Alex had heard the story of David’s first Achievement enough to not find the situation surprising, but watching it was something else. The narrator started talking about how odd the situation had seemed, “If I had to name things I was not expecting after killing a bunch of rats in a cave. A talking dog would be pretty far up the list. Talking dogs have grown marginally more common in the days since the Arrival, but they’re still a rare sight. They just didn’t exist back then.” Marginally more common? Alex only knew about the one.

David stared at the dog, and all of the exhaustion and confusion of the last hour seemed to catch up to him at once. He stared at the dog for almost a full minute, starting and failing to form a sentence a few times, “huh? I… uh… what?”

The golden retriever licked its paw and cocked its head in an adorable fashion, “Well, you’ve reached the final chamber of the trial. I’m the boss, of course.”

“Of course.” David agreed bemusedly, “Wait, you’re the boss, like in a video game?”

The puppy cocked his head, again, “I don’t know what that means. What’s a video game?”

David stared at the golden retriever, but didn’t answer the question, “I’m sorry, does this mean we’ll have to fight? Because this day has already been terrible enough without a golden retriever trying to eat me.”

“Oh! Did you know that more common variants of my species will actually eat their companions if they find them dead? It’s a bit ruthless, but respectable, in my opinion. They love their friends and companions so much, but still… when you’re hungry.”

“What the hell?” David asked, “I mean, yes, I know that. I think everyone knows that. That didn’t really answer my question though.”

“Oh! My bad. That was a pretty weird thing to say.” The golden retriever gave the kind of heartwarming grin that only a puppy could, “Normally, you’d have to fight the boss to complete a combat trial, but today you got lucky. I’m not the fighting type. I’m a scholar, actually!”

“You’re… a scholar?”

“I can tell that this is all rather overwhelming for you.” The golden retriever said, somehow adopting an expression that conveyed wisdom beyond its age. “Want to come over here and sit down?”

Alex was chuckling quietly at the ridiculous scene, and he wasn’t alone. Talking over a memory was rather taboo though, especially when Anthony was there to quickly shush any attempts at conversation that might make him miss an important moment.

David spent another few seconds attempting to reconcile his no longer adrenaline-driven mind with the reality in front of him. Eventually, he shrugged and walked over to sit down next to the puppy.

“If you’re not opposed, I’ve heard rumors that having someone scratch behind your ears is a very enjoyable experience.” The puppy looked up at David with a pathetic expression.

“You know, that face is much more effective when you’re not talking in full sentences like an adult.” David started petting the puppy anyway.

The golden retriever let out an adorable little bark, and then hopped into David’s lap unprompted, “It’s an Ability I have, it lets me speak any language fluently and helps my cogni, cognital… my brain develop faster!”

“Ability?” David asked, “Like a video game?”

“Still don’t know what video games are.” The puppy replied, “Could you move your fingers back a little bit? Yeah, right there.” At this, the puppy let out an excited yip and rested his head on his paws with a smug expression on his face while David scratched behind his ears.

“Okay, so probably not like a video game then.” David sighed.

The puppy continued to happily laze on his lap for a second, perfectly content with their current situation. “Say, buddy, is there a reason you haven’t started leveling up? Shouldn’t you have gotten some reward levels from beating those monsters?”

David stared down at the dog in shock, and Alex’s chuckling started again as he saw the look on the man’s face, “So it’s like a video game.”

“You talk about video games a lot, buddy.” The puppy replied, “Didn’t you get the rundown when you started the Path?”

“Oh, are you talking about those words that have been appearing in front of me since I entered this, uh, trial?” David replied, the words appearing again when they were mentioned. He didn’t dismiss them immediately.

“You cleared a trial without even starting the path? How did you get in here?” The puppy excitedly stood up and turned around to face David, putting his paws on the young man’s chest to stand up closer to his face. “Tell me everything. I’m a scholar, so I need to learn interesting stuff!”

“Uh, what?” David replied.

“I’m a scholar! It’s what my whole family does.” The puppy replied, still standing on David to stare up into his eyes. “At least, that’s what my mom told me. I didn’t get to meet most of my family before coming here because it breaks the rules.”

“Your mom? Is she a… golden retriever scholar as well?”

“No. Well, maybe. I don’t know exactly. We didn't get to talk for very long before I came here. She told me I’m a scholar and gave me an ability that makes me a good scholar!” The puppy was panting in excitement, with his tongue lolling out of his mouth, “Oh! And she gave me the ability that lets me smell that you don’t have any levels yet. And! And!”

“Calm down, kid.” David laughed, his apprehension and confusion washed away by the excitable puppy scholar.

“But I haven’t told you about my favorite ability yet!” The puppy replied, jumping off of David to stand in front of him, “See, I don’t like fighting. At least, I don’t think I do, my mom said that fighting isn’t what our family does.” The puppy’s tail started wagging with his excitement. Alex thought it was odd that it only started now, but didn’t say anything.

“My last ability helps me out if some rude person or a monster tries to fight me even though I don’t want to fight. If I wag my tail really fast” The tail started wagging faster as he was speaking, “I can run suuuuper fast!”

The puppy started running in circles around David after saying this. He wasn’t quite a blur, but he ran at speeds far beyond what a puppy should’ve been able to reach. This went on for nearly 30 seconds, the puppy switching between excited barks and childlike laughs.

Rather quickly, the puppy ran out of energy, and fell to a stop, “So… so tired,” He walked back over to David’s lap, and plopped down in it, closing his eyes and contentedly laying there.

“You were talking about some path?” David asked.

“Just say yes, the notifications will explain.” The puppy yawned, snuggling into a more comfortable position.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Do you wish to begin the Trialbringer’s Path?

“Yes?” David replied, a note of trepidation in his voice.

Welcome, Candidate, to the Trialbringer's Path. You have Notifications to review.”

The memory paused here, and the narrator explained the rush of power David had received, “For most, entering the path is an anticlimactic moment. The initial connection of soul and body is quite unobtrusive. I had a different experience, as the rewards for clearing the trial hit me all at once.” The memory resumed.

“What on earth?” David asked as he patted himself down, clearly confused by his healthy state. The wounds from rat claws and teeth were all repaired, just like that. “There’s no explanation. It just says I have notifications.” The puppy didn’t respond to the question, just grunting into David’s thigh.

“Uh… review notifications?”

Welcome to the Trialbringer’s Realm. Your planet has been added to the realm and granted the boon of mana. The potential of your soul awakens, and grand powers shall be made available to you. But beware, Candidate, for nothing good comes without hard work. Triumph over trials, defeat monsters, find new uses for mana, and you will be rewarded. You will ascend to heights you never dared to dream of. Remain stagnant, fail to overcome trials, and you will find your society washed away.

View Status View Next Notification

“That’s heavy.” David noted, “View Status, I guess?”

Name: David Alvarez

Level: 3 (Tier 0)

Mana Body Quality: N/A

Achievement: Tier 0 - Unique (Cluster)

Attributes:

Strength: 12 - Power: N/A

Agility: 11 - Speed: N/A

Perception: 10 - Sensitivity: 8

Toughness: 11 - Durability: N/A

Capacity: 9 - Connection: 11

Notifications:

“Those stats seem low.” David muttered, “View next notification.”

You have entered a Neophyte Trial of Giant Rats! Defeat all rats to complete the trial.

“I guess those rats were bigger than normal?”

“The trial was too new. You cheated.” The dog replied.

“Sure, that makes sense,” David’s expression belied his sarcasm, “Next.”

You have cleared a Neophyte Trial of Giants Rats! Levels rewarded increased from 1 to 3 due to clearing while below the trial’s recommended tier.

“Next.”

“You don’t have to say this stuff aloud, you know.” The puppy muttered into David’s thigh.

David opened his mouth to respond, but his attention was torn away by the words that appeared in front of his face. Alex and his teammates were similarly drawn in by this latest notification.

You have cleared a combat trial above your tier! Clearing a combat trial over your tier solo is considered a Legendary Achievement.

Mitigating circumstances found: enemies were not at normal power level. Mitigating circumstances overruled.

Extreme circumstances found, you had not yet begun The Path when you cleared this trial. 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.

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

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

“It says I got a Unique Achievement…” David trailed off as the puppy suddenly received a second wind and jumped up onto his chest again.

“Really! That’s so cool! Those are the best ones, but I’m pretty sure they’re suuuuuper hard to get at Tier 0.” The puppy was panting excitedly again, but his tail wasn’t wagging. That was probably a good thing considering what happened last time. “Most people are Tier 0 at some point, not me, but so many that almost everything has been done already.”

“My Achievement is called Unique - (Cluster),” David explained.

“Ohh,” The puppy answered, he looked off into the air for a few seconds, as if he was reading something. “That’s less impressive then. Your entire Cluster just gained access to the Trialbringer less than an hour ago. It just means you’re the first to do something impressive.”

“I can see why the memory is titled “David Alvarez’s Lucky Day,” Muhammad spoke to the group, continuing over Anthony and Becca shushing him, “That Achievement explanation is something else. Why did the Trialbringer give him full rewards even after noting that he didn't accomplish the feat?”

“Shut up,” Jess told him, still staring at the memory where David had replied with a grunt and the puppy had continued to excitedly speak.

“Do you know why the Trialbringer gave the Achievement even though the monsters were still weak? That’s weird, right?” The puppy’s exhaustion was completely forgotten as he tried to climb up David’s chest in his excitement. He somehow succeeded and David had to hold the puppy in place on his shoulder to prevent him falling off in his excitement.

“Oh! What rewards did you get?” The puppy continued, talking right into David’s ear. “ I don’t know what the cluster reward is for Tier 0. My mom just told me about the rewards through Mythic for the first few tiers. Naturally Connected aliens like me don’t get the planet or cluster upgrades.”

David moved the puppy back onto his lap, which did not slow down the excited avalanche of words, “You have to tell me what those rewards are! I get rewards from an Enhancement I have whenever I learn new things! With how important those Achievements are, I might even get a bunch of level-ups!”

“Let me look at what they are first, buddy,” David soothed.

“You haven’t looked yet! But it’s been, like, almost a minute! How are you waiting so long?” The puppy started walking around on David’s lap, unable to sit still in his excitement.

“Show Achievements,” David replied,

“I already told you, you don’t have to say it out loud,” The puppy groaned, finally sitting back down. He continued staring up at David from his position.

Achievement: Tier 0 - Unique (Cluster)

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.

The moment held for a second, showing that ridiculous list of rewards, “What the hell?” Muhammad asked, but no one told him to shut up this time. They were all thinking the same thing.

“I hope,” The narrator began to talk as the memory faded from the screen, “That this story has reminded you of an important truth. The Trialbringer’s Arrival has brought our people low, but its rewards are grand enough that I truly believe we can still save the world.”

Alex’s friends started chatting excitedly immediately as the memory ended, those Unique Achievement rewards were ridiculous. Anthony’s mother, Alice, was the only other person on the planet confirmed to have ever received a Greater Mana Baptism, and she had evolved her mana type from Illusion to Creation as a result. David received one of those at every tier?

Body Guidance wasn’t quite as rare, but it was considered the greatest reward attainable in a non-combat trial. There were exceptions, but not many. The Trialbringer itself revealing runes and array combinations that would improve your Mana Body was incredible. Only Mana Baptisms were more sought after, but the effects were mostly kept from students.

“What do you think, Alex? Have any ideas for feat hunting at Tier 0?” Anthony asked, noticing that Alex seemed distracted.

“Huh?” Alex replied.

“Head in the clouds,” Muhammad snorted, “We were talking about if we might be able to pull off any Epic or Legendary feats ourselves.

“Oh, uh, I don’t know,” Alex replied, shaking himself to clear his head. “That does sound impressive.”

“You noticed something.” Becca stated, “Is it that Achievement upgrade notification? You know that we can’t do anything like that.”

Alex grimaced, he had been caught. That notification was clearly why students weren’t allowed to watch this memory. It was stupid to even worry about since they were restricted to remaining in the city. There were no trials to clear, and even if there were he wouldn't be able to enter, let alone get the same luck as David had received.

Still… There was something wrong about those mitigating circumstances. High-tier assistance was supposed to mitigate Achievements, right?

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.

He’d have to think about it.