Buy playing Digimon Cyber Sleuth in between helping out with Lunar New Year stuff, so maybe one more chapter much later in the day or tomorrow, but I'll definitely won't leave it on a cliffhanger for more than a day.
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Garnet was wearing the Dress of the Dark Goddess. Zedd had prepared the Mastery Examination for Mages for Garnet. "Are you ready?" asked Zedd.
"What will I find on the other side?" asked Garnet.
"Something that will represent the embodiment of your power," said Zedd. "It varies from person to person, but generally, the bigger it is, the more powerful your potential."
"What do you mean by in general?" asked Garnet
"There are always exceptions," said Zedd. "For example, you might find the reincarnation of a powerful warrior inside of yourself or perhaps a rare spirit from another world."
"What makes them so special?" asked Garnet.
"Reincarnations and rare spirits often possess unique abilities that cannot be obtained anywhere else," said Zedd. "The only way to acquire these powers is to past their test."
"Why do our powers want to test us?" asked Garnet. "That does not seem to make sense."
"All of our abilities come from somewhere," said Zedd. "The limits of our power is determined by how strong our bodies are at a given moment."
Garnet breathed deeply and prepared herself. "I'm ready," said Garnet. She stepped into in a very complex multi-layer magic circle. The only thing that even came close to its complexity was the Hero Summoning spell, but that spell was far more complex than this one. This one was somewhere between the Hero Summoning spell and Kiko's Indignation spell, which made it very high tier magic.
"Here we go," said Zedd. "Inverse Summoning Circle: Mage Examination!"
Garnet watched as the magic circles underneath her began to lit up. Three smaller magic circles lit up and formed a triangle around Garnet. From there, a circle went through the center of each of the magic circles. Numerous smaller rings connected the three circles before a pillar of blue light filled everything Garnet to see. She had to cover her eyes because the light was too bright.
"Get out of the circle!" shouted Zedd.
Garnet watched as mana was continuing to be drawn out from Zedd. Zedd was trying to say something, but Garnet could not hear what. Garnet could not move or speak.
New Quest: Test of the Hero
Something unexpected happened as Zedd prepared for the ritual for the Mage Examination. Complete the tasks given to you and prove that you are a true Hero
Reward: Class Change
As the light disappeared, Garnet saw nothing but darkness. "Where am I?" she said. She looked around, but even with her Night Vision, she could not see anything. "Light!" Garnet activated her only light spell, but that too was not helping. She still could not even see herself in the darkness. "What is going on?" she thought.
Garnet started to walk around, looking for anything that would help her find out where she was. Under her was some kind of dirt, but it was very solid. She did not leave any footprints as she walked in it, but she could not break it either. Wherever she was, nothing was as it appeared to be. What appeared to be soft dirt under her feet was something very strong.
ROAR. It was the sound of something very fierce. Blue flames began to light up around Garnet, revealing the surrounding darkness. Garnet could at least see herself and the area around the flames, but nothing beyond that.
STOMP STOMP STOMP. Something was coming closer. Its footsteps were heavy enough to shake the ground. It was something very big and heavy. "Welcome back," said a deep voice.
"Where am I?" asked Garnet.
"Inside your mana reservoir," said the voice.
"What is that?" asked Garnet.
"It's where all the mana you have accumulated is stored in your body," said the voice.
"I can't see you," said Garnet.
"Walk closer to the edge," the voice responded.
Garnet walked to the very edge of what she could see from the blue light, but all she saw was darkness. "I still can't see anything," said Garnet.
The ground beneath Garnet began to shake. She looked around, but it was too dark to see anything. ROAR. The head of a dragon with black scales suddenly emerged from the darkness. It was accompanied by the sound of metal chains. "You're finally here," said the dragon as it yawned. "I've been watching you for quite some time." It spoke as it approached her.
The head alone was dozens of times bigger than Garnet could see its neck, but the rest of it was enveloped by the darkness. The rest of its body was much larger. She had no idea how big it actually was. Metal chains were attached to its neck and other places as well.
"Do I know you?" asked Garnet.
The dragon began to shrink and transformed into a man with shoulder length black hair. He was fairly thin for a man with no prominent muscles. In a way, his face was almost feminine as well. He was wearing a black shirt, but had a jacket of black, brown, dark green, and light green colors on it. There were shackles on his arms and legs that stretched into the darkness, but it did not seem to restrict his movement at all. "You don't remember me?" asked the man.
"No," said Garnet. "May I ask your name?"
"Your first test is to figure out who I am," said the man. "I know who you are Garnet, but do you remember who I am?"
"No," said Garnet. "You don't look familiar."
"You'll have some time to figure it out," said the man. "I exist as part of you and at the same time, not part of you."
"What does that even mean?" asked Garnet.
"As mana, I am part of you, but mana is something that can be shaped and directed outside of the body, so I'm not exactly like a physical part of you," said the man.
"What do I have to do?" asked Garnet.
"Are you sure you want to move ahead so fast?" asked the man.
"I don't have a lot of time," said Garnet. "I have to pass this test so I can become stronger."
"Oh?" asked the man. "Do you desire power?"
"Yes," said Garnet. "I fear that I will not have the power when I need it."
"Alright," said the man. "Since you want to become so strong so fast, you can think about who I am during your next test. All you have to do is defeat all the enemies around you."
Garnet could hear something was moving around in the darkness, but she could not tell what. "Fire Bolt!" Garnet released a Fire Bolt, but it quickly dissipated. "Lightning Bolt!" Sparks appeared in Garnet's fingertips, but they quickly fizzled out as they flew away from her body.
"What happened?" asked Garnet.
"You won't be able to use the full power of your attack spells or transform in here," said the man. "After all, you can't always rely on it."
In other words, Garnet had to fight with her bare hands. "How did you know I can transform?" asked Garnet.
"I told you, I've been watching you," said the man as she flew into the center of the visible area above Garnet.
"Why?" asked Garnet.
"I was told to," said the man. "I was unsure about it at first, but since I had nothing to do, I thought it might be interesting to see how you've used the time."
Garnet could hear something else approaching. She kept her eyes open, but could not see beyond the small distance, so she could not tell what was actually coming. STOMP. It was the sound of something very heavy. Until it got closer, Garnet could not see what it is.
STOMP. A foot appeared entered the circle of flames. It was metal. STOMP. Another food entered the circle of flames, there was more than one of them. STOMP. The first one was now fully in view. It was a suit of armor, but instead of a person, inside was a head of stone. It was a puppet or a golem of some kind made with stone and steel.
Name: Armor Spirit
Level: 20
Class: Spirit
Sub-Class: Defender
Stats: High Vitality
Garnet tried to open her Inventory, but could not. She could not access her rings either. "Don't I get a weapon?" asked Garnet.
"You get what you have on you right now," said the man. "No weapon? You have to work with what you have then."
Garnet tried to use attack spells, but they would simply pop as they went out of her reach.
"Everything that would go against the rules is blocked," said the man. "No matter how hard you try, it will not work unless it is allowed by the rules."
The problem was that Garnet could not tell how many enemies there were in all, but more of them were approaching. Without weapons or attack spells, the only thing she could do was fight them head on with Mana Armor and whatever hand to hand techniques that she had. "Palm Strike!"
BAM. Garnet hit the armor with her first. The Armor Spirit staggered and was knocked back by the attack, but there was no significant damage dealt to it. "This thing is too tough," said Garnet.
"It's not," said the man as she continued to circle above Garnet. "With all that power in your hands, you still don't know how to use it do you?"
Garnet focused more mana into her hands and she struck the Armor Spirit.
GUH. The Armor Spirit groaned as it was knocked apart and flew back several feet. "I got it!" thought Garnet.
The Armor Spirit reassembled itself and got right back up. The only signs of damage was the cracks in the armor that remained from Garnet's attack, but even those were slowly disappearing. "No," said the man. "It's usually not as easy as it seems."
"Power comes in many different forms," said the man as he stood straight in the air to observe Garnet. "You only know brute force despite all that you've experienced."
Garnet tried to focus her attention on the man, but could not make sense of any of the information that the Hero System gave her. It was just a jumbled mess of random letters or words that Garnet did not understand.
Name: Nemao
Level: Drendo
Class: Niha Cumtean
Sub-Class: Ymlrasecd
Stats: +*$
"Stop focusing on me and focus on what you have to do," said the man. "You'd think someone with over a hundred points in intelligence would actually be smart!"
The man was taunting Garnet, drawing her attention away from the enemies. Garnet continued to punch away at the endless number of Armored Spirits that appeared. "Come down here and say it to my face!"Garnet shouted.
"You're still so easy to anger," said the man.
"You're older than me," said Garnet. "You should act like someone more mature!"
"We're the same age," said the man. "You just look younger because you were drinking weird types of blood."
The man was referring to when Garnet absorbed the Siren. The man knew everything that Garnet did. After all, the man was a part of her. Something like her mana given form.
Garnet continued to push back all of the Armored Spirits. She occasionally felt things hit her from the back and the sides, but her special robe combined with the Mana Armor was able to protect her from serious injuries. The problem was that at some point, Garnet would become exhausted and be unable to fight.
"This is impossible," said Garnet.
"The Hero System is what makes the impossible possible," said the man. "You're the Hero, that means you can do this."
"Easy for you to say," said Garnet. "You're just watching!" Garnet continued to speak as she knocked away the Armor Spirits hoping to at least draw information out of the man so she can properly identify the man.
"That's my job after all," said the man.
Garnet was starting to get annoyed at the man. He knew what was going on, but would not tell Garnet. At the same time, Garnet could not do anything to him because she had no idea how strong he was. To offend him now would be a serious mistake. But without magic or a weapon, Garnet was much weaker. However, everything had a weak spot, she just had to find it.
Garnet continued to punch her way through the endless horde of Armor Spirits, but there was no end to them.
Level Up: Mana Armor (Level 2)
Stat Increase: Strength +1
Stat Increase: Vitality +2
With each one she knocked over, another took its place. The Armor Spirits continued to stream in towards her one at a time, with no end in sight.
Even though Garnet was able to fight them off for now, their numbers did not seem to be decreasing. She had no idea how long she had been doing this, but it did not look like it would end any time soon. She could not figure out the trick no matter how hard she tried to concentrate on them. No matter how badly the Spirit Armor was damaged, even if broken into many tiny pieces, they would reassemble themselves and be as good as new and continue fighting. All of Garnet's attack spells were limited.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"Were they though?" Garnet thought. She had managed to use a little lightning and a little fire. They were much weaker as they moved away from her body, but it was not impossible.
"Wind Palm!" Garnet several of the Spirit Armors far away. CRASH. They all slammed against the other Armor Spirits as they were knocked away. Garnet could not see what happened to them as she continued to fight against them. She just had to believe it worked.
With every attack Garnet threw, she combined it with a hand to hand magic skill. This was the secret to passing this portion of the exam, to be able to apply magic in close quarters combat. "Explosive Palm!" BOOM. The explosion knocked back a few of the Spirit Armors and they slowed down the ones behind them as well. "Lightning Palm!" Garnet hit another. BZZT. The entire suit of armor crumbled as it fell to the ground.
There was something wrong with that. If it was made of dirt, then the lightning should have been neutralized by the earth element of the Armored Spirits. However, they were also wearing metal, which is often good at conducting electricity. Either way, it made no sense to Garnet, but magic also defied logic to an extent, so she decided not to question it too much and simplified it as "magic must defeat magic." If something was created by magic like her own spirit summons, then they must be able to be defeated by another magic.
It was working. Garnet's spells were limited, but not entirely disabled. They just had to be used in close range. "So you figured it out huh?" said the man. "I thought you would have kept me entertained for a little longer."
"Am I stronger than you expected?" asked Garnet as she continued to knock over other Armor Spirits.
"I would be disappointed if you weren't that strong," said the man as he continued to watch from above. "Not bad, but you could be doing much better."
Even though Garnet was pushing all of the Armor Spirits back, they still had to be taken care of one at a time. When she hit several of them at once, only the one that received the focused hit would stay down. The others would get up and continue.
Stat Increase: Intelligence +1
Stat Increase: Agility +1
Stat Increase: Dexterity +1
What used to be an unknown number was starting to be known. The frequency at which they appeared began to decline, meaning that there was not that many left. Using magic in close range was something she had learned by herself, but reinforced by watching Anna. Compared to Anna though, Garnet was still a beginner. It also meant that Zedd had skills like this too if he had passed a test like this. After all, Zedd had held back during their little spar.
BANG. The last one fell to the ground as Garnet struck it in its chest with an Explosive Palm.
You have leveled up!
The man who was flying around in the sky began to descend. He now had long hair, down to almost his waist. "How much time passed?" asked Garnet.
"I'm not sure," said the man. "Why do you ask?"
"Your hair went from shoulder length to almost down to your waist," said Garnet. "That would have taken at least several months! Don't tell me I was fighting for several months."
"I doubt it," said the man. "But I'm not even sure how much time has passed in here either."
"How do you not know?" asked Garnet.
"Just look around," said the man. "It's usually dark in here and the only sources of light are these blue flames. There's no way to mark the passage of time without something like the sun or the moon to mark the reference of time."
"Don't you go crazy for being alone for so long?" asked Garnet.
"I'm not alone," said the man. "Call: Lilith!" The black bicorn appeared next to the man.
"But she's my summon," said Garnet.
"She's our summon," the man corrected. "We share the same body and the same abilities. Your friends are my friends"
"What are these blue flames anyways?" asked Garnet.
"They're created from mana like your fire spells," said the man. "I used your mana to create them."
"How?" asked Garnet. "My flames look nothing like this."
"Same mana, different use," said the man. "The colors of fire change depending on it's strength, so mine are just stronger than yours. Anything else before we continue?"
"What was the point of this test?" Garnet asked.
"There's several things that we wanted to see," said the man. "This one was mostly just to see how strong you really were."
"Can't you tell by looking?" asked Garnet.
"You're the Hero, not me," said the man. "I can't see everything with numbers and descriptions unless you do it. I just happen to catch a look whenever you open your own stats, but stats do not account for everything."
"What can you see?" asked Garnet.
"Not everything can be seen that easily," said the man. "You can't exactly see determination even though you can measure it. I don't think it is possible to quantify it either."
"What do you mean?" asked Garnet.
"All a Hero sees is numbers," said the man. "Numbers alone do not mean everything. A person who is level 100 can be beaten by someone who is level 50 if they are in poor condition. I remember someone teaching you about this."
Zedd had taught her that. Even though Arnold Gray was more than twice Garnet's level, she was able to beat him with her transformation because Arnold Gray was not really a fighter even though his class said otherwise. Arnold Gray was a noble first and prioritized appearance over functionality when it came to his equipment. His skills were also not developed, so Garnet probably even had higher stats than someone who was level 60 if it was a noble. A soldier who fought regularly would probably be tougher than a level 60 who sat around.
"Then what is the point of the numbers in the first place?' Garnet asked.
"It's just a way of quantifying something in the world," said the man. "Numbers allow us to measure and compare, and as a Hero, you can see the abilities and parameters of other people, allowing you to judge and estimate how strong someone is or so you know how difficult something is to do."
"So numbers have meaning, but they're not absolute?" asked Garnet.
"That is correct," said the man.
"I'm ready for my next test," said Garnet.
"Don't you want to take a guess at who I am?" asked the man.
"I still don't know," said Garnet.
"I hope you remember your friends at least," said the man.
"I remember them well," said Garnet as she pictured Clark, Leeroy, and Anna in her mind. They were the only ones that were close to being friends and Clark and Leeroy were more like business partners than friends.
"Can you at least tell me what you are?" Garnet asked.
"I am a spirit," said the man.
"So I'm special as well as a Hero?" asked Garnet.
"How can you be a Hero and not be special?" said the man. "That's like saying being one of a kind is not unique."
"Why won't you just tell me who you are?" asked Garnet.
"Because, this is also part of your test," said the man. "If I told you, that means you will have to give up on this test and never be allowed to take it again. Is that alright with you?"
If the man gave her the answer she was looking for, then she would lose any potential future powers and abilities. "Then do not tell me," said Garnet. "I will find the answer on my own."
"Are you ready for the second test now or do you have more questions?" asked the man.
"I'm ready," said Garnet.
"Alright then," said the man. "Onward to the next location."
A bright light flashed in front of Garnet and everything turned white.
Spoiler :
Name: Garnet
Level: 22
Class: Dark Mage / Queen Consort
Sub-class: Temptress of the Night
Stats:
HP: 1740/1740
MP: 4970/4970
Fame: 130
Strength: 42 (+5)
Dexterity: 39 (+7)
Intelligence: 140 (+22)
Vitality: 49 (+5)
Agility: 49 (+7)
Charisma: 27 (+20)
PROFICIENCY:Weapon:
- One Handed Sword – 7
- Hand to Hand – 3
- Staff - 1
Magic:
- Fire – 6
- Lightning – 10
- Wind – 3
- Summoning – 8
- Blood – 6
- Spatial - 0
SKILLS:Weapon (One Handed Sword):
- Horizontal Slash (Level 3)
- Double Slash (Level 3)
- Crescent Slash (Level 1)
- Triple Slash (Level 1)
- Delta Attack (Level 1)
- Spiral (Level 1)
Weapon (Hand to Hand):
- Palm Strike (Level 1)
- Wind Palm (Level 1)
- Explosive Palm (Level 3)
- Lightning Palm (Level 1)
- Sweeping Kick (Level 1)
- Horizontal Kick (Level 1)
- Uppercut (Level 1)
- Ki Burst (Level 1)
- Demsey Roll (Level 1)
Weapon (Staff):
- Thrust (Level 2)
- Swinging Smash (Level 1)
- Double Strike (Level 1)
- Triple Strike (Level 1)
- Quadruple Strike (Level 1)
- Vertical Smash (Level 1)
Class (Dark Mage):
- Fire Bolt (Level 5)
- Fire Ball (Level 1)
- Lightning Bolt (Level 8)
- Chain Lightning (Level 4)
- Lightning Ray (Level 1)
- Light (Level 1)
- Air Bullet (Level 4)
- Mana Armor (Level 2)
- Call: Skeletal Hounds (Level 4)
- Call: Skeletons (Level 1)
- Call: Skeletal Knight (Level 1)
- Call: Romulus, Knight of Blood (Level 1)
- Call: Sylvia, Priestess of Blood (Level 1)
- Call: Lilith (Level 1)
- Call: Nuria (Level 1)
- Call: Mazu (Level 1)
- Recall
- Dismiss
- Enhanced Mana Regeneration (Level 3)
- Lightning Fire (Passive)
- Blood Absorption (Level 7)
- Blood Bind (Level 1)
- Blood Scythe (Level 1)
- Blood Sacrifice (Level 1)
- Blood Bullet (Level 1)
- Transformation: Blood Reaper (Level 1)
- Dance of Blood (Level 1)
- Teleportation (Level 1)
- Teleportation Summoning Circle (Level 1)
Sub-class (Temptress of the Night):
- Enhanced Body (Level 3)
- Captivation: (Level 3)
- Mind Read: (Level 1)
- Pleasure Inducement (Level 3)
- Sexy Walk (Level 1)
- Stealth (Level 2)
- Shadow Walk (Level 2)
- Sonic Scream (Level 1)
- Illusion (Level 2)
- Alluring Song (Level 1)
- Flight (Level 1)
- Aura of Fear (Level 2)
- Scale Armor (Level 1, Passive)
- Transformation (Level 1)
- Partial Transformation (Level 1)
- Transformation: Temptress of the Night (Level 1)
Tradeskills:
- Hunting (Level 5) - Hunter
- Cooking (Level 9) - Cook
- Inspection (Level 5)
- Sewing (Level 4) – Tailor
- Magicraft (Level 2) - Alchemist
- Inventory Expansion (Level 4)
Passives:
- Hand to Hand (Level 1)
- One Handed Sword (Level 1)
- Staff (Level 1)
- Reflex (Level 5)
- Haste (Level 2)
- Scale Armor (Level 1)
- Aura of Leadership (Level 1) – The
- Summoning Commander (Level 1)
- Queen's Presence (Level 1)
Unique:
- Hero System (Level 2, Passive)
- Otherworldly Knowledge (Passive)
- Golden Tongue (Passive)
- Mana Compatibility (Passive)
- Quick Learner (Passive)
- Channeling (Passive)
- Charging (Passive)
- Night Vision (Passive)