1x [Time Halide]
Glowing words appeared within Ori's mind as his gaze found a crystal of silver floating centimetres off the ground. Immediately, his heart galloped in excitement. He crouched after several long, nervous glances to study his environment. His danger senses warred with his desperate need for a win. Ultimately, fear the opportunity could disappear from his grasp just as easily as it appeared drove him to reach out, touching the smooth mirror-like surface before it vanished. A spike of fear struck his heart as he immediately willed himself back to the Lifewell.
‘Show my catalysts’
[Aspirant has discovered the following catalysts:
1x [Disintegration Halide]
1x [Time Halide]
[Aspirant has 7 more attempts of the trial remaining.]
Relief tinged with confusion coloured Ori's thoughts. "Surely it couldn't be that easy? could it?" There had to be more to The Crucible than simply stumbling upon Catalysts floating by his feet. Right? And what did finding a Time Catalyst signify?
After returning to the Trial, Ori picked a random direction intending to get out of the forest. If he could find a larger clearing or some high ground, one that would allow him to get a better lay of the land, then perhaps he could be direct in his search instead of hoping for more gifts to fall in his lap. He had some notion of what he needed based on his desires and the theories Freya's knowledge provided him, so heading towards a zone most likely to house the catalysts he wanted, became his new plan.
It wasn't long until Ori stumbled into a grove. In the centre stood a large, knotted tree with a hollowed-out trunk big enough to fit a Ford Fiesta. The tree seemed to pulse as if breathing in sync with the swaying branches above. Cautiously, he approached, senses alert for any predators or traps. As he neared, a soft green light emanated from beyond the cavity's edge.
"Get in!" Ori whispered, gazing at the bounty; hundreds of glittering catalysts glowed like golden ambrosia.
Due to his high proficiency with specific types of wands, Freya had suggested that Ori likely had a high affinity for Light, Life and Storms. As a result, Ori prioritised catalysts with those aspects or related ones. By stumbling upon this bounty, he found a significant portion of the catalysts he had initially been searching for.
The catalysts appeared as gleaming apple-like fruits in various colours, making Ori feel like he could simply reach out and take all he wanted, completing this part of the Crucible and circumventing the trials altogether. As his eyes swept over the scene, words in the Crucible's familiar language labelled each catalyst. Better sense told him to wait, breathe, and think. His experience with RPGs like Elden Ring and Elder Scrolls had taught Ori to be cautious of triggering puzzles or traps.
Gingerly, he crouched and inspected the trunk's interior. Beyond the soft glow, there wasn't enough light to see many details, but the tree’s inside had the same lime-green moss-coated bark as the outside. The sight of the moving bark, accompanied by wind rushing through leaves, followed a long rhythm as if something colossal were breathing.
His gaze returned to the alluring, glowing treasures below. Since all Ori had to do was touch a catalyst for it to be instantly added to his collection, the temptation to jump in, grab the entire stash and damn the consequences, was strong. Ori was about to do just that when he found himself staring into a pair of enormous eyes. They were huge, glossy and black, set in the bark like the eyes of a dark god. Without any other facial features, it was difficult to discern the entity's disposition, but Ori guessed that the eyes held inscrutable curiosity.
"Err, yeah, hi?" Ori tried. He had no idea if it could understand him, but he figured some attempt at communication couldn't hurt, especially since it was aware of his presence.
"So, I want those catalysts. I hope you don't mind if I…" Ori said as he reached out to point at the nearest cluster of life catalysts, trying to convey his intent. The sound of the tree breathing shifted as a long root twisted out of the ground and coiled around his outstretched wrist.
"Fuck’sake!" Ori hissed as thorns dug into his flesh. Blood streamed down his wrist as he tried to free his arm, but the more he struggled, the worse the wounds became, the tree root's unyielding strength and piercing thorns refusing to let go.
Panic welled up within him but Ori forced it down. He scrambled out of the opening, hoping to gain some distance from the root while making one last attempt to pull his arm free. The pounding of his blood mixed with his laboured breaths and pained grunts. Numbness crept in and he realised the tree was either poisonous or drinking his blood. Either option spelled doom and with this knowledge, a cold fury settled over him prompting a change in strategy.
After mentally counting to three, Ori switched from pulling to charging headlong into the tree's cavity, his free arm extended in a desperate lunge. His fingers grazed fruits that vanished on contact, a fierce grin replacing his terror as he acquired catalysts one after another. He aimed vaguely for the largest clusters with the most diverse aspects. The root tethered to his arm yanked him back, arresting his forward momentum. His legs pushed, thorns burrowing deeper into his forearm. Ori screamed not in pain but in determination, driven by his desperate need for more power and the will to survive. It was as if this struggle was a microcosm of life, the tree teaching him a lesson paid for in blood—that life was earned, there were always predators and prey, living meant the possibility of dying and even the lowest fungi consumed and were consumed in turn.
Unconsciously, Ori heeded this lesson. With his mangled arm now useless, he focused solely on surviving another moment, another breath, another heartbeat. Slick with blood, thorns tore through his muscles until he finally escaped the root's grasp. He threw himself upon the remaining catalyst clusters, rolling over them in haste as more thorny roots lashed his flesh. As one constricted his throat, Ori frantically snatched the brightest fruits he could find, the elusive Halides tantalisingly out of reach, the gap widening with every insistent tug of the vine root.
Before his vision tunnelled into darkness, Ori changed tactics again, spinning his body just before a root could ensnare his foot. Dangling his feet into the nest of catalysts, he grunted with satisfaction as each catalyst disappeared upon contact with his toes until the root around his neck twisted, his spine snapped and he knew no more.
Ori awoke with wild eyes and a sudden, sharp intake of breath.
"Fuck!" he yelled into the silent stone chamber housing the Lifewell fountain. Ori knew he couldn't linger, as the time dilation effect applied only within the Trials. He rose on unsteady legs, checking himself for injuries or evidence of his ordeal. Finding not a single scratch, he approached the Lifewell drinking deeply and splashing water on his face to clear his head.
‘Show my catalysts’
[Aspirant has discovered the following catalysts:
1x [Disintegration Halide]
1x [Time Halide]
325x [Life Odemid]
22x [Life Tocam]
62x [Life Halide]
72x [Vitality Halide]
45x [Vitality Tocam]
92x [Dexterity Odemid]
72x [Dexterity Tocam]
19x [Dexterity Halide]
185x [Toughness Tocam]
82x [Rejuvenation Tocam]
15x [Rejuvenation Odemid]
15x [Breath Tocam]
2x [Virility Halide]
4x [Virility Tocam]
1x [Fertility Tocam]
1x [Nature Tocam]
1x [Nature Halide]
1x [Decay Odemid]
1x [Decay Halide]
1x [Adaption Halide]
1x [Conversion Halide]
2x [Regrowth Tocam]
1x [Regrowth Halide]
[Aspirant has 6 more attempts of the trial remaining.]
Unsure of what a good haul would have consisted of in this situation, it was hard to judge if his choices had been the right ones or if he’d made the most from his opportunity. However, after raising his catalyst count from three to several hundred, it was hard not to feel a measure of progress. Sure, dying a gruesome, ignoble death had been dreadful, but that the most recent trial had been a substantial improvement over the ones prior was undeniable now that he felt as if he had more control, or at least felt like his actions within the trial mattered.
Surrounded by the monotonous, grey walls and aware that only fire and brimstone lay beyond, Ori yearned to return to the open forests with expansive, vivid night skies. He knew that given the trial rules, after death, catalyst types from his last haul would vanish which was unfortunate, as there were likely six times as many catalysts in that single trunk than he had gathered. Despite this, an instinct urged him to return, warning that if he missed this chance to explore that luscious forest, he would be ill-prepared for the impending trials to come.
Upon reentering the trial, Ori found it transformed. The forest was now sparser, arid with slender trees, exposed rock, and shrubland replacing moss and grass. A harsh, unrelenting noontime sun filtered easily through the canopy. Beyond the visual and environmental shifts, the atmosphere had changed. The land had once exuded a temperate and bountiful abundance, teeming with nutrients. Now, it felt desperate—not completely resource-starved but tense with competition for whatever remained.
Unlike before, Ori knew he had to respect this wild land and take the last trial's lesson to heart. he chose a direction and ventured forth.
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> “Affinities are fundamental aspects of paracausal reality.
>
> Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
>
> It is said that the very Demiplanes themselves, the vast realities wherein countless worlds reside, emerged from these aspects of Fate. And while there are as many affinities as they are words in all the spoken languages of Fate, some affinities are greater than others, more profound than others, or more fundamental.
>
> Each Awakened, whether blessed with arcane talent or not, is born with at least one “Inherent” or Major Affinity. With an individual's Inherent Affinity, comprehension towards their affinity's deepest mysteries is easiest, while spells and abilities that are based around this affinity are strongest.
>
> Meanwhile, comprehension and alignment with additional “Attained Affinities” or Minor Affinities can incrementally change the nature of an individual's physical body, personality and mindset, crafting products, available classes, Spells and ability choices, racial evolution and ultimate Authority. It is the comprehension and interplay between these Inherent and IAttained Affinities that drives, and in many cases, stalls, the progression of an individual's might and Lifeforce.
>
>
>
> Stages of Comprehension:
>
> Threshold: This is the initial understanding of an affinity necessary for its application in spell crafting and other magical practices. At this stage, the individual begins to unlock the potential uses of their affinity.
> Immersion: At this level, the individual gains a deeper awareness of their affinity, understanding both its applications and limitations.
> Integration: Knowledge of the affinity deepens further, to the point where it begins to influence the individual's very nature. This significantly enhances the power and efficiency of the affinity in their actions.
> Synthesis: The individual becomes a font of their affinity, with their aura exuding its nature. At this stage, everything they do is influenced in some way by their affinity.
> Perfection: This final stage represents either the complete assimilation of the affinity by the individual or the complete transformation of their nature by the affinity they once commanded. This stage marks the pinnacle of affinity mastery, where the individual and the affinity are indistinguishable.
>
>
>
> While there is no physical limit to the number of Attained Affinities one can align with, comprehension of many disparate essences can cause disharmony within an individual Mana Nexus resulting in reduced casting effectiveness. Meanwhile, before reaching the Immortal realm, the opportunity cost of comprehending multiple affinities and thus stalling progression to higher ranks is rarely seen as a sensible use of one's limited lifespan.
>
> While affinities can offer routes to powerful abilities, no affinity can provide access to every ability, class or Spell, with alignment to many affinities closing more doors than they open, regarding an individual's versatility and ultimate power.
>
> Through fate and circumstance, just as it is speculated that the Demiplanes and lands of Fate emerged from the Affinities, Lesser and Greater Elementals, avatars of tremendous natural power may emerge from concentrated sources of affinity. While wild and often untethered to the civilisations of fate, older entities, or those who chose to evolve to elementals may gain, or retain sentience, becoming individuals who could be bargained with, or sought after as guardians in exchange for Grace.
>
> There also exist energies that straddle the boundary between the fundamental paracausal energies and the natural affinities individuals may attune to. These energies, often known as the Lesser Essences, are often seen as concentrated sources of affinity and can aid in comprehension. They can also be refined into catalysts and used as reagents in Spellcraft, rituals or enchanting.
>
> These essences are commonly found near rifts in reality, as dungeon prizes, from dungeon cores themselves, and near sources of wild Aether.” …
In the quiet moments between midnight and dawn, Ori often found himself browsing over the knowledge bequeathed him by his familiar. He used to answer questions that he had been unable to form in those brief, hasty moments since meeting Freya, like just what were the pages of fate, what were affinities and catalysts, and just how powerful could people and gods become? For example, Inherent Affinities, which appeared to encompass a person's genetics, preferences, experiences, and personality, seemed to have a profound impact on each trial's environment. This influence extended from the environmental themes to the ease of finding catalysts within.
However, despite believing he had a strong affinity for life, light, and storms—if Freya's analysis were to be believed—his trials up until the third attempt had seemingly little connection to his god-given abilities. This observation led to the notion that mindset might wield a great, if not greater, influence on the trials. This hypothesis was supported by the fact that his fiery inferno and tumultuous oceanic ordeals had seemingly manifested from his expectations.
Next, Ori surmised that each group of catalysts demanded a challenge undertaken or a lesson learned. Perhaps, had he considered offering the tree that killed him a sacrifice, it might have willingly shared its bounty.
Maybe.
When his thoughts led back to the time catalyst, Ori had an uneasy feeling that the necessary lesson required to obtain the crystal was yet to come.
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Ori slowed as he saw Ferret or Weasel-like creatures guarding the first catalysts Ori had seen since returning to the trial. Ori stared at the creatures that had clearly noticed his presence and cautiously backed away. He knew approaching them would be fatal, given their lengthy claws and the liquid speed with which they navigated the foliage. Despite being no longer than a foot, an aura of intense hostility radiated from the group.
He could see the catalysts: eggs and egg shells, bone fragments, claws, shreds of hide, feathers, fruit, and meat. At least a hundred of them, all gleaming with an enticing radiance despite their grizzly nature. A dozen backward steps turned into a hundred, and after an agonisingly long period, Ori was out of sight of the nest. Some of the catalysts had intrigued him; however, attempting and failing now could potentially remove them from the loot pool. He needed to be more strategic and avoid repeating past mistakes.
An hour later, Ori had found a sturdy, sharp piece of slate and a six-foot-long branch he had stripped into a staff. It was thicker and heavier than a broomstick, but he appreciated its balance and hoped the heft would serve as a piercing weapon with the point he had carved using his newfound tools.
Climbing one tree to reach the endpoint of vines he believed could function as a makeshift rope, Ori discovered a nest. Inside, several hatchlings appeared as familiar as any birds Ori had seen before, accompanied by the catalysts—golden feathers fluttering in the breeze. No mother bird was present, and with his previous thoughts on the nature of affinities, The Crucible and the inherent difficulties of each new mini-challenge, Ori had a good idea of what awaited him.
Using his staff, he attempted to poke a feather, but the hatchlings possessing unreasonable strength and razor-sharp beaks, immediately pecked at it. Had it been his flesh, Ori was certain he'd be back at the Lifewell by now. Unable to avoid damage with his meagre levels of speed and dexterity, he needed an alternative strategy.
Concerned about lingering long enough to become lunch for the chicks' parents, Ori opted for a gentler approach instead of smashing or knocking the nest out of the tree. His staff sustained damage as he manoeuvred it between the aggressive chicks and the shining feathers. Climbing closer to the nest, he touched each catalyst in turn, so focused on reaching the last one—a blood-red feathered Ferocity Halide—that he failed to notice the silent shadow until nearly too late.
Without thinking, he grabbed the Halide, which disappeared in its customary shower of glowing particles, as he leapt from the branch, eyes darting upward. A man-sized, owl-like bird perched on the next branch, its gaze following his descent.
With no time to spare, Ori grasped the vine he had aimed for and leapt off the branch. He caught it, halting his fall but not without suffering a painful rope burn.
Following the misadventure at the bird's nest, Ori resolved to treat the forest as a survival exercise: Bear Grylls style. While his hands were still functional, friction burns, and chipped or torn-off fingernails robbed him of most of his fine dexterity. And without the lifewell to dispel tiredness and heal injuries, there was only so much time he could carry on in this environment, even under the best-case scenarios. However, there was no doubt in his mind that leaving would count against his remaining trial attempts, so with those calculations in mind, Ori decided to drive on and see how far he could go.
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As twilight deepened into inky darkness, Ori found solace against the rough bark of a tree, his thoughts meandering towards daydreams of returning home. A wistful smile graced his lips as he contemplated the improbable reality he might face if he succeeded in accomplishing all his audacious goals. If he triumphed in this treacherous trial, honed his speed, strength, and endurance to their human limits, tracked down the bitch who had brought him here and courteously requested his repatriation, he would undoubtedly become a superhero—particularly if he mastered the arcane art of magic. Would he have to conceal his newfound abilities from the government, lest they exploit him? Most likely, which would be rather inconvenient unless he assumed a secret identity.
"Earth world problems," Ori mused aloud to the shadowy forest, a tired smile playing on his lips. With that fleeting thought, his weary mind and aching body succumbed to the enveloping arms of slumber.
Ori was being chased. Rudely awoken by a bite to the leg, Ori soon ditched most of his gathered possessions and ran through the woods carrying nought but a makeshift spear and a thin, barklike shield. What had to be at least a dozen creatures formed a wolfpack of hollering and yipping predators Ori knew he had no chance against in the woods. He was looking for any opportunity, a tree he could easily climb, a body of water, a clearing that removed their ability to snea…
Ori found himself crashing to the earth, a growling, snapping beast on his chest trying to tear his face off, his two-foot bark wide shield, the only thing keeping its claws away from his carotid artery. With practised reflexes, Ori shoved his shield, its edge catching the beast's snout, its head twisting to expose its neck just so.
Blood fountained from a gash in its throat as Ori swiftly rolled to avoid the lunge of the dying beast's packmate. He was on his feet once more, without even a moment to assess his injuries, his breath heavy as sweat blurred his vision. While he would never realise it until much later, Ori had run a marathon for the first time in his life, his bloody-minded determination and the biomechanical supremacy of bipedal locomotion enabling him to outrun, if not outfight his opponents.
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Throughout what must have been two relentless weeks, a blur of arduous hiking, running, scavenging, and at best, borderline lethal challenges unfolded. His prudent approach paid dividends, yielding an impressive collection of catalysts including Halides such as Ruthless, Passion, Menace, Cruel, Cunning, Decisive, and Dynamic. He unearthed new Tocams like Ambidexterity, Precision, and Perception in similar nests and smaller troves. At the same time, a solitary Omniscience Tacom was the hard-won prize from a desperate battle against a formidable, dog-sized badger armed with razor-sharp claws. Ori's makeshift arsenal of a bow, arrows, spear, and slate dagger proved indispensable, saving him from certain death on multiple occasions.
Oddly enough, he had felt tangible differences in his body and mind. Isolation had made his thoughts harder, his decision-making sharper. Instead of thoughts and decisions that would influence days or weeks in advance, the next moment became all-important. For the first days, it was a state of focus that required an unsustainable amount of concentration. But as his body began to move with a growing surety and ease, this allowed unconscious processes to focus on every single detail of the moment in a walking meditation. In addition to these adaptations, real changes to his reflexes, power and instincts were noticed especially after a night's sleep, a good meal, or a successful harvest of catalysts. The knowledge that the very trial was increasing his power only fueled Ori’s determination to push on.
Another week later, his hands, their raw skin now marred by infection, ached and wept yellow puss. Deep gashes sliced through skin and muscle on his thighs and calves, and the ensuing fever made even the most basic decisions difficult. Ori sensed his time in this particular trial was drawing to a close. Late in the day, after acquiring another Omniscience Tacom, he gazed upon the forest's edge with steely determination, gritted his teeth, and propelled himself into a desperate lurch. Weakened by blood loss and fatigue from endless days of trudging and a litany of badly healed injuries, Ori recognised that he had precious few hours, if not minutes before he would collapse. However, buoyed by the sight of thinning trees, he resolved to cover as much ground as possible. As he hobbled, the forest receded until he breached the treeline and skidded to a breathless halt.
Mossy boulders gave way abruptly to sandy scree and rubble mere metres beyond the precipitous cliff face. Ori's ragged breathing subsided as he absorbed the panorama before him. He inched as close to the edge as he dared, blood oozing from wounds he couldn't staunch effectively. Over a hundred feet below, colossal crystals buttressed the cliff's base. Alien, malevolent creatures nestled or grazed amidst the rocks and crystals casting wary glances upwards. A sparse savanna stretched beyond, revealing a gradual shift in the biome from hospitable to a volcanic, dark, and infernal landscape. Meanwhile, the very horizon appeared to warp, as though the earth stretched taut like taffy into an unfathomable chasm, punctuated by shadowy ravines bathed in the sinister orange glow of molten rock.
The scene seemed to drain the air from Ori's lungs, it reminded him of the outside world, the prison he had subconsciously escaped. It took a while to draw his gaze away from the steepening abyss, but when closer to the cliff edge, he could see that the landscape to find it wasn't all a downward slope towards a hellish abyss. He thought he could discern hints of the world stretching upwards, perhaps heavens above as counterpoint to the hell below.
Reasoning he would likely never return to this point, Ori resolved to ransack all he could from this final challenge before his body succumbed to its injuries. With bloody hands and shaky legs, Ori descended. As he free-climbed the precipitous cliff face, every muscle in his body throbbed and quivered with exhaustion, rendering the navigation of the loose, treacherous rocks even more daunting. On several occasions, dislodged stones clattered into the depths below. Each time, oddly melodic chimes rang out as if bars from a glockenspiel rained down instead of rock or crystal. He dismissed them until a particularly sizable boulder tumbled from the cliff. Ori watched with detached curiosity, pondering the fate of any creatures unfortunate enough to be caught beneath it. When the boulder struck a crystal, a colossal spark of lightning erupted, arcing from one cluster to another and producing motes of luminescent dust.
"Piezoelectricity?" Ori speculated. His teeth itched as his skin became an electric field mill. The charge imbalance from well over two hundred feet away was still enough to make every hair on his body stand. Excitement surged through Ori, granting him a fleeting reprieve from fatigue. Even still, he resisted the urge to race down and seize the catalysts, instead formulating a new strategy.
Ori laterally traversed the cliff face, his gaze fixed on the largest nest of creatures at least three hundred feet below. Doubtful of his plan's efficacy, he mused that the creatures might have adapted to their electrifying environment, nullifying his idea. Alternatively, they could become enraged and climb or fly up to snatch him from the cliff. Regardless, with waning energy and fearing the region would vanish upon his respawn, Ori clambered above the largest boulder he could find. He scaled towards the top, using a vine-like rope looped around a car-sized boulder to bear his weight. Lowering himself back down the cliff face, positioned above a slab of rock partially detached from the rest of the precipice, Ori exhaled, steadied himself as best he could, and delivered a forceful downward kick. Nothing happened beyond the smack of flesh against rock. He tried again, this time, jumping up to use his entire body in a two-footed stomp. A snapshot through his shins as he cracked the stone, culminating in a sudden, destabilising clunk.
A slab of rock as weighty as a bus broke free from the cliff unleashing a mini avalanche. Amidst the pandemonium and destruction below, Ori forced his eyes open and watched as the piezoelectric crystals detonated with thousands of volts of arcing, searing current. The deafening cacophony of shattering rock and thunder reverberated for miles, sending distant creatures fleeing in all directions. He was too spent to smile and it was too soon for relief; there was still work to be done, and Ori needed to secure his prize before anything else could intervene.