Hudson looked around his room at the S.E.C.T. trial. His punishment for failing to return on time – a 24 hr period of solitary confinement – was almost over.
He had just completed a workout, and he had to say he was going to miss the top-notch facilities – so much better than lifting dusty boulders. Especially the recovery bay. He hadn’t seen anything on Earth like his personal gym here in the trial, but that didn’t mean it didn’t exist – maybe S.E.C.T. had something similar for its cultivators.
He sat down at his desk and reviewed his status:
Trial Day: 48
Name: Hudson Appleseed
Age: 22
Rank: 34
Cultivation Stage: Bone (Upper)
Cultivation Technique: Unknown
Overall Physical Fitness: 4 (Standard) -> 6 (High)
Strength: 3 (Low) -> 5 (Standard)
Flexibility: 4 (Standard) -> 6 (High)
Dexterity: 4 (Standard) -> 6 (High)
Endurance: 4 (Standard) -> 7 (Peak)
Visualization Training: Step 31
Trial Merits: 25
Progress to next Sigil Challenge: 100%
Thankfully, participants could not go negative on trial merits. When he had returned to the trial, his balance had been zero, and then Vince had transferred 25 merits to him.
Considering how important the S.E.C.T. members considered their sigils, and the connection the sigils purportedly had to gaining higher levels of power through the dao (whatever that was), Hudson didn’t think it was wise to pass up this opportunity. He had worked hard to ensure that opportunity for everyone else in the trial, anyways; it would behoove him to take advantage himself.
The sigil might be important back on Earth, dealing with S.E.C.T. He knew that Clara’s family focused around a sigil called the Eternal Flame; he wished he knew if Chiang-sensei had a sigil or was a part of one of these groups with the same sigils.
It might be valuable on his own, or teach him something about the dao. He didn’t know without trying.
He opened up the information section on the desk and skimmed through the section explaining the trial, focusing on the sections related to maseki and to sigils.
The First Trial can be opened at any time, given sufficient allocation of resources (100 kg of low-grade maseki)....
To succeed in the First Trial, all Sigil Challenges must be opened and completed by at least one participant. Multiple Sigils may be earned by the same participant. Multiple participants may earn the same Sigil….
That detail was interesting; Hudson had forgotten about it. You could potentially earn multiple Sigils.
The First Trial will end in failure if not completed within 360 Earth-standard days. The First Trial will end immediately in failure if more than 50% of participants perish. The First Trial will end immediately in failure if the total inventory of low-grade maseki falls below 100 kg. (Current inventory level: 104.1 kg).
When he had checked this information several hours ago, the current inventory level had read 10,104.2 kg. The big drop meant that the second Sigil Challenge had been opened.
Navigating through the menus to the trial merits exchange store, Hudson felt a small pang of regret at some of the things he wasn’t going to be able to buy. He had a full set of armor at least – the remaining pieces given to him by Vince during his month-long exile – and multiple healing pills.
He imagined some of the S.E.C.T. members, flush with points from the daily challenges, buying runed armor and weapons. He’d grown fond of his sledgehammer, but there was no option to buy one or keep one from the trial.
Sighing, he navigated to the second Sigil Challenge access item, and purchased it with his 25 merits. Nothing happened immediately, so he sat on his meditation mat to wait.
He didn’t have to wait for long.
“Participant Hudson Appleseed, your 24 hour period of confinement to quarters has concluded. The Sigil Challenge is in progress; please exit your room and proceed to the right.”
Hudson hopped up out of his meditation, double checked all of the straps on his armor and the secure pouches inside his tunic containing minor healing pills, bandages, and a small flask containing water.
Leaving his room and heading right down the brightly lit hallway, he exited into the familiar hangar. There was only one other person in the hangar, and it was a familiar face. It just wasn’t a face he had been expecting.
“Mr. Hudson Appleseed.”
“Suzume.”
The scion of the Yasunori clan tilted her head slightly in a gesture of respect. “Thank you for your support. I trust your time in the rift world was well spent.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“As I trust your gains in the trial were sufficient.” Hudson returned the head nod. “Surely you are not just waiting around for me to say hi.”
She smiled slightly. It was a friendly smile, but it masked the stalking predator he knew existed behind her mask.
“I have a gift, a warning, and a request. First, the gift.” She pulled a small, sealed flask from a pouch at her waist. “This is a special pill; I spent many trial merits to purchase it. It can be used to repair meridians.”
She held out the flask to Hudson, but he did not move to take it.
“It is a gift, given freely. Please take it. If you must, consider it a thank you for mining maseki for thirty-seven days straight.”
Hudson reluctantly reached out and took the pill. He wanted it, especially if it could repair his still aching right meridian, but there was no such thing as a free gift. All gifts came with strings.
“The warning: George Adams has somehow broken through to the Foundation Building stage. He is no longer a match for any one of us at the Qi Gathering stage, or all of us together, for that matter. He is advancing way too quickly, and we do not know how, but it is a fact.”
Hudson frowned. That was not good. Not good at all. He now intensely regretted wasting the last few weeks; if he had cut off the resources for the trial right away, then they would all be back on Earth, George included, and he would not have been able to advance to the next stage.
“Have any of you – the other S.E.C.T. members – advanced to Foundation Building?”
She shook her head. “I am at peak Qi Gathering. A few others as well, and I would include you in their number. We have grown stronger as quickly as possible, but not as quickly as him.”
“Why is that?” Hudson asked.
“Genius? Prodigious talent? The cumulative effect of too many advantages to count?” Suzume said softly. “The why does not matter.
“On its own, his advancement during the trial would be a grand achievement. But by shutting the trial down, something never done before – you will shame what was supposed to be his triumph. He was supposed to be our leader, to bind the disparate clans with S.E.C.T. together as we grew in strength.
“You thwarted his plans and the plansf or him, and you will need to watch your back.”
“You don’t need to tell me that,” Hudson replied.
“Before I give you my request – I must confirm that it is… no longer wise to journey through the portal to mine maseki?”
Hudson looked at her askance. Was she baiting him into saying something that the Director could use against him? “I will not go through the mining rift portal again. I have not reconsidered my position.”
“I understand. Then, once the trial concludes… one way or another… My request is that you consider seeking patronage from the Yasunori clan. If my grandfather allows you to do so, you would be sheltered from the future wrath of the Adams’ – both junior and senior.”
Suzume was a shrewd player, but this was an obvious move, and one he had actually anticipated. It rankled him to consider seeking out one of the other clans to protect himself, since his opinion of S.E.C.T. was so low. But he reminded himself that he needed to play the long game, and if Chiang-sensei disavowed him, he might indeed need some friends on the inside.
“Thank you. I will make no promises at thist ime, but I will consider it.”
“Well then. Shall we?” Suzume motioned behind her towards an exit in the hangar.
The Sigil Challenge was not inside the regular trial grounds. Passing through the exit, Hudson and Suzume emerged into a stone tunnel. Rail tracks were embedded in the floor of the tunnel, and red lights were set in the walls at regular intervals.
Suzume picked up her pace to a light run, and Hudson followed. The tunnel began to curve up and to the left, and after half of a mile, opened up into a spacious cavern. In the center of the cavern, up on a raised platform, a black portal hung in the air.
The area immediately surrounding the raised platform was perfectly flat on all sides, and carved with impossibly intricate patterns glowing a deep, silvery hue. A narrow path led through the patterns to the raised platform.
“What are those?” Hudson asked, in awe at the brilliant display.
“Formation patterns. Not my specialty, but they are either used to power this portal, or to do something else, such as hide it or amplify it.”
“The silvery glow?”
“All that maseki that we, ahem, you, gathered,” Suzume answered. “You missed the announcement from the Director, but the portal will be open for 6 hours; about one hour has already passed.”
“So don’t miss the bus?” Hudson asked.
“I have obviously not completed a sigil challenge myself, but my clan has no knowledge of anyone not returning on time.”
Hudson nodded. “Let’s not waste more time.”
Suzume walked up to the portal first and jumped through. Hudson followed more slowly behind, mesmerized by the flowing patterns of silvery light illuminating the floor. He reached the raised platform, but before he could walk through the portal, he stopped.
He felt slightly uneasy, but could not finger a reason why. He looked around the spacious chamber, brightly illuminated by the formations. He didn’t see or hear anything amiss. Shaking the feeling off, he braced his shoulders and strode through the portal with a resolute step.
…..
They have all entered the Sigil Challenge. The voices whispered, overlapping in their intonation and intensity. You know what to do next.
George ignored the voices as he let fade the qigong technique that had masked his presence. The voices of his erstwhile companion had been a constant presence in his mind for the past 4 years, and they would be whispering in his mind for many years to come – and hopefully ever on into eternity, if he was able to grasp the immortality that was his due.
That peasant, though. Hmm. He was a perceptive sort with a wily sense of self-preservation. It had taken all of his control – and their screaming admonishment in his mind, screaming that the Ix would block his attack, making all his preparations pointless – but he had ultimately restrained his bloodlust.
This way was better though, he had to admit. Cleaner. Ironic, even.
He took another moment to appreciate the unrivaled power coursing through his body. Foundation Building. At his age? Unheard of. And he had done that. Him.
Us-sss… Came the thoughts, unbidden. He ignored them.
All of his sacrifices: struggling under the weight of his family’s burden, his clan’s expectation. Knowing that hard work would never be enough, but having the will and vision to sacrifice more. to sacrifice the sanctity of his mind and body and bring… them… inside of himself.
All of his sacrifices had been worth it.
Power filled his reformed body, flowing from his dantian to every nook and cranny of his form, and he got to work. There were more sacrifices to be made, and more power to be gained.