Nic reached the first Trial before dawn had even fully broken. The newly-restored forest was a rich place, full of the scents of medicine and scuttling life, and he enjoyed a leisurely walk alongside a foraging crew from Winterhome, helping them chase off a few beasts who didn’t yet understand the pecking order around here.

Excitement shone in the eyes of the foragers. They had been scraping along in the increasingly-depleted forest before. Now? Treasure fruits hung from every branch. They were developing a system for marking medicines and fruits that were still protected by the pearly barriers, making sure to snatch them as soon as they were ripe for the picking.

Already, he’d heard reports of treasures sealed behind week-long barriers. Those would be the real prizes- on par with the lotus that let him travel on the wind.

But with opportunity came danger.

These new beasts were far, far more aggressive. Nic was unsure whether they simply came from a particularly violent planet, or whether it was simply that the most aggressive of this new wave had yet to die off…

But he was forced to unleash Peacemaker twice.

The first time was against a strange creature, a tree-dwelling crustacean with a shell covered in moss and flowers. It tried to pick off a forager from above while the poor fool was kneeling under the tree’s shade, plucking herbs.

Nic severed its huge, camouflaged claw without hesitation as his danger sense warned him, cutting it away moments before it could snap shut like a guillotine. His next blow crushed through the shell and killed the beast.

The next attack was even more brazen. A serpentine, hound-like lizard with red streaks around its eyes and a flickering, poisonous blue tongue attempted to take him on directly, saliva dripping from its tusked mouth as it reared up and challenging him with a warcry.

As it cried out, another lizard flickered into existence. Not an illusion- but a full-blown clone.

Nic smiled as he spun Peacemaker in his hand, stepped forward, and unleashed his killing voice.

BIG MISTAKE.

Those words hammered into the lizard, freezing it for a fatal second. Mud exploded up around it, forming a fist that clutched its body tightly. Mire-Caller did its work. No matter how the beast struggled and thrashed, it had no escape.

But the clone still lunged for Nic, lashing at him with its barbed tongue. He evaded, slipped under the blow, and kicked it savagely in the skull. Before it could react his Peacemaker slammed down and cut deep into bone and brain. The clone dissolved into shreds of aura, leaving Nic to focus on the main body.

He grimaced. This was going to be gruesome work, but…

He advanced, leaping onto the lizard’s back. With a knife in hand he began to carve out its Shard, peeling the crystal from living flesh. It was worse than he imagined- blood spilled across his hands, and the beast cried out frantically in pain.

It was with a sense of disgust in himself that Nic finally ripped the Shard free and killed the beast with a single, off-handed swipe.

A Primary Shard glittered in his hand, slick with gore.

Dual-Shadow Shard. F-Class // Primary. This shard contains purest Essence attuned to the concepts of duality and creation. Well suited to forming a Myriad Core.

It had been a while since he’d even cared about Shards, but Primaries were so precious to Winterhome…

And yet the work of getting them was sickening. Nic felt a lingering shadow on his heart, the echo of the lizard’s cry filling his ears. He grimaced again, spitting against the ground and trying to dispel that pang of conscience.

Maybe there was a better way?

There had to be. Shards were too precious a resource for the endless sects and factions not to work on extracting them from the dead. He’d have to consult his new ‘allies’ in the Ghost-Toll Legion…

Sighing, he put the Shard away and waved to the foragers.

“I’m going on ahead. Don’t wait up for me.”

And then he broke away, heading directly for the Trial…

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The next Trial monolith was shaped like a pagoda of steel, metal thorns bristling from every surface. The pillars supporting the tiered roof were covered in rusted stains like blood, and Nic saw the bodies of defeated challengers littering the ground, beasts who had been trampled into the mud with tremendous force. Clearly, he wasn’t the first to seek out this Trial…

But he’d be the last. Stepping forward, he reached out for the glowing fragments of floating yellow crystal that filled the pagoda’s interior.

This Monument’s Name is the Thorn Sept

It is a guardian-type array, summoning an ancient beast to oppose you. Your performance will be evaluated based on your ability to defeat the enemy within the time limit, the damage you suffer in the attempt, and the excellence you show.

An additional award will be given if you can master the guardian’s techniques.

This Trial will last for ten minutes.

As the wave of energy unleashed by touching the crystal rippled outwards, a figure began to form. It was made of dark, lustrous armor, on which tiny shreds of rainbow fire danced. It had a beak-like helmet with curling ramshorns, and wore a long, shaggy coat of what Nic realized with disgust were human scalps, hanging down around its shoulders like a cape. Three points along its armor were cracked, creating obvious weak spots to target…

Shrike Praetorian. D-Class // Sapient. A high-ranking soldier of an empire that predated all known history, the Praetorians were known for ruthlessly impaling their enemies on spears, leaving the battlefield littered with still-groaning bodies. They served their high emperor with distinction, but their techniques have been lost to time…

D-Class…

Nic’s face was grim.

It carried a simple, unadorned spear, straight and sharp.

Nic spun Peacemaker into position and braced for impact as the guardian lifted its own weapon…

In that first clash, Nic actually came out ahead. It was… surprising, really…

He easily swatted away the first strike that aimed for his throat, the spear bending like a serpent. It was fast, yes, but Nic was used to fast. He stepped back rather than advancing, almost expecting a trap. Instead-

Another pair of jabbing strikes came out, predictable and clumsy. There was no air of dignified power to the creature in front of him. No sense of mysterious dao within its attacks. Nic blocked twice, the speartip ringing off Peacemaker’s broad, flat blade.

He was waiting. Waiting for the trick, the snare…

Once again. The spear flicked forward, carving a wide arc through the air with a crescent slash. Nic evaded, stepped forward, and slammed his palm into its chest, executing Hand of Ash.

The beast absorbed the blow as if it was never there.

And then the spear whipped around and struck Nic with its blunt end, lifting him high off the ground with brutal speed-

With his own speed.

The fucking thing had returned his attack.

He blocked with the back of his arms, but the sheer force was enough to kick him off his feet and into a stumbling roll. As he came up again, the spear was already shooting towards his throat. Nic flickered and was gone, teleporting back a few feet.

The praetorian was in motion now. Its spear danced in all directions, moving with fluid grace. Its footwork spiraled, a circular dancing motion that flowed from one pose to the next without weight, without difficulty, as natural in that heavy armor as a fish was in water. The spear leapt between poses, performing a martial drill with perfect precision.

Nic was noticing something worrying.

It had sped up when it stole the force of his attack…

And it hadn’t slowed down since.

If it was a simple damage-returning technique, he would’ve expected it to immediately lose the power it had stolen from his own blow. But instead, if anything, it was getting faster by the second, slowly increasing in strength as it flashed through the motions of its dance.

An addition reward will be given if you master the guardian’s techniques…

A pre-System empire…

Things clicked in Nic’s mind.

This wasn’t some dumb brute. This was an ancient master, one the System wished to learn from. It had been brought here not to test him…

But to teach him, if he was worthy. If he could seize its techniques by force.

Nic looked up and saw the cold, ruthless determination in the dark visor of the helm. Yes. How many times would it have been, now? How many times had this same soul been summoned, sent to kill aspiring Trial-takers in the hopes one would be able to rip away its secrets by force…

The praetorian leapt forward, high into the air. Its spear came raining down, the flexible shaft behind and twisting so each strike came from a new, unexpected angle.

Nic caught the blows with Peacemaker, a rain of steel against bone. As the armored figure dropped down, he was waiting. Mud surged upwards, seizing its legs, slowing it down. Its dancing faltered for a moment-

And its speed and power faltered in that same breath.

Nic’s eyes blazed with triumph. That was it, then. The praetorian could borrow his strength indefinitely, but only so long as it stayed in motion. Any fumble, any fall, and it would lose the borrowed power.

His Peacemaker swept down, smashing at its armored hand. Knocking the spear aside. He advanced and slammed his Hand of Ash down into its knee, trying to push it deeper into the swamp-like mudpit, trying to sink it deep where it would be restrained and unable to rise.

It responded with a headbutt, sweeping its horned head down to try and knock him away. It had his power again, leached from the blows, but with its legs bound it could only hold it for a single attack. Nic took that attack head-on, literally hardening his body with the Internal Sacrifice Cauldrons Technique and smashing his own skull against its metal visor.

The two combatants reeled back, dizzy…

But Nic was the first to recover.