I don't know what woke me, and I don't even know how long I slept. I gathered my gear, ate, and drank. Then, I removed the barricade and stepped out with Lightreaver and Shadowbane ready.

It was still bitch black, and my Spectral Vision (See-thru) was telling me nothing had changed.

Something wasn’t right, though. I could feel it.

Then, suddenly, everything changed. I was no longer standing in the dark in a destroyed vault. I was standing in a great reception chamber. Everything was well-lit, and there was an empty throne at the end on a dias. This was a king's reception chamber, but it was much larger and grander than the one in the stronghold. On the steps below the throne was a reward chest.

The Trial, Lands of the Undying Lord, is complete.

You have survived for two months.

You may collect your reward.

That is it? Am I done? I am not sure I quite believed it, but I was not going to waste any time. If I am done, I should be transported out as soon as I empty the rewards chest. I didn’t quite run.

The chest was small, and as soon as I opened it, I saw there were only three stones in it. One was an Ability Stone, but the other two were stones I did not recognise. I scooped them up and stood up.

You have left the Trial, Lands of the Undying Lord.

I found myself standing on a grassy hillside. The horses and wagon we were with were next to me. They must have been in some place that did not move because they looked exactly the same as when we had left them.

The trouble is, this is not the same place we entered the trial from, and I had no idea where I was. The Trial is a wandering trial, and they are avoided for exactly this reason. Well, it is one of the reasons they are avoided. If you survive, you might end up in a completely different place.

I looked around for threats. This was natural now. Then I remembered to switch my Spectral Vision from Spectral Vision (See-thru) to (Heat), and that was better. The sun was shining and the sky only had a few light clouds. The air was fresh. The contrast from the trail couldn’t be more different.

I re-looked around with my Spectral Vision (Heat) vision, and there were only a few low-level horned hares. Happy I was safe for now, I checked the two horses. They were already hitched to the wagon, and we were ready to move out when the trial caught us.

No others had arrived, so I was the only one who had survived the two months. I guess the wagon and horses were mine now. I knew where Carl kept his Strongbox with the coin, but that was not urgent. I had more coins and valuables in my storage than the group would have earned in several lifetimes.

I looked around again, this time into the distance with Farsight. I needed to get moving and get into a safe zone around a permanent trial. For all I knew, the Lands of the bloody, undying lord would scoop me up again, and I was not going back there or to any other trial for a long, long time.

I could see a lake in the distance, and there looked to be a village near it. But it would take me all day and a half to get there with the wagon. I could run it quicker, but I refrained for now. It was my best bet. My map was empty around me. It would map everywhere I went, but I had got it in the trial, so the Map knew nothing.

I jumped up on the wagon and got the horses moving toward the lake. I kept checking for threats, but once we were moving, I relaxed a little, ducked into the wagon, and got some fresh food. Oh, that was divine. I complained about Tim’s cooking before, but there were only compliments now.

Once I had eaten and moved back to the front driver's seat with a wineskin, it was time to see what the trial had given me.

Only the Ability Stone responded to my appraisal. The others only came back with question marks.

I learned the Ability Stone, and it was great. Spectral Cloak was added to my status, and it absorbed Shadow Cloak as it would do the same thing much cheaper and easier. It was an Ability, and Shadow Cloak was only a spell.

I could cloak myself in light with little to no mana cost, make myself look like I was wearing anything, and have pink skin and blue hair. I could make light move through me, so I was invisible with no holes for my eyes, and I didn’t need to concentrate on it once I set it up. It was only light, but it was better than doing it manually with Light manipulations. In fact, I couldn’t do most of this with my level of Light manipulation.

Then I remembered to make sure Lightreaver and Shadowbane were well disguised as ordinary swords and daggers.

I wanted to play some more, but I had two unknown stones to open yet. I picked one at random and moved to incorporate it into my body. I worked just like a skill stone, but then I felt something I had not felt before.

I checked my status and saw a new line.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Companion Bond.

I can get a companion bond. I have heard stories, but I have never known anyone with one. Apparently, you can bond with an animal or a monster, and they become a companion for life. Animals will change to become bonded and able to level up with you and develop their own status. Now that I think about it, I realize that the stories are all Al’rashian. I am not Al’rashian. I checked my status to be sure, and it still says Human. So, the stories are not all correct.

How would I go about getting a bond? The only thing the stories say is that young Al’rashians go into the wild and find their bond, and most of them turn out to be horses. All the stories agree that the Al’rashians are horse-mad. Even vindictive Al’rashian Kings are horse-mad.

Can I go to an Al’rashian and ask for advice about a bond, or is this something else they will kill me over? If bonds are an Al’rashian thing, then I am betting this is something else they will kill me over. That is definitely something the Trial would do to me. It still hasn’t stopped trying to kill me.

I will avoid Al’rashians in the foreseeable future. I will either have to work this out myself, or it will be another useless reward. Trials are definitely out to kill you and defraud you of your rewards.

I guess I need to try the last stone. This one hurts. I am not even surprised anymore. It is like something is being carved out of my soul—or carved into my soul. The pain goes away quickly, and I look at the notice.

You have an additional Class Slot.

I have a what? This is good. Only a few nobles have three class slots, and I started my adult life with one. I now have a third. I opened it up to look at what I could get. Classes are available if you have the right skills and aptitude. I have a multitude of choices available to me.

There are the Warrior Classes, and I can choose any of their specialisations: swordsman, axeman, spearman, etc. I don't want a fighting class.

I look at at Mage Class. I can be an illusionist again or the more general specialisation of mage apprentice. I almost chose this over illusionist the first time around. Apart from mage apprentice, there are no other specialisations available. There is no Fire Elementalist, or Water mage, or anything. No, wait, yes, there is. I can become a Death Mage. I have no desire to become a Death Mage. I think this is the Trial’s fault as well.

The Rogue Class is there, and this is what I first started out as. I could choose assassin, but I have no desire to. I now have new options from the Rogue line. I could choose to be a Scout or a Hunter. I guess this is because I now have Farsight, Create Traps, and probably Archery.

What do I like doing? I like being a thief. I like finding and stealing hidden things.

Then I get to the classes I have only heard about as rumours and some that I have never heard of at all.

Blade Master is a small-blade specialist. Weapons Master uses all weapons. What was a Grey Hand? I had never heard of it, but apparently, I could become one. There were a lot of what looked like mage-warrior hybrids, but it didn’t clarify much.

This was a big decision, and I let my eyes scroll down the list. That alone amazed me. I had to scroll down the list. What madness was this?

I could close the list and get advice. No, I can’t. Nobody has a list this long. Nobody. Nobody can give me advice.

I was mulling it over when we passed into the area of a permanent Trial. Well, thank the gods for that. I am safe from wandering trials. The village is still most of a day away, but I am happy enough to take my time now.

I took my time as we plodded along and tried to get a sense of what I could learn from the classes. I am being drawn to one in particular. It is called the Seeker Class, and I get the sense that it seeks out hidden things and hidden knowledge. It is available to me because I have Perception, Map, Farsight, Observant Eyes and Mana Sight. I felt there was also a minimum Intelligence requirement. That is quite an unusual list of abilities, and that is why I am not going to be able to get advice on this. Nobody else will have this, or at least nobody else in this part of the world.

The ability to seek out things and knowledge really appeals to me. I mull it over as the village gets closer. Then I make camp. We should only have a half day of travel tomorrow, and then I will have a propper bed.

I lie awake late into the night, listening to the sounds and thinking about my options. I might be able to use the Seeker Class to find a suitable companion bond. That appeals to me.

As I got underway in the morning, I put my stored XP into the Seeker Class. It sucked up 1000 XP, and I got five attribute points to spend. This means the Seeker Class is also an Advanced Class. The Seeker Class gives boosts to Intelligence, Wisdom, and Perception. These boosts to attributes are amazing and take them to another level. I can see why Advanced Classes are so powerful.

I got three skills with the class, which is good because it means the class suits me. The first Skill is the Seekers Intuition. As I feel out the skill, it seems to give me hints about things; it is almost certainly a divination-type skill. I will have to experiment, but it sounds very powerful. I remember that I used to get these feelings about jobs and things, and I had some of them in the trial. This skill perhaps enhances and structures these feelings for me. That is a good start.

The next skill is called the Pathfinder Skill. It is almost an advanced tracking skill that works with Map, Farsight, and Intuition to find the right path. It is like a hazard identification skill as well as a tracking and mapping skill. I never had the tracking skill, so I feel it lacks some underlying information to use, so I should probably try to learn that skill.

The third skill is very different. It is the Lore Skill. It seems to help me learn languages and solve puzzles, study ancient scripts, and find clues. It is hungry for information, and I feel it is loving Wardweaver, working out the wards and mana flows, and figuring stuff out. This is also what I like, and it boosts my Wardweaver profession, which is fantastic. It works from Intelligence and Wisdom, Map, and Observant Eye. Now that I think about it, it seems to tap into the knowledge of all my skills.

This was a good choice and a great fit for me. The level requirements are the XP and the requirement to find something significant. If I had this when I was in the Trial it would be highly levelled by now. It does not define what significant means, though. Significant to whom? Coins, knowledge, what? I am going to have to trust my Intuition.

I practice with my Pathfinder Skill as we travel towards the village. I was using Observant Eye Spectral Vision (Heat) sight to follow and track the wildlife, and I had learned the Tracking Skill before we got to the Village. I earned a point in Wisdom for that as well.

Looking at the wildlife, I was thinking about a Companion Bond. I need one that won’t stand out when I am around people and one that will help me find things.