“BULLSHIT! I WAS THE FIRST ONE OUT OF THAT BOMB CURSED GROVE, HOW COME I DIDN’T PASS!” Svike yelled in outrage at the examiner, who merely stared with dispassionate unblinking lizard-like eyes.
“You passed the surface layer of the test, but unfortunately your speed was not enough to make up for the other factors where you had failed. I will not waste further words, I highly suggest you leave now.” Igni all things considered rather calmly stated to the blue haired man.
The day after the second trial the results were gathered and released, vetting a full half of the Aspirants who had made it past the first trial in the process. Even without the exhaustion he had felt upon returning to sect grounds John did not have much time to enjoy his first time outside of the medical ward besides on the day of his trial all week, immediately having collapsed onto his bed and only waking to Magni far too eagerly shaking him awake at the crack of dawn. While far better than before ARTOS still hung heavy and unnaturally upon his shoulders, he was hungry, sore and still needed another few hours of sleep, so much so he could barely muster up any feeling of excitement on the news he had in fact passed the trial. From the over forty that had originally been here less than ten including him and Magni remained, some who doubtless took their second trial far earlier like Magni while others like a thin girl in the seat beside him looked just about as worse for wear as himself. Still, as Svike was lead out of the sect the warm feeling of pride filled his spirit like the warm rays of the rising sun over the horizon.
A familiar large headed woman floated to the front of the courtyard to address the gathered Aspirants with a large proud grin. “To all of you who have passed the Test of the Grove of Life you have my sincerest congratulations! I am aware splitting this trial over such a time period is inconvenient; I remember how I spent a whole week dreading my results when I was sitting in your seats all those decades ago. But rejoice for you have all made it!”
Despite the small crowd the cheers and enthusiasm was no smaller than had all the seats been filled. Still, this was not the end, beneath the excited atmosphere was an undercurrent of the dread of what was to come.
“The next few days will be spent resting and recovering for the final trial, as some of you have surely suspected by now the second trial was not as simple as it was first presented. All of you have proven one way or another by now your value to the Sect, even should you give up now you will find ample opportunities waiting for you in the Lead Cave even if you do not make it among the small crop of Initiates that will join us in the end. I know you have heard this far too often by now and will only continue to hear this, but it is better to live in shame than die a waste.” The matron continued far more sombrely. “You are all dismissed!”
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In contrast to all the previous trials in the Trial of the Lead Cave an Elder was to lead the gathered Aspirants personally to the deepest part of the Sect and introduce their final challenge. This was expected, but that did not make the experience any less harrowing in the presence of an Aberrant cultivator. Moments before Elder Cinnabar made her entrance the air itself took on an indescribable sort of thickness, before out of nowhere she popped into existence radiating more power than the sun above. John had experienced this already once before of course, but that did not make it easier, and the sheer difference between her presence at the arena and when she was but a few feet away could not be overstated. Invariably everyone present, even Igni and Nicole, moved to bow to greet her. Even Magni seemed to somehow pale even further than his pigment starved skin should physically be capable of, devoid of his usual bite and snark, visibly shaking as sweat dripped from his brow in the cold morning air.
Cinnabar had a slightly annoyed expression on her otherwise serene doll-like face that was currently sat a bit too high up than natural on her massive head. “Raise your heads, unlike the old lizard and Rusty I have neither the ego nor the patience for such pantomimes! And really Nicole, am I really so scary you can’t look your old teacher in the eye?”
Nicole gulped and made fleeting eye contact. “I must admit it has been a while since I was last in your presence, I need some time to get used to it again.”
Cinnabar made a somewhat over dramatic sigh. “See, this is why normally Rusty does this sort of thing, but since he is currently going to be a bit occupied getting Phagos presentable for civilised affairs, I would appreciate it if you turned down the fear and awe a bit, they really don’t have a good psychic flavour.”
The centre of the Lead Cave complex was more of a repurposed hill than a building, the entrance being little more than a massive hole blasted into the stone. As the group travelled deeper into the cave, the natural stone of the hill gave way to more artificial textures reminiscent of the ancient ruins where John had once made a living searching for scraps. Finally deep below the earth they reached a large door fashioned almost makeshift from cruder materials around a frame made up from a titanic lead crescent. Below on the floor lay pieces of lead molten and fused onto the cold concrete and stone, forming little pellets planted into the ground that told the tale of something immensely powerful melting through inches of metal long ago. The three triangles of cultivation were emblazoned onto the large door with dull lead and even still sealed behind that door even the least sensitive Aspirant among them could feel the thickness of Si in the area. Elder Cinnabar clapped her hands and with somewhat concerningly loud groans and creaks the titanic structure slowly slid open revealing an otherwise unremarkable room, that was besides the dozens of seals plastered upon just about every surface and the intense raw energy leaking from piles of corroded barrels buffeting against the bodies of all presently gathered, countless little tendrils of energy searching for any small weakness in mind and body. The tiniest crack in one’s foundations and all that power would wreak havoc on an unprepared body… everyone knew of the dangers of the Curse… One hardly needed a strong imagination to know what would happen should they fail.
“Once you are sealed within none are to leave until the trial is complete, so I would like to take this time now to ask if any would like to turn back now.” She said quietly yet near deafeningly loud in the silence of the room.
Several people turned their backs wordlessly and walked away. He looked at the chamber lying ahead, felt its power wash over him, felt his body burn from countless invisible rays piercing into his flesh like so many vicious spears and something in his resolve cracked. Fear washed over him like the first rains after a drought, the uncertainty and unworthiness building in the corner of his soul swelled into a beast of immense proportions and the world seemed to shrink.
One of the oldest Aspirants present with grey laden hair seemed to notice John’s fears and patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. “I know what it was like the first time as well kid and I was nowhere near as young as you, if you aren’t ready now being a servant the sect until they let you do the trials again isn’t as bad as it probably sounds, trust me.”
Magni sneered. “I guess you were all talk after all, but if you are going to give up now like the old man over there did by all means! Use that fancy relic of yours to scrub the floors and coast by with your connections like a fucking mole!”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The old man glared at Magni with disdain. “From where I am standing there are two scared young men here, but only one man enough to admit it to himself.”
Ferrin opened her mouth to interfere but a violent flash of power and intent silenced the room before she could even speak.
“SILENCE!” Elder Cinnabar half physically and half telepathically screamed, splitting her face horrifically into four halves as her head split into fours like a terrible flower in the process. The world seemed to spin and John could feel a trickle of blood leak from his nose as he steadied himself once more.
The elder’s head mercifully closed back to normal and the weight in the air lowered as she took several deep steadying breaths. “The choice of this matter is ultimately up to the individual, it is far better to have misjudged your strength as weaker than it was than to die from hubris. Magni may have been the worse transgressor in this situation but Mr. Ink… for a man who has stood before these doors once before you really should have known better even if your intent was pure. There will be no shaming of your fellows or coercing them to make a choice one way or another in my presence! Speak for yourself, or speak nothing at all.”
Ferrin spoke up first, uncharacteristically quiet for the normally loud girl. “I thought I was ready… But I can’t go in there… It’s too much… But at the same time…”
Cinnabar nodded, smiling softly. “I can taste your honesty girl, do not be afraid, speak freely.”
She gulped before continuing. “I do not want to give up cultivation but neither do I wish to serve here until I can return again, even if nobody else truly cares I myself would never live with my own shame.”
“Then simply go elsewhere.” Cinnabar replied bluntly. “Sects are useful tools for support, resources and growth, but now more than ever all cultivators must one day leave the comfort of these walls and wander the world in search of fresh wastelands to cultivate. Perhaps this path is not for you, but that does not mean that you cannot find another.”
“T-thank you Elder Cinnabar…” she stammered.
“It’s no trouble.” Cinnabar said as Ferrin left the room, leaving only three.
“Now then, I can certainly feel two of you have already made up your minds, so what will it be John?” She asked, her power becoming almost warm and comforting in contrast to the suffocating presence it normally was.
He looked towards that dark room full of toxic power, a place with all the comfort of a sealed tomb, and then he looked towards his right arm engulfed by something he did not in the slightest understand. He thought back too about Alexander… the Supervisor. It was his choice yes, but would that choice be fair to him too? He thought of all his comrades who have crawled into ruins never to be seen again to experience a fraction of a fraction of the luxury he experienced during these few weeks. Was it fair to them to give up now when he was so close to the dreams of so many? Clenching his fist and noting the dullness in feeling, he wondered how much flesh had he truly left under all that?
He looked Cinnabar in her oddly normal looking eyes. “I’m going in.”
She clicked her tongue and made an inscrutable expression. “Very well then.”
She stepped to the side and allowed the Aspirants through that heavy metal door, and with nearly as quickly as it opened it shut again groaning like dozens of dying men.
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It was surprising really how fast the whole business became boring when the initial fear wore off. A faint glow and warmth emanated from corroded old barrels providing some measure of light and comfort in the darkness, light and warmth of course bearing the curse, but at least it was better than nothing. A small amount of water dripped through ominous cracks in the walls allowing groundwater to trickle in, providing just barely enough water to stave off the thirst, though nothing to ward off the hunger. Meditation on top of serving to help circulate the thick Si and process it from something deadly to something usable at the very least achieved some measure of comfort against the ever expanding void in his stomach. The only other thing to do to pass the time and get through the hunger was interacting with the two others that were stuck here with him.
As much as he loathed to admit it he found himself appreciating this company greater than none at all.
“And then I told them if you think I was going to clean all that today they should find a career in comedy!” Ink concluded between coughs, his voice weak from a damaged throat and exhaustion from who knows how long without a meal here.
Even if they had the energy to laugh John probably would not have done so at the truthfully rather dreary tale… still… better than nothing.
Magni gagged again, vomiting out a mixture of fluids that by this point must have been almost all blood. The darkness did not reveal much thankfully but the enclosed space did not do much to dispel the newest addition to the tapestry of awful smells.
“Come now, my- ugk- stories aren’t that bad right?” the older man said, vainly attempting to lighten the mood.
“It’s fine… I’m fine…” Magni sputtered between heaving breaths.
“Are you sure?” John asked with genuine concern.
“I am… Let’s talk about anything else please… I would rather not think about it…” Magni requested.
“Alright then… if you don’t mind where did the name Magni come from? It’s hardly a usual name.” John asked cautiously.
Despite not being readily visible in the dim near-irrelevant yellowish green light, Magni's wince was more than obvious.
“Well, as long as I could remember I was just struggling to live, whatever name I had before I must have forgotten. After all, if nobody else used it, why would I?” Magni began to speak, each word coming out slowly for a variety of reasons. “I never learned how to read but one day I found this very colourful sign… I think it was a performer’s advertisement? Some big shot from the city I didn’t give a crumb of a shit about but something about it was so different from the rest of the shitter I had to learn more.”
Entranced by the story and insight into his enigmatic not quite friend John leaned forward and listened in rapt silence.
“Someone told me it was for someone like Magni the Great or some Dox-shit like that, but I didn’t really care. It was the image of colour, of life, of confidence that I didn’t have. For the first time in as long as I could remember I didn’t think about what I needed to make it through the day… I thought about what I wanted tomorrow…” he continued, pausing again to gag but thankfully not vomiting out any more of his insides.
“And as much as I wish I could tell some heroic story about how I rose to the top… truth is I got lucky. If I was any less absolutely Cunningham-blessed lucky I would be dead nameless and forgotten in some bomb-smote pit and yet here I am! But still… I guess I could still be luckier, huh?” Magni concluded.
John knew immediately what he was talking about, and wanted to for a moment defend his honour, but paused. He was truly absurdly lucky, wasn’t he? Even now, while the other two were suffering so greatly, all he had to show for it was being hungry? He even felt stronger than before, the weight of ARTOs increasingly feeling more natural on his shoulder as he sat in the dark. He didn’t think much of it usually but surely such luck was not normal? Surely something had to have gone more wrong along the way?
As if to punish him for his thoughts, a familiar intrusive voice buzzed in his mind.
[WARNING: RADIATION PROCESSING CAPABILITIES GREATER THAN 100% LOAD EVACUATE THE PREMISES IMMEDIATELY!]
He felt a pulse of power within him hit a wall. Every single one of his meridians burned as the burden held off by ARTOS slammed into unprepared circuits like the shrieking winds of a storm.
[MULTIPLE SUDDEN GENETIC ABERRATIONS DETECTED!]
He doubled over in pain, in less time than it took for a bead of strangely slimy sweat to hit the ground his comrades went over to try to help, but still they were far too slow. He could feel something like hundreds of worms writhing beneath his flesh. Unnoticed in the darkness his eyes rapidly shifted between different patterns and hues, a small hint of far greater changes happening deeper within him.
[ERROR! MASSIVE SUDDEN GENETIC INSTABILITY! HOST COMPATIBILITY RAPIDLY LOWERING!]
He could feel new growths developing inside him, suddenly colliding with something that he instinctively knew was not meant to be. His body violently fought with the outsider that had meshed so deeply with it, and the invader in turn desperately thrashed against the attempts of its host to reject it.
[HOST COMPATIBILITY AT 60%]
[COMPATIBILITY AT 50%]
[ERROR!]
[E̷R̸R̶O̵R̷]
Ẻ̸̦͎̥̟̺̎R̷̼̲̲͆̏Ŗ̷̹̤̄͗̏͜͝Ȯ̸̥͈͜R̸̤͌̽͌
He screamed louder than should have been possible as hundreds of wiry tendrils ripped through his flesh crackling with lightning.