The only reason Kal was even given this trial was because he had met the system's spirit requirements, whatever that meant. But Kal didn’t need to know what it meant, because he knew that it had to be something to do with his spiritbound feature and skill.
Eyes of the Slayer [Mythic] [Spiritbound]
Divine the threads of your enemies and tear the threads of all asunder. This skill allows its user to detect the level, affinity, and skills of a target of their choice within sight. May the strength of your enemies be their downfall.
Unbound Will [Spiritbound]
Reaching beyond one’s shell requires will far beyond the capabilities of a tier 1 entity but a Slayer of Fate is bound by no such rules. Forge beyond yourself, Soul Smith. Rend the threads of all, Slayer of Fate.
He had been too focused on his body to put much thought into the trial as a whole but Kal could see now that the first two parts were just a warm-up, or maybe to simply allow him to truly attempt the true trial.
Lonesome Will
To fall into the space between is a death sentence. Your anomalous nature has saved you from destruction but soon you will wish it hadn’t.
Part 1: Heal your shell 4160/4160
The strong wither to dust in the space between. Will you do the same?
Part 2: Survive 21 days.18/21 -Available Resources have been extended to beyond this objective’s time limit.
Even the souls of the dead are made less in the place between. Will your feeble shell withstand the winds of desolation?
Part 3: Withstand the Winds of Desolation 0/1
Warning: Do not leave the platform or allow it to be destroyed.
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Escape the place between: 0/1
Time Limit: 82 days
Rewards: Title, Two mortal lives.
It was in the title. This trial was about his will, likely both his literal will and his will to bring himself back from the brink. He had recovered and now this was the true test.
He had been thinking too narrowly about his will and relied on a method he already knew worked, but now that he had weakened himself that method would no longer work, something he should have realized early.
His will was his highest stat by far and he had so few uses for it besides the fact that it improved his Soul Forging and general mental strength. Kal knew there was more to the attribute but he had never found any other uses for it, except for one.
He could move a page. What else could he move?
Kal took a breath and sheathed his sword, withdrawing the thread of will. The thread retracted back to its previous size but Kal wanted to adjust its instructions one more time. Luckily this time it was much faster and as the next thread came arcing toward him Kal raised his hand extending his will as far as he could reach.
At the last possible instant, Kal’s thread moved and clashed with the oncoming void mana tread. Kal’s mind shook as a sudden pressure began to build as the void thread tried to push past his will. Kal angled his will-thread and the pressure vanished as the void mana bounced off the air in front of his hand into the sky above.
Kal grinned. He had done it, now he just needed to keep up.
More void mana surged across the darkness to crash into his quickly diminishing platform and Kal focused on speeding up the speed of his will-thread. His will snapped back and forth between arcing darkness battering them to the side much faster than he could sever them with his current agility but still the winds continued to speed up.
For every four or five threads he deflected two made it past to destroy more of the platform or force him to dodge and avoid losing a body part. Luckily Kal had more than one will-thread to use.
In between the waves of deadly winds Kal dove into his body and moved between the remains of his whole body channel web. Much of it was still barely more than ashes but Kal didn’t need to do much to turn them into simple will-threads again. More threads joined the first starting from the top of his head and then moving down each of his arms.
Maintaining simple threads was far easier than a full construct but using multiple at the same time to deflect incoming streams of void mana took almost all of his concentration. The wind of desolation continued its advance and the threads became a near-constant threat as he spent every moment deflecting more and more of them.
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Kal ground his teeth as another section of the platform vanished in an instant, he needed to be faster. He surged through his body and continued the weaving of his will tendrils, every new tendril formed just in time for it to be used.
The howling winds continued to grow louder and soon the threads whipping towards audibly crackled as they struck, each deflection became a clash of pearlescent white and black sparks that showered the platform and fell into the void while Kal moved his body into more efficient positions to better counter each surge of void mana. Every minute that passed his movements were being restricted as he was forced to step over gaping holes in the platform but he was getting faster.
Dozens of will tendrils whipped out from his skin to bat aside destruction and throughout it all despite the looming death his soul raged not in the need for the kill but in concert with Kal’s own emotions in a way it had only done twice before.
Every deflection was a blow to his mind and body but Kal could only smile as he rose up to meet the challenge before him. He fell into a series of stances that braced him against the onslaught even as his stamina slowly fell, his will dragged his body along. As he continued his battle of will a strange sensation slowly came over him and images flashed into his eyes and voices were summoned from a distant memory.
Fyborh darted between endless hordes of demons, slicing through dozens at a time while the large forms of Karthian warriors fled behind him. Fyborh gasped with exertion but his face remained stoic and through it all he spoke into his mind to Kal.
“Soon Kal you will have to face the fate you have been dealt. You are strong Kal. Of mind if not of body, there are things I would teach you but you are not yet ready and will likely never be while I live to teach you.”
Fyborh stopped his slaughter of the demons and they continued their insane charge towards him. The sky darkened with forms of grotesque flyers and the land was a sea of demonic bodies but Fyborh smiled.
“But I will show you the first step and perhaps one day you will learn to take it…”
“This is Destruction’s First Step.”
Fyborh fell into a series of movements that both seemed serene and yet chaotic, random yet structured. Kal’s young mind could barely track the movements even though they were far slower than Fyborh normally moved. But the results spoke for themselves.
Fyborh’s blade never struck a demon but soon they began to die, arcs of black lighting arced towards him and shattered against his skin like they were made of water and not deadly magic.
Kal came back to himself as his tendrils shattered the onslaught of threads but his focus was now on his stance. His eyes widened as he realized he was standing in the exact same pose Fyborh had started Destruction’s First Step. He had no idea what it was but again the memory dragged itself back into his mind and showed Kal its merits.
Kal didn’t know what to think even with the memory of Fyborh performing the step or whatever it was it wasn’t like Kal couldn’t just replicate it. Whole sections of his memory of the scene were missing or indistinct. But then Kal realized something. As his body moved to fend off the constant assault of void mana he found himself remembering Fyborh in the same pose. He wasn’t copying it, the actual void mana was forcing him to each position and soon Kal saw it.
There was a pattern in each movement of the destructive threads, it was nearly indistinguishable from random noise but now that he had seen it his mind slowly began to keep up. The wind surged towards him and his will reacted, barely keeping up but every flicker of will and motion of his body became more efficient every moment.
Kal grinned again despite the sweat pouring down his face and chest. A thought came to him as he continued the expansion of his will tendrils and slammed them against the coming desolation.
Part 3: Withstand the Winds of Desolation 0/1
You have found your path to survival now you must sustain it.
Warning: Do not leave the platform or allow it to be destroyed.
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Time Limit: 81 days
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Dalen dragged himself from his core space and opened his eyes to see Melisia, Leo, and Jaliete all in various states of shock and awe.
Dalen climbed to his feet, “I gather you all saw what I saw?”
Jaliete was most well composed and spoke up first, “Yes it was quite obvious once you had located your core. It is now no surprise that you recovered much faster than most. Did you get a sense of what it was?”
“Sorta, When I got a look at it I got the sense that it was the only thing that had actually kept me alive after what had happened.”
Dalen didn’t mention the anger he felt and the thoughts that had gone through his head as he entered his core space but knowing perception users they could probably tell he was avoiding the topic so he covered it up by moving on to something he knew would get Jaliete off his back at least.
“There was also this,” Dalen waved his hand and showed them all the notification he had received when he found the crimson cracks.
Mark of Wrath
Your core has been marked by Kalum Lesta the Slayer of Fate and Exemplar of Defiance. May you overcome your limits and sunder that which binds.
The three of them read it and their shocked expressions only deepened. Jaliete on the other hand looked far more pleased than shocked, her normal neutral expression became a slight smile which to Dalen felt kind of unnerving to see.
The moment Melisia got over her shock her trust-conjured journal appeared in her hand and she immediately began to scribble notes while Leo chuckled.
“Exemplar of Defiance? Is that the system title for someone who’s addicted to punishment?” Leo smirked.
Dalen smiled at that even though he still held the simmering anger deep in his chest, “Yeah I thought it sounded about right too.”
Melisia finished her writing spree and looked up at Dalen and he grimaced. He knew that look, the last time he had seen it he had ditched Kal and let him suffer under her interrogation. It looked like it was about to be his turn.
“What did it feel like when Kal pulled the demon mana out of your core? Did it hurt? Did you feel his birthright’s aura?.....” The questions continued pouring from her mouth Dalen answered as best he could. For the most part, the answer was no. He had felt nothing but the relief that his core wasn’t going to explode for a minute but then she asked the question he had hoped he could avoid.
“Are you experiencing mood swings or urges?”
But before Dalen could answer Jaliete spoke up for the first time, “You can ask your questions later Melisia. Right now we are here to discuss our next step and I believe it is now obvious don’t you?”