Shit.
Devon cursed his luck. He'd taken every precaution imaginable, and still things had ended up this way.
He was laid against the ground, pinned in place by several stakes of metal that pierced through his limbs and into the earth. No matter how hard he struggled, he could not muster the leverage to pull the rods out of the ground and free himself. It was a simple yet effective measure for holding a captive when iron bonds may have failed in the face of his raw strength.
He'd also been stripped almost naked. The whereabouts of his gear was unknown, and he was sprawled out in the center of the overseer's arena for all to see.
An overseer had forced him to consume a healing pill when he'd woken, presumably so he wouldn't die from an infection due to the wounds of the stakes and also his still-ravaged arm. The pill he'd taken in the cubby of the ruined archive hadn't been enough to fully heal the wounds inflicted by Voltar Pura.
But his physical constraints were far from the worst of his problems. He once again tried to open the message function and scowled at the notification.
[Sealed]
The same message resulted when he tried to access his map and, to an extent, inventory. He could open the inventory menu, but attempts to access his inventory's subspace shoved the Sealed notification back in his face. Practically the only things that weren't sealed were his status and his profession menu.
This is the same as what Trey described when he was Kal'o Kir's captive.
Sighing, he opened his status. Like it or not, he was a prisoner. So all he could do was take stock of his gains from the fight with the lord of the mountain.
[Status]
Name: Devon Wells
Race: [E-Grade Human]
Level: 44
Class: [Cursed Warrior]
Profession: [Cursed Schemer - Level 3]
Mana: 265/265
Talents: [Spear Proficiency - Level 6], [Sword Proficiency - Level 6], [Hammer Proficiency - Level 5], [Dagger Proficiency - Level 3], [Axe Proficiency - Level 7], [Quarterstaff Proficiency - Level 6], [Scythe Proficiency - Level 3]
Skills: [Sever], [Shatter], [Lightning Thrust], [Lacerate], [Split], [Bone Breaker], [The Mask], [Refine], [Harvest]
Abilities: [Respite], [Small Presence]
Magic: [Light], [Fireball], [Lightning Imbuement II], [Adrenaline], [Boost]
Titles: True Initiate, Cursed(3), Vicious, Lord of Massacre
Strength: 320
Dexterity: 321
Vitality: 314
Endurance: 313
Arcane: 317
Spirit: 18
Free Points: 215
Talons: 6738
[True Initiate]
The mark of an Initiate that has risen above the tallest hurdle available within tutorial block #247.
This is an override Title. Effects of expected Titles acquired during initiation will be consolidated. Titles [Initiate], [Ambitious], [Giantslayer], [Novice Dungeoneer], [Independant], [Discoverer], [Defiant], [Lord's Bane] have been consolidated.
Exp gain +20% while below level 150.
All stats +43. All stats +15%.
+15% boost to the most invested stat.
He'd found it slightly odd when the system hadn't awarded him with a title for slaying a creature more than 20 levels above his own. In fact it had, but it hadn't shown up because it had been instantly consolidated into True Initiate. He brought up the individual descriptions for both of the new titles that had been acquired and consolidated, just to be sure of what they did individually.
[Defiant]
Solo killed an enemy 20 levels higher than your own.
All stats +20.
[Lord's Bane]
Awarded for slaying a being significantly above one's own station.
+15% boost to the most invested stat.
Defiant was simply a linear progression from Ambitious and Giantslayer. The 20 extra points in all of his stats were a massive boon, but Devon couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed by the simplicity of the reward for the effort he'd been forced to go through.
The other new title, Lord's Bane, more than made up for it. After some quick mental math, he noted with a wicked satisfaction that since he hadn't invested any of his free points the 15% boost applied to every stat.
He imagined the title was meant to take away a bit of the need to put all of one's free points into specializing in one stat, freeing them up to round out their abilities better. In contrast, Devon had essentially cheated the system into giving him another +15% all stat bonus.
While it was nice that the system had cleaned up his titles, what Devon found most interesting were the titles the system had not included in the consolidation, Vicious and Lord of Massacre. If it wasn't for those two titles he would have assumed True Initiate simply took in every title acquired throughout the tutorial.
Perhaps they're meant to serve as some kind of identifiers beyond simple achievements.
Vicious was far more of a statement on his personality rather than any kind of accomplishment. Lord of Massacre could be viewed in the same light if one looked at it in the way it was a representation of his mental capability to follow through with such an ordeal.
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Perhaps the most significant change for him in particular was how True Initiate had leveled up the exp bonus from the original Initiate title. The bonus had gone from +10% til level 100 to +20% til level 150. This would of course be significant to anyone, but to someone as exp-starved as he was it would be a godsend.
He turned his attention away from his gains and brought his mind back to the present. Looking at the stakes that bound his limbs to the ground, he mused on his options.
From what he could see, three of the level 50 overseers had been stationed around the ring of the arena to watch him. He had no doubt Val Kazar was close by as well, but he hadn't yet seen the overseer leader.
As for the metal stakes…
Physically, he couldn't do anything. With his limbs pinned in a spread eagle position he couldn't gain proper leverage off the ground to pull them out. That didn't mean he was completely helpless though.
If one looked at the situation from a different angle, he didn't necessarily have to pull the stakes from the ground if he wanted to free himself. All he had to do was make it so they no longer had any hold of him. Rungs at the tops of the stakes prevented him from simply ripping his arms off them, but even they wouldn't do anything if his theory was correct.
Devon opened his inventory, looking over the list of items contained within. Of course, the overseers had confiscated his spatial bead, so all he had access to was the basic inventory, but what he sought was not a physical item.
He'd thought something seemed off when the system had allowed him to open the inventory function at all. After all, why allow him to look but not touch?
The list of items was greyed out and inaccessible, but not the separate list of tokens.
If it lets me use tokens even while sealed, then that means I still have access to the rejuvenation token. And if it's as powerful as the system made it sound…
The description of the rejuvenation token had always bothered him because it was incredibly vague yet sounded all-powerful. This led to the current question in his mind; If the rejuvenation token has the ability to reverse causality to restore the body to peak physical condition then what happens to any foreign objects that happen to be inside the user's body?
Of course, the first possibility was that nothing would happen and the metal stakes would remain. But if the token had the power to reverse causality then who's to say it wouldn't simply overwrite reality and replace metal with flesh?
It was a gamble. And frankly, Devon was sick of this information-starved tutorial and the gambles he'd been continually forced to make due to ignorance.
Still, this wasn't a situation where he could even make that gamble even if he wanted to. Three level 50s were not a force he could contend with so flippantly. Two, he could probably take. But not three. At least, not before Val Kazar or other overseers arrived to back them up.
Still, I have to wonder why I'm even still alive at all.
He'd killed three overseers so far and had ruined their plan to kill Eve. That was more than enough reason to kill him by almost any metric.
As always, I'll just have to play it by ear. If they've brought me here for some kind of ceremonial execution then I'll have no choice but to use the rejuvenation token. But until then I'll simply bide my time.
Devon waited for several hours as the three suns bore down on him mercilessly. Since he could do nothing else, he kept track of time as best he could. He'd awoken in the early hours of the morning and now the suns were nearing the zenith of their rotation across the sky.
Only an hour or two more. Looks like I won't get to be there when everything starts. Well, I'm sure Trey will be fine.
He had absolute faith in his friend to carry the plan through, even without him. It would be a burden, having to create an excuse to set things off without the advantage of Devon's shapeshifting abilities, but Devon was sure he'd manage.
At that moment two figures walked into the arena, one seeming to pester the other. It hurt Devon's neck, but he craned his head as far forward as he could to get a good look at the visitors.
It was Val Kazar, being doggedly followed by an anxious-looking Zane.
Val Kazar was mostly ignoring the human traitor, instead focusing on something that Devon couldn't perceive. At the far end of the arena the overseer leader held up his hand and a shimmering crack in reality appeared.
A terminal? No, it looks too weak.
If a terminal was a hen, then what Val Kazar had just created felt more like a hatchling. Something that was too weak at the moment to do anything substantial. Devon doubted it would remain that way.
The leader of the overseers took one look a Devon before turning his gaze toward Zane, "I will tell you one last time, you must wait for the chief to decide your fate, and that of your sister. I never made any promises or guarantees, only that I would put in a word for you."
Sister?
Val Kazar walked out of the arena without giving Zane an opportunity to respond. Devon couldn't deny he felt satisfied seeing Zane, traitor to his race, treated like trash even by the aliens he'd sold his soul to. Zane cursed, then began walking over toward Devon after a minute.
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Zane
"What, you aren't going to continue following along with your master, little pup?" Devon asked mockingly as Zane approached.
Zane aimed a kick into Devon's side. To his annoyance, the man staked to the ground didn't show any visible reaction despite taking the full force of the blow. Zane scowled at Devon's cool attitude.
"I swear, if I get the chance I'll make you regret ever being born…" Zane muttered.
"Did you want something or are you just here to waste my time?" Devon asked.
Zane gave him a derisive sneer. It irked him immeasurably that the man maintained such an arrogant attitude even in this situation. Did he have no sense of what was coming? That his death was close at hand?
No, I can't let him get to me. That stupid overgrown lizard wanted me to somehow prove that this scum is behind everything.
He knew the leader of the overseers was simply giving him pointless tasks, none of them cared about something like proof. Even so, it was a directive Zane couldn't simply ignore. He'd take every chance, every opportunity to increase the lizards' perception of him. It was the best chance he had at getting what he wanted. Or rather, he'd burned every other bridge and this was his last chance.
But how to do it? Should I torture him here under the sun?
It seemed the most straightforward approach. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Something within the man's eyes scared him. Or perhaps it was in his completely relaxed posture, as though he was unconcerned with the metal stakes that pierced his every limb.
The people that Kal'o Kir tortured would have been crying from such wounds, yet he doesn't even seem to care. Would torture truly be the optimal solution?
A different thought occurred to him. If physical pain wasn't enough to sufficiently motivate him, maybe Zane could target something else, something he suspected the man did care about.
"I was wondering if I should maybe pay your friend Trey a visit. After all, we both know there won't be much of a chance after the next few days. Kal'o Kir taught me a few things, you know. Of course, he's already seen most of them, but I wonder what psychological effect a repeat experience would have?"
He watched Devon closely and felt a thrill at the sight of thinly concealed rage within.
Zane pretended to muse to himself for a moment before saying, "No, maybe it would be better just to kill him. Hmm… so many options. Well, either way, I think I'll go pay him a visit. Maybe he'll be a better conversation partner."
Walking away, Zane couldn't help noticing the look in the man's eye, like a predator watching its prey.
Just you wait, I'll show you you're not the apex around here. I'll drag you down, and make you regret ever crossing me.
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What a fool, Devon thought to himself.
He was rather proud of how good he was becoming at acting, having had many chances to practice at it while masquerading as others. It still wasn't his strong suit, but all he'd had to do was lay there and let the fool talk himself into a bad idea.
It was clear Zane held some dark obsession towards him ever since Devon had beaten the man in the forest. If things went as Devon expected they would, that obsession would be the spark that started everything.
Well Trey, looks like you won't have to come up with something on your own after all. You'll have a little psycho to do the dirty work for you.
Of course, Devon would be lying if he told himself he didn't have any apprehension about Zane going after Trey. But he trusted his friend and had confidence in his abilities.
He looked toward the shimmering crack in reality Val Kazar had left behind, gradually growing more solid, stronger.
The die is cast. All that's left is to see how the chips fall.