My mind rushed, as I rolled away feeling nauseous. My wound kept bleeding blood-water, that slowly sipped—dripped onto the ground. The Zinele birds were just doing their best to pelt me away from the distance, too afraid to approach me, too cautions: skeptical of how their companions had died. I tossed a few arrows, not even bothering to try to shoot them. Like glowing sticks they flew towards the birds as they dispersed, but the groups of arrows befell on them with explosive might. Some of the—different birds, the ones without rocks covering their bodies suffered injuries but the ones with tough exteriors just kept throwing junk at me. I slid and went for the tunnel only to have Penumbral Sense trigger, I ducked and a jet-stream of water slammed onto the wall, puncturing into the rock.
Fuck. I felt my panic climb rapidly seeing how easily it had destroyed the rock. I dodged more attacks thrown my way and reached for my arrows. It seemed my only choice was to make a smoke-screen to run. The tunnel system was messy, and enemies filled the place. I grabbed as many arrows as my hand could fit and pushed all my mana onto them, the continuous neverending stream flowed into them as they became nothing more than sparkling light within my hand. And then, I threw them— they flew like stars, and as soon as they hit the ground I ran. Smoke exploded, water was shot, cutting leaves— fireballs, rocks. All of them narrowly missed except for the fire that singed my hair away. I ran into the tunnel as I saw ephemeral visions of rocks flying from behind, except. It was rubble and smoke.
I heard an explosion behind me as snake hisses filled the room, squeaks and screeches followed by audible crunches, death loomed over me as I ran using arrows as mobility, slides for momentum, and my panic as motivation. I ran. My breathing was rushed, unable to keep up with my necessities, my heart kept beating faster and faster, and I felt drained—tired, blood kept dripping from my open wound and it showed no intention to slow down. I cursed in my mind as I ran forward. The hisses from the snake continued to inch closer, the squirms and death shrieks of the birds did too, their chirps of panic constantly filled my ears.
This whole trial was strange. Didn’t Glim say I couldn’t be endangered? Where the fuck was Glim anyway? Numerous negative things popped in my mind as I cursed my fate. If I had known the only way back was a trial— no I would’ve still disagreed. I didn’t like being under someone, or rather tied, but if it was between my life and that, then—
I arrived at an open room. Except it was worse than the last. I saw what I identified as a gigantic tree. And over it, was a snake—sprawled and hugging it tightly.
[Guardian Of The Great Osthus Tree. Lvl. 169]
Ha. It simply opened my eyes and regarded me as if I were nothing. Though my senses of danger were screaming at me with all they had. The mana around the tree was a thick golden mist that spread halfway into the room. I was definitely curious, but my throbbing wound and my pain filled body demanded that I keep moving. I continued forward with slides and running, trying to not startle the snake. And then— the cave shook. A billowing explosion bloomed from behind as the snake barged into the room.
[Osthus Snake. Lvl. 69]
Dead bird corpses flew as if they were nothing but some kind of disposable object. Some birds clung for their lives but as the blood drained from them, they simply died.
[You have assisted to kill…
[You have ass…
[Yo…
A bunch of them had died in that instant, but it didn’t concern me. The Osthus snake attacked the guardian as soon as it saw it. The guardian replied, like a coil it snapped onto the other snake and caught it mid-air, its size dwarfing it in comparison as it looked like no more than an infant. This is my chance. I ignored their squabble and headed towards the next passage. Where something strange happened.
[A nearby Prophecy calls to you.]
A Prophecy, in this place? I didn’t have time to process it as I desperately headed deeper into the cave, struggling through the cave and the shaking. The ceiling itself trembled as dust befell on my hair, but I still persisted. Dragging myself through pain, through the constant concerns of the land of death that was behind me—the few seconds that passed felt like an eternity, but at the end of the tunnel as it was getting narrow I saw a light, a small hole as if it had been poked through the ceiling, it was white—and at the center of the light I saw a flower, it was red as if its petals were made of crystal. The stem itself was a pitch-black but the plant itself—the flower called to me. I extended my hand,
[Prophecy: Blossoms of Fire.]
It was for me—
The mana shifted and hisses came as I was about to touch it. I saw visions, I scrambled back as I foresaw my death, sliding in a desperate attempt to get as far away from the Prophecy as I could. The Prophecy exploded along with hisses, buried into a rain of rocks as I had no choice but to use an explosive arrow to separate myself from the danger and hurriedly tread my steps back. Death. It was all around me, but most prominently it was behind, raring to claim my life at any second. With a slide I got out of the cave and saw the hell that was in the room—explosions of blood, beheaded birds, dead snakes—and behind me. I counted close to ten more snakes, they rushed past me nearly squashing my legs, they ignored me not paying attention to me, instead, throwing themselves towards the snake guardian. I felt so much pain, desperation; the Prophecy was gone. I looked towards the snakes but found that I could do nothing.
[Osthus Snake. Lvl. 67]
[Osthus Snake. Lvl. 89]
[Osthus Snake. Lvl. 78]
The cave itself—the cave system itself was shaking from the ongoing monster activity. The tunnels threatened to collapse in on themselves. The snakes swarmed towards the tree, some were biting it, others attacked the guardian. The guardian hissed doing its best to slay the snakes with its highly corrosive fangs but it was quickly overwhelmed. And then— the words I dreaded to hear the most happened.
[Guardian Of The Great Osthus Tree requests assistance.]
I looked around but found no cave to escape from, all of them had collapsed. It was as if all the mana in the world gathered towards the tree, it sparkled in a myriad of colors and the snake’s silvery scales changed into a crimson red, smoke billowed—rose from the nearby snakes. Then, I saw blood. All the snakes began to bleed as their scales were being melted away. A highly aggressive wave of mana pulsed through the room, and an uncomfortable itching pain overtook my whole body— what? I looked down as I saw my skin quickly turn red, my muscles slowly became visible as I panicked. I looked around only to see the cave that I had initially entered from; it was clear of enemies, I just had to run, I could barely breathe but I could make it—
Visions. Another explosion occurred with a deep bellowing chirp. Rubble was thrown my way as I narrowly dodged it. The cave system—half of it collapsed from the outside and a figure—a gigantic bird stood in the center.
[Guardian Of Elements. Lvl. 185]
With it came a chorus of chirps as dozens of birds poured onto the clearing from its sides.
[Fire Zinele. Lvl. 48]
[Water Zinele. Lvl. 37]
[Plant Zinele. Lvl. 51]
[Rock Zinele. Lvl. 41]
And unfortunately some looked my way. A pack of birds came for my head as a grunt escaped me. I was fucked for all intents and purposes, I had missed my chance with the Prophecy, and now. Now, my entire body ached with pain—screamed at me, but I still grabbed my spear. At that moment, when I resigned to my death, I understood something. Memories came back to me.
Blair, for a warrior there is no greater honor than to die in battle.
It wasn’t for honor, but I definitely didn’t want to think I’d die without putting up a fight. Mana filled my spear and a fire-bird—zinele lunged itself at me, its fiery touch burnt my flesh but I stabbed it. The mana blew its insides, melting them up. A water-stream was shot, piercing through my shoulder with icy pain. I hurriedly moved my spear just in time to parry sharpened leaves. I rolled—my feet were stuck with vines, wrapped and bleeding.
I removed the vines, broke through them with my spear, barely managing to not melt my flesh away with my own weapon. More water was shot my way, I yelped with pain, the water punctured through my legs. I felt one of them lose all sense of connection from down the knee, as a Rock Zinele tried to use its talon to behead me once in for all. I stabbed with my spear. Overwhelm. Mana poured. Release! It exploded its legs off. Mana was used, ever flowing like a river, constantly replenishing—that was the only thing that I could do. Future sense, mana sense, things were just muddy. I couldn’t tell what was happening anymore through my hazy and pained vision.
I rolled out of the way and slid. Stabbed my spear into the blue water bird, its plumage offered some sort of protection as I felt it put resistance, but it didn’t matter. I pushed mana with the rest of my arm, feeling aching pain, and exploded the spear tip onto its chest.
I cut, slammed, pierced, exploded—birds kept coming as I had to use my infinite mana and at that moment I couldn’t help but thank my high vigor as I kept killing birds left and right. No level ups, no glory, just— survival.
One had its eyes gouged, one had its rock put into its face, another its head ripped through its spine— I turned feeling danger, but it was too late. I felt my balance disappear as a bird charged me onto the ground, it pecked my leg—devoured it as I began to scream in pain, it felt as if my entire leg was on fire, sizzling as air did nothing but trickle it. My flesh was pulled as if it were nothing but a meal and more birds came— more and more came biting me, pecking eating— regret flooded me, but there was only one thought through all the pain, as I screamed and cried for my life, I couldn’t help but ask.
Is this the end— The necklace! In a last ditch effort I pushed my mana to my neck but— there was nothing there.
I felt a bird bite my head, in those split moments I felt pain like never before as I screamed, and— everything became dark.
[You have failed the Trial Of Endurance.]
The words resounded within my head as I lost all semblance of thought. I had lost…
Clapping. A clapping sound entered my ears as color returned to the world. My eyes snapped open and suddenly I felt cold sweat before beginning to scream in pain, my entire body ached—burned. It was painful. Memories of getting torn apart rippled through my mind once more. It hurt— I cried. Flesh tearing—
[Blair, Blair! You are okay! Wait hold up a second, I’ll initiate self-care protocol, you can admonish me later but I am requesting this from The System itself!] Glim’s light flew by my vision and it became a blue light. I felt my brain briefly relax as I processed the information. It was slow but, slowly. The pain subsided and it became nothing more than a nightmare— a terrifying one that would constantly haunt me.
“Your trial attempt was very disappointing.” A voice said in front of me. My eyes snapped only to see The Illusionist. I gritted my teeth.
“You did this!” I wanted to kill him even if it cost me my life. I reached for my spear— there was empty air. “What?”
“Look around you.” He said with dismissal.
I unconsciously listened, looking for my spear to grasp only to realize: I was still in the same white shirt and hadn’t left my position in front of his desk. I felt my heart drop as he spoke.
“So, I’ll ask again, this time no trial. Do you think you have the strength to survive something like that without becoming my champion?” He shook his head. “To be honest with you, what you saw is a D ranked planet. Perhaps your world won’t start that way, but it will certainly escalate. And if you cannot match that growth—that situation, then you will surely die.”
I swallowed. “How do I know if what you’re saying is true anymore, also I was missing an item...”
He shook his head. “As the one inviting you, I am bound to The System to not cause you harm intentionally. This includes when you are my champion, I would care for you as if you were my own daughter, because ultimately bringing you here was a great expense. In short, I cannot do more than that fake trial you underwent, because mental trauma is not considered harm within The System. As for the item, well it was a one time use so—can’t have you using that.”
“That was a…” I finally processed. “You are the one that—”
“Yes,” he admitted. “But consider your options carefully, not out of me threatening you, but truly ask yourself. Do I truly lose anything by becoming his champion?”
I swallowed. I was scared to refuse. Scared. But… If—If what he was saying is true. I felt my mind revert to the visions of death and panicked.
[Blair, I have no idea what he made you see,] Glim spoke. [But this deal requires understanding from both parties, so it’s not even close to what the Prophecies were offering. He is basically offering to nurture you until you can be as strong as him. Even though he is…] Glim took a pause. [Very hard to trust…]
“Ding, the naughty ball of light is correct.” He extended his hand making me look at his eye. “What do you say, Blair? Do you want to become my champion? Same terms as before.”
My hands were trembling, and even though Glim had definitely brainwashed me a bit to keep me from going insane. In spite of everything. I still felt scared of the man in front of me. But— if the things he had said were true — which I still doubted — then.
I reached for his hand and I grabbed it hesitantly, as soon as I did a system prompt appeared within my mind.
[Do you want to become a champion for — Entity: (A rank) The Illusionist. Lvl. 581? —
Terms:
- All Prophecies you acquire from the wild will belong to The Illusionist.
- You will receive a Prophecy that fits your affinity and battle style from The Illusionist.
- Priority rights of construction within any city you own will belong to The Illusionist.
- You will receive the ability to contact The Illusionist at any given time.
- You will receive bonus experience from every kill (escalates depending on your sponsors’ racial hierarchy).
- You will receive the temporary Feat (Champion) upon accepting this prompt.]
My mind drew a blank as I realized that—he truly wasn’t lying to me. Except for his level… A level that I did not even fathom to exist. I was too naive…
In the end, I didn’t even have the chance to say no to begin with…
I accepted and hoped it was truly a fair deal.
I was… scared of the man in front of me.
A notification came.
[Feat Achieved — Champion Amongst Champions — You have acquired an exceptional patron. Receive 1% of your patron’s most important attribute. (+12 Wisdom)
“You know… You seriously didn’t need to do that.” — The Illusionist to Lumina The Rotten.]
1% of his Wisdom attribute, were… 12 points?
[(Temporary) Feat Achieved — Champion Of Illusion — Your patron has mastered illusions and delusions. Immune to Mental Attacks. +5 to all your attribute points (Scaleable)
“Ha, you ask me what to name them? Champions, of course!” — Unknown.]
I had gotten about… Fifteen level ups worth of stats? The contract…
“Blair, tell me, what is your highest stat and your lower stat?” The Illusionist interrupted my thoughts. I felt a slight weirdness from his question, his tone was slightly different, but at the same time I didn’t want to be near him. I still felt scared.
I quickly opened my status and felt my ears grow hot. It was a mix of surprise and a mix of fear.
Name: Blair | Level: 18
Race: ??? (E-Grade)
Feats: [Lone Survivor], [Bottomless Ambition], [Champion Of Champions], [Champion Of Illusion]
Basic skills: Universal Understanding (NaN),
Universal Inquiry (NaN)
Free attribute points: 0
VIG: 50 | END: 42 |
STR: 35 | AGI: 47 |
PER: 41 | WIS: 47 |
Skills: [Proficient Archery (Uncommon Passive)], [Explosive Shot (Rare)], [Power Draw (Uncommon)], [Penumbral Instinct (Rare Passive)], [Frictionless Slide (Rare Passive)], [Burrowing Shot (Rare)]
Attunements: Dark plants (I)
Prime Currency: 100
“My highest attributes are Wisdom and Agility and Vigor. First two are at 47, and Vigor at 50, and my lowest is Strength at 35…” I said hesitantly.
“Your lowest is 35? There isn’t anything lower?”
I hesitated. “My vigor used to be considerably lower, but after almost dying numerous times, well…”
“Ah I see,” he mused. “So given that you’re an elf, you must have high endurance, high perception, and high agility. The other three were— you could say inflated by you, yes?”
I nodded with apprehension.
“Hm, your mana control is great but you never use it to enhance your body. Unfortunately I cannot teach you, we do not have time for that.” He seemed to be thinking. “Do you remember the trial?”
I froze having vivid images in my mind— “Yeah…”
“Well, forget the terrifying part. I can erase it from your mind if you’d like—” I shook my head. It was a reminder for me. He had a weird pause but continued. “Very well, well as you’ve noticed you no longer have the skills bestowed to you, but I hope you remember the feeling of the spear and arrow very well, specifically the spear since for you to combine skills— well, it’s very out of your reach. Just remember the feeling of pushing mana outside the weapon. Though your mana reserves are terrifyingly low.”
I nodded once more. Trying to remember that feeling, while also trying to digest the fact that he meant no ill will to me no more. “Mr… Illusionist,” I spoke hesitantly. His eye seemed to open wide, and at that moment, doubt flooded me. He was dangerous. He almost— I shivered. “No, forget it.”
“I will,” he said, standing up awkwardly. “No need for such respect since you’re now my Champion, but I must leave. Your Prophecy is underway, it has no trial but my assistant shall help you with comprehension.” He walked towards the door leaving me seated. I had a moment of pause recalling the Prophecy in the fake trial. Everything came back to me as nervousness assaulted me, I didn’t process—
“Wait,” I called. He paused. “I don’t need to struggle for my life to obtain the Prophecy?”
“No,” he said, opening the door. “Prophecies are closer to items than you think. They are a business too. Of course, when a Prophecy is made one can set it to have a trial. But it's not a common practice for— well for what we are about to do. I fear you might just die if you are thrown into a trial.”
I nodded as silence filled the room. He closed the door behind him and a very audible sigh left me. My hands had been trembling the entire time. I… I was afraid. It wasn’t his strength, just the fact that—I had agreed to be tied to someone that had essentially tortured me psycholigcally was less than— it scared me. It seemed that he no longer held such intentions anymore, but it was still terrifying.
The door clicked open, and a very familiar figure entered.
[Dryad. Lvl. 85]
It was the secretary, but— had she gone to level up for this time? She held a rounded container within her hand, it was cylindrical and relatively tall, completely black. She smiled at me somewhat awkwardly, and avoided meeting my eyes.
“Well, Blair. I am here as per commanded by my Lord. I am going to help you comprehend your Prophecy. You must do your best since it's a one of a kind opportunity.”
She was the subordinate — she wouldn’t hurt me.
“How are you going to help me?” I asked, feeling skeptical. I wanted to be afraid but every fiber of my being and brain told me it was stupid. I was a Champion for The Illusionist, I was effectively something like right or left hand woman—man. I had to at least trust her.
“Well, with a bit of illusionism I can help you…” she said hesitantly as I tensed up. “But do not worry about it, it’s not— well it does not affect your senses…”
My muscles tensed up. Glim remained quiet by my side, seemingly not having anything to say. Glim had helped me suppress the dreadful feelings I felt earlier, but they still lurked within my mind like a nightmare waiting to happen. She approached and sat behind the desk before setting the container in front of me. It was just a black cylinder with a handle atop of it.
She smiled. “This is what the esteemed Lord has prepared. A true Prophecy of the Dark.” She twisted the handle and pulled—the top of the cylinder lifted as endless darkness pooled down before vanishing into nothingness. But she held it in place. “Blair, this is a very important Prophecy. It was created by a Monarch, someone of the same status as the lord of illusion.”
I nodded carefully, afraid. “Someone of the same level made this?”
“That is right.” She pulled the lid.
Dark mist cascaded down the table, flooding the ground with wisps of black smoke. And then, I saw it. There was black soil, and in the middle of it, there was a small red flower covered in crimson thorns with brown vines surrounding it. The entire thing slightly pulsated as if it was alive.
[C ranked Prophecy: Scarlet World.
“Failure.” — Lumina.]
My mind rushed, as I rolled away feeling nauseous. My wound kept bleeding blood-water, that slowly sipped—dripped onto the ground. The Zinele birds were just doing their best to pelt me away from the distance, too afraid to approach me, too cautions: skeptical of how their companions had died. I tossed a few arrows, not even bothering to try to shoot them. Like glowing sticks they flew towards the birds as they dispersed, but the groups of arrows befell on them with explosive might. Some of the—different birds, the ones without rocks covering their bodies suffered injuries but the ones with tough exteriors just kept throwing junk at me. I slid and went for the tunnel only to have Penumbral Sense trigger, I ducked and a jet-stream of water slammed onto the wall, puncturing into the rock.
Fuck. I felt my panic climb rapidly seeing how easily it had destroyed the rock. I dodged more attacks thrown my way and reached for my arrows. It seemed my only choice was to make a smoke-screen to run. The tunnel system was messy, and enemies filled the place. I grabbed as many arrows as my hand could fit and pushed all my mana onto them, the continuous neverending stream flowed into them as they became nothing more than sparkling light within my hand. And then, I threw them— they flew like stars, and as soon as they hit the ground I ran. Smoke exploded, water was shot, cutting leaves— fireballs, rocks. All of them narrowly missed except for the fire that singed my hair away. I ran into the tunnel as I saw ephemeral visions of rocks flying from behind, except. It was rubble and smoke.
I heard an explosion behind me as snake hisses filled the room, squeaks and screeches followed by audible crunches, death loomed over me as I ran using arrows as mobility, slides for momentum, and my panic as motivation. I ran. My breathing was rushed, unable to keep up with my necessities, my heart kept beating faster and faster, and I felt drained—tired, blood kept dripping from my open wound and it showed no intention to slow down. I cursed in my mind as I ran forward. The hisses from the snake continued to inch closer, the squirms and death shrieks of the birds did too, their chirps of panic constantly filled my ears.
This whole trial was strange. Didn’t Glim say I couldn’t be endangered? Where the fuck was Glim anyway? Numerous negative things popped in my mind as I cursed my fate. If I had known the only way back was a trial— no I would’ve still disagreed. I didn’t like being under someone, or rather tied, but if it was between my life and that, then—
I arrived at an open room. Except it was worse than the last. I saw what I identified as a gigantic tree. And over it, was a snake—sprawled and hugging it tightly.
[Guardian Of The Great Osthus Tree. Lvl. 169]
Ha. It simply opened my eyes and regarded me as if I were nothing. Though my senses of danger were screaming at me with all they had. The mana around the tree was a thick golden mist that spread halfway into the room. I was definitely curious, but my throbbing wound and my pain filled body demanded that I keep moving. I continued forward with slides and running, trying to not startle the snake. And then— the cave shook. A billowing explosion bloomed from behind as the snake barged into the room.
[Osthus Snake. Lvl. 69]
Dead bird corpses flew as if they were nothing but some kind of disposable object. Some birds clung for their lives but as the blood drained from them, they simply died.
[You have assisted to kill…
[You have ass…
[Yo…
A bunch of them had died in that instant, but it didn’t concern me. The Osthus snake attacked the guardian as soon as it saw it. The guardian replied, like a coil it snapped onto the other snake and caught it mid-air, its size dwarfing it in comparison as it looked like no more than an infant. This is my chance. I ignored their squabble and headed towards the next passage. Where something strange happened.
[A nearby Prophecy calls to you.]
A Prophecy, in this place? I didn’t have time to process it as I desperately headed deeper into the cave, struggling through the cave and the shaking. The ceiling itself trembled as dust befell on my hair, but I still persisted. Dragging myself through pain, through the constant concerns of the land of death that was behind me—the few seconds that passed felt like an eternity, but at the end of the tunnel as it was getting narrow I saw a light, a small hole as if it had been poked through the ceiling, it was white—and at the center of the light I saw a flower, it was red as if its petals were made of crystal. The stem itself was a pitch-black but the plant itself—the flower called to me. I extended my hand,
[Prophecy: Blossoms of Fire.]
It was for me—
The mana shifted and hisses came as I was about to touch it. I saw visions, I scrambled back as I foresaw my death, sliding in a desperate attempt to get as far away from the Prophecy as I could. The Prophecy exploded along with hisses, buried into a rain of rocks as I had no choice but to use an explosive arrow to separate myself from the danger and hurriedly tread my steps back. Death. It was all around me, but most prominently it was behind, raring to claim my life at any second. With a slide I got out of the cave and saw the hell that was in the room—explosions of blood, beheaded birds, dead snakes—and behind me. I counted close to ten more snakes, they rushed past me nearly squashing my legs, they ignored me not paying attention to me, instead, throwing themselves towards the snake guardian. I felt so much pain, desperation; the Prophecy was gone. I looked towards the snakes but found that I could do nothing.
[Osthus Snake. Lvl. 67]
[Osthus Snake. Lvl. 89]
[Osthus Snake. Lvl. 78]
The cave itself—the cave system itself was shaking from the ongoing monster activity. The tunnels threatened to collapse in on themselves. The snakes swarmed towards the tree, some were biting it, others attacked the guardian. The guardian hissed doing its best to slay the snakes with its highly corrosive fangs but it was quickly overwhelmed. And then— the words I dreaded to hear the most happened.
[Guardian Of The Great Osthus Tree requests assistance.]
I looked around but found no cave to escape from, all of them had collapsed. It was as if all the mana in the world gathered towards the tree, it sparkled in a myriad of colors and the snake’s silvery scales changed into a crimson red, smoke billowed—rose from the nearby snakes. Then, I saw blood. All the snakes began to bleed as their scales were being melted away. A highly aggressive wave of mana pulsed through the room, and an uncomfortable itching pain overtook my whole body— what? I looked down as I saw my skin quickly turn red, my muscles slowly became visible as I panicked. I looked around only to see the cave that I had initially entered from; it was clear of enemies, I just had to run, I could barely breathe but I could make it—
Visions. Another explosion occurred with a deep bellowing chirp. Rubble was thrown my way as I narrowly dodged it. The cave system—half of it collapsed from the outside and a figure—a gigantic bird stood in the center.
[Guardian Of Elements. Lvl. 185]
With it came a chorus of chirps as dozens of birds poured onto the clearing from its sides.
[Fire Zinele. Lvl. 48]
[Water Zinele. Lvl. 37]
[Plant Zinele. Lvl. 51]
[Rock Zinele. Lvl. 41]
And unfortunately some looked my way. A pack of birds came for my head as a grunt escaped me. I was fucked for all intents and purposes, I had missed my chance with the Prophecy, and now. Now, my entire body ached with pain—screamed at me, but I still grabbed my spear. At that moment, when I resigned to my death, I understood something. Memories came back to me.
Blair, for a warrior there is no greater honor than to die in battle.
It wasn’t for honor, but I definitely didn’t want to think I’d die without putting up a fight. Mana filled my spear and a fire-bird—zinele lunged itself at me, its fiery touch burnt my flesh but I stabbed it. The mana blew its insides, melting them up. A water-stream was shot, piercing through my shoulder with icy pain. I hurriedly moved my spear just in time to parry sharpened leaves. I rolled—my feet were stuck with vines, wrapped and bleeding.
I removed the vines, broke through them with my spear, barely managing to not melt my flesh away with my own weapon. More water was shot my way, I yelped with pain, the water punctured through my legs. I felt one of them lose all sense of connection from down the knee, as a Rock Zinele tried to use its talon to behead me once in for all. I stabbed with my spear. Overwhelm. Mana poured. Release! It exploded its legs off. Mana was used, ever flowing like a river, constantly replenishing—that was the only thing that I could do. Future sense, mana sense, things were just muddy. I couldn’t tell what was happening anymore through my hazy and pained vision.
I rolled out of the way and slid. Stabbed my spear into the blue water bird, its plumage offered some sort of protection as I felt it put resistance, but it didn’t matter. I pushed mana with the rest of my arm, feeling aching pain, and exploded the spear tip onto its chest.
I cut, slammed, pierced, exploded—birds kept coming as I had to use my infinite mana and at that moment I couldn’t help but thank my high vigor as I kept killing birds left and right. No level ups, no glory, just— survival.
One had its eyes gouged, one had its rock put into its face, another its head ripped through its spine— I turned feeling danger, but it was too late. I felt my balance disappear as a bird charged me onto the ground, it pecked my leg—devoured it as I began to scream in pain, it felt as if my entire leg was on fire, sizzling as air did nothing but trickle it. My flesh was pulled as if it were nothing but a meal and more birds came— more and more came biting me, pecking eating— regret flooded me, but there was only one thought through all the pain, as I screamed and cried for my life, I couldn’t help but ask.
Is this the end— The necklace! In a last ditch effort I pushed my mana to my neck but— there was nothing there.
I felt a bird bite my head, in those split moments I felt pain like never before as I screamed, and— everything became dark.
[You have failed the Trial Of Endurance.]
The words resounded within my head as I lost all semblance of thought. I had lost…
Clapping. A clapping sound entered my ears as color returned to the world. My eyes snapped open and suddenly I felt cold sweat before beginning to scream in pain, my entire body ached—burned. It was painful. Memories of getting torn apart rippled through my mind once more. It hurt— I cried. Flesh tearing—
[Blair, Blair! You are okay! Wait hold up a second, I’ll initiate self-care protocol, you can admonish me later but I am requesting this from The System itself!] Glim’s light flew by my vision and it became a blue light. I felt my brain briefly relax as I processed the information. It was slow but, slowly. The pain subsided and it became nothing more than a nightmare— a terrifying one that would constantly haunt me.
“Your trial attempt was very disappointing.” A voice said in front of me. My eyes snapped only to see The Illusionist. I gritted my teeth.
“You did this!” I wanted to kill him even if it cost me my life. I reached for my spear— there was empty air. “What?”
“Look around you.” He said with dismissal.
I unconsciously listened, looking for my spear to grasp only to realize: I was still in the same white shirt and hadn’t left my position in front of his desk. I felt my heart drop as he spoke.
“So, I’ll ask again, this time no trial. Do you think you have the strength to survive something like that without becoming my champion?” He shook his head. “To be honest with you, what you saw is a D ranked planet. Perhaps your world won’t start that way, but it will certainly escalate. And if you cannot match that growth—that situation, then you will surely die.”
I swallowed. “How do I know if what you’re saying is true anymore, also I was missing an item...”
He shook his head. “As the one inviting you, I am bound to The System to not cause you harm intentionally. This includes when you are my champion, I would care for you as if you were my own daughter, because ultimately bringing you here was a great expense. In short, I cannot do more than that fake trial you underwent, because mental trauma is not considered harm within The System. As for the item, well it was a one time use so—can’t have you using that.”
“That was a…” I finally processed. “You are the one that—”
“Yes,” he admitted. “But consider your options carefully, not out of me threatening you, but truly ask yourself. Do I truly lose anything by becoming his champion?”
I swallowed. I was scared to refuse. Scared. But… If—If what he was saying is true. I felt my mind revert to the visions of death and panicked.
[Blair, I have no idea what he made you see,] Glim spoke. [But this deal requires understanding from both parties, so it’s not even close to what the Prophecies were offering. He is basically offering to nurture you until you can be as strong as him. Even though he is…] Glim took a pause. [Very hard to trust…]
“Ding, the naughty ball of light is correct.” He extended his hand making me look at his eye. “What do you say, Blair? Do you want to become my champion? Same terms as before.”
My hands were trembling, and even though Glim had definitely brainwashed me a bit to keep me from going insane. In spite of everything. I still felt scared of the man in front of me. But— if the things he had said were true — which I still doubted — then.
I reached for his hand and I grabbed it hesitantly, as soon as I did a system prompt appeared within my mind.
[Do you want to become a champion for — Entity: (A rank) The Illusionist. Lvl. 581? —
Terms:
- All Prophecies you acquire from the wild will belong to The Illusionist.
- You will receive a Prophecy that fits your affinity and battle style from The Illusionist.
- Priority rights of construction within any city you own will belong to The Illusionist.
- You will receive the ability to contact The Illusionist at any given time.
- You will receive bonus experience from every kill (escalates depending on your sponsors’ racial hierarchy).
- You will receive the temporary Feat (Champion) upon accepting this prompt.]
My mind drew a blank as I realized that—he truly wasn’t lying to me. Except for his level… A level that I did not even fathom to exist. I was too naive…
In the end, I didn’t even have the chance to say no to begin with…
I accepted and hoped it was truly a fair deal.
I was… scared of the man in front of me.
A notification came.
[Feat Achieved — Champion Amongst Champions — You have acquired an exceptional patron. Receive 1% of your patron’s most important attribute. (+12 Wisdom)
“You know… You seriously didn’t need to do that.” — The Illusionist to Lumina The Rotten.]
1% of his Wisdom attribute, were… 12 points?
[(Temporary) Feat Achieved — Champion Of Illusion — Your patron has mastered illusions and delusions. Immune to Mental Attacks. +5 to all your attribute points (Scaleable)
“Ha, you ask me what to name them? Champions, of course!” — Unknown.]
I had gotten about… Fifteen level ups worth of stats? The contract…
“Blair, tell me, what is your highest stat and your lower stat?” The Illusionist interrupted my thoughts. I felt a slight weirdness from his question, his tone was slightly different, but at the same time I didn’t want to be near him. I still felt scared.
I quickly opened my status and felt my ears grow hot. It was a mix of surprise and a mix of fear.
Name: Blair | Level: 18
Race: ??? (E-Grade)
Feats: [Lone Survivor], [Bottomless Ambition], [Champion Of Champions], [Champion Of Illusion]
Basic skills: Universal Understanding (NaN),
Universal Inquiry (NaN)
Free attribute points: 0
VIG: 50 | END: 42 |
STR: 35 | AGI: 47 |
PER: 41 | WIS: 47 |
Skills: [Proficient Archery (Uncommon Passive)], [Explosive Shot (Rare)], [Power Draw (Uncommon)], [Penumbral Instinct (Rare Passive)], [Frictionless Slide (Rare Passive)], [Burrowing Shot (Rare)]
Attunements: Dark plants (I)
Prime Currency: 100
“My highest attributes are Wisdom and Agility and Vigor. First two are at 47, and Vigor at 50, and my lowest is Strength at 35…” I said hesitantly.
“Your lowest is 35? There isn’t anything lower?”
I hesitated. “My vigor used to be considerably lower, but after almost dying numerous times, well…”
“Ah I see,” he mused. “So given that you’re an elf, you must have high endurance, high perception, and high agility. The other three were— you could say inflated by you, yes?”
I nodded with apprehension.
“Hm, your mana control is great but you never use it to enhance your body. Unfortunately I cannot teach you, we do not have time for that.” He seemed to be thinking. “Do you remember the trial?”
I froze having vivid images in my mind— “Yeah…”
“Well, forget the terrifying part. I can erase it from your mind if you’d like—” I shook my head. It was a reminder for me. He had a weird pause but continued. “Very well, well as you’ve noticed you no longer have the skills bestowed to you, but I hope you remember the feeling of the spear and arrow very well, specifically the spear since for you to combine skills— well, it’s very out of your reach. Just remember the feeling of pushing mana outside the weapon. Though your mana reserves are terrifyingly low.”
I nodded once more. Trying to remember that feeling, while also trying to digest the fact that he meant no ill will to me no more. “Mr… Illusionist,” I spoke hesitantly. His eye seemed to open wide, and at that moment, doubt flooded me. He was dangerous. He almost— I shivered. “No, forget it.”
“I will,” he said, standing up awkwardly. “No need for such respect since you’re now my Champion, but I must leave. Your Prophecy is underway, it has no trial but my assistant shall help you with comprehension.” He walked towards the door leaving me seated. I had a moment of pause recalling the Prophecy in the fake trial. Everything came back to me as nervousness assaulted me, I didn’t process—
“Wait,” I called. He paused. “I don’t need to struggle for my life to obtain the Prophecy?”
“No,” he said, opening the door. “Prophecies are closer to items than you think. They are a business too. Of course, when a Prophecy is made one can set it to have a trial. But it's not a common practice for— well for what we are about to do. I fear you might just die if you are thrown into a trial.”
I nodded as silence filled the room. He closed the door behind him and a very audible sigh left me. My hands had been trembling the entire time. I… I was afraid. It wasn’t his strength, just the fact that—I had agreed to be tied to someone that had essentially tortured me psycholigcally was less than— it scared me. It seemed that he no longer held such intentions anymore, but it was still terrifying.
The door clicked open, and a very familiar figure entered.
[Dryad. Lvl. 85]
It was the secretary, but— had she gone to level up for this time? She held a rounded container within her hand, it was cylindrical and relatively tall, completely black. She smiled at me somewhat awkwardly, and avoided meeting my eyes.
“Well, Blair. I am here as per commanded by my Lord. I am going to help you comprehend your Prophecy. You must do your best since it's a one of a kind opportunity.”
She was the subordinate — she wouldn’t hurt me.
“How are you going to help me?” I asked, feeling skeptical. I wanted to be afraid but every fiber of my being and brain told me it was stupid. I was a Champion for The Illusionist, I was effectively something like right or left hand woman—man. I had to at least trust her.
“Well, with a bit of illusionism I can help you…” she said hesitantly as I tensed up. “But do not worry about it, it’s not— well it does not affect your senses…”
My muscles tensed up. Glim remained quiet by my side, seemingly not having anything to say. Glim had helped me suppress the dreadful feelings I felt earlier, but they still lurked within my mind like a nightmare waiting to happen. She approached and sat behind the desk before setting the container in front of me. It was just a black cylinder with a handle atop of it.
She smiled. “This is what the esteemed Lord has prepared. A true Prophecy of the Dark.” She twisted the handle and pulled—the top of the cylinder lifted as endless darkness pooled down before vanishing into nothingness. But she held it in place. “Blair, this is a very important Prophecy. It was created by a Monarch, someone of the same status as the lord of illusion.”
I nodded carefully, afraid. “Someone of the same level made this?”
“That is right.” She pulled the lid.
Dark mist cascaded down the table, flooding the ground with wisps of black smoke. And then, I saw it. There was black soil, and in the middle of it, there was a small red flower covered in crimson thorns with brown vines surrounding it. The entire thing slightly pulsated as if it was alive.
[C ranked Prophecy: Scarlet World.
“Failure.” — Lumina.]
