Alex stared down the approaching flesh golem. The boss was less common than the ghouls he’d now faced several times, but he had enough experience with undead trials to hardly react to its disgusting form. He didn’t bother suppressing his distaste completely, it wasn’t like the monster would be less inclined to kill him if he didn’t grimace at the shriveled head that was too small for its body.

While it was impossible to be happy while looking at an undead abomination made from the flesh of several people, Alex would at least consider himself pleasantly surprised. He’d expected another ghoul and resigned himself to working together with Inspire so that he wasn’t overwhelmed by the monster’s Agility. Against a flesh golem, he wasn’t so limited.

The impulse reached out to him like it had plenty of times at this point. There was a familiarity to it by now. He stared down the approaching boss monster, considering how much smarter it would be to just go along with the impulse instead of fighting the monster without the boost.

Inspire wanted to give him the Strength to jump straight at the golem’s face, with the levels Alex had received over the past few days, it could probably do just that. Just as he’d grown used to the feeling of unnatural thoughts that almost matched his, he’d also started to acclimate to Inspire’s… strategic sense.

It raised a lot of questions about David’s fighting style that Alex tried not to worry about.

The large monster was closing in, which meant that Alex was out of time to consider. He pushed the impulse to the side. His time spent contemplating the stupidity of the impulse was vindicated by the ease with which he did so.

These monsters were meant to be a challenge for fighters around the peak of Tier 0. Alex wasn’t quite at that level, and he didn't have any combat Enhancements to boost him, but he wanted to see how he stacked up.

Alex let the monster strike first, and it obliged with a closed fist that came flying down toward him.

Slow was a bit of a misnomer when it came to large, clumsy monsters. Sure, it was relatively slow and couldn’t react well, but it had managed to build up a full head of steam in its approach and would run Alex over without problem if he met the boss head-on.

Alex wasn’t dumb enough to consider that option, so he dodged. Even without Inspire, he was able to turn a step into a small leap that got him out of the way. The monster was reminiscent of the boars in that it hadn’t thought through what it would do if its target dodged.

The monster’s descending fist refused to be pulled back, and the monster had committed enough force to the blow that it actually stumbled forward. Its fist slammed into the ground, leaving a noticeable indent in the grassy plains. The long grass was flattened, and the soil had been compacted to be around an inch deeper than the surrounding land.

Hard Mode bosses had incredible strengths that were counterbalanced by glaring weaknesses. The ghouls were surprisingly lacking in Toughness, although their nature as undead still let them take punishment. The golem’s Agility was incredibly poor, but Alex struggled to imagine a Tier 0 human managing to replicate that feat of strength.

Alex leapt into his own attack, cutting hard at the golem’s thigh.

At level seven, Alex’s was significantly stronger than it had been only a week before. Sixteen Strength was officially in the range where he struck with superhuman force. His sword was more than capable of keeping up, possessing an edge that wouldn’t be practical with enhanced alloys.

So it was a surprise when his attack left a cut barely an inch deep.

Alex leaped back, barely suppressing his annoyance at the poor result as he avoided the monster’s flailing arm. It appeared that he’d discovered the function of one of the two Enhancements the golem possessed. Already impossible Toughness was brought even further by a coating of mana just under the surface of its skin.

An impulse itched at the back of his head, promising all the Strength he needed. Alex took out his frustration with it on the monster’s grasping hand as he retreated.

That attack didn’t do much either.

“Alex, what’s happening?” Jess’s voice was confused. The others didn’t need Alex’s aura to put down the dozen zombies that accompanied the golem but the absence was conspicuous. Especially as Alex struggled to do more than mark the golem.

“I wanted to try this without Inspire,” Alex half shouted as he dodged an open-handed blow.

“And you didn’t think to warn the rest of us?” Becca called out. Alex winced at the accusatory tone.

“Well I wasn’t going to try on a ghoul because I’m not fast enough,” he replied. That reality had been proven by their fifth trial, where a ghoul with an Agility Enhancement had left him with an array of bruises and even a fractured rib. This golem was keeping to that same idea, where already present strengths were amplified by the Mana Body.

After three exchanges, it was clear that Alex and the golem were a stalemate waiting to happen. It couldn’t hit him with clumsy swings, and his counters were admittedly pitiful. In a competition of who would tire first, Alex would not be defeating an undead that was fully invested in the “just keep going” attribute.

He wasn’t going to give in that easily, no matter how tempting it was to match the monster punch for punch.

Alex wasn’t even certain that one would work. The monster was more Toughness than Strength, but the advantage in mass would make it very difficult to come out the victor in a contest of fists.

His enhanced soul attributes had made his aura more powerful, but they didn’t help much with his own boost. The Inspire mana outside his soul didn’t belong to him enough to scale with his own attributes beyond Capacity.

As Alex dodged the punch and cut the golem’s arm, he changed his mind. His Capacity had reached thirty-one after six trials that boosted the attribute. The remnant will was smart enough to recognize he didn’t need all of the power it could flood him with for most bosses, but it could definitely give him enough power to overwhelm this abomination.

The realization filled him with annoyance. He hadn’t considered it at the time, but the Agility ghoul’s attacks had only been a problem because his parasite was lazy. The monster had managed to crack one of his ribs!

It was tough to decide whether he enjoyed the challenge or resented the influence more, so he decided to worry about it later.

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

After several more exchanges where Alex came out ahead but not by enough. He had started to hammer away at a specific spot, near the monster’s left knee, but hadn’t yet managed to sever anything important. His annoyance with the situation was only growing.

“You don’t have the attributes, Alex,” Becca didn’t sound annoyed anymore, “You’re not going to kill the boss without more raw power.”

Alex didn’t reply immediately. Becca’s tone was a reminder that she wasn’t thrilled to tell him to follow the impulse. She would appreciate him being able to just ignore the influence just as much as he would, but they had to be pragmatic while inside a trial and facing a golem that was strong enough to kill him.

Still, it felt too much like giving in. Alex wasn’t going to cave that easily.

If the boss had been a more immediate threat, he would’ve likely done it, but it would take a while before he was tired enough to get hit by the golem’s fists. It wasn’t just his Agility advantage, the monster didn’t share the ghouls’ talent for pugilism.

After a few more exchanges, Alex finally managed to get a good hit on the tendon behind the monster’s knee. The flash of excitement as his sword approached its target was quenched immediately. If cutting through the monster’s flesh was laborious, the tendon was similar to striking a metal cord.

There was no debilitating blow that could finally turn things in his favor. He was likely annoyed more by the slight recoil than the monster was by the attack. He retreated a few steps and let the monster approach again. How were Tier 0s supposed to kill this thing? Mana Bodies made a difference, but seriously?

With a reluctant frown, Alex listened to the voice in the back of his head telling him to get in close and attempt a judo style throw. This was admittedly less ridiculous than punching an incoming fist, but it still annoyed him.

Alex wasn’t overly proficient, but the monster’s control over its momentum was so poor that the throw was easy. Several minutes of fighting had resulted in several cuts scattered across its body, but barely a second with Inspire’s help left it sprawled on its back. Another second saw his sword punching through its leg.

The fight was simple from there.

“It’s a shame this one wasn’t more aggressively built,” Muhammad frowned at the monster’s corpse, “It looked like it was all in on Toughness.”

“Pretty unlucky,” Alex agreed, “I don’t know how it was supposed to be beatable for a Tier 0 party.”

“It’s designed for people with at least our attributes,” Anthony shrugged, “You would’ve beaten it if you had a few Enhancements.”

“It was a good attempt,” Jess said, “But you should’ve told us what you were planning.”

Alex nodded. He’d been confident that they would be fine without the aura thanks to their levels and Mana Bodies, but it could’ve been a problem that they were expecting power that didn’t come.

“Like I said,” Alex said, “I was expecting a ghoul that I’d have to just put down. I figured that the golem was worth trying.”

Jess just nodded. Alex was surprised by how understanding she was being about him going semi-rogue. Normally she was a stickler about that kind of thing, but he supposed it boiled down to sympathy.

She was trying to be a good friend, instead of a good team leader. Alex could appreciate that.

Becca was just frowning at him, her opinion conspicuously absent. Finally, she spoke when he turned to look at her, “I think it was an unnecessary risk,” She said, “I get that I don’t understand what it’s like to have compulsion in your head all of the time, but we’re almost there. You can get back to fighting how you want once we’re Neophytes.”

Alex had to bite back a response about how annoying Inspire was. The novelty of the increased attributes had officially worn off by now, and the feeling of being unified in purpose with the mana had faded with it. Alex had spent years training, and was quite proud of the result. Inspire kept on pushing him toward fighting styles that just didn’t match up properly.

He tried to understand her perspective. Becca was just worried about him, and it didn’t feel right to get upset about that. Arguing wouldn’t help anything, but he didn’t want to just concede the point either.

“It would’ve been too risky against a ghoul. These golems are too slow to catch me.”

Becca didn’t seem to agree, but she didn’t get to say anything before Muhammad interrupted, “Looks like I got Skill Guidance. Pretty good result.”

“Same here,” Anthony said, “Might use it to work on my spear combat if we’re going to attempt Hell Mode.” Anthony had started work on a healing Ability yesterday, and was surprised by how well it was going. The Skill Guidance he’d used on mana control was paying off beyond the immediate boost he’d gotten. The delay wasn’t from inscribing the Ability, it was the adjustments needed to direct less mana into his Enhancements so he’d be able to use it.

“Skill Guidance,” Jess sounded a bit relieved. She still had the reward from their trial earlier in the day, but had used the other few Lesser Skill Guidances yesterday. The influx hadn’t been enough for her to handle the Enhancement that would make her difficult to knock over. Alex had gotten a look at the runes involved and had to say that it was a tough one. Clearly the most complex Enhancement any of them had selected.

Alex opened his own status to confirm, and was happy to see that he’d received the Capacity boost again. That made seven out of eight trials. He glanced over his stats, quite happy with the results of eight levels and the Legendary boosts.

Name: Alex Moore

Level: 8 (Tier 0)

Mana Body Quality: Legendary

Mana Type: Inspire (Rare)

Achievement: Tier 0 - Unique (Realm)

Attributes:

Strength: 17 - Power: 14

Agility: 17 - Speed: 14

Perception: 16 - Sensitivity: 14

Toughness: 16 - Durability: 14

Capacity: 35- Connection: 74

Abilities:

Enhancements:

Notifications:

Mana Sink Duration: 07:05:03:45

They’d completed eight trials in just six days, with two days where they’d defeated two trials and their rest day coming right after the boar trial. Alex had lost nearly a full day along the way, with nearly nineteen missing hours on his mana sink. The fact that they were potentially a day away from Tier 1 with a week left to go was a relief. Even if they spent time improving Mana Bodies for a Hell Mode attempt, there was plenty of time left.

Hard Mode had kept things interesting, in a way that Tier 0 trials rarely did, but Alex was ready to move on to greater things. Hell Mode promised to be a significant challenge even with Inspire’s boosts, but he didn’t plan on wasting more time with the meditation techniques that didn’t seem to be making any progress. Ethereal Drift would be a goal for his time as a Neophyte.

Tonight, he would take apart his attribute Enhancements. It would remove the Legendary quality of his Mana Body, but he had time to build something else before he tiered up, so losing the benefits of tiering up with a high quality Mana Body wasn’t a concern. Tomorrow, Body Guidance would help him start working on a Mana Body that made use of what mana his aura didn’t forcefully eject.

Ideally, he might even manage a few alterations that would allow him to retain more mana, but rapid removal was so integral to the runes that he doubted he could manage that.

The group exited the trial, and were immediately faced with both of the Stirlings. The cursory wave of healing magic washed over them, but Alex’s attention was on Mrs. Stirling’s annoyed expression.

“Did something happen?” Becca asked.

“Yes,” Mrs. Stirling replied, “We’ve found our first Competition trial. It’s for you.”

The trial in question was so close that there was no way that her assumption was wrong. With the help of the Creation mage’s signature force panels, it was only two leaps away.

The archway in the middle of nowhere looked different from the normal trials. It was made of a stone that Alex couldn’t identify, and stood far higher than other trials they’d come across. Looking through it, Alex saw the bushes that were on the other side. No forewarning of this trial’s contents could be found by looking through.

Aspirant Variant Trial: Broken World Survival

This is a Competition trial. No other Competitors will be found on the other planet. This trial will vanish if not entered within 7 days of its appearance.

Entrants will need to survive for 14 days on a Tier 1 broken world that has been untouched for 30,000 years.

Maximum Level: 9

Maximum Entrants: 5

Time until trial dissolution: 6:23:27:14