Duncan’s eyes fought against the blinding light of the sun. He could feel the chill of the winter air blow against his skin, and he felt the rough, familiar texture of the rocky beach where he’d entered the temporary realm. Something, a whisper of a presence, nudged against his consciousness, vying for his attention.
As soon as he could focus his gaze against the sun, Duncan was greeted by the sight of Cinder leaning over him, a broad grin plastered over his face.
“Congrats!” the elf said, stretching his hand out. A moment later, Duncan stood beside his master with a matching grin. He could feel the change. It was in his body. In his very nature.
Unending, joyous laughter erupted from Duncan’s lips as he started to move. His arms twirled around him, and his body lifted from the ground as he leaped with every bit of his newfound strength. He ran around the rocky beach, never once losing his footing as his body's improved grace, agility, and speed carried him almost twice as fast as he had been that morning.
He knew he probably looked like a child playing with his imaginary friends in the park, but he didn’t care. He felt free. He felt new. He felt powerful.
He lost track of all time as he reveled in his new reality. He could have been like that for hours or seconds, but he didn’t really care. He just knew he wanted to always feel like this. This was what he’d trained his entire life for. He finally had a Subject. No, two Subjects. It was the start of his new path. He couldn’t wait.
Cinder’s boisterous laughing from across the beach pulled Duncan from his inner revelry. “What I wouldn’t give to have brought a mirror with me so you could see yourself. Pheobe told me I should, but I forgot how bad the purge can be sometimes, especially at tier one.”
That’s when Duncan noticed something different. His advancement had improved his natural perception. That included all his senses. He’d just been too focused on the more apparent changes to his body to notice until that moment. He was flooded with new sensations, the strongest of which was an overwhelming smell.
A cough burst from his mouth as he struggled not to throw up. The smell that assaulted his nose was worse than anything he had ever experienced. It smelled like every rotting, dead monster he could imagine, all rolled up into one.
He could also feel something between his body and the first layer of his clothing. It felt like some sort of paste or mush was covering him from head to toe. He looked down at his hands. They were covered in a layer of black… something. A closer look revealed it was actually a dark red bordering on black.
“That’s the purge for you,” Cinder said. He walked up to Duncan, summoning a bar of what looked like soap. “You’re lucky you got a trial location so close to the ocean. He gestured at the hands Duncan was still holding up. “That is a bunch of junk your body decided it didn’t need or want now that it’s been upgraded. As you’ve discovered, it can smell rather ripe.”
It took entirely too long for Duncan to strip out of his armor and underclothes, the latter of which was essentially glued to his body by the impurities that had been expelled through his pores. Now, as naked as the day he was born, Duncan dove into the frigid water of the ocean, bar of soap in hand. He would have marveled at how little the cold affected him now that he was tier one, but he was too focused on scrubbing every inch of his body. He grabbed handfuls of sand from the ocean floor, scrubbing it against his skin to help loosen the gunk that caked his body. This was going to take a while.
***
Now clean and fully dressed in a new set of clothes, courtesy of Cinder’s spatial ring, Duncan sat with his master on one of the beach’s larger boulders. “So, how was it?” Cinder asked, his smile still present, as it had been since Duncan had woken up from his transformation.
“It was… interesting.” Duncan went on to explain the events of his trial. He described the monsters he had dubbed prairie hoppers and the endless rolling hills of blue grass. He went into detail about his fights and the impatience he’d eventually given in to. After he’d detailed his battle with the temporary realm’s prime monster, he paused, waiting to see if Cinder had anything to say.
“Sounds like a pretty standard lesser realm. Since only one person is allowed to enter, they tend to be on the smaller size without a large variety of monsters, especially at the lower tiers.” The elf thought for a minute before he continued. “Your prairie hoppers sound like something called a rabbid. Whoever named them must have decided they’d used a play on words between rabbit and rabid. As far as I know, they aren’t native to Dintarnum, or at least not the places I’ve been on Dintarnum. I’ve only encountered them a few times, and only at tier one since that’s where they tend to peak in power.” Cinder’s eyes started to shine with greed. “You didn’t manage to stick any of the bodies in that ring of yours, did you? I don’t think I ever tried cooking with them back in the day.”
“No, sorry,” Duncan responded. “I thought I’d have time to get some after I finished with the prime. How exactly did I get out of there anyway? I think I passed out from the energy of receiving my Subjects and the changes to my body. When I woke up, I was already out here.”
“That’s normal. This time, it will have happened a little differently than normal since you didn’t have a Subject Interface for the realm to interact with. Usually, you don’t receive any rewards until you clear and exit a temporary realm. All rewards are created by the magic that was used to create and sustain the realm, so the realm disappears from reality as soon as the rewards are created. This time, the realm forced you out so it could reward you with the magic necessary to unlock your Subjects.”
“Speaking of Subjects,” a familiar voice drifted to them from the direction of the road they had traveled on from Kunora. “I think it’s time we hear from our student what his final choices were, as well as how the realms have decided to bring his intent into reality.” Duncan and Cinder turned away from their view of the ocean waves to find Neta strolling through the rocks toward them.
She wore her typical attire: a dark gray, long-sleeved tunic meant for labor and loose-fitting dark gray pants. As soon as she reached them, she took a seat next to Cinder.
“Where have you been?” Duncan asked the older of his masters.
“I wanted to avoid smelling your purge. I’ve gone through it enough times on my own; I don’t need to experience that stench any more times than necessary.” The smile on Neta’s face told Duncan she was joking, but he stuck his tongue out at her anyway.
“Thanks a lot. You couldn’t have warned me about that part beforehand?”
Cinder and Neta smiled at each other, then chorused, “It’s tradition.”
“You Kunish have a lot of traditions. The Choosing. The two years of training. Then, the Subject trial. Plus all the pranks. I still haven’t gotten all the moss out of my clothes from Pheobe’s nature growth spell last week.”
“The pranks are more of an O’Leon tradition than a Kuno tradition, but I get your point,” Net responded with a smirk. “Besides, you weren’t the only one to get pranked; you’re just the only one who couldn’t prank anyone else.”
“One of these days…” Duncan muttered under his breath.
“Alright, enough stalling,” Neta said. “Read out your notifications for us.”
Duncan stared at her for a few seconds in confusion. “I don’t know what that means,” he eventually said.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“There should be a presence latched onto your conscious mind,” Neta responded. “It might feel like you forgot a thought, and it’s just out of reach. Just acknowledge that feeling. Decide you want to remember.”
Duncan’s mind returned to the feeling he’d noticed as soon as he’d woken up on the beach. He acknowledged the presence, and it responded.
Congratulations, Delver! You have chosen. Your path as THE QUINTESSENTIAL SWORD has begun.
Congratulations, Delver! You have chosen. Your path as a SWORDSMITH has begun.
You now have permanent access to your Subject Interface.
The Delver’s name has been changed to Duncan Tell in the Subject Interface.
Congratulations, Duncan Tell! From this point forward, your life will be a story of two Subjects. You must seek true prowess and power in combat, all in pursuit of becoming THE QUINTESSENTIAL SWORD. Reach true mastery of your craft to equip yourself and others with true masterpieces to one day be known as a master SWORDSMITH. Be true to your chosen story to continue your progression.
For unlocking the combat Subject THE QUINTESSENTIAL SWORD, you have been granted the Mastery Ability [Chasing the Quintessential Sword], as well as the Primordial Ability [Zenith].
For unlocking the non-combat Subject SWORDSMITH, you have been granted the Mastery Ability [Swordsmith’s Proficiency], as well as the Primordial Ability [From Prey to Blade].
For unlocking the combat Subject THE QUINTESSENTIAL SWORD, as well as the non-combat Subject SWORDSMITH, you have been granted the Fusion Ability [Quintessential Armory].
Duncan’s heart almost stopped each time he finished reading a new notification in his head. He could access his Subject Interface, whatever that was. He had Abilities. Five of them. He wanted to use them. He wanted to use them now.
Before he could stand up to do just that, Neta stared him down with her ‘I’m an extremely powerful master swordswoman who could squish you with a finger so do what I say or I’ll cut you,’ look. “Read them, please,” she said in a sweet voice.
So, Duncan did just that. He reread everything, this time aloud for his masters to hear. They both gave him knowing smiles when they heard what he’d chosen as his combat Subject. Neta turned him into the perfect sword, after all.
Once he’d finished reading off his last notification, Cinder said, “Have you looked at your Ability descriptions yet?”
Duncan shook his head. “I haven’t figured out how.”
“Just do what you did before when accessing your notifications, but this time, think of it as remembering what you look like in the mirror instead of trying to remember a thought.”
Duncan did so, and something new superimposed itself over his vision.
Name:
Duncan Tell
Race:
Human (Earth)
Age:
19 (Standard Realm Years)
Body Tier:
1
Bloodline:
None
Combat Subject:
THE QUINTESSENTIAL SWORD
Combat Tier:
1
Non-Combat Subject:
SWORDSMITH
Non-Combat Tier:
1
Even though the information was transparent, its sudden arrival in his vision startled him. After reading everything, he said, “I see a bunch of personal information. Name, race, age…”
“That’s your Subject Interface,” Cinder replied. “Focus your attention on the lines showing your Subject names.”
After doing so, Duncan was met with a new screen with a list of his Abilities and their descriptions. This time, he read them aloud from the beginning.
THE QUINTESSENTIAL SWORD Abilities
Mastery Ability: [Chasing the Quintessential Sword]
Effect 1: Your swordsmanship and related Abilities improve at a faster rate. No mana cost.
Primordial Ability: [Zenith]
Effect 1: All combat and fusion Abilities are more effective when using a sword and sword form well suited to your current opponent or opponents. No mana cost.
SWORDSMITH Abilities
Mastery Ability: [Swordsmith’s Proficiency]
Effect 1: Your swordsmithing improves at a faster rate. No mana cost.
Primordial Ability: [From Prey to Blade]
Effect 1: Any materials from monsters you personally kill will have their effects increased when incorporated into a sword you craft. No mana cost.
Fusion Abilities
[Quintessential Armory]
Effect 1: You have a personal extradimensional space with limited storage. No mana cost.
Effect 2: Any sword you personally craft does not count towards the storage limit.
Effect 3: You can instantly withdraw or deposit any sword you personally craft in a small radius around you. Small mana cost. Three-second cooldown
A long whistle left Cinder’s lips after Duncan had finished reading. “Those are some great starting Abilities.” The elf looked over at his grandmother. “Looks like we were right to keep him away from non-combat pursuits for as long as we did.”
“Indeed.” Duncan’s apparent confusion drove Neta to continue. “Did you notice the difference in your two Mastery abilities?”
Duncan looked back over his two Mastery Abilities to see what she was hinting at. “[Chasing the Quintessential Sword] includes Abilities while [Swordsmith’s Proficiency] doesn’t.”
“Exactly,” Neta said. “It will help you upgrade your Abilities faster for THE QUINTESSENTIAL SWORD. Most people don’t get such a good Mastery Ability early on. That can change as they advance through the tiers, but it's still rare.”
Duncan wanted to ask how upgrading Abilities worked but decided to start with another question. “Does everyone have a Mastery Ability?”
“Yes,” Cinder replied. “Everyone receives a Mastery Ability and a Primordial Ability as soon as they unlock their Subject. Trial takers get them for both Subjects. The Mastery Ability always increases proficiency speeds in a certain area, while the Primordial Ability is usually an Ability that helps define a person’s combat style or craft. Both are almost always passive, which is why all your Abilities say they have no mana cost.”
“What about Fusion Abilities?”
“Only people who complete the Subject Trial can get them since they are Abilities that come from the fusion of two Subjects. They are the greatest advantage successful trial takers have over others. It’s possible to unlock more than one of them, but it’s rare, and you won’t have an opportunity to do so until at least tier four.”
Cinder stopped speaking and thought for a moment. “Honestly, your [From Prey to Blade] Ability almost seems like it should be a Fusion.”
Neta nodded. “I’d guess it has something to do with his intent when he was choosing SWORDSMITH. Since he has it, the realms don’t have a problem with it, so neither should we. It will be interesting to see how some of his other SWORDSMITH abilities manifest once he starts using some slips.” She stood up then, causing Duncan and Cinder to follow suit. “All right, let's see what you can do now that you’re no longer a zero.”
A sword appeared in her hands, and it only took a glance for Duncan to see it was the first tier one blade he’d watched her forge when she started training him in smithing. It was a simple, perfectly crafted double-edged long sword, just like the one Duncan grew up using.
Duncan grinned from ear to ear. Not once in two years had he seen Neta wield a sword. She’d always used sticks to demonstrate forms, and Cinder or Jen had always been there to spar with him. He knew he stood no chance, but he was excited to see the matriarch of both the O’Leon family and the Kunora clan in action.
However, he was more excited to see how he had changed. A thought was all he needed to summon every sword he had in his storage ring that he’d crafted. The next instant, they all disappeared into his [Quintessential Armory].
This was going to be awesome.