Alex’s attempts to continue that conversation quickly hit a wall, with Plato declaring that he wasn’t confident enough to make any claims about what would happen long term.

The wolf gave a few hints, though. Alex got the sense that it was possible the benefits would be far more impressive than some stomach pain, or even an attribute boost, but Plato didn’t want him to get his hopes up.

The rest of their tale was completed without interruption. Plato proved content to listen where the Stirlings would’ve provided commentary and pushed them to defend decisions made in the heat of the moment. Alex figured that was likely because he had nowhere near the combat experience of the other Imprinted.

Of course, it was also true that this trial hadn’t been as fast-paced as the standard ones. They’d had a far greater amount of time, space, and freedom. Additionally, none of them had been in significant danger after they reached Tier 1. Their choices were more thought out as a consequence of this, and Plato semeed to approve of the choices they’d made.

“Interesting,” Plato nodded as Jess finished an explanation of why they’d avoided the central gravesite, “I agree with your decision to leave that barrier alone. Often, what separates Attuned from Neophytes is the variety of powers they can wield. Even seemingly similar Abilities can function in very different ways. You need dedicated Sensitivity Abilities to break Tier 2 or greater wards.”

This was all basically in line with what Alex had already known, although with a bit more detail. It was hard to even imagine all of the different mana types any Attuned you came across might have. It only grew worse when you considered the fact that anyone could possess multiple mana types, even if only the most talented would achieve that. Multiple types would provide access to an even wider range of Abilities that could blend together in bizarre ways.

“Of course,” Plato continued after a second, “If you’re strong enough, you can power through most wards. I don’t recommend that approach until you’re quite a bit further down your path, however. Even David rarely attempts to brute force obstacles.”

“Now, you haven’t yet mentioned your purchases in the shop at the end of the trial. I will not begrudge you keeping those to yourselves, but I will confess to some interest regarding what Alex was able to see that the rest of us can’t.”

“I bought blueprints,” Jess stated, her smile was clearly proud, “Three Epic Enhancements that don’t require a mana type.”

Plato’s gaze locked onto her at the news, and a more than slightly terrifying grin split his lips, “Oh? That is good news. David already had a mana type by the time he first entered one of those trials, and qualifying for rewards above Rare is difficult.”

“I didn’t qualify for anything else that was Epic,” Jess frowned, “Just blueprints. I assumed they were different.”

“It’s shifted one rarity up,” Plato confirmed, “That doesn’t help much, though. Without a title a Rare result is required, and becoming a Pathstrider almost always requires a mana type.”

A Legendary Achievement could be gained from a Hell Mode delve, but a strong performance in Hell Mode required strength. Jess had managed to qualify, but she’d done so in a Tier 0 trial.

Alex was pretty sure his group would earn Rare rewards by their in-trial efforts in the future, despite Plato’s implication that it hadn’t been done at Tier 1 by New Chicago’s older generations. Legendary Achievements and Mana Baptisms weren’t for show, they were measurably stronger than any previous group of humans had been at their level.

Alex’s thought came to a stop with that thought. The realization felt different, this time. Alex had considered his foundation before, but he hadn’t stopped to think about how far behind everyone else was. Most of the city’s Imprinted hadn’t gained a Legendary Achievement on their way to Tier 3.

Even David’s Tier 0 Achievement was only Unique to the cluster. Alex’s greatest boon was one no one else had. One none of the other humans ever would have.

One day, he and his friends would surpass New Chicago’s greatest heroes. One day, it would be their responsibility to defend humanity on Earth.

It was perhaps a bit dramatic to think that way, Achievements didn’t guarantee their success, but planning for failure was pointless. Alex was confident that they wouldn’t fail, they’d join New Chicago’s Imprinted in time.

His feelings about that, especially about the realization that he could eventually surpass David, were complicated. David had given him a boon without precedent, but he’d done so against Alex’s own desires. He’d put Alex’s soul, his identity, at risk, and Alex hadn’t forgiven him for it.

On the other hand, the man was New Chicago’s greatest defender. Alex could hardly afford to feud with him, especially when he was still so much weaker.

What about when he wasn’t weak, though?

Luckily, he was drawn out of his thoughts as Plato pulled him back into the conversation, “And you, Alex?” It was clear that Anthony detailed his own purchases, Epic blueprints that his father didn’t have at Tier 1. The elder Stirling healer would likely be able to help him create a strong Mana Body, but earning things on his own merit appealed to Anthony more than relying on heritage.

“I get to keep all the points I don’t spend,” Alex replied, “But I spent 230 on summoning another competition trial in a month.”

“Oh?” Plato seemed surprised, “That’s not an option David ever mentioned seeing, and I imagine he would’ve purchased it.”

Alex wasn’t sure how he was supposed to respond to that, “Weird.”

“It’s possible that it’s too expensive at Tier 2,” Plato frowned, an odd expression on a large wolf, “But I imagine it has to be because of your title.”

“The Trialbringer did say I have access to see everything,” Alex agreed.

“Is the price for the next planetary upgrade ten million?” Plato asked, the change in topic took Alex off guard, “David was never able to see more than one in advance.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Yeah,” Alex replied, “Tier 5 requires 100 million.”

“So it multiplies by ten each tier,” Plato nodded, “That was the most likely option, but it’s best to be certain.”

“Are those numbers even possible?” Anthony asked, “That would be tens of thousands of delves with the number of points we earned.”

“Higher tier trials will yield more points,” Plato replied, “And higher tiers live for a long time. With Alex’s special access, you would be able to reach it if you could average out to 10 thousand points a delve once a month for around eighty four years. It would probably take closer to a century, though.”

That was more than four times Alex’s age, but less than a third of the time since the Arrival began. Delving for that many years, likely waiting at the peak of a tier for that time, was hard for him to even conceptualize.

“That would be near-constant delving,” Anthony frowned, “I can’t imagine you’d be able to perform well in every trial.”

“Which is why it would likely take a century,” Plato agreed, “Some trials would take longer than a month, although those would yield an above average number of points.”

“Still,” Anthony replied, “Seems like it would wear you down far before a century had passed.”

“Depends on the trials,” Jess spoke up, “If you’re spending a few weeks every month exploring another planet, it’s probably not too bad. Constant battles would exhaust you, though.”

“Combat focused trials rarely last for weeks on end,” Plato replied, “Even for Imprinted, such a thing would exhaust all but the most focused warriors. The Trialbringer is not interested in raising warriors unprepared for peace, so trials branch out more as you progress.”

The Imprinted was a font of knowledge, and Alex could tell that even their intimidated driver was hanging off of his every word. It seemed like everytime he spoke, there was some new tidbit to pick up.

Was the information particularly important to Alex? Not yet, but it was interesting.

“Now,” Plato continued after a second’s pause, “You mentioned that you can see everything.” The scholar’s gaze seemed suddenly menacing, and Alex struggled to remind himself that he wasn’t facing a predator as they locked eyes. It felt like the rest of the world faded away, and all that was left was a wolf who wanted something he possessed.

Nearly immediately, the sensation vanished, “My apologies,” Plato’s cough sounded embarrassed, and weirdly human-like, “I’m still new to this body. After decades as a golden retriever, I am not used to how intimidating I can be.”

“Oh, uh, no problem,” Alex replied. In truth it had been one of the scariest moments of his life, but the sensation had passed so quickly that it was already fading.

The way their driver winced as Plato apologized made Alex wonder if she had gone through something similar on the way here. When the scholarly canine had been an undeniably cute dog, his eagerness had been endearing.

Now, it felt like a dangerous intensity. Why would a scholar need such a menacing form? Was he still just a scholar?

“I appreciate that,” Plato replied, “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go over all of the rewards you had on offer. Cataloging the choices will help everyone, now that competition trials can spawn again.”

“Aren’t they rare?” Jess asked.

“They are,” Plato replied, “Before Earth was Tier 2, David only ever found one. After the tier up, they were still rare, but less so. I imagine one will pop up every few weeks, but the levels will vary and there are a lot of people around.”

Alex quickly discovered that Plato preferred details, as he initially attempted to just focus on the more interesting items in the shop. He did so thinking that the basic offerings were unlikely to be of any importance.

Plato disagreed, requiring a full inventory of the long lists. Alex had spent most of an hour going through the shop, so he didn’t have any problem reciting most descriptions from memory. They came to him incredibly easy, even though he hadn’t made much effort to memorize anything.

Part of it was his interest in the store, part of it was the comprehensive improvements that came along with leveling up. Brain functions like memory grew with level, instead of attribute allotment, allowing even pure physical builds to design the advanced runes they needed to form their mana body.

Still, Alex wasn’t perfect. He faltered on the wording of descriptions more than a few times as Plato probed the limits of his memory. When Anthony or Jess tried to chip in, they were rebuffed, as Plato also wanted to see if Alex saw anything different.

The scholar actually snorted, which sounded just as human as his cough, when Alex got to the Mythic Soul Sword.

“Is there something funny about the description?” Alex didn’t bother hiding his interest in the hints at higher tiers.

The wolf gave him an unamused look, “My understanding of Tier 4 and what comes after is far from complete, but from what I do know, buying a Mythic blade would likely be a complete waste. The description being so over the top makes me wonder if it’s some kind of test or trap.”

Alex had no idea what that meant.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Plato rolled his eyes, which wasn’t anywhere near as anthropomorphic as his other mannerisms. The wolf’s wide irises made the action look very exaggerated, “You’re lucky I said that much.”

Alex hadn’t considered how far from New Chicago they’d ranged over the weeks they’d spent delving. As Plato continued to interrogate him, he learned that travelling was nowhere near as fun when you didn’t have a flying tower that could traverse the distance in a matter of minutes.

There was nothing approaching a road for a while, which made the ride slow and occasionally bumpy. No monsters ever approached them, but Alex could imagine that without a high-tier escort they would’ve needed to fight several beasts in their path, slowing them down significantly.

The ride grew more comfortable and quicker once they started to approach New Chicago. The roads weren’t perfect, but their driver was able to speed up significantly without fear of attack or obstacles.

Plato’s questions about the store eventually ran dry, and Alex took the opportunity to sit back and relax. Anthony had fallen asleep at some point and Jess was clearly lost in thought, staring out the window as nature passed them by.

“I believe that it may have been a mistake, summoning another trial for a month from now,” Plato stated, drawing Alex out of his own thoughts. The critique was unexpected, as the wolf had been initially excited by Alex’s ability to summon trials.

“Why’s that?” Alex asked, “It gives us a month to rest and prepare.”

“A month is not much time at all,” Plato disagreed, “You need to rest, to recover from the events of the past weeks. You need to study, to decide on a direction for your Mana Body before you begin to inscribe it. You need to delve, to reach the level you set for the trial in the first place.

“You will find, over the next few weeks that you have not left yourself much time at all.”

“We want to join the force invading Indiana in a few months,” Alex stated, “We wouldn’t be able to sit at level 10 regardless.”

Plato sighed, “You are not wrong. New Chicago is entering a period of turmoil, the planet ascending to Tier 3 will only accelerate the problems facing our people. Still, it is not the time to search for more battles.”

“Are you saying that we shouldn’t enter the trial I summoned when it appeared?” Alex respected the Imprinted, but he couldn’t help but feel a spark of rebellion at the suggestion. That was his opportunity to grow further, to soar past expectations on his own merits.

“I imagine that I would have to force the matter, if I wanted to request that,” Plato replied, “Enter the trial. Grow into a man capable of driving New Chicago to new heights. But don’t push so hard that you crash and burn. I’ve seen it happen before, and I’m sure that I will see it again.”

The wolf seemed content to leave Alex to his thoughts after that. He likely knew that he’d given the swordsman a lot to consider.