Strength has risen to 18!
…
Strength has risen to 20!
Dexterity has risen to 12!
…
Dexterity has risen to 14!
Endurance has risen to 13!
…
Endurance has risen to 16!
Pain Tolerance is now Level 6!
…
Pain Tolerance is now Level 8!
Aurelian panted and collapsed onto the ground, lying on his back and staring up at the shattered ceiling of his hideaway while his stamina slowly recovered. He had been pushing himself hard for hours, enough so that the light coming through the shaft above had started to take on the golden brightness of the mid-afternoon. His entire body was sore, from the calluses on his hands to the over-worked muscles in his arms and legs.
He had dramatically increased his Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance in a relatively short—as far as hours went—amount of time, and his Pain Tolerance had risen spectacularly in tandem with his riskier and riskier means of training, especially when he’d rolled his ankle horribly during a particularly ill-advised attempt at a move he’d once seen in a film with laser swords and space wizards.
The rub, though, was the fact that his Longsword Mastery had not changed a whit.
Aurelian stink-eyed it in his vision, staring at the unflinching 9 beside the skill with palpable frustration. It seemed as if he could train his body easily enough, as evidenced by the now visible reduction of weight in his hips and stomach, and yet his weapon skill stubbornly refused to advance. “I guess it requires more than just throwing slices at thin air.” he grouched to himself while looking towards the sealed door to the room.
The temptation to explore had hit him more than a few times during his Katas, and if not for the frankly addictive dopamine rush he received from constant Attribute levels, he’d likely have succumbed to the temptation—and the boredom—many hours earlier. It wasn’t as if he had much of a choice anyway, in the grand scheme of things.
He’d need to explore if only to find a way to feed himself.
He hadn’t been too bothered by hunger as of yet, but it was less a lack of need and more of a matter of timing.
He had a feeling his body could be sustained on less food, but it still needed food.
Not to mention water. He definitely needed water.
Aurelian huffed a sigh and pushed himself up to a sitting position while laying his sword across his knees, and then glanced back to the door again. “Well, if I’m gonna do this—” he looked back to the sword “—then losing you would really suck.” he frowned.
“And every time people wait to do important things in books, it always backfires…” Another grunt left his lips, and he eyed the blade. “I hope this doesn’t give me tetanus.”
Before he could think better of it and acting on instinct as much as impulse, he wrapped his hand around the blade near the tang and cross guard, and pushed his palm along the sword.
An immediate lance of pain shot up his arm from his lacerated palm, and Aurelian bit his lip to avoid shouting out his displeasure.
It was not an easy feat.
Pain Tolerance is now Level 9!
“Oh fuck you.” he swore at the System when the chime of a level up echoed in his mind and the alert populated his vision. He was unable to shake the feeling it was quietly mocking him with the notification. It was just his luck that he earned a solid level in a skill by doing something he could have done earlier. A flash in his HUD also told him that his health bar had depleted by 32 points, and another alert under his status conditions showed a flashing red droplet, with text beneath it.
Condition: Bleeding (Minor)
“Huh…” he said idly while he waited for his hand to stop bleeding, and tried to resist curling it up into a reflexive fist. “That’s neat.” It was a relatively shallow cut despite the way he’d inflicted it, and he could already feel the sting lessening.
His regeneration in the Realms was, in a word, miraculous.
He could imagine Earth’s medical experts losing their minds at what was possible within the confines of the System. It wasn’t as if his hand would heal over in moments, but he had an inkling that after the bleeding stopped, it would be quick to scab over and begin the healing process at an accelerated level.
“That’s gonna be—woah!” Before he could even finish his thought, the blade in his lap reacted. The runic inscriptions leading up the fuller from the cruciform cross guard lit up a brilliant scarlet, and the blade seemed to ripple for lack of a better term.
It was like a wave of alteration starting from the pommel all the way up the weapon. The pommel itself, to begin with, morphed rapidly until it was visibly rounded and bore a very small ruby within the centre of its circular new shape.
Meanwhile, the hilt widened roughly another centimetre and lengthened by about two more, creating a perfect amount of space for both his hands to grip it comfortably. It had always been just a little off beforehand, and now it seemed to have altered to suit Aurelian perfectly.
The leather-like wrappings on the hilt also changed, becoming more full in appearance and possessing alternating black and red lines along the length of the material.
The cross guard altered as well, broadening the arms of the cruciform shape and adding runic whorls along their surface in silver text.
Additionally the blade itself shifted colours, going from a kind of enigmatic steel-ish grey to a dark shade close to onyx. The edges of the blade altered as well, with a bright scarlet at the outermost edges, ‘bleeding’—ironically enough—back into a darker crimson towards the blade proper. The gradient was a little over a centimetre from the start of the crimson to the scarlet of the edge and angled down and inward along the entire length of the blade in some vague assertion towards running blood or, if he looked at it carefully, sharpened fangs.
The fuller was the last piece to change, with a brilliant silver reaching up along the weapon from the cross guard and stopping at a tapered point a third of the way up the blade.
When it was done, Aurelian stared at the sword in stunned silence. It was ostentatious at best, and ludicrously impractical at worst. It was edgy, colour clashed, and even appeared slightly too wide to be properly wielded by anyone that wasn’t named after granite. The entire weapon gave off a vibe of something dark, wicked, and generally untrustworthy.
“I love it,” he said in an awed voice, before blinking at a new System prompt.
His eyes widened.
You have successfully bound Elys3̷̂̆͂4̸̦͈̇͘ñ̸̰̖̫̌̒ ̸̺̯̫̀̈́͛S̶̢͚̀͜#̶̯̱͜͠ù̸̲́̉1̷̣͖̐̌̅r̵̡͍̿3̸͓̇͋'̷̡͇͂͂$̴͉̏ ̸̠̄͐B̸̠̩͍̃7̷͓͍̪̐́4̴̮̈͒͌d̵̖̍̈́͋3̶̧͔͚̀
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
BLOODLINE DETECTED: ELYSEAN
TITLE DETECTED: ELYSEAN RECLAIMER
BLOODLINE SUPERSEDES OTHER BLOODLINES
TITLE SUPERSEDES ALL
SYSTEM OVERRIDE IN PROGRESS
STANDBY
. . .
Congratulations, Aurelian Lucis Imperius!
Your [Elysean Squire’s Blade] has been Tempered into an [Elysean Reclaimer’s Crest]!
Your [Elysean Reclaimer’s Crest] has been bound to your Bloodline and Soulforce!
Your [Elysean Reclaimer’s Crest] has been upgraded to Epic!
Hidden Conditions met!
You have taken an important step along the path to Reclamation!
Achievement: An Ember Among Ashes
For successfully completing a milestone in your journey, you have been awarded the following:
1 x Soulforce Ignition Draught
1 x Skill Evolution Point
Your tale has only just begun, Reclaimer!
Aurelian stared at the final lines of the massive wall of System prompting until he felt a weight in his right hand, and a transparent bottle appeared within it. The bottle itself was in line with the classic idea of a potion, with a flared-out bottom and narrowed neck, though its material was far superior.
It felt like a large piece of crystal in his hand, durable as much as it was beautiful, and etched with golden writing in a language he couldn’t hope to understand—though one that seemed somehow familiar. Without hesitating, and even with his new and improved weapon lying in his lap almost begging to be examined, he used Revelate on the item.
Name: Soulforce Ignition Draught
Type: Essence Draught
Quality: Epic
Tier: Novice
Requirement: None
Description: A draught used to awaken Soulforce within a denizen of the Prime Material. Made from highly concentrated and potent mana, this draught is a fundamental part of any would-be hero’s journey.
Revelate is now Level 2!
Aurelian’s eyes widened both at the level up and with the more he read, prompting him to let loose a low “wow” of surprise. It seemed like a big deal. He’d played enough games to recognise a ‘story quest’ reward when he saw one, and the most alarming thing of all was that it was not the first time said quest had been mentioned, indirectly or not. He had not failed to catch the previous instances of it, and something in his mind was telling him he was missing some fundamental pieces to the proverbial puzzle.
Someone the System named a ‘benefactor’ had been interceding in his actualisation and development, but how they were doing it and to what end was less clear. It was obvious he was being tasked with reviving or liberating something, and the ominous name of the Achievement he’d earned also made it seem quite likely that it had something to do with the ancient and forgotten Elysean race.
What that involved, however, and what that meant? That was entirely something else.
Something he needed to solve sooner rather than later.
“I guess I should swill this draught, but first…”
His eyes returned to his sword.
Revelate!
Name: Elysean Reclaimer’s Crest
Type: Elysean Runesword
Quality: Epic
Tier: Adept
Requirement: Elysean Reclaimer’s Blessing
Description: A weapon of ancient myth and legend, the Elysean Runeswords were wielded by the most powerful Patricians of their society. Imbued with the Elysean mastery of runic choirs, and gifted with preternatural durability and sharpness; this weapon will regenerate even from being shattered so long as its wielder lives.
Effects: This blade can never be lost or stolen and may be summoned back to your hand at the cost of 50 mana over the course of 10 heartbeats.
Special Effects: Leech 10% of the damage you deal to enemies as Health, Mana, or Stamina. Preference may be configured once every 72 hours.
Revelate is now Level 3!
“Now that is an upgrade!” he proclaimed in an awed voice while his eyes trailed down along the elegant and menacing weapon’s surface. He barely acknowledged the Revelate level up, and dismissed it without a second thought.
The new effect for his Crest was like a free Health, Mana, or Stamina regeneration boost so long as he was attacking things with the weapon, which was frankly awesome. He had no concept of what combat would be like outside of his own imagination, of course, but he knew an overpowered or absolutely broken weapon when he saw one, and his new Runesword definitely qualified.
Runesword. Crest. He’d probably think of it as both or either, and that was okay.
He didn’t understand why it was called a ‘Crest’, but that was a mystery he could solve at another time. What occupied his immediate focus, instead, was the Soulforce elixir clutched in his right hand. Not only would it give him some sort of boost, but it would additionally grant him a container within which he could store water. Judging by what he felt of the bottle, it was also incredibly durable. Even on Earth, crystal implements had been difficult to break. He could only imagine how strong they were in the Realms.
“Well then, no time like the present.” he said both to give himself confidence and to encourage himself to take the proverbial plunge.
Aurelian stood and carried his blade over to where the sheath still lay on the floor, delicately—even while knowing the sword was probably indestructible, he was scared to risk it—setting down the Soulforce elixir and picking up the sheath to slide his blade home. It went in without an issue, and as it did, the sheath itself changed—widening and lengthening to fit the Crest, and developing a pattern of inward facing red fangs from the top to the bottom of the sheath, all of which faced towards the sword’s cruciform hilt.
“Well, that’s cool, and not ominous at all.” he said with a shake of the head. The elixir was collected a moment later and he turned back to the bedroll, walking towards it and laying the sword down on the floor. “I have a feeling standing up is the opposite of what I want to do here…” he murmured as he sank down and unrolled the bedroll.
Aurelian seated himself on top of it and lifted the stoppered elixir up to examine it.
Upon closer inspection of the bottle, he could see that the golden symbols appeared to be some sort of flowing script, circling around and twining across the bottle. It was difficult to try to understand what exactly it was saying, though he felt as if he should have had an inkling. It was like an itch in his mind the more he stared at it, begging him to remember something he didn’t realise he’d forgotten. A needle in his mind, stabbing down continuously—
A chime echoed within his mind, and then another.
Congratulations, Aurelian Lucis Imperius!
You have met the requirements to unlock the skill Linguistics (UC)!
Linguistics allows you to study and learn new languages, interpreting and investigating the formulation and patterns inherent to their written and spoken forms, and building a more solid understanding of them through such action.
Read on, Reclaimer!
The moment he dismissed the notification for the unlocked skill, a second one imprinted itself on his vision. Two for one was… not bad. The skills themselves were also actually quite interesting, and surprisingly practical for his situation.
Congratulations, Aurelian Lucis Imperius!
You have met the requirements to unlock the skill Philology (R)!
Philology allows you to study ancient languages and scripts, interpreting and investigating the formulation and patterns inherent to their written and spoken forms, and building a more solid understanding of them through such action.
Time to find an Ancient Ruin, Reclaimer!