[Gray’s PoV]
[Trial Quest: The Shadows of your Heart.
Conquer your fears and overcome the monster within.]
Blinking, I can’t see anything, not even the System, I’m alone in complete darkness. Even with my night vision I can’t see anything. I’m scared to be alone like this, where did everyone go? We were together not even a moment ago, now I’m all alone…no, something is here, I can sense it. My breathing is loud, I can hear my heartbeat, the hairs on the back of my neck are standing.
Feeling something behind me I turn, seeing nothing but the darkness. My heart beats faster, I feel goosebumps on my skin. Alisha, Sally, where are you? I felt a nick on my arm, and looking around I saw nothing. Feeling my arm there was nothing. Grabbing my arms, I want to crawl into a ball and cry, somebody, anybody, help me. What feels like a gust of wind hits the back of my neck, causing a shiver to run down my back.
Crying, I was terrified of being here. I was terrified of fighting, of being abandoned by everyone, terrified of being found by the humans or being eaten by a monster. I didn’t want to be born in this world, everyday I wake in fear that it might be the day I die or be left behind. Feeling something scrap along my leg, I fall to my knees. Was it my imagination again or did something attack me. Shivering, I start hearing voices. Voices of those who hit me, calling me weird or creepy, humans and hybrids alike. Whether it was my hair or height, I would be shouted at and hit. They all did it. Every one of them.
Ah, maybe it’ll be for the best to lay here and die. My death would be better for everyone, I’m always too scared, I would be a hindrance to all of them sooner or later and they would leave me behind. I feel the darkness around me become more welcoming, I want to reach out and embrace it. Feeling something crawling on my skin, my instincts warned me not to allow it to continue, but my heart didn’t listen, I knew this was the darkness taking over me. Closing my eyes for what is the final time, I allowed the feeling to continue without trying to resist, I was tired of being terrified of this world.
“It’s okay if you’re scared, Gray.” Hearing Alisha’s voice, I remember the time by the fire when we were camping before the swamp. “Honestly, Gray, yes. I’m scared.” “Even Sally is scared, and I bet Elizabeth is too.” Back then I took her words as nothing but something she said out of comfort for me. I’ve never seen any of them scared or terrified, they’re all so brave. But what if they were hiding it?
“Don’t lie to yourself.” I never have, I know I’m terrified, but I just tried to hide it…I see, maybe I was lying to myself. “Just keep taking it a step at a time.” A step at a time, no matter what was in front of me. “Let’s all overcome what’s ahead of us.” With them, I could hide my fear, but I couldn’t overcome anything without them, I need to overcome it myself. I’m afraid to be alone, but they’re alone too and are moving one step at a time to overcome their fear.
“We either sit here and wait for death or we push on with the hope we can break the circle of fate all hybrids have.” Hearing Sally’s voice, I remember our time in Cerberus’s Trials. The first taste of freedom we had from humans, a time I no longer felt fear for a moment and was happy. Whatever happened to that feeling. Clenching my fists, I resist the darkness around me. Alisha and Sally are right, I shouldn’t lie to myself, I’m not happy to just sit here and let myself die, I don’t want to die! I want to live, I want to see everyone again, I want to get stronger, I don’t want to die here!
Getting up slowly, the feeling on my arms starts withdrawing. I was terrified, terrified of dying or losing my friends, but I couldn’t just sit here. Stamping my foot down, I look around, determined to escape from here. Feeling a strength I haven’t before, I stand still waiting for something to happen, and feeling a sharpness on my skin I turn and reach out to grab what was trying to get me. Feeling my hand grasp something, I pull it towards me while throwing my other fist out and hitting it hard. The feeling of grasping something disappears as a burst of light appears underneath me, lighting up my surroundings.
In front of me is a hooded figure, floating in the air. Under the hood I could see myself reflected back, violet hair and golden eyes. “I’m…afraid.” As it speaks, it floats towards me and stares at me. “I…don’t want to die.” Stopping in front of me, it looks at me, fear in its eyes.
“We’ll die one day, we have to accept that. We need to move forward, even if we’re scared, we can’t let it overcome us. Everyone else is afraid as well, but they keep moving forward.”
“They’ll…abandon us.”
“They won’t. We won’t abandon them, they won’t abandon us. We’ll make sure of it.”
Reaching out my hand to this other me, it continues to stare at me. Soon, it too reaches out its hand, firmly grabbing mine.
“Alisha said it’s okay to be scared, let's be scared together, and overcome it together.”
Closing its eyes, the other me starts to melt and merge with me. I accept it, knowing that I needed to do this to truly accept who I am…a scaredy cat. As the darkness disappears, I close my eyes and see the System again.
[You have accepted your fears.]
[Your monster self has accepted you, you have accepted your monster self.]
[A Hidden Condition has been met.]
[You have unlocked mana.]
[Shadow Magic acquired.]
[Your Stats have changed.]
[Class Up possible due to Race, Magic and Stats.]
[Trial Quest: The Shadows of your Heart has been completed. Rewards available]
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Gray
Wraith and Human Hybrid
Level 16
Health: 600
Mana: 1,000
Experience: 9,400/28,000
Class: None
Class Level: Not Available
Experience: Ineligible
Skills: None
Magic: Shadow Magic
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Stats:
Strength: F+ Agility: D+
Intelligence: F Toughness: F
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Looking at the notifications, I see the Class Up option. I heard Alisha had to be trained by someone called Teacher Lee before she unlocked her Class, but I could do that here? Requesting the details of the Class Up, I see there is only one option.
[Assassin Apprentice]
“What is an assassin?” Muttering out loud, I wonder if I should accept it or not. Unlike Alisha, I don’t have a teacher, I would likely need to learn how to use Shadow magic and this Assassin class by myself, maybe with help from those around me. Closing my eyes, I recall everything that had happened just now, and feeling the warmth of determination within me, I decide to step forward and select this class option.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
[Confirmed. You will be placed to sleep as changes to your body occur.]
Feeling a strong sleepiness overcome me, I accept it. Even though I didn’t want to accept the System giving me strength, from what Alisha said we wouldn’t be given it unless we earned it, so I decided to accept it this time. Closing my eyes, I fall asleep as I feel my body change.
***
Groaning, I awake. I can feel pain throughout my body, like all my muscles were overexerted. Sitting up, I feel different. Looking down, I’ve become slimmer, my arms are a bit longer but I can see muscle, my legs are the same. I’ve grown a little bit, I feel a lot more flexible. Standing up, my System gives me a prompt to leave the trial area. Accepting, I feel a pull and I arrive in a new room, I was the only one here. It was a small room, with a table in the middle with chairs around it, and at the back another set of stairs leading down.
Sitting down at the table, I looked over my body once again, it felt strange to suddenly change like this. Opening my System, I claim the reward from the Trial Quest.
[Rewards Claimed:
20,000xp
Daggers of the Wraith
Tome of Basic Knowledge]
[You have levelled to 17!]
[Daggers of the Wraith.
A pair of daggers that decrease your presence and can inflict an inner fear in enemies when struck. Deals additional damage when striking enemies from behind.
Grade: D+]
Feeling the weight of the daggers in my hands, I found them to my liking. Putting the daggers down on the table, I look at the Tome of Basic Knowledge. I knew that this could provide knowledge on a topic of my choosing from Alisha, and thinking of what I could learn to help everyone now, I decided to go with studying my new class, Assassin Apprentice. While I could find out about Shadow Magic, I can also ask Alisha about how to use magic. Seeing the tome change, the title was “Assassination Basics.”
Opening the book and reading, it was very confusing. There were different techniques, skills and spells, the spells all required knowledge on Shadow magic. The techniques were different strikes for different types of monsters and humans, while the skills needed time to learn and master. Flipping through the tome, I found some very basic techniques to try, and a skill that I could learn called Shadow Step. It allowed me to move from one shadow to another, at the start I could only do this once every ten minutes, but it could become second nature and not have to wait.
Grabbing the daggers again, with a few techniques in mind I start practising using these new daggers, forgetting the hammer I had left near the table.
[You have discovered an affinity.]
[Elizabeth’s PoV]
Standing at the centre of Crater, I looked around at the ruins around me. I felt no sadness, no remorse from such a sight. This trial tested my patience, it wanted to test my resolve in helping those children. I don’t need to be tested, I was prepared the moment I made the choice, I knew Crater being destroyed was a possibility. Looking at the backs of Alisha, Sally and Gray, seeing them facing the rest of the hybrids as they cheered their freedom, knowing this was not real, I was still fine with this outcome. I would of course try and prevent it, I don’t want those children to be murderers. This trial showed me the possibility of their hatred running deeply, causing them to massacre everyone in Crater.
“Are you happy Mr. Trial? I’m prepared for this, if this is the path those children take, I will be by their side, no matter what.”
Hearing no response, I look around once again at the destruction around me. The trial had begun with the four of us walking towards Crater, not once did I try and tell them what to do, I simply listened to what they wanted. These copies were angry, bloodthirsty, not the three I knew now, but I knew deep down they could very well be like that. Shaking my head, I see my System finally gave me the quest completion.
[Trial Quest: A Test of your Resolve Completed.
Rewards available.]
Sighing, I look down at my feet, where a copy of a councilman laid. It’s possible this trial took my memories of Crater since the noble section was missing and the councilman was still hooded. Kicking the corpse away, I look back at the three of them, knowing if they did end up like this they would not last long. Yet I would support them till the end, I would turn away from them. Seeing an option to leave the trial area, I accepted and ended up in a small room.
I see someone else is here, violet hair…it’s Gray but he’s different, smaller and slimmer. Checking his tag, I nearly knocked myself over in shock.
[Level 17 Wraith, Assassin Apprentice, Gray]
‘He Classed Up and awoke his monster side? All in one trial? What did he overcome?’ He was practising swinging a pair of daggers, like it was natural to him. Keeping quiet and not moving, I smile as I watch him. Completely different from the Gray inside my trial, he looked more determined, refreshed. Spotting me, he stops and nods.
“Sorry Elizabeth, I didn’t see you. Welcome back.”
Oh, he didn’t stutter, that’s new and welcoming. Smiling, I take a seat. “That’s okay, it seems like you experienced a lot.” As he sat opposite to me he blushed slightly and said “I discovered a bit about myself. I managed to step beyond the fear I had.” Reaching out and ruffling his head, he didn’t shy back from it. Satisfied, I check my rewards from the trial.
[Rewards Claimed:
20,000xp
Sword of the Fallen City
1x Pure Mana Crystal
Tome of Basic Summoning Magic]
[You have levelled to 19!]
Raising an eyebrow as the items appear on the table in front of me, I have a look over the sword first.
[Sword of the Fallen City.
A sword crafted from the remains of a long-lived city. Can cause enemies to be inflicted with Ruin when struck with this sword.
Ruin: Causes the target to envision their ruin, preventing them from acting for a short moment.
Grace: D]
Taking the sword out of its sheath, it was beautifully crafted. Thin, it had no guard on it and black cloth wrapped around the hilt. It was about half a metre long, white in colour and had some strange inscriptions on the blade. I couldn’t decipher it but it was possible this was just a part of the design. Sheathing the sword and putting it on my waist with my other sword, I check out the Pure Mana Crystal.
[Pure Mana Stone.
A high quality stone made of pure mana. Can be consumed.]
‘Isn’t this what Alisha mentioned when talking about unlocking magic?’ Remembering back to when she told me her story of being dropped into a hole, I knew this would help me out a lot. The last one was the one I was interested in.
[Tome of Basic Summoning Magic.
A tome that teaches you summoning magic. Provides some basic summons.]
“Summoning Magic? So I could summon creatures to fight with me? That’s rather handy.” As I mutter this, Gray looks at the tome with interest as well. Putting it aside for now, I would study it once we have returned from the dungeon. Olivia had mentioned dungeons were very rewarding, but so far it was more than the dungeons I had completed. Hearing a sound behind us, I saw Alisha appear, she was singed, very singed.
“Ow ow ow ow, lightning hurts, ow ow.”
Her hair was puffed up, burn marks over her body and her clothing was a mess. Her hands were covered in dirt, blood and burn marks. Pulling my last healing potion from my bag, I walk over and hand it to her. “Thank you Elizabeth, you’re a lifesaver!” Draining the contents, Alisha sat down and looked around. “Is Alice and Pup here?”
Shaking his head, Gray replied “I arrived first, there was no one else here.” Seeing Alisha’s face pale slightly, I put my hand on her shoulder.
“It’s alright, they are likely doing their own trial. The trials in dungeons will give them their own experience, they’ll come out stronger than before.” Looking at me, Alisha calms down a bit and smiles. Getting up, she suddenly hugs me. “Thanks Elizabeth!”
Letting me go, she rushes to Gray and hugs him as well. Still a bit shocked at being hugged by her, I was also happy to see her so lively.
“So what did you experience, Alisha?” As I asked her this, she snapped her head to me and shivers. “Thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening…” Seeing some fear gloss over her eyes, she sits down and recalls her experience. A lot of fighting, no experience from what she killed but she apparently learnt to utilise lightning magic…after being struck hundreds of times, however she couldn’t control it properly. According to her, it was wild and unpredictable, she was afraid she would hit us if she used it in fights.
“Other than that, it was just a lot of wolves covered with lightning. There was a Guardian in there, but I didn’t get to fight it, the trial ended after killing all the wolves. I had to move faster than I usually do, I learned a lot about wind magic too.”
Nodding, it sounded like she was able to learn a lot about her wind magic and fighting style. She had told me she relied heavily on her sense of smell to dodge attacks she couldn’t see, and her Toughness was very bad, a single heavy hit would leave her near-death. Hearing another sound behind us, I turn and see a new figure.
Covered head to toe in blood was Sally, more pale than the last time we saw her. Looking at us one by one, she bared her teeth, growling with her eyes looking dangerous. Alisha quickly reaches into her bag and grabs two bottles of blood and dashes to Sally, opening on and pouring it into her mouth. Gulping quickly, Sally grabs Alisha’s hands that are holding the bottle and keeps drinking. After finishing both bottles, she gasps and collapses to the ground, unconscious.
Alisha, kneeling beside her, turns to look at me frowning. “The smell of the blood…it’s hers, no other smell besides her blood.”