His power-nap over, Roy got up from the bed and went towards his work-station once again. On the desk, a small bell was waiting for him besides his notebook. Glancing at the bell, Roy opened his notes and focused on the last page. Reading the narrow words on the paper, the man finalized his strategy. If Abaddon decided to grant him what he wanted, he was sure to have a chance, no matter what the future reserved for him.
With a deep breath, Roy took the little bell in his hands, and with a chiming noise, he found himself outside the house, a rose garden surrounding him. Straight ahead, Abaddon was waiting for him, tinkering with a cubic device from which ethereal purple light was emitted constantly.
The god fingertips shimmered with the same purple light, touching various places in a swift manner. The cube hummed softly, and the glow disappeared, leaving behind what seemed a small quadrangular cut in space. On one side of the cube, three concentric circles still shimmered.
"Uhm, I'm not sure It's my place to ask, but what's with that eldritch Jack-In-The-Box?"
Abaddon looked at him with a playful smirk, setting the object down on the ground.
"This, my curious friend, is the entrance to your trial. I surmised from your work that you would be ready to go by the time you woke up, so I set up the whole thing to displace you inside the crucible. If you manage to pass it, you will find more about this little trinket of mine"
Giving a dubious look to the device, Roy shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, First I have to ask you If you find my plan satisfactory"
With a light cough, the man began his exposition.
"First, I would like to be able to have no ceiling on how training affects my body capability. Then I would like to be able to materialize specific equipment to aid in my training, as well as providing me amenities like food, and drinks. Third, I would like to be able to access the internet ."
The god's eyes shined brightly.
"Oh-oh-oh you are a very interesting man indeed. Wouldn't you like mastery over the most powerful elements? A technique to make you reach the apex of this world by the might of your body alone ?"
The professor laughed softly. He knew what he wanted. What he asked for was probably not much in the eyes of a cosmic being and maybe, just maybe, If he played some of the games his kids grew up with he would have chosen differently. But he trusted himself and decided to stick to what he knew worked for him in his youth. He was a fighter, and fight he would.
"No thanks, I've decided my path. And as much as I would love to change my ways, I'm a stubborn old man, you know"
Abaddon kept his stare even, his lips turning outwards slightly.
"That I can see, but what I mean is that you think too little of the things you ask. I will have to make some changes, as creation magic is something pretty advanced. Access to the internet is something particular, as you will find later, but there are limits to how you can interact with it. I'm sorry to say you won't be able to contact your family. Rules older than even myself prevent us from actively interacting with your reality"
Striking a thinker pose, the god added.
"You will need to design your training aids by yourself. I can provide the needed energy while you are inside the crucible, but once outside you will have to find a way to nourish the ability that doesn't require direct mana manipulation. Yeah, yeah let's do it like that..."
Roy managed to look both confused and amused, as Abaddon started to mumble by himself, murmuring something about mass, energy, and space. He didn't think what he asked would need so much tweaking by the god. His casual display of skill was enough for him to think that he was in front of an omnipotent being, but It seemed like there was more to his request than what he tough.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
After a while, Abaddon's eyes focused on Roy once again.
"Mmh, It's a complex subject, but you will have some time to explore it during your challenge. I guess It's time, old man, let's do this thing"
His fist grasped tightly, the man answered, conviction dripping from his voice.
"Yeah, let's do this thing"
----------------------------------------
"Uh"
"That's boring"
For how melodramatic the god was, Roy expected constant danger, extreme conditions, and possibly foul smells from the trial ground. After touching the Cube, he found none of this.
A door opened in mid hair, Don pushed him through it with a light tap, and the next thing he knew, he was in a giant cavern. And not a mossy one, not a dark, damp place with narrow ceilings and bats scuttling around. Giant crystalline stalagmites and stalactites adorned the ground and the ceiling of the cave, a soft white glow spreading from them.
Walking up to a stalagmite, Roy reached out with his hand, finding out that the light was also giving out warmth. No moss, no plants, and no creatures, the beautiful landscape had an aseptic feeling to it.
Not knowing what to do, the man started to wander around, trying to understand what his next steps would be.
He didn't have to wait for long, for after a while he found a gleaming pool of crystalline water. Besides the pool, a familiar form waited for him.
The Cube stood in all his mild glory, his notebook and pen lying under it. The man approached his items at a brisk walk, his confusion set aside for the time being. When he touched the cube, his hand felt something cold. Looking at the black mass, he found that attached to a side, there was a small metal ring the size of his pinky finger.
Looking at the fist-sized item, the man shook his head. Not questioning the tacky sense in jewelry of his powerful friend, he put his finger through the metal band. The cube shook a little and then collapsed, bending itself into the compact form of a small black diamond.
Roy looked at his finger, a silver and black ring now adorning it. He sensed a pulse coming from the black gem, and then a sharp pain pierced his hand. The ring bit into his pinky, a needle piercing into his bone. After a minute or so of contact, the needle retracted back into the gem, and as the pain slowly subsided the man found himself closing his eyes.
Informations started to rush to his brain and with them a strong sense of tiredness. With mechanic movements, the man took out his notebook, stabbed his finger with the pen, and swiftly wrote three bloody words on the paper. Queen-sized mattress. A white rectangular form now in front of him, Roy tilted his body forward, his eyes shut down, his form collapsing on the fluffy surface.
----------------------------------------
Day and night were the same in the cavern. After waking up, Roy was not idle. The Cube, notebook, and pen were artifact-level items bound to him. Once he bonded with the Cube, he received a basic rundown of the functions of each piece of the set.
The Cube would be his source of information and a separate reality in which he could stash what he created with the notebook and the pen.
The notebook functioned in somewhat of a similar manner to a 3D printer of his old word, he had to have a clear image of what he wanted, write it down and provide energy to it.The result would be a construct that would consume energy as long as it was materialized in the world outside, or a permanent while stashed. He also discovered that to create something permanent in the reality he was actually in he needed a massive amount of energy.
The pen was... a pen that could always pierce his skin? He didn't really understand what the last specification was, but he guessed it would be important in the future.
He also knew that there was more to the items, but he still hadn't discovered the trial objective, so he wasn't yet privy to the last pieces of information that he needed.
Taking mental notes, he resumed his journey after summoning a turkey sandwich that came to life in a vortex of energy, dimming the light of the nearby pillars.
Taken aback by the first supernatural phenomenon caused directly by him, Roy started to walk while eating the sandwich lazily. The information in his head was still being digested, and the man found his mind shaded in a hazy mist. His random steps seemingly had a purpose behind them, as a giant clearing appeared in front of him after a good hour or two of walking.
Shaking his head at the dimension of the cavern, Roy approached the clearing carefully, expecting something to attack him, or the environment to turn hostile.
While nothing happened, Roy started to feel a sense of unease, as a rectangular shade started to appear on the wall at the end of the clearing. Walking some more, the man found himself in front a giant indentation in the rock wall. A cubic shape as big as two football fields side by side stood in front of him.
A flyer was attached to the wall at the side of the indentation.Roy approached it, and after a quick read, he groaned.
"Well well well, It'seems like the trials adjust themself to the expectations of our trialtakers! This time, the trial of the body is quite simple!This is the door, the cavern wall are impenetrable, and you need to get out! Boring, mindless repetition is key! No fighterino for our boxer, I think you will need to temper your body to the same level as a Silver Knight before attempting to scratch your way out of this block of orichalchum. Just to be clear, this is the single hardest and most robust unenchanted mineral found in this world. I don't think you will be able to move it, so I guess my suggestion is... Punch it! "
Good luck
Your resident God of Destruction.