“Why are we here?” Cedrik, the rogue, asked.
“You all saw the SYSTEM Message, didn’t you?” Callum asked.
“We did,” Asling, their Archer, agreed.
“Well, I was thinking about entering the Trial of Transcendence,” Callum announced.
“Really, you want to become a God,” Pythias, their cleric, asked.
“I want to become more powerful, and I think this SYSTEM-based trial is the best opportunity for that,” Callum said.
“You may be right. If we stay here, we will have to join this world’s hierarchy. While we might be on good terms with the Queen and her daughter,” Robert said with a nod to Pandora, “I think we need to make our own way in this Universe.
“We’re going to stay here,” Cindy Bennard said as she held her husband's hand, “Our son is, well, we’re not exactly sure what he is. Our daughter-in-law is the Queen, and our granddaughter is almost as powerful as her dad. We’re going to stay here and help Adaline out as we can.
We’re staying too,” Amanda said as Abi moved to stand beside her.
“How about you two?” Callum said as he looked at Desirae and Clarence.
“I am going to join the Trial,” Desirae said.
“I’m going to stay and keep an eye on Adam’s parents, Adaline, Amanda, and Abi. Adaline, The Queen, has already set up a trainer to help me. Also, I’ll be joining the Adventurer’s Guild tomorrow to start Dungeon diving to level,” Clarence said.
“You don’t want to be a God?” Cedrik asked.
“Nah, I’m good. I’m happy at my current power level. A little more won't hurt, of course, but becoming a deity when I was an atheist for most of my life, yeah, that’s not for me, at least not yet.”
Callum nodded and then turned to Pandora, “And you, what are you going to do, Pandora?”
“As you may or may not know, the reshuffling of the multiverse has created some issues here on Primore. Mother has asked me to stay and help her sort that out because of my unique situation,” Pandora said.
“What unique situation?” Pythias asked, “I know we all retained the bonuses your dad gave us, which will give us all an advantage. Are you saying there was something else?”
Pandora nodded, “Yeah, there was something else. All of you remained at your current level, right? So did I?”
“Wait,” Robert started, a look of surprise coming over his face. I read the SYSTEM notes. “ Maximum level is supposed to be 10,000 now.
“Yep,” Pandora agreed.
“You were above level 10,000 in each of your classes last time you shared your information with us,” Robert pointed out.
“Right again,” Pandora said.
“So what you’re saying,” Abi started to say before pausing and considering how to continue, “What you’re saying is that you inherited your father’s nature not to be tied down by SYSTEM mechanics?”
“Not so much, no,” Pandora agreed.
“Why not take the Trial of Transcendence and become a God then?” Callum asked.
“I’ve given it some serious thought. Mom found out that the Trial is taking place in a Universe with an accelerated temporal rate. If I stay here, it’ll give you an opportunity to catch up to me when you’re done.
“When we’re done,” Robert said, “You know how I feel…how we all feel about you. When we’re done, if everything goes right, we’ll be Gods.”
“You could be. Not all paths to Transcendence lead to Godhood. Just ask my dad. Still, I’ll be here. Caspa and I are, forever.
“You don’t know that,” Callum said.
“Actually, I do. Chaos is forever. Part of me already exists in that other place I was before I came here. Should something happen to this vessel or any and all of the Replicants I create going forward, I will reemerge. I may lose some memories. I may not, but that which is me, my core or soul, will exist forever, or as long as I wish it to anyway,” Pandora said.
“You’re saying you can’t be killed?” Cedrik asked with a smile before he continued, “There will be no putting up with you now.”
“Too true,” Pandora said, “Especially since you’ll be too busy trying to survive the Trial.”
“What do you mean survive?” Asling asked.
“Gods require followers and those that believe in them. My father’s memories inform me that the quickest way to achieve that is to create a battle royal of sorts. Those that survive become the gods or transcendent beings, those that do not…”
“Become the foundation for the pantheons of the gods that must replace those which sacrificed everything for this SYSTEM,” Pythias said.
Pandora nodded.
“Okay, enough of this melancholy bullshit,” Desirae said. We only have tonight. Let’s eat, drink, and be merry. Tomorrow morning, we will head out. The portal to the Trial is at the Aerie in the mountains North of here. The Queen said it was where she met Adam for the first time. It’ll take about two days to get there from here. The Queen has, of course, provided an escort to accompany us, who will bring the horses back once we reach the base of the mountain path.”
They went over the plans quickly, and then Pandora and Adam’s companions ate, drank, and were merry until the middle of the night when the Queen stopped by to check on everyone. Pandora’s first replicant that she’d created over the last day stepped up to Robert, and they walked off. It was such a useful skill but extremely time-consuming to use.
Replicant
This is a Channeled Class Skill and will allow you to create duplicates of yourself. The replicant is a full clone and copy of yourself. Replicants contain all previous abilities, perks, titles, skills, and spells. Bodies may not be adjusted. They are copies of yourself.
Mana cost = 100 mana multiplied by the sum of Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, Constitution, Perception, Intelligence, Wisdom, Willpower, Charisma, and body weight.
All Replicants are connected to your soul. As such, all increases in abilities and levels are mimicked by the Replicant. Additionally, Replicants may kill and earn XP at a reduced rate. Any XP earned by a replicant is reduced by half before it is added to your total XP. Replicants do NOT track individual XP. Skill use, however, is not affected. Skill experience is earned at its normal rate as skill use is linked through all replicants and the Original.
Additionally, All Replicants have access to a single Replicant Storage area which can hold five cubic feet of material. Treasure in the form of Credits is added to your normal credits. Physical treasure is added to Replicant Storage, which you can access and clear out at any time. Replicant Storage will level as all other skills do.
What the others didn’t know was that the Replicant that was going off with Robert would also be going off to participate in the Trials. There was no point in letting them know that, as it wouldn’t matter. The Time dilation was one million to one during the Trial, which meant that during the day they’d been on Primore since the SYSTEM adjusted everything, more than 2,777 years had passed for her father and those already taking the Trial.
While her Clone went off to participate in the Trial, Pandora would stay here and continue to make more replicants. She could make one every 28 hours. The Second Replicant was going to help take care of crisis-level problems in the surrounding area. When the Third Replicant was finished, she’d have that one help her mother while her true body, if she even had a true body anymore, continued to create more replicants. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to sacrifice them to the SYSTEM again.
Pandora put tomorrow out of her mind and went to sit with her mother. For the rest of the Night, Robert and Pandora Replicant enjoyed their intimacy while Pandora and the rest of her family reminisced about everything they’d been through. Grandma and Grandpa even talked about re-entering the bid for Transcendence eventually, but right now, they wanted to make sure this world, and maybe even the Earth in this Universe, survived the reorganization the SYSTEM had enacted. It was enough to take the edge off of this feeling she’d been getting for a while now. A feeling that they were running out of time. Time for what? She had no idea, but she trusted her feelings, and something didn’t feel quite right. Hopefully, her replicant would find her father. Maybe he knew what was coming.
***
Diamond led his group through one of the Violet archways. The four of them had stuck together for a long time now. A long time. They’d been on the Red Challenge Planet for…well, he’d lost track of time, like everyone did in this place. It had been ages, though. Long enough for each of them to break level 2,500 and choose the names they now went by. He’d chosen Diamond since he’d taken a tank-type class. The other three women in his group had also taken an identity based on gemstones. Saphire was the Archer, Emerald, the healer, and Black Onyx, or just Onyx, was their assassin.
They’d hunted on the Red Challenge world, mostly killing any other Trial takers as they garnered the most XP. The monsters weren’t awful XP, but the four of them needed so much experience to level now that they had to kill a ton of monsters to even move the XP needle for their class XP to increase by even one percent. They had killed monsters, but only when they’d been in the way or been stupid enough to attack them. Once a year, they’d head back to a Green zone to rest and relax for a week, but then they’d head back out.
In the Green Zones, they displayed their best behavior. He’d seen how the SYSTEM had reacted when individuals attacked others under level 100 after it had warned everyone. Green Zones carried the same types of warning? Anyone attacking in those areas was crazy. Of course, they didn’t live long enough to learn from that mistake once the SYSTEM started adding Negative karmic luck. He hadn’t seen anything personally, but they’d heard the rumors. They’d all decided that taking that chance wasn’t worth it. So, they followed the rules in the Green Zones.
In fact, they’d left a Green Zone only a week ago and traveled through various archways until they found a Violet archway that led to this world. They’d decided that 1,500 levels more than the listed minimum for Violet Challenge planets had to be high enough that they could survive. As they stepped from the archway, they saw creatures off in the distance. Diamond Analyzed the creatures, which resembled cows and was unsurprised when they were listed as Giant Cows. They were level 1,001, but they just Giant Cows. Before Diamond could say anything, Saphire drew her bow and let loose a single arrow, which morphed into a swarm of arrows as it flew. Where the arrows hit, the creatures died. In a moment at least 40 Giant Cows had been killed.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Saphire,” Onyx called out, “What the hell? You have to let us attack before you kill them so we can get some of the XP too?
“What are you talking about? Don’t you see the rest of the cows now rushing this way?” Saphire retorted.
Onyx looked past the Giant dead cows and saw dust being kicked up in the distance, “Oh, okay,” Onyx said with a smile.
Diamond drew his sword, an extremely powerful sword he’d picked up some levels ago that increased in power as he leveled, and smiled, “Time to go to work!”
Emerald cast a spell that created a large barrier around the part, “Remember, you dropped out of Line of Sight. I can’t send healing magic your way, well, except for Onyx, but you all know we use the Unity rings for that.”
“Yes, Mom,” Onyx quipped.
Over the next twenty minutes, they took their time killing the cows, and then the last twenty-three started fleeing. Diamond whistled as he turned and walked back to Emerald's barrier. As they came back together, Diamond asked, “Did any of you see that tower off in the distance?”
“Down by the river, about two miles away?” Onyx asked.
“Yeah, that’s the one. It’s just out of sight of the archway. I didn’t see it until I went over that hill back there,” Diamond said, pointing toward a small hill that was between their current position and the Archway.
“Someone is living here with creatures and monsters nearby that are over level 1,000?”
“Sure, seems that way,” Saphire agreed,
“We should check it out,” Diamond said, “First, though let’s loot the bodies.
They went to work recovering the giant cow corpses—there were only about 500 of them. The four of them stored the cows and then made their way over a hill and saw the tower and the building below it, which had a sign on it.
“Is that an electronic billboard sign on the roof of the building?” Diamond asked.
“It is,” Saphire said, “But forget that, look around the building. Out to about 1,200 or so feet. There’s grass that looks like it was recently mowed.”
“That is weird,” Emerald agreed. “Also, my Earthen sight is not working on the grass or anything inside that area, including the air.”
“You can’t detect anything in the area?” Diamond asked.
“I can detect it, but it’s like its’ blocked, and I have no idea how,” Emerald said
“What’s the sign say?” Onyx asked.
“What’s the matter? Can’t read it from here,” Saphire asked.
“Not all of us use bows or can read the writing on a coin over 2,000 feet away, let alone, what is that a mile away?” Onyx replied.
“Not much really, it just says, ‘Looking to Trade, Come on in. -The Merchant,’” Saphire said.
A Merchant out here? Is that fool crazy? Someone could rob him. Unless it’s a SYSTEM Store of course,” Diamond mused.
“There are no SYSTEM Stores on any of the worlds. Only in the Green Zones, which are technically dimensional pockets, “You know I asked that question, right? You asked me to ask that question a long, long time ago,” Emerald said.
Diamond nodded, “You’re right, there shouldn’t be any SYSTEM Stores out here.
“So, a Merchant. I wonder what’s for sale, Saphire said.
“I wonder how much XP he’ll be worth, Onyx said”
“What Onyx said,” Diamond agreed, “Also, maybe the Merchant has something that allows him to trade with the SYSTEM. Suppose we can get that so that we don’t have to head back to the Green Zone to trade or resupply?”
“Now you’re talking,” Onyx agreed as the four started walking toward the building.
Less than 10 minutes later, the four of them stepped onto the grass and walked up to a building that looked like a medieval tower with a nice two-story building attached at the base. The walls looked like wood, but Diamond wasn’t sure. There was something off about this place. There was a paved sidewalk that led up to a double door with a little rug that said “Welcome” in front of it.
Diamond stepped up to the double door and pushed it open. As they stepped across the threshold into the room, Diamond heard something he’d never thought to hear on a foreign planet from speakers hanging in the corner. “Thunderstruck” by ACDC was played in the background. In fact, the song had just started, and the volume increased until it was at the appropriate level to listen to, Very Loud.
Diamond glanced left and right at his three fellow party members, who were smiling as they looked around. The room looked like an entryway in an office. There were a couple of doorways that led off into other rooms throughout the building. That’s when Diamond noticed that Saphire had locked in on the wall on the far side of a building where the edge of a giant TV was poking around the corner. Diamond walked slowly over until he could see enough of the screen to verify that, yes, the video of the song was playing on the television while a man who looked to be in his thirties wearing a simple black robe was playing the air guitar as he mimicked the band on the screen.
When he saw Diamond, he stopped, pointed at a remote on the counter, and the TV went off. “Sorry about that. Can I help you?”
Diamond looked around the room and saw that Onyx had vanished while Saphire and Emerald moved up beside him. Diamond looked at the man and said, “Are you The Merchant, then?”
“That’s me. I have been for a while. I just moved into the area, in fact.
“How long ago?” Emerald asked.
“About a week now, I think. You know how it is with time here,” The Merchant answered.
“Why come to a Violet Zone?” Diamond asked.
“Well, I only have a few ways to make XP. One of those ways is to buy and sell stuff from others. The higher the value, the more XP I earn, so I came here when it looked like enough people had started leaving the red areas.
Through their mental chat, Diamond received a ping from Onyx, In position.
Diamond controlled his expression as he asked, “Aren’t you worried about people trying to kill you and take your shop?
The Merchant smiled as he shook his head, “Nope.”
“Then you're crazy,” Diamond said, as he sent Now! Through their mental link.
The Merchant, for his part, didn’t move as Onyx materialized behind him and stabbed a short sword made out of the darkest metal Diamond had ever seen. It was made out of magically altered adamantium so that it wouldn’t reflect light at all. Onyx attacked with such force that when the tip of the blade stopped dead against The Merchants back, her hand lost its grip, slid up the hilt, and shattered her fingers against the cross grip. Onyx screamed as she dropped to the ground and tried to roll away from any counterattack the Merchant might try to make.
She needn’t have bothered; The Merchant ignored her as Diamond drew his Greatsword and brought it down on the Merchant's right shoulder in an effort to cleave him in two from his shoulder to his groin. Unfortunately for Diamond, his sword was not made out of Adamantium, and his sword wasn’t as strong as Onyx’s blade. As soon as his sword hit The Merchant's shoulders, it shattered into a million pieces that evaporated before they moved six inches from the Merchant's Soldiers.
“What?” Saphire and Emerald both said simultaneously.
Everyone froze until the Merchant spoke, “Are you done then?” When no one continued attacking the Merchant continued, “Good. Emerald, see to your friend's hand, then the lot of you come over to the table; I’ll wait.” The Merchant said.
Emerald moved over to Onyx and had to use two of her most potent healing spells to repair the bones and tendons in Onyx’s hand, which she’d destroyed with her attempted backstab.
“What the hell was he?” Onyx asked through gritted teeth while Emerald healed her.
“I have no idea. When I attempted to Analyze him, I received nothing but question marks,” Emerald said.
“I think we better move to the table soon,” Saphire said as she pointed to the entrance, which had turned into a solid wall of metal.
“What the hell?” Diamond asked.
“It just flowed like water until it’s as you see it,” Saphire said.
“Can we teleport out?” Diamond asked.
A new voice issued from the speakers, “You could, but I’ll find you. Besides, I would strongly suggest that you come along and we talk. Attacking a Merchant in their Domain that is clearly identified is a big SYSTEM no, no. The only reason the SYSTEM hasn’t responded and assigned negative Karmic Luck to the four of you is because you didn’t damage me. If I, as the Domain holder, file a grievance, the SYSTEM will review my claim and then assign Negative Karmic Luck if warranted. Onyx and Diamond, do you think the messages you sent back and forth would be enough evidence for the SYSTEM to warrant such an award? And in a Violet area, no less? I wonder how much negative Karmic Luck that would garner? Now come along.”
Diamond looked at his three party members and started walking toward the dining room, followed by Saphire, Emerald, and Onyx. As he stepped through the door, The Merchant sat at the head of a large oak dining table with five other chairs. One chair sat opposite and two on each side. The Merchant had a glass of what looked like tea in front of him. The four took their seats on the side of the table. No one sat at the opposite end of the table.
“Would any of you like something to drink? The sky’s the limit. Pick anything you want, and it’ll appear in front of you.
“I’ll take a chilled bottle of Coors,” Diamond said, “They're pretty hard to come by.”
“I’d like a Spy’s Demise if you’re offering. I had one once in Milwaukee at this spy-themed bar, Onyx said.
Before the other two could voice their drink request, The Merchant placed a finger to his lips and said, “Shhh…”
“You know the passphrase?” Onyx asked indignantly
“Of course I do. Emerald and Saphire, what would you like to drink?
“I’ll take a beer like Diamond, Saphire said.”
“If you know what the Spy’s Demise is, then I want a Mission Impossible,” Emerald said.
“Drinks coming up,” The Merchant said as the drinks all appeared out of thin air sitting on the table in front of them.
Diamond looked at the beer in front of him, picked it up, and took a swig. It was a Coors, and it was chilled.
Onyx picked up her drink, took a sip, and then set it down, “That’s an honest to God, Spy’s Demise.”
The Merchant smiled, “Of course it is.”
“What do you want from us?” Diamond asked after he took another sip of beer as he tried to act nonchalant.
“Well, let's see if I can explain this in a way you’ll understand. I’m trying to level my Vendor class, which allows me to summon this,” The Merchant said as a Pearlescent Orb appeared in the middle of the table, “That is a SYSTEM Vendor orb, through which you can buy anything the SYSTEM is selling. For every credit someone spends at my Vendor Node, I receive some XP,” The Merchant started to explain before Onyx interrupted him.
“You want us to purchase stuff from your Vendor Node so that you can earn enough XP. What if we don’t need anything?”
“If you had waited, Onyx, I would have answered your question. You currently can’t afford to pay off the value of your life in the experience I receive for such transactions. Before you ask, it’s a flat 25% of the money the system takes in. As a vendor, I do not set the prices or the amount I get from the system. However, as a vendor, everything in the SYSTEM is available for purchase.
“Everything?” Emerald asked
“Everything. Now, with the 1,563,125,000 XP I would receive for killing Diamond, I’d only receive about 390,781,250 toward my vendor class, as it’s my fourth class. That’s not worth as much to me as, say, having four individuals who are Oath sworn to me to continue to buy and sell from my Vendor Node.” The Merchant explained.
“You want to make us into your slaves?” Onyx asked.
“Not at all. As I said, the amount of XP I’d make for my vendor class would be about the same as if I’d sold one and a half billion credits worth of items. I don’t even care that you’ve been killing other Trial-takers. They’ll reenter the reincarnation cycle and can try again or do something else eventually. No, I want you to do what you were going to do anyway. Travel all over this world. Fight monsters and come to me if you need to sell or buy items from the SYSTEM.
“How much are our lives worth in XP for your class?” Diamond asked.
“I was going to ask you the same question.” The Merchant countered.
Onyx sighed, “Obviously, saying the amount our lives are worth is not going to incentivize you to keep us around, so how about 10 times the XP you’d get if you killed us.”
“Seems a bit greedy,” The Merchant said, “Also, right now, I’m on the right side of Karma here; taking you for that much would put me on the wrong side of Karma. I do not want that. So, how about his instead? Double the XP I would get for you today at your current level; plus, once you're paid off, you must continue to use my services for at least one year if you remain in an area I am set up in.”
“That sounds incredibly fair, but why wouldn’t we be coming to you anyway once we’ve increased your Vendor class enough?”
You all know how you can sell the cows in your inventory to the SYSTEM for a flat rate, right? Merchants can set whatever price they want. If you were to use my Vendor Node to sell it, though, You would get back the SYSTEM cost price plus one-half of my Vendor level. I can see by the look on your faces you don’t get it. I’ll give you an example. I can purchase items for myself at cost from my Vendor node. If something costs ten credits, it costs ten credits. Now, if you try to buy that same item from my vendor node, the price doubles and is marked up another 128% because that is my current Vendor class level. So, that item I purchased for ten credits would cost you 45.6 credits. Now, if you sold that exact item, which the SYSTEM would only pay ten credits for, you would instead get 16.8 credits. I earn 25% of each transaction as XP, but once you meet your minimum obligation, you don’t have to sell to me anymore. You’ll only need to come to me to purchase items, and you can start selling anything you pick up and build up your funds. Granted, you won’t make as much money unless the quantity of creatures you kill is staggering, of course. Then, when you visit, you’ll have even more hard-earned credits to spend.
“What about other Trial takers?” Diamond asked.
The Merchant looked thoughtful for a moment before he responded, “It should go without saying that the more people that are around, the faster my Vendor Level will rise, so I’ll say this. Anyone else who trades with me will reduce each of your obligations by equal. By that, I mean if someone spends 400 credits, each of your obligations will reduced by 25 XP, not 100 XP each.”
“We’re going to be doing this for a while?” Onyx said.
“Honestly, it was only a matter of time before you bit off more than you could chew. The first Violet archway I went through would have probably killed the four of you. You all need to look at expanding your group and working with others.”
“Why do you care?”
“Because all the gods need to be replaced, even the assholes.”
Diamond looked into the Merchant's eyes, trying to read him for any sign that he was mocking them. As far as he could tell, the Merchant was sincere. Diamond smiled and then held out his hand, “We agree to your terms.
The merchant looked at the other three, who each nodded. Then he held out his hand and shook Diamond's hand, “Sounds good. Let’s eat first, and then we’ll set up a SYSTEM Contract.”
“There’s food,“ Emerald asked. “I don’t smell anything.”
“Whatever you desire, I can provide for you, “The Merchant said.
Of course, they each tested his claim, and of course, the Merchant provided precisely what they asked for. The day had started normally, but now Diamond and his party had a merchant they could visit without leaving the planet.
The Merchant smiled as his eyes fell on Diamond. As if reading his mind, he said, “You all can feel free to come by and get a meal anytime you want. Room and board is going to cost you.”
Emerald looked up from his meal, “Aren’t you worried about monsters showing up and attacking your shop?
“Not at all. There’s an Adamantium Dragon in the area. We have a good working relationship, so the monsters leave both the dragon and me alone.”
“An…did you say Adamantium Dragon?”
“I did. Now, please, enjoy your meals,” The Merchant said as his glass evaporated. He walked toward the front door of the building and flowed into existence on the wall, “I’ll be back shortly.” The Merchant said as he stepped outside and disappeared from Diamond's perception.