“Bronwic, you madman!” exclaims B’esloor as soon as I appear in front of him. His beady eyes are wide and animated, and he waves his arms around like he can barely contain himself. I’m not sure if he’s angry or incredulous or impressed. Maybe all of them? I feel slightly uncomfortable since I don’t really know the implications of what he’s saying. Am I in deep trouble?
Taiwo isn’t here, but Kauran’s floating, spherical body rotates so his central eye can focus on B’esloor. “What’s he done?”
“Ha! Nothing but stare down one of the top members of the Qillathe Syndicate, who happens to be a mid Level Ascended Class, and his Legendary Elite Guards. By himself! They’ve signed the equivalent of a non-aggression pact. I literally can’t believe it.”
He turns his attention back to me. “When I told you to do it quickly, I thought maybe you would just give them a bit of something to think about before the KCT, and that was fine. I never expected you’d possibly do what you’ve done. The paperwork and politics is going to keep me buried for ages!”
“Perhaps you should adjust your assumptions when it comes to High Enforcer Cadimus, B’esloor,” suggests Kauran in that weird voice of his that I can hear but also echoes in my mind.
B’esloor starts to reply but Kauran cuts him off.
“Bronwic, we are here to brief you for your next KCT round. You may have seen there has been significant attrition… these tasks are not for everyone and the three Trials test disparate aspects of all who participate. A reminder that from the public’s perspective, this is the start of the KCT and as such your exploits will be promoted in a heroic light. The Universe’s top Legendary combatants compete to see who will put themselves in the line of danger and save the people of the Sapient Species Alliance.”
I nod back at Kauran. I get it. This is the part of the Trials that’s above the line.
“You’ve finished the first Trial faster than I ever thought possible,” interjects B’esloor. “It gives you a significant lead, and I’m betting this next Trial plays to your strengths. See if you can finish in under an hour. I think that would be a leading benchmark. The next Trial after this might pose more of a challenge for you.”
Now that a bit of time has passed I feel weird just standing there talking to them, so I pull out a chair from my Inventory and sit down. It does seem to relax the mood a bit. As usual, I take advantage of times like this to grab something to eat since we have a few minutes.
“What can I expect?” I ask, then pop a handful of nutrient dense nuts in my mouth.
“Shortly you will be transported to your Trial; the pool of eligible situations is currently being finalised through auctions and then random assignment of Trialists will take place,” replies Kauran. “There is also a short period for people all over the Universe who are interested in such things to place bets and prepare to watch. Feeds of the Trial will be available across most of the Universe.”
“Auction? Does that mean it’s only the rich that the Trial focuses on saving?” I ask.
“Credits make the Universe function, Bronwic. For the most part the answer is yes. There are several charities and philanthropic foundations that support bids from some of the less wealthy worlds; each of these tends to focus on certain situations and advancing the interests of whatever they were set up to do.”
“Good to know,” I say, and remember those early notifications on Earth indicating some kind of a charity had given humanity access to the Title system and other benefits. Hopefully it works on some level, otherwise it feels a lot like Real Earth Tours did… only for the amusement of the rich. Robb especially had an objection to that and I came to agree with him.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Whatever you face, it’s capped at Level 300 to ensure we don’t have wholesale slaughter of our Trialists,” adds Kauran.
“Just sounds like a Tuesday,” I say. “What else can I expect?”
They don’t have much else to say that’s valuable and we don’t have long to wait until I hop up and sweep everything back into my Inventory. It’s been a while since I emptied it, actually. I make a mental note. Perhaps I should be taking this more seriously, but at this point Level 300 doesn’t really even phase me that much. Famous last words, I remind myself.
Koldaavi Combat Trial Round 2 Commencement
You will be transported in 100 UTUs.
Good luck, Adventurer Cadimus!
I check to make sure my Elemental Aegis is active and ramp up Acceleration, then call my Swords to my hands. I feel calm, good. With the remaining few UTUs I trigger Omnipresent and have a look at Earth. Doing well, but still struggling in some big hotspots where I’m needed. It’s good motivation to end this quickly and try to win. The timer in the corner of my vision ticks down to zero as the familiar feeling of space twisting takes hold of me. I hold back my Affinity and ride it out.
Waves of sickly energy and a low, otherworldly hum hit me as soon as I materialize. Something deep within me flinches with instinctive revulsion at the monster smashing its way through an army of small blue humanoid creatures on the outskirts of a sci fi, tech city. They’re losing very badly and the Monster is about to reach some kind of industrial complex.
Mental influence resisted
Crippling Aura resisted
I quickly take stock of what I’m dealing with. It’s an enormous, writing mass of black tendrils that seem to absorb light, making it hard to see its true form. The Monster’s body constantly shifts, with eyes blinking in and out of existence across its surface and the air around it seems to warp as if reality, or maybe just light, bends in its presence. I reach out with my Affinity and tell straight away it's just a visual effect rather than an actual warping of space. The low hum is coming directly from it.
Xytherimox (Level 293)
Health: 17890/18000
Mana: 6610/8540
Conditions: Hard Light, Pool of Darkness, Tendril Lash, Phase Form
Tendrils stab out of the writhing form to grab targets and pull them straight into the body where they disappear. The little blue humanoid combat Classers blast the Xytherimox with weapons and grenades even when their fellow fighters are being absorbed into the Monster, but it seems to be largely unaffected.
I trigger Psychic Eruption and hammer it twice in quick succession. The Xytherimox emits a screech that disrupts the low hum the Monster is emitting and reverberates through the air and ground. It freezes for a moment and then collapses to the hard cement-like ground, losing all its form. Blue body parts leak out the sides at odd angles and it whimpers, struggling to move. I fucking love this Skill Evolution!
Quickly I trigger Sentinel’s Fury three times and Wraithstrike to finish it, but it’s dead before I reach it and my Swords slide through its bizarre body easily. Pixelated fragments of light come apart and crumble in a way that’s super alien and I’ve never seen before. Some of the blue humanoids are rushing around and trying to pull on the blue limbs sticking out of the Xytherimox, but most of them are staring at me, wary and watchful.
I remember to Loot my kill as a new notification flashes up and I feel the pull of an automated teleport that tries to grab me and take me back to wherever I was. I glance around and wave then let the teleportation take hold and twist through space to rejoin B’esloor and Kauran.
“Did he really just take that thing out in a few seconds?” B’esloor is asking Kauran as I materialize. If he’s referring to the outcome of my second Trial, that’s promising.
They both turn to orient on me and there’s silence for a few seconds. I guess they’re waiting for me to say something, so I shrug and then open up my kill notifications to see how much progress I’ve made to my next Level and a couple more Skill points.
“How long until the next one?”