Nenn had to squint. He had returned to the world of The Trial, and the sunlight was blinding. The lone cloud in the sky had disappeared at some point, and the sun was just approaching its apex. Seeing the sun's location jolted Nenn back to full awareness. There was still some work left to be done. He went to get up but noticed that his body felt off. Inspecting himself he found that he had somehow returned to his base form. He was once again half flesh and blood, half eldritch wood in the shape of his human body.
It was an odd sensation for Nenn. He had really only been cognizant of his deathstalker form for a day and a half now, but he was now missing it. He could always use [Shapeshifter - Deathstalker] to retake the form. But for what was to come next, he figured it would be better if he remained a little more relatable. At least in body shape.
Nenn was a little unsteady on his feet, but he managed to get upright, using the massive tree behind him for support. The tree was impressive. It now towered above the obelisk, having fed on the angelic entity’s mana, even once Nenn had integrated himself within it. Which as Nenn started to think about it, really didn’t make a lot of sense.
How in the fuck did that happen. It makes no sense. I integrated with the tree, somehow, and ended up in the Meadowspace again. Goddamn System fuckery. I wish there were more descriptions for these things. Maybe the eldritch tree had something to do with it. And that battle. I can understand me and the Helkis duking it out, but was that the eldritch tree and the angelic being fighting above us?
Nenn’s focus returned to the problem at hand. Just as he turned to leave he looked down for the first time, noticing a familiar form curled up against the tree trunk. There, in all of its eldritch wooden glory was his deathstalker form, still and extra lifeless. Its roots had been interlaced with the tree, just as Nenn had left it. Probing it [Nature’s Regrowth] Nenn was pleased to find that the body was in fact just a husk. There was no bright burning collection of mana that indicated a living being. Or, in this case, a dense amount of death mana surrounding a tight ball of life mana.
Other than the deathstalker husk, there were two other items that had not been present earlier. It was as if they had popped into existence sometime after the battle had concluded. Leaning against the tree there was an immaculately detailed trident. When Nenn reached out to grab it his hand was stopped short, as it hovered mere millimeters from the weapon.
A page of Bablescript appeared out of nowhere. It was levitating a couple of feet in front of Nenn’s face, and looked eerily similar to a popup box. It read:
The following item requires Soulbinding in order to equip. Do you wish to complete the Soulbinding of [Hallowed Trident of Conquering Warlords]?
Oh neat! Nenn thought. Finally, we have items of actual importance. I was starting to wonder if there were items in this world. But I guess that answers my question.
“Yes. I wish to complete the soulbinding,” Nenn said to the floating piece of parchment paper.
A stream of energy exited the weapon and entered into Nenn’s hand. The feeling tickled a little bit, but otherwise, nothing noteworthy happened. Nenn’s hand was able to move forward and grasp the trident. Lifting it in his hands he noted the heavy weight of the weapon. He had expected it to be lighter, especially with how much his strength stat had increased.
The trident itself was gilded in gold and featured intricate patterns carved along the half. The spear points were sharp, as Nenn could personally attest to. If this was, in fact, the same trident that had been plunged through his side and shoulder, it was indeed a very powerful weapon. Nenn could picture himself stabbing an Ogre, and running it clean through with the trident.
I wonder if… On a whim, Nenn willed the weapon to disappear. The trident grew lighter in his hand as it began to decompose into pitch black smoke, vanishing into nothingness. Nenn was left empty handed.
Okay, that's neat. Now, I should be able to do that in reverse. The Helkis managed to summon the weapon in the Meadowspace, so I am guessing soulbinding has a much more literal definition in The Trial, than in other earthly media.
Nenn felt some of his mana, health, and stamina resources flow into his hand, and take shape. The black smoke billowed forth from his hand and in its wake the trident returned to existence.
Taking note of his reserves, Nenn noted that he had spent a flat 10% of all resources to summon the trident.
That is definitely something that needs to be done before battle. Does that mean the Helkis fought me with a 10% handicap? If that was the case, he should have won the fight if he had been at full health. I only managed to eke out a victory. I need more training. The deathstalker form is great for mobility, but it lacks in engagement range. Fighting with tooth and claw, while savage when it lands, puts me at a huge risk in terms of how close I have to get.
There was the issue of the second item that had appeared. Nenn propped his trident against the tree and went to pick up a nondescript black box that laid on the ground. His hands were stopped before they could pick up the item and another piece of Bablescript appeared.
New item generated! This item is locked and may only be accessed by ‘Nenn’. The following item requires Soulbinding in order to equip. Do you wish to complete the Soulbinding of [The Shattered Promises of The Helkis]?
Nenn wondered for a moment what [The Shattered Promises of The Helkis] could be. There were no further descriptions available. If the size of the system box was an indicator of what lay inside of it, Nenn would have guessed that it was a piece of jewelry or a trinket of some sorts. There was only one way to find out.
“Yes. I wish to complete the soulbinding,” Nenn said. The same stream of visual energy entered into Nenn and he felt the same as before. A little bit of tickling, but otherwise, no difference. The black box on the ground disappeared, revealing nothing.
A half-second later Nenn had caught on that he would have to will the object into existence first before it could exist in the physical plane. So he did so, channeling another flat 10% of his resources into summoning [The Shattered Promises of The Helkis] into his outstretched hand.
The object poofed into existence in a cloud of black smoke. It was a smooth circular sphere of what looked like glass, inside of which there was a black and green gemstone that shone in the nearly-noon daylight. The gem resonated with a small perpetual passive energy that was hard to miss. It felt akin to the contact curse the Helkis had used against Nenn in the battle.
Is this a solidified chunk of the Helkis’ existence? Nenn wondered. As it was, there did not seem to be any real use case for the item. It looked nice, but as it was, it could not be used. There was no way to equip the item, and holding it seemed to be detrimental at best, so Nenn unsummoned the orb, and put its existence onto the very full backburner of his mind.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
***
Nenn’s descent from the tree took a couple minutes longer than his frantic sprint up the tree had taken him. In his human base form he lacked the stability and claws needed to accomplish that feat. The giant tree’s root systems had grown into quite an erratic nest as they had formed around the empty space once occupied by the undead naga abomination.
But he made it, only having slipped a couple of times. He was very thankful that his knees, both flesh and wood, had managed to not break upon jumping off of one of the lower roots. In fact, now that he thought about it, he probably could have made the jump from much higher. He had grown a lot stronger since the last time he was in his human form. It was easy to forget that.
The final objective loomed above the central area of the ruined fortress. There stood the imposing black Obelisk that had sparked the whole conflict. It was responsible for a whole lot more than that, but for today, it stood to shoulder that blame in its entirety. Had the Helkis been more open to talking and engaging diplomatically, this whole situation could have been avoided.
Nenn did not know what had tempered the Helkis to be the way he was. The impression Nenn had gathered made it seemed as though he had started out conquering with honest morals, but had to change along the way. But on the other hand, he had committed unilateral genocide on humanity, so at the end of the day, he was not a redeemable figure. Just a tragic one at best.
Nenn placed his hand against the smooth black Obelisk and watched as Bablescript began to appear on its surface. Despite trying to read pitch black engravings on a black surface, Nenn was able to read the writing without any hindrance.
By right of conquest you may claim this Obelisk immediately. Do you wish to proceed?
“Yes,” Nenn answered. The entirety of the Obelisk shimmered, a transient bluish aura surrounded the monolithic monument that faded away. Now all that Nenn had to do was wait in the ruins of the fortress. His allies should have easily seen the Obelisk’s light show, so they should know that Nenn had been successful. Hell, had they missed the toppling of the giant undead naga, and the subsequent emergence of a giant-as-fuck tree in the middle of the fortress, there was little more Nenn could do to try and signal them short of sending them a written invitation.
Nenn stepped away from the Obelisk and took a seat on the ground, leaning his back against one of the remaining fence posts that had once served to corral the newly integrated. For the first time in what felt like a long while, it was time for Nenn to take a break.
He let out a sigh of relief which he found odd for a moment, before remembering that he hadn’t needed to breathe as a deathstalker. The feeling, while normal, felt a little out of place for Nenn.
I keep forgetting that shapeshifting is a skill just like all of the others. And it's one that I have not actually practiced. As I get more used to shifting forms, things should hopefully get better. But enough about that. I think it is time for a well overdue STATUS check.
A piece of weathered parchment paper flew into Nenn’s hands from the heavens on high.
STATUS UPDATES
COMBAT LOG UPDATED
You have slain, 873/873 enemy combatants, (835 Individual, 38 Raid). You have slain 5/5 Elite Sentients. You have slain 1/1 Racial Warlord. Ten Tier 1 Tokens have been awarded. Bonus experience awarded for encounter difficulty. You have performed 1 Heroic Save, additional experience awarded.
COMBAT LEVEL: 35
COMBAT CLASS: Druid (Tier - Undefined)
SHIELD: 800/800
HEALTH: 800/800
STAMINA: 800/800
MANA: 720/800, 10% of total mana locked in reserve
STATS:
VITALITY: 80
STRENGTH: 80
DEXTERITY: 80
INTELLIGENCE: 80
WISDOM: 80
SKILLS
[Entangling Roots] (Active): The forest crawls with all sorts of hidden hazards. Summons roots to bind, squeeze, constrict, impale, or bury a target at the druid’s discretion. The strength and number of roots depends on the amount of mana infused into the skill and the environment summoned in. [Entangling Roots] is now affected by [Nature’s Weapons]. Be aware, Entangling Roots effectiveness will be severely limited against elemental, metal, and massive targets.
[Rot](Active): The natural world is composed of more than sunshine and rainbows. A druid well acclimated with this uncomfortable truth can accelerate the rotting process in their target causing them immense pain and suffering, possibly leading to death. Be aware, Rot’s effectiveness will be severely limited against targets that exist outside of the cycle of life and death
[Shapeshift - Deathstalker](Active): Death is no longer a fear but a welcome friend in your life. Having met and formed a covenant with a death-aspected paragon being has resulted in the formation of this skill. The druid will take on the form of a deathstalker that matches the natural environment around them. Grants access to new abilities matching the form.
[Ambush Predator](Active - Subskill): Hidden in darkness, quiet as a mouse you stalk your prey, waiting until the moment is right. When activated the druid will attempt to blend into the environment, hiding out of sight, and out of mana detection. Consumes stamina and mana to maintain the state. If the druid is undetected it may choose to end [Ambush Predator] prematurely and spend 10% of total mana and stamina in order to double strength and dexterity for 2 seconds.
[Nature’s Weapons](Passive - Subskill): Embrace the ferocity of nature and strike out against your prey with the weapons that nature has provided. A druid in [Shapeshift - Deathstalker] form will find that their natural weapons (ex: teeth, claws) will be extra effective in combat.
[Osteomancer’s Control](Active):Bones, lots of bones. Bones, while not living, are part of the natural world and as such fall under the purview of druids. Allows the druid to tap into the remaining legacy of a fallen being and use their bones as the druid sees fit. While in [Shapeshift - Deathstalker] bones may be broken down and stored in mana form within the body of the Deathstalker. Bone energy can be used to repair the deathstalkers body or be reforged into bone as commanded.
[Nature’s Regrowth](Passive): Embrace the healing factor of nature. Allows for the druid to form a meditation circle in nature and increase the rate of resource recovery of all inside the circle’s boundary. Caster must focus on being one with nature while meditating.
[Nature’s Absorption](Passive): Embrace the bounty of nature. Allows for the druid to absorb unbound or volunteered mana through the usage of mana channels in the form of roots. Caster must focus on the process and be in a meditative state.
[Shapeshifter’s Mastery](Passive): Continued usage of [Shapeshift] forms has granted the druid a basic level of mastery over the concept. Allows the druid to shift forms faster, more efficiently, and without resource penalty. Allows the druid the option to vocalize as it would in its base form. Druid may return to its base form by recasting the [Shapeshift] ability matching their current form.
NEW SKILLS OBTAINED
[Primal Roar](Active): Let those that challenge you know you are not to be trifled with. Allows the druid to build up and release a thunderous, guttural roar of sound capable of stunning, disorienting, invoking fear, invoking dread, and suppressing will power temporarily.
[Essence Siphon](Passive): Revel in the slaughter left in your wake, fueling your inner instincts to continue the fight. Allows the druid to drain the residual resources from the corpses it leaves behind, refueling its own reserves. While in [Shapeshift - Deathstalker] once a sufficient flow of residual resources has been achieved, the deathstalker may enter into a rampage, becoming an unstoppable force of death.
TOKENS
Tier 1: 11 (11 Lifetime)
Soulbound Items:
[Hallowed Trident of Conquering Warlords]: (Unidentified)
[The Shattered Promises of The Helkis]:(Unique Core - Unidentified)
Huh. Nenn thought. He had managed to gain another 10 levels, pushing him to level 35. It seemed a bit low, if Nenn was being honest with himself. He had slain a good deal of things since killing the alligator yesterday. But, at the same time, there were very few things that offered a real challenge. What The System had labeled as elites were probably the three naga knights guarding the Helkis, the corpse shaper, and the corpse surgeon. The racial warlord was clearly the Helkis. But there was no mention of the angelic entity. Was that because Nenn hadn’t actually faced the entity. Probably. There wasn’t a whole lot of experience to be gained from being tossed about like a rag doll while the gods fought above you.
Two new skills had joined Nenn’s growing roster of abilities. Nenn was feeling like he had gotten the short end of the stick once again. Both of his new skills were already things he could do, without The System interfering. But on the bright side, if he was understanding things correctly, he could now use both in his base form and any other form he may unlock in the future. That would be a huge bonus. And now the skills could be workshopped and built upon. So maybe it wasn’t that bad of a thing.
Then there was the new addition to the bottom of the list. Beneath the mysterious tokens that Nenn had yet to find a use for, there was a list of Nenn’s soulbound items. The biggest takeaway from that was that both items were still unidentified.
I wonder how I can change that? Nenn wondered. His break was cut short as the Obelisk began to shimmer and flash. In a couple of minutes the whole area was about to get a whole bunch more lively.