Perhaps it hadn''t been wise to invoke such a name; who knew what problems it may cause later? Still, it had been clever¡­ or at least Elijah thought so.
Initiative +1
Clearly, the System agreed.
New Threshold Met! You have reached 10 in Initiative! This would be the cap for Race: Elijah, but the System allows you to push beyond your limits! Having reached the first Threshold, your instincts are improved; you are able to intuit things that would previously have had to be calculated. Initiative can no longer drop below 10.
Elijah cheered internally as the pair of physically imposing men gave him a trembling salute, inching away from him as he passed. The teen headed into the busy docks, straight for the biggest ship, the Mosquito¡¯s Man O''War. As he approached, he got a chance to really examine the ship up close. It was imposing, painted black and red and with great big, blood-red sails. Atop the mainmast flew a pirate flag, a mosquito¡¯s head above a large gold coin, painted with real gold leaf. A suspicion began to form in the young man¡¯s mind. Humans scurried about the ship, loading and unloading, all wearing black clothes with the same image as the flag. A boy was scampering about the rigging on the mizzenmast, checking everything was tight and secure; it appeared the ship was preparing to set sail. Elijah continued with confidence towards the gangplank; simply bringing up the name of these guys¡¯ boss wouldn¡¯t be enough to get past the next set of guards barring passage to the ship. He needed a plan. Before he knew it, two dangerous-looking people, a man and a woman, stood before him. Their hands rested on cutlasses. Elijah kept a straight back as he looked them in the eye, but he had no idea what to say. Thankfully, they were the first to speak: ¡°You must be Captain''s new apprentice. That mean he¡¯ll be back soon?¡± the woman asked in a surprisingly fair voice. ¡°Errr¡­ No, he said he had to do something. We¡¯re supposed to leave right away and not wait up,¡± Elijah said, relying on his Initiative to come up with something quickly. The man let out a malicious chuckle. ¡°Captain planning some trouble, is he? Need a quick escape? Doesn¡¯t matter, tell the quartermaster; he¡¯ll get the ball rolling.¡± ¡°I heard, a bald black man said from up on the deck.¡± He stared at Elijah for a moment too long. Just as the teen thought he had been made, the quartermaster spoke again. ¡°Did The Mosquito say to raise the Blue Peter and let the crew who¡¯re off drinking repair to the ship?¡± ¡°No, this is urgent,¡± Elijah replied, adding some desperation to his voice. It seemed to work and the bigger man snapped to attention. He opened his lungs and bellowed out: ¡°Unfurl the topsails, gallants, and royals!¡± Immediately, everyone set to work. Elijah moved, just trying to stay out from underfoot as the crew frantically got underway. The quartermaster stayed by his side. Apparently, since he was impersonating the Captain¡¯s new apprentice, no one dared question him. He could tell that this Captain, this Mosquito as he was known, ruled through fear. It was obvious in the way people looked at him and made sure to stay well clear of the teen. ¡°Where¡¯d the Captain say we¡¯re to head to?¡± The quartermaster asked when the ship was almost ready to leave. ¡°Ahh, yes, he gave me this,¡± Elijah replied, handing the man the treasure map. His eyes lit up upon seeing it and he barked directions at the helmsman. With a lurch, they set off, moving quicker than Elijah thought possible. The land shrank rapidly behind them. Elijah looked over the stern. They were already a fair distance away, but his Perception allowed him to watch as the people parted, allowing a strange creature to storm through the docks. It looked human-shaped, with two arms and two legs, dressed in a red and black captain¡¯s coat, but the thing was definitely not human. Its head was that of a giant mosquito. Its proboscis twitched in anger as the pair locked eyes. It threw its hat to the ground and stamped on it. If it said something, Elijah couldn¡¯t hear; he was already too far gone. He used Identify on the monster.
Identify: Level: 26 Monster: Treasure Sucker Description: The Treasure Sucker is an Evolution of the Treasure Seeker that focuses specifically on stealing treasures from others. They resemble a mosquito man in form, though they have learnt to blend in with the five races, primarily humans. There are many versions of this monster; the most common poses as a lawyer and makes up reasons to charge people far too much money. This is a pirate-based evolution and is fairly rare.
Chapter 14: Treasure Island! Chapter 14
Treasure Island! Elijah bobbed up and down in the middle of a deep blue sea. The green sun beamed overhead, reddening the young man¡¯s skin. He sighed. He had been a fool to believe that he could just bluff his way to success. Initially, everything had been fine. Apparently, it wasn¡¯t uncommon for The Mosquito to have his ship leave in a hurry, even without him if he thought there would be trouble. Where Elijah¡¯s improvised plan had gone awry was the next part. The crew¡¯s Captain would always meet up with them shortly after, usually having commandeered another ship. He had never taken more than two hours. After four, the quartermaster¡¯s questions had become hostile. Since Elijah knew next to nothing about The Mosquito, he was unable to answer most of them. The situation became tense; blades were drawn. Elijah, even though he had some Skills and abilities he thought impressive, couldn¡¯t bring himself to fight something that looked and acted so human. He jumped overboard. He immediately regretted it. There was a strong current, and the ship had caught the wind. In seconds, he was alone, with nothing but an empty horizon. Although the young man had grown up by the sea and would swim most mornings, even in winter, this had been one of his greatest fears. He kept an eye on the shifting sandbars, observing the yellowed water, which marked their positions from atop the cliffs before ever setting foot in the sea. His grandmother had told the story of how she had once been caught in a rip tide and dragged out to sea, only surviving because a passing sailing ship had seen her. It had given the teen a healthy phobia. Now that he was in the same position she had been in, with no land in sight, he found he was¡­ surprisingly calm. He had feared that fear may grip him, causing him to drown, but that wasn¡¯t the case. Maybe it was the familiar support of seawater, water that he trod with ease, or the strangely coloured open sky distracting him; the young man didn¡¯t know. It didn¡¯t matter; he was relaxed, and that helped him to think straight. Normally he would default to what was fast becoming his catchphrase, but there was nothing to focus on out here; literally nothing. No, wait, that wasn¡¯t true. There was water mana. An abundance of motes danced all around him, content with their surroundings. It was a dizzying but beautiful display. Elijah watched as currents bobbed along, not just the surface and bottom currents, which he expected, given the difference in heat from top to bottom, but a million million different microcurrents dancing in a thousand different colourful lines that wove in and out of each other endlessly. It was mesmerising and had pulled him in, the same way a good fire did, with only one exception. The sea wasn¡¯t warm. Elijah didn¡¯t know how long he had just floated about, watching the mana in amazement, but his teeth had begun to chatter. This was bad! Though the sea was relatively warm, it was still not conducive to life. Elijah needed help. That¡¯s when he had an idea. Through watching the way water mana moved in the ocean, he had subconsciously deepened his understanding of the element. He sought its aid. Making the mana in his body dance as the water did, caught the attention of a passing current. Once he was sure it was watching, he tried to change the movement of the mana within his veins, trying to get it to convey two ideas simultaneously. The idea of water but also that of help and support, of his need for land. When the motes that comprised the current sped off, he thought he had failed and resigned himself to a miserable and wet death. Just as he was debating whether he should use his first spell and dye the waters red, something caught his Mana Manipulation-infused eye. A dark current, far broader than he had seen before, was heading up from the depths. In its wake, the smaller currents swirled aside; they didn¡¯t seem fearful, but excited. A large, familiar shape rose from below. Elijah was rocked about as it surfaced, tossed about by the creature¡¯s mass. When he righted himself, he found he was staring eyes to eye with a giant blue whale. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. There was an intelligence to its gaze that told Elijah it was evaluating him. In an attempt to appear as a friend, he did his best to imitate water mana with the unattributed power produced by his Mana Heart. Compared to the way the whale seamlessly blended with the motes of water mana around it, it was a childish display, though Elijah thought it was impressed by the way its mana moved. Elijah was by no means an expert, but he had a closer affinity to water than any other element, and he thought he was beginning to grasp the barest edges of it. His display was enough. The whale snorted out seawater, sparkling turquoise in the light of the green sun, then surged towards him. For a moment, Elijah thought he had misread the mammoth mammal''s intentions and feared he would be eaten, forgetting that whales didn¡¯t even have teeth, but his worries were proved unfounded. The creature scooped him up with its back, lifting him out of the water. His aching leg muscles gave out beneath him, and he gratefully collapsed upon the fleshy rock. Once Elijah was aware enough not to fall off, the beast of the depths took off. Elijah had no idea where it was taking him, but anywhere was better than the bottom of the ocean. As they cut through the waves, the teen tried to converse with, and to learn from, the magical animal. It was difficult; although both could impart intentions into their mana, it was not the primary source of communication for either of them. Elijah knew this because, when the whale grew frustrated with its inability to convey a message, it made a low, clicking, rumbling sound he guessed to be whale song. It didn¡¯t help matters that neither of them shared similar points of reference; the majestic creature lived entirely below the waves and the teen above. Elijah tried to learn the name of his rescuer, but whatever it tried to impart through the medium of water mana was too complicated. It appeared to be a mix of large rocks, maybe a wall, and perhaps the idea of immovability, combined with some other things Elijah couldn¡¯t even begin to guess at. In the end, he gave up and just called the whale Laboon, because she was so big and apparently still only considered a child amongst her kind; she was already as long as Nelson¡¯s column was tall. He didn¡¯t understand the name she gave him in the language of whales, though given how she seemed to snicker whenever she said it, he suspected it was some kind of joke at his expense. It didn¡¯t matter, given she had saved him; she could call him whatever she liked, just not late for dinner. After the pleasantries were out of the way, he tried to discuss magic with her. He saw how she seamlessly blended with the water mana around her and wanted to know how she did it. He had seen the Water Buffalhigh do the same thing but assumed it was only possible because that monster was made entirely from water. The whale being able to do the same thing made him think there was a better way, a way to circulate water mana rather than just sucking it in. Unfortunately, his saviour was no help in this regard. It was something she just did, like breathing or like her heart beating. It was not something she could teach. That was a shame, but not all hope was lost. Just knowing that it was possible gave him a goal to work towards. Before the young man knew it, time had flown by, and land was in sight. What¡¯s more, it was the Treasure Island he had been seeking; there could be no doubt. On the map, the map that he had lost but memorised, there was the image of a great treasure chest in the centre of the island. Elijah thought it was artistic license, but he had been wrong. In the centre of the landmass was a great mountain range, formed, as if by design, to exactly resemble a chest, locks and all. It was quite something to look upon. It was also the most conspicuous place ever to bury treasure. Elijah wondered how many pirates had hidden their plunder here. All too soon, the water became too shallow, and Elijah and the whale were forced to part ways. The teen waved her off and the whale splashed her tail excitedly. He had become fond of the creature, but already his skin was wrinkled, and he needed to get back to proper land. After wading a couple of steps, a thought struck him, and he turned back, intent on asking Laboon something, but it was too late; she had already taken off. How was she here? Up until this point in the Trial, the people had clearly been constructions. Most of them only repeated the same words. The Mosquito¡¯s crew was slightly more developed, with some ability to think, but they too could only respond to certain questions; they were too limited to be real. Laboon was not. She had been an actual, thinking creature. Elijah had thought that this Trial was some kind of illusion, but now he started to wonder. Had he been transported to some remote corner of Terra Torus and surrounded by Trial apparitions? Was Laboon the inhabitant of another Trial and had somehow crossed over? Were there¡­ Elijah shook his head. Speculating like this wouldn¡¯t get him anywhere. He needed to focus. Right now, passing this strange Trial was his only goal. To do that, he needed to find this treasure before the monster¡­. ¡­Without the map¡­ ¡­Without a crew to help search¡­. ¡­Without even any food and water. As Elijah¡¯s sodden shoes sunk into soft white sand and he stretched his neck to look up at the palm trees and jungle beyond, the teen thought to himself: Let¡¯s find some buried treasure! Chapter 15: You Again? Chapter 15
You Again? Insects buzzed, filling the jungle with ambient noise. Sweat dripped off a vaguely muscled torso as Elijah crept, half-naked, through the shrubs. Blue eyes stood out from a pale face, disguised by a dark green paint made from crushed leaves. The teen had thrown himself into jungle life as he made his way through the thickly vegetated forest. He felt like Rambo, bare-chested and with a cloth band tied around his head. The only difference was that his headband was made out of a spare pair of underpants, but he could pretend. Elijah was a perceptive youth. He would watch how things happened and learn from them. Monkey see, monkey do-esque stuff. He had long ago learnt how to alter his gait. There was a headteacher at his school; he walked with heavy steps down the old wooden hallway, adjacent to the changing rooms. Students used to smoke there, and if they heard him coming, they would scatter. Elijah learnt to copy the sound of his steps and used to find endless joy in giving the smokers heart attacks. Using the lessons he had learnt about controlling the way he walked, the teen did his best to move quietly through the jungle. Not long after setting foot in the insect-infested sweatbox, he had seen something that looked like a three-tailed jaguar jump from atop a tree and kill a deer-like creature. If it hadn¡¯t pounced then, he never would have noticed the predator. He would have walked right under its nest. The encounter taught him that this was not a safe place! His movements were slow and controlled. He was sure to survey the path ahead before continuing. On one occasion, his Perception helped him to see some kind of sharp-toothed monkey lurking on the path ahead, and he was able to sneak past with the aid of the rank: D Skill, Light Footed. It was a Skill he had gained after selecting the Arctic Hunter Rabbit Evolution, and was supposed to make him 50% harder to detect, at a cost of 1 Stamina per second when not moving, and more Stamina the faster he was going. He had expected the Skill to halve the sound of his footsteps. Something that would have definitely been useful given the number of dry, crunchy leaves that littered the forest floor. That was not how it worked; the effects were far greater. Despite the name of the Skill, it did more than quieten his footsteps; it dampened him to every sense! Looking down at his hand, turning it over and examining it, he was amazed to find that he appeared to be only half visible; he was transparent. His opacity had decreased to 50%. That wasn¡¯t an end to it. The Skill seemed to also lessen how much his sweaty body smelt, and the noise that he made while moving. Truly, this was the Skill of a hunter! It wasn¡¯t perfect, however, and as Elijah snuck past the bloody-mouthed ape, the Skill showed why it was only D rank. The Stamina cost while moving was astronomical. One extremely slow step increased the rate of consumption to such a degree that 30% of his Stamina was consumed. He was forced to travel a small distance, hide, and then release the Skill in order to recover his Stamina. Still, his attempts to evade the menacing primate were successful, and the young man got away intact. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Not long after, Elijah emerged from the jungle. Before him lay sheer rock, covered in cracks. This was the chest-shaped mountain. Elijah had become disoriented. He remembered roughly where on the island the treasure was supposed to be, but that didn¡¯t matter, since he didn¡¯t know where he was. His plan: climb up high and get a lay of the land. He had been an avid climber back home. More than once, he had scrambled up the granite cliffs, not always for fun. Once, he had been walking along an isolated stretch of beach, a scenic area that few went to. He had failed to check the tides beforehand and ended up stuck between the steep cliffs and the incoming tide. That experience improved his climbing abilities to no end. He put those skills to use as his hands wedged into crevices, his feet pushed on the rock, and he ascended the sheer face. Reaching a plateau, the seam between two planks in the image of a chest, Elijah pulled himself up. It had been a harder climb than he expected. The rock here was dry and crumbly, not at all what he was used to. More than once, a handhold or foothold had simply crumbled away, leaving him hanging. The teen simply lay on his back for a time, catching his breath. Eventually, the mosquitos biting at his sticky skin became too much of an annoyance, and he was forced to get up to swat them away. Looking out over the jungle, he was able to get a proper look at the island as a whole. As it turned out, that map was surprisingly accurate. Not only did this place have a comically large, treasure chest-shaped mountain cluster, but a lake he thought had been oversized, for the sake of drawing a landmark, did in fact take up the eastern third of the island. Three massive trees marked the west, and a bog with lines of stink actually rising into the air marked the south. With three points of reference, Elijah was able to orient himself and knew where to go. He was about to begin his descent when he noticed something. In a haven to the north, the Mosquito had docked his ship. It was hard to see from this distance, but it didn¡¯t appear as if there was anyone on board, meaning they had already disembarked. Elijah had thought that, given the ship would have to go back to get its Captain, and that he had gotten a lift from a whale, he would have some time to begin the search before they got here. Apparently not. The spot marked on the map, and, surprisingly in real life, was an area in the middle of the jungle marked by a big red X made from red sand. It was to the north, halfway between him and the pirate ship. This was bad. They were already on the move. If he wanted to beat this unique Trial, he needed to get a wiggle on. Feeling renewed, Elijah began his descent.
Agility +1
¡°He went this way, I¡¯m sure of it!¡± A gruff pirate called out, venturing further into the unforgiving jungle. ¡°You¡¯re full of it,¡± another chided, slapping the first on the back of the head. ¡°There ain¡¯t no trace of him, he¡¯s been sneaky and doubled back. ¡°You sure?¡± The younger man asked, eager to continue the pursuit, even without knowing where to go. ¡°Ye ever known me to be wrong?¡± the one-eared man asked. The other man simply shrugged in defeat and followed his superior back in the direction they had come from. Elijah''s arms trembled; he struggled to hold onto the underside of the slippery branch. Just as the two pirates made it out of earshot, his Strength failed, and he tumbled through the thick foliage, gaining a number of cuts and bruises along the way. The pirates had surrounded the treasure spot and had been searching for him. Elijah had only gotten close enough to hear digging before he was spotted and his flight began. He really did not want to fight these things; they were altogether too human, so he just ran. The pirates had followed him doggedly, over bush and under root, through streams and into mud. They hadn¡¯t been riled into a frenzy, however, and were smart enough to leave a number of the crew behind in order to protect the red X. The Mosquito had been tricked once, and it didn¡¯t appear he wanted to be fooled again. It didn¡¯t matter in the end. Elijah wasn¡¯t able to evade his pursuers for a good hour. By this point, they should have dug up the treasure, meaning there was either a problem with getting to the treasure or the Mosquito was waiting for a chance to get its revenge. Elijah suspected it was the latter. As he stood in the rainforest, hands on knees, panting for breath and swatting away what seemed to be an ever-growing number of bloodsucking insects, he wondered to himself: Wait, why am I being flocked by insects? ¡°There you are,¡± a malformed, wet, and sloppy voice said, insect parts twisting in a way that they weren¡¯t designed to in order to make the sounds of the words. Elijah looked up, straightening his back and wiping away his exhaustion. It appeared the Mosquito¡¯s crew had corralled him right into the path of the Treasure Sucking Monster. After taking a breath to compose himself and swiping away even more mosquitos, Elijah responded: ¡°You again?¡± Chapter 16: Jungle Fight! Chapter 16
Jungle Fight! Trees withered, leaves dried, turned brown, and cracked. Fighting through the pain of a hundred mosquito bites, Elijah was barely able to use Dodge in time and evade the cone of the leaching attack. Even so, the fingers of his left hand were caught in the area of effect. In less than a second, they desiccated, taking on the appearance of a mummy¡¯s digits: black and crispy. The teen hissed in pain as he rolled to the side of another moisture-sucking attack that laid waste to a strip of jungle. Using his Mana Manipulation, the young man watched as, one by one, the once vibrant motes of water mana deluminated in an area six feet across and thirty feet long. Elijah thought this was supposed to be a Treasure Seeker; hell, this Trial didn¡¯t even explicitly say they were supposed to fight, so why did this monster have such powerful attacks? If one of those humidity-sucking spells had hit him directly, he would have immediately died! There was a reason his crew had chased him towards the monster. Its attacks were strong, but they covered wide areas of rainforest; had they all attacked the sixteen-year-old at once, there would have been friendly fire. The pirates had tricked him here, then decided to retreat to the red X; meaning; even if he beat this moisture-sucking mosquito, he¡¯d still have to deal with them. As Elijah¡¯s big toe was desiccated, causing his next jump to turn into a stumble, he reminded himself not to get distracted by ¡®what if¡¯s and focus on the fight in front of him. Elijah vaulted fallen logs, his palms pressing through softly rotting wood; slid along mulchy leaves, aided by his Slimy Trait; stripper-poled around trunks, causing his velocity to change rapidly; and threw rocks and dirt in order to distract the monster. None of it worked. He wanted to run up to the thing and punch it in the face, but he couldn¡¯t. These water-absorbing attacks came from the mosquito man¡¯s extended proboscis; if Elijah drew in too close, he would have no room to dodge. Elijah was the goalie in his local sixteen and under football club; he knew to run towards an attacking player in a one-V-one, cutting off any angle they might use to make a shot. As he was the one being ¡®shot¡¯ at in this scenario, he wanted as many angles as he could get. The forest around them was quickly becoming a dry desert, and the teen was losing his visual concealment. There was nothing left but to retreat and regroup. If he was fast, he may be able to slip between the crew''s defences and make it to the treasure first, ending the Trial. Elijah was not fast enough. He thought that his Agility-enhanced speed would be more than enough to outrun the insectoid - it had been sufficient to stay ahead of its men - but that was not the case. He ducked under a branch and turned back to gauge his lead. The Mosquito was only a foot behind him, hand outstretched, nearly touching him. Thanks to the instincts his Initiative gave him, now that it had exceeded the first threshold, the young man was just about able to throw himself out of the way of the ensuing wave of deaquafication. The sudden jerking motion was too much for his already injured toe, and it snapped off. Elijah had thought the pain, caused by losing all the water in that part of his body, had been bad. This was worse. Much worse. The sixteen-year-old let out an involuntary crying whimper as he continued his stumbling flight through the jungle. Dark blood oozed out of the charred stump of a joint, leaving a trail, flocked to by the ever-growing number of mosquitos. Despite the teen killing as many as he could, the wretched insects only seemed to increase in number. Once he got the pain under control, he threw himself aside once more, re-aggravating the wound. Though he hadn¡¯t been watching the pirate Captain, Elijah had begun to get a sense of the time the thing had to take to recover between attacks. Elijah watched as another strip of once vibrant forest was turned into wasteland. His Perception picked up on something. Right after attacking, The Treasure Seeker¡¯s insect face began to dry out and crack. Elijah was confused for a moment before he caught sight of the notifications scrolling past in the periphery of his vision. Unkillable was returning a portion of the damage Elijah successfully avoided, likely more than normal as these attacks would have definitely been fatal. Interestingly, the Trait inflicted the same type of damage as would have been dealt; in this case, it absorbed all the water from the insect-person monster. Unfortunately, all the water it was already absorbing had to go somewhere, and in seconds the cracks in its carapace had healed, and it was shining with a wet gleam. If not for Elijah''s Trait absorbing all the water, the monster likely would have burst like a balloon by now. He would disable the Trait if that were an option. But if that were an option, he would have done the same to Slimy long ago. Elijah stopped running, choosing instead to face the beast. Its Attributes were higher, and it could outrun him, so he was better off not having his back to it. Facing it, he could at least dodge reliably. He had briefly considered not dodging, getting hit by the attack, and hoping the Treasure Sucker overfilled on water before he was drained dry, but that seemed like a stupid plan. One that was all too likely to fail, knowing his Luck. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. He couldn¡¯t even use his rudimentary water magic. As the moisture was sucked up, it seemed to sap the water mana motes of all their energy. If he wanted to get them to do anything, it would likely require him to expend all his mana to power them. ¡°How are you doing this?¡± Elijah asked between heavy breaths, partly out of curiosity but mainly in an attempt to gain a moment''s calm to think. To the young man¡¯s surprise, the violent insect didn¡¯t immediately attack but took the time to answer him whilst it continued walking slowly closer. ¡°It''s simply in my nature,¡± the Evolved Treasure Seeker slurppled. ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense,¡± Elijah replied, backing up and maintaining the distance between them. ¡°I know you¡¯re some kind of treasure-seeking monster; how does that lead to a power like this?¡± he asked, gesturing to a swath of bone-dry jungle with an arm that then returned to frantically swatting away mosquitoes. ¡°Ye do, do ye?¡± The mosquito pirate squelched out rhetorically before mumbling to itself, ¡°Must have some kind of identifying Skill.¡± ¡°What?¡± Elijah asked, unable to catch the garbled words. The young man¡¯s distraction cost him, and he stumbled backward over a fallen branch. Rapidly, he shimmied away, keeping the distance between them, before finding his feet once more. The monster did not seize the opportunity. Certain in its victorious revenge, it continued stalking Elijah as it answered his question. ¡°Ye¡¯re right, I am a Treasure Sucker,¡± The Mosquito said in a tone that may have been joyous, ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m stuck only sucking up gold and jewels. Different people have different definitions of treasure. If ye¡¯d ever been to a desert, ye¡¯d know the people there prize water above all else. So, I can suck it right up out of anything.¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s with all the insects? I don¡¯t see how they relate to treasure.¡± Elijah asked, trying to get the monster to talk more and sticking another armload of the buzzing annoyances to his Slimy skin. ¡°They just seem to like me,¡± the pirate captain replied, with a note of finality in its sucking voice. Before he had even said the last word, Elijah had jumped aside, expecting the draining attack that lanced through the leaves, wincing as pressure was placed on his injured foot. The teen continued walking backward, keeping enough space to dodge. The monster began a lurching run, and the chase was back on. The sixteen-year-old was unable to run at full speed as he had to keep his eyes on his attacker''s proboscis. The monster had taken to swinging its cutlass at him in the time between its draining sucks. Elijah was forced to use his new Skill, Berserker¡¯s Bark, in an attempt to keep from losing more of himself. It wasn¡¯t quite as effective as he had hoped. Its skin turned to bark, and a cut that would have cut through muscle and bone behaved as if it were slicing at wood. Unfortunately, The Mosquito¡¯s Strength was also very high. Elijah¡¯s arm was cut halfway through. Despite the sharp sting, he was able to suck it up and lash out with a retaliatory strike at the monster, sending it flying back with the power gained from blocking at least some of the attack. The Treasure Sucker crashed through the underbrush, sending a wave of desiccating energy up into the air. Had he wasted any time in counterattacking, he would have been turned into Elijah jerky! He didn¡¯t waste any time now either, continuing his flight along the same animal trails he had used earlier in an attempt to escape The Mosquito¡¯s crew. It wasn¡¯t long before the monster had caught back up, what with its superior Agility, leaving Elijah in a desperate dance for his life once more. Despite how it looked, the teen was doing his best to control the battle, well, its direction at least. He evaded another sucking wave, breaking through branches and ending up in a clearing. Elijah had hoped to bring the fight on top of The Mosquito¡¯s crew, but they hadn¡¯t stuck around when they saw the lines of destruction headed their way. Empty tents were trampled over and fires hastily snuffed out. Leaving the red X of sand, complete with a dug hole and a suspiciously treasure-shaped chest half pulled out. The Treasure Sucker saw what Elijah was angling for; whoever reached the treasure first would win the Trial, but The Mosquito couldn¡¯t allow the test to end until he had gotten revenge for being humiliated by the presumptuous human. The Treasure Sucker sucked, creating a magical vortex around its proboscis, which drew the wooden chest towards it. Elijah, thinking quickly, spat on his hand, using the still-energised mana motes within it to create a tiny water blade. The magical construction was no larger than the crescent of a fingernail, but it was enough to nick the monster¡¯s fleshy sucking-tube. The injured protuberance twitched in pain, sending the chest careening off into the jungle with Elijah in hot pursuit. Before the projectile was more than halfway through its canopy-crushing parabolic arc, the monster hand caught up to the young man. As they ran, the pair locked eyes. In a moment of frustrated anger, Elijah lashed out, striking the thing in the head. To his surprise, it rocked back slightly. Anger overcame the monster, and, forgetting its main form of attack, it retaliated with a punch that cracked as it struck Elijah¡¯s nose, breaking it. By that point, it was too late. The fight devolved into a dirty brawl, both sides momentarily forgetting their Skills and abilities in a flash of anger. They grappled in the jungle muck as Elijah tried to claw his way closer to the chest while The Mosquito kept dragging him back. Covered in mud and already Slimy, the young man was able to slip away, lunging towards the rotting wooden box. Just as he slammed his fist through the crumbling lid, the monster remembered itself and hit him with a desiccating blast. Elijah was unable to dodge, still locked in the primitive mindset of anger. Just as his hand broke through the wood, his eyeballs shrivelled and popped out. Just as his arm fell towards the prize, his skin blackened, shrank, and cracked. Just as he grasped something cold, his blood, as thick as treacle, began to ooze out of his every pore. Elijah died. Elijah touched the golden treasure.
Congratulations! You have completed the Trial of Evolution 1: Treasure Seeker Grade: B Objectives: Rewards: You have earned the right to Evolve from a Treasure Seeker into 1 of 4 Treasure Seeker Evolutions: Choose Now!
Interlude 2: Does This Runs? Interlude 2
Does This Runs? Faun strained as his bowels churned. He hated Squidulous! For a brief time, he had felt bad for Squidulous¡¯ fate, but when he discovered just how cruel that demon had been, any sympathy he may have had evaporated. The manager who had run Universal System department 2.7.1. before Faun had spiked the f?ling¡¯s morning brew with something that had caused him to rush to the toilet all day, just for questioning his work, work that was so shoddy, it had resulted in his termination. Had that been an end to it, Faun may have forgotten the incident, chalking it up to one last act of petty bullying, but no, simply one day of the squits was not enough for that vindictive, tentacled bastard. More than a month had passed by Torus time, and still, Faun was forced to spend half his workday stinking up a bathroom stall. It had gotten so bad that the rest of the office had stopped using the male humanoid toilets altogether. It wasn¡¯t all bad, however; the ample time the half-goat, half-man got to himself allowed him to find the source of the tide of errors that had led to the death of his predecessor. There was a person, a human by appearance though the System said otherwise, who had somehow managed to get into the Trials of Evolution, a series of Trials created to allow monsters to choose their Evolutions. Since there wasn¡¯t supposed to be any way an inhabitant of Terra Torus could do that, the System simply assumed he was supposed to be there and allowed him to undergo the Trials. The problem came whenever he completed a Trial. An error loop would occur when an Evolution was forced onto a non-monster, eventually breaking something and forcing it through as a Class, which was something completely different. Faun had no idea what in the spaghetti code of the System allowed that to happen, but when he identified what was going on, he simply redefined the nearly human¡¯s unique Race, Elijah, as a monster, stopping those repeated errors from being sent up the chain of command and hopefully making it look like he had solved whatever issues there were. That should buy the trumpeting faun some time before his head would roll. What time wasn¡¯t spent overseeing this section of System maintenance and correcting the bevy of mistakes this newest batch of demon hatchlings inevitably made, Faun used his stinky haven to secretly learn more about this anomaly. If he had any free time, he wouldn¡¯t risk doing this while in the office at all, but Hell was hell; there was no time off. You worked until you dropped, and then you were thrown into the pit, digging for the rest of eternity if you weren¡¯t killed first. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Every second Faun spent analysing this Elijah increased the risk that his department wouldn¡¯t meet the quotas set for them and he would be axed, or sworded, or burned alive, whatever his superiors fancied. The risk was calculated, however; sooner or later, he would be killed anyway. Someone in Elijah¡¯s position could definitely be useful in Faun¡¯s plan to escape from Hell. At least that¡¯s what he had thought at first, then he got a look at the Elijah¡¯s stats. They were dreadful! Granted, he didn¡¯t really know what sort of Attributes a mortal was supposed to have, but when compared to a demon of f?y creature, it was appalling. This anomalous thing was so weak that it wouldn¡¯t be useful for anything; even if he could engineer a situation to aid in his escape, the guardians of hell would be able to swat Elijah down with the bat of an eye. Faun had hoped that whatever creature had broken into a System Trial would be strong; perhaps he had just fallen into some powerful wizard''s spell, or was caught in a convergence, or was inside a monster just as it reached level 25. It didn¡¯t really matter; the point was, Elijah was weak. At least for now. Faun was used to being dealt a crap hand, and, once he learnt of the Elijah¡¯s weakness, he began looking for upsides. One notable benefit was in having so many Classes. Mortals were only supposed to have one Class. If they reached level 100, they could get a second, but as Faun understood it, that was uncommon. Because this Elijah had a number of Evolutions that were turned into Classes, all starting at level 0, he would be able to get all the early stat points, where the Xp cost for levels was still low. Once past level 13, the amount of Xp required for each subsequent level became astronomical. Unfortunately, he had already levelled up one of his Classes to level 9, and this was being read as his overall level by his character sheet. That significantly reduced the underlevelled bonus he got from defeating monsters, all of which were newly evolved monsters at level 26 that had been handpicked to administer these Trials. Despite the backlash it would no doubt bring, Faun composed a message for the Elijah, ensuring he knew the importance of growing stronger and that, if he did, there would be a chance to escape. Before he could finish the heavily encrypted file, the door to the bathroom banged open. Faun rushed to finish. Disciplined footsteps marched along the tile floor. The f?ling waited as the sending bar moved across his personal HUD. The door to his stall was kicked open by a booted foot. Staring down at him with disdainful blue eyes, piercing through golden locks topped with a military cap, was Tanya the Administrator. Normally, no one could see what was displayed on someone¡¯s HUD; it would appear as a window in front of you. Administrators were the exception; they could look at the multicoloured windows of everyone as if they were truly there. Faun was thankful, therefore, that he had the presence of mind to switch away from the message he had been writing. As he tried his best to cover his modesty, cheeks above and below flushing pink, he regretted the choice of image he had randomly selected from his ¡®work¡¯ folder. When Tanya saw the picture displayed in a holographic manner in front of the manager¡¯s half-naked form, her fury exploded. ¡°So this is why you¡¯re always in here!?¡± She shouted. Causing Faun to pale in fear and embarrassment. The Candle-Sweep The Candle-Sweep By Merlin Pendragon
In the caverns, dark and deep, Ye should fear the Candle-Sweep. Though thou try to lurk and creep, None evade the spreading seep¡ª Of darkness black as blackest night; Where miners mine and fighters fight The death that is this monster, foul, That cannae hide beneath the cowl¡ª Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. O¡¯ what be and be not real. Illusions do this beast conceal A shape unknown to mortal eyes. For what is seen, be a disguise. The widow sees her long-lost kin, The mother, her sweetest thing; A child, a husband, a lantern light, To ward away the endless night. And if thy heart be soft and weak, Thou shalt fall for visions sweet. And fall upon thine follyous blade; Constructions o¡¯ thy mind be made. Into the jaws of death ye¡¯ll walk, Unknowing of the thing ye¡¯d baulk At if ye could but only see: The Subterranean Horror: The Candle-Sweep. Chapter 17: Things That Go Bump! Chapter 17
Things That Go Bump!
New Evolution Class E?v?o?l?u?t?i?o?n? C???l???a???s???s??? E???v????o?????l????u????t????i????o?????n??? C??????l???????a???????s????s??????? ¡­ Unlocked!
New Class Trait Unlocked! New Class Trait unlocked: The Taste of Treasure: B As a Treasure Taster, you have gained the Trait: That Taste of Treasure. This Trait allows you to detect items that can be considered treasures by tasting the air. The taste will get stronger as you approach treasures.
You have reached Level 1 in T????r????e????a????s?????u????r????e????? ???T????a????s????t?????e???r?????!???? +4 Perception +2 Wisdom
For a goodly while after being engulfed by the darkness that waited between worlds, nothing happened. Elijah had already chosen the rank: B Class from the list, received a new Trait, and spent the Xp he had saved up to get the first level, and still, nothing had happened; he was completely surrounded by a pitch-black void. He was beginning to think something had gone wrong; was he finally going to be sent home? No, of course not. Usually, Elijah was unable to move in the darkness between worlds, trapped in place by the absence of anything to move against, but when he tried to lean forward, he found himself tumbling over. Gravity had reappeared, and he hadn¡¯t even noticed. His head cracked against something hard as he folded over. His hands grasped in the darkness, finding jagged rocks all around. It felt like he was in some kind of cave, though there was no light to see by, so he couldn¡¯t be sure. No notification had appeared when he entered this new Trial, and try as he might, he couldn¡¯t get one to appear. Whatever monster he was supposed to face was somehow able to stop him from seeing his System windows. Or perhaps he just couldn¡¯t see it in the dark? Elijah hadn¡¯t spent long enough in these System-controlled Trials to know for sure. It didn¡¯t really matter, not in truth. The next Trial had already begun, and the young man knew he should expect a fight. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The rudeness of the rock floor as it rose to kiss his tender nose startled Elijah, and after flailing around for a moment, he was able to get back to his feet. When his hands were done rubbing at his sore spots, he began to grope about, intent on discovering where exactly he was. Pebbles skittered about under his feet as they shuffled about cautiously. He found uneven, natural-feeling cavern walls, too close on either side. He was in some kind of tight cave. The distant sound of water dripping periodically somewhere off in the unknown, only able to be heard thanks to Elijah¡¯s recent increase in Perception, was drowned out by rapid and shallow breaths that began to overwhelm the young man. The darkness, the smell of rock dust, the tight, claustrophobic caves. It was all too much! Elijah began to hyperventilate and was forced to lean heavily on the crumbly tunnel wall as memories, long repressed, came flooding to the surface. When anyone ever asked him about it, he would just say that he was fine. They were just kids messing about; no real harm was done. Elijah had told that lie so many times that he believed it himself, but now that he found himself back here, in the place that haunted his nightmares, there was no hiding from the truth. As the teen began to lose himself and curl up, images came flashing back, and he tried to ward them off with logic. This was not the same cave. There was not the sound of rising water. The sound of two other twelve-year-olds bickering wasn¡¯t subduing the darkness. His phone was not out of battery; he didn¡¯t even have a phone anymore. This was not the same as back then. Logic, however, cannot combat fear, and Elijah¡¯s hard-won phobia won out. A notification appeared, though Elijah was unable to see it.
Status Effect: You have been afflicted by the Status Effect: Fear. Fear decreases one¡¯s ability to reason, causes one to make rash decisions, may cause paralysis, and, in extreme cases, can cause hallucinations.
He was standing there, once more a preteen. Waves chased them up the beach until they found the hidden cove. The three of them looked up at the crack in the rock, once used by smugglers to hide their goods. ¡°We¡¯ve gotta go inside!¡± Noah insisted. He was a short lad with too much energy who always seemed to get the group into trouble. Today was no exception. ¡°I don¡¯t know about this,¡± Boaz interjected; he was the tallest of the three; just by resting a hand on Noah¡¯s shoulder, he was able to stop the whippet-like boy from bolting off ahead of them. Noah looked back at Boaz in annoyance before the pair of them turned to Elijah. As usual, the decision lay with him. He looked over his shoulder at the sun that was even now beginning to set into the encroaching sea. It had taken the trio more than an hour to find this remote stretch of beach, and it felt like a waste to turn back now. A part of him wanted to leave without ever setting foot in the spooky cave, but he was the group¡¯s leader; he couldn¡¯t show fear. ¡°We¡¯ll just have a quick look around, then head back,¡± Elijah said with conviction. Noah was elated by this, and the second Boaz released his restraining hand with a sigh far too weary for a twelve-year-old, the little blond zipping across the sand and into the darkness. The other two had barely taken a step into the opening in the earth before Noah returned, looking slightly embarrassed. ¡°Do either of you have a torch?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have your phone on you?¡± Elijah asked, somewhat exasperated. ¡°No, I broke the screen last week, remember?¡± Noah replied impatiently. Attention shifted to Boaz. ¡°I can¡¯t have one until I¡¯m sixteen; my parents are super strict,¡± he reminded. Elijah dug out his phone from his pocket and pressed the button on the side. The screen lit up. ¡°It¡¯s at ten percent,¡± he said, hesitantly. ¡°That¡¯s fine; it won¡¯t take long for me to run around this place,¡± Noah said, making a grabbing motion for the phone. Elijah shook his head. If you wanna see anything, you¡¯ll have to stick with us. I don¡¯t want you running off with our only means of communication. Noah was huffy about it, but he did relent. Elijah pulled down from the top of the screen and pressed the button that turned on the light. Instantly, the first chamber was revealed to them. The opening in the cliff was small, so none of them were expecting the scale of the cave before them. ¡°Great Scott!¡± Boaz exclaimed. ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡± Noah said, pointing with excitement at something on the far side of the chamber. Chapter 18: What is this, Spelunky? Chapter 18
What is this, Spelunky? Within the fear-fuelled hallucination of the past, a cavern opened before Elijah and his two childhood friends. It was shaped like a natural port. When the tide was all the way in, a rowboat could follow the shallow channel they walked along. Stone rose to either side of the group, creating a wall at shoulder height. Judging by the seaweed, water didn¡¯t make it as high as the walkway, leaving most of the cavern dry. Noah had already taken off and clambered up towards something that reflected in the light of the phone¡¯s torch. ¡°Wait up,¡± Elijah called, but it was no use; there was no stopping that little hellion. The two other boys were slower in coming. Boaz gave Elijah a boost up, then the slightly older boy helped his friend in kind. The whole while, Elijah¡¯s phone¡¯s light was pointed towards the ceiling of the underground space, ensuring there was enough light to see the entire chamber. Once the preteen was atop the naturally formed promenade, he was able to see the extent of the area. It looked like the perfect place for smugglers to dock their boats. Lichen grew on the walls, there was plenty of room, and it smelled like stale wood, though nothing but the rotten remains of crude racks and shelves remained. Elijah finally caught up to Noah. The flash of red, which had caught the youngen¡¯s eye, was the reflective ruby eye of what looked like a face carved into the rock. Elijah had heard about this place when he visited the sailor¡¯s museum. That¡¯s what inspired this adventure. They had several historical displays, and the history of illicit trade had been the kid¡¯s favourite part, of course. It had described this place as simply a hideout used by nerdowells a few hundred years ago, but this carving, at least to Elijah¡¯s untrained eye, looked older¡­ far older¡­ too old! There was an aura of mystique about the thing. The face was angular. It looked like there were blood-red rubies that had been embedded into the stone in place of eyes. The teeth that peeked through the androgynous smile appeared sharp, adding to its predatory expression. Elijah was drawn to it somehow. It called to him in a way he didn¡¯t understand. As soon as he locked eyes with the depiction, he couldn¡¯t walk away. Before he knew it, he had walked past the downcast Noah, plodding slowly forward, as if in a trance. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Boaz asked Noah, noticing that the boy seemed upset. ¡°When I saw the red, I thought it was a can of Coke.¡± Noah explained. ¡°What?¡± Boaz asked, incredulous. ¡°What?¡± Noah retorted, ¡°I¡¯m thirsty.¡± ¡°If it were, it would probably be empty, or worse, filled with piss. Who would leave a perfectly good fizzy drink in a cave?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know; it could have been left here in case someone got stuck here,¡± Noah tried to argue. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Elijah heard the bickering that ensued, but it went in one ear and out the other. This face, it was just too¡­ alluring? That wasn¡¯t the right word, but he couldn¡¯t describe quite how he felt when looking at it. It was impossible to tell whether it was supposed to represent a man or a woman; all he knew for sure was that it resonated with him. The cheeks were sunken and hollow. The eyes were deeply bagged, and yet there was an air of life that seemed to hum in the air about it. Elijah was mesmerised. This carving simultaneously scared and excited the young man. His breath caught in his throat as, unconsciously, he raised a hand to touch the face. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Boaz asked, disengaging from his debate about the number of piss bottles there were in the world. He had noticed something was wrong with Elijah, though it was already too late. Noah, actually picking up on social cues for once, stopped calculating whether there would be more yellow-filled drinking vessels or brown-filled bags, and turned his attention to his spellbound friend. ¡°Don¡¯t touch it, it¡¯s creepy,¡± he called tactfully. His words fell on deaf ears. Elijah touched the stone mask. The world shifted. All he later remembered was waking up more than an hour later in the darkness. The whole experience had been repressed, that part especially so, but now that he was reliving the experience, the exact details came back to him. The eyes came to life the second he touched the stone face, and they stared directly into his soul. Elijah¡¯s consciousness was reduced to a series of images flashing past at an impossible speed. A thousand thousand lifetimes flew by before him. The lives of kings and peasants, of rich and poor, strong and weak, were all contained within the impossibly long life of one man. The people in these images didn¡¯t look right. Some were too tall with pointed ears, others were short and stocky, and the strangest were what looked like cat people, with whiskers, fur, and tails. There was magic and wonder, death and betrayal. It was all too much for the young man, for anyone to bear. Through the tide of consciousness, there was one theme. This man, whose eyes Elijah now realised he must have been seeing through, always got what he wanted in the end. Time was on his side. He was an immortal! This carved face had been left here as an echo of an echo of a message, luring in people who may possibly be of use. The river of consciousness narrowed, and a more real and vivid scene appeared before Elijah. He was restrained to some kind of altar; no, the person whose face was carved in rock was tied down here. As he realised there was a distinction between himself and this other person, the perspective shifted. His vision floated out of the other man and into the underground chamber where this altar was located. Bloodstained jars lined the walls; implements of torture were scattered about. All of it was covered in an impossibly thick layer of dust. There was a skeleton in one corner, half crushed by fallen rock, fallen rock that blocked the only entrance or exit to this long-abandoned chamber. Elijah turned his disembodied focus towards the person, who he now knew was a man. His race looked exactly the same as the depiction on the cave wall¡­ exactly the same, except the eyes were shut. It was as if he had been turned to stone. He had been turned to stone. He couldn¡¯t die. Without blood, he would stay here, trapped for all eternity. Elijah knew this in his very bones. The knowledge of this man¡¯s life had been imparted to him all at once, but even thinking about a single second of it caused his soul to cry out in pain. He screamed in intangible rememberings. An eye, made of pure, crystallised blood, opened and stared into him with a wicked smile. A voice ripped through Elijah¡¯s consciousness. It said two words, ¡°Free me!¡± That single muttering held within it the heartfelt plea of a million desperate souls and the threat of a million more. If he could but help this creature, anything, everything could be his. The dream shattered, and with its destruction, the thoughts and ideas that had been shared with him, the experience of thousands of years of life, were wiped from his mind. All that remained was a seed, implanted in the back of Elijah¡¯s mind, one of thousands. Elijah¡¯s eyes snapped open. He was back in the cave. He saw the pointed drips of cave roof illuminated by a light that seemed dimmer than before. The sound of waves swelling soothed his fractured mind. The momentary peace was broken by Noah¡¯s cry. ¡°He¡¯s awake!¡± Chapter 19: Fear! Chapter 19
Fear!
Fear is an interesting thing; It bites, it binds, it sucks, it clings. It digs its claws into the mind, And digs around until it finds¡ª A purchase, on which to cling, This can be the darndest thing. Perhaps the fear of heights begets A phobia of that which does caress¡ª One on a sunny summer¡¯s day. The wind, a reminder of one¡¯s stay Atop a tree or mountain peak, From where the mind can¡¯t help but think: What if I leap? And in the darkness: What if I sleep? Shall the demons of the night attack? Shall they eat me for a snack? Some claim these fears baseless, irrational; But they know not the great national¡ª Pride of the kingdom of fear; Where spiders laugh and monsters leer, That lives within the minds of men; It will not break; it will not bend. For all is not just imagined; Fear is real, built upon what happened. When the mind is scared and weak, It hides away within a pique¡ª Of rage, of anger, of righteous wrath. Or if it can¡¯t, it takes on sloth. And slumbers within the mind. A silent passenger that one might find¡ª When stumbling upon a trigger, An event that robs one of their vigour. The only way to be safe and sure, Is to deal with these demons before¡ª They take over completely. And turn you into a thing, once sweetly, Mannered and kind. Now, cruel and blind¡ª To all that is good, and nice, and clear. What can I do, my dear? You must look inside and peer At your fear. Draw it out, for you must fight. To be ruled by fear is not right. And to those who cannot, I say: Fight anyway. Tis better to die a man unchained Than to live a life restrained, By ¡®What if?¡¯s, ¡®No¡¯s, and ¡®Maybe¡¯s. Win and be reborn a baby. Win and be not driven crazy. Win and take command of fear. Win and fill your heart with cheer. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Elijah was trapped in an illusion of his own fears. In his youth, he had been in a rather difficult spot, and it had slightly scarred him. To protect the young man, his own mind had repressed the memory, and it had all become a blur. Now that he was forced to relive the events, he remembered the strange message left by the immortal. At the time, it had completely overwhelmed him, but now that his mind Attributes had increased, he could withstand the pressure the memories placed on him. Even within the remembered hallucination, Elijah could feel he was being pulled towards that strange being. It was on Terra Torus, the world which was linked to these Trials. He didn¡¯t know how he knew this; the knowledge was simply imprinted on his psyche. In the memory, he had just woken from his involuntary nap, and his two best friends were fretting over him. The phone¡¯s light was beginning to flicker as the battery got ever lower. ¡°We need to get out of here!¡± Elijah exclaimed when he finally came fully back to himself and remembered where they were. ¡°About that¡­¡± Noah began, trailing off and not meeting Elijah¡¯s eye. ¡°What?¡± the twelve-year-old asked Boaz, knowing the other friend would be honest with him. ¡°You¡¯ve been unconscious for more than an hour.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°And the tide has come in; we¡¯re trapped here tonight.¡± Boaz informed in a surprisingly calm tone, not wanting to worry his mate. ¡°What?¡± Elijah asked, uncomprehending, ¡°But how?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I want to know. One moment you were standing there, staring at a blank wall; the next, you fainted,¡± Noah replied. ¡°I was?¡± Elijah asked, looking at the empty stretch of cave wall in the dying light. He wanted to ask where the stone face had gone, but for the first time in his fear-induced memory, his intentions and the actions of his past self didn¡¯t align. ¡°I don¡¯t remember anything after we entered the cave,¡± the twelve-year-old Elijah said. His young mind was not strong enough to remember the experience, but that was not the case for his present self. Elijah tried to ask his friends why they thought he was staring at a blank wall before he passed out, and what happened to the immortal¡¯s face with the blood-red eyes? But no words came forth. Although it felt like he was living the events once more, this was only a memory. ¡°That¡¯s strange,¡± Boaz commented when Elijah¡¯s words sunk in. ¡°You don¡¯t have any medical conditions that could have caused it?¡± ¡°None,¡± the preteen confirmed, pushing himself up onto his elbows. The movement felt strange to the older young man. In his mind, he was sixteen, and he expected the arms that propped him up to be longer. Now that a fissure had been formed between himself and his remembered self, Elijah started gaining more of an awareness and was beginning to be able to detach from the memory. ¡°Say,¡± Elijah began, ¡°why didn¡¯t you drag me out of here before the tide came in?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I said,¡± Noah said to Boaz, as if this had been something they had argued about. ¡°I didn¡¯t know if it would be safe to move you,¡± Boaz admitted, ¡°and by the time we agreed to try, both sides of the bay were cut off by the rising tide. Trapping us between the cliffs and the sea. We probably could have climbed out but not while carrying you. Sorry,¡± the larger boy apologised, embarrassed of his hesitancy. ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Elijah reassured, ¡°but why didn¡¯t you use my phone to call for help?¡± ¡°No signal,¡± Noah explained briefly. ¡°So¡­ We¡¯re stuck here?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Yep,¡± the pair replied in unison. Boaz with sombreness and Noah with excitement. ¡°My parents are going to be so mad; I¡¯ll be grounded for a year,¡± Boaz muttered. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the future,¡± Noah encouraged, ¡°Just think about this as a sleepover; we can tell ghost stories.¡± Boaz didn¡¯t seem mollified, so Elijah tried to pluck up some courage and chimed in, ¡°Yeah, look on the bright side. So long as my phone¡¯s got battery, we still have light.¡± There was a brief second where Elijah was able to see Boaz¡¯s face light up right before the light went out and the trio was plunged into darkness. That was just his Luck! The thought brought back memories of the future, about how he had apparently been trapped in the Trials by a goddess of Luck, and the separation between the remembered Elijah and the imagined Elijah grew. There was a moment where no one said or did anything, and then panic began to set in. It was night outside, and clouds covered the sky, so not a drop of light could refract along the water¡¯s surface. The cave was pitch-black. ¡°You were saying,¡± Boaz said dryly. Elijah detected a slight tremor in his voice, though he appreciated his friend¡¯s attempt to bring levity to the situation. Noah, being the little psycho that he was, used that as an excuse to crawl over Elijah and scream, ¡°Boo,¡± in his ear. The young man nearly rocketed out of his skin. There had been no warning, just the sudden noise. Not being able to see anything, he shot up. Noah¡¯s and Elijah¡¯s heads cracked off one another, momentarily breaking the constant sound of breaking waves with the breaking of skulls. Elijah rubbed his noggin and grumbled, but Noah couldn¡¯t help himself and laughed. The interaction had managed to take the pair¡¯s mind off their situation for a moment, but only a moment. The darkness seemed to press in once more, and Elijah decided that stories may not be a bad idea, though definitely not about ghosts. The next hour or two was spent exchanging tales. Although they were in complete darkness, in a cave at night, none of them were alone. As the temperature plummeted, they were left with no choice but to huddle together for warmth. It didn¡¯t take long for the idea of sleep to be proposed. They were all tired. Elijah didn¡¯t want to lose the comfort of the others¡¯ voices, but he was afraid of sounding scared. Though in truth, he was scared. Now that he could look back on the events with a clear mind, he realised he hadn¡¯t taken the comfort from the other¡¯s presence he should have. Elijah¡¯s focus had only remained on the suffocating darkness all around him. The young man had never been a fan of the dark. Even at twelve, he still kept a nightlight on through the wee hours. As the others fell asleep and he was left all alone in the blackness, fear really began to take hold. He didn¡¯t sleep a wink, expecting at any moment for something to come forth from the shadows and strike. The experience, at the time, had been traumatising, and it led to a greater fear of the dark that he, to this day, had not managed to shrug off. He remembered this as a night of horrors where he could be attacked at any moment. He had never thought about or talked about it since, and the fear had taken a place of reverence within his mind. It had been placed on a metaphorical pedestal. Now that Elijah was reliving the experience, it wasn¡¯t that bad. He could feel the warmth of his friends next to him and the soothing whoosh of water. Truth be told, it was peaceful. The twelve-year-old was just paranoid because of the experience with the immortal, an experience he didn¡¯t remember but that still shook his soul. It was yet another complication that he was doing his best to forget about. If he never thought of that creature again, it would be too soon. That person-shaped monster was perhaps the scariest he had yet seen. Even given the promise of an untethered boon, he didn¡¯t think waking that thing would be worth it. Elijah had been shown the creature¡¯s life story, and although he only remembered glimpses, there had been far too much death for him to ever consider helping them. Now that the sixteen-year-old had gotten a proper look at the root of his fear, it wasn¡¯t half as bad as he had remembered. In fact, as he relaxed into the memory, the dark actually began to seem rather comforting. Less a pillow trying to smother him and more a blanket wrapping him up safe. Something differed from his memory. Elijah recalled this night as long and fear-filled, but just as his body became filled with paranoia, a voice chimed across the darkness. ¡°Elijah?¡± it asked with motherly concern. That was impossible! Elijah would recognise that voice anywhere. But it didn¡¯t make sense; he didn¡¯t see his mother until the next day, and her voice wasn¡¯t concerned; it was furious. His body reacted to the sound, and he turned over, causing his two sleeping companions to snort but not wake. He saw her; he actually saw her! Her tall, gaunt frame, long raven-black hair, and kind but weary smile were illuminated by an underglow of some sort. The radiance didn¡¯t spread from her body, only lighting up her; she was still surrounded by darkness. ¡°Elijah,¡± she said again with warmth, holding out her arms, expecting a hug. This was too much for the teen. It had been weeks since he had seen his mother. She was just as he remembered, dressed in her usual nurses scrubs and tired from a long day of work. His body moved on its own as tears began to well in his eyes. Could this be real? Had he been sent back in time somehow? With everything else that had happened, why couldn¡¯t that be the case? And, he thought as he began to stumble towards his mother¡¯s loving arms, did it really matter if this was just a dream? Yes. It mattered a lot. Elijah had sworn to himself that he would beat these Trials and make it back home to his family, his real family. There were no shortcuts in life, no lucky breaks. Everything was hard work! Just as the now sinister-seeming smile of his not-mother brightened, anticipating he would jump into her arms, Elijah lashed out. As his arm straightened for a punch, his vision of himself altered. The illusion of his twelve-year-old self was peeled away, and he felt it as he returned to his body. There was still darkness all around, but the sound of water was gone. Elijah had fought through his fear. Just before his hit connected with the woman he knew in his heart to be an imposter, despite her perfect image, a game-like screen appeared before him, confirming the young man¡¯s suspicions.
Status Effect: You have overcome the Status Effect: Fear.
Chapter 20: What were you? Chapter 20
What were you? Fear gave way to anger, as it so often does. Elijah had seen the trope wherein an alien or monster would take the form of the protagonist¡¯s loved one, causing them to hesitate or not attack at all. He thought it was ridiculous. Despite having all the physical features of his mother, this creature, he knew, was not her. It was something intangible, a connection shared between family that was absent. That, and she was glowing. If he had not managed to separate himself from his past self when he was reliving his biggest fear, he may not have noticed the difference; it was subtle. Appearing as someone Elijah cared for didn¡¯t cause him to hesitate at all. If anything, his first strike was almost reactionary. That sort of tactic was just so abhorrent; he couldn¡¯t help himself. A Strength-enhanced fist lashed out, striking the woman in the face, startling her. Elijah expected to feel the crack of bone, or at the very least a meaty thud. Instead, when he hit the thing that looked like a person, his hand sunk in a good six inches before bouncing. As he watched in confusion, the image shifted. It was not a person at all but a six-foot, jelly-like balloon that glowed with a soft yellow radiance. He cocked his head. It reminded him of¡ª Elijah threw himself backwards into the darkness, using all his Agility as well as his Dodge Skill to get as far away as possible. He couldn¡¯t have done so any later. Something dark obscured the obvious bait from his view. It wasn¡¯t much to go on, but it was all the proof he needed; that was a trap! The glowing fleshy bulb had reminded him of an anglerfish, and he knew if he had stood there any longer, he would have been eaten by whatever monster lived in this Trial. Unfortunately, the teen had been a little over-eager in his escape. Thrusting himself into the unknown at full speed had consequences. Elijah slammed, back-first, into a jagged wall of caven rock, sending shooting pains up and down his body. The skin on his back cracked, and he was sure there would be bruises, though it was better than being caught up in the crunching sounds that were coming from the area he had been standing in mere milliseconds before. Whatever this monster was, it had to be strong. Based on the way the biting cruck crumbled and cracked, the creature was chewing on rocks! After a moment, it seemed to realise as much and let out an ear-piercing wail of anger and hunger. The sound was so different and disturbing that for a moment Elijah just stood there, stunned. Then, the teen remembered where he was and threw himself aside, relying on the instincts his Initiative gave. The sound of rock crumbling filled his ears, and a wave of air passed over his face as something slammed into the wall where he had been standing. The monster had turned off its gelatinous light bulb, and Elijah was forced to roll about blindly on the cave floor for a moment before coming to a stop against what felt like a stalagmite, reinforcing the idea that he was in a cave of some sort. This wasn¡¯t going to work. Clearly that thing could sense him somehow, but the teen couldn¡¯t see a thing; he was relying on Luck, and he knew that could only end poorly. Sure enough, before he could get back to his feet, something bony latched onto his leg. It tried to tug, but his hoes had been ripped at some point, and it slipped off his Slimy skin. He needed some way to see. He wanted to check his Skill, Traits, and Inventory for anything useful, but now that the flesh sac was no longer glowing, he couldn¡¯t see the System windows. At least he had learnt something: System windows could not be seen in complete darkness. That was hardly an upside, but he needed to focus on whatever positives he could; otherwise, he would lose hope. Today was already tough enough. On the plus side, he had managed to overcome his fear of the dark, though it had been supplanted by a fear of whatever this monster was. As the young man stumbled-ran through a forest of stone, doing his best to place as many obstacles between himself and the enemy as possible, he strained his Intelligence and attempted to think of a path to success. His mind whizzed around at a mile a minute, and he truly saw the power of his Attributes for the first time. If this was what 10 Intelligence felt like, which was apparently low, he couldn¡¯t imagine having more than 100. He would be able to solve the P vs NP problem in seconds! First, he tried his new The Taste of Treasure Trait by sticking his tongue out and wiggling it about like a snake to learn more about his surroundings. It worked, though a little too well. The taste of dry, musty rock filled the air. To the left and right there were a variety of different tasting minerals and metals; below and above was stale, stagnant water. Simply put, there was just too much that the Trait considered treasure, and Elijah was momentarily overwhelmed by it all. He stood still too long, attempting to process it all, and something sharp and ragged latched onto his side. It tried to pull him off his feet, but the teen was just about able to slip away once more. Not without paying a price, however. His tongue caught the taste of blood before he retracted it, stopping the Trait from being active. The Taste of Treasure may be able to help him see by taste, but he¡¯d need lots of practice to even have a chance. Navigating by the tongue sense was completely foreign to him, and his brain had been overloaded by the information the Trait forced upon it. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. If he were willing to die over and over to whatever creature this was, he might be able to train the Trait enough to be useful, but the burning pain in his side and the wetness he felt as he pressed his hand into his flank while he ran through the darkness, away from the horror, disinclined him towards that particular notion. He ran into a large column of rock, then shimmied around it for cover. Sweat, blood, and slime dripped down Elijah as he panted, back throbbing in time with his breath as it pressed into the cold rock. Elijah wanted to get a look at how bad his bleeding was and instinctively activated Mana Manipulation, and nearly slapped himself for not thinking of it sooner. There was black mana that smothered the surroundings and reinforced the darkness, but the glow of the mana in his blood shone through. Hesitantly, Elijah felt for the edge of the pillar he was hiding behind and poked his head out. The path of glowing blood dimmed the further away it got, but he could still make out the trail, and at its end was a blood-stained claw. It floated about as if suspended in midair while the rest of the beast remained invisible. His injury twinged, and Elijah gasped involuntarily. The claw stopped and turned towards him. Elijah pulled himself behind the stone structure, but he knew it was too late. Thick padding creaks that may have been footsteps screeched across the stone towards him, accompanied by hissing breaths, analogous to the pre-cum of a steam whistle. Elijah only had seconds to think. He dropped to the floor. Crash! Rock chips rained down, and Elijah looked up to see the bloodied claw embedded in something above him. The teen would attack again with his other hand if the roles were reversed, so he rolled over on the floor, wincing as pressure was placed on his wound. An invisible limb slammed into the ground next to him, but he had made a miscalculation; this creature had more claws than he expected. A three-fingered spiky limb suddenly blossomed from his right shoulder. Elijah screamed! Reacting more than acting, Elijah tried something new. As he had done before, he made the mana in his blood imitate water, except he used the vital fluid that was not inside his body. In a fraction of a second a blood blade was formed and shot towards where Elijah guessed the body of the monster would be. It was nearly as long as he was tall, far larger than anything he had managed before. It also packed a punch, judging by the wailing of the creature. It ripped its appendage free of Elijah¡¯s flesh as it writhed, and the pair screamed in concert. Elijah, overwhelmed by adrenaline, desperately fired off two more blood blades at the monster, drawing straight from the hole in his side. The creature tried to dodge, to skitter aside, but it had been painted with glowing mana and was plainly visible to him now. There was a sudden flash of light, and then Elijah¡¯s grandmother appeared in the cave, shaking in fear. ¡°Elijah, please stop; it hurts,¡± she whimpered, her visage battered and bruised. The teen had become impossibly cold, and his hands were shaking from blood loss, but he didn¡¯t hesitate for a second. Thanks to his previous attacks, he could see that the entire creature''s body opened up to create this glowing illusionary balloon. That made him believe it must be a weak spot if it had to be so well guarded. Elijah smiled in satisfaction as his attack took off his grandmother''s head. The vision disappeared, revealing the glowing sack seeping a translucent yellow liquid from a weeping wound. The fluid sizzled on contact with the stone, and the monster¡¯s cries became gurgled. The teen was barely able to manage a snort of sadistic triumph. He had won, though it was a pyrrhic victory. Seconds later, unconsciousness claimed the boy. He bled out. He awoke in a familiar void with a window before him. Elijah¡¯s first thought was: Why can I see the System windows here but not in the last Trial? The answer was revealed to him when he tried to use Mana Manipulation¡¯s passive ability to see mana. In the cave, dark mana had ensured nothing would be seen, but in the void there was truly nothing. No mana outside of himself whatsoever. Elijah suppressed a shudder. A world without mana was a world he should be used to; it was what he had lived with for sixteen years, after all, but now it just seemed wrong, unnatural. He turned his attention to the notifications.
You have defeated a Lv 26 Candle-Sweep: Extra Xp is awarded for defeating an opponent of a greater level. Extra Xp is awarded for defeating an enemy of a higher tier. 1607 Xp awarded. Xp automatically placed in escrow, US 2.7.1.
Congratulations! You have completed the Trial of Evolution 1: Candle-Sweep Grade: A Objectives: Rewards: You have earned the right to Evolve from a Candle-Sweep into 1 of 5 Candle-Sweep Evolutions: Choose Now!
New Evolution Class E?v?o?l?u?t?i?o?n? C???l???a???s???s??? E???v????o?????l????u????t????i????o?????n??? C??????l???????a???????s????s??????? ¡­ Unlocked!
Evolution Unlocked: Shadow Stalker: A The Candel-Sweep is already a predator used to hiding in the shadows and luring in prey, but this Evolution doesn¡¯t have to wait for a meal to wander over; it can bring the darkness with it and hunt wherever it so chooses.
New Class Skill Unlocked! New Class Skill unlocked: Domain of Darkness: A This is the core ability of the Shadow Stalker. It creates a sphere of impenetrable darkness 50 metres in radius. The monster who uses this Skill regenerates Health, receives a damage bonus, and gains a complete awareness of everything in the domain while within its area of effect; the opposite effects inflict those the monster deems enemies. Costs 250 Mana and lasts 1 minute.
You have reached Level 1 in S?????h????a?????d??????o???????w?????? ????S?????t???a?????l??????k???e??????r?????!?????? +3 Agility +3 Intelligence +1 Perception
Chapter 21: Labyrinth! Chapter 21
Labyrinth! The last Trial had given Elijah a lot to think about. He had overcome his fear of the dark. He had seen his mother and grandmother again¡­ sort of. At the very least, that monster had reminded him what he was fighting for. He was ashamed to admit it, but he had begun to forget what their faces looked like. He had unlocked a repressed memory and now knew that some immortal monster had planted a seed within his mind in an attempt to get him to free them. It must have somehow known he would be brought here, to the Trials adjacent to the world of Terra Torus. Could it see the future? Did it somehow bring him here, even though it was trapped? Would it be able to send him back to Earth if he freed it? Actually, it was probably best not to dwell on such things; already he was getting a headache from remembering, and there was a secret part of him that wanted to have the same power as the vile creature. The strength, the power over blood, the ability to control minds. Best not to think about it. He had successfully managed to suppress the memories before; why not again? Elijah needed a distraction. Thankfully, he was not short of those.
The Trial of Evolution 1: Minotaur You have reached Lv 25 as a Minotaur! Welcome to The Trial of Evolution: escape the Labyrinth to prove your right to undergo the first Evolution. A better performance in this trial will lead to a more powerful Evolution with stronger monster Skills and Traits.
A new world constructed itself brick by brick around the teen, literally in this case. Elijah was in a tunnel of some sort. The walls were made of large, light grey bricks that felt magical. Perfectly smooth, spherical stones, the size of his head, glowed a ghostly blue and hung from the walls in wrought iron housings; placed every few feet, they illuminated the corridor. Behind him, there was a blank wall; he could only go forward. So forward he went. He heard something tear and looked down to see what had become of his clothes. His hose were torn, he was missing a shoe, and blood stained his yellow tunic and the large green dress-like garment beneath. The teen had a moment of panic and reached up to his head. He sighed in relief. Thank god he hadn¡¯t lost his Captain¡¯s hat in his adventures; it was stylish. It also gave him a feeling of confidence, but he didn¡¯t know why. Mana Manipulation told him there was mana infused within it, like the king¡¯s sword and amulet, but he couldn¡¯t identify what sort or what it did. The moats moved in a far more complex way than water or darkness, and he had no idea what they did. He had an Identify Skill, but it only worked on monsters, not on objects. There was nothing he could do about the clothes. He had another set, but they were the fancy blue ones, and he wanted to keep them for a special occasion or for when he had no other choice. The shoe, on the other hand¡­ Elijah stored away his one remaining red, soleless shoe in his Inventory, then replaced it with the rugged pair of sandals. He stood up straight and took a couple of steps. The footwear was surprisingly comfortable; perfect for exploring a labyrinth. This was not a labyrinth! The System window had described it as such, but it simply wasn¡¯t. After the third dead end, Elijah was sure: this was a maze. The difference being: a maze has a number of different routes, but a labyrinth only one. The teen had learnt as much when overhearing an argument between the farmer that grew the maize maze and a local drunk. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. This was a maze and, as such, was confusing. All the corridors looked the same, made of the same bricks and with lights spaced evenly. Elijah was forced to use a trick he had learnt from that same argument. He kept his hand touching the wall to his left and just followed it. This way, he was sure to escape eventually. He trudged on. In and out of dead ends. Exploring empty tunnels. There was nothing here, and his mind was beginning to wander. The young man didn¡¯t even notice when he turned a corner and entered a corridor that was not empty. He only realised something was wrong when he walked headfirst into a wall. Looking up, he saw it was not a wall. A giant bull¡¯s head with twisted horns and glowing red eyes looked down at him, anger pouring out as smoke from his nostrils. Elijah was not slow to react. Over the past few weeks, he had honed his reaction speed, and it was further bolstered by his improved Attributes. Even so, when he threw himself backwards with all of his Strength, he was unable to evade the Minotaur¡¯s attacks completely. A thin line of red was torn across Elijah''s chest. Thankfully, he was just able to unequip his clothes in time; they weren¡¯t further damaged. The creature had moved too quickly for him to see. The beast¡¯s axe crashed into the ground, splintering the stones. The teen had tried attacking the magically reinforced rocks but hadn¡¯t been able to leave so much as a scratch on them. Elijah decided to use the trick he learnt in the last Trial. Creating a blade out of his own blood, careful not to draw so much that he died again, the sixteen-year-old let fly. He grinned as a wound opened on the creature''s furry, muscular chest. The Minotaur didn¡¯t so much as flinch, and in less than a second the wound was closed. Elijah felt slightly dizzy from the loss of blood; he was not going to try that again! Nor did he need to. Now that he had gained some distance from the monster, it had stopped attacking. The hulking Minotaur simply plodded towards him with a slow and measured pace, its hooves thumping and its scale-covered axe sparking as it dragged along the floor behind the creature. Given a moment to breathe, Elijah realised something: for the first time, he didn¡¯t need to fight! Just to be sure, he used the water in the air to create a few water blades and even tried one more blood blade. His skin became pale, and he felt weak, but since Beech Berserker had raised his Vitality above ten, he could bounce back in an hour or so. Everything he did either bounced off the slow-moving monster or was healed near instantaneously. For the sake of thoroughness, he threw out his one red shoe. As soon as the object came within six feet of the monster, it was turned into confetti. The axe had moved faster than a blink, leaving Elijah speechless. He was fortunate to have only gotten away with a scratch. This was definitely not a fight he could take, so he didn¡¯t. Turning around, Elijah jogged in the other direction. This Trial only required him to escape the not-labyrinth; as long as he kept his distance and wasn¡¯t trapped in any of the numerous dead ends, he would be fine. Though he knew that he would be okay if he stayed away, the sound of an axe scraping along stone and the heavy hoofsteps of the Minotaur still caused his pace to speed up considerably; that thing was scary strong. Nothing lasts forever. After he had outdistanced the sound of slowly encroaching death, Elijah¡¯s Stamina finally bottomed out. He estimated he had been running for about an hour. It was impressive, at least to him; he had never been able to run for so long before he came here. The teen had been walking for a while and his little green bar had filled halfway when he finally found a break in the monotony of endless bricks. He turned a corner and found himself looking at a large room that descended the further in it went. It was a concert hall. On the stage was an hourglass, twice as tall as he was. Instead of seats, there were hundreds of different instruments placed in concentric rows that formed a half circle about the stage. There was a huge variety: flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, french horns, trumpets, trombones, tubas, violins, violas, cellos, and even a piano. There were dozens more that he didn¡¯t recognise in all shapes and colours, but the last, the piano, was what caused Elijah¡¯s foot to step unconsciously over the threshold. It felt like years since he was last able to play. The second he placed one toe inside the venue, the lights dimmed, the hourglass spun around, sand began to flow, a door of rock slammed down behind Elijah, and he was trapped inside. His heart jumped at the sudden sound. When he got its hammering back under control, he returned his attention to the room. He wanted to rush over to his instrument and start practising, but sand was moving through the hourglass at an alarming rate; it seemed more like a minuteglass. Elijah rushed down the steps and onto the stage. There was one other thing illuminated by the spotlights: the conductor''s stand. On it there was a piece of paper, but instead of having sheet music written on it, there was a riddle:
For this test, Make a sound fast. Find the best, And you can pass. I am delicate. I am golden. I am the loudest, But easily broken. What am I?
Chapter 22: What am I? Chapter 22
What am I? Something loud and golden. Elijah rushed over to the brass section; everything there fit the descriptor, golden. It had only been 33 seconds since the teen had set foot inside the room, but already 1/9 of the sand had fallen; he didn¡¯t have long to decide. His eyes scanned over the tubas, trombones, trumpets, carnyx horns, cor anglais, and, finally, the french horns. He was looking for something delicate; this instrument was probably the closest in sound quality, at least in the brass family. It was supposed to be easily broken; Elijah didn¡¯t imagine all those valves would make the thing particularly robust. His finger was an inch away from touching the instrument when he was struck by a bout of second thoughts. A french horn wasn¡¯t really gold; it was made of brass, an alloy of copper and zinc. It could be loud, but it was far from the loudest. It didn¡¯t fit. This wasn¡¯t the answer. Elijah cursed himself as he looked around the room, frantically trying to find something else that matched. There was still time; the sand was still mostly full. He didn¡¯t need to rush, but he couldn¡¯t deny the pressure a ticking clock placed on him. A number of things caught his eye. He bounded through the rows of instruments to the percussion section. There was a triangle that appeared to be made of solid gold. The sixteen-year-old picked it up, and the weight proved that it was actually made of the valuable metal. It fit none of the other criteria, so he stored it in his Inventory. There was just something precious about gold; he wanted it; it was his! Elijah shook off the trance-like state and returned to his search. There was a thing like a wooden sunflower with flaky golden paint, a flower made of stained glass, and an old, rusted curtain made of brass. All of them fit at least some of the riddle, but none fulfilled it completely. Elijah checked the hourglass for the hundredth time. Exactly half the time had passed while running about in vain, zipping from one potential solution to the next. That left only two minutes and sixteen, now fifteen seconds. The teen paused. He was sure of the amount of time he had left; he had been counting. It was a habit he picked up as a young boy when he heard the phrase, ¡°A watched pot never boils.¡± From then on, he would count whenever he was nervous. If he wanted more time, he was sure to pay close attention to the time he had. The young man¡¯s Intelligence was quickly able to work out how much time he had at the beginning of the test: four minutes and thirty-three seconds, 4:33. It was a clue! He had no idea how a Trial in another world knew about the contemporary piece of music; perhaps it didn¡¯t, or perhaps it had only created a clue using his memories. It didn¡¯t matter. Elijah moved to the centre of the stage and stood there without making a noise. He waited. If he was wrong about this, he was sure he would regret it when his time ran out. This Trial wouldn¡¯t pull any punches, if the Minotaur was any indication. Just to be sure, the sixteen-year-old ran through the riddle one last time. Something golden, loud but easily broken. There was only one answer: silence! The last grains of sand trickled out of the timer; he held his breath, and for a moment nothing happened. Elijah was sure of his answer and remained silent. Even so, he couldn¡¯t help but shake slightly; was he about to be struck down by lightning? Was the room about to shrink and crush him? Was his answer wrong? A chime rang out, the lights went out, and a door opened behind the stage, revealing more tunnels, this time green in colour. He had done it; his answer was correct! Air rushed out of Elijah¡¯s lungs as he stopped trying to be silent. Now that the test was finally over, he did what he wanted to do at the start; he walked over to the grand piano. His fingers tingled as they hovered over the keys; it had been too long. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He started with a B major scale before switching to the arpeggio. He wasn¡¯t as rusty as he had expected. His movements were practised, but slightly less tight than he would have liked. He tried again, and the tempo was more consistent. When he was limbered up, he began to play. There were only a few pieces that he remembered well enough to attempt after such a long absence; he decided to try Schubert''s 9th piano sonata. There were moments where his recollection was lacking, and he was forced to rely on muscle memory to get him through. The average listener would not have noticed, but to him they were glaring holes in the musical canvas. He played the final chord fortissimo, then sat back. He needed more practice; he needed a piano; he needed this piano. He tried to store it in his Inventory but a message popped up.
Overweight: This object has too much mass to fit in your inventory at present; maximum capacity 120 kg.
That made sense; his limit was ten times his Strength, and a full concert grand like this was far heavier than that. As nice as the instrument was, he couldn¡¯t take it with him. Thankfully, there was more than one piano in this room. Elijah walked around one of the rows, moving past the baby grand, the upright grand, and finally to a smaller piano that looked like it had been made to fit into tight spaces. It didn¡¯t even have any sides or back; it was just pure mechanisms and strings, nothing else. Unfortunately, there were no electrical instruments in the room; everything was acoustic. If there had been, he may have selected a keyboard; it would have been far lighter. On the upside, Elijah preferred the sound and feel of a real instrument. The stone that had slammed into place when he entered was shattered with the sound of a rockfall. The teen¡¯s head snapped towards the noise. The Minotaur was walking through the dust, its red eyes glowing threateningly. Its steps were faster than before, though it could still be said he was walking, just quickly. Elijah couldn¡¯t tarry. He placed a hand on the skeleton piano, causing it to turn into pixelated particles as it transferred to his inventory. He spared a moment to check his Inventory as he fled from the room. His weight was 64.3/120; he still had tonnes of room. The teen would have liked to have found a guitar, but there was no time. As soon as he stepped on the slick ground of the new corridor, he nearly slipped. That would have likely led to a nasty death. It was good that his Agility was able to keep him steady on the slippery surface. Elijah hadn¡¯t realised until he had entered the passage that there was life everywhere in it. Damp moss grew on the floor, causing his near fall. Vines covered the walls, making the bricks beneath hard to identify. It was illuminated by glowing bugs that buzzed between yellow and pink blossoms which grew on the ceiling and filled the tunnel with floating pollen. The teen had no time to stare in wonder at the nature-filled hallway because the Minotaur was still in hot pursuit. It may have only been power walking, but it was a good two feet taller than him, and he had to run to stay ahead. So run he did. Skidding down verdant corridors, around corners, dodging dead ends that frequently contained ponds replete with life, frogs and the sort, before his Stamina finally ran low. By this point, he couldn''t hear the monster any longer and assumed he had time to recover. Elijah slowed to a walk as he pressed through the sweltering corridors. He was sticky with sweat, and it felt like he had returned to the jungle island in the Treasure Sucker¡¯s Trial, sans insects, mercifully. The glowbugs didn¡¯t count; they didn¡¯t swarm or pester like mosquitos did. Just as he was dragging his sandaled feet through a bushel of particularly fluffy moss in his search for a path forward, the sound of an axe scraping against stone echoed from one of the tunnels. Elijah¡¯s Stamina was only half full, but he had to take flight once more; the bigger the gap between himself and the monster, the better. Having not fully recovered, it was surprisingly difficult to run. He threw himself over fallen logs, which was strange, as there were no trees. With focus, he managed to dance his weary legs between the gaps in a blanket of roots. With determination, he was able to push until his green bar was completely empty and even slightly beyond.
Endurance +1
Elijah smiled as he felt his body grow stronger; the stat gain did nothing for how tired he was, however. He threw himself around another vine-covered corner, then threw up. When he finally raised his head once more, he was greeted by another chamber. This one was nature-themed, naturally, though it had the appearance of a gym. There were weights made of rocks attached to green branches by roots that grew out of them, a pool of water covered in lily pads with just enough room to get a couple of laps in, resistance bands made out of long, stretchy leaves, and a whole host of other oddities that looked nearly normal. When Elijah clawed himself into the room, careful to step over his vomit, vines swarmed to block his escape, trapping him once again. The room rumbled, and a stone emerged in the centre. On it were carved three simple words:
Prove Your Strength
Chapter 23: Power! Chapter 23
Power! The words written on the standing stone, which had arisen from the centre of the nature-themed gym, were strange. Elijah couldn¡¯t actually understand what language they were written in; it wasn''t English, but he knew instinctually what they meant. They looked like some sort of runic language. Was it a magical script that translated itself? Was the System somehow interfering? Had the other writing been the same, and he¡¯d just not noticed? Elijah¡¯s exhaustion had distracted him; his mind was wandering down tangents. The standing stone in the middle of the chamber was already beginning to sink; it was another timer. He needed to focus and push through the weariness. He examined the room more closely, trying to find what exactly he was supposed to do. Finally, a clue! High up on the far wall, surrounded by vines, were three giant blossoms beneath three words. The words were written in the same runic script as was used on the stone, and Elijah understood them to mean Strength, Endurance, and Vitality respectively. The blossom beneath the word Endurance was the only one that was open, and it glowed a warm green. Clearly, when the stone said to prove his strength, it didn¡¯t just mean Strength. There was a difference in the characters used to make each word, though they were translated the same. Apparently, he had already proved his Endurance by running himself ragged, if he had to guess; now it was time to prove his Strength. He had no idea how he was supposed to prove his Vitality, but one problem at a time. Elijah sucked in a large breath and straightened up. Hitting his legs to stop them from shaking, he strode over to the naturally formed weights. The bar was just sitting there on the floor; there were no benches or the like, so he was left with no choice but to deadlift it. He bent down. Adjusted his hands on the bar and checked his legs and back were positioned correctly. Elijah had never been a gym rat; he had gone a couple of times but more as an excuse to hang out with friends. He didn¡¯t really know if his form was correct; he was basing it entirely on what he had seen on the World''s Strongest Man. He heaved. Nothing happened. He strained again; the rock weight didn¡¯t move so much as an inch off the ground. Damn, this thing was heavy! Elijah¡¯s tired mind was too weary to try and think of something smart, so he just tried over and over again. Each time he would put more of himself into the lift. In short order he had become as red as a beetroot, and his veins were bulging through his pale skin like thick cables. He poured all of his frustration, his anger at being trapped and kept away from all those he loved, at being forced to endure this nonsense not only for his sake but to save another he didn¡¯t even know, and, most of all, at always being picked last in P.E. He was scrawny and weak, or at least he had always seen himself as such, but now he needed to be strong. The standing stone had sunk a quarter of the way down, but it didn¡¯t matter; he could do this. No, he would do this! Elijah strained one final time, putting all that he was into the herculean effort. His eyes felt like they would pop out of their sockets, and his stomach strained ominously, but he did it! The stone barbell moved a single inch off the ground. The teen fainted, falling over forwards. He was only out for a second, a blip of blackness. When he came to, he was sprawled out on the floor. Looking up at the ceiling, his eyes stared through something at a roof covered in masses of leaves. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Lights swirled in his vision, and he strained to focus on the thing that was right in front of him. On the third attempt his corneas finally responded to his commands, and he was able to read the notification that had appeared.
Strength +1
After he threw up again, he found that he was happy. As it turned out, there were ways to train Attributes beyond the First Threshold; it was just far, far harder. The point in Endurance should have told him as much, but he had been too out of it to notice. When he got to his feet and walked off the nausea, he assessed the situation. His Stamina had barely replenished, only the smallest sliver, but the stone had already descended to the halfway point; he didn¡¯t have much time left! On the plus side, a bright yellow blossom had opened beneath the word Strength. That left only Vitality to go. This, he thought, would be difficult. The only thing he could think of to test the Attribute which governed recovery was to partially drown himself and hope he could get better and that that would count. The other option was to tire himself out, recover, exhaust himself, get better, then start again, hoping he gained a stat point, as that seemed to be the trigger for this Trial. There was no time for that. Thinking it over, Elijah had an idea. If gaining an Attribute point really was all that he required, then there was another way. He placed more and more experience into Beech Berserker in 100 Xp increments. At 700 Xp, a notification appeared.
You have reached Level 2 in B????e?????e????c?????h???? ?????B???e?????r???s????e???r????k????e????r???!???? +3 Vitality
There was a chime, and the third blossom opened, displaying a vivacious red flower that seemed to glow with life. The rock, which had been descending slowly, suddenly stopped, and a network of vines writhed about, revealing an opening on the far side of the chamber. Elijah panted happily, his hands on his knees. His solution had worked, but his Stamina was still near empty, and he didn¡¯t feel great. He¡¯d need to take a few moments before continuing. Just then, the vines which had grown to cover the entrance to the chamber exploded into a fine, green mist. The Minotaur came jogging in, its momentum such that a freight train couldn¡¯t stop it. The axe no longer dragged and was instead held firmly at the ready. The shot of adrenaline that ran through the teen had him running before he knew what was happening. His legs pumped and his chest heaved; he had to run at full speed to gain any lead over this monster. The purple swirling tiles and clouds of smothering grey mist that characterised the next section of the maze flew by as Elijah struggled to stay ahead. At one point, he ran down a dead end and was barely able to reverse course before the Minotaur would have blocked his escape. The mistake ate up what little lead he had gained, and the sixteen-year-old was forced to push himself anew. He ducked clouds of lightning that somehow formed within the tunnel, jumped over sections of shiny stone which looked like they may be slippery, and weaved through purple crystal pillars which jutted up on occasion. None of the obstacles slowed the beast. It ran through the electricity unscathed, thudded over the icy patches with sure hooves, and ploughed through the crystalline columns, turning them into sparkling powder. Even so, Elijah was able to eke out a lead once more, though not without paying a price. His Stamina was completely empty; each step felt like it could be his last, nothing remained in his stomach, and his Health was beginning to slowly drop. Still, he ran, for he had no other choice. Every time he thought of quitting, of starting over, he reminded himself that he was not the only one he was doing this for. The manager, Faun, person was relying on him. Though he neither knew nor trusted them, having someone else''s life relying on his actions was a good motivator. He kept running, even when he no longer heard the chugging breath of the powerful monster, even when his feet began to rub and blister, even when he felt like death would be preferable to continuing. His determination was rewarded. The teen threw himself around another corner, spilling out into a third, and hopefully final, chamber. Purple crystal tiles which seemed to swirl just beneath the surface decorated the large chamber. A fifty-foot crystal screen covered the far wall, held aloft by translucent purple pillars. Elijah entered the room. A sheet of crystal grew within seconds, covering the entrance, and the crystal screen lit up with static, reminding the teen of an old TV. Chapter 24: Al’right’? Chapter 24
Alright? The first test in this labyrinth/maze had been a riddle, a test of the mind. The second had challenged the body. Elijah hadn¡¯t known what the third would entail, but he had two guesses. The first idea, that this would be a test of the soul. Body, mind, and soul sounded right, but he had no idea how this Trial would go about testing it. Perhaps a challenge of moral fortitude or by bombarding him with soul mana, assuming that was a thing. The second idea he had was that this chamber would test his Agility, Perception, and Dexterity, since the last room tested Strength, Endurance, and Vitality, and the mind stats were Intelligence, Wisdom, and Initiative. Strangely, both his guesses were at once wrong and right. The crystal screen hummed to life, and through his swimming vision, Elijah saw that it was displaying something. He recognised the images. It was an animation of the trolley problem, one that he had seen on YouTube. It was somehow taking the images straight from his mind; he could feel it. A pillar shot up in front of him, and he was so tired that he stood there, slouched over and blinking slowly for a full fifteen seconds before he realised. On top of the pillar was a lever, just waiting to be pulled. The animation began, and a black sketch of a train started trundling down the track. If it continued on its current path, five wiggling stick figures that were hogtied and unable to escape would be run over. If it changed to the other track, only one would die. The teen assumed this lever was what caused it to switch from one to the other. Elijah didn¡¯t have the wherewithal to really dig into this problem at the moment. Luckily, he had thought long and hard about it when he had watched the aforementioned video. Most people he knew would pull the lever without question; it was the utilitarian thing to do. Five was greater than one, so you should save the five and leave the one to die, no? The problem was, Elijah didn¡¯t think that way. To him, he would be personally killing one person if he pulled that lever. If he did nothing, it would be a tragedy, but he couldn¡¯t say that he would feel guilty. Perhaps he was just selfish, but if this were real, he wouldn¡¯t interfere. This wasn¡¯t real, however; this was a test. Whatever he did, the only things at stake were crudely drawn stick figures. If this was a test of morality, as he expected, then the best thing to do would be to pull the lever. Morality in society was determined by the majority opinion. Elijah reached out and tried to grab the crystalline shaft. His Perception picked up on something, and his Agility tried to get him to move out of the way, but his body was shattered, and it didn¡¯t respond. At once, the navel-high pillar and the lever on top of it moved away from the teen, out of his reach, and a crystal dart shot out of the wall, aimed straight for his hand. Ow, Elijah thought dryly as a spike appeared in his hand, a hand that was still trying to grasp a lever that was no longer there. Although his Attributes had given him everything he needed to dodge that attack, his body and mind were simply too slow. The constant running and now this crystal dagger hitting him had brought his Health down to half. Looking up at the screen, he saw that the happily puffing steam train had already eaten up most of the track. If he was going to pull that lever, he would have to do it quickly. Using his Water Manipulation Skill, Elijah summoned a ball of the cold, refreshing liquid right above his head and let it drop. It wasn¡¯t quite the kick in the arse he was hoping for, but it did wake him up some and got rid of the sweaty grime that coated his skinny body. A thin line of green had appeared at the end of his Stamina bar, just enough to allow the young man to launch off his back foot towards the lever. Again it glided back; again a hole in the wall opened up and released a dart. Now that Elijah was expecting it, he was able to dodge. Leveraging his Dexterity, he snaked his hand around the projectile, and while in a full lunge position, stretched to his furthest extent, he grasped the lever and yanked. There was the sound of metal grinding and a clunking as the crystal mechanism moved into place. The animation displayed on the purple screen sped up now that a decision had been made. It was diverted; it ploughed straight over the singular gagged and blindfolded stickman. To Elijah¡¯s surprise, a vibrant fluid sprayed out of the screen, covering him and half the room. It was red. The drop that had landed on his tongue tasted like iron. There was no doubt; this was blood! The revelation may have had more of an effect on the sixteen-year-old had he not been barely conscious. In his current state of mind, it was just something strange that happened. Like a dog riding a unicycle; it didn¡¯t make any sense. It would definitely be one of the images that kept him up at night, but he didn¡¯t, couldn''t, know that yet. There was no time to dwell. A chime rang out, and the room began to shift. Columns formed, the floor moved, and a scene was constructed out of crystal. The last problem was displayed on a screen; there had been a layer of separation between himself and the moral quandary. This time, however, the scenario had been reconstructed out of a solid material; it was far more real. He was standing on a bridge overlooking a train track. A tram was headed towards him. On the track ahead were five screaming and bound people. In front of him was a rotund man, peering over the railing of the bridge. All of it was made out of the same see-through, light purple crystal. It wasn¡¯t exactly like real life, but it was already getting too close for comfort. Given Elijah was against the idea of pulling a lever to save five people but damn one, one may assume that he would be vehemently opposed to directly killing one man by pushing him in front of the tram. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. One would assume correctly. Elijah couldn¡¯t even bring himself to attack the pirates, and he didn¡¯t even believe they were really alive. There was just something about attacking another human that he was deeply uncomfortable with; part of him was scared he would turn into his father. This time, however, he wasn¡¯t given a choice. The fat crystal man turned around, showing his blank, featureless face. It was deeply disturbing. Elijah didn¡¯t notice the golem''s arm swinging for his head; now that he was in fight or flight, however, that didn¡¯t matter. He could see a blur in the corner of his vision and reacted instinctively. His flexible body bent over backwards, further than used to be possible thanks to his Agility. It was barely enough to avoid the blow which cracked the air where his head had been seconds before. The teen reached the limit of his elasticity and sprang back up straight. He used the momentum of the movement to push the figure, hoping to get enough room to compose himself. He ended up with far more room than he needed. The crystal golem stumbled backwards, toppling over the railing and falling onto the track. Elijah was horrified! He screamed out; the teen wanted to help. His face changed from shock to despair. The train sped up, giving him no time to assist the floundering man. Given he was made out of crystal, Elijah expected the creature to shatter when hit. That was not the case. Instead, it splattered, sending blood and organs that it did not have only seconds before all over the place. Covering the teen and leaving him frozen in shock. His mind could not help but think that he had just killed someone, and the five that had just been saved were no consolation. Elijah remained in place as the room shifted once more. There was a lever in front of him and two sets of tracks; except this time there was only one person tied to each. Just before the train started moving, there was a shift. Where before everything was made of angular crystals, now it appeared to be real, too real. The teen smelt the fire in the steam engine, saw the sun reflected in the polished surface of the tracks, felt a breeze passing over his skin, and heard a bone-chilling cry coming from behind him. He turned around. Behind him, tied to the track, bound and gagged, was his mother calling out for help. If he pulled the lever, it would instead run over his dad, who lay there unmoving. No. No more. This test was sick, and Elijah would take no part in it! Perhaps in response to his internal declaration of resolve, or because he was just unfortunate, it was at that moment that a hole was shattered in the illusion by an eight-foot-tall Minotaur barreling through the crystal wall. The monster no longer held itself back, charging at full speed towards Elijah. Given its size, the speed at which it ran should have been impossible. In three seconds it had moved from its makeshift door in the simulation to the teen¡¯s position by the tracks. Elijah was far slower than he had been when he was fresh; even so, he was just about able to avoid the horns that came with the initial charge. Unkillable activated, and the sixteen-year-old watched the beast wearily as two fist-sized holes were taken out of its back. It grunted slightly, but that was it. In two shakes of a lamb''s tail, the Minotaur had healed the injury and was wheeling around for an attack. Its axe swung down. Elijah contorted his body to dodge. It stopped mid-swing and switched direction. The teen tried to use Dodge, but he didn¡¯t have enough Stamina, and it failed to activate. One second his right hand was there; the next it was simply gone. Elijah didn¡¯t have time to act, only to react. In one fluid motion he released a blood blade, staggering the creature, and then used his newfound control over blood to crystallise it at the end of his stump and stop him from bleeding out. All this happened before the nerves had time to send him the pain from the original injury; when they did, he screamed. The agony of losing an appendage meant he lost the precious little time his attack had given him. The Minotaur¡¯s Vitality must be massive to heal so fast, a far-off part of his mind thought, clearly not entirely within the moment. Other parts of his mind were already working in overdrive to try and find a way out of this. The simulation was still running, and the train continued to thunder down the tracks; the monster was entirely focused on killing him, not paying attention to anything else. These two things gave the teen an idea. He backed away from the beast, his feet moving backwards over the tracks but his eyes never leaving the Minotaur¡¯s. Another swing came at him, this time from the left. Elijah raised his only remaining hand to block the strike. The monster smirked a bloodthirsty smile; there was no way the boy''s empty hand could block the blow, and they both knew it. The Minotaur was stunned, therefore, when his rusty weapon didn¡¯t glide through flesh like butter but clanged off something solid. Elijah had summoned the king''s sword at the moment of impact, bracing it against his arm. He didn¡¯t have the Agility to wield the weapon, so he recalled it in the next instant, before it could fall to the ground. He didn¡¯t have the Strength to block the muscular monster¡¯s blow, and he was sent reeling back from the impact, putting him fully on the far side of the tracks. He didn¡¯t have much time, but neither did the Minotaur. It looked at the teen¡¯s grinning face with confusion. It cocked its head, unfamiliar with seeing any expression other than fear. A train struck it at full speed, killing it insta¡ª The train shattered into a million tiny shards, and the illusion was broken. The room returned to its original appearance. Crystal tiles cracked as a barbaric roar filled the chamber, bursting Elijah¡¯s eardrums and causing blood to trickle down both sides of his head. The young man watched in horror and fascination as the mangled body of the monster regenerated. Bones snapped back into place, wound sealed over, and its head twisted back on straight. Yep, he was definitely not going to kill it! The world was silent and in slow motion as Elijah¡¯s heart pumped harder than it ever had before. He launched himself into a run, wanting nothing but to get away from the monster. With each step he pushed harder, willing his legs to move faster, needing to get away. A cracked wall stood before him, but the teen didn¡¯t notice; he was only focused on creating as much distance as possible. Addled by fear, he activated Berserker¡¯s Bark, forgetting how the Skill worked. With no Stamina left, the Skill took from his Health, forming a layer of crimson bark that was far more sturdy than the regular armour but burnt every inch of his body, bathing him in fiery agony. It didn¡¯t help. Just as he looked down to examine himself, he saw a flash of something grey just below his waist. The wall in front of him was smashed open, revealing a familiar emptiness. It didn¡¯t matter; he wasn¡¯t going to make it. His legs fell limp, severed from his body. For the barest moment he was suspended in the air before gravity took hold. In that moment he flailed his arm backwards, connecting lightly with the Minotaur¡¯s chest. It didn¡¯t matter how light the strike was; it held behind it all the retaliatory force Berserker¡¯s Bark had absorbed, which was substantial. Elijah¡¯s fist exploded on contact, unable to take the pressure, and his top half was flung into the void. His mind blossomed anew with pain, but it was unimportant; he had escaped from the labyrinth.
Congratulations! You have completed the Trial of Evolution 1: Minotaur Grade: D Objectives: Rewards: You have earned the right to Evolve from a Minotaur into 1 of 2 Minotaur Evolutions: Choose Now!
Interlude 4: Time! Interlude 4
Time! Time is like a bus. It is never there when you need it to be,; it passes you by when you¡¯re not paying attention, and at the most inopportune moment, several arrive at once. That, at least, was how manager Faun felt. The corner of Hell in which his office resided was temporally locked to Terra Torus; one hour below was roughly equivalent to one minute above. This was so that they could test any changes to the System with plenty of time to fix mistakes. At least, that¡¯s what he had been told; he was not nearly old enough to remember when any real changes had been made to the System. From what he understood, the mortals didn¡¯t even remember a time before the invasive infrastructure wasn¡¯t a part of their lives. No, the continuity of time between his present location and the nearest inhabited planet was a good thing. The problem was the Trials. They were tucked away into little pockets of space, halfway outside of reality. That way, they would be equally close to any monster in the integrated universe that needed to Evolve. There were even multiple instances of the same Trial overlapping, which was great for efficiency, but it did have one major drawback: time. These sections of squiffy space made time flutter awry. Each time Faun stole a moment to check on the Elijah¡¯s progress, he wouldn¡¯t know what to expect. Sometimes, it would be seconds between one check and the next, and in that time the mortal would have cleared several Trials. Other times, he would go days without being able to get an opportunity to see how the sixteen-year-old was doing, and when he finally did, the boy would be on the same Trial, not having moved an inch. He knew the few opportunities when Tanya the Administrator wasn¡¯t looking over his shoulder would be better spent making preparations, but he couldn¡¯t help but feel nervous. He only had so long before he was given the chop, and not knowing when his plan might need to go into effect was frustrating. To help with this, he had hidden a small bit of code in the latest round of fixes that detected when a monster of the Race: Elijah entered the Trial ten from the millionth. It would act as an alarm to tell him that it was time to move. Even though Elijah was a long way away from that goal, and even though it was possible that the final ten Trials could take place in accelerated space, giving him no time to react, it did improve his peace of mind. Considering how unpeaceful his mind was at the moment, this was most welcome. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Tanya the Administrator, she was his greatest source of frustration at the moment. She had been sent to check on him and see how he was doing as a manager. Usually this meant a quick visit to the office to see if the new demons had mutinied yet. If they had, and he wasn¡¯t dead, her job would be to finish the job and then kill the rest of the staff as an example to other young demons who started getting ideas. Luckily for him, his lot were devoid of ideas. No, what should have happened was the Administrator stopped by, saw that there wasn¡¯t an active rebellion, and left. Unfortunately for the f?ling, Tanya didn¡¯t work like that. For a week before she made her startling appearance, she had been spying on his office. She claimed she had done this to ensure that the office hadn¡¯t secretly been taken over, but Faun thought that she was just being nosey. Though he didn¡¯t dare tell her that. She had become curious as to why the new boss was spending so much time away from his desk and had decided to investigate in person. On the upside, she hadn¡¯t figured out his actual plans. On the downside, she had caught him with his trousers down staring at her DevilPic profile. He couldn¡¯t even claim ignorance, as she had the account username printed on her baton: wildus95. She had taken sadistic glee in parading him around the office with his pants still around his ankles and telling his workforce exactly what she had caught him doing. It was as if she was trying to cause an uprising, the very thing she was here to supposedly prevent. Fortunately for Faun the faun, that didn¡¯t happen. Though the demons did look at him differently afterwards. It didn¡¯t matter; none of them mattered. Escape was his only goal. That was what he told himself, but he couldn¡¯t deny the shame he felt. Unfortunately for Faun, Tanya had decided to stick around and keep an eye on him. Because of this, the f?ling was constantly on edge. Tanya was bossy, manipulative, and she scared the shit out of him. The only upside was that she was a stickler for the rules. Without concrete proof of a rebellion, she wouldn¡¯t snuff him out. That didn¡¯t stop her from trying to incite one. When Faun wasn¡¯t correcting his underlings'' mistakes or trying to work on his own secret project, he was putting out fires around the office, literally in one case. He had tried to explain why he was in that bathroom, that the last boss had poisoned him, but Tanya was having none of it. It didn¡¯t help matters that since that incident, whatever Squidulous had given him wore off, and he was no longer rushing to the bog every few minutes; making him look like a liar. This left Faun in an untenable position. For now, most of his workers were onside or just too overworked to pose a threat, which was good, but if that meddlesome Administrator kept this up, something would break. He didn¡¯t dare send another message to his only hope, asking him to speed up, for fear that it may be detected. The less communication, the more likely his chances of success. That wasn¡¯t to say he couldn¡¯t do anything to help speed things along. Directly interfering would be too risky, but there were other options. It was time to call on a friend¡­ Well, less of a friend and more of someone on whom he had dirt and who had dirt on him, ensuring if one of them went down, they both did, but that was the closest thing one could get to a friend in Hell. Chapter 25: Why do you seem Familiar? Chapter 25
Why do you seem Familiar? ¡°What is a Familiar? Some say that there are two halves to a soul. Each lives inside a different body. If these two halves should meet, they would be considered each other¡¯s Familiar. I cannot say that I believe in this theory; all I know for sure is that one''s Familiar can seemingly be anything, from a common house cat to a Water Buffalhigh. When a person and their Familiar meet, they instantly know they are connected, a bond is formed, and both will be greater for it. How can I find my Familiar? There are three methods that I have found evidence for. The first is sheer, dumb luck. If the two creatures that are destined to be together are found on the same plane, on the same planet, on the same continent, in the same country, there is a small chance that they might simply stumble upon one another. I have given up on this approach; though I know it is possible, because I have seen it with my own eyes, the chances of it ever happening to me are astronomically small. The second is to be granted a Familiar summoning token by the System. This is also not an option for me, as it can only be obtained in one of two ways. Either by virtue of one¡¯s Class, Witch or Warlock to name but two, or as a rare Quest reward. As I already have the Class of Scholar, and Questing does not suit my temperament, I have ruled out this option. The third, and I believe most promising, option is to conduct the Familiar summoning ritual. The materials are rare; it requires more mana than any one mind-type Class can provide, and it takes several days to complete, according to the tribal records I have found, but if it works, it could be revolutionary!¡± ¡ª An excerpt from the Journal of Scholar Blueus Ballicus, who died having never found his Familiar.
New Evolution Class E?v?o?l?u?t?i?o?n? C???l???a???s???s??? E???v????o?????l????u????t????i????o?????n??? C??????l???????a???????s????s??????? ¡­ Unlocked!
Evolution Unlocked: Bullock Buster: D This Evolution of the Minotaur is less focused on labyrinthine affairs. Acquiring this Skill gets rid of the ability to construct the subspace known as a labyrinth but gains a further increase to stats when inside another¡¯s labyrinth, maze, dungeon, or other similar structure.
New Class Trait Unlocked! New Class Trait unlocked: Bullock¡¯s Brawn: D This is an enhanced version of the Minotaur¡¯s core Trait, Minotaur¡¯s Strength, and will replace the existing Trait. Strength is increased by 50, Endurance is increased by 50, and Vitality is increased by 100 when inside a labyrinth, maze, dungeon, or similar structure.
You have reached Level 1 in B?????u????l????l?????o????c????k???? ???B????u????s????t???e???r????!???? +1 Strength +1 Endurance +2 Vitality
That Trait explained why the Minotaur was so strong and why it could heal so quickly. Now that it was his, Elijah would be unstoppable! Assuming he was in a labyrinth, maze, or dungeon. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Actually, that didn¡¯t sound like it would be very often, if Earth was anything to go by. Maybe it wasn¡¯t so useful? The stat points from the rank D Class were more generally applicable, and he could feel them suffuse his body and bolster his physique slightly. He was still little more than skin and bone, but at least there was some level of toned muscle beneath the surface. With life being the way it was, there was no time to admire himself. A new Trial began to appear around him. The rosy red sky seemed to be entirely sun; at least he was outdoors this time. A stiff breeze bent over long, hillside grass as it formed. White, cotton ball-like flowers broke up the sea of green as they swayed in and out of the blades. The field before Elijah was open and held an air of freedom. The teen was barely able to make out a lake at the base of the hill, nearly a mile away. On its far side was a craggy mountain, covered in sheer grey faces with stoic expressions. On the mountain¡¯s snowy peak, far above, was a great cairn, so large that he could see it all the way from where he stood, miles away. If not for the alienness of the scene, it would have reminded him of Scotland. The last thing to form was the monster. It appeared to be a dark horse with glossy black fur that glistened in the red light, almost as if it were wet. There was a sense of nobility to its flowing locks and the curve of its neck. The creature¡¯s height only added to the air it possessed; standing at sixteen hands, it really was quite something! The pair were positioned next to each other, both facing towards the lake and the mountain beyond. It appeared that this Trial was going to be another in which he wasn¡¯t supposed to fight. Everything clicked into place, and the Trial began. As Elijah stood there, waiting for the notification to appear and tell him what to do, the horse swished its head over gracefully to examine its competitor. The serene expression it had been wearing morphed into a mask of disgust. It spat out a globule of grassy spit, hitting the teen in the eye, then kicked him in the chest as it ran off towards the distant peak with quite a turn speed. Elijah was left sprawled out on the ground with saliva all over his face, cradling what felt like a cracked rib, and left wondering: what the hell just happened? As if in response, the Trial notification finally appeared.
The Trial of Evolution 1: Kelpie You have reached Lv 25 as a Kelpie! Welcome to The Trial of Evolution: beat the Evolved Kelpie in a race to prove your right to undergo the first Evolution. A better performance in this trial will lead to a more powerful Evolution with stronger monster Skills and Traits.
The teen pushed himself back to his feet. If this was a race rather than a battle, why had the Kelpie attacked him? A smaller notification at the edge of his vision gave him the answer.
The Trait, Dishonourable, has activated!
Elijah didn¡¯t remember what that Trait did and had to look through the System tab for a reminder.
Dishonourable: F As a dishonourable Earth Buffalow, you gain 10% damage when attacking another before they are ready or with a method against which they have no defence. You are looked upon with disdain.
Since he hadn¡¯t been sneak attacking anything, it had to be the second part which had caused this. If everyone was going to react like that to his mere presence when he got out of here¡­ Perish the thought. He¡¯d have to find a way to neutralise Traits. That wasn¡¯t what he needed to do right now, however. There was a race that needed winning! Elijah was already behind, but that didn¡¯t dissuade him. Nor did the sight of the Kelpie tearing up the ground as it ran fast enough to create a dust cloud in its wake. He was motivated to get his revenge. Petty though it may be, spite was a powerful thing. Tensing his muscles, the teen launched himself into a run, intent on showing that monster what¡¯s what. Something appeared on the ground right before him in the same manner objects entered and exited his Inventory: with the same square, particleized, pixely effect. It happened too fast for the teen to react. He stubbed his toe on the sudden box, fell to the ground, and landed on his already injured ribs. Suffice it to say, there was plenty of swearing. ¡°What is it now?!¡± Elijah shouted when he had gotten a handle on his language. He stood up and stared angrily at the item that had hurt him. It was a chest, much like the one containing treasure that he had found on Treasure Island. It was made of old wood with dull brass fittings and a lock. Looking up, Elijah saw that the monster was already halfway to the lake; there was no way he would catch up now. Channelling his anger, he kicked the stupid box with his one good foot and was left with no good feet. The sixteen-year-old hopped around, swearing and cursing. Despite appearances, the chest was as hard as an anvil; it even rang out slightly as metal might. He had to hold himself back from punching the thing; that could only end poorly. Once his frustrations had simmered down somewhat, the teen kneeled before the chest, intent on opening it and finding out what was so important that it needed to appear right in front of him with no warning whatsoever. Before he could touch the brass of the lock, a notification opened. It didn¡¯t look normal; the edges were glitchy, and the text was different, almost handwritten.
THIS IS A GIFT FROM FAUN. HE SAYS TO SAY THAT YOU SHOULD USE IT TO CLEAR YOUR CURRENT PROBLEMS FASTER, WHATEVER THAT MEANS.
The teen suddenly became more interested in the box. He hadn¡¯t heard from manager Faun since he had received that first message. If he was getting this now, was something wrong? With seriousness, he reached to unlock the chest. As soon as he made contact, a red spark transferred from him to the object. He felt woozy; his health dropped by 100 points, and the lock clicked open. The chest opened itself. It played a little theme that wouldn¡¯t go amiss in a retro videogame. Something the size and shape of a jam jar lid floated up, hovering around eye level. Elijah snatched whatever it was out of the air. The second the chest was no longer of use, it left in the way it had arrived. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± the teen asked as he struggled to focus his eyes on the large coin. On one side was the image of himself, smiling goofily and with his thumb stuck up cheesily; on the other was a pentagram carved into the grey-black metal. Another message, a normal one this time, appeared, answering his question.
Would you like to use this Familiar summoning token? Yes/No
Chapter 26: Yes! Chapter 26
Yes! Elijah selected Yes. More out of curiosity than anything. He didn¡¯t know what a Familiar was, but there was something about the idea that tugged at his very soul. As soon as he accepted the prompt, the coin started to float again, up and out of his grasp. The teen¡¯s Stamina, Mana, and remaining Health were sucked out in streams of green, blue, and red trailing mist, respectively. The tide continued until only one point in each state remained, leaving Elijah beyond exhausted, with an earth-shattering migraine, and on the edge of death. He swayed on his feet but continued to stand and watch the token as it began to glow a bright white. The sky was covered by roiling black clouds that shook the world with their ominous rumbling. Even if he wanted to, which he did not, the sixteen-year-old would not be able to look away. Seven spikes of multicoloured lightning struck the coin from the seven cardinal directions. The white-hot coin shattered, sending out a shockwave of glowing energy that turned the grass to cinders and scorched the earth beneath but didn¡¯t so much as ruffle a hair on the young man¡¯s head as it passed over him harmlessly. Elijah wasn¡¯t phased by the sudden explosion, partially because he was nearly completely out of it, what with his current condition, but mostly because he knew instinctively this was how it should go. His eyes never left the spot where the coin had been. Sure enough, a couple of moments later, the energy that had just violently dispersed recollected in that area. It created a swirling oval of white mist that grew faster and faster, causing the wind all around to whip into a frenzy. The teen tried to see exactly what was happening by activating Mana Manipulation, just for a moment. The intense mix of manas of incalculable types, acting in innumerable ways, blinded the young man, and he was forced to squeeze his eyes tight as he shut off the Skill. When his vision eventually returned, the white mist was replaced by a hole in reality that seemed to lead to somewhere dark. Dead trees covered in ravens that cawed out the cry of the beyond filled the view. Perched proudly atop the largest tree, directly in line with the rip in space, was the greatest raven Elijah had ever seen. Its feathers were a silky black, its beak vicious but delicate, and its size dwarfed the other birds perched on the lower branches. Elijah and the creature locked eyes and both knew they belonged to one another. The raven took flight, sending its lesser kin into squawked scatterings. The teen felt it as a part of himself he never knew he had and drew nearer. Soon, they would be as one, never to be separated again. Elijah couldn¡¯t wait. He bubbled with excitement and nervousness at the prospect. It was on his first date all over again but with a far greater prize waiting for him. Each flap of its wings spoke of the part of his life that he had missed, and with each inch it drew nearer, his soul became closer to being whole. In just a few moments, he would be the man he was always meant to be. The raven was halfway to the portal when a spot of black turned into a cloud of swallowing red as dark as blood, right behind the majestic creature. Elijah tried to call out, to warn his other half, but he found himself unable to speak. Memories of a life not his own scoured his mind with hot flashes. He was a carpenter, a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker, a hunter, a miller, a peasant, and a king. He had lived for countless lifetimes, but it was never enough. There was always more life to live, more life to give, and more blood to drink. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Elijah shook his head maniacally, trying to dispel whatever had come over him. This wasn¡¯t him; this was the immortal! He had thought that simply ignoring the monster would be enough to deal with it, but now he saw firsthand what that approach had wrought. The memories ceased reluctantly, but the red mass didn¡¯t stop. It morphed into a giant clawed hand that snatched up his Familiar with definite finality. Elijah could feel it as his soul was torn apart, shredded, then crushed by that nebulous, bloody power. A part of him died and was subsumed by the swirling blood. When the teen saw the raven rise from the ground, correct its broken wing, and take flight once more, there was a moment when his hopes soared, but they came crashing down only seconds later. The raven that flew through the portal was not the one that he had locked eyes with only moments ago. Its eyes were not the homogeneous black of a corvid but were instead entirely blood-red. There were cracks on the still-moving but broken corpse that glowed with crimson ominense. The teen couldn¡¯t help the devastated gape of his mouth as the body of the creature that was once a part of him landed beside the boy and turned its evil gaze upon him. As he watched in slack-mouthed horror, the being that had killed his Familiar slithered out of its host, revealing its true form, a squelch of writhing blood. Then, it took on a different form, that of a human, but only in shape. The thing still remained nothing more than rippling sentient crimson fluid. It took Elijah far longer than it should have to realise that it was imitating him. Since coming here, his body had changed, and he didn¡¯t immediately recognise his silhouette. The two, the teen and his blood clone, stood there for a moment in silence. One shocked and the other¡­ curious? It was impossible to determine the emotions of something so inhumanely inhuman. It was in that moment of quietude that a furious wind stoked the fires of anger into a raging inferno. With tears in his eyes and fury in his heart, Elijah lashed out, intent on avenging his bird-self. His fist struck the first thing he truly felt was a monster. He wanted violence; he wanted this thing to splatter the scorched earth; he needed it to die. What he wanted didn¡¯t matter. What he needed didn¡¯t matter. The mass of blood latched onto his arm, completely unbothered by his strike, a strike stronger than anyone on Earth would have been capable of. It began seeping into his skin. Elijah screamed in horror and outrage as he was swallowed up by the red tide; his frantic attacks did nothing to stop the blood from passing straight through his skin. In seconds it was gone, and he had no way left to fight. He could feel it, pumping through his veins, out of reach¡­ unless. Elijah used what little Mana he had recovered since the beginning of the summoning to try and cast the spell that ruptured all his blood vessels in the winter world; he would not be controlled by this thing! He didn¡¯t have enough of his blue bar to use it on all his body at once, so he instead aimed just for his brain. He would sooner die of an aneurysm than give in to such a vile thing. He pushed at the mana in his blood, used it to break open a number of capillaries inside his skull, and fought through the searing headache with pyrrhic glee. He felt it as the tiny veins and arteries were sealed over by the monster swimming inside him. Despite his efforts, his health actually began to rise slowly. ¡°No!!¡± Elijah shouted in desperation. The light that had been streaming out from the portal suddenly cut off as the opening winked shut. There was a moment of stillness before darkness claimed the young man; a darkness from which he knew he would never wake.
C?o?n?g?r?a?t?u?l?a?t?i?o?n?s?!? You have bounded with y???o???u???r??? Familiar! +10 Vitality +5 Strength You have gained the Trait: Bloody Regeneration You have gained the Skill: Blood Manipulation
Blood Regeneration: A Your own blood heals you; you gain +10 Health per second. The blood of others can also be used for a burst of healing.
Blood Manipulation: B This Skill allows you to manipulate blood using your own Mana. With this Skill, the process becomes a part of you, and you no longer have to think to use basic blood magics.
Chapter 27: Just The Two Of Us? Chapter 27
Just The Two Of Us? Elijah woke up. He woke up? For a moment, he didn¡¯t understand. He was sure that the second that invasive blood monster was absorbed into his body, that was the end for him. He didn¡¯t understand the glitchy notification that was still floating in front of the rosy sky. He had bonded with that thing? The teen knew for certain that it wasn¡¯t his Familiar, even without truly understanding what that meant. There had been an intangible, yet very real connection between himself and the raven, the raven whose broken body was just left there staring at him as it lay on the broken earth. Sadness welled in Elijah¡¯s traitorous heart. This wasn¡¯t right. He pushed himself up, his Slimy hands slipping twice on the dry earth. He touched the corpse, storing it in his Inventory. The friend he never had deserved a proper burial. When he got out of these gods-forsaken Trials, he would find a good spot, somewhere peaceful. With that settled, and the main body of his anger subsided, leaving the far more dangerous and colder fury smouldering in its place, he decided it was time to address the elephant in the room or the monster in his body, in this case. ¡°What do you want?¡± Elijah asked aloud, his voice flinty and raw with suppressed emotion. Blood pooled in his ears, somehow not falling out. It began vibrating in response. It made a voice that sounded to the teen like a hundred weary souls all whispering as one, but he didn¡¯t understand the words. The language was barbarous; it sounded like the very words had thorns. It didn¡¯t help the fear that bubbled just below the surface; the idea of having a murderous monster living within his skin was already chilling. ¡°I don¡¯t understand you,¡± the teen snarled, repressing a shiver. The voice tried again, slightly more agitated, as if the many souls that comprised it had been roused from a bout of lethargy. ¡°You can clearly understand me; why don¡¯t you speak my language?¡± Elijah asked, growling in annoyance. There was a moment of silence followed by a long and shrill screech that sounded like someone purposely turning their jaw upside down and screaming all the while. The teen slapped his hands over his ears, but it did no good; the sound was coming from inside his canals. Blood rushed around his body unnaturally. It felt like spiders were creeping under every inch of his skin. It swelled in his brain and dug around until¡ª Pop! Something in his mind changed, and he suddenly understood the creepy whisperings of the beast within. Instead of speaking English, this thing had literally changed his mind. The fact that it could do that made him feel sick. Something like that should not be possible! ¡°Master ordered us,¡± it chorused inside his ears, susurrating in time with his heartbeats. ¡°What?¡± Elijah demanded, though he feared he already knew the answer. Those images, the monster of blood; it all pointed towards one thing. ¡°Is your Master The Immortal?¡± he asked, with a shake in his voice he didn¡¯t intend. There was a hissing of affirmation that sent shivers down his spine. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Why me? I¡¯m not special; in fact, I¡¯m trapped! I won¡¯t be able to free your Master. I felt it; I know there are other people whom his mind has touched. Why me?!¡± Elijah asked, desperation spilling into his tone. ¡°Master ordered us,¡± the creature repeated, its voice growing weaker. Elijah didn¡¯t hear the reply and instead continued spiralling. ¡°Why did you come to me? Why haven¡¯t you taken over my body? Surely it would be easier just to control me like a puppet as you did the corpse of the raven!¡± A part of him wanted a response, for the approval of the monster he hated. For it to say in its spiky language that he was somehow special, that he could do something that none other could, that he was more valuable if he were left in charge of his own muscles. He didn¡¯t receive such a reply. ¡°We are tired,¡± the voices said in staggered unison; some of the souls yawned as they spoke and the chorus began to fade quickly. Elijah asked more questions, aired more indignities, and even resorted to shouting, but the monster said nothing more. The drum of blood that it had constructed dissolved and began pouring out of his ear. Before it could get far, it was absorbed back into the skin of his neck; leaving the young man shouting at thin air. Well, great. There was a murderer living in his blood, and the only reason he hadn¡¯t been turned into a flesh puppet was that it fancied a nap, and he couldn¡¯t do a thing about it. No, that wasn¡¯t right; he could and would find a way out of this. So long as he still lived, there was always something more to be done. He was no coward; he would not give up! The teen didn¡¯t know much about travelling through dimensions, despite his prior experience, but he assumed it must take a lot out of someone or something. That meant he would be optimistic about the amount of time he had before the thing woke up. Assuming he had minutes or hours, instead of days or weeks, would just cause him to panic, and that wouldn¡¯t help matters one iota. To that end, Elijah hardened his heart and focused on his objective: eject the parasite from his body and find a way to kill it! But how was he going to do that? He could try and exsanguinate himself, but something about the new bond he had told him that the creature wasn¡¯t actually living in his blood but in his soul, which was far worse to think about. Then again, that could be a thought that had been implanted by the thing; it could mess with his mind, after all. He decided to try bleeding himself dry; it was never wise to overlook the simplest solutions. The teen summoned the king¡¯s blade above his outstretched arm and let it drop straight through it as it fell from his hand like an anvil because he didn¡¯t have enough Agility to wield it. He had thought by now he would be used to pain. That was not the case. The mind did a wonderful job of forgetting just how much pain hurt, the body did not: once bitten, twice shy. The sixteen-year-old jerked his hand away at the last moment, resulting in the blade impaling his hand, hilt and all. Despite himself, he screamed. It took him a moment of stamping around on the dried and cracked earth to see through his tears. He was left stunned. Although there was a great big hole through his right hand, not a drop of blood came out. He screamed in frustration, pain, and anger. ¡°Fuck!¡± Desperate, Elijah tried to slice his wrists on the edge of the sword that had been stabbed halfway into the ground but to no avail. No matter what he did, his blood refused to leave his body. He put away the weapon in shame; that wouldn¡¯t work, and now he was left injured, though thankfully not for long.
Commiserations! You have failed the Trial of Evolution 1: Kelpie
The Kelpie had made it to the cairn at the top of the mountain, and with that, the world ended. Thankfully, as was the case when he died, the world and Elijah were reconstructed by the System; reset to the beginning of the Trial. Before Elijah knew what was happening, he was spat on once more and barely stepped aside in time to not be sent sprawling in the renewed grass. His mind worked quickly as his body instinctively Dodged the horse creature''s kick. He needed to get rid of this deadly parasite. Bleeding it out wouldn¡¯t work. He doubted dying would do anything because he had just been reset, which felt the same as death, and it was still there. Mana may hold the answers, but he simply didn¡¯t know enough to say. No, he would find his answer in one of these Trials. There must be some technique he could learn, some Skill he could gain, or some Trait he could obtain that would help rid him of this monster. That gave him a goal, something to focus on; he had a race to win! Chapter 28: Race! Chapter 28
Race!
Commiserations! You have failed the Trial of Evolution 1: Kelpie
Commiserations! You have failed the Trial of Evolution 1: Kelpie
Commiserations! You have failed the Trial of Evolution 1: Kelpie
Elijah lost that race and the two subsequent ones. Although he had great stats for a level 9 Nimueh¡¯s Successor, that didn¡¯t mean much when up against a level 26 monster specialised in speed; he didn¡¯t stand a chance. If the Kelpie had a rank: A Class that was entirely focused on Agility, that would give it a theoretical maximum of 182, which made his 14 points seem piteous. Elijah didn¡¯t believe the disparity was quite that bad. Still, the monster left him in the dust every time. He wasn¡¯t even able to make it to the lake before the lithe creature had ascended the mountain and ended the race. Given how far he was able to run before the failure notification arrived to taunt him and the world was reset, he still estimated that the monster was only 7 times faster than him. That still meant it had nearly 100 points in Agility, assuming it was a linear scale, and that having four legs to his two had nothing to do with its impressive speed. This meant there was no choice but to cheat. The teen had avoided doing so until this point because of some lingering notion of pride. He wanted to show up the Kelpie by beating its own game. He now knew that was impossible and his sin had cost him precious time, time that would have been better spent finding a way to get rid of the napping death-clock that was his ¡®Familiar¡¯. The world reconstructed itself again, and Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate. As soon as the colours snapped into place, he darted to the right, dodging the globule of spit the Kelpie always spat as the Trial began. With more Strength than he thought he possessed, the teen tackled the horse-shaped creature about the neck, knocking it to the ground. Using a blood blade or water blade would have been easier, but he no longer had control over his blood, which meant he no longer had any control over mana. His Mana Heart, a gift from Nimeuh, was not his anymore; just like his true Familiar, it had been taken by the monster within. His anger and frustration bubbled over, and before he knew it, his fists were stained blue with monster blood, and the majestic head of the noble animal had been turned into Kelpie pat¨¦. He came back to his senses, shocked and horrified by what he had done. Elijah had only intended to knock the creature out so that he could win the race. He opened and closed his hands several times, not quite believing that this wasn¡¯t all a dream. This had never happened to him. One moment he was angry. It was more intense than he had ever felt before. There was a gap, a blip in which he didn¡¯t recall anything, and then, the next thing he knew, he was covered in blood.
Commiserations! You have failed the Trial of Evolution 1: Kelpie
The world started anew, and the teen was still staring at his now clean hands in disbelief. A wet splat to the face snapped him out of it. Now wasn¡¯t the time to lose focus; he¡¯d just have to repress his feelings until he could deal with them. His body coiled and launched at the legs of the beast. It wasn¡¯t expecting the attack and tried to prance aside, but to no avail. If killing the monster would fail the Trial, he¡¯d just have to disable it. Hooves kicked and stomped as the young man flailed and punched. He liked the pain; it reminded him that this was real, as real as anything could be. He didn¡¯t black out this time and was completely conscious of his actions as he punched the Kelpie¡¯s knees over and over, with twice the force of any earthling. By the end of a brutal fight, the Kelpie was left lame; all of its legs were broken. Elijah was battered and bruised and certainly had a few fractures of his own, but he could move, and the monster could not, and that was all that mattered. He grinned in twisted glee as he extricated himself from the monster¡¯s whinnying body. If he was the only one racing, there was no way that he could lose! As soon as he was a couple of feet away, the Kelpie looked at him with disgusted eyes, rimmed with fear. It spat at him, but even in his damaged state it wasn¡¯t hard for the teen to evade. The purpose was distraction, however. In the few seconds it took for Elijah to step aside and recentre himself, a change came over the monster. The legs which the young man had broken morphed before his very eyes. Before he could do a thing about it, they had changed. In their place were eight wriggling tentacles, covered in slick black skin which matched the fur that was still present on the not-horse¡¯s top half. The teen had forgotten; this was not an ordinary equus but a monster. He nearly didn¡¯t react in time; the creature had surged upright and begun octopusing away on thick, clearly injured tentacles. Appendages like these didn''t have bones, so they couldn¡¯t be broken, though it did appear that some of the damage remained in the transformation. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Elijah, in the seconds he had before the crippled monster was out of his reach, had a choice: either tear off these new limbs and hope that the monster didn¡¯t bleed to death or come up with, and execute, a new plan. Elijah dove for the beast, gritting his teeth against the pain of his injured body. His naked torso glistened under the red sun, Slimy flesh shining like the wet body of a champion diver. His wiry arms grasped onto one of the rear tentacles, and he pulled himself up, hand over hand, climbing towards the main horse body of the beast. The beast did not like this, not one bit. It thrashed about like an aqua bronco, desperate to get rid of the tick that was Elijah. He held on; the increased Strength the blood monster had given him came in clutch once again. He hated that he owed anything to that thing and actually growled as the thought crossed his mind. He lost concentration for a moment, and his grip slipped as the tentacle he was attached to flicked into the air, in the same manner someone with arachnophobia jerks about if there is a spider on them. Before he could be flung into the stratosphere, he shot out a hand, latching on to the mane of the horse-like monster. His body continued upward, but it was anchored to the octo-horse by an iron grip. Some hairs were pulled out, but he managed to stay tethered to the beast. As he fell back down, he landed squarely on the thing¡¯s back, legs clenching hard on the monster¡¯s flanks and arms locked around its neck, careful not to suffocate it. The Kelpie hated the sudden sharp pain on the back of its neck and despised the human trying to cling to its back. The monster¡¯s movements became even more erratic as it struggled to free itself from Elijah¡¯s clutches. His body was slammed, shaken, and shook, all of it worsening the pain of his bruises and broken bones, but despite this, he held on. This plan of his was the only way for him to pass the Trial, and passing the Trial was the only hope he had for a blood-free future. Elijah had never broken a horse before, but he imagined it must be simple compared to this. Giant tentacles instead of legs meant it could perform a wide array of bucking movements which a normal horse simply couldn¡¯t imitate. He was shaken sideways, hung upside down, slammed into the ground, jiggled about, twisted, and contorted by sudden changes in speed. His grip slackened over time; he couldn¡¯t help it. But, thankfully, the Kelpie also grew tired, eventually stopping to rest. The pair stayed there for a goodly moment, sweating under the unmoving sun and panting, desperately sucking down air. Now was the time for the teen to act. He dug his heels into the monster¡¯s flanks. The Kelpie reacted unconsciously, walk-slithering forward. It tried to stop the involuntary action, but it was simply too exhausted to fight any more. Elijah¡¯s plan was simple, he was taking inspiration from the story of the Zodiac; he was ratting it up. The Kelpie moved slowly through fields of green with resignation. Elijah felt like a towel that had been completely wrung out, and he appreciated the change of pace. His body was sore, but his turbulent heart had healed some from the vigorous exercise. The teen didn¡¯t know what to expect when he made it to the lake, but as it turned out, having the limbs of an octopus made swimming a lot easier. Even in its tired state, the Kelpie was able to glide across the dark waters, whose depths were beyond reckoning, with effortless ease. Soon enough, they were on the far side, and it was time for the mountainous ascent. Elijah had expected the creature to have gotten some of its fight back by this point, but that wasn¡¯t the case. With its head hanging low, the Kelpie began to climb the rocky face. Tentacles weren''t just good at swimming. Even bruised and swollen as they were from Elijah¡¯s attacks, they could still latch onto rocks, jam themselves into crevices, and sucker onto the rock directly, all at the same time. That made climbing almost as fast as walking for the monster and nearly as simple. When they drew near to the peak, within a hundred meters, Elijah relaxed the squeeze his knees had on the Kelpie¡¯s sides. The beast, which had been biding its time, acted immediately. Releasing its front four tentacles, it peeled backwards, dangling bodily off the crumbling stone surface. A smile donned the Kelpie¡¯s features as it stared down the mountain, expecting to see the presumptuous human tumbling to its death. It took the creature too long for its blood to slosh around and its brain to write the upside-down image before it. There was no screaming tumbling biped; the monster was confused. Elijah was already pulling himself further up the mountain, determined to win this race. The loosening of his legs had been a ploy. Elijah didn¡¯t think for one moment a creature with so much spirit would give up until it was dead; it was just waiting for a chance to strike, so he gave it that chance. Elijah was slippery by nature, and in combination with his Slimy Trait, it was child¡¯s play for him to slide off the monster¡¯s back unnoticed. By the time the Kelpie realised its gambit had failed, the teen was already fifty metres closer to the finish line. The cairn loomed above him, a towering monument of rock. Below him, the whining cry of the Kelpie¡¯s blue-balled anger spurred him and the monster on in equal measure. Unfortunately for the tired Elijah, the Kelpie was faster. There were two metres left when something wrapped around his leg. He tried to yank the appendage free, but even though his leg was covered in slime, the suckers of the tentacle coiled around it stopped the leg from going anywhere. The adversaries locked eyes. Glee filled the malicious monster¡¯s large black orbs; it was about to get its revenge on the tiny animal that had been so brazen as to ride it! There was a mixture of determination and pity in Elijah¡¯s eyes; had he the time, he would have loved to race this magnificent creature a thousand times until he finally won the right way, but he did not have that luxury. The Kelpie was confused by the teen¡¯s lack of fear. It had intended to take a moment to revel in the display of emotion the two-legged one would surely show at being thwarted within tentacle¡¯s reach of the goal. Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate; now that he had set his heart on something, there was no stopping him. The young man summoned the king¡¯s blade. It plummeted, severing his trapped leg with no resistance. He was barely able to touch the sword with the toe of his other foot as it continued to fall, storing it back in his Inventory. It would be a shame to lose such a powerful weapon before he ever got to use it, though he was willing to make the sacrifice should it be necessary. Nothing would stop him; his life was truly on the line for the first time! The Kelpie stayed there, frozen, unable to understand what had happened. It had never seen anything as crazy as this human. By the time it realised it was holding nothing more than the leg of its prey, Elijah was already pulling his much lighter body up onto the peak. As one final act of defiance, the Kelpie hurled the severed limb at its foe¡¯s exposed back. Elijah was facing the cairn. He only had to hop once, and he would touch the finish line. As it turned out, he didn¡¯t even need to do that much; something smacked hard into his rear, causing him to crash through the pile of stones. He winced as his bloodless stump came into contact with the rocks. He flew out the other side of the monument, pain and panic staining his features. As he fell down the vertical drop on the other side of the mountain, miles of green fields and occasional locks sprawling before him, wind rushing past his ears, and a churning sensation running riot in his stomach, he thought he had failed. That he had fallen at the final hurdle. How am I going to do any better than that?
Congratulations! You have completed the Trial of Evolution 1: Kelpie Grade: F Objectives: Rewards: You have earned the right (if barely) to Evolve from a Kelpie into 1 of 1 Kelpie Evolutions: Choose Now!
Chapter 29: Gobblin’ Town? Chapter 29
Gobblin¡¯ Town?
New Evolution Class E?v?o?l?u?t?i?o?n? C???l???a???s???s??? E???v????o?????l????u????t????i????o?????n??? C??????l???????a???????s????s??????? ¡­ Unlocked!
Evolution Unlocked: Highland Kelpie: F This is the most basic Evolution of the Kelpie. Like all Kelpies it is focused on speed but the Highland Kelpie can only change their limbs into tentacles, rather than the wider range of metamorphosis other Kelpies have access to.
New Class Skill Unlocked! New Class Skill unlocked: Tentacle Limbs: F Transform a limb into a tentacle. Costs 50 Mana.
You have reached Level 1 in H???i???g???h???l???a???n???d??? ???K???e???l???p???i???e???!??? +3 Agility
In the space between space, as his heart slowly stopped hammering out of his chest, Elijah selected the only Class available to him and almost out of reflex placed the required Xp into it to level it up. He needed a moment. He felt more volatile, more on edge than he ever had before, as if the slightest trigger could cause him to fly off the handle. It reminded him of¡­ Elijah wasn¡¯t given his moment. Before he could get his breath back, the next Trial materialised. Navy clouds overcast the sky. Distant hills, bristling with pine stubble, were occluded by the trees that formed right in front of him. A foul smell drifted on the brisk morning air, a mix of smoke, sweat, excrement, and death. Chittering, throaty warbles that might have been the victorious cries of prepubescent pig people crashed through the forest. Looking toward the source of their acrid shouts, Elijah saw the red glow of fire, though the exact nature of goings-on was obstructed by a sea of brown, spindly trunks.
The Trial of Evolution 1: Goblin You have reached Lv 25 as a Goblin! Welcome to The Trial of Evolution: subjugate a war party of lower-levelled Goblins to prove your right to undergo the first Evolution. A better performance in this trial will lead to a more powerful Evolution with stronger monster Skills and Traits.
Subjugate; that surely meant a fight! He couldn¡¯t deny he was itching for just that: a way to vent his frustration. The only question the teen had was: Could I win? Shortly after he had the thought, he realised it didn¡¯t matter. In these Trials he was inexorable; even if he lost to the war party, he would come back over and over again until he was victorious. There was something simultaneously chilling and exhilarating about the notion, but Elijah couldn¡¯t allow himself to get carried away. Now that the Trial had started, he would take his time to learn as much as possible. Time was of the essence, but his grandfather had taught him that the best way to waste time was to move quickly. If he ran headlong toward the commotion, he¡¯d no doubt end up dead and having learnt very little. Sandaled feet moved over dry pine needles with steps swift and sure. Elijah moved stealthily towards the light. He pressed himself against a trunk and peered around. Ahead of him was a clearing, a field with short grass and pats that made it clear that it was the grazing ground of some cow-like creature, long since fled. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. On the far side of this open space was a group of wooden structures, or the remains of them. The blackened husk of what used to be a farmhouse, stables, and barn smouldered and sent streams of smoke up into the oppressive sky. That was just the start. The town that once was had a number of farms around its perimeter, all burnt or otherwise destroyed. Beyond them were the footings of a wooden palisade, a useless defence when faced with fire. The burning of the defensive structure had created a curtain of black smoke which obscured the centre of the town; he couldn¡¯t see in, but none inside could see out. Consumed by battle and gobbled up by war, there didn¡¯t appear to be anyone left. Bodies of cat-faced humanoids lay where they had fallen. Some were decapitated near washing lines; some were drowned in troughs; others had their backs sliced open, and the blood splatters indicated they had been trying to run away. The wounds looked ragged, as if the weapons of whatever had killed these people were crude and poorly sharpened. Elijah, despite his earlier lust for battle, felt sick. Best as he could tell, these were not combatants; they didn¡¯t wear armour, and none of them had weapons. Even though they were clearly not human, the teen didn¡¯t think these had been monsters but people. He rushed through the nightmare, pressing towards the joyous grunts and thuds that came from beyond the wall of smoke. If he hadn¡¯t been eager to slay these Goblins before, he definitely was now! Mud squelched underfoot as the teen ran around the outside of the town. None of the Goblin war party were outside of the town centre, so he was free to move with indiscretion. There was no way to pass through the still-burning palisade, so he needed to find a way into the town. When the young man had circled half of the burning wall, he sprinted past an unburnt shed and saw a monster¡¯s creature only a hundred paces away. Elijah skidded to a halt, reversing course with a flailing motion. The bald head of the green stocky midget snapped his way, bulbous nose swaying as it did. The thing rubbed sleep out of pure black, beady eyes; eyes that scanned the area from which it was sure it had heard a noise, but there was nothing there now, so it returned to leaning slovenly on its spear. The teen was pressed against the wall of the still-intact shed. His haste to kill the monsters that were capable of such brutality had made him reckless. He had no idea what a Goblin was, aside from the depictions he had seen in games. As it turned out, they were surprisingly accurate. The profile of the grotty, moss-coloured creature, dressed in a loincloth, was pretty much exactly what the sixteen-year-old had expected. Still, he didn¡¯t know how strong or how many there were. After taking a good few seconds to calm himself, Elijah poked his head around the corner. The Goblin appeared to be standing guard, though not with any enthusiasm. When it wasn¡¯t sighing in boredom as it stared blankly ahead, it was glancing through the gate behind it, shooting longing looks towards the as-yet-unseen commotion. The structure that housed the metal gate was made of stone, and as such, hadn''t been taken by the flames; this was Elijah¡¯s way in! The Trial notification had said that the Goblin war party he was supposed to subjugate was lower-levelled, lower than level 25, he assumed, but that didn¡¯t actually mean anything; they could be anywhere between level 0 and 24, changing the difficulty of the Trial drastically. The teen used Identify on what he assumed was a Goblin, wanting to learn more.
Identify: Level: 6 Monster: Goblin Description: Goblins are perhaps the most numerous monster on Terra Torus. They spawn in dark caves and are happy to destroy and consume pretty much anything they can find. On their own, they are not a threat to an adult as they struggle to survive long enough to get to level 1 in the wilds. If they are under the command of a Goblin Chief, however, they can become very dangerous.
Assuming the worst-case scenario, an A-rank Class, if Goblins even had Classes, and all the points were in one stat, say Strength, that would give this guy a Strength of 42, more than double his own! Of course, the truth was probably far, far lower, judging by the creature¡¯s pudgy, yet somehow anaemic body. There was about twenty feet between Elijah and the gate guard. With nothing to hide behind, sneaking up likely wouldn¡¯t work. It struck him that the best tactic would be a blitzkrieg. Centreing himself, Elijah burst out from behind the shed at a run. He spent half of his Stamina on the Light Footed Skill, allowing him to close half the distance with barely any sound. When the noise of feet dashing across the muddy path finally reached the Goblin''s floppy ears, it was barely able to turn to its left and face Elijah and equip a mask of surprise before he was attacked. The teen threw a haymaker. Powered by his 24 Strength, and the momentum of his charge, it hit hard enough to make a cracking sound as it crashed into the chest-high forehead of the monster. It fell limp, its spear clattering to the ground. Elijah checked his fist, but it was fine. The sound had come from the caved-in head of the immobile Goblin. Elijah was stunned, unable to understand how his attack had done so much damage. All the monsters he had fought were far tougher, and he struggled to do any injury to them with his bare hands. A new notification sprung up before him.
You have defeated a Lv 6 Goblin: Less Xp is awarded for defeating an opponent of a lower level. 43 Xp awarded. Xp automatically placed in escrow, US 2.7.1.
A sneeze to his right brought Elijah back to the moment, and he stopped staring at his hands in surprise. It was the only sound, beside the constant crackling of fire; the constant celebratory noises which had been coming from inside the town had stopped completely. Turning his head, he saw, for the first time, what was on the other side of the gate. Twenty Goblins, of various sizes and shades of green, with a range of weapons and armour, all kitted out better than the scrawny guard he had just KOed, were staring at him in stunned silence, save for a lanky monster who was pulling mucus from its freshly sneaked schnoz with glee, as if it were a string of never-ending taffy. For a moment both parties didn¡¯t move, not knowing what to make of the other. Then Elijah broke the tension by cursing: ¡°Well, shit!¡± So much for a stealthy approach. Chapter 30: Bloody Melee! Chapter 30
Bloody Melee! The scene remained frozen for a moment. The Goblins stared at Elijah as he scanned them one by one, eyes squinted in typical standoff fashion. The only thing that destroyed the Wild West vibe was the gross Goblin pulling out seemingly endless snot from its nose. All present ignored the idiot. His attention lingered slightly longer on three of the combatants. Most of the monsters were poorly equipped, but these three were far better armed. First, there was a tall, tall for a Goblin, Goblin. Its head was roughly the height of Elijah¡¯s nose, which, considering he was only five foot ten, wasn¡¯t saying all that much. At least, that was his height before he had entered the Trials. Either way, this tall for a Goblin Goblin was gobbling up the body of a cat person. Blood covered its pug-like face and dribbled down its ill-fitting chainmail cuirass, over the rusty chestplate it had snagged from somewhere. A wicked-looking axe with a twisted handle and dark metal blade rested against the thing¡¯s side, and a half-destroyed wooden round shield was strapped to its arm. The next creature Elijah locked eyes with in the tense near-silence was a slim, female-looking Goblin. If the bald, big-nosed creatures could be said to even have a sex. It was narrow-waisted and lithe. Various scavenged daggers were strapped about the thing, all bound up in the black cloth it was wearing like a ninja. It seemed to think it blended perfectly into the shadow of the battlement it was lurking in. The Goblin was surprised, therefore, when the teen locked its eyes with his. The final creature that Elijah thought was worthy of his attention, aside from the manic snot goblin that giggled to itself, was a rotten-robed goblin with a large pointed hood. It was covered in warts, and mushrooms grew on its mouldy clothes. If this wasn¡¯t a mage of some sort, Elijah would eat the hat still standing proud atop his head. The smart thing to do would be to run, hope that he could outpace the greater numbers of his enemy, and try to return to a stealthy approach. Elijah didn¡¯t even consider it. He launched himself towards the street filled with smoke, death, and Goblins, only sparing a second to activate Berserker¡¯s Bark. His skin turned grey and craggy as it took on the appearance of a walnut tree¡¯s natural armour. He couldn¡¯t have done it a second sooner. The moment he moved, the spell was broken, and a horde of angry goblins began rushing him all at once. A jagged spear tip scraped across the toughened hide of his chest, leaving a tiny scratch. The teen smiled at the stunned Goblin who expected to impale him. Elijah punched it in the face with one hand, sending it reeling back and clutching at its bleeding nose, while with the other he held onto the half-sized weapon. For the first time, he was armed! Another spear jabbed at him from his left and a mace from his right. Unable to react to both, the teen chose to prioritise the heavy weapon. Even with his defensive Skill, it could still break bones. He raised the undersized haft of the weapon up to block the downward swing of the metal club. It split apart, showering him with splinters. Simultaneously, the teen was poked in the back, and the mace hammered into his shoulder. Thankfully, most of the strength of the blow was mitigated by the shattering of the spear, so no bones were broken. That didn¡¯t stop it from smarting like Einstein. Elijah, angered, blood pumping in his ears, grabbed the mace by its shaft and yanked it towards himself, flipped it over, and smashed the off-balance Goblin on the top of the head. The thing dropped like a bag of rocks, dead. Two more pinpricks had stabbed lightly into his back, so he spun around, dislodging the tip-deep weapons. He came face to face with three Goblins, stabbing at him with fervour. Their attacks were little more than the brambles that scratched him on a countryside walk. He whacked the first on the head, then followed through with his right hand, punching the second in the face, sending it tumbling back. Using the spearhead that was still in his left hand, he stabbed the third in the neck, spraying him with green blood. Before he was even finished dealing with them, six more Goblins had encircled the young man. At this rate he would quickly become overwhelmed. So, despite the thrum of violence that filled his bones, he began to run. Not away, but further down the street, away from the smoke of the wall and towards the town square. He dashed across the cobblestones of the square, Goblins trailing behind him. His legs were longer, and he had decent Agility, so outpacing the little terrors was no problem. The inner town seemed mostly untouched. The buildings were made mostly of stone, and while some of the thatched roofs were alight, most weren¡¯t. There was one prominent exception, however. The largest building, adjacent to the square, clearly some place of worship with a massive spiky spire, had seen the most fighting. The heavy oak doors had been bashed in, and the bodies of Goblins and cat people littered the ground around it. That had been the inhabitants last stand, he wagered. Quickly surveying the state of affairs - the frenzied stream of Goblins charging after him, the large axe Goblin directing them, the mage Goblin chanting something sinister, and the sneaky Goblin nowhere in sight - Elijah decided to reuse the choke point that was the church¡¯s entrance. If it could work for the cat people, it could work for him¡­ Of course, it hadn¡¯t worked for the cat people. He leapt over the mound of bodies and into the porch of the building, then spun to face his next three attackers. Slash. Slash. Bonk. Bonk. Thud. The mountain of bodies grew as Elijah struggled to defend the bottleneck. Sap dripped down his wooden body in place of sweat, an interesting side effect of his Skill. There was a break in the constant stream of attacks, then a cry from outside, and, all of a sudden, a dozen Goblins pressed through the opening at once, holding out the bodies of the fallen as shields and moving in lockstep. With this sort of tactic, Elijah had no choice but to move backwards to stay out of the bristling wall of flesh and steel. He tried something. He had been slashing with the offhand spearhead as if it were a dagger, and the action reminded him of the very first Skill he had acquired, one he had never used. Investing the Stamina required, Elijah activated Cerberus Slash and swiped the air in front of him with his bladed article. A white phantom paw, the size of the teen¡¯s chest, materialised behind his attack. The long claws of the Cerberus slashed the wall of Goblins, causing three of them to scream in pain and another to drop dead. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. More rushed in to fill their place, however, and the line didn¡¯t break. The Skill was far more effective than the teen expected. That said, its Stamina consumption wasn¡¯t negligible, so he couldn¡¯t use it with the reckless abandon he would have liked. With no other choice, Elijah retreated. As he ran into the main building, he saw there were pews facing forward, like the churches he was used to, though this place was far more colourful. Grabbing one of the heavy seats, Elijah dragged it in front of the entrance, hopefully buying him a few more seconds. He looked around. There was an enclosed stone spiral staircase beneath the pointed spire he had seen from the outside, the door to which was open. The teen rushed over, then began to climb. One foot followed the other as he swiftly made his way up the tight ascent. It didn¡¯t take him long to reach the top. The staircase opened out into a cone-shaped room with windows on all sides. Above him, there was the pointed peak of the spire¡¯s roof. He prepared himself at the top of the stairs; they were only wide enough for one Goblin at a time, so he couldn¡¯t be pushed out like he was before. All he had to do was hold position, and he could win! Taking a moment¡¯s respite, he surveyed his condition. Scratches covered his bark-like skin, and there were areas he knew would bruise, but that was quite good, considering. The cries of the enraged Goblins filled the echoey staircase as they rushed up with no regard for their lives. Elijah swung, and swung again, and swung once more. He swung his mace until his arm grew tired and he was forced to switch hands. He swung until lethargy set into his bones; he swung until he could no longer swing, at which point he started kicking the monsters down the steps. It was only ten minutes, but the fighting had been so intense that he felt like his entire life had been war. His body craved water, his lungs burnt with each breath, and the mix of slime and sap that covered his body stung as it poured off his brow and into his eyes. Still, he continued to fight. Despite his exhaustion, the anger that had been infesting him lately thrummed steadily, parroting his heartbeats. He continued to attack in time with the rhythm. He had found his flow! At one point, he fought through the fog of war that clouded his mind and realised that he had killed far more than twenty Goblins. Checking the notification log in the corner of his HUD, the young man discovered why.
You have defeated a Lv 10 Zombie Goblin: Less Xp is awarded for defeating an opponent of a lower level. 90 Xp awarded. Xp automatically placed in escrow, US 2.7.1.
At some point the messages had changed. He hadn¡¯t noticed that he was fighting undead. They looked much the same as the normal Goblins; the bodies were fresh, after all. He had just assumed that the creatures he was attacking had somehow survived their horrific injuries and had gotten back into the fight. Once he knew the spell that mage Goblin had been casting, he switched to headshots only. Even so, this was untenable. He smacked one Goblin¡¯s ear off as he smashed in the head, sending the monster tumbling back down the way it had come, but only seconds later, it came back, a strange green light glowing in its eyes. Not even the tried-and-true method of destroying its brain seemed to work. A headless corpse he had decapitated came stumbling up the stairs only seconds later. He could defeat the lower-levelled creatures fairly easily, but that didn¡¯t matter if they could return ad infinitum. With each swing of the mace, each kick to the chest, each headbutt, and each tired push, he grew more and more exhausted. The thumping in his veins could keep him going, but for how long? Could he outlast the mage Goblin¡¯s mana? At this rate, probably not. Elijah decided on a course of action and moved. He threw himself through the third-storey window of the spire chamber, filling the air with twinkling shards of silicon dioxide. He slid down a roof, then tumbled into the street, landing hard. He didn¡¯t waste time and started running. He leapt over the corpses once more and found himself back in the cat people¡¯s church, behind the enemy. There was a fresh pile of Goblin corpses at the base of the staircase, and the mouldy Goblin was standing over them, dark green mana fluttering around him as dead bodies arose at his call. Elijah wasted no time and sprinted right for the mushroom-covered Goblin. Caught up in its spell, the creature didn¡¯t have time to react before it was tackled to the ground and a spear was stabbed into its chest. The ghostly claw of a Cerberus finished off the monster, cutting it into five equally sized pieces. The teen was too distracted making sure the caster was dead. He didn¡¯t notice the axe that swung at him until it was too late. As it turned out, an axe was super effective against wood. The weapon struck his exposed side, and a wedge of bark-covered flesh fell out. He was sent flying several feet, ending up sprawled out on the stone floor. Elijah coughed; he thought there should be blood mixed with his phlegm, but the monster still sleeping inside him wouldn¡¯t allow that. The tanky Goblin cried out and charged the prone teen. His battered mace and spear had been sent flying in the attack, and he looked about for them frantically. The mace was on the floor, ten feet away. It was so close, but not close enough. Almost on instinct, Elijah rose to his knees and raised his left, bark-covered arm to block, whilst his right transformed into a thick tentacle and squirmed over to his weapon. Two things happened at once. The warrior Goblin struck Elijah¡¯s arm, sending splinters of muscle spraying everywhere, chips of bone adding to the macabre display, and Elijah¡¯s Tentacle Limb wrapped around the haft of his weapon. It only took a second to draw the weapon back to him, but in that time his other arm had been brutally severed. Now he was stuck with a whip-like tentacle, slick-skinned and suckered, instead of a right arm. With no small amount of panic, Elijah surged to his feet, trying to push the stocky Goblin back. It was like trying to move a mountain. Although the Goblin was shorter than he, it was far stronger, and his attempt to create space did nothing. The monster stayed in range as it continued to swing away. This time, however, the teen was able to snap his new limb back in time to deflect the blow. Metal rang, and sparks flew as the weapons clashed. Elijah tried to attack, his tentacle moving erratically as he attempted to swing the mace attached to him at his foe. This too didn¡¯t work. Unlike the other Goblins, this one actually knew how to fight. Elijah¡¯s flailed strikes bounced off the remains of its shield or were deflected by its axe. Although the teen tried to keep up the frantic attacks, the monster was able to maintain its defence with minimal effort. When it thought it had got his measure, the thing smiled at the teen, showing off half-rotten fangs as if to say, ¡°That all you got?¡± Elijah took the opening without hesitation. He headbutted the monster, landing his wood-hard forehead directly on the creature''s overlarge nose. Blood sprayed, and the creature was stunned. He had put all the retaliatory force the Berserker¡¯s Bark had been building up throughout the fight into that strike, and still, it didn¡¯t do more than cause the creature to stumble back, its eyes unfocused. The sixteen-year-old tried to capitalise on the opportunity, but something wet and about the size of a basketball struck his tentacle, driving it into his body, where it stuck. Elijah looked to his right, finding the snot Goblin cackling as it pointed and laughed at the teen, stuck together by mucus. This wasn¡¯t any ordinary mucus either. It was as sticky as glue, and Elijah found he was unable to unstick his tentacle from his side. It didn¡¯t matter; he still had legs, and the warrior was still dazed. He would kick it to death if he must. As he stepped forward to do just that, a sharp pain exploded in his lower back. Turning around, he saw the assassin Goblin sneaking back into the shadows of the church, having left a knife in his kidney. His body burned with pain, but he still tried to use what little time he had left before the warrior Goblin came back to its senses to strike it down. Just as he raised his leg to kick, fighting off the agony of a missing arm and a stab wound, something struck him from across the church, and in less than a second, he had burst into unholy dark green flames. He ran about, desperately trying to put out the fire that caught so easily on his bark skin. It hurt like the seven layers of hell all rolled into one. While screaming and rolling, he saw something that was impossible. The Goblin mage he had shredded was stitched back together, its flesh withered and the same green light as the zombies glowing in its eyes. As the pain grew white hot and his grip on sanity began to waver, Elijah knew this was the end. He would do better next time. The thought brought him some small measure of comfort. Just as he accepted his death, he exploded. Spikes of blood tore out from inside him, turning him into an anemone and putting out the infernal flames. That wasn¡¯t to say the pain went away. No. Impossibly, it doubled as he was shredded from the inside out! Chapter 31: What is the Purpose of Blood? Chapter 31
What is the Purpose of Blood? Elijah lived in pain, agony, and anguish, but he still lived. Despite the destruction of his tissues by the blood that burst out of him like the needles of a porcupine, his Health didn¡¯t drop. In fact, it rose slightly. Whenever the blood spikes came in contact with the ample pools of Goblin blood, they absorbed them, boosting Elijah¡¯s Health, utilising the Blood Regeneration Trait his glitched Familiar bond had granted him. It didn¡¯t take long for the teen''s red bar to reach full, then slowly creep beyond. A new, temporary section was added to the display. The young man¡¯s foes didn¡¯t just stand still and let him do this. Balls of green flame crashed against the wall of bloody spikes but were ripped apart into pure mana and joined the flow that was produced by Elijah¡¯s Mana Heart. His Mana also got a temporary boost which ticked down every second. The sneaky Goblin tried throwing knives at the thing that had spawned from the teen¡¯s body, but to no effect. It was made out of fluid and simply reconnected when cut. The warrior Goblin regained his senses and began to gather together the five or so lesser Goblins which hadn¡¯t died in the earlier assault. Elijah simply screamed. The pain of his body healing, then being torn apart over and over, was simply too much. Once all his resources, Health, Mana, and Stamina were at or beyond full, the blood bristles retracted. Snapping back into the teen¡¯s now intact body. His right hand had returned to its normal shape, and his left had been regrown. He looked fine, except for the blood-red eyes. The warrior didn¡¯t hesitate, sending his minions to attack with a cry that caused a wave of orange enraging light to engulf them. The lower-levelled Goblins were all injured, but none dared question the command as they rushed towards Elijah, bounding over each other, eager to rip him limb from limb. They were behaving more like rabid dogs than the semi-intelligent fighters they had been before. Elijah knew he would have to fight to survive; he tried raising his left hand to jab out and give him space. His right hand rose, palm outstretched. The teen was powerless to control his body as the beast within took the reins. A thin spike of crystallised blood shot out of his palm, snaking through the Goblins, piercing each of their heads in turn, before retracting back into the teen¡¯s body. They all fell to the ground. Dead before they had been able to contribute. The warrior smiled and cheered at the display of violence; the assassin threw another knife towards Elijah¡¯s back, and the newly reborn lich threw balls of raw, death mana towards his face. The young man strained to react to either one of the incoming threats, but again his impulses were suppressed, and the blood acted in his place. Simultaneously, his right arm snapped out towards the black bubbles of corrosive death, and his left arm moved behind him to block the sneak attack. A circle of swirling blood appeared from his right palm, stealing the Mana from the attack before it could even get close, and his left hand snatched the knife from the air without looking before throwing it back into the darkness, eliciting a yelp of pain and surprise. After absorbing the Mana from that last attack, Elijah had 260 points, though they ticked away faster the further above his maximum of 130 he became. The blood acted quickly. As soon as it had the required Mana, it activated a Skill Elijah hadn¡¯t yet been able to use: Domain of Darkness. The Skill he had gained for overcoming his fear of the dark and subsequently defeating the Candle-Sweep. As the cloud of absolute black billowed out from the teen, engulfing the church and all those inside, the real Elijah railed against the inside of his own mind. As the seconds passed and it became more and more clear that he had no control over any aspect of his body, he began to panic. Was he going to be stuck in his own mind forever? Able to see but never touch? Forced to watch as this monster stole his mortal vessel? His internal wailing caught the attention of the blood. It turned its focus inwards while the Skill took hold. ¡°Learn!¡± it commanded in its multitudinous voices. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Elijah was stunned, but when the pressure of its words ceased to ring his mind like a bell, he realised something was off. Not only with what it had said, but with the manner in which it had been vocalised. The blood¡¯s voice was still an amalgamation of numerous souls acting in concert, but before there had been a thousand in the chorus; now there were merely a hundred. It was still overwhelming and overpowering, but not nearly to the same degree. Had this creature grown weaker? Why did it want him to learn? What did it want him to learn? Elijah didn¡¯t know the answers to any of these questions, nor did it seem that the blood felt inclined to elaborate, so, with reluctance, he decided to sit back and watch what it did with his body. As the blanket of impenetrable night fell, Elijah couldn¡¯t see anything. Even so, he could feel everything, from the movement of his enemies to the fluttering of the wind to the wriggling of bacteria as it began to eat away at the dead bodies that were piled high. For the teen, it was too much all at once, and he couldn¡¯t make sense of it. For his faux Familiar, however, it was simple to only focus on the necessary information and forget the rest. Like a wraith of death, Elijah¡¯s body ran across the stone, his footsteps muted by the magically reinforced darkness. It had only been a few seconds since the Skill was activated, but as Elijah felt them draw near the slim figure of the assassin-type Goblin stepping about blindly, he realised, somehow, it was already lost. The blood activated Light Footed when they drew within three steps, ensuring there was no way they could be detected. Drawing blood out of its palm and using Blood Manipulation, it created a solid blade of crystallised blood. He stepped behind the wary creature, its daggers drawn and its guard up. The blood caused Elijah to thrust the weapon into its back, directly through its heart. There was a dull glow around the wound as some Skill tried to save it, but the extra 10% damage from Dishonourable ensured that it was dead. The monster that was controlling Elijah¡¯s body moved onto the next target before the corpse hit the floor. This Skill had a time limit, and it wasn¡¯t wasting a second. The warrior was next on the chopping block. Unlike the assassin Goblin, this one wasn¡¯t scared. It didn¡¯t even have its guard up. It simply stood there with its eyes closed, meditating? The teen stood undetected, to the left of the monster. The blood changed the arm holding the sword into a tentacle and snaked it around the Goblin to delicately poke its jugular on the right side, causing green blood to gush forth. Faster than Elijah could blink, the warrior slashed down with his axe, severing the tentacle arm and causing the crystallised weapon to clatter to the stone. If he had been standing there, he would be dead or severely injured. The blood ran away. The Goblin continued to strike the air, its frustration growing with each swing. The teen wondered why the blood hadn¡¯t continued the fight before he realised: the Goblin was already dead; it just didn¡¯t know it yet. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the monster keeled over, having turned a far paler shade of green. The tiny cut to the jugular had been a fatal wound, and the notification that appeared proved that the fountain of blood that had sprayed all over the darkness had been necessary for the warrior to continue living. Then there was the mage. Unlike the others, the sudden darkness had invoked anger in this Goblin. It threw balls of fire and death in all directions with its seemingly bottomless supply of Mana. The blood took the time to refill Elijah¡¯s Mana by absorbing some of these attacks, then stepped behind the monster. Using a needle of blood, it injected the creature with a concentrated supply of pure mana. The lich tried to spin around and attack, but the blood grasped both of its hands and squeezed until they were mangled, destroying them with pure Strength. It tried to cast another spell, but without the use of its hands, it was unable to make the signs it had been using, and nothing manifested. The Goblin¡¯s glowing green orbs opened wide in shock, pain, and surprise as Elijah¡¯s sandaled foot kicked the monster. It collided with the snot Goblin who had been stumbling around with a ball of sticky stuff. They tumbled to the ground, becoming glued together. As they flailed about, trying to get free, the timer on the Skill ended and light returned to the world. Just in time, as less than a second later, the mana-filled balloon of a mage exploded into a pillar of dark green flames that scorched Elijah, even though the blood had been running his body away ever since the kick. Trapped within the containment of his mind, Elijah heard an internal sigh that shook his consciousness. The word repeated, far quieter and with even fewer voices than before. ¡°Learn,¡± it said, less of an order and more of a plea. The next thing he heard were the quiet rumblings of sleep as the blood beast returned to slumber. He tried to move his hand. It opened and closed at will. He tried to jump. His legs leaped at his command. He tried to punch. His hand shot out without delay. Elijah was back in control! The monster had relinquished its grasp without provocation, and the teen still didn¡¯t really understand why. Was he supposed to be grateful to it for showing him how to better use his Skills? How could he be? He would always hate the imposter for killing his true Familiar. Elijah felt confused, which only fed the anger that grew deep inside him.
Congratulations! You have completed the Trial of Evolution 1: Goblin Grade: C Objectives: Rewards: You have earned the right to Evolve from a Goblin into 1 of 3 Goblin Evolutions: Choose Now!
Chapter 32: Toad Master, Master of Toads! Chapter 32
Toad Master, Master of Toads!
Weapons returned to Inventory
New Evolution Class E?v?o?l?u?t?i?o?n? C???l???a???s???s??? E???v????o?????l????u????t????i????o?????n??? C??????l???????a???????s????s??????? ¡­ Unlocked!
Evolution Unlocked: Goblin Warlord: C Having proven your Strength by slaying an entire Goblin war party, you have earned the Evolution: Goblin Warlord. This Evolution is specialised in leading Goblin war parties to bloody victory, or they will die trying.
New Class Trait Unlocked! New Class Trait unlocked: Warlord¡¯s Presence: C Troops under your command obey orders immediately and without question. +15% damage to the attacks of members of your war party.
You have reached Level 1 in G?o?b?l?i?n? ?W?a?r?l?o?r?d?!? +2 Strength +2 Endurance +1 Wisdom
New Threshold Met! You have reached 10 in Wisdom! This would be the cap for Race: Elijah, but the System allows you to push beyond your limits! Having reached the first Threshold, you are less likely to repeat mistakes and are more likely to learn from them. Wisdom can no longer drop below 10.
Tier I Race Unlocked! You have reached the first Threshold in all levelable Attributes! Your race has increased from Tier 0 to Tier I!
New Race Trait Unlocked! Tier I Elijah: F All stats are 10% more effective. You¡¯re one step closer to perfection!
The darkness of the void was broken by a light, glowing from inside him. It pulsed a bright white, then disappeared. Afterwards, his muscles were a tenth of a millimetre bigger and slightly more toned. He didn¡¯t feel any different, but that didn¡¯t mean much; he couldn¡¯t feel anything in the endless blackness that embraced him. The increase to Wisdom didn¡¯t seem to have a noticeable effect like Intelligence had; then again, it relied on experience, and he was still lacking in that department. He still didn¡¯t really know how to fight; he was relying on brute force, and it was tiring! Perhaps the Attribute¡¯s attributes would become clear in time. A new world came into being. The sky was aquamarine. No, wait, there was no sky. Instead of the view of a colourful troposphere Elijah was growing used to, he found this scene to be surrounded by glowing water. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t have to worry about drowning for the rest of eternity as a bubble of air appeared, surrounding him; it had a radius of sixty feet or so. The pocketed plateau was at the peak of an underwater mountain. The bubble marked the circumference of an arena. The ground was made of carefully raked sand that formed a spiral pattern. The teen spawned at the edge, at the start of the swirl, and his opponent sat cross-legged in its centre. The teen couldn¡¯t get a good look at the figure as they sat, facing away and hunched over. All he could tell was that they wore black. Waiting for the Trial to finish forming, Elijah looked over the edge of the submarine peak and saw the most colourful forest he had ever seen. In place of trees, there was a rainbow array of coral, all of them having far outgrown your usual wooden plant. Some of the furthest ones looked as tall as skyscrapers and nearly rivalled the mountain he was atop. They added a scenic skyline.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The Trial of Evolution 1: Toadkin You have reached Lv 25 as a Toadkin! Welcome to The Trial of Evolution: Impress the Evolved Master Toad to prove your right to undergo the first Evolution. A better performance in this trial will lead to a more powerful Evolution with stronger monster Skills and Traits.
Toadkin, huh? Elijah thought, wondering what such a creature looked like. He didn¡¯t have to wonder for long. As soon as the Trial began and the teen dropped down onto the sand, ruining the carefully raked surface, the monster rose and turned to face him. It stood on two legs, like a human, but that was where the similarities ended. Its arms and legs were stick-thin, but its abdomen bulged out, tapering as it moved towards the chest and head, giving the toad person the body of a pear. It was dressed in a tightly swaddled gi, beneath which was a polo-necked dicky, all of it black, contrasting with its white, wart-covered skin. The albino Toadkin didn¡¯t waste any time. As soon as it saw Elijah, it darted towards him, its white beard and eyebrows trailing behind it as a column of sand exploded upwards. He, for he truly looked the part of some old master from a kung fu movie, raised a sword in his left hand that looked to be made from the nose of a swordfish, ready to strike. There was a calm serenity in the toad man¡¯s red eyes, despite the blistering speed with which he devoured the arena, and Elijah was lulled into a false sense of security. He was barely able to react in time to defend himself against the telegraphed attack. If not for the recent enhancement to the effectiveness of his stats, Elijah didn¡¯t think he would have had the Perception to notice the slash, the Agility to move away in time, or the Dexterity to bend over backwards to avoid the arc of the swing. His recently reequipped bloody yellow tunic fluttered in the wind that was created by the Toad Master¡¯s attack, an attack that passed through the bubble barrier and caused great vortexes that spiralled out into waves as it sliced through the very water itself. Elijah was afforded a slight nod before the next assault came. With the teen bent over backwards, it was simple for his opponent to lightly punch him in the stomach with the webbed hand that wasn¡¯t holding a weapon. Oof. Thud. Elijah ¡°Oof¡±ed as the air was driven from him, before collapsing back onto the coarse grey sand with a thud, unable to maintain his extended position. Just because he had fallen, however, didn¡¯t mean he was safe. Despite the toad man¡¯s calm features, he did not cease his attacks. His face spoke of gentle calmness, but his actions spoke of death. Without stopping its arc, the sword swept down, plunging gracefully into the earth and raising another pillar of sand in the process. Had the teen not rolled away the second he struck the ground, it would have impaled him straight through the heart. Still winded and unable to breathe, Elijah forced himself to spring back to his feet. A part of him wanted this fight: a chance to expel the ever-growing anger he harboured at a situation he didn¡¯t understand and couldn¡¯t control. The last Trial, he thought, had been the right opportunity, and although some of his frustration was burnt away by the intense fighting, more fuel was piled onto that fire when his body had been usurped as a result of his failure to win. He wouldn¡¯t make the same mistake again. Elijah didn¡¯t wait for his opponent to make the first move this time. With the weapon embedded in the ground, he had time to act. When the last Trial ended, the System had seen the weapons he was using as his and stored them in his Inventory. The teen didn¡¯t really understand the mechanics of it, but he wasn¡¯t complaining. His arm swung down towards the Toad Master, mace materialising mid-motion. The monster leaned back only slightly, but it was just enough to avoid the strike. Copying his opponent, Elijah went for a follow-up when the toad man was off balance. Pixels shimmered around his left hand as his shoddily made iron spearhead appeared. The teen used it to slash at the whiskered master. Even before the motion was complete, the Toad Master had his hand positioned, ready to calmly and efficiently deflect the strike. His eyes lit up with a mix of surprise and delight as the phantom form of a Cerberus¡¯ giant paw appeared behind the attack, claws out. Just as Elijah thought he had trapped the old toad and was about to land an attack, something unexpected happened. The master spun around, fast enough to create a mini tornado of sand, then jumped into the air. Making his body horizontal, he was able to spin in-between two of the slashing claws, yanking the sword free of the sand in the process and using the momentum of his movement to launch a vertical slash. Elijah was unable to react in time, and he lost the tip of his ear along with some hairs as the pressure of the attack continued onwards, carving a line in the sand. What kind of Capoeira bullshit was that? Elijah thought, his body frozen as he stared at the physics-defying toad. The monster man, who had been smiling, frowned when he saw that the raven-haired lad wasn¡¯t continuing the rally. ¡°Don¡¯t get distracted,¡± the Toad Master chided in a chuffing ribbit. Elijah was double-stunned. He was barely able to brace himself for the kick that sent him tumbling several feet away. ¡°You can talk?¡± the teen asked dumbly. ¡°Wait, that wasn¡¯t English,¡± he added, continuing to state the obvious. Elijah jumped back to his feet as the Toad Master walked towards him, giving him time to recompose himself. ¡°I know not this Angle-ishe; we are speaking toad tongue,¡± the toad man answered with a curious cock of his head. The teen didn¡¯t understand; he recalled his words; they were indeed spoken in the same croaking language as the sword master. Maybe it was something the System was doing, or maybe the alterations the blood had made to his brain were more extensive than he thought? It didn¡¯t really matter. What threw him for a loop was the very fact that it could talk. He never wanted to attack anything sentient; it was against his nature. He had forgotten that when fighting the Goblins, because their actions were so evil. Now that he knew that this creature was in fact the kindly old man he appeared to be, Elijah dismissed his weapons and bowed to him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for attacking you,¡± he apologised, his hands shaking, his mind a mix of emotions. His head, supplicated at ninety degrees, was slammed into the sand by an uncaring webbed hand, much to his pain and surprise. The teen was forced to snort out rough particles of rock to keep from suffocating. ¡°Stupid boy,¡± the toad ribbited gently, ¡°I attacked you, and you should never let down your guard in a fight.¡± The Toad Master proceeded to sit on Elijah, trapping him with his surprising weight. The teen tried to splutter a reply through the sand, but it was garbled, and he didn¡¯t honestly have a retort. His morals were warring with reality. He should respect his elders, but this elder was using him as a chair, and he couldn¡¯t get up! Was there supposed to be a lesson in this unwarranted humiliation? ¡°There is a fire burning inside you; you should really let it out before it consumes all that you are,¡± the toad man advised, idly fingering the razor-sharp tip of his weapon. Should he? Could he? Elijah didn¡¯t want to hurt the toad now that he saw him as a man; it was a cognitive switch that couldn¡¯t be unflipped. As for the fire he spoke of¡­ The teen was angry; that he couldn¡¯t deny. He hadn¡¯t felt this way since his father chose to leave and never came back. Though he hated the man when he was around, he hated him more for leaving, for giving up. He had repressed the feelings and just got on with his life. Why couldn¡¯t he do that anymore? Why was it that he felt this growing beast bubbling just beneath the surface, waiting to snap at any that roused its ire, fed by anger and hopelessness? A part of him knew that he would never escape these Trials. Despite his determination, he didn¡¯t truly believe he would get home. The Toad Master grew tired of waiting for the teen to act and decided to take matters into his own hands. ¡°If you¡¯re not willing to show it to me, then I¡¯m just going to have to force it out,¡± he croaked wearily. Chapter 33: Is It War That Makes A Warrior? Chapter 33
Is It War That Makes A Warrior? Elijah believed in sticking to a course of action once he had decided upon it. This simultaneous vice and virtue was imparted to him by his grandfather. Some called it pride; others called it stubbornness. Right now, it felt like stupidity. As it transpired, he wasn¡¯t the only one who held to this tenet. The Toad Master had decided to draw out his anger by any means necessary, and Elijah had decided not to let him. This led to Elijah receiving a severe beating as he was tossed about the arena like a ragdoll. He was determined not to let the toad man¡¯s attacks break him, but that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t dodge. The amphibian¡¯s speed and proficiency, however, ensured it wasn¡¯t possible. He repeated a mantra over and over to stop him from striking back: ¡°I am better than him; I will stick to my beliefs; I will not give in.¡± It helped mollify the pain somewhat, but it did nothing for the accumulating bruises that had taken root on every inch of his body; he was as swollen as a pumpkin. The Toadkin, clearly unhappy with what he was doing, only made his attacks stronger over time. Perhaps he thought that if he ramped up the pain, Elijah would give in sooner? The opposite was true. The harder it was for him to endure, the more he wanted to. Seeing that this approach wasn¡¯t leading anywhere, the Toad Master switched tack. He still struck the young man with enough force to send him flying, but he added insults and personal jibes in between the attacks. The old toad man looked disgusted by his own words, but he stuck to the course he had decided upon, which, on some level, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but respect. ¡°You¡¯re weak,¡± the Toadkin declared, before backhanding the teen across his puffy face so hard that what teeth hadn¡¯t already been knocked out were sent tumbling through the air. ¡°I am better than him,¡± Elijah repeated, his swollen tongue mumbling the words which were only for himself. ¡°You¡¯re slow,¡± the toad man berated, proving his point by kicking the young man in the stomach before he had even hit the ground. After what little bile remained inside him was choked up, Elijah continued: ¡°I will stick to my beliefs.¡± The personal insults weren¡¯t working, so the Toad Master broadened the scope of his verbal assault. ¡°The whore who spawned you would be ashamed,¡± he went on, bouncing the young man¡¯s head off the sand with his heel, using enough force to ring his bell but not enough to knock him out. Proof of his martial mastery. Elijah¡¯s eyes burned at the comment, but he continued with his mantra:
¡°I.¡±
The Toadkin, having found a successful line of attack, pressed his advantage mercilessly: ¡°Yes, a bet she had thousands of tadpoles, ribbit, each egg fertilised by a different male.¡± His voice was filled with clearly fake smarm. The teen began to shake and turn red, but he didn¡¯t break from his commitment.
¡°Will.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t even know who your sire is, do you?¡± The Toad master asked with an inexperienced imitation of condescension. It didn¡¯t matter that there was no real conviction behind the words; it didn¡¯t matter that the insults were tailored towards toad people and made very little sense when applied to him; it didn¡¯t even matter that it was being said by someone with no way to know anything about his personal life. They had struck a part of Elijah¡¯s soul, hidden so deep that he didn¡¯t know it was a part of him. Sometimes he wished he never knew his father. But he couldn¡¯t deny he was his son.
¡°Not.¡±
Elijah pressed on, pushing himself slowly back to his feet, tendons straining with the effort, arms shaking. The Toad Master deflated; he had thought he was onto something with that one, but the pesky child was continuing that same phrase for the hundredth time. Except he wasn¡¯t. ¡°I will not hear a bad word about my mother!!!¡± he bellowed, gaining a second wind and charging the toad man. That, it would seem, was the straw that broke the camel''s back. The monster, Wrath, finally broke free of its cage, and it was rearing for a fight. As Elijah closed the distance, his skin turned grey and bark-like. The Toad Master¡¯s features returned to their normal calm when he saw the mace materialise in the enraged child¡¯s fist. This had been difficult for the old man; he was kind by nature, but a teacher at heart. And this was a lesson the young one was sorely in need of. Were his anger left to fester, what could otherwise be a promising future would be destroyed by self-sabotage. The master thought he had the measure of the man from their earlier altercation. He was surprised, therefore, when Elijah used Dodge, not to evade an attack, but to avoid the toad man¡¯s open-palm deflection. Instead of the straightforward downward slash the teen had initiated, courtesy of the Skill, his weapon jumped to the right at the last moment, dodging the webbed hand that had intended to stop it and landing a solid strike on the Toad Master¡¯s left shoulder, dislodging the arm and causing his sword to fall from his grasp. The beast had tasted blood, and it wanted more! This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Elijah saw red; he felt heady as blood rushed around his body like jet fuel. His everything was bright red, and veins bulged out like cables being pulled off the seafloor. He no longer felt pain, but still he craved it. With vicious excitement, he sought to strike the one before him, not remembering why. The master, being an experienced fighter, didn¡¯t falter because of his mistake. He calmly moved backwards, avoiding the teen¡¯s wild strikes with practiced efficiency. The pain of his dislocated shoulder pulled at his mind, but he didn¡¯t let it distract him; now was a key moment. Elijah pounded sand, attacking with no regard for defence; each time his strikes failed to land, he was driven to greater madness. Bellowing out his frustration, spittle flinging from his lips, the teen sliced open his arm, forcing his blood to obey his will. Before, the creature inside him had an iron grip on his vital fluid, but enraged, there was no limit to his willpower. He demanded his blood form into crystallised darts that fired towards the albino toad man, and it had no choice but to obey. The Toad Master was as agile as a dancer, but he only dodged eleven of the twelve projectiles. The final crystal dart struck him in his already injured left arm. He shrugged with his one good shoulder; what was another wound on his already wounded side? Elijah didn¡¯t see it the same way; he cheered in triumph and was propelled into a third wind. His Stamina seemingly endless, the teen redoubled his beastly attacks. Although there was even more energy forced into them, they were more reckless, and they missed their mark by even greater margins. Elijah tried to use the Dodge trick again, but the toad man had infuriatingly adjusted to it and always had a path open to evade if he couldn¡¯t deflect. His Berserker¡¯s Bark was also useless; the Toad Master wasn¡¯t even attacking. He was like water, constantly flowing, impossible to strike. Inevitably, Elijah¡¯s anger burned low; the heat of such flames couldn¡¯t last forever. Now that his rage had a foothold, however, it didn¡¯t want to let go, and neither did he want it to, for he knew it would give way to regret. Before that could happen, the toad man spoke up for the first time since he had caused Elijah to enter a state of frenzy with his use of pain, both physical and emotional. ¡°No, hold onto that anger; don¡¯t let it burn out!¡± the monster man insisted. The rational part of the teen¡¯s mind, which had been taking a backseat, was confused by the instruction. Didn¡¯t this guy want him to let go of his anger? ¡°You must control it and not let it control you. Don¡¯t just repress it, or it will bubble over again. Anger is a weapon, and warriors must accept their weapons in order to use them. Control is the most important thing!¡± The Toad Master¡¯s words were spoken quickly but calmly and with definite firmness; time was of the essence. Elijah didn¡¯t really understand what the toad man was talking about, but he decided to do what he thought he was supposed to. He continued his wild attacks but slowly began to rein in the strikes, making them tighter and faster. The heat of anger still boiled just beneath his skin, but it was being constrained by his will; not allowed to run rampant. Soon, the Toad Master was forced to defend in earnest, throwing in the occasional knee or elbow to try and break Elijah¡¯s concentration. Instead of just shrugging off the attacks and doggedly chasing after the next hit, he took the time to defend, but without losing sight of his next strike, making his movements small and efficient. Before the young man knew what was happening, he was fighting like a proper warrior. There was no wasted motion, and he was constantly chasing after the next opening with relentless fervour. At some point, the Toad Master was able to circle around to his blade, kick it up and start using it in his off hand. Weapons clashed. The pair danced, and Elijah matched the old master strike for strike. When his mace and the toad¡¯s thrusting sword bound together, the young man discovered he was the one with greater Strength, and he did his best to lean into what seemed to be his only advantage. Elijah entered a fugue state. The wildness of anger warred with the constraint of control, engaged in a constant battle, fuelling his every strike. The teen had no idea how long he went blow for blow with the old man, but before he knew it, he found he was enjoying himself. His muscles switched between tense and relaxed from second to second, and sweat began to drip off his brow and onto the sand, but his breaths were deep and even. Finally, he got a lucky hit, or he thought he did. The Toad Master left an opening, allowing the teen to strike his weapon hand with the mace, sending the thrusting sword flying. However, it was a trap. The sixteen-year-old had become overextended, and the old master took full advantage. In one fluid motion, he locked the mace arm under his armpit, placed a foot behind the teen¡¯s lunging leg, shoved, and jerked. Elijah fell flat on his back, his main weapon gone. He tried to bring his offhand around, but the toad man already had control of it and was pointing the tip of the spear-dagger at his throat. There was a moment where he fought to find the next move before he realised it was pointless. A laugh escaped his lips. The anger released its hold, and he felt better than he had in days. The mounting pressure that had been growing between his shoulder blades was suddenly relieved, and it felt good! He laughed for a good few minutes, rolling around in a fit of giggles. When he finally stopped, he found not a blade but an open, warted hand pointed towards him. He took it without hesitation, pulling himself to his feet. He was greeted by the Toad Master¡¯s gentle smile. ¡°Congratulations,¡± he said, his voice as serene as his face. ¡°You have taken the first step on the path of control by learning to harness your anger, but it is only the first step. Ribbit. You must master all your emotions, not just direct them. Understand your heart,¡± he went on, pressing a slimy finger into his chest, ¡°and you will be a warrior.¡± Once he had said the words he needed to say, his frog-like face broke out into a grin once more, and he threw something at the teen. On reflex, he caught it. To his surprise, it was the Toad Master¡¯s swordfish sword. ¡°But¨C¡± the teen spluttered, trying to convey his inability to accept such a precious gift. ¡°Hush now,¡± the toad croaked, ¡°I can hardly let one of my students go out into the world without a weapon,¡± he said, pointing to the mace whose haft was nearly chipped all the way through and the spearhead that was little more than mangled junk metal. ¡°But¡­ I can¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t you at least want to know how I got into this Trial? I¡¯m clearly not Toadkin,¡± Elijah said, desperately trying to find some way to repay the elder¡¯s generosity. Throughout the fight, despite the multiple hits, the Toad Master¡¯s weapon didn¡¯t have so much as a scratch. It was simply too good for him. ¡°Croak. Frankly, I don¡¯t care. Ribbit. I took this job to teach warriors, and you are a warrior. That is all that matters.¡± ¡°Wait, job?¡± the teen asked, but his question was never answered. The last thing he saw was the white beaming face and bright red eyes of the albino toad man before he was consumed by the void.
Congratulations! You have completed the Trial of Evolution 1: Toadkin Grade: B Objectives: Rewards: You have earned the right to Evolve from a Toadkin into 1 of 4 Toadkin Evolutions: Choose Now!