A thrill ran through Alex as he read over the trial description, only to be quenched nearly immediately.
“It’s a pretty big risk,” He pointed out, “I need to be able to reach Tier 1 to remove my mana type, and we don’t know if I can do that inside the trial.” Broken worlds were planets where the original sapient inhabitants had gone extinct. Trials would vanish, but the world would stay at its tier, allowing monsters to hypothetically survive. If there were Tier 0 or even Tier 1 monsters for Alex to fight, he could ascend to Tier 1 off of direct combat experience.
If there weren’t any monsters, he wouldn’t be able to enter a trial or leave to return home. As long as Inspire was stuck on the outside of his soul, working to make its way in, this trial could ruin any chance he had of reaching Tier 1 first.
“That was my concern as well,” Mrs. Stirling nodded, “The last broken world Dylan and I entered was completely barren. We managed to recover some knowledge and a few treasures, but there was no opportunity to gain levels.”
“The prompt describes the world as untouched, on a higher-tier world we would take that to mean that even the monsters have died out,” Mr. Stirling explained, “On a Tier 1 world, sapient monsters would be incredibly uncommon, so we can’t be sure either way.”
“Untouched means that there hasn’t been sapient life on the planet for 30,000 years,” Mrs. Stirling explained, noticing the uncertain look on a few faces. Alex had been one of those who was feeling confused.
Broken world trials were all Competition-related. Because Earth had spent several decades outside of the Competition with seemingly no way back in, the Academy didn’t bother giving too many details. Jess’s lack of reaction to the explanation told Alex that those details were easy enough to find if you went looking.
Of course, he might have forgotten. It wasn’t like history was his favorite subject.
“There should be plenty of monsters on the other side,” Muhammad argued, “Otherwise it wouldn’t be much of a survival trial.”
“30,000 years is a long time,” Mrs. Stirling answered, “It’s difficult to say what might be on the other side. No Attuned creatures could have arisen without trials, and monsters can be quite fractious without leaders to direct them or sapients to oppose them.”
“Why would the Trialbringer give Alex a mana sink, set him up with large Capacity boosts, and push him in the right direction for his Guidance only to leave a trap trial here,” Becca reasoned, “What would be the point?”
“Attempting to use logic to understand an entity as vast as the Trialbringer is foolish,” Mrs. Stirling replied, “You raise a good point but attempts to explain the Trialbringer’s actions using human reasoning have backfired before.”
Becca nodded, not pushing her case further. Alex was feeling just as disappointed as she looked. Passing up a chance to explore a broken world felt awful, especially when it had the chance to generate competition points.
Muhammad and Becca both had good argument, but Alex would effectively be gambling his life on the Trialbringer’s benevolence. Something that, as Mrs. Stirling had just stated, had proven to be unreliable over the years. The Trialbringer wanted Tier 5s, but that didn’t mean it made things safe. The instinct all monsters held to seek out and kill sapients was proof that the Path was not meant to be easy.
Still, Alex was a titled Achievement holder. Everything he’d seen and heard over the past days made it clear that came with preferential treatment. It just didn’t make sense for the Trialbringer to push him into a Competition trial where he didn’t even stand a chance at survival.
Muhammad voiced that thought before Alex could, “Isn’t special treatment a big part of Alex’s Achievement?”
Mrs. Stirling nodded, “It is, but what if this trial is meant for Anthony? He has a Legendary Achievement, and he is perfectly suited for a survival trial. Perhaps the Trialbringer expects us to understand the risk and keep Alex away. This survival trial could easily be meant to separate the group, as the Trialbringer has seen how easily you can handle Hard Mode.”
“Maybe it’s not meant as a risk. It could be a reward,” Jess mused, immediately drawing everyone’s attention.
“What do you mean?” Becca asked.
“Well, if Alex manages to get rid of Inspire at Tier 0, he can enter the trial without needing to worry about it. Maybe this is an incentive for him to try.” Jess explained.
“That makes sense,” Alex agreed, “But I’m not having any success with Ethereal Drifts.”
“It’s not a matter of gradual progress,” Mrs. Stirling reminded him, “When you succeed, it will be sudden.”
“If I succeed,” Alex shrugged, “I’d rather focus on improving my Mana Body for a Hell Mode trial.”
He wasn’t a fan of calling it quits, but the meditation was frustrating. The flow was soothing, but he could only practice it for so long before he grew restless. Yesterday’s meditation had proven just as fruitless as the days before, and he was quite ready to push things off to later.
Especially when he had Body Guidance to use. He had come up with ideas for two different Enhancements that should be feasible without interfering with his aura. Without the Trialbringer’s helping hand, he would probably have to stick to attribute boosts, as they were the least intrusive.
With Body Guidance ready to go, he would be able to verify his ideas. Just as importantly, a guiding hand would assist in making sure he didn’t screw up his aura. The mana sink meant that such a change wouldn’t be lethal, but he doubted he could fix the problem.
Alex wanted his mana back under his control, but it just wasn’t worth losing the aura. Even a few faulty alterations could significantly lower the effectiveness of the aura, as each individual rune was designed more for mana exfiltration than the aura itself.
The runes were incredibly intricate, but the real reason Alex wouldn’t be able to fix any flaws he created was how those runes interacted with each other. Each individual rune held slight differences, barely even noticeable to Alex’s recently increased attributes. While they technically could be considered Tier 0 runes, no Aspirant could ever hope to draw them. Even with Body Guidance, Alex knew he wouldn't be capable of the control necessary.
These differences didn’t interfere with the runes’ main purpose. Somehow, the exact same function was maintained despite the unique designs. Instead of changing the function, these variations resonated with each other to create an array spanning his entire body.
The array was the source of the aura, not the runes themselves. Without a significantly better understanding of the array, Alex could risk making changes that could end up throwing the entire Ability on its head. He was still several years away from being able to improve an Ability designed by an Imprinted, let alone David Alvarez.
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“We can’t just give up on the trial,” Muhammad insisted when no one else spoke up, “A Competition trial will offer points as a reward.”
“I say we go for Hell Mode,” Alex stated, “If I haven’t managed to drop Inspire by the time we finish it, the four of you take this trial without me.”
“Are you sure you can solo a Hard Mode trial?” Becca sounded worried.
“He would not be attempting it alone,” Mrs. Stirling stated, “I can easily bring together a team of Tier 0s from the Defense Forces who would be quite happy with the rewards Hard Mode offers.”
Alex felt pretty confident that he could handle a solo clear after a few improvements to his Mana Body and using his last rewards, but the attempt would be selfish more than anything. There were plenty of Defense Forces Aspirants who possessed enough strength to gain a Rare Achievement from a Hard Mode trial. Jess had managed it while she was still new to the tier.
It was almost a shame that Alex and his friends were in such a rush. Hard Mode access at Tier 0 would be huge for several of their classmates after they had time to level up and improve their Mana Bodies. Rare Achievements at Tier 0 were important, and the increased Connection was potentially life-changing even if you didn’t manage to create a Rare Mana Body.
Alex recoiled from the idea nearly immediately. He had no interest in staying at Tier 0 for months with no benefit to himself.
Anthony spoke up at that point, “I was thinking about that, actually. There are so many adventurers and Defense Forces members who stay at Tier 0 hoping to gain a Rare Achievement. Rushing to Tier 1 instead of delving a few trials with them feels like a waste.”
Mr. Stirling smiled at his son, “It’s good you’re considering the city, but you and your friends have enough problems without borrowing others.”
“Do we, at this point?” Anthony asked, “We’re focused on Hell Mode, but there have to be dozens of Aspirants who could gain an Achievement in Hard Mode that won’t manage Rare without us.”
Muhammad disagreed, “A Hell Mode delve will give Jess a Legendary Achievement. That’s worth more than a few Rare Achievements.”
Jess smiled at the statement, not surprised by Anthony’s praise. Her importance to the team made her the most likely to gain the best rewards after Anthony and Alex, who both already had top notch Achievements.
“Anthony’s not saying we shouldn’t delve Hell Mode,” Becca pointed out, “He’s saying that it might be worth staying at level nine after.”
“As I said,” Mr. Stirling interrupted the budding disagreement, “You have your own problems. Your first concern should be whether or not you will work on the improvements necessary to delve Hell Mode. Is that truly what each of you wants to do?”
“Yes,” Jess replied. Everyone knew that she was the presumed holdout, and Alex was surprised she agreed, “We can’t assume that any of us will get a Legendary Achievement, since Anthony and Alex will need to take a lot of the contribution just to succeed, but it's the only chance that Muhammad and I have.”
Mr. Stirling nodded, “Don’t underestimate yourselves. My wife was the only one to gain a Legendary Achievement from our Hell Mode delve, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for you to receive more than one.”
“Are you sure, Jess?” Muhammad asked. Alex was surprised by the question. Muhammad was perhaps the most keen on delving Hell Mode out of all of them.
“I’m not just agreeing because the rest of you want me to,” Jess reassured him, “I’ve been hesitant because I’m not confident, but that’s not the right approach. The Stirlings will make sure we’re not out of our league, and it's our job to make the most out of all the rewards we’ve earned.”
“So we’re all agreed?” Becca asked as she smiled. She wasn’t the only one smiling, Muhammad’s grin would’ve likely been uncomfortable if it grew much wider. He was visibly holding himself back from commenting, not wanting to gloat about Jess coming around to his line of thinking.
Becca’s question wasn’t particularly necessary, but they all stated or restated their own interest to reassure her. Alex had been ready for Hell Mode to be a discussion, and he was relieved that it wasn’t going to be one. He couldn’t say what had changed, but Jess agreeing so easily wasn’t that odd.
Just because she wasn’t as loud about it as others didn’t mean she wasn’t ambitious.
Everyone turned to Mrs. Stirling, who nodded, “You’ll each need strong Rare Mana Bodies. If you want to increase the number of Enhancements you’re using, you can do so, but I recommend trying to improve what’s already present.”
Muhammad and Jess hadn’t yet managed to complete their Rare Bodies, with the focus on delving two trials each of the last two days.
The group made their way back to the tower, chatting about Mana Body upgrades they each wanted to make.
When they reached their destination, dinner was waiting for them under stasis. The Stirlings walked them through a quick debrief before the meal, which quickly reached Alex’s actions during the boss fight.
“It got a bit lost in the excitement of the Competition trial,” Becca said, “But how are you feeling about Inspire, Alex?”
Alex shrugged, “It’s not too bad, but I’ll be very happy to get rid of it.”
Becca’s frown made it clear that wasn’t a good enough answer, “How have the impulses and compulsions been?”
Part of Alex wanted to push back, he didn’t want to have this talk, but he knew that it wasn’t a good idea. She was just trying to help, he had to remember that.
“I haven’t noticed anything, and you guys haven’t pointed out abnormal behavior,” Alex replied, “It’s just uncomfortable. I don’t like relying on someone else’s power, but it’s more than that. I just can’t wait to be rid of it, to be honest.”
If it was entirely about Alex, he would probably skip the Hell Mode delve and just push for Tier 1 tomorrow. He could clear Hell Mode more than once at Tier 1, when time wasn’t such a restriction. The rewards would be better for a higher tier, so it wasn’t like he would be missing out.
For Alex, the exciting part of a Hell Mode delve wasn’t the rewards he would personally receive. It was the opportunity for more of his friends to get powerful Achievements of their own. If Jess and Muhammad managed to gain Legendary Achievements, and Becca got her first mana type, the entire crew would be guaranteed Legendary or greater Achievements during Tier 0. They’d be perfectly set up for ascending through future tiers.
After his friends had stuck with him through the danger of those first few trials, he couldn’t back down now.
Becca didn’t push him further, “Thank you. I was just worried after you pushed so hard earlier.”
The topic left Alex a bit annoyed at nothing in particular, and he wasn’t a great conversationalist over dinner. Instead, he focused on his Mana Body ideas.
After eating, Alex made his way to the study that was used for Mana Body construction. The evenings were normally spent more restfully, but the group was excited and didn’t have a trial the next day for which they needed to conserve their energy. He was joined by Jess and Muhammad while Becca and Anthony had talked Mrs. Stirling into working on their mental resistance despite the later hour.
Alex reviewed the first Enhancement he wanted to create, a boost to sharpen his reaction time even further.
Reaction was a bit tricky, as it fell in between two attributes. While reaction couldn’t be found on your status screen, it did improve as you grew stronger. Specifically, when your Perception and Agility increased.
Alex could, without too much effort, simply increase those two attributes. The effect would be worse, but it would come with wider increases. With how little mana he actually got to use, he knew that Enhancements like that wouldn’t be as powerful as what Becca had designed. If he wanted to improve his reaction time significantly, it had to be the focus of an Enhancement.
That would require more than just an inscription in his Heart Rune. He would need to direct mana towards his spine. Fortunately, the spine was quite close to his heart and none of the runes for his aura were placed directly along it.
Runes at a few locations along his spine, most importantly one where it met his skull, could definitely serve his purpose. Insulating this mana from his aura was possible, but it would take time and effort.
First, though, he needed to finally dismantle the runes that would’ve unlocked his soul attributes early under normal circumstances.
He didn’t necessarily take his time, but he didn’t rush either. Increased attributes had brought about a significant improvement in the precision he could reach, and he hadn’t practiced with his soul attributes to keep up. He considered using the Minor Skill Guidance he still possessed to improve his standards, but decided to wait and see if he adjusted as quickly as he had to his physical attributes.
He felt the pulse of a Trialbringer notification as he worked on dismantling the second of four runes. Knowing it wouldn’t be pressing, he focused on finishing it cleanly without messing up the draw or distributor runes instead of opening it immediately. There was some whispering in the background, but the others were quiet, conscious of Alex’s work.
Finally, he was finished. Instead of asking about the notification, he opened it himself to check.
Global Announcement: A Unique - Cluster Achievement has been accomplished on Earth