Kai’s eyes pierced through the dark tunnel as he ambled toward what he hoped would eventually lead him back to the sky island. He thought it odd that the passages occasionally changed between ancient stone walls and cobbled paving to cavernous earthen spaces full of glowing moss and subtle signs of life; it certainly looked like a fusion of things from different worlds, though mostly still Earth-like.
Kai halted as he turned a corner. He gazed out across a large muddy lake — full of bubbling water. Eruptions of hot steam occasionally burst through the boiling surface. Kai groaned. Not again.
Rusty chains hung from the ceiling, holding up flimsy-looking metal discs. They were at various heights and distances apart. He could vaguely see around 20 feet into the distance before it just became a wall of black.
He observed the cavern for a few minutes. Looking for geyser patterns while staring into the scalding water, expectantly waiting for something to leap out and devour him.
Kai plucked at his shirt, attempting to unstick it from his body, his damp hair clinging to his face. He reasoned that if he couldn’t make himself lighter, this would have been a much harder challenge. He should be able to easily leap between platforms. Decrease, he thought, pushing off towards the first platform — unfortunately, he misjudged the hardness of the ground, it was like mud. He sailed left and went past the disc he was aiming for. His heart pounded as the increasing heat of geysers bursting around him seared his skin. It was far hotter here than the basin. He frantically flailed his arms towards a nearby chain, —
Congratulations, you have survived 3 days! Incurs—
He ignored the rest of the message; the distraction had almost sent him splashing into boiling mud. His sweaty fingers wrapped around a dangling chain. He winced from pain as the hot metal seared into his fingers, and then with his feet on the metal disc, he reflexively sheathed himself in aura which helped mitigate some of the heat. Gritting his teeth, he held on for a moment to orientate himself before taking a more careful leap. He skittered across the discs in the room like a lizard in the desert, alternating hands and feet so they wouldn’t burn as he leaped between discs.
His head was spinning; the humidity was so severe that he almost passed out while crossing. He landed in yet another stone archway and after opening the hulking stone slabs, he heard a loud click. The water level started rising and he let out a nervous chuckle, glad that he was trying to get out, and not in. I started in such an odd location, more like the end of something, like a dungeon, is that a thing?
He closed the stone doors behind him as he moved into the earthen tunnel beyond. Lichen and moss grew on the walls. The air was damp and cool, tension left his face as he sank his feet into the refreshing loamy soil. With a contented smile he turned his attention to the message he had ignored.
Congratulations, you have survived 3 days! Incursions have already begun. You are one of the 6.13 billion left alive out of 8.72 billion humans. Fused Earth’s current population is 28.4 billion.
Global trials unlocked: As a native of this planet, you qualify for free (Incursion tickets for F-grade are 50,000 F-grade Crystals, E-grade is…) You have 5 minutes to decide.
Do you wish to participate?
Yes / No
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Kai’s posture tensed and his toes curled. Over two billion humans had died in three days! He crossed his arms. That wasn’t fair at all, in fact it was poorly disguised genocide. The human population was also dwarfed by whatever species the incursions had brought and his stomach sunk as he thought about the people he knew — had known?
Global trials looked like some sort of quest chain that everyone got offered? He disliked quests, but there wasn’t much to go on, and he’d never be able to afford it normally; he currently had 2 F-grade crystals.
Perhaps it will help me get out of here?
“What do you think, Kura?”
Yes yes!
She sent him a mental image of herself as a treasure chest merrily chomping piles of gold and crystal, bursting with confidence.
Kai subconsciously held his breath, well then, let’s go for it.
Sovereign’s Odyssey
Trial 1: The Strength to Survive
Objectives: Place within the top 3000.
Your position: ?/845,270 with ? trial tokens.
Bonus tokens: E-Soul, Level 40, Slay 50 humanoids, Conquer incursion.
Time left: 27 of 30 days.
Failure: No protection at the reaping.
Reward: Title, Disciple Candidate, plus variable bonus rewards.
Kai stumbled, all colour drained from his face. His stomach rumbled.
Reaping bad bad bad!
Kai glared at Kura. Now you tell me? he thought back at her.
She looked down on him and pulled her tongue at him in his mind; it was a strange look for a treasure chest.
Kai rolled his eyes, voracious pride and young indeed.
He returned his attention to the message. So that means I’m competing against 845,270 other people for the top 3000? For survival? For rewards? Kura squealed, her greed palpable. For Earth? To be a disciple candidate?—whatever that was. To be the strongest? His heart thumped with excitement. Stop that.
What exactly would he get the most trial tokens from? The amount of trial tokens he had was an unknown question mark, perhaps it’s so that people can’t game the system?
He suspected the bonus objectives weren’t truly optional if you wanted to reach the top 3000 and avoid the reaping. For now he’d focus on levels, his soul, and escape. He’d never killed a person before — so he’d figure that and incursions out later.
Kai felt nauseated, like he was falling. Some parts of the system seemed designed to make you struggle and grow, while others—in particular the first message he ever received—made him feel like something was a bit off.
What exactly was the Sovereign’s Odyssey? Kai felt no calling to rule even though he desired the strength to never have to lose anything precious to him again, and he wanted to live in a just and fair world. He wasn’t sure what to do as he stared at his open hands expectantly. There was just too much he didn’t know.
If the first trial had a reaping, how much worse would it get in the next trials? He shivered and put the thought aside, I only have to worry about the first trial for now. He balled his hands into fists. For now, he would grow from the dirt he’d been left in.
He naively hoped people wouldn’t be desperate enough to kill each other, but his gut told him it would be a bloodbath. He briefly wrestled with the idea of showing mercy to creatures while thumbing the wooden beads on his wrist, but discarded the idea. He couldn’t talk down a Magma Wyrm from a fight.
There was nothing he could do to help if he was trapped here. Recalling the power gap between himself and the Starforgers, he decided to simply focus on escape and getting stronger till he knew more. What would the world look like when he returned to the surface? Kai let out a frustrated sigh as he trudged on — a little faster than before.