Hudson was filled with renewed energy after realizing he not only needed to be stronger, but that he also could be stronger. He would use this trial, use S.E.C.T. and whatever cultivation techniques he could, to carve out a place for himself where other people would leave him alone.
The next step was taking a look at his rewards for the day. He had 14 trial merits to spend, and they were burning a hole in his metaphorical pocket. He pulled the reward menu back up.
* Supplies
* Cultivation Aids
* Incense: Focus, 3 sticks | 1 merit
* Incense: Distraction, 3 sticks | 1 merit
* Improved cultivation mat | 3 merits
* Maseki, 1kg | 10 merits
* Medical Supplies
* Basic Medic Kit | 1 merit
* Clothing & Armor
* Basic tunic, pants, and shoes | 0 merits (1x daily)
* Basic wool gambeson | 2 merits
* Basic leather boots | 3 merits
* Basic leather greaves | 3 merits
* Basic leather vambraces | 3 merits
* Basic leather gloves | 3 merits
* Basic leather helm | 3 merits
* Basic leather chest piece | 4 merits
* Tunic, pants and shoes, runed (integrity) | 13 merits
* Weapons
* Basic quiver of arrows (20) | 2 merits
* Basic iron spear | 3 merits
* Basic iron sword | 5 merits
* Basic recurve bow | 7 merits
* Foodstuffs
* Basic water bottle | 0 merits (1x daily)
* Preserved vegetable, 3 packages | 1 merit
* Preserved fruit, 3 packages | 1 merit
* Water bottle, runed (self-condensing) | 10 merits
* Sundries
* Basic rucksack | 0 merits (1x daily)
* Rift compass, runed | 10 merits
* Timekeeper, runed | 10 merits
* Services
* Healthcare
* Minor Wound Care | 1 merit
* Major Wound Care | 5 merits
* Director Evaluation
* Cultivation Technique Evaluation | 0 merits (1x daily)
* Martial Technique Evaluation | 0 merits (1x daily)
* Information
* S.E.C.T. Primer | 0 merits
* Trial Overview | 0 merits
* Physical Fitness Program | 1 merit
* Introduction to Meditation | 1 merit
* Advanced Meditation Techniques | 3 merits
* Martial Technique: Unarmed – First Form | 5 merits
* Martial Technique: Spear – First Form | 7 merits
* Martial Technique: Sword – First Form | 7 merits
* Martial Technique: Bow – First Form | 7 merits
* Cultivation Technique: The First Breath | 10 merits
He quickly decided against purchasing any weapons. He didn’t know how to use a sword or a spear at all, and more importantly the Director had actually provided a few basic weapons when they went to mine resources. The cultivation resources were similar: he didn’t know how to use incense, or what effect it would have, even if he bought it.
A few of the sundry items, like a medical kit, the free water bottle, and the free rucksack were no-brainers. If he was going to get stronger and get out of this trial quickly, then mining resources in rifts to unlock Sigil Challenges and earn more trial merits needed to be a priority. Even the preserved food was tempting, as he remembered how hungry he had been by the end of their six hours mining. Using cultivation techniques increased his metabolism significantly.
He was a bit more on the fence regarding armor, mainly because it was relatively expensive. He personally hadn’t seen any threats in the rift world, but the others certainly had, even if they had not divulged what those threats were. He pulled up those options again. There was the basic tunic – likely what he was already wearing – and then a “Tunic, pants and shoes, runed (integrity)” for a whopping 13 merits. He was very curious about what “runed” meant, but he wasn’t going to spend all of his merits on one purchase just to find out.
Touching the individual entries for boots, greaves, vambraces, etc. pulled up a detailed picture and the option to purchase. Most of the wounds he had seen Clara have were on her arms and legs, and had been slashing cuts; maybe the greaves or vambraces might be good options.
Last were the long series of items under Information: another cultivation technique – he’d have to tell Vince – as well as instructions on meditation and martial forms. They were all quite expensive, compared to the number of merits he currently had. While he was not confident in getting trial merits from any daily Challenges, he assumed he would be able to get more from mining; of all of the activities listed in the Trial Overview, mining resources through rifts was the only activity that was listed as occurring every day.
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Hudson went back through the list several times, counting costs and weighing priorities. Mining resources, and doing so efficiently and safely, seemed to be his first priority. From there he could gather more trial merits and eventually exchange for the things that would make him stronger, like cultivation aids or techniques.
After one last mental tallying, Hudson went through and spent twelve of his fourteen trial merits: basic medic kit (1 merit); basic leather greaves, vambraces, and gloves (3 merits each); a basic water bottle and rucksack, for free; one set of preserved fruit packages (1 merit); and lastly, the Physical Fitness Program (1 merit).
He wanted to invest in his future strength, and starting with his physical fitness seemed appropriate. He also remembered that it had been on the list of recommendations that the Director had made to him this morning.
While he didn’t trust the unseen Director, not in any way, shape or form, he didn’t need anyone else to tell him that he was out of shape. The hunch in his shoulders, his skinny forearms, and the little pudge at his waste told him that quite eloquently.
Within seconds of his making the purchases, Hudson heard the tell-tale sharp whine of a rift portal opening behind him. When he turned around, there was no sign of a portal, but his trial rewards were stacked neatly on his bed.
He picked up the preserved fruit, a surprisingly large amount wrapped in parchment paper, and put it into the large canvas rucksack. He was tempted to try a bite, but successfully resisted the temptation. He did take a swig of cool, clear water from the aluminum water bottle – shaped like a large canteen, and probably holding half a gallon of water – before also throwing it into the rucksack.
The basic medic kit came in its own wooden case, about the size of a toolbox. Opening the clasps on the kit, Hudson was impressed to see the variety of contents. He saw a number of bandages, sewing kit for stitches, various ointments and disinfectants. One of the ointments, the largest one, had a green cross on it; one had a reddish picture of a snake; and one had a orange outline of a tree. Perhaps one for wounds, one for venom and one for poison – that seemed to make sense to Hudson.
Disturbingly, there was also a small serrated blade, a tourniquet, and several syringes prefilled with what Hudson assumed were pain-killers. Rounding out the collection were three small glass bottles with no cap or lid – the glass was crimped at the top of the bottle, sealing it completely. Inside each was a large, round and silver-covered pill the size of a marble. Small letters etched in gold on the outside of the glass bottle spelled “Minor Healing Pill.”
Hudson wasn’t sure what to make of the minor healing pills, but he put the med kit back together and into his rucksack with the food and water bottle.
The leather armor pieces were simple but exquisitely crafted pieces of thick, dark leather oiled to a dull shine. The fittings on the pieces of leather armor were simple iron buckles, and easy enough to figure out. Just like the standard trial clothing set, each piece was also sized precisely for his body. The gloves and vambraces fit perfectly and left no gaps over his hands and forearms, and while the greaves were likely designed to fit with the leather boots and not his current shoes, they still fit snugly over his calves. He took the leather armor off and put it into his rucksack as well, to take with him tomorrow.
The only other trial reward he had exchanged for was the Physical Fitness Program, but he didn’t see a book or anything else in his room. Going back to the desk, he pulled up the top menu, and sure enough, there was now a new option.
Summary Status
Trial Merit Rewards
Physical Fitness Program
Visualization Aid
Information
After selecting the Physical Fitness Program, the top menu dissolved and lines of text appeared on top of the desk. In addition, at the same time, the wall to the left of the desk soundlessly morphed into the shape of a door. Hudson froze in surprise, but perhaps he shouldn’t have – he’d already seen evidence of the whole trial environment, including the hangar area and his room, morph and change in ways unexplainable to his modern understanding of physics.
The text on the desk described Hudson’s personalized training program as well as explaining the new door in his room.
Participant Hudson Appleseed: Physical Training Program
Overall Physical Fitness: 3 (Low)
Strength: 2 (Very Low)
Flexibility: 4 (Standard)
Dexterity: 3 (Low)
Endurance: 2 (Low)
The path of cultivation encompasses the body, mind, and soul of a practitioner, and it starts with the body. Only the firmest of foundations can hope to ascend to the heights of immortals, and you have taken the first necessary step to shore up the weakness of your foundation.
Your overall Physical Fitness is Low. It is not advised to advance in cultivation beyond the Lower Breath stage before achieving a Standard or High level of Physical Fitness.
Your Physical Fitness Training Program comprises three parts: nutritional supplements, bodily exercise, and recovery activities. In order to make the fastest gains in both cultivation and physical fitness, it is strongly recommended that you simultaneously practice your chosen cultivation technique during your Physical Fitness Training. A Physical Training addition is now connected to your room, in which you will find all elements of your Program readily available.
The Physical Fitness Training Program will require three hours of your free period each day. Until your Overall Physical Fitness is Standard, participation is mandatory on a daily basis. Failure to complete your daily regimen will result in a penalty of trial points. (The first failure will reduce trial merits by 1, the second by 2, and so forth.)
The program was mandatory?! And would penalize him if he didn’t complete the exercises? Hudson couldn’t believe what he was reading. He felt like he had been tricked – how was this type of program a reward?
Reading further, the instructions laid out a vast array of calisthenics, body-weight exercises, weight training, and other types of exercises he had no clue about. Luckily, or perhaps by design, focusing on a particular exercise or touching the words with his finger would show him a realistic representation of Hudson himself performing said exercise.
Hudson now knew what a burpee was, and he wasn’t particularly happy about that. Especially since there were quite a few of them in his future, apparently.
Hudson groaned and put his head down on the desk. His initial reaction was regret; he was already exhausted, and now he was going to be forced to exercise even more or be penalized for slacking off.
Then he remembered his resolve to be stronger; that ephemeral flame that had sparked in his soul just minutes prior. He could feed that flame, that desire to grow beyond the people who anger him. Or he could let it sputter out.
He groaned again, then slapped his hands on the table and stood up. It was time to put in the work.