A deathly aura lingered in the air, but it was nothing compared to what Elijah had felt in the tomb. Part of that was due to the fact that they’d left the immediate area of the challenge, but mostly, it was because they had defeated the necromancer who was the challenge’s eponymous fallen champion. Killing the thing – and the amalgam of slain zombies – had pushed Elijah closer to death than any fight that had come before, but as seemed to always be the case in his new reality, his survival had been well rewarded.

Not with the official prize that came with overcoming the challenge within the Spires of the Fallen. That had gone to Ron, who seemed elated with the powerful Pendant of Vitality. Instead, Elijah had been rewarded with something far more enduring. As potent as a good piece of equipment could be, the reality was that, at his level, gear came and went, but advances in his inherent power would always be there, bolstering his abilities in a lasting way.

So, when he finally turned his attention to the notifications he’d received during and after the battle, the slight disappointment he’d felt at ceding the Pendant of Vitality to the Healer washed away. First came the message telling him that he’d gained another level, and he could feel that he was on the verge of reaching the next, which would award him a new spell. He took a look at his status:

Name

Elijah Hart

Level

104

Archetype

Druid

Class

Animist

Specialization

Connection

Alignment

N/A

Strength

120

Dexterity

108

Constitution

131

Ethera

124

Regeneration

115

Attunement

Nature

Cultivation Stage: Adept

Body

Core

Mind

Soul

Iron

Whelp

Jade

Novice

There were three things that stood out for him. First, he felt an odd satisfaction every time he saw that the space next to Specialization had been filled. Perhaps it was the completionist in him, but he had to admit that part of that feeling was due to how useful the specialization was. Connection had stood him in good stead so far, and he suspected that it would become a gift that just kept giving.

The second thing he couldn’t help but notice was that his attributes had once again risen by one point per level in the physical categories and two points each level for Ethera and Regeneration. If it kept going like that, it wouldn’t be long before those were his most potent attributes.

He’d chosen to take a shower before settling in to redraw the channels in his lower body, and he’d yet to don his gear. Even his Feral Spire remained in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, meaning that his attributes lacked augmentation from the equipment or buffs he usually used. And rather than lament the temporary lack, he felt a surge of pride at seeing that everything had naturally hit triple digits.

But the numbers did not add up, which led him to the next series of notifications, each of which told him that, due to his extreme circumstances, he’d gained extra attributes – and more than a couple. It was enough to make him wonder if he should throw himself into such situations more often, but it only took the memory of being ripped in half to disabuse him of that notion. More attributes were beneficial, but he couldn’t descend into masochism just for a couple of extra points.

And besides, it wasn’t like Sadie would always be there to pull him out of the fire. He didn’t think he could have done anything differently, so he didn’t regret his actions. However, he did notice a pattern of behavior that frequently saw him rushing into deadly situations. Without a series of coincidences or the intervention of his teammates, he would have been slain many times over.

That was not sustainable, but given the stakes, Elijah just didn’t know what he could have done differently. If he hadn’t acted the way he had, everyone would have died. He was certain of that much. So, the only other option was to give up and play it safe like so many of the other trial-takers, many of which never intended to attempt to overcome the challenges. They were content with taking what scraps the system gave them.

Elijah wouldn’t endure that.

He would conquer the challenges or die trying. So far, it felt like he was trending toward the latter path, but he also knew that that was how people progressed. There was a safe path, but given the situation back on Earth, he didn’t think he could afford to take it. Besides, he could admit – at least in his own mind – that a life without danger would have felt at least a little empty.

Did that make him a battle maniac? An adrenaline junky? Maybe. Or maybe he was just a man who’d found his calling. One way or the other, Elijah didn’t think he could change. And even if that was possible, he wasn’t certain that he would want to.

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So, as close as he’d come to dying, the rewards he’d gotten cemented the notion that he’d gone down the right road.

One thing was certain, though – pain had become a part of his life. Nothing proved that fact more than the next notification:

Congratulations! Your Body has reached the Iron Stage.

It was such a simple statement. He’d gone from Stone to Iron in his Body cultivation. But looking back, he knew that was one more factor in his survival, and it was probably the only reason he hadn’t died the moment the necromancer had torn him in half. And it was certainly why he hadn’t been crushed to death by the zombie amalgam that had so thoroughly enveloped him. A dozen other details from the battle showed him just how much the progression meant, and at present, he felt stronger and healthier than ever before.

It remained to be seen just how much stronger he’d become, but he knew it was a significant increase. Going from Stone to Iron represented a larger jump than the one from Wood to Stone, but he wouldn’t know more until he pushed himself to his limits. He was eager to do just that, but first, he had some channels to carve.

So, he settled down, summoned his recollection of the pattern he’d memorized, then got to work. Yet, he only got a few minutes in before he realized that he was wasting an opportunity. The channels were more malleable than normal, and the ethera in the area was dense enough to let him get to work on taking the next step in his Soul cultivation. He knew he would only be able to make a little progress, but even if he only extended the channels by a few percent, it would be an invaluable head-start for when he took the next step.

With that in mind, Elijah leveraged every facet of his Jade Mind toward reconnecting his ethereal channels. At the same time, he widened them slightly while extending the branches just a little further than before. His memory regarding the pattern was perfect, but in the unlikely event that he forgot something, the slightly out-of-phase ghost of the broken channels functioned as an ideal guide. Moreover, he had also memorized the pattern associated with the next stage, so he had no issues with improving on the old design.

Still, just because it wasn’t difficult, that didn’t mean it wasn’t both painful and tedious in equal measure. Regardless, Elijah was well accustomed to a little discomfort, and he’d long since established that tedium wasn’t enough to dissuade his efforts. As a result, he leveraged every ounce of his considerable focus into the task, and minute by minute, he made progress. At first, each step forward was miniscule, but as those minutes stretched into hours, which in turn became more than a day, he kept at it. In the end, three days passed before he judged that it was complete enough to test.

Tentatively, he circulated ethera through the pathways he’d just carved, and to his relief, the flow was mostly flawless. However, mostly wasn’t the perfection he sought, and he spent another day smoothing out a few problem areas. But when he finished, all that effort seemed worth it. Not only had he accomplished his primary goal of repairing his channels, but he’d gotten a significant jump on the next stage.

Finally, he opened his eyes. Squinting at the light, he let One with Nature once again stretch out, and what he felt was more than a little surprising. Nearby, Sadie and the rest of his group were sitting around their camp. But there were newcomers as well. Elijah recognized that one of them was a muscular elf with slightly gray skin, while the rest of the visitors were human.

They were far enough away that he was completely ignored, but he didn’t even begin to believe that the newcomers weren’t aware of his presence. So, nestled behind a boulder, Elijah took a few minutes to dress himself. He would have preferred to take another shower – sitting in meditation for four days accumulated more than a little grime – but he didn’t want to delay. So, once he’d donned his equipment, he took a deep breath, then stepped out from behind the rock.

Almost two-hundred feet away, the war elf’s eyes flicked in Elijah’s direction, but he didn’t otherwise react. So, Elijah stepped forward and approached the camp like he didn’t have a care in the world. Flaring One with Nature, Elijah could feel three unseen figures surrounding the camp. Their stealth skills were high-quality. On par with Dat’s Ghost Cloak. And if it wasn’t for the improvement to One with Nature, Elijah never would have known they were there.

That was troubling.

Briefly, he considered attacking them without warning. It wouldn’t have been outside the norm to consider their actions a threat, and Elijah wasn’t one to let threats go unmet. Still, he restrained himself. From what he could feel, only the war elf was strong enough to be a real threat to the group. The other two in the camp were probably dangerous, but not so much that Elijah needed to jump straight to preemptive attack. The stealthy figures were an unknown, but given that they’d yet to attack, Elijah was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

“Character growth,” he muttered to himself as he approached.

“What was that?” asked the war elf when Elijah came into range.

“I said I’ve grown as a person. I’ve been on a journey of self-development, and I’m on my way to being a better person because of it,” he answered without hesitation. “You should try it. Very gratifying. You really feel it in your gut.”

Sadie shook her head, saying, “Elijah…”

“So, do you want to tell me why you’ve got three stealthed fighters surrounding our camp?” Elijah asked. “I mean, some people would consider that a threat. Not me, because of all the character growth. But some people, for sure.”

“Stealth?” blurted Dat. “I didn’t see anything, bro.”

“Oh, they’re there,” Elijah said. Then, he pointed to one, saying, “Right there. And there.” He hiked his thumb over his shoulder, adding, “And back there. Oh, they’re moving. Seriously, man – just drop it. This isn’t a parlor trick or a guess. I can see you plain as day.”

That wasn’t necessarily true. The current incarnation of One with Nature was extremely powerful, but even so, he could only barely feel the life in their bodies. And the atmospheric vitality being so low in such close proximity to the death-attuned challenge made them stand out like a sore thumb. If they’d been in the middle of a forest, it might’ve been a little more difficult. Though Elijah suspected that connecting to the flora would help. It was something to investigate going forward.

The war elf made a gesture, and the three stealthy people suddenly appeared. To Elijah, the muscular elf said, “You are as impressive as I’ve heard. It’s one thing to see a name at the top of a list, and it’s something else altogether to meet the most powerful human in the world.”

“Oh, those lists are just numbers. There are plenty of people more powerful than me out there.”

“Assuredly,” the war elf said. “But not among the humans.”

“What do you want?” asked Elijah, not bothering to watch the suddenly visible elves as they stepped into the camp. With their grey skin and the brutish perfection of elven features, they clearly shared an origin with their leader.

“Nothing. I just wanted to meet you before we entered the challenge. Your companions have been kind enough to share some insight into how it works,” he answered. “I’m glad you conquered it before we made an attempt, even if I would have preferred the better reward.”

“What do you mean?” Elijah asked.

That was when the war elf explained something that Elijah already suspected. The challenges were most deadly before they were conquered for the first time. After that, the danger declined significantly, but the rewards – both in terms of the items awarded upon completion and the points associated with the Primacy rankings – were similarly reduced.

In that way, being a forerunner was both incredibly rewarding and extremely dangerous. Elijah wouldn’t have had it any other way.

However, it did beg the question of how the system managed it. Apparently, when the war elf looked at the Spires of the Fallen, he saw a scene similar to what Elijah and his companions had encountered upon arrival. By contrast, Elijah now saw a healing landscape devoid of teal lightning and with many of its towers having fallen.

Was it all an illusion? Or was it about shifting reality based on certain parameters? Elijah had no idea, and he didn’t think he would discover the truth anytime soon.

Regardless, when the war elf finished his explanation, he pushed himself to his feet. That’s when Elijah asked, “Is that it?”

“What did you expect?”

Elijah shrugged. His only information about war elves was when Sadie had revealed that a tribe had been waging war against the humans of Moscow. But given that she seemed perfectly fine in their guest’s company, there was probably something else going on.

“You know what – I don’t know. Just haven’t heard much good about war elves,” Elijah said. “I don’t –”

He frowned. “I don’t like that name.”

“Oh? I’m sorry. I didn’t –”

“It’s fine. Some of my kind revel in that label. Others do not,” the grey-skinned elf stated. “But I suspect we are no less diverse than humans. Some are warlike. Others are peaceful.”

“And you?”

He spread his arms wide. “A little of both, I suppose. But we’ve taken up enough of your time, so we’ll take our leave. I hope you will not think so poorly of my people in the future,” the elf said.

After that, he turned to leave. Before he could go a step, Elijah asked, “What’s your name?”

“Ikan.”

“Well, Ikan, I apologize for jumping to conclusions,” Elijah said, though he didn’t really mean it. The war elf’s intentions might have been benign, but if that were the case, his stealthed companions wouldn’t have surrounded them. He’d come prepared for a fight. But that wasn’t necessarily an indictment of his intent. It was enough to keep Elijah from relaxing. “I hope our future interactions will be peaceful.”

“I do as well,” said Ikan. Then, his companions rose silently and retreated. The other three waited until they were a few feet away to slip back into stealth. Elijah watched them via One with Nature until they were long gone.

Then, he let out a long sigh. “That was tense,” he said, looking from one friend to another.

“You can’t help but antagonize, can you?” asked Sadie.

It was only then that Elijah realized that they’d remained mostly silent throughout the conversation. “He was using a skill, wasn’t he?” Elijah asked. He hadn’t felt a thing, but he had enough experience with mind abilities to recognize the effects. Besides, even if silence was in character for Sadie or Ron, there was no way Dat or Kurik wouldn’t have had something to add to the conversation.

“I think so, bro,” Dat said, shaking his head. “Subtle, too. It wasn’t overtly harmful. Just kind of nudge to keep my mouth shut.”

“I will kill him,” Sadie growled.

“As much as I wouldn’t mind that, he didn’t actually hurt anyone,” Elijah reminded her. “I don’t think that’s a killing offense.”

“I could beat him, then,” she seethed. “Just a few broken bones.”

Dat ignored her and addressed Elijah, “When did you get reasonable, bro?”

Elijah smiled. “Didn’t you hear? It’s called character growth. I’m practically a new man.” Then, he looked down at his legs and said, “At least half of me is.”