One of the nice things about the Stirlings tagging along was the increased storage space. Instead of needing to carry things with them, Alex and his friends had all of their equipment stashed in the back of the van, and Mrs. Stirling had made sure to bring high-quality Tier 0 gear. There were even a few sets of heavy armor that Jess wouldn’t be able to wear until her physical attributes were higher.
For their first trial, no one would be wearing heavy armor. Tier 0 gear wouldn’t help any fresh Aspirants resist being gored. Instead, they wore reinforced cloth that wouldn’t restrict their speed while still giving some minor resistance to blunt force trauma. They’d be less likely to bruise from any tumbles, but the idea was to not get injured at all. Several hundred-pound boars would leave more than a bruise even if they didn’t get their tusks on them.
Alex suited up quickly and exited the conjured changing rooms to stand in front of the trial. The nap had refueled him as much as a full night’s sleep, thanks to Mr. Stirling’s magic. The sun was already down but he knew that it wasn’t particularly late. The stars were shining in the sky above, and together with the moon, they provided enough illumination for Alex to see the trial in front of him.
It took the appearance of an archway, and Alex could see a grassy plain on the other side. It was always daytime inside the trial, but the light that he could see inside didn’t help brighten the environment in the real world. It was an odd sight, where the light was pervasive just a few feet away but reached a hard stop at the barrier of the archway.
Alex’s weapon for the trial would be a thin variant of a claymore. His five extra strength points weren’t enough for him to start using more ridiculous weapons, and a standard claymore was slightly too unwieldy to serve his purpose. A standard longsword wouldn’t provide enough reach for the upcoming fight, so the variant was a good option.
The weapon in question was forged to be unnaturally tough using magical flame, but the combination of how thin and long it was still made him a bit uncertain. He had a longsword as backup, but if the claymore cracked he’d be relegated to a less important role. As things stood, he expected to be the one withstanding the initial charge of any groups.
The others would be slightly slower than the monsters and would rely on maneuverability to close the gap. Alex’s attributes meant that he would be able to outpace their Agility, although he’d definitely have lower Strength and Toughness. They weren’t entirely certain what to expect from the Hard Mode trial, but David’s limited experiences told them that the monsters should be slightly more numerous. Beyond that, the boss would have a significant difficulty spike. Normally, the boss would be comparable to a baseline level nine Pathwalker in total attributes, but fully focused on the physical.
Alex wasn’t certain if anyone but him would be able to pierce its hide without going spear for tusk against a charge. If it came down to that, Alex would be handling the boss solo. Hopefully, the high-quality weapons Mrs. Stirling had brought them were enough to bridge the gap.
The rest of the team quickly joined him, having taken a bit longer without Achievement-boosted Agility.
Jess, Becca, and Anthony were all outfitted identically with boar spears and cloth armor. The ability to adjust their equipment to the trial they’d face was being abused, as all three of them were using different gears than their planned setup. Becca and Anthony normally used shorter spears, but they weren’t completely unpracticed. Jess was used to boar spears, but drilled with heavier armor most of the time.
The high toughness of the boars would make Muhammad’s bow and arrows less impactful than normal, but he was equipped with them anyway. Alex was a bit surprised and raised an eyebrow at him.
“I have special arrows,” Muhammad said when he saw Alex’s facial expression. He pulled an arrow out of his quiver and showed off the modified head. Instead of ending in a tip, it ended in a serrated half circle. His arrows wouldn’t go particularly deep either way, and this seemed designed to tear at skin and cause additional pain.
The idea was to be a nuisance since he was just as agile as Alex before attributes came into play.
“You’re going to bait them?” Alex asked, immediately noticing the implied tactic. It showed that the others had already done some planning while he had slept.
It was in line with his own thoughts, although he had planned on drawing the boar’s attention by himself and using his increased attributes to survive. Once a charge had reached full speed, the boars couldn’t effectively change targets. Cautious boars wouldn’t be a problem in this trial, as only higher-tier beasts would start to show a capacity for strategic thought or self-preservation.
The boss could be an exception, but they’d handle that when they reached it.
“We all need to contribute enough to receive the full rewards,” Muhammad replied, “My biggest strength against these monsters is going to be staying in motion, so I’m drawing monsters away from you.”
“Alex, you’re going to be the center of the fight,” Jess explained, “I don’t want Becca and Anthony facing a charge unless necessary, so you’re going to keep most of the boars’ attention on you while Muhammad baits individual monsters for the rest of us to deal with.”
His friends knew him and had probably already planned around him demanding a central role where he could shoulder most of the danger with his increased attributes. Jess seemed to have decided on a strategy that would let him use his new attributes and keep Becca and Anthony out of danger. The strategy might be more cautious than necessary, but they could always adjust if Hard Mode wasn’t living up to its name.
Jess was their group’s strategist, although Muhammad would call out any mid-fight adjustments that had to be made. It was a result of the group trying to use their strengths and planned builds. Jess would plan out their approach to trials so that she would be in the best position possible to protect their backline. Muhammad’s Perception and Sensitivity would rapidly become a focus of his build, allowing him to notice faster than anyone else when trouble was coming.
In Tier 0 trials, Muhammad’s role would be less obvious. The fights would be straightforward and his build hadn’t developed enough to really set himself apart as a spotter.
They went over the strategy again just to be sure. Alex would draw attention, and focus more on staying alive than killing off boars. Normally, there would only be one or two in the first group, but they expected up to four. Muhammad would draw monsters away from Alex, and if they refused to be distracted he would go for crippling strikes against their legs whenever they were halted.
The other three would go for strikes of opportunity on individual boars, using numbers and reach to quickly cripple and then finish off any beasts they could fight.
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If the group had a few more levels, Jess and Muhammad could fight boars individually without too much danger. At level zero, it was best to approach things cautiously.
They lined up around the archway, with Mrs. Stirling giving some last-minute warnings about Hard Mode, “Don’t underestimate the boss monster. Higher difficulties make them unpredictable, you need to be ready for anything.” Soon, they were ready to enter.
Alex stepped forward, touching the space under the archway. A prompt appeared.
Do you wish to attempt an Aspirant Trial of Wild Boars?
Prodigy status detected. The trial will be upgraded to Hard Mode. Do you wish to attempt Hell Mode?
Hard Mode - Hell Mode
Alex wasn’t overly surprised by the interface. There was no option to decline, but he could do that just by pulling his hand back. Instead, he indicated his acceptance of Hard Mode, and the surface he was currently pressed against rippled.
“Ready?” He asked.
A chorus of affirmations came in response, and Alex stepped into his first trial.
The team followed immediately after. Alex knew that there was a minute for anyone to get in behind him, before the archway closed off. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he tried to enter a regular difficulty trial that someone else had already started, but assumed that the difficulty would either spike or his entrance would be barred.
He could experiment with it later, for now it was time to fight.
There were four boars nearby on the plain. Each was separated by a few feet of space, and around twenty feet separated them from Alex. The beasts noticed him nearly immediately, and all pivoted to face him.
The monsters were a good amount larger than mundane wild boars, likely weighing more than 400 pounds. That was before considering that they might be more dense than normal through magical means. Several beasts were empowered that way, where their attributes were increased by making them physically more capable and using magic to sustain that physique, instead of direct magical empowerment through a Mana Body.
It was similar to creating an Enhancement to grow stronger instead of gaining points of Strength from levels. The boss would probably have both.
The multiplicative effects meant that any level had a wide range of potential power. If Alex had used his Greater Mana Baptism before entering the trial, it was unlikely he would have a single attribute under ten despite remaining level zero.
The boars were aggressive, charging immediately. Alex moved to meet them, going for the boar to the far left. He expected them to close ranks slightly, and heading straight into the center would be too risky.
The stress he’d been feeling about his new mana type and the timer he was on bled away. He had a sword in his hand and a real monster in front of him, he’d been waiting for this day for what felt like his entire life.
He moved to the side, getting out of the way as the boars charged. He had no interest in a direct clash. If he had been equipped with a boar spear it would’ve been a decent strategy, but the requirement of standing in place would doom him against any boars besides the ones he impaled.
He dodged late enough that the boars couldn’t adjust their trajectory. The fact that there were four of them all bunched up worked in his favor, they risked running into each other if they turned while charging at near max speed. Even Aspirant boars weren’t that dumb.
The boars began to slow after they passed him, needing to turn around to face him again. Alex went to engage. If he could tie them up before they regained their full speed, he’d be able to fight instead of just getting out of the way.
An arrow slammed into the side of a boar, and that beast turned to charge at Muhammad. His friend had impeccable timing, and Alex reached the other three before they could decide to follow.
Alex went straight for the boar which had been his initial target, now to his right. The boars hadn’t all slowed to the same pace, leaving this one closest to him. It didn’t turn to face him quickly enough, and his charge gave him the momentum needed to land a powerful blow on the creature’s back along its spine. He didn’t go all the way through the spine, but it was still enough to cripple the monster.
The reinforced bones of a trial boar wouldn’t be a good target for a normal sword, but Mrs. Stirling had grabbed them the good stuff. Their weapons were near the pinnacle of the city’s Tier 0 craftsmanship. Mundane metals had been used to create the alloy, but magical forging had made them significantly stronger.
Centuries after the arrival, New Chicago’s blacksmiths had gotten quite good at pushing the limits of how strong a weapon could be before it was considered outside assistance in a trial. The absence of any active enchantments in their weaponry allowed the smiths to create weapons that were closer to Tier 1 durability.
Alex extracted his sword and quickly moved to engage the other two boars. The siren’s call of triumph started its song early, so much louder than it had ever been in the illusions. The experience of a real fight was living up to his expectations, even if the boars weren’t proving his match.
At that moment there was nowhere he’d rather be.
He played it safe against the two boars. Working to keep their attention and stay away from their tusks. His friends would finish off their target and then bait another, so there was no need for him to overplay his hand on the first fight.
After a bit less than a minute, another uninjured boar was baited by Muhammad, Alex glanced over to make sure the boar was under control. His friends seemed to have things well in hand, so Alex returned to focusing on his own fight.
The remaining boar came after him, angered by his continued backpedaling. He stopped, holding his sword out in front of him. He came to a realization, he’d been fighting the way he would in an illusion chamber, hardly using his newly superhuman attributes. He was faster and stronger, which let him do more than just hit harder.
Adjusting to higher attributes was something the Academy instructors stated was best done slowly. New limits should be found with practice before your next real fight. This was especially true for Alex, who had more than doubled his physical attributes. His strong performance despite that was a testament to his skill and control. The safest option available was to continue holding back.
Suddenly, that wasn’t what he wanted to do.
As the last boar reached him, he leaped sideways into a handspring. For a second, his full weight went onto his left hand as he lashed out with his sword, trying to place a deep cut in the boar’s side as it passed.
Somehow, the move worked. He maintained his balance and spatial awareness, landing a strike right as the boar passed.
Acrobatics had always been a part of Alex's practice, although before entering the path he’d never attempted something so extreme in a fight. Not in an illusion, or in practice. This meant that he’d forgotten something pretty important about trying to land a one-handed handspring while swinging a sword at a charging boar.
You had to keep your balance while your sword met the boar.
Alex almost managed it. He was just about to complete the maneuver when he struck the boar. His arm was pushed back by the impact, and he lost his balance completely. The spring part of his maneuver fell apart and he crumpled to the ground. Luckily, the boar was already past him. If he’d tried that maneuver against something that could turn on a dime, he’d probably have died.
The overconfidence faded, Alex shook out his wrist as he rapidly retreated from the boar that was turning to face him. His claymore had been knocked away, but his longsword remained in its sheath at his waist. He went to grab it as the boar approached. His ego had taken a serious hit after the tumble so he went back to kiting it until his friends came over to finish it off.
He just hoped that none of his friends had seen the ill-fated handspring. Something like that would see him running drills for hours if an instructor found out about it.
The fight only took another minute to finish up, as his friends dispatched the monsters without too much issue. The advantage of numbers made it easy for Becca, Anthony, and Jess to descend on an isolated boar once it had slowed.
The group met up, ready to go over the fight. They’d have to do this several more times before they engaged the boss.
“Alex, what the hell was that?” Jess asked.
It appeared that his friends had not missed it. Damn.