My very first inhale filled my lungs with the freshest, incredibly pure, slightly salty air. Upon opening my eyes, I saw a high cloudless sky through which the Dairin, the Solar Sister or, simply put, the Day Moon, was leisurely floating directly above my head at unreachable heights.
"Hello, Ain," I mentally greeted the surrounding world.
Rising on my elbow, I stretched and, after pulling my spear closer to me and adjusting the scabbard with the baselard, sat directly on the fresh grass. Unlike the first trials, nobody took away the gifts we received from the Stela of Divine Inspiration and the Arsenal.
Four others were coming to their senses next to me. I hadn't interacted with any of these four during the first or second group trial. Two of them were utterly "strangers" to me. My "past self" vaguely knew the blond guy in the bright yellow-red sleeveless shirt, but I couldn't remember his name right now. However, the young girl with a strict gaze of steel-grey eyes, black hair like mine, and a short haircut, was another story.
Miranda, a sorceress from the "All Elements" guild. Future battle mage of Fire, Lightning, and Wind, who equally developed her talent in all these three directions. A friend of Arien, and I need to be careful not to accidentally show that I know her. And this time, it would be better for me to befriend her because we couldn't find common ground in the last Cycle. We were not open enemies, but she spread such rumors about me that during my first visit to the Sun City, the city guard arrested me as a dark adept and a dangerous pervert. Jealousy does terrible things to people...
My reflections and memories were interrupted by the appearance of a quester. This time he was not hovering in the air but simply standing on a large boulder just five steps away from us.
"Welcome to the world of Ain. The world of magic and sorcery. The world that lives by the tenets of Eyrat. The world of fallen Gods. This is now your new home," the quester spoke differently now than before: persuasively, endearingly, like a kind uncle giving advice. "This new home, of course, is not for everyone."
"Not for the useless," Miranda grumbled quietly, but not quietly enough to go unheard.
"Indeed, not for those," the quester calmly nodded, disregarding the malice in the girl's voice. "But we hope this definition does not apply to you five." His gaze was literally pressing us into the ground.
Such conversations occur in hundreds of other places in Ain, with similar small groups of former Earth residents, of those who passed the previous trials.
"In this world, unlike the one you are used to, everything is permeated with magic," the quester gestured broadly at the surroundings. "Even a small child can sense this magic, albeit a little. You cannot." His eyes at this moment became as dark as the moonless night. "This is bad!"
Even I, knowing what would come next, shuddered at the quester's "This is bad!"
"Do not worry. We will train you," he waved his hand, and our bodies rose from the ground. Resistance is futile - it feels like an invisible giant's hand is holding us in place. "And those who cannot cope with this training... Will be erased!"
I am immediately engulfed in darkness. It is complete and absolute darkness. And the silence is equally deafening. I don't feel my body. I don't feel anything at all except for a terrifying, primal, uncontrollable fear. Void. It is so all-encompassing that there is no sense of time here. In this void, there is only my consciousness.
It goes on until my fear subsides.
It goes on until I stop resisting.
It goes on until I accept everything as it is.
And no memory of the future can help me understand this. This is something I have to face by myself, the current "me", not the "future me."
With acceptance comes tranquility. With tranquility comes understanding. An understanding that "I" is something more complex than just reason or intellect. And this seems to awaken in me new sensations, different from sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Sensations that are light, ethereal, fleeting, and unusual.
I perceive myself as a point, and there's something fundamentally wrong about this. I need to grow because being a point is almost the same as being no one or nothing.
I can't see, hear, or sense, but new sensations come to my aid. The ones that I never needed before. And I realize that I'm not hovering in the void. There is constant movement around me. One type of movement is similar to the wind, and the other - to ocean waves. This is a manifestation of the Primordial Forces: Spirit and Magic.
A new discovery: particles are hovering in this movement's streams. It's little shards of my former self, and if I want to become something more than a point in the middle of non-existence, I need to retrieve them. I have no hands, but nonetheless, by focusing my attention, I managed to attract one of these particles to myself. The point-me immediately became slightly larger. Just a little bit larger, but I definitely liked it. There was something profound, inherently right in this union.
There is no concept of time here, so it doesn't matter how much time was spent assembling my body from these particles. Minutes, hours, days, months, years – these words mean nothing here.
But the assembled body was incomplete. A hole the size of a fist gaped in the middle of its chest. A hole that couldn't be filled, as I had already collected all the particles of my former self that were hovering in the void.
A hunch, like a lightning bolt, flashed in my consciousness, and I try to fill this hole with the flows surrounding me. First, using the one that resembles wind - because I feel that it is somehow more familiar to me. When this doesn't work, I repeat the attempt with the denser flow that resembles water. All in vain: none of the surrounding Forces wish to linger in the hole gaping in the middle of me. By my entire nature, I feel that, in principle, I'm doing the right thing, but I'm making mistakes in the details.
My next attempt was to fill the hole with both forces at once. I attracted Spirit and Magic and poured them inside. This mixture was not in such a hurry to evaporate. However, despite feeling that I was on the right track, something was still missing.
Everything fell into place when, after countless attempts, I thought to spin the energies of Spirit and Magic, to create something like a whirlpool or tornado. These two Forces were constantly in motion outside, and this motion needed to be preserved inside!
Balance was achieved when a ball of primordial energies formed in the center of me where the hole had been. A sphere constantly in motion of two immiscible streams. A sphere strikingly reminiscent of the Yin-Yang symbol familiar from Buddhism.
The "I" is almost complete. Almost - because the initial energies gradually evaporate, one cannot keep them with just motion and centripetal forces. The solution was a shell created from my will around the dual Core in the center of my chest. A shell that glowed with a copper hue.
As my work to recreate myself was coming to an end, memories came. Including the ones about my "past" life. And when I finished my work, symbols began to appear on the surface of the Core. Signs of my achievements.
"Monster Slayer" - A Sign that grants an additional Talent Star in the most developed weapon talent.
"Understanding the Unsaid" - A no less important Sign, which improves my ability to learn new things by a third. This achievement was received for the "perfect" completion of the second individual test. It also increases the density of my Magic Core by a quarter.
"Movement Against" - A Sign that I received during the third task. An achievement that gives the ability to focus on a particular skill, talent, or profession and develop it twice as fast. The result of the fact that I did not stop on the "Road," even after receiving a bullet in the heart.
All three of these achievements are engraved on my Core not with mithril, the highest of the available mortal metals, but with adamantium ink! These achievements are far from simple; they are not legendary, not even epic, but a grade higher! Each of them offers the opportunity to climb one step on the Stairway of Ascension. And although I'm not a Shard, and this Path is closed for me, they still give me a chance for an incredible start!
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Next are the "simpler" Achievements.
"The One Who Walks Ahead" - wootz entry. For being the first in my group to take the rod of life on the first group test. It gives me an increased "density" of the Spiritual Core, only by ten percent, but even that's very good!
"Shadow Leader" - an achievement written on my Core by Shadow itself. For distributing more than two life rods on the first group test, thereby making the decision of who will live and who will die. The knowledge of Shadow Magic will now be more accessible and understandable to me. I better not show this Sign to just everyone.
"Effective Warrior" - steel record. I received it for killing the most enemies in the second group test. It slightly enhances my weapon skills. If I had killed the blue-skinned ones not with a spear but with magic, the achievement would have been "Effective Mage" and would have given a bonus to spells. I'm sure Lan Lin received something like "Effective Healer."
"Determination" of the seventh circle, given for all my actions and decisions during the trials.
"Perseverance" - the fifth circle, also awarded based on the overall performance.
These two Signs don't give any abilities, but many masters won't take you as a student if your "Determination" and "Perseverance" haven't reached a certain level. And even some artifacts won't obey you if they're not satisfied with your rank in these achievements.
The list of my personal records ends with what seems like a mockery: "Bluemen's bane." A wooden rank Sign. Given for the first hundred killed blue-skinned ones. Gives nothing. It's a common rule: on the wooden rank, there are only mocking or humorous achievements, giving no bonuses, and not valued in principle.
But that's not all. Last to appear on the surface of my dual Core are new records:
"Enhanced Body" - mithril record. "It's hard to kill you, and many wounds that are fatal to others won't stop you."
"Perfect Athlete" - again, mithril ink. "The more a person develops, the more time they need to maintain the results already obtained. You, having once achieved something, do not degrade, forever preserving the level achieved once."
These two achievements are given for passing the initial tests. They are the basis of how we, earthlings, in just over a year, caught up with the most outstanding warriors and mages of Ain, and then some of us took a step further.
As a former athlete, I know that after reaching a certain level, ninety-nine percent of the effort goes not to development but to maintaining what has already been achieved. "Perfect Athlete" - a true treasure, giving the opportunity for non-stop movement forward. Locals can only get this achievement by reaching the mithril rank, and only a handful among millions can attain this.
As soon as the last record appears on the surface of the Core, I feel a sense of completeness. This sensation gives me an understanding of how to leave the void.
An effort... and I'm breathing so unusually pure air of Ain again. To my surprise, there are still five of us, which means everyone passed the "training." This is surprising because the "last time" out of five, only three remained. That is, two were unable to "reassemble" themselves and did not return from the void or were erased; I can't say exactly in this case.
"Look at the world around you," says the quester with an accommodating but through-and-through false smile.
I follow his instructions and understand that the world has changed. No, that's not right. The world has remained the same - it's my perception that has changed. Everything around seems to have acquired an additional volume and colors previously invisible to me. And this new look at the world does not scare, but on the contrary, makes everything around more real, complete, and organic.
"Look into yourself. Feel." The quester continues.
This is more challenging, yet I manage to detach myself from everything surrounding me. When only the steady hum of my pulse remains in my ears, I sense a barely noticeable motion. The ever-changing and interweaving currents of Spirit and Magic.
"Show your Core," ordered the quester, invitingly extending his palm.
No one instructed us in the usual sense, didn't show us what to do, but while reassembling ourselves in the void, we acquired knowledge we previously lacked. I make a peculiar and so familiar to my "past self" gesture and issue the internal command: "Core Visualization!"
"Show the Core!" Miranda whispers next to me, who, even in the future, will not get rid of the habit of vocalizing her spells.
At the level of my eyes, a three-dimensional image of my Core appears, resembling a high-tech hologram. This image isn't static: the winds of Spirit and the currents of Magic are constantly in motion, maintaining harmony without intermingling.
Casting a glance at the others, I see that, like me, the surface of the other earthlings' Cores gives off a copper hue. It's not that I didn't know this from my "future" memory, but for some reason, I wanted to verify it.
"Having completed the initial trials," the quester signaled us to remove the visualizations with a gesture, "you have thus achieved the Copper Rank." Heaving a heavy, artificially sad sigh, he continued, "I regret to inform you that this is not a great achievement, as it is one of the junior ranks that locals typically attain by the age of sixteen."
The quester intentionally omitted the fact that nine out of ten inhabitants of Ain remain at this rank. They do so not because they're incapable of achieving more but because this "more" is unnecessary for a simple life. We, on the other hand, don't have the luxury of ceasing development because there are questers who won't leave us alone.
"Now, accept my congratulations on completing the first stage of the trials. In honor of this event, I have a gift for you."
At the feet of each of us appears a leather purse, identical to the one I had during the second individual task.
"Take it, don't be shy," the quester encourages.
I pick up the purse and peek inside. I don't need to count the money inside, as I already know it contains five silver and fifteen copper coins. The amount is quite sufficient to live decently in some backwaters for almost a month. Modestly, of course, but nonetheless.
"The initial trials are over, and a whole world is open to you, where you are free to go wherever you wish," the quester declares. Technically, he's telling the truth, but essentially, his words are deceitful.
"Like, anywhere we want?" A guy unknown to me inquires dubiously. He's dressed in sneakers worn barefoot, denim shorts, and a blue T-shirt torn in many places.
"You can descend the slope," the quester says with a smile. "And, following along the stream, you'll see a settlement in just half an hour. A small town that the locals have dubbed Unudo. A peaceful port where you can stay. But you don't have to stay; you have the right to get on a ship and leave this small island. You can sail to any island in the Bartaga archipelago; you have enough money for such a journey. Or earn some silver and head further - to the continent. Or you could just stay right here as long as you like, provided it doesn't interfere with completing tasks, or you don't starve to death." He waves his hand. "The whole world is before you."
The town of Unudo, the Bartaga archipelago, "past me" hadn't even heard of these names. In that Cycle, "I" began my journey through Ain in a completely different place, near the great swamps of Palaga. Ain is vast, and, probably, in this respect, it won't yield to Earth.
"Tasks?" The same guy in shorts picked up on the main point in the quester's words.
"Of course!" The quester's smile sends chills down my spine. "Don't worry, your new task will be very simple. You just need to get seven achievements in seven days." With that, the quester disappears, this time quietly, without the characteristic clap, as if he had never been here.
"Damn it!" The guy in sneakers shouts angrily.
"Such bastards!" The blond guy supports him, hitting the ground with the butt of his long axe.
The girls, like me, remained silent, not daring to voice their opinion of the questers out loud.
While the guys are cursing, I look around. We're standing on the slope of a medium-sized hill in a rather hilly area. The only hint that we're near the sea is the characteristic slightly salty air. Fields of uncut grass, dense shrubs, and sparse trees with dry trunks. Only a narrow path winding down the valley suggests that there are people somewhere nearby. I look up. Judging by the position of the Sun and Dairin, it's about two in the afternoon. That's good because I definitely didn't want to spend the night under the open sky today.
The guys stopped swearing, and an awkward silence hung in the air, broken by "my future acquaintance." She took a step forward and introduced herself:
"Miranda!"
"Flavius." The blond guy nodded to her.
"Raven." I don't stay out, either.
"Ilona." Unexpectedly energetically, a modest-looking, slightly plump girl with a bunch of unruly chestnut hair and a healer's apprentice wand at her belt spoke up.
Our eyes simultaneously turn to the only one who hasn't introduced himself.
"What?!" The guy in shorts grins maliciously in response to our attention. "You need my name? Screw you! Going to town? Unlike you, I don't intend to be a puppet of these monsters!" He waves his hand. "The town is in that direction?" I nod. "Well, then, I'm going the other way! Arrivederci!"
Having said that, he turned around and, giving the purse, which the quester "gifted" him, a kick, started walking in the opposite direction to the town. While everyone else is staring, surprised, at his back, I pick up the purse thrown on the ground.
"Do I keep it myself, or do we share?" I toss the "no one's" purse in my hand, breaking the silence.
"How could he?! Where did he go?" Ilona throws her hands up in surprise.
"Don't ask what a fool does. You won't understand the answer anyway." Miranda shrugs.
"Why immediately a fool?" Flavius objects to her. "He may be self-minded, yes, but a fool? Maybe in the end, we'll happen to be the fools." Having finished, he turns to me, "We will definitely share!"
If it hadn't been for meeting Rahu in the dungeon, I would have just kept this purse for myself. But I still shouldn't make enemies and ill-wishers, especially for such a trivial reason. As expected, the sharing distracted others from heavy thoughts. Of course, five silver and fifteen copper coins did not divide equally among the four of us, but I agreed to take less money if they gave me the purse itself. This satisfied the others, and just five minutes after the departure of the un-introduced one, everyone's mood noticeably improved. Not that I was planning to travel further with this group, but they are still Earthlings. And the more of us survive until the Invasion, the higher the chance that we will be able to stop the demons. At the same time, I can't be doing charity and helping everyone left and right, because this will slow down their own growth.
"Shall we go to town?" Ilona suggested.