Nenn lay asleep under the stars. He suddenly jolted awake after feeling the first drop of rain on his face. He tried to move, but found his wooden appendages were held fast to the ground by the roots they had sprouted. Nenn felt the roots through his attunement to nature, and found that these had spread wider and deeper than yesterday. It would take a much longer time for him to uproot himself, if he didn’t want to resort to severing the roots completely.

The rain commenced in earnest and watchfires around the fortress began to sputter and die out, prompting the fire watchers to retreat into the bunkhouses. There they would build a fire in the center of the building, in the internal fire pit the goblins had demanded be made. A couple of fires still held out, these ones were partially covered by the watchtowers. The bunkhouses would be safe until the fires had been built up thanks to the goblins bringing a couple of their mana lights from their village.

But for Nenn he lay there rooted to the ground in the growing darkness. He willed his roots to retract faster, but as soon as the rain had begun, they were reluctant to retreat. Nenn was stuck, alone in the darkness, as he was unwilling to cut off part of his body.

He casted and willed his [Entangling Roots] to form a rudimentary shelter around him. He encased himself in a cocoon of curled roots, which formed a small mound overtop of Nenn. The makle-shift shelter leaked in several spots, but for the moment, Nenn had managed to divert the deluge of water from his face. He was not able to coax his own roots out of the ground, so Nenn laid there and meditated, feeling the mana in the world around him. With any luck he’d be able to spot the Night Predators coming and be able to react if he was in danger.

The world was very blue in perceived color. That must be from all of the rain, Nenn thought. It made a lot of sense that water mana would be blue in color and it was everywhere. It was like static on an old television, a chaotic pattern of indiscernible noise.

Nenn tried to focus a little harder on what he knew was out there. There were the bunkhouses which were full of life mana. The forest on the other side of the fortress’s walls was also an abundant source of life mana. Both were blurry, on account of all of the interference from the rain, but Nenn could make out the general shape of the bunkhouse’s occupants.

The burrow that Nenn had fashioned himself was cozier than he would have thought. The feeling of being surrounded by a close concentration of nature mana was reassuring. Minutes passed without change. The rain continued to fall, and through Nenn’s [Nature’s Regrowth] meditation, the world was a hypnotic blur of mana static. It didn’t take long for him to doze off.

Nenn’s fell into a dreamless sleep. Then he wasn’t. He was awake and aware, but standing upright in a white space. It was a space that was eerily similar to the integration process, but different. The floor was covered in knee-high grasses that swayed gently in the gentle wind. The air felt thick with energy, and energy that felt very familiar to Nenn. Tuning into his mana sense for a moment he recognized that it was life mana. The whole area was drowning in it. He could barely see his own life mana against the background. But the death mana that occupied his wooden side stood out like a sore thumb. It almost seemed to cast a shadow across the ambient life mana.

“Nenn.”

There was a faint voice calling Nenn’s name. It sounded so far away and quiet. Nenn, not seeing any source for the voice, decided to try to follow the sound. He picked a direction and started walking. How he had picked the direction, he didn’t know, just that it felt right. With every step he took he left a trail of bent grass behind him. The voice was slowly getting louder as it continued to call his name every so often.

Nenn walked for what seemed to be half an hour and the voice was still getting louder. It had gone from a faint whisper, to an actual whisper from across the room, and now the voice sounded as if it was whispering directly into his ear. When Nenn turned back, he saw his trail stretching far into the horizon. It was impossible for him to see where the trail had started, only that he had come from further than there.

“Nenn!”

The voice said, this time much louder. Not louder in a screaming or yelling manner, but at a reasonable conversation level of loudness. He stopped, feeling that something was different. He tuned into his mana sense once more, and things were in fact different. The world was still awash with life mana, but leading from his death-mana infused arm was a thin string of mana that led towards Nenn’s right. The string pitched downwards ever so slightly as if whatever it was attached to was on the ground nearby.

Throwing caution to the wind Nenn followed the string, deviating from his linear path. A couple dozen meters later Nenn found it, whatever it was. There was a black smudge that was hidden between the grass.The string of mana had thickened. The object was not well defined, even to Nenn’s eyes. He reached out to try and touch the object with his good arm, but found it repelled. It was as though the object itself had a round forcefield or barrier around it that pushed his hand away. Then Nenn had an idea and tried to reach out with his death-mana infused limb, and found that it managed to push right through the barrier as if it wasn’t there. He encircled the object with his hands then the world went black as the voice yelled his name

***.

When Nenn opened his eyes he found himself standing in the mouth of a cave. He had seemingly returned to the real world of The Trial, as the white walls and ceiling were gone. It was still raining outside, and Nenn found himself only partially soaked. His hair was still dry. It was as though he had been transported straight from his burrow to here. The rest of the forest was dark. A flash of lightning cracked through the sky suddenly revealing the terrifying shapes of the trees and whatever possible terror could have been hiding in the forest. Nenn’s thoughts turned to the night predators.

He was confused. How did I end up here? Why did I end up here? None of this makes any sense. Nenn thought. In his dream he followed the voice, but the voice was gone. All that Nenn could hear was the sound of rain falling on the natural exposed stone of the cave entrance and the roar of rain in the forest. Nenn turned to meditation once more as it was becoming quite a familiar tactic lately. The world outside the cave was awash with water mana, much like before, but the cave was different. The cave held an unusual concentration of death mana. Nenn saw the string of mana had once again joined his wooden arm to a point somewhere in the cave. Not seeing much choice in the matter he started to follow it.

Traversing a cave with light was usually a hard enough task, but without a source of light to guide him, Nenn had to rely on his mana sense. It was a crude way of looking at the world, but Nenn was thankful that his senses had at least evolved this far. In the beginning he had to actually draw a circle and purposefully meditate to enter this state, but the more he had practiced, the easier it was to enter into the state. He could now enter it while moving. The only drawback was that he couldn’t move very fast without giving himself the mana equivalent of motion sickness. And the ambient death mana made things very hard to see.

Progress was slow but after a long struggle the tunnel ahead began to glow a dim blue color. As Nenn approached he saw the luminescent blue color was being emitted by a grouping of fluorescent mushrooms. Nenn was able to tell that these mushrooms were very different from any other plant. Rather than being composed of life mana, these mushrooms were primarily made of death mana. It made a certain kind of sense to Nenn, after all mushrooms typically grow on dead plant matter.

Nenn continued onwards, deciding to leave the glowing blue mushrooms alone. Another bend in the cave later and Nenn saw a couple more pockets of glowing mushrooms. It made the journey through the cave a lot easier, and soon Nenn was able to stroll through the cave thanks to the abundance of mushroom light. With the light Nenn was able to see that the cave was slowly sloping downwards, but it hadn’t become constricted at all. He had been able to easily stand up straight and walk without having to squeeze around anything. There was the odd rock in the way that he had to sidestep, but, other than that, it was clear sailing.

The cave continued for what felt like miles. Nenn had been walking for a long time. He checked the mana string from time to time but found that it led deeper and deeper into the cave. Not wanting to turn back, and not wanting to face the reality that he didn’t know where he was in relation to the Obelisk, Nenn continued onwards. Then suddenly the cave turned and Nenn was nearly blinded by the intensity of blue light.

In front of Nenn was an opening into a huge chamber, the walls of the chamber were filled with the glowing blue mushrooms, illuminating the whole space. In the center there was a single lone tree that was completely barren of leaves. The twisted, gnarly branches and tree limbs of the tree wove into an intimidating corona of boney foliage. The tree was in the exact middle of the chamber and rose on a gentle mound of hard packed dirt that was barren of even the death-mana infused mushrooms. The mound was surrounded by a ring of what looked to be water. It was shallow and denoted the natural barrier between tree and mushroom.

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“Nenn.”

The voice called. It was the same nondescript voice from the white room field, this time it echoed around Nenn. Not wanting to keep the source of the mysterious voice waiting, Nenn stepped over the ring of water and onto the mound of dirt. Instantly he felt the suppressing intensity of death aspected mana eating at his living side. It was a tingling sensation, unpleasant, but it didn’t grow in intensity. After checking that his life mana was not in danger of being actively depleted, Nenn continued towards the base of the tree.

The tree itself was a gnarly, pocked-marked leviathan of nature that had been weathered and aged beyond sense. There is no way a tree that old and decrepit should be able to maintain its form, Nenn thought. The longer he looked at the tree, the more familiar it seemed to be. Nenn looked down at his arm and immediately made the connection. His death mana enabled appendages looked just like the tree. Although they had de-aged a little bit since Nenn had originally formed them, they would have been a perfect match to the tree in front of him.

“NENN” The chamber vibrated with the loud gravely bass from the tree.

“What do you want?” Nenn shouted. It was clear that this tree had brought him here for a reason.

“IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG SINCE I HAVE SEEN A LIVING MORTAL SURVIVE MY TOMB.” The voice said in a way too loud fashion.

“Your tomb? You’re dead? Then how are you talking to me?” Nenn said.

“YES. DEAD. RELATIVELY SPEAKING. IT SHOULD NOT BE A SURPRISE TO YOU. YOU’RE HALF DEAD YOURSELF.”

“Then why is it your tomb?”

“SEMANTICS. PRISON OR JAIL CELL WOULD BE BETTER TERMS.”

Nenn looked around. This whole chamber looked to be anything but a cell. It wasn’t even sealed. All one had to do was stroll out of the cave and they would be free.

“You could just leave. There’s no seal on the cave, you could just, uhh, walk out, I guess.”

“OH I'M SURE I COULD, BUT THEN WHAT? LIVE A SLOW PAINFUL LIFE TO MANA POISONING? NO. THAT WOULD BE MY END.”

Nenn looked at the tree with a blank stare on his face as he took an extra second to parse what the dead tree was saying. Live a slow painful life. So to a death mana aspected creature that means…

“You said you were imprisoned? Why? And who put you here?”

“FINALLY THE REAL QUESTION. I HAVE BEEN HERE SINCE… WELL IT'S BEEN A VERY LONG TIME. BUT I HAVE BEEN HERE SINCE THE BEGINNING.”

“The beginning? Like the beginning of The Trial?”

“IS THAT WHAT THE #### CALLED THIS REALM?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that, who are you talking about.?”

“THE ####. AH I SEE. IT’S CENSORED. LET’S MAKE IT SIMPLE. THE ASSHATS WHO MADE THIS REALM. THE FUCKERS CALLED THIS REALM THE TRIAL?”

“You know the people who made this place? The ones who sent the Obelisks to Earth and had decided to genocide off countless species? Those asshats?”

“YES. MAYBE. I DON’T KNOW IF THEY’RE THE SAME PEOPLE, OR IF ANOTHER RACE HAS TAKEN THEIR MANTLE. IT HAS BEEN EONS SINCE I HAVE BEEN IMPRISONED. THEY TEND TO NOT KEEP THEIR PRISONERS WELL INFORMED, I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW.”

The tree shook, causing the whole chamber to vibrate. A cluster of blue mushrooms fell off of the ceiling and landed behind Nenn. He turned to look at the unexpected source of noise and saw why no mushrooms had managed to grow around the ancient prisoner. The mushroom instantly began to wither and rot, boiling away in an all-too-familiar black ooze. When Nenn used [Rot] the black ooze would eventually run out of steam and just leave a mess everywhere. This ooze, on the other hand, continued to bubble faster and faster until there was not even a trace left.

Nenn turned around and nearly jumped out of his skin. The wooden tree trunk had split open and now a gigantic eye was now focused on him. He took a step back out of instinct but then caught himself. He took a deep breath and relaxed. There’s no point in being scared, Nenn thought. It’s only an eldritch being of unknown proportions. I’m already half dead anyways, ha ha.

“ELDRITCH. YES. THAT IS OUR RACE. I SEE OUR CONCEPTS HAVE SPILLED OUT OF THIS REALM AND INTO YOURS. AND YES, I CAN READ YOUR THOUGHTS. THAT SHOULDN’T BE TOO SURPRISING.”

Nenn stood there and took in what the ancient being was saying. There was nothing he could do except take another deep breath and refocus himself. Goblins and orcs existed as fiction on Earth, Nenn thought. And this is where all of those ideas came from. From The Trial? That hardly makes sense.

“DREAMS, YOUNG ONE. DREAMS TRANSCEND REALITIES. THAT IS WHERE THE BLEED OVER HAPPENS.

“You seem to be very forthcoming with information for an eldritch being. I’ve always thought they were more about an unknowable interdimensional chaotic horror that causes insanity when looked upon. But you seem to be different than that.”

“IS THAT HOW WE ARE PORTRAYED? THAT WOULD BE THE INFLUENCE OF MY JAILERS TAINTING OUR IMAGE. THE ELDRITCH AS A RACE ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER. SURE, THERE MAY BE SOME WHO FIT THAT DESCRIPTION, BUT THAT IS NOT THE DEFAULT.”

A humming sound began to build in the room, and the intensity of the mushroom's blue light began to build.

“AHH, WE MUST BE QUICK BEFORE THE PRISON’S DETAINMENT PROTOCOL ACTIVATES AGAIN AND I AM FORCED BACK TO SLEEP. NENN, I WANT TO MAKE YOU AN OFFER. TAKE THIS.” The ancient tree shifted slightly and bent. A branch moved forward, stopping in front of Nenn. At the end of the branch was a single small pure black object in the shape of an apple.

“TAKE IT AND EAT IT, FOR IT IS MY GIFT TO YOU. THROUGH IT THE SEEDS FOR UNIMAGINABLE POWER WILL GROW WITHIN YOU. TAKE IT AND LEAVE BEFORE YOU ARE TRAPPED WITH ME FOREVER.”

The humming sound continued to grow, building louder and louder, now filling the chamber with a deafening sound. The offer stood in front of Nenn. He had every right to be suspicious of the offer. Never once had Nenn heard about a good eldritch, but if what the one in front of him was saying was true, then maybe, just maybe, there was more going on than behind the scenes. It was worth a shot, at the very least. Humanity was going to need every advantage it could get after all.

Nenn grabbed the black apple from the ancient branch, which in turn set the humming sound into a deafening crescendo. The mushroom lights around the room were now pulsing with intensity as if they were trying to produce an intelligent pattern, something akin to morse code. Nenn felt adrenaline flush down his spine and into his body as his fight or flight response kicked in.

Before Nenn could put the rational thought process of ‘I must leave the room now ‘ together in his brain, his body was already jumping over the death-mana infused water moat and just steps away from the chamber’s sole exit. Three strides later and he passed through the entryway just as it slammed shut behind him. A blinding blue flash of light managed to penetrate through the cracks in the sealed entryway. Nenn felt a burning pain in his body as he slammed into the far wall and convulsed.

The light bleed through the door and it hurt. Nenn managed to get back onto his knees and crawled slowly back up through the tunnel. It was slow going through the pain, but he ensured the gifted apple was kept safe. He collapsed as soon as he managed to turn the corner and the torturous rays of light lessened. It still hurt, but had been lessened significantly. He took a moment to gather himself, and to get his breathing under control before getting to his feet and continuing to walk back up the long gently sloped tunnel back to the surface.

Each of the mushrooms that had earlier been a godsend with their luminescence was now a curse. As Nenn approached each of the mushroom clusters the pain began to build again, but now focused solely on his death-mana infused limbs. They were glowing brighter, and emitted a small humming sound, just like the ones in the chamber. Nenn hurried by them, jogging up through the corridor. Nenn cursed under his breath as he remembered how long it had taken him to make his way down to the eldritch’s chamber. There was nothing to do other than continue on, so that’s what Nenn did.

At last Nenn turned the final corner and the eerie punishing blue light of the mushrooms faded from view. The pain in Nenn’s side had subsided at the same time, and for the first time he was able to relax. Nenn slumped over, putting his back against the cave wall as his breathing returned to normal, and the strain in his muscles slowly worked itself out.

Nenn took out the black apple from his pocket. In the darkness there was nothing to see. Not that there would have been anything to see in the first place. Thinking back to when the apple was presented to him, Nenn realized the apple was an odd matte-ish black color. It was as if it did not reflect any light.

The apple was small and smooth in Nenn’s hands. It was maybe twice as large as a crabapple at best. It was heavy for its size. When held in his hand it felt like it had the same weight as a softball did back on Earth. Now with the System fuckery in place and his increased strength stat it was difficult to gauge weights. Nenn even tried looking at the apple with his [Nature’s Regrowth] infused meditation, but all he could glean was that the apple was a solid dense object filled with concentrated death-aspected mana.

Do I eat it and potentially damn myself forever? Nenn thought. Do the benefits outweigh whatever the cost is? That damn tree. I wish it had just been forward from the get go. But… it was very candid about the fuckers who created The Trial. The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Fuck it. Fortune favors the bold.

And with that Nenn chomped down on the gifted apple, quickly chewing and swallowing the somewhat sweetened flesh, and hoping that whatever the apple was going to do to him was able to happen before he threw it up. Luckily for Nenn he didn’t have to worry about throwing up as his body instead decided to pass out.