The first thing he noticed was the change in perspective.

Mandla’s consciousness had just slammed back into his body after completing his second Trial, somehow an even more harrowing experience than his first. Momentary weakness made him stagger backwards and fall onto a soft cushion of the blood-spattered green grass.

Notifications flashed in his peripheral vision, but Mandla ignored them, just lying there staring into the sky for a moment.

That was absolutely horrible. Third Rung had better be fucking amazing.

He had felt a tangible difference in his body the very instant he’d returned, but now he looked down at himself, taking in his physique. He was taller and denser. He could feel it.

Sitting up, he saw Kaveh lit up by the golden corona, blinding for a split-second before he also staggered out of his Trial, panting for some reason. The other two were hidden by the elephant’s bulk.

The elephant…

It was dead, obviously, but Mandla was conflicted. It had been a thinking, speaking being, just like them. They’d just committed murder.

He shook his head.

Don’t think about it. Survive first.

Springing to his feet, Mandla immediately felt how much smoother his movements were. He was way more agile now. He could sense the quintessence suffusing his cells, a flowing network of innumerable pathways within his body, boosting its functions beyond even the supersoldier-like capabilities of the second Rung.

Needing some sort of baseline for his new strength, he attempted a short little hop in place.

And shot up six feet into the air.

Woah. Okay this might be cool.

From his unexpected new vantage point, he could see just over the elephant’s corpse, at what was happening by the tree. The huge wildebeest had fully healed and was shaking its head free of the impaled people, many of them screaming and gushing blood as the beast’s prehensile mane ripped them sideways off its horns.

Shit, no!

Landing on the ground again, he instantly leapt forward onto the elephant corpse. His [Assegai] manifested in a miniature tornado of golden sparks, its intent ringing clearer in Mandla’s mind than ever before.

Aiming at the cruel beast, Mandla let the javelin fly. The moment the slim projectile left his hand, it spun like a power drill, creating a small vortex of air in its wake. The weapon howled across the distance, flattening the grass on either side as it smacked into its target, pulverising the animal’s torso in an explosion of gore. Its detached head fell to the ground with a thud, and the frantic few people left impaled on the horns dragged themselves under the Tree of Life.

Taken aback by his power, Mandla stared down at his hands. And smiled.

The battlefield as a whole had wound down now that the elephant and all the leaders were dead. The remaining few beasts ran away, chased by baying hyenas. Anyone who had survived was flocking to the tree, to partake of the free healing.

Just then Nicola and Karl appeared.

“Mandla! We need to get back to the burrow, now!”

“Ja, the situation has changed. We need to leave.”

What?

From behind, Kaveh also called up to him.

“Read your notifications, bro.”

Acquiescing, Mandla finally focused on the flashing lights in his peripheral vision.

You have slain a Mesmer Zebra. x33

You have slain a Crowned Wildebeest. x52

You have slain a Swiftheel Gazelle. x14

You have slain a Sentry Giraffe. x9

You have slain a Mini-Elite – Juvenile Panopticon Giraffe.

You have slain a Mini-Elite – Springheel Gazelle.

You have slain a Mini-Elite – Widowmaker Wildebeest.

You have slain a Mini-Boss – Earthquaker Elephant.

You have slain a local Hegemon! You have gained the title, Nascent Hegemon. Access to Fealty system granted.

You have survived the Second Trial! Body reforged and optimised. Bloodline Avatar coalescing.

Warning: Your Partition has been invaded! As a nascent Hegemon, you may create a Faction to resist the invasion, but most Hegemon Advantages will be inaccessible until a true Hegemon is chosen.

It’s never fucking easy.

Now they had to deal with this?

Mandla jumped down from his spot atop the elephant carcass to join Kaveh. They had to organise a retreat back to… wait what?

Am I taller than him?

“Holy shit. I’m actually taller than you.”

Kaveh did a double take, comparing the two. Hilariously, it looked like his friend had gotten shorter at the same time Mandla had gotten taller, completely reversing their dynamic.

“Whatever, bitch, this isn’t the time anyway. We need to dip, right now. They could have come in from anywhere and we’re in no state to fight again if these fucks want a fight.”

Pragmatic.

Kaveh generally looked for the best in people but he wasn’t stupid. This was the apocalypse. There was a real chance these invaders planned on wiping them all out for their burrow or their food. Possibly both.

Organising a hasty retreat, they made a point to remember to return for the tree and see if they could move it or plant a sapling nearer to the burrow. The hyenas came in handy here as many exhausted warriors simply draped themselves over a hyena’s back. Most of them hadn’t regrown their quills yet, thus even non-riders could find some sort of stable position atop the beasts.

Knowledge of the invasion cast a sombre tone over their way back through the silent ash-covered wasteland, its monotony broken only by the odd vulture or King Pyrotea. Possibly because there were four nascent Hegemons and not one single true Hegemon, all the Legends had received word of the invasion as well, and word had spread rapidly. Everyone was worried.

The suddenness of the situation also halted any overt talks about who would become Hegemon, as at least from Mandla’s perspective, now wasn’t the time. Many of those who had come on this assault had died in the last fight. Using their deaths to promote his agenda left a bad taste in his mouth. Which is why he’d have Maxwell do it for him.

Plodding along until they reached the wide trench, they stepped across into what, against all logic, felt like home. The golden savannah they’d gotten accustomed to, sorely missed during the depressing walk through the burned lands, now put a pep in their step as it hit them. They’d done it. This invasion was a complication, sure, but what had seemed impossible the first time they’d seen the elephant in the distance was now a reality. Not only had they killed the house-sized beast, they’d scoured the plains clean of the massive herds of herbivores. And they were only going to get more powerful from here.

Speaking of…

Status.

Ascendant Status

Name: Mandla Nkosi

Title: Nascent Hegemon (+)

Ascendant Class: Zulu iNduna

Position: 982,725

Level: 3rd Rung

Bloodline Avatar: Coalescing…

Quintessence: Ascendant

Potency: A rivulet

Symbiosis: N/A

Faction: None (+)

Skills (Bloodline):

N/A

Skills (Weapon):

Ixwa

Assegai

Isihlangu

Imbemba

Ultimate (Bloodline):

N/A

Iwisa

The Hunger had absolutely decimated the rankings, shooting Mandla and the group up into the top million. That might change next affliction period as Ascendants who’d lost their abilities returned when they or their Hegemon could access enough food, but for now this was a massive boon.

After all, there had to be a point to all this, some ultimate goal that the system or whoever created it was trying to achieve. Whenever that climax happened, he’d prefer to be on top than on the bottom.

The Bloodline Avatar was obviously related to bloodline skills, possibly being the key to access them. He suspected it would only finish coalescing after his next Trial, but he held hope he could access them sooner. Failing that, some sort of Symbiosis. The benefits were obvious and he needed all the power he could get.

Looking through the status page, he went over all the new information given.

Ascendant Status

Name: Mandla Nkosi

Title: Nascent Hegemon (+)

Ascendant Class: Zulu iNduna

Position: 982,724

Level: 3rd Rung

Bloodline Avatar: Coalescing…

Quintessence: Ascendant

Potency: A rivulet

Symbiosis: N/A

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Faction: None (+)

Skills (Bloodline):

N/A

Skills (Weapon):

Ixwa

Assegai

Isihlangu

Imbemba

Ultimate (Bloodline):

N/A

Iwisa

Advantages

Common

Unique

Advantages

Common

Ascendant Level: 3

Titles: 2

Ascendant Level Advantages

Ascendant’s Endurance

Ascendant’s Vitality

Ascendant’s Physique

Ascendant’s Endurance: You are indefatigable. The first Rung on the Ascent to power grants you near-limitless stamina. Be warned, no boon comes without cost.

Ascendant’s Vitality: Your vital quintessence ever flows. The second Rung on the Ascent to power grants you the capacity to heal from most wounds. Be warned, no boon comes without cost.

Ascendant’s Physique: You have been sculpted to Class perfection. The third Rung on the Ascent to power binds your quintessence into your physique, granting minor invulnerability from unempowered sources of damage. Be warned, no boon comes without cost.

Title Advantages

Ascendant

Nascent Hegemon

Ascendant: You have entered your name into the Bloodline Ascent and spilled blood in pursuit of power. Grants access to Bloodline Ascent. Grants access to Symbiosis. Grants access to the Cosmic Battery, limited only by the amount of attuned quintessence your body can draw at any one time.

Nascent Hegemon: You have slain a Hegemon, but have yet to consolidate power. Grants access to Fealty system. Grants [Create Faction] ability. Grants [Revolt] ability.

Interesting.

They’d discussed the Ascendant flavour text before, and come to a general agreement that the Cosmic Battery was whatever infinite well they drew from to power their skills. It probably wasn’t truly infinite but with a name like that, it may as well be. Simple enough.

The new title though, added a layer of complexity to this whole process. When they’d first heard about the Fealty system, Mandla had thought it a great way to ensure loyalty. But apparently those who’ve killed a Hegemon have the option to revolt and break their fealty to the faction.

This whole thing just encourages conflict. Every new development that promises stability has an add-on that makes it even more likely for people to fight. What is the fucking point of it all?

And what was “minor invulnerability”? If he had to guess, taking into account what the refugees had said, he’d say it meant he was resistant to normal strikes unimbued with quintessence, but things like falling from a great height or a lightning bolt would still fuck him up.

Without a Symbiote or a Faction, his Unique Advantages screen was empty, but he’d seen enough. He needed to get to work. Already, Nicola was deep in conversation with her Gigglers, while Karl and his swordsmen silently convened in their own corner of the marching column. They were planning something.

For his part, Mandla mingled with Jacob and the spearmen, bringing in some of the Supports and Classless and lightening the mood by getting everyone to boast of their achievements in the battle. More than a few formerly impaled people thanked him privately for taking out the big wildebeest, many of them having resigned themselves to death before Mandla’s actions.

Even better, people had been seriously impressed by his efforts during the fight. Nothing like risking your life publicly and repeatedly for people to trust you.

After this. Once this invasion business is over, I’m taking that title.

----------------------------------------

At the burrow, Nicola set her hyenas to patrolling the area, while the tired teens all virtually collapsed as they staggered into the cooled tunnels. They’d left a skeleton crew there to make sure nothing came and stole their food while they were gone, but they quickly became nurses instead, as people needed to be carried to their beds.

There was no rest for the Ascendants however, as they figured out how to deal with the incursion.

Karl was for an immediate full mobilisation.

“I’ve seen with my own eyes what happens if we allow them to find us at anything less than full strength. Let the fighters get some sleep, sort out their new levels, then we re-equip everyone, go out, and crush these invaders.”

Nicola was for a more defensive, attritional approach.

“The main benefit of this place is that it’s underground. If I let the hyena pack roam, there’s no way these guys are finding us. We can do hit-and-run style assaults on them, in and out fast, and wear them down with minimal risk.”

Mandla wanted to scout the situation first.

“Before we can think about any of that, we need to know where they are. Maybe make a probing attack to judge their strength.”

Kaveh, ever the cool head, tempered their excitement.

“Yeah, let’s hold off on the planning until we know who and what we’re up against. Remember, we don’t know what it’s like out there. This guy could be way out of our league. We beat the elephant, so we’re not trapped any more. We have the option of just leaving.”

The sober suggestion cast a quiet over the group. They really could just leave if they wanted to. But it would require one of them becoming Hegemon.

Knowing Kaveh, he’d underestimated just how competitive the other three had gotten. Not a single one of them would concede without a fight.

But what if these invaders fuck us up? Am I no better than Nicola, refusing to choose the road to less power even if it puts other people’s lives at risk?

Mandla tried to reconcile it in his mind but even just thinking of having his life in someone else’s hands filled him with revulsion. He knew it was a problem, he’d inherited a small controlling streak from his grandfather and bucked under what he saw as incompetent authority. It was harmless in his previous life, he was rich enough that he could generally get things exactly the way he wanted them, and everyone knew the government was hopelessly corrupt, so most people shared the sentiment that the authority was incompetent.

But now that the stakes were real, he had to take a look inward and wonder if he was going to get himself and others killed just to satisfy his ego. If it was maybe better for everyone for him to just swear Fealty to one of the others and end the competition right there and then.

Before his sudden bout of introspection could reach any conclusions, Kaveh was laying out the plan of approach. The four of them would split up in the four cardinal directions and see if they could find any sign of the invaders. They’d travel until they saw something or, failing that, until the sun started to set. Absolutely no engaging. Look then leave. Everyone would be in the burrow tonight.

After they all confirmed they were on the same page, they set out.

Heading south, Mandla eventually came upon the road, and beyond it, the forest with its mighty trees, extending forever in both directions. He chuckled.

“Man, I fucking sucked when I left this forest. I guess we all did. But I’m ready for you now. Throw your worst at me, nature.”

Despite his brazen words, he still summoned his [Ixwa] as he crossed the road and entered the treeline.

Walking between the massive trunks, as green-tinted sunlight filtered down through the canopy, one could almost forget that this place was a house of horrors. Removing the hyenas had allowed many smaller animals to move in and it seemed they hadn’t settled into an equilibrium yet because Mandla saw signs of brutal turf wars going on in both the underbrush and the canopy. In particular, two different tribes of monkeys had colonised the treetops and were waging what looked like a war of extermination on each other because, every so often, one of their bodies would thud into the ground, having been killed far up above or dying upon impact. These bodies were dotted all over the forest floor and reminded the spearman that the whole world was in upheaval, not just them. Everything.

A flash of colour.

What was that?

Between the trees, he’d seen the barest glimpse of something moving. This was a forest, things moved all the time, but his Ascendant eyes had picked out a glint. The glint of metal.

Trying to be as stealthy as possible, he slowly circled around the area he saw the glint in, making sure every sightline was clear as he gradually moved in.

Eventually he saw him. An invader.

He was a normal-looking dude, dressed in the hardened leather armour of a [Light Swordsman]. Mandla had caught him at a vulnerable time, as the man had dug a hole and was… relieving himself into it, with a convenient pile of leaves nearby.

He was completely unaware of his stalker.

Should I… I should attack him. Capture him and make him answer questions. He could be a valuable source of intelligence.

Just as he’d made his decision, the image of the men from his first Trial sprang into his mind. The Ngwane man gurgling as he buried the axe in his throat. He hesitated.

He was a lot stronger now. The entire walk here he’d been marvelling at how fluid his motion was. He knew this guy would obviously not go peacefully. There was a chance… there was a real chance he could accidentally kill him.

He’d known it would come to this at some point, the whole system was designed to make them fight, but… Could he do it?

If threatened, sure. He would defend himself to the best of his abilities. But this guy was literally taking a shit. It was hard to imagine a more defenceless position.

He’d made one of his characteristic monologues to Kaveh, after the first time they entered the burrow, about how he’d mold himself into whatever he needed to be to beat this system. But was he willing to take that idea to its conclusion? Would he ambush this guy, potentially killing him, for the chance that it would help?

Mandla wanted to. He knew it made sense. But he couldn’t potentially kill people like he could animals.

The system had laid bare humanity’s inadequacies. With the rise of all the other species, the lie of humanity’s special role within the world was exposed. They were just smart animals. Still though, he was a human. Even if they weren’t the chosen species, they were his species. Unprovoked violence against other people was still a bit too much for him.

Killing people in the illusory bounds of a Trial was one thing but in rea-

“Wh-Who’s there? Who is that? HELP!”

Oh shit. That’s my cue.

While Mandla had been lost in indecision, the man had finished his business and when he stood up, he caught a glimpse of the crouching figure. In response, Mandla launched himself to the side, taking off through the trees. He was frustrated but, deep down, relieved.

And regardless, he knew where they were now. All he had to do was bring the info back.

Running through the trees, Mandla was suddenly struck with a sense of foreboding. He lowered his head and simply ran faster, zooming through the trees faster than any Olympic sprinter. The feeling didn’t dissipate however, only building within his chest.

He gripped his [Ixwa] tighter, his eyes darting around. A rustle in the bushes.

There!

With a contortion that wouldn’t have been possible just a day earlier, Mandla ducked his head under an arc of energy that had appeared menacingly at his side. He’d felt the tickle against his perception that he’d come to associate with quintessence use, and it saved him here as the shearing energy sliced out of the bush.

Manifesting his [Isihlangu], Mandla turned to catch a heavy machete blow on the shield, while another thunked into his thigh. He jumped and kicked away with his good leg, landing a few feet away as his thigh healed. Finally looking up at his assailant, he saw that it was… an Amazon?

Holy shit!

This was easily the most attractive woman he’d ever seen. She was lean but powerfully built, even taller than he was, caramel in complexion, and wearing a blue-and-white striped dress that bulged with strain, barely able to contain her considerable curves. Despite her size, she had a youthful face, like she was his age. He was mesmerised.

She frowned down at him.

“Really? I just stabbed you and you can’t stop looking at my tits.”

He shrugged.

“I have to ask. That can’t be comfortable, right? With all the moving around? They’re just… so big.”

The girl sighed.

“I’m not used to them either. Or being this tall. This whole body reforging thing really messed up my aesthetic.”

“Can’t relate honestly. Being tall is pretty awe-”

Mandla ducked again as an energy imbued slash sliced through the space he’d just occupied, the glowing halberd leaving a sparkling trail behind its head. Rolling away, he came up next to a different tree as he saw a man fully dressed in conquistador armour walking towards him.

Yup, this is definitely them.

The woman huffed in frustration.

“Mother Mary, Thiago, you were supposed to wait until I attacked him first! Ugh, whatever.”

I might be a tad fucked.

These were two Ascendants, with the woman being at least third Rung. But he didn’t need to beat them up. He just needed to escape.

He shot off as the Amazonian woman cursed and chased after him.

The two of them had a running battle, her constantly striking at him with her machetes while he dodged, making full use of his shield’s slowdown ability, with sparks flying whenever he parried with his spear. She could scissor her blades together, creating the arc of shearing energy that nearly took his head off a few times.

Whatever class she had, it was much more strength focused than his. The relentless assault felt like he was fighting Karl. Still, he didn’t feel like he’d pushed his body even close to its limit. His class was super mobile and essentially made to dodge. He could do this all day.

Problem was, she was just as fast as him. As trees zipped past, she kept up with him just fine. He knew he had to do something different.

We’ve left that other guy in the dust. I bet I can take her on her own, or at least injure her enough to make a clean getaway.

He stopped on a dime, dissipating his spear and turning to face the approaching Ascendant. She didn’t miss a beat, bringing her twin machetes together, and with a golden flash, they became one huge four-foot long machete, that seemed to dim the light around its edge. It was immediately apparent that he shouldn’t let the ominous weapon hit him, as even her muscled form struggled to lift the heavy blade, more just letting it drop and directing its fall.

As it descended towards him, Mandla dropped to his knees, summoning his [Iwisa] and swinging it into her leg as the fell blade, imbued with a palpable sense of heaviness, passed just above him.

CRAKK

The forest reverberated with a sharp cracking sound as the machete hit one of the gigantic, sturdy trees and broke it!

That very instant, his club hit her leg and blew it off completely, launching her into the air with her thigh gushing red like a hosepipe. With the breathing room he’d created, he looked back and assessed the damage.

He whistled.

The massive tree was being held up by the interlocking branches of other trees in the canopy, but Mandla saw the crack go right through the entire trunk, a trunk as wide as a dinner table. Her blade had even left a crater in the wood.

What the fuck kinda sword is that? Basically a hammer with an edge.

“You took my leg off, you dickhead!”

“Insults? Really? You just tried to fucking ki-”

Without even waiting for his response, she manifested a strange ornate cutlass-like sword, and slammed it into a tree next to her. The tree began withering from the point of contact as the decorative animal on the sword swelled and grew.

You have got to be kidding me.

It was another wildebeest!

The sword had vampirised the tree, drawing in power for this shiny metallic animal construct to pop out the back. The silver-grey beast, shaped like a normal, pre-system wildebeest, reared up silently and charged at him.

She has a fucking summoned beast. Can she make more than one? A big one?

Mandla realised that maybe his energy vacuum ability wasn’t as overpowered as he’d initially thought, if others could do shit like this.

While impressive, however, the construct suffered from the reality of its condition, namely, being made of pure metal. It was heavy and cumbersome, but Mandla didn’t feel like sticking around to see what else it could do.

He left, to a scream of frustration from the crippled woman.

He was already patting himself on the back when-

BOOM

An explosion shook his world, sending him flying into a tree trunk.

Slamming face-first into rock-hard wood, Mandla shattered his teeth, fracturing his skull in the process.

His entire left side was badly burned, leaking blood and clear fluid, and healing too slowly.

A man, dressed in a cringy pirate hat and a red jacket, walked up to him, holding a smoking flintlock pistol. He squatted in front of the burned, battered boy.

“That’s far enough, lad. We’re gonna need you to answer some questions.”

Then everything went dark.