Chapter 4: Trial of String and Thread
"...Address me as your master."
He opened his hands, smiling widely. His eyes were anticipatingly closed.
I looked at him with reluctant eyes, eventually agreeing— as I deduced that I was getting more benefits than losses— yet I couldn't help but feel that I was falling into a trap.
Then a screen appeared, this had a different feeling from the other screens that popped up before, as it had now given me a task.
----------------------------------------
[ A | Quest | has been added and accepted! ]
[ Quest Name: Path Finding ]
( Find your path before growing up into a [Lesser Insectiant], with the help of Coil your chances of obtaining a path have increased! Using this opportunity, you can get yourself a path in exchange for being the apprentice of Coil and calling him your master )
Quest Fulfillment:
Getting a Path before Lvl 5
Quest Rewards:
[ Path Tab ] (Zen)
[ Apprentice Title ] (Zen)
[ Evolutionary Options (At Lvl 5) ] (Zen)
Quest Failure: ( Unable to obtain Path )
[ Lesser Chances of Survival ] (Zen)
[ System Revoke ] (System)
----------------------------------------
I looked at the Quest's contents as I saw Coil's mouth grow into a big smile in front of me.
"Great!"
Coil clapped his hands.
"Now then, all we need to do is backtrack."
Coil joyfully mumbled, starting to go back.
"Skree...?"
But, why?
"Because I was gonna help you level up first and then get your basic path, but you wanted your path first so we need to backtrack."
Coil chuckled. While I whined, following him back the tunnel.
~~~~~
After 10 minutes or so had gone by, we were more or less close to the tunnel that led back to the cave with the glowing vines, but as we went closer, Coil turned to the right side of the tunnel. Using his hand to brush on the wall— seemingly finding something— his hand pressed a rock deeper into the wall, like a button.
The rocky cave wall opened neatly, revealing a hidden tunnel, the inside wall of it had tiny engravings of thin thread enveloping little elements etched with pigment inside. Some had what seemed like fire🔥, water💧, wind🍃, and rock🪨, there were even others that I didn't know, but I could only make it out as Poison🟣 and another that appeared to be Light✨. All of which were dimly lit, having seemed to have lost its glow...
There were many more inside the tunnel, but it hurt my brain when I tried to comprehend them with my [Deduce] so I stopped looking at them completely. Gaining a clear mind, with a creeping feeling of renewed Ambition... and a sense of Freedom.
----------------------------------------
[ You are entering: Cavern of Many Trails ]
----------------------------------------
Finally, we arrived in a small cavern, it had eery lights that seemed to emit from thin air, and at the front, there were tunnels, at least six of them lined up with different colored lights circulating at the entrance.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Red, Blue, White, Grey, Purple, and Yellow.
Then, Coil unfurled his mouth as he kneeled on one leg.
"Oh Brood Mother of the UnderScape, hear my pleas and show this nymph the ways of your Cocoon."
The cavern shook, as Coil stood up again and patted his knee, looking towards the two new tunnels that opened from each side. One of them had Green lights— and the other one had Orange lights— They also had symbols etched inside the tunnel, but it seemed to be dusty— that I couldn't even make out the symbols that were inside it— as if it hadn't been used for a long time.
He coughs as he waves his hand to get rid of the dust away from his face. Facing me, coil declared something.
"Now then, pick one."
Gesturing me to pick between the two tunnels instead of the original six.
"Let me tell you this Zen... What those two tunnels give is much more valuable than what the other tunnels can possibly provide in terms of Rewards..."
Coil said solemnly with his arms crossed.
I stood there for a second, thinking about this very carefully. I wanted to be faster, and one of these two tunnels can maybe help with that, I'm sure of it. I looked at Coil once again and had a very serious look on his face.
This made me further contemplate the decision I was bound to make.
~~~~~
After a lonesome time of contemplating, I decided to pick the tunnel with the green-colored light. Coil nodded at my decision as he suddenly dashed in front of me.
"Nice choice, little guy."
Coil lifted his leg backward and kicked me towards the tunnel. I whined as I landed roughly— crashing against the hard rock floor— although fortunately, there were only a few scratches as I turned back to the entrance, I saw it closing off as Coil was facing his back at me.
After the entrance was fully closed, I tried to process what just happened, still very confused about what he had done.
> Meanwhile, on the other side
Coil placed his hand over his face as he mumbled out a thought.
"I hope this will help you, Zen..."
He let out a grieving sigh as he faced the tunnel surrounded by green lights. But this time, the lights changed color.
From Green to White.
'I wonder if he is gonna learn how to ⟨Pupate⟩?'
Coil thought.
'I'm so envious though, he gets to choose between those two'
He chuckles as he wonders what might be going on beyond the tunnel, pocketing his hands.
'Maybe he'll even grow up inside the trial.'
Coil further mused himself with these thoughts, as he walked back to his cavern, footsteps echoing as if he had lost a close friend before...
> Back to Zen's Perspective
I continued to walk inside the tunnel and I arrived at a square room— It was surprisingly not covered in dust— I looked around and noticed that there was a huge symbol carved into the floor, it consisted of circles, triangles, and squares. But they were seamlessly merged as if it was done by a professional carver.
I hopped into the room and a gate closed behind me closing off the only exit. Then a familiar screen appeared in front.
----------------------------------------
[ A | Chain-Quest | has been added and accepted! ]
[ Chain-Quest Name: Complete the Trial ]
( Complete the Trial, Trial of String and Thread: Path of Utility and you shall be awarded according to your progression in the Trial! )
Quest Fulfillment:
Reach Room 1-?
Quest Rewards: ( When reaching Room 1 to ? )
[ +3 Stat Points ] (25% to 100% Chance)
[ +1 New Skill ] (0% to 75% Chance)
[ +1 Trait ] (0% to 50% Chance)
Quest Failure: ( Unable to finish Room 1 )
[ Forsaken ] (Coil)
[ +1 Negative Trait ] (Zen)
[ -1 Skill ] (Zen)
----------------------------------------
A sub-quest was added to my pre-existing quest.
This system prompt was getting a bit generous with the quests recently, is it because it aligns with my interest in finding a path first?
I looked at its contents and I wondered. Why does it have such a harsh punishment?
Then I look at the rewards once again, it seems to be based on the rewards.
Equal benefits and Equal punishments...
I deeply pondered as I looked at the thing in front of me, a door with a large engraving in the middle. It looks like the Roman numeral of 1.
Bracing myself as I moved closer to the door. The door slowly lifted— dust falling and chunks of rock following along— I waited for the dust to settle before skittering inside.
[ Entering | Room I: Trial of Worthiness | ]