Alex’s exhaustion faded slightly after accepting the prompt. While his Sensitivity was still nowhere near its density surge value, most of the other attributes were higher. His other soul attributes helped to compensate, pushing a decent part of the exhaustion away. Now he was just more tired than he’d ever been before today, instead of about to pass out standing up. He looked at his status screen.

Unlike the situation from David’s memory, there was no opening message. The introduction to the Trialbringer wasn’t necessary after all this time.

Alex’s jaw dropped as he looked over the status screen. That explained why his attributes were higher, at least.

Name: Alex Moore

Level: 0 (Tier 0)

Mana Body Quality: Legendary

Mana Type: Inspire (Rare)

Achievement: Tier 0 - Unique (Realm)

Attributes:

Strength: 9 - Power: 6

Agility: 9 - Speed: 6

Perception: 8 - Sensitivity: 6

Toughness: 8 - Durability: 6

Capacity: 6 - Connection: 74

Abilities: !

Enhancements: !

Notifications: !

Alex’s shock showed on his face, but Mrs. Stirling wasn’t paying attention to him. She was staring off into the distance, seemingly reviewing her own notification.

Alex’s attributes were incredibly high for level 0, showing off the rewards from a Legendary Achievement. He tried to not think too hard about his Connection stat. David had told him he’d need to get his Capacity up to half of his Connection, which meant he was thirty points short.

That was three times more Capacity than he would get for all of his Tier 0 levels, and he’d read just earlier this week that the city didn’t have a reliable method to increase Capacity. That meant that he’d have to go several levels into Tier 1 before he would be safe.

How would he even get those levels, though? He couldn’t go into trials, since an Imprinted needed to be present to siphon his mana at all times. He didn’t have the expertise to complete crafting projects for levels, and he couldn’t exactly throw himself into a horde of monsters.

Well, actually…

He pushed that thought out of his mind, he’d need so much high-tier assistance to survive that his experience would be barely a trickle. Earth didn’t have a loophole to allow power leveling, regrettably. That was an idea that had already been explored from every angle.

“What did you do, Alex?” Mr. Stirling asked. He didn’t sound angry, but he seemed to be a bit upset. Alex looked over and saw that David was now conscious and seated upright, although clearly not fully recovered. The gaunt face from right after the visions hadn’t returned, but his shoulders sagged and the illusions didn’t hide his exhaustion.

“You altered the distributor?” David asked, immediately determining the source of Alex’s Achievement. Alex hadn’t sensed the man’s Awareness moving through his body, but that didn’t mean much when the gap between them was so extreme. Now that they weren’t connected by David’s mana, he wouldn’t be able to see anything the man wanted to keep from him.

Alex nodded, unsure why the Imprinted were treating this so seriously.

David laughed, “So much for that plan.”

“This is a serious problem, David,” Mr. Stirling frowned, “We don’t…”

“A topic for later,” David cut in, “Now, Alex, what Achievement did you receive? Legendary before Tier 0 should’ve already been done on that scale.”

“It’s the Achievement upgrade, right?” Alex asked, “Actually, how do you all know that I received a Unique Achievement?”

“Upgrading to Mythic wouldn’t change the fact that someone else has certainly done it before. Our loophole is a way to catch up to more established worlds, but we won’t be able to surpass them that easily,” David replied, “My Tier 0 Achievement is the best example. It should be impossible to enter a trial before beginning the path, but somewhere, someone did it. Anything truly unique is simply unheard of.”

Alex nodded, he’d heard something similar before. As for his second question, he didn’t need an answer. A Unique Achievement would see Earth back in the Competition. That would come with a global notification.

He mentally opened the Notifications tab in his status sheet, and the text sprawled out in front of him.

You have gained insight into a Rare mana type! You have used your Rare mana type to form a Mana Body. Forming a Mana Body using a Rare mana type is considered a Mythic Tier 0 Achievement.

“It’s the mana type,” Alex said aloud after he finished reading this first line, “Apparently forming a Mana Body using a Rare mana type at Tier 0 is a Mythic Achievement.”

“Your mana type is Rare?” Mrs. Stirling asked, “That shouldn’t be possible.”

“Which is why it’s a Realm Achievement,” David agreed, “It shouldn’t be possible to receive an Achievement for gaining Rare insight.” Alex immediately noticed that the actual Achievement was using the mana type, not gaining it. He didn’t feel up to getting into the specifics, though. He could do that when he wasn’t about to fall asleep on cracked pavement.

Mitigating circumstances found: Assistance from an Imprinted exceeding loophole threshold. Mitigating circumstances accepted.

Imprinted assistance lowers Achievement by one tier.

Extreme circumstances found: you had not yet begun The Path when your Mana Body was formed. Extreme circumstances accepted.

Achievement upgraded! Any individual in a world still in the Arrival period who gains a Tier 0 Achievement before starting the path will have that Achievement upgraded to the next level.

Achievement remains Mythic due to conflicting penalty and upgrade.

“I didn’t get the mitigation override,” Alex noted aloud, “It says that the loophole threshold was exceeded.”

David nodded, “I would be shocked if the loophole allowed that much help. I basically gave you the insight.” Alex frowned at the reminder but tried to stay on track. Now that he wasn’t actively focusing on it, he was much more able to ignore the wrongness of his Mana Body. It was still there, but as long as he constantly distracted himself he would be fine.

You have received a Mythic Achievement! As the first person in the Realm to receive this Achievement, your Achievement has been upgraded to Unique - Realm!

Achievement rewards distributed! Please view your Achievement benefits in the Achievement tab of your status.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

View Status - View Next Notification

There was nothing new here, but Alex dutifully recited the text to the Imprinted before turning back to finally look at his friends. He was surprised to see a barrier separating them. It resembled the platforms that Mrs. Stirling had set up on the way here, and he turned back to ask why they were in place.

“They were about to mob you to see if you’re okay, we needed to confirm the Achievement was you.” Mrs. Stirling stated.

“Can you let them in now?” Alex asked. He noticed that they weren’t exactly pounding on the barrier. They had noticed him looking over and now stared back, but they had been talking when he first looked. Presumably, Becca had gotten whatever notifications led to the Imprinted questioning him. Alex hadn’t reached the Competition notification, so it wasn’t showing on his Status.

“What does your next notification say?” David asked. Not bothering to answer his question, “You should have another related to the Achievement.”

Alex was initially surprised to hear there were more notifications about the Unique Achievement to come, David’s memory hadn’t shown anything else. He diligently pressed through to the next notification, eagerness peaking through his exhaustion at the thought of even more benefits. He hadn’t even looked at the Realm reward yet, and there was already even more.

All Legendary or greater Achievement recipients receive additional opportunities while progressing through The Path. This includes variant trials and rewards. Additional opportunities are increased during the Arrival period to improve your chances in The Race.

As a Pathwalker with a Unique - Realm Achievement, you are considered a Prodigy.

Alex paused at this. He hadn’t really thought things through because it all happened so quickly, but he now realized that this was his version of David’s Candidate status. The Trialbringer itself considered him a Prodigy.

For something that hardly had anything to do with him. For a mana type, he didn’t want.

Alex took a deep breath and tried to chase those thoughts away with the words on the screen.

Prodigy status automatically increases the difficulty of all trials entered to Hard. This benefit can not be discarded.

What? Alex grimaced at the news. He didn’t have a full recollection of David’s early goes at Hard Mode, but he knew that it had been optional and the man had avoided it for a while after his brother’s death. The trials had been harder, but not impossible. He couldn’t complain too much, considering how easy Tier 0 trials promised to be with his increased attributes and years of training.

Then again, this didn’t specify Tier 0 trials. Neophytes didn’t have it too bad with Tier 1 trials, but Tier 2 and up was a serious risk of death for almost any of the city’s Attuned. He should be able to handle the increased difficulty for now, but what about in the future?

Additionally, once per month, combat trials can be upgraded to Hell difficulty. All rewards will be increased according to the difficulty attempted. Details vary by trial.

“It says I can opt-in for Hell Mode trials?” Alex asked, probing to see if David knew what that was.

“When you enter them? That’s a good bonus. They might actually be worth attempting at Tier 0,” David replied, “Any details?”

“Details vary by trial.” Alex read off of his status screen, “I’m also unable to opt out of Hard Mode. All trials have increased difficulty for me.

David frowned, “That’s odd, you should have the ability to opt-out if only for when you’re newly tiered up. Throwing fresh Tier 2s into a Hard Mode Attuned trial won’t go well. Maybe there will be an explanation later in the Achievement.”

“Do you know anything about Hell Mode trials?”

“I haven’t tried any at Tier 3,” David replied, “But my Legendary Tier 1 Achievement was enough to give me access. They’re exceptionally difficult, but you must be exceptional to gain access. Something to worry about in the future, you’re not ready for that just yet.”

So David had a Legendary Tier 1 Achievement. That wasn’t a surprise, but it was still impressive.

Prodigy status can be lost if you do not receive at least an Epic Achievement at each tier. Losing Prodigy status will also nullify further use of your Unique - Realm rewards.

Alex read this out to the Imprinted verbatim, and David remained unfazed. He was holding up remarkably well for a man who had passed out hardly ten minutes earlier.

“Tier 0 is the only time that your Achievements give rewards at every tier. It’s a way for Manaless beings like us to catch up since we’re at an innate disadvantage. Those rewards are difficult to lose, but I’ve heard that it’s possible if the Trialbringer considers you a waste. It sounds like the Realm Achievement comes with some serious benefits if they can be taken away that easily. You’d still have all of the other benefits, so I wouldn’t worry too much.”

Alex thought for a moment that he’d happily give up the rewards if it meant that he didn’t have to deal with the wrongness of his new mana type. But he ended up stopping himself, he didn’t know what those rewards were yet. Considering how fast the rewards scaled, it just might be worth it.

“Am I good to let the kids in?” Mrs. Stirling asked when Alex didn’t go back to reading the Achievement, “They’ll riot if we keep them apart for too long.”

Alex would’ve steadfastly withheld information until he’d gotten to speak with his friends if he’d thought of the idea himself. Unfortunately, he was so rattled that he’d just dutifully listed off his notifications without realizing he had such a powerful bargaining chip.

“He hasn’t told us the Realm reward, yet,” David replied.

“He can do that in a minute,” Mrs. Stirling replied, “They’ve been patient enough, considering what happened.”

“I’m not looking at the reward until I get to talk to them,” Alex helpfully chimed in. He couldn’t just ignore his advantage in this situation now that he’d realized what it was.

David gave Mrs. Stirling an annoyed look before nodding, “Very well.” He sat down as he said this, with a chair suddenly appearing underneath him.

“Did you just Inspire a chair into existence?” Alex asked, surprised by the sight.

“What? No.” David chuckled, a bewildered expression on his face, “You should know that isn’t how it works.”

Alex went to argue that his insight wasn’t close to as powerful as David’s but was interrupted by a body slamming into his back at high speed.

“That would’ve hurt if I didn’t just get five Toughness,” He complained while shifting around to return Becca’s hug.

“What the hell happened?” Alex noticed with surprise that there were a few tear tracks down her face as she asked the question. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond, not knowing what exactly she was asking about.

“Well, I screwed up,” He admitted, “After David passed out I decided to modify my distributor rune with insight that I gained. Didn’t think too much about the repercussions, and got a Legendary Mana Body out of the deal.”

“Ah, I believe she was asking about what happened before that.” David said, “You spent most of the time you were going through the visions screaming quite loudly.”

“I did?” Alex asked. The news surprised him because he didn’t feel any discomfort in his throat. Had the irritation been healed? Shouldn’t he be thirsty?

“Yes,” David replied, “Frankly, I have no idea whether or not that’s supposed to happen. This whole series of events is very far beyond my magical knowledge. I’m just glad that you seem to be completely whole. It was an ordeal, maintaining the link while making sure your soul wasn’t overwhelmed by mine. Not something you’re supposed to do at my level.”

“Well, when David told me to focus, I did,” Alex told Becca and his other friends. They had all caught up already and now surrounded him, but they seemed content to hold back for now, “On one of his apertures.”

He detailed what had happened after that, glossing over the visions for the most part.

“You have a Rare mana type?” Muhammad interrupted once he got to that point.

“Yes,” Alex replied, “I’ll have to figure out how I want to use it.” He didn’t go into too much detail about Inspire. He was uncomfortable with the topic, not wanting to describe the violating experience of having someone else’s insight present in his soul.

He doubted David would want him to spread around some of the things he’d seen. The man hadn’t specified any rules, but it went without saying that exposing the facets of his mana type would be very rude at best.

As he completed his story, Becca sighed, “Doing that without asking Mrs. Stirling was dumb.”

Alex didn’t particularly agree. This Prodigy status promised a lot of opportunities, but he didn’t bother arguing, “I was a bit desperate.” He replied, “It’s better now thanks to some of my attributes coming back, but I’m still tired.”

“Can’t argue with the results,” Muhammad reasoned, “What did you get from the Achievement, anyway?”

Alex quickly reopened his status before he could be interrupted again. He appreciated that the Imprinted wanted to verify a few things, and his friends were worried, but he’d been looking forward to this moment ever since he came up with the plan. It was the good that came with the bad of his new mana type. He selected the Achievement tab, ignoring the still-blinking Notifications tab.

Achievement: Tier 0 - Unique (Realm)

Common Reward: At each tier, you may receive Minor Skill Guidance one time.

Uncommon Reward: At each tier, you may receive Skill Guidance one time.

Rare Reward: +5 Connection. At each tier, you may receive Minor Mana Guidance one time.

Epic Reward: At each tier, you may receive Mana Guidance twice.

Legendary Reward: +5 all stats. At each tier, you may receive a Minor Mana Baptism.

Mythic Reward: At each tier, you may receive Body Guidance

Unique - Planetary Reward: Mana Baptism at each tier improved to a Greater Mana Baptism.

Unique - Cluster Reward: Mana Guidance received twice each tier improved to Grand Mana Guidance.

Unique - Realm Reward: Whenever your Mana Body is below Mythic quality, you may receive Body Guidance until it becomes Mythic.