Alex couldn’t keep a slight frown off of his face as he examined his status screen. It was nice to see his attributes increasing, but the problem was with the number that was going down.
Sure enough, the duration on his mana sink had ticked down faster than it should have again. The lost time wasn’t yet a disaster, but if it escalated in later trials it could quickly become one. He’d first noticed the loss when he checked his status screen while facing Mrs. Stirling’s illusions. The time hadn’t added up, something he’d missed after the boar trial because of his interest in the increased Capacity.
As for why, that wasn’t terribly hard to figure out.
Something about his experiences in the trials was lowering the time he had left. He had hoped that a second trial would help him figure out exactly what caused it, but he was still exactly where he’d started. His self-study before the ghoul beatdown didn’t provide the leads he had hoped for.
It couldn’t be a flaw of the mana sink, Alex was certain that the Trialbringer wouldn’t have given him an item that couldn’t even handle his situation. Instead, Alex was almost certain that his own defenses against Inspire were deteriorating.
Was it the synchronicity with the mana type that he experienced in the trial? Would he need to start pushing back harder, even when he agreed with the impulses? Doing so would be dangerous. Resisting the impulses would require focus that should be directed towards combat.
The lost time was very specific, which raised another concern. Mr. Stirling was initially of the opinion that Alex should have more than the two weeks provided, since an exact timeframe should be impossible. But was it really impossible, for a being as powerful as the Trialbringer? Why couldn’t it measure the exact time he had left?
It was the only thing that made sense. Why else would he be losing time? The mana sink hadn’t come with any mention of penalties or ways that time could be subtracted, so it should be a matter of the timer corresponding to when his soul was actually breached.
The issue would be significantly more pressing if he was losing more time, but as things stood he seemed to be short by about six hours. If the amount of time he lost while working alongside Inspire stayed around three hours for a trial, then he wouldn’t have to worry as long as they cleared a trial a day.
He was hesitant to mention the problem, he worried that his access to trials might be revoked if the Stirling’s found the lost time concerning. If things escalated, he would be forced to mention it, but as things stood he still hoped to figure things out himself.
Now that he better understood the issue and his team had more power than before, part of him wanted to attempt their next trial without allowing Inspire’s impulses to guide him.
The problem was the boss. Accessing Hard Mode required a Legendary Achievement, and the trials were clearly designed to cause problems for people that had the Achievement and plenty more levels than Alex and his friends. Defeating a Hard Mode boss with level two attributes would be a nightmare.
Alex hadn’t gotten more than flashes of David’s Hard Mode runs, but he could remember just how hard the man had been pressed as a level eight Aspirant with the Legendary attributes and a Mana Body designed with runes he’d earned in earlier trials increasing his effectiveness. Pathwalkers in the early years didn’t have Alex’s years of training and education, but the Trialbringer had provided them better rewards to make up the slack.
David and each of his friends had received the runes for useful combat Bodies as rewards for their normal trials before attempting Hard Mode. Despite those Enhancements and the levels they had on Alex and his team, the group had suffered two deaths on their second trial.
It made the idea of fighting a Hard Mode boss while distracted with Inspire’s impulses unattractive. At best. At the very least, he’d want to make sure they all had their own powerful Enhancements before attempting a fight without Inspire.
Which meant that the mana sink’s remaining duration was only going to continue ticking down.
Alex’s brooding was interrupted by a wave of healing magic washing over him. Mr. Stirling had apparently seen that they didn’t require pressing medical attention and let them discuss their rewards, but he wouldn’t leave them wounded for long.
“Thanks, Mr. Stirling,” Muhammad spoke for the rest of them as the man descended from the sky above. Because of his focus on his status, Alex hadn’t initially noticed him up there. It seemed that he had been acting as a lookout, making sure nothing powerful encroached on their surroundings.
“It seems like things went better than your first trial?” Mr. Stirling half-stated, half-asked. He was clearly requesting a rundown of the events inside.
Jess happily gave it to him, “It’s a wave trial. We fought five waves totalling 150 zombies and a ghoul that called them to fight us. The boss fought with the fifth wave instead of coming after, but that might be specific to Hard Mode.”
Mr. Stirling nodded. Jess’s words would definitely be noted on a map brought back to New Chicago at some point. Specific numbers and the actions of the boss wouldn’t be useful to normal delvers, but just knowing that it was a wave trial would be helpful.
“I’m surprised it went so smoothly,” He stated, “You all did quite well to handle things without major injury against so many.”
“Alex’s aura was crucial,” Jess replied, “The boost got us through the biggest wave and came just when we were starting to tire.”
Mr. Stirling sighed, “Good. That Ability is the only reason we’re comfortable with allowing you all to delve Hard Mode trials. Was Alex able to control it any more than last time?”
“No,” Alex replied, “It didn’t trigger until an impulse came, which only happened when I faced the boss.”
Mr. Stirling frowned at this, “I see.”
There were a few seconds where nothing was said, as the man thought over the information. Then, he continued, “Come inside. We’ll go over your experiences in this trial and any improvements that can be made in more detail.”
Soon, the group all had hot cups of tea and they sat around the living room. Mrs. Stirling had descended from the higher floors to join them, and they went over the events inside the trial together.
The way they handled the waves, and the swiftness of their adaptation to the format, drew praise from both of the Imprinted. It was a stark change from their experience the other night, where seemingly every decision and most fights had been examined closely.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
As Alex finished explaining how he’d defeated the ghoul, Mrs. Stirling tssked, “I’d like to apologize to you all. After hearing how well you handled this trial, it’s clear to me that you never should’ve been pushed into a trial only a few hours after Alex’s emplacement.”
“We weren’t pushed,” Muhammad disagreed, “We wanted to clear the easiest trial near the city before it went away.”
“Then we should’ve prevented you,” Mr. Stirling stated, clearly agreeing with his wife wholeheartedly, “You were upset by the events of the evening and overwhelmed by the danger Alex faces. Giving you a day off to train and begin to process things was clearly the right decision, we should’ve started with that.”
It was hard to argue with reality, but Alex didn’t really appreciate the Stirlings taking responsibility for their actions. It was a reminder that having the two Imprinted along meant that they always had the last say. The benefits were completely necessary, and Alex was grateful for everything they provided, but he also chafed a bit at the reminder that the delves weren’t fully under his control.
They spoke a bit more about the trial, mainly reviewing the impact of Alex’s aura in a bit more detail.
“There’s a lot of power we aren’t using,” Jess noted, “I didn’t notice it in the first trial, because the buffs were so brief, but I think the boost is even greater than we originally estimated.”
“The self-control Aspirants are given is applying to the boosts you receive from Alex’s aura,” Mr. Stirling explained, “You’re receiving more power than you’re using because it’s too far beyond what your mind is adjusted to.”
Individuals at every tier needed to adjust to increases in their Strength and Agility, but Aspirants struggled the most because of their low starting point. Going from five points to six was obviously a more noticeable change than going from twenty-four to twenty-five. Higher-tiered Pathwalkers also had the benefit of experience. To compensate, there was an instinctive ability to restrain yourself implanted by the Trialbringer.
This instinct would prevent you from acting to your true limits, but it would allow you to get as close as possible until you adjusted to your new attributes. The sudden and temporary increase from buffs like Alex’s aura were the hardest to mentally adjust to, and thus more potential was wasted. Because of these limitations, Tier 0 buff Enhancements weren’t the most popular despite their simplicity.
The best way to adjust to increased Strength and Agility was increased Perception and Toughness. Perception would help you better understand your capabilities, helping you to judge what was and wasn’t possible. Toughness would help you withstand the forces your attributes exerted upon yourself. Part of this was a mental effect, especially in the early levels. Eighteen years spent as a normal person didn’t prepare your mind well for an ascent through the tiers, while Toughness didn’t change that, the human mind could quickly adapt.
After making it unharmed through a few experiences that would’ve previously left you severely injured, your instinctive reluctance would be easier to overcome.
Alex was proud of how quickly he had adjusted to his new attributes, although when Inspire boosted him it did so mentally as well as physically. His aura didn’t do the same to his friends, just boosting their attributes. Even defeating dozens of zombies still wasn’t their full potential while under the effects of the aura.
“Do you have a way to help us utilize the aura?” Becca asked.
“Of course,” Mrs. Stirling replied, “Spending too much time with buffed attributes is a bad idea, though. Especially when you’re this low level.”
Becca frowned, “Because it’s dangerous to practice with more strength than you have in a fight. I knew that.” She sounded a bit annoyed that she hadn’t immediately made the connection.
“There’s not a lot you can do to circumvent the problem,” Mr. Stirling agreed, “It’s why combat buffs are designed to be permanently active until Tier 2.”
“No point worrying about it,” Muhammad said, “We should get a bit better as we get used to the aura, and we do well against zombies. With more levels, things will only get better for us.”
Anthony quickly agreed, “As long as we stick to the undead trials, we should be fine. Stronger individual bosses could cause problems if their Mana Bodies line up well against Alex, but that’s unlikely in a Tier 0 undead trial.”
“That reminds me,” Alex interjected, “Why didn’t we go straight for undead trials? They’re the least dangerous with a powerful healer waiting outside.”
“A fair point,” Mr. Stirling replied, “Undead trials weren’t as common before the tier-up, and all but two of them were further North. We don’t want to get too close to the Liches’ territory when things are so chaotic.”
Alex nodded, accepting the explanation even though it was still a bit off. He knew there was at least one undead trial that would’ve been close enough to the city to be safe, but it wasn’t like a boar trial was throwing them at wolves.
“We also didn’t understand your aura,” Mrs. Stirling reminded him, “If you couldn’t trigger it at all, or it drained you too much to use, the zombies would be a terrible matchup. You’d exhaust yourselves. We knew that you’d be able to rest in between fights if the boar trial proved difficult.”
“That makes sense,” Alex nodded, “How many undead trials are there for us to attempt, now?”
Mr. Stirling grimaced, “More than enough. Micah identified seventeen South of the old state border. That’s just Aspirant trials.”
“That many?” Becca asked, “That’s more than half of the number of trials found to the North before the tier up.”
“Part of it is that there are more trials, now.” Mr. Stirling answered, “But yes, nearly half of the trials between us and the Liches are now filled with undead.”
This wasn’t surprising, just a confirmation of what Alex had expected. A quick glance around the room showed that his friends were either thinking the same thing, or they’d grown immune to unfortunate surprises.
They spoke for a bit about the impact on the city these trials would have. The most immediate problem would be a decrease in Tier 0 salvage brought in. Boars weren’t the only beasts with body parts that could be used to craft magical items. No one would dare to suggest something so macabre as harvesting zombies, and they didn’t have anything worth the effort anyway.
The city’s adventurers would definitely be heading West in the future.
Soon, the conversation began to dwindle. Alex was looking forward to training, and was quite ready to get to work. He moved to get up, but was stopped by Mr. Stirling.
“Alex, before you go, I wanted to talk to you about your experiences with Inspire. Would you mind coming with me for a conversation?”
Alex frowned. In truth, Mr. Stirling was the last person Alex wanted to talk to about the issue. The man would immediately be able to tell that he was holding back about something, and there was a good chance he wouldn’t allow Alex to enter another trial until they figured out what was causing the timer to decrease.
“Do we have to?” Alex asked, “I feel fine.” He almost winced at his own words. He had kept his tone fairly even, but he still sounded like a whining child.
Mr. Stirling simply nodded. He wore a slightly pained expression, “I’m afraid I must insist. The effects of Inspire as you’ve described them are… worrying.”
Alex didn’t argue further, knowing that it would only arouse suspicion. He went along with the man as they ascended another floor. They settled into a room that gave serious office vibes, but without a desk separating the chairs they sat in.
Mr. Stirling sighed, “To start, have you noticed any change in your state? In particular, anything that might be cause for concern?”
Alex tensed slightly, and immediately knew that he’d given himself away when Mr. Stirling frowned at him. It was exactly the type of question he was reluctant to answer, and he struggled to come up with a good response.
“It’s nothing serious,” He sighed, “It might not even be a problem at all.”
Mr. Stirling looked unconvinced, “I’m reluctant to push you on this, Alex, but I’m afraid that I must be sure. Are you certain whatever you’ve noticed isn’t an immediate risk to your safety?”
Alex nodded. The timer still had more than a week and a half, it wasn’t immediate at all.
“Then I won’t make you talk to me,” Mr. Stirling sighed, “But I will request that you talk to someone about it soon. It’s possible that your perspective is skewed by Inspire, just like your ability to panic.”
Alex hadn’t considered that.