For the second time that day Silas found himself kidnapped and trapped in an unknown prison.
Opulence and warmth of the grandiose hall was replaced with stone confines and dark embrace. His new existence came to focus as the message from the System faded from vision. A large cave of moss and stone. Chill and silence given physical life. Light from floating lights banished shadows.
Yet what caught Silas’s attention were the three stone doors embedded into the walls of his prison. Twice his height and wide, the archways were carved with glowing ruins of a foreign language that cautioned ancient demise.
“Where am I now?” Silas questioned.
“You’ve been teleported to your first Trial. I was expecting you to be quicker on the uptake but I guess I have to hold your species against you.”
Silas didn’t turn around as he heard the everpresent Guide. It floated around him on a conjured cloud and lazily picked food from its teeth. It tore out some mystery meat, sniffed it, then ate it again. The creepy little shudder that followed sent a wave of revulsion through Silas who tried his best to suppress it.
The Guide saw it all the same. With a motion it gestured to the three doors.
“Well are you going to sit there all day with your perverted eyes or get a move-on? While this is a safe zone, it is only meant to be temporary and I am more than willing to motivate you.”
The Guide punctuated its words with crackles of electricity that danced between its fingers and eyes that dilated to the slits of a feline. A predator looking at prey. Silas knew his role in the game even if he didn’t like it.
He stood up, giving a nod of acceptance and dusted off his robes as he approached the three portals. Over his shoulder the fairy followed along while he inspected the paths. Each stone archway was carved with deep runes, some with craftsmans care and others with the erratic flow of a child's hand. Yet they all released a ghostly light that matched the living liquid glass that was the portal itself.
The only difference Silas found among the three portals were the unknown words and known symbols on the archway: an eye, two crossed swords, and a mountain.
Dealer’s choice then huh? Silas thought as he tried to find any other information, but it was as silent as the stone around him. Instead he reluctantly turned to the Guide.
“Ready to pick your demise?” it asked innocently.
“I’d rather you explain what the options are first.”
The Guide rolled its eyes and made a tsk’ing sound with a forked tongue. “How pedantic of you. Where is your sense of adventure to explore grandly into the unknown and flounder to horribly disastrous choices?”
“The answers...” Silsa quipped and held back his indignation.
“Fine. Fine...” The fairy muttered something under its breath before continuing. “The left rune means Mind. The middle one is Conquest. The last one on the right is Body.”
Silas stared blankly at the Guide. The fairy stared back. Neither said a word. Moments stretched while the Guide’s face crumpled into a worsening scowl. Its face had a promise of heinous acts while electricity arched between its hands.
“Fine!” in a huff the Guide relented. “Guess I have to spoon feed you the answers.”
“That would be helpful, yes.”
The derisive look told Silas he would pay for that in the future, but for now he paid attention as the fairy pointed at the three archways and launched into a quick spiel on their outcomes.
“The trails are meant to test your capabilities and reward you on how well you do. Mind is a mental challenge and Body is a physical one. Do well enough in them and you’ll earn the accompanying attribute points in each category.”
“And the Conquest portal?”
“I’m getting there! Take a chill pill you impatient creature. The Conquest challenge is both mental and physical, yet neither at the same time. This challenge puts you against another creature where you have to....wait for it... fight until one conquers the other to advance.”
“So I have three options. I have to pick one and that determines what type of challenge and what type of reward I receive.”
“Figure that one out yourself?”
“But what is the benefit of one challenge over another?” Silas ignored the fairy and analyzed the situation. It was clear that the Mind and Body challenges sounded straight forward. Solve a puzzle or lift enough weight and you pass. The Conquest challenge was the odd one. One that required facing a known risk, namely fighting some other creature likely intent on harming him. Did that mean the other challenges had a risk that wasn’t easily known? Or was the risk and reward outcome for this Conquest challenge better?
As Silas thought over the situation, Insight no doubt activating in the background, he came to a few realizations.
Each challenge had their own risks. Afterall someone physically weak or old could fail the Body challenge, which meant people selected what they felt comfortable at. The challenges acted as a funnel to sort people in what they were naturally inclined to and rewarded them in that area. The strong got stronger and the intelligent got wiser. It was simple enough, but the Conquest challenge was different. He would be forced to fight something else in a clear one-on-one scenario that didn’t test his strength or intelligence. It tested his commitment.
The commitment to climb farther and faster than others no matter what he had to sacrifice; whether it be himself or another being.
“I’ll choose the Conquest challenge”, Silas echoed in the stone room.
“Oh ho? Now that is a unique first choice. Do tell me why.”
“Curious are you?” Silas asked and waited to smirk until he saw the Guide’s attention.
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“Don’t be coy with me you pubescent human-bred walking waste!”
Silas ignored the creature. Asking instead if he needed to walk-through the portal, say the magic word, or some other action.
“Wait waitwait! Let me help you Initiate. Explain why you are so set on this decision and I’ll explain what you can expect in the challenge. It is my job afterall.”
Silas knew the creature was far from as benign as it tried to sound. They were in a forced give-take relationship where the Guide liked to take far more than it wanted to share. But Silas knew he had to play with the cards he was dealt, and that meant using the fairy’s voracious curiosity against it.
“Deal.”
“Yes! No takebacksies either. You have to choose the Conquest challenge, but do tell me why you’re so confident?”
Annoying creature, Silas thought as he stood in front of the stone archway of his choice. Conquest.
“You and the Alpha both told me the answer already. We are facing trails to claim power and grow. The fastest way to grow is by increasing my rank and you already said earning Essence from fighting others is the most common way to level. This is a high risk but high reward scenario but it is also most likely to be a direct challenge I can quickly pass. I just need to sacrifice a little and I’m through.”
“A little sacrifice?” The Guide giggled its high-pitched squeal as it moved to float above the unopened door. It was like a dying pig that happily went to the slaughterhouse. It smirked in amusement at him. “What a unique choice of words Initiate. But fair is fair, so let me enlighten you. This challenge will pit you against one of the weakest sentient creatures in the Realms where you are to fight until one of you is blooded and the other bloody. Being as you’re both level 0, you’ll each get a weapon but beyond that? It is kill or be killed.”
Silas was not surprised. To fulfill a conquest meant no half measures. It was the act of physically dominating a lesser with force. He would not succumb. So with assured steps he reached the portal’s glassy surface, paused, and looked at the Guide.
The thing’s crazy eyes stared too closely, head tilted, tongue out, hand motioning him forward. He stepped through the portal to his destiny.
Trail of Conquest (1st)
Face and defeat the opponent until one remains.
No time-limit
From stone to sand Silas stumbled into his next prison. Gone was the stone room of doors. In its place was a simple and small arena of sand with wooden walls encircling the grounds to prevent any escape or entry. In the middle of the arena was a bowl embedded in the ground with runes carved around it. It almost felt like an animal pen used to keep wild beasts from harming spectators.
Or it would have, if not for the creature across the arena.
Adolescent Goblin - LVL 0
Made of skin and bones, the half-sized humanoid was pale green. Yellow eyes, sunken and fatigued, looked hungrily toward Silas like an addict a rough three days into therapy. A far too long tongue licked at small tusks in an open display of hunger.
Silas only felt the inevitably of his decision solidify.
“Welcome to the Trail of Conquest. I’ll keep it short and simple, just like your survival. See that summoning tool in the middle? Fill it with enough blood and a portal will open to the next challenge. Of course the creature isn’t too keen on providing its life for free, but I’m sure a smart Initiate like you can solve that problem.”
The Guide flew and hovered over the diminutive creature. It howled at the fairy and jumped like a child overhyped on caffeine and candy. The Guide swatted away the goblin like one does a fly.
“As you can see,” the fairy gave Silas an eye-roll as it motioned to the creature, “The goblin barely has a pair of brain cells to rub together but it can still put on a good show. A stupid but aggressive species at the lowest rung of the Realm’s society. So do try your best to entertain. But enough dallying about.”
With a double clap, a one-handed axe materialized out of thin air in front of Silas and the goblin. Two feet of curved wood connected to metal’s deathly kiss.
“Let us commence the fun!”
The second clap of the Guide’s hands was all the warning SIlas had before mania reigned. A change overtook the goblin. Yellow eyes honed in on him; devouring hunger claimed his prey as it howled something fierce in the air and bolted across the sand. It ignored the weapon entirely as savage claws and razored teeth yearned for his demise.
Yet there was no fear as Silas watched. Only an acceptance of the inevitable.
Stubby goblin legs ate away the gap between them. A feral cry hungered for Silas’s blood. It lunged, four feet body of bones and claws.
Silas’s axe swatted it out of the air.
The bark of shock would have almost been funny in any other scenario. In this it only disgusted Silas as he watched the goblin’s arms swing lifeless. It was the last sense of pity that died. The goblin threw its body at him again. Claws ripped muscle. Fingers dug at his hair. Survival instinct took over.
“GET OFF!” he demanded as his arm moved up and down like a deadly wood chipper evicting evil with purpose. Up and down he swung. Body blurring with sinful purpose. Only when the struggle stopped and the goblin fell motionless did Silas finally come to his senses and stop.
At his feet laid the Adolescent Goblin. Life snuffed from existence.
“Well that was anticlimactic,” the fairy’s disappointed voice echoed from above. “I know it’s the first trail and all but I was still expecting more. You know? No? Oh well, I guess they don’t make the trails like they used to.”
The fairy floated down, looking at the dead goblin as it tapped at the air for something only it could see. The Guide’s side-eye did little to lessen the adrenaline and anger coursing through Silas’s veins.
“Well are you going to stand there all day or move on to the next challenge?”
The fairy pointed at the goblin’s bloody body and the empty bowl in the middle.
As if on auto-pilot Silas moved the goblin o the center of the room where the purplish blood of the monster collected into the bowl, or the Blood Rune, as the fairy told him. Soon enough the rune was filled and a new portal came to life before Silas.
A system message also flashed to existence.
Trail of Conquest (1st) - Complete
Rank: 76% / 100%
Reward: 4 Essence
Reward: +1 Strength, +1 Focus
A quad-shot of espresso and enlightenment overcome his senses. Like the hand of god it broke reality only to reform it stronger and more vibrant.
“What...What isss thisss?” Silas slurred through the ecstasy.
“Hmmm? The fairy looked up from filing its nails and seemed to peer at the same screen in front of Silas’s face. “Ah, the Trial Reward. Didn’t I go over this?”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Ah well, guess it’s good to save the reward for the end. Have to incentive you somehow; beyond your continued existence of course. Anyway, Like I mentioned before, you are rewarded based on the challenge you pick, but the level of reward depends on how well you do.”
The fairy continued with a scholarly image. “The fact you conquered the Goblin confidently and quickly gave you a high score even with the stupidity in letting the thing attack you. A decent effort all in all. Solid 3.5 out of 10 in my opinion.”
“Lucky for me you don’t judge me. Only guide my future salvation,” Silas muttered under his breath.
The Guide heard it all the same as greedy eyes and a gory smile greeted him.
“Keep calm and be kind Initiate, lest you watch a Goblin Den chew beef from bone.” A silent lock of dead eyes watched the other. “But enough of the dramatics. Time to go through the next phrase.”