Clare was there with the legless man unconscious on the floor. Remembering the outburst from yesterday, Tom couldn’t blame them.
“We’re keeping Stan sedated till he gets his legs back. We think it’s best for everyone. Have you done this before?”
Tom shuddered slightly at the question he could remember exactly when he had learned to replace limbs. Pinkwing had lost her wing, and he hadn’t know how to fix her. In the end, he had to learn by chopping off his own little toe multiple times. “Yeah, I know how to do it.”
Clare was looking at him sympathetically. “Bad experience.”
Tom said nothing for a moment. He didn’t want to talk about the dragonling and the ethical considerations of whether she had truly existed. Instead, he studied the unconscious man. “His state means I don’t need to dull pains.”
“No. I’ve cast a sleep spell on him. It’s not a spell that sends him to sleep but one that magically forces the sleeping state. The only way to rouse him early is to break the spell.”
He touched Stan’s hand. Healing Tranquillity kicked in. There was a strange energy that filled him different from the one the murderer had used, but it had a similar structure to it even if this one felt stickier and less alien. It had clumped in the brain area and heart. If he burnt it away or pushed it out of the body, Tom knew it would wake him up.
Tom broke contact and looked at Clare. “That energy is like what was used by the killer.” Clare looked shocked at the comment and her hand automatically moved a knife out of its sheath. “It’s not the same, but similar. Can you tell me about it?”
Clare shrugged and handed him the small dagger. “For when you start healing.” She explained, at Tom’s quizzical look. “As for the sleep, it’s the healing spell, Deep Slumber. It’s designed to knock people out, for you’re doing a larger operation more safely.”
Tom touched Stan once more and used Healing Tranquillity to examine the energy keeping the man asleep. The energy was thick and cloying and seemed to be more brute force than the other version. Clare’s version needed a lot more power to get the same effect. “Yours is rougher than the killers.”
“Makes sense. Deep Slumber is a tier 1 spell, so you expect it to be as rough as guts.”
Tom looked at the dagger and the leg he had to grow in disgust. “Restoring limbs with low levels spells is a pain isn’t it.”
“We should be thankful we can do it. About the sleeping spell, how close are the energies?”
Tom thought about it. Clare’s spell was heavier and felt more earthy and natural, but he could see similarities. “Not the same, but they might be cousins. It’s quite possible the murderer is from the healers.”
Clare did not respond to that, and Tom figured he might as well get going. He brought the dagger to the deformed end of the leg that finished just below the hip and pushed. The man had a vitality of ten and the skin held stubbornly. Tom increased the pressure and felt the tip of the dagger cut.
Tom pulled back and a drop of blood welled out.
Perfect.
His mind fell into Healing Tranquility and that blood metamorphosed into skin and the skin it was on top of into muscle. Rebuilding a limb was a painstakingly slow process.
Tom pressed the blade in once more. This time, he had to press harder before the blade worked and when it did, he couldn’t stop it instantly. It bit deeper than he planned. There was a small flood of blood, enough to bloody a tissue but not a bandage, and more than he wanted.
Easy there, he reminded himself. That was wasteful. Over two-thirds of the released blood had to be cleaned away with a wet cloth, as he failed to convert it in time.
Tom made another prick and then wiped tears from his eyes. He did not want to remember her and definitely not the rebuilding of her wing.
At least this guy was unconscious.
Under his perfect control, he built out the limb. It was painstakingly complex work especially when he could not let his mana drop below ninety percent.
Another drop done.
Tom stabbed again.
Rinse and repeat.
Abruptly, the change in atmosphere brought him out of his routine. The lizard attack an hour earlier had been loud but unremarkable but this… He stood up and realized Clare had as well. Her finger went to her lips as they shamelessly eavesdropped on the council conversation outside.
“Can you say that again?” Bob asked.
“It’s a persistent monthly trial.”
“And you’re a hundred percent sure.” Joline asked her bossy tones distinctive to Tom.
“I’m certain. We double checked it’s a tailorable solo challenge.”
“And definitely solo?” Joline pressed.
“Yes.”
“Thank DEUS,” Joline said loudly. “We won’t have any of that stupidity from last time.”
The words rushed over them. A huge smile blossomed on Clare’s face. She wiped and sheathed the knife her interest in restoring a limb gone. She looked at him happily. “What are you going to choose?”
“I haven’t thought about it?” Tom lied. He would use the trial to regain one of the skills he had lost in coming to Existentia.
“I had mastered a cool, evasive step spell.” Clare told him. “I’m going to see if it can help me to re-earn that.”
“Can’t you buy it?”
“It’s tier 3, plus I had thirteen levels.”
“How much to buy outright?”
“Thirty-seven thousand.”
Mentally, Tom tried to do the mathematics. A skill costing that much would be a rich reward from this type of trial, but not impossible. The issue was that there were no shades of grey. She would either get the technique or she wouldn’t. “A bit of a gamble.”
“I’m not concerned, nor am I certain I’ll try to get it back. It’s just what came to my head. Before I select it, the trial will probably be willing to tell me how likely the gambit is to work and I can adjust my decision then.”
“I guess it becomes a matter of maths.”
“Risk reward.” She agreed.
They walked out together.
Tom froze.
Everlyn was with the archer who had been giving the report to the council. He was definitely getting the full gossip later.
She saw him and pulled away and she let her partner field the questions and danced across to him. He abandoned Clare to join her. The trial was a huge stroke of fortune, for all of them, and her face reflected that.
“Selectable challenge?” he asked. She nodded. “How powerful?”
Her grin if anything grew wider. “Five hundred times your level of experience to buy in. Capability to use wealth to purchase. Mana crystals, artefacts and gemstones, but–” She shrugged.
He knew exactly what she meant. It was not like they had a crystal mine that they could use for the entry fee.
“Do you know what you’re doing?”
She wrinkled her nose and her face went blank. “Archery. I’m going to buy the base skill and try to develop some upgrades like the power-shot sub skill.”
“What’s with everyone wanting to use this to get expensive skills?”
“With my DEUS trial skill even if I don’t get power shot the trial should still push the base archery above sixteen and give me some sort of sub archery ability. These things reward technical skill with official Skill levels.”
“True. I guess that’s a good plan. At least it sounds like it is more likely to succeed than Clare’s.”
“What’s her approach?”
“She wants to relearn a tier 3 evasion skill. That’s fine, but I’m not sure there’s a consolation prize if she fails. She’s sort of setting herself up for an all or nothing.”
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
“Gutsy.” Everlyn agreed and then paused while she thought about it. “However, officially this will be a first clear for us and given how things usually work that comes with a bonus. You might as well aim high. You?”
“I’ve a few ideas, including trying to evolve touch healing. First clear and ninety-eight base skill, if I’m lucky I might get a tier three or four healing ability.”
“And if you’re unlucky, you’ll get a tier one.”
“Which is still an upgrade.”
She grinned at that.
Michael called a meeting and promptly summarised everything the council had been told.
“I need a show of hands of who is willing and able to go.”
Tom raised his hand. There was no way he wouldn’t take advantage of this opportunity. He looked around the gathered crowd except for three scouts and the unconscious Stan everyone else was here. Only half the people had raised their arms.
Michael appeared stumped by the lack of enthusiasm. “I… Why wouldn’t you.”
“I don’t have the buy-in.” Rahmat volunteered. He clutched his throwing spears probably letting slip more agitation than he intended. “A couple of fights more and I’ll get there.”
“Of course.” Michael responded. “That makes senses. It is a permanent trial, so there is no rush.”
“Apart from we aren’t staying here.” Joline reminded him.
“Apart from that.” Michael scratched his head. “But waiting a day won’t hurt.”
Joline nodded agreement.
“Who needs experience before going?” Almost all the hands that had stayed down initially went up. Not all. There were a couple of crafters who left their hands down. Tom figured that they probably didn’t understand the nature of the trial. He was pleased to see Michael noted the holdouts.
“That’s great.” the healer said. “Half do it today the rest of us tomorrow. After all, there is almost no downside to doing these trials, as you can’t die in them.”
Tom was focusing on Tanya a skilled leatherworker when Michael said that last line. For whatever reason, Tanya had not put her hand up, and he watched emotions play across her face as Michael’s words registered.
“Then there’s the feature that lets you tailor the reward,” Michael continued. “To whatever skill you want. Permanent trials of this type are called kingdom makers and according to a history book I read major crafting guilds have gone to war against nobles to get access to them. They can turn a genius into a transcendent talent.”
“They reward technical skill application as opposed to the system granted power you start with,” Joline said quietly.
“No,” Sven interrupted. “They reward how well you utilise the new abilities that you gain. It’s not about technical knowledge.”
“That’s basically what I said.” Joline snapped. “The trials do not reward your existing magic base.”
“It wasn’t at all,” Sven argued.
“It’s the perfect trial for us.” Michael interrupted with a frustrated glare at the two of them.
There were more than a few smiles from the surrounding grin. Sven was grinning like a cheshire cat.
Michael sighed theatrically. “Sven, annoying people does not level you up.” The light-hearted banner relaxed everyone further.
“For you, old man.”
Michael cracked a smile. “Anyway, this trial can be leveraged to regain something you had in DEUS’s trial at same or potentially even higher level. Now, I didn’t get all the numbers. Can you raise your hand if you’re ready to go now?”
Tom smiled when Tanya threw up her arm excitedly.
“Two teams of twenty today!” Michael declared. “At the trial. Ten to enter at once with the rest standing guard. If you’re going tomorrow, can you give us space?” Michael waited as around half of them moved back to the walls of all their rough workstations. Michael’s eyes swept over the gathered teams clearly weighing the skill mix available. “Team one is on my left. Two on my right.” He gestured, and the crowd parted but Michael was not finished. He promptly shuffled the ranks, switching out a tank for a healer and a melee fighter for an archer. “Team one is going first.”
Tom was not surprised he had figured out he was going second based on the team name. For this trial, it did not matter. It was not a monster trial. There was no benefit waiting for others to work out the layout. The challenge would be different for everyone.
Everlyn pouted. “But I found it.” She muttered under her breath.
Tom turned away. “Who cares who goes first?”
“Hey where are you going?”
“To keep healing.”
“But.”
Tom stopped and grinned at her. “I told you one of the things I’m considering is to evolve my healing skill.”
“You are not.” Everlyn protested.
“Helping to restore someone’s leg will help with that.”
“But you’re not doing it till you buy that other skill.”
“Maybe,” Tom answered cryptically. “It really depends on the specifics I’m offered. Anyway, I have work to do.”
She grabbed his arms. “Wait, that’s another question. How the hell can you restore someone’s limb with touch heal?”
“You’re bored aren’t you.”
Everlyn shrugged but did not dispute the accusation. “Are you going to answer?”
Tom sighed. “It’s a long story.”
And a sad one. He bit those words off. His almost perfect memory was certainly a curse on occasions. “I’ll tell you later.” He smiled wanly.
She caught the expression and patted his shoulder. “I’m off duty. I can keep you company.”
“You can come, but have you seen me when I’m using healing tranquillity? I’m pretty crap company.”
She followed him anyway, and Tom went back to work. After a minute, he came out of his trance and was surprised to find Everlyn was still there.
She wrinkled her nose and then stuck out a tongue. “Yeah, you’re almost as bad as someone in their system room. I’m not staying to watch.” She leant forward and gave him a kiss. “Keep doing the good work.”
Clare was as dedicated as him and glanced up from her work as Everlyn exited. “She’s nice.”
“Yes.” He agreed, getting slightly flustered and to hide the moment he stabbed the leg stump he was working on and focused.
When he finished, Clare was sitting, watching him. “You’re good at this.”
Tom compared the two limbs. She had added a couple of millimetres versus Tom’s half a centimetre. He had done twice as much and the upper thigh as opposed to the thinner lower leg. The difference in volume generated was five times.
“I’m more practised.”
Clare nodded. “You’re not one for compliments are you.”
“I’m one for results.” He refocused and settled down into the drudgery. Stab, heal, stab…
He snapped to with someone’s hands over his eyes.
“Everlyn?”
“Guilty.”
“That’s dangerous.”
She laughed. “You’re not that jumpy. Plus, I’m sure you knew who it was and if you didn’t you’re not the type to go for the quick kill; at worst you hit me with a spark.”
“They hurt.”
Everlyn shrugged. “So Sven tells me.” She snorted. “But I’m a big girl. I can take it.”
She sat down next to him.
“How long have you been here?”
“About a minute. It was fascinating. I had to interrupt to save my sanity. Oh, and because it’s time to go.”
Tom laughed. “Fascinated? More depraved? I was stabbing a leg.”
Clare shifted uncomfortably. “Agreed. It’s the weirdest leg restore technique I’ve ever seen.”
“Self-taught.”
“We don’t need your commentary Clare.” Everlyn said almost at the same time..
The other healer raised her hands defensively. “Easy girl. It wasn’t a criticism. His results speak for themselves. But it’s fundamentally strange.”
“Touch Heal forces me to apply work-arounds.”
“Anyway, are you ready to go?”
Tom nodded and stood up and went through the fortification entrance and found the rest of the group already assembled.
Legen had been assigned to lead them. Tom remembered him heckling Tiny, but there was none of that animosity here.
“Everyone,” the tank said. “You are all experienced, so I shouldn’t need to say it, but we’re in the wilds.”
“You don’t need to say it.” Thor interrupted.
“No, I guess I don’t. We’ve all gone through DEUS’s trial so everyone should be good at survival. Keep your eyes open and if we run into anything we fight smart. I’m here, Tom is here and Granite.” he waved at another tank. “We know what we’re doing. Follow our lead. We clear.”
“Chain of command,” Everlyn asked.
The main tank hesitated. “I don’t think we need any of that.”
“Humour me.” Everlyn said with a sickly sweet smile.
“Myself, you, Granite, Clare, then Tom.”
Everlyn nodded. “I didn’t mean to push, but it’s important in case anything happens to you.”
Legen pulled his ear. “I guess it is, too. But nobody likes to plan for them being out of commission.”
There was no laughter. It wasn’t a joke.
“Well,” the tank said absently while he scratched his balls. “I guess we should get going. Eyes out everyone.”
The trip to the trial was shorter than expected. They passed two groves of trees, a couple of boulder clusters, and then on the far side of another stone pile there was a crevice at ground level. The trip had been a little over half a kilometre in all.
Everlyn was standing above the narrow gap. “It’s through here.”
“Is it clear?” Granite asked.
Everlyn held up a finger to ask for a moment and then she jumped into the hole. Tom wished he could go with her to watch her back, but the simple fact was that she could look after herself. Less than a minute later, she reappeared. “Still safe.”
“First ten move out,” Legen ordered. Tom moved forward to take the lead. When he was preparing to enter the crevice, Everlyn slipped into the line behind him. The order they were entering the trial had already been agreed. There was a narrow natural entryway that led deeper into the earth. Apart from the lack of smell, it felt like an animal cave, and Everlyn’s hand was on his back, pushing him forward. They kept walking and when they turned the corner, the trial sphere was floating there.
It was what he had expected, and he had known that this permanent trial was real, but it still surprised him to see it. “How the hell did you find this?”
“I didn’t. Jingyi had a trait.”
“That’s a valuable trait.”
“Oh yeah. I almost bought it too, but trial orbs usually aren’t this well hidden and I burnt a question to be informed it was not in my interest to purchase it.” She admitted with a smile and then elbowed him in retaliation for his surprised look. “More people than you abused the oracle question functionality when spending their contribution points.”
With excitement building, Tom approached the floating orb. Three and half thousand buy in was a lot, and he wondered if it would work as he hoped. Whether there was a way to supercharge the rewards, if he could spend extra he would.
Beside him, Everlyn touched the sphere’s surface without hesitation and she must have immediately accepted the trial because she disappeared almost instantly. Her body vanishing stirred up the air as it all rushed to fill the void she had left, but not like what would have happened in a similar situation on earth. Instead, there was just a rush of wind for a moment.
This was it. If he played his cards right, he could emerge with another transformative ability. Something that would get his ambition to change humanity’s fate one step closer.
He reached out to touch the orb and the moment his hand touched the sphere, and he was instantly in a neutral space. Not his system room, but a black expanse of void.
Then it shifted. The sky became grey and the floor navy. The words he was expecting appeared in front of him.
Challenge Trial
This is a challenge trial, and the challenger may specify the outcome they wish to pursue and the payment they will give to achieve it. Probable reward distribution based on their chosen approach will be displayed before payment is accepted.
The challenge can create, evolve, or advance a Skill or Spell singular or grouping. Exemplary performance may cause the awarding of traits and titles to support the upgraded abilities.
Features Permanent Solo Personality - Helpful, Adapting May be attempted every 32 days Scalable up to rank 64 Buy in amount 3500 experience or equivalent in mana objects, artefacts or currency
Tom read the details, and none of it apart from the personality was a surprise. A helpful and adapting personality upgraded the value of the trial by a considerable amount.
This was truly a kingdom making trial and all he had to do now was to make the most of it. He could already taste the boost in power that was coming.
“Will you answer questions?”
I’m always happy to answer questions.
Tom almost jumped in joy. He knew his ability with a spear was good, his grasp of magic exceptional and his use of fate pushed him onto a different layer of existence to most but getting the most out of asking intelligent questions - that was his superpower.
Tom’s cheeks hurt. His grin was so broad. “That’s great. I have a lot of questions for you.”