The Last Trial
We stood before the stone shrine, the entrance for a trial. There was less than a week left in the challenge overall. Terra had overtaken Suul’dar, though the difference wasn’t too high. This next challenge could be the one that decided the victor of the challenge.
“Huh,” Aurora bobbed her head. “That’s interesting.”
“Really?” I turned on her with narrowed eyes. “Interesting is what you’re going with?”
Aurora chuckled. “I mean…”
I shook my head and turned my attention to the trial plaque.
Trial of the Tower—Gathering Point Sixteen
Join in the Trial of the Tower! Touch the scepter to reserve a spot.
Trial starts in: 17 hours
“There is no limit, it seems,” Khalil said.
“It doesn’t mention anything about teams either,” Daehyun chimed in.
I grimaced at him. “You think that it is a solo trial.”
“It could be,” Daehyun continued. “There are no mentions of teams, of a limit for this gathering point.”
“He’s right,” Khalil said. “It could be a problem if it doesn’t drop us in together. It would be a lot more dangerous.”
I knew that he was right. If they were separated from me then the likelihood of them getting hurt or even killed would be high.
“Guys,” Aurora interjected. “We don’t even know what kind of a trial it is. For all we know it isn’t a violent one.”
The rest of us exchanged looks. Every trial so far had been a violent one that pit us against other challengers. True, in the end the violence was the choice that was made not implicitly required by the trial itself.
Which did make me feel somewhat better. The chances that we would be forced to fight one another, or other challengers was low, though I knew that if we did meet others it was likely to come to blows—especially with the Suul.
“If we are not sent together, it will be dangerous. I can’t protect you,” I told them.
Aurora rolled her eyes. “Please Mari. I mean, you’re strong and all that, but we aren’t that weak either.”
“I didn’t mean to imply—”
Aurora interrupted me. “—of course you did,” she said, but her tone wasn’t angry. “I don’t begrudge you for thinking like that. You are a vampire after all, and very powerful in comparison with us. But I think that you’re underestimating us.”
I bowed my head in apology. I knew that she was right, even though I was trying to make a conscious effort to give them the credit that they were do. I knew intellectually that they were strong, and that they weren’t weaklings. It was just hard to keep that belief in mind when I was so aware of my own power. It was no wonder that vampires constantly looked down on everyone. It was almost impossible to do anything but be condescending when you could kill everything around you in less time than it took them to blink.
“So,” I looked around at the others. “Are we all going in then?”
“I’m going to stay out,” Jiyun answered. “I’m still not fully healed from the last trial. And besides, I’m unlikely to progress unless I start focusing on the blade and not just the violence.”
I understood, especially after our talk, and I was glad that she knew her limitations. She had mostly recovered, but if they faced other challengers inside, her being even slightly injured could prove fatal.
“We’ll stay too,” Jason said, speaking for his entire group. “There are some rifts around here that we can clear instead.”
I nodded, then turned to the others.
“I’m going,” Aurora said, almost as if challenging me.
“I shall as well,” Khalil added.
Daehyun just nodded.
I looked them over, then sighed. “I guess the four of us are going. We should probably plan on what to do if the trial separates us.”
They all agreed, and we approached the pedestal, each registering for entrance in turn.
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The light of the trial transport faded from my eyes as I was deposited into a small stone room along with Saia wrapped around me. The moment we entered she flowed down my body and formed her drone form, leaving me with only the parts of her that were the suit covering my torso. There was a single gemstone embedded in the ceiling serving as the light source, casting a pale blue light across the smooth walls of the room.
I looked around but saw only one thing of interest. Across from me was a pedestal with a plaque, and I approached it.
Trial of the Tower
Goal of the Trial—Climb the tower! The Tower is a personal trial, adjusted for your Mask and Ornaments. Each room will hold a test, the higher you climb the greater the reward. At every point you may leave the trial, leaving with the rewards accumulated. The winner is the challenger that climbs the highest at the end of a five day period.
Five days, that was just one day before the entire challenge ended. It was a long trial, and I relaxed as it seemed like it wasn’t going to be a trial that pit us against others. At least others wouldn’t be in too much danger.
A sound made me turn and see a part of the wall slide open and reveal a set of stairs leading up. Next to it was a round plate with a plaque beneath it saying that placing a hand on it will end the challenge.
With a last glance around the room, I hefted my weapon and glanced at Saia.
“Ready?”
She trotted alongside me as we climbed up to the first room.
It was the same size as the last one, except that this one had a beast inside of it. It was the size of a wolf, standing on four legs with an elongated snout tipped with a wide curled beak. It was covered in feathers and its front limbs had wings. It didn’t wait at all before it lunged at me. I stepped aside and raised my serpent-tongue spear, cutting its head clean off.
It fell to the ground with a thud. I blinked.
“Huh.”
The door on the other side of the room opened along with a section of wall that revealed a compartment with a small chest placed within.
“I guess that it starts easy.”
“Statement: It would appear so.”
I knelt and drank the blood of the beast, no use wasting it, then walked over to see what the reward was. It was just five fire gemstones, F grade, almost useless.
I gathered them then continued on, climbing to the next floor.
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The first five floors held beasts, none that were any real threat, but they were getting more dangerous, even if it was a steady increase in the danger.
The sixth floor was different. It was a larger room, and instead of a beast I was presented with a series of tablets, with instructions written on them, and ahead of them was a weird obstacle course. I frowned as I studied them.
“This is a martial art, a movement technique,” I said slowly. Saia didn’t comment. “Why would it give me this?”
“Feedback: The plaque said that the tests were aligned based on your Mask and Ornaments. You hold the Ornament of the Practical Student.”
I narrowed my eyes, then stood and went to check on the course. It was a series of disjointed platforms attached to a middle pillar, leading up to a final platform a few meters above.
I jumped on one of it and immediately it tipped to the side sending me slipping to the ground. I landed with ease, then jumped right back. With relative ease I moved swiftly, jumping higher and higher before the platforms could tip, and reached the top.
Once I did, nothing happened.
“Input: I believe that the intent behind the test is to follow the instructions on the tablets.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course it is.”
I jumped down and approached the tablets again. They were obviously not made for a vampire, or a human for that matter—the pointed ears on the figures drawn was a dead giveaway.
Still, I started studying it, and the more I did, the more I realized that it was making sense to me. The technique seemed to be designed to aid in quickly shifting balance. I read it through a few times and then turned to the obstacle course, deciding to try and make it work in practice.
My [Practical Learning] made it easier for me to learn while doing, and it seemed that was what the test was designed for in the first place.
It didn’t take me long to understand the concepts and incorporate them in my movement set. I could actually see how the technique could work with my combat techniques.
The quick steps and the way it utilized arms to shift balance was very reminiscent of some movements that Shadow had shown me. His hadn’t worked with me fully as they relied on principles that required the added weight provided by his nine tails. I obviously had none of those. But these movements were much easier for me to use.
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I experimented on the platforms, jumping on them and quickly adjusting my footing and center of gravity, then constantly shifting it until I reached a equilibrium with the platform.
Once it stabilized, I jumped to the next, doing the same. I fell from the second to last platform and grimaced. Then immediately got back at it and reached the final platform on the second try.
As soon as I landed, the door to the next floor opened, along with the reward. So far, the rewards had all been F grade gemstones, and this time it wasn’t any different.
“Well, that was… easy.”
“Input: Which suggests that we are still in the early levels of the trial.”
“It would seem that this is more of an endurance race. I could see how some of the others would have issues. Getting through the rooms as fast as possible, but also conserving their energy.”
“Input: The nature of this test offers a unique insight into the Grand Spell.”
“Noticed that, huh?” I asked with a grin.
“Feedback: I have. This test is a net gain for you, no matter how you look at it.”
“When you know the nature of the Grand Spell, it isn’t that strange. Its task is to protect Kirios, we are its tools. Its purpose is to make us stronger. I’ve been looking at the trials and the rifts wrong. They are dangerous, they kill—too many perhaps—but they also allow the lucky or the capable to rise faster and higher.”
“Statement: It would seem so.”
“What I’m worried is that it had decided to implement all these changes now, in this Expansion Interval. That it had brought over two worlds is already a big deviation. It almost makes me think that it believes it will need more people.”
“Query: You believe that the threat of its enemy, the blight, is rising?”
“I don’t know,” I shook my head. Maybe I’m just imagining things. The message that I recovered on Ish Vimza was beyond ancient. The Blight and what lurked beyond this world’s skies had been there for a long time. It was almost arrogant to think that now that we were here things would change.
I shook my head and walked over to gather my reward, another handful of gemstones, then I continued to the stairs, climbing up to the next floor.
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I climbed ten more floors before I reached anything that was even slightly challenging, and even then, it was just a ferrorn. I dispatched with just a small bite on my thigh, which healed quickly enough.
“If the difficulty curve continues as it has so far, it will be a while before we get anything really dangerous.”
“Statement: The trial is supposed to last for days. It’s only been a few hours.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I waved my hand in agreement. “I’ve just been expecting something a bit more challenging.”
As if my words insulted the world, it decided in that moment to prove me wrong.
“You hear that?” I said as a loud rumbling noise came from behind me and the door, I entered the room through.
“Feedback: Yes.”
It was faint, which meant that it was far away, but it sounded a lot like moving water. I rushed down the stairs, heading down the rooms that I’ve cleared. I made it through seven rooms before I found the source. Water was rising through the entrance on the other side, bubbling up and flooding the floor.
“Right,” I said. “Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.”
Now it became a race. I had to clear the rooms fast enough to stay ahead of the water.
I rushed back up and continued.
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I increased my pace, clearing the rooms faster and faster. The rewards hadn’t changed much from the start, being mostly gemstones, though now they’d changed to E grade and then to D. I’ve also gotten a small rucksack, which let me carry them all easier. My backpack was borrowed from Jiyun who stayed behind, since I lost mine in the previous trial.
It was a day later that the rooms started getting harder. The ones where I had to learn something were the most time consuming, though my Ornament of the Practical Student had gained five carvings putting it at First Investment; Fifth Carving, and though I didn’t get any new skills my Esoteric rating changed from C to B.
I’ve also gotten a couple rooms with puzzles, like one that had three exits each with the writing above it saying that a different one was the real exit. I’ve been able to use my [One Truth Verified] skill on those, but I lost a lot of time there when I had to use it more than once, the cooldown wasn’t short.
That was when the water nearly caught up to me, which prompted me to blast through the next rooms as fast as possible.
I spent another day just cutting my way through beasts, simple puzzles, and learning different things. One room had instructions to teach me sewing—it was almost nonsensical. Yet, it did follow certain patterns, and the rooms were getting more and more difficult as I went up.
By the time the third day came I’ve lost count of rooms. The rush of water behind me was a low thrum that was constantly assaulting my senses. My ears were far too sensitive and could pick it up even when I was dozens of rooms ahead. It was starting to gnaw at my thoughts.
So, irritated, I stepped onto another floor and paused. This one was a lot larger with a taller ceiling. But what drew my attention was what awaited me inside.
A being stood across of me, wearing dark gray metal armor elaborately adorned with dark blue motifs in shapes of clouds and lightning. It covered the being whole and was a lot more form fitting than what ancient human armor looked like.
He, and I was pretty sure that it was a he, had no helmet on his face. The weapon in his right hand was sword-like, about as long as my entire arm, a slightly curved blade that wasn’t even as wide as two of my fingers put together, and incredibly thin.
He was just slightly shorter than me and had long white hair pulled back into a braid. His eyes were stormy, dark blue and crackled with faint light as if lightning was flashing deep within. His ears were elongated and his skin light gray, making him an elf.
“You’ve come, foe, I’ve been waiting. You resemble an elf, though I see you are not.”
I took a step closer, one hand tightly gripping my weapon as I dropped my supplies and rewards to the floor behind me.
“You’ve been waiting?” I asked, confused. Did the floors intersect somehow?
“Yes,” the elf said simply.
“How are you here? We’re supposed to have a grace period, elves aren’t supposed to be able to interfere yet.”
The elf tilted his head. “Ah, this is an Expansion Interval then. So, another has come after the dwarves, it is as the seers have foretold.”
I blinked, there was a lot of information in his answer. Dwarves? They were the second race added to Kirios, just after the elves. If that was the last Expansion Interval he remembered then... “You—who are you? How are you here?”
“I do not know how I came to this place. One moment I was on the field of battle, and in the next I was here, all my wounds no more. I only know that I am supposed to wait for a foe, and fight with all the strength I have.”
My eyes widened as I realized the truth. There were two options. Either the Grand Spell had kidnapped someone, or this man was a copy, the same as Shadow. Someone that had lived a long time ago, who the Grand Spell had recreated just to test me.
I didn’t know how to react. Was I just supposed to fight this person? I could sense the power in his blood, could smell it. He was definitely in his Fourth Investment, and according to Shadow that was a moment when people became truly powerful, it was a tier that made a qualitative change in a person’s being.
“Must we fight?” I asked as I got ready.
“I have no choice in the matter. And you and your companion seem powerful, it will be an honor to cross blades.”
The same as Shadow, he had to be an amalgamation of memories and Grand Spell’s own designs. I rolled my shoulders, glanced at Saia who had grown significantly in the last two days, enough that she could offer me some protection now.
“Saia, armor,” I said, and she flowed over me, changing and shaping a suit of silver armor. The first thing she created was a skintight suit over my body, then came the thicker plate. Then another layer rippled over me looking like corder ropes of muscle, with solid lines of metal wrapping around muscle groups and important areas like my spine. Another layer rippled out over my upper torso and neck, protecting it.
She didn’t make me a helmet, as she still hasn’t figured out how to filter for my senses fully, so having it would reduce my natural advantages significantly.
“That is amazing, I’ve fought a dragon once, to see—ah.”
I tilted my head. “What?”
“That is all I may say, it seems.”
Like Shadow, he too was limited in what he could reveal.
“How long ago did your kind arrive on Kirios?” I asked instead, wondering if he would be able to reveal that.
The elf furrowed his brow, then answered. “Three thousand years.”
I nearly whistled, he was ancient. It’s been tens of thousands of years since then. I realized that I was looking forward to this.
“I don’t really want to fight you, but I need to keep climbing. What are the rules of the fight?”
“You give up, die, or you kill me.”
I glanced behind him to the round plate next to the closed exit. I could walk up to it and place my hand on it to leave the challenge at any time.
“You can’t submit?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I must fight with all that I have, to the death.”
I smiled at him, showing fangs. If that’s how it’s going be, well, I had no choice. “It’s going to be an honor to fight you. My name is… The Star That Dances In Blood Beneath the Light of the Broken Moon.”
The elf blinked then inclined his head. “I am Knight Lord Saevel of the Stormhome. May you always weather the storms.”
With that he took a single step back, and took a sideways stance, his blade pointed at the ground.
With that the fight was on.
I leaned forward, then kicked off the ground so hard that the stone cracked. I lunged across the distance, stabbing forward with my serpent-tongue spear.
I surprised the elf, I could see it in his eyes, he hadn’t expected my speed. Just as the tip of my blade was about to hit, he moved out of the way.
I felt skills being activated, but only barely. His skill use didn’t ripple into the Way like others, I couldn’t get any sense of what they were.
Before I could even react, his blade parried my spear sending the tip upward and then kicked me in the stomach. I grunted and took a few steps back before catching myself.
“You’re heavier than you look,” Saevel commented as he looked at me from above the blade of his sword. “And faster, stronger. You didn’t use skills. Your kind are naturally that strong or you have an incredible assortment of passive skills.”
He attacked immediately after, his form blurring forward and his blade singing through the air. I swung to block, but his blade shimmered as if it was made out of light and passed through my block.
I wrenched to the side, two strikes hit my torso and shoulder, nicking Saia’s armor, but failing to punch through. The last nearly took my eye, but I twisted my head out of the way and only got a cut on my cheek. I dashed back, putting some distance between us.
“You didn’t use your skills,” he commented as he kept his blade pointed at me, his eyes peeking just above it.
He had dismantled me in that exchange. I was faster and stronger, and it didn’t matter. He wove his skills in his movements in a way that I hadn’t seen before.
This was a man who had fully mastered his Mask and his fighting style. I might be a vampire, physically superior to him, but I would have to do a lot better if I was going to win.
“Didn’t think I needed them,” I spat, wiping the blood from my cheek with no trace of the wound. It was a lie, but I didn’t want him to know that I just didn’t think of it in the moment. He raised an eyebrow at that, his eyes looking at my cheek.
Saevel smiled, a cold, predatory grin that made my heart pound. “Well, let’s see them then.”
He vanished. Not in a blur, but literally blinked out of existence as a bright light filled my vision and made me turn away. My blood ran cold. I spun just as the crack of thunder nearly shattered my eardrums, my spear was ready, my senses straining. The light was assaulting my eyes still, but now I saw the lines of movement. I whirled, thrusting blindly.
Nothing.
Then a searing pain in my back. I stumbled forward, choking on a cry. Saevel reappeared in front of me, stepping out of the lightning, his blade dripping crimson. He looked at his blade with a strange look on his face. “Less blood than I expected.”
Fear rose up inside of me. And not the usual instinctual that told me when danger was coming. This was something else, a deep fear that I was just not good enough. That I wouldn’t be able to win because he was just more skilled than me.
I roared, fury eclipsing pain, and drowning the fear. I lunged, abandoning all thoughts of defense, settling in the Scarlet Moon Style. I wasn’t going to be defeated, no matter what. He met me head-on, his movements a symphony of deadly grace. Each parry, each feint, a calculated dance designed to break me. His technique was flawless, his every movement precise. It put my technique to shame. I was a vampire, my movements were perfectly coordinated, my control was flawless, and yet before him I appeared as a child attempting to dance.
His skills pulsed across the Way, but I couldn’t grasp them. At best I got a moment’s notice before he used them.
With every exchange I came out the loser. I was bleeding from a dozen wounds, but I refused to yield, to stop. Every time he struck; I struck back harder. A single blow would kill him, and I could tell that he knew that. He couldn’t win in a conflict of might, but he evaded, deflected, parried. It was… annoying, and it only served to fuel my fear. Every time he vanished, I anticipated his return, learning his rhythm. He dealt me a dozen strikes that would’ve crippled anybody else, but not a vampire.
He was learning, realizing that putting me down wasn’t going to be that easy. With every next strike he tested a different target, almost as if he was timing how long each wound took me to heal.
I attacked, and he slipped away, his body moving as fast as lightning, and I knew that I couldn’t let this continue. I reacted.
[Mist Step]
I jumped backward, turning to mist and passing through his attack and flowing over his body. I reformed behind him, my blade ready for the attack.
[Blood Empowerment]
[Overburn Skill—Greater Stab]
The attack that was supposed to pierce him straight through the center of his back, instead found his shoulder as he twisted aside. I pushed my blade in, intent on cutting deeper, but he suddenly got faster and dashed forward faster than I pushed, he slid himself off the blade in a feat of precision that I envied.
He jumped away, twisted in the air and while flying touched a hand to his chest. He pulled out a smooth Mask, gray with blue lightning bolts painted on its surface, and slid it over his face. I reached for my own chest, but lightning struck me, sending me flying back until I hit the wall behind.
He was in front of me, his blade flashing with speed and accuracy that made my own look clumsy. I protected my head, letting him carve up my body instead.
I knew that I couldn’t let his attacks keep coming, and the thirst sang inside of my mind.
I roared and pushed forward, swinging widely with speed that eclipsed his. My veins bulged as my blood burned inside of my veins, making me stronger. He danced to the side, twisting and attacking behind himself blindly. I let him hit me, his blade cutting into my side. I dropped my elbow, trapping his sword in my body.
A tiny ripple in the Way betrayed him activating a skill. I didn’t hesitate.
[Swap Profile]
[Slash]
I cut from above, my weapon’s long reach catching the elf as he dropped his weapon and tried to evade my strike. I channeled every ounce of vampire strength I had, my armor, Saia, tightened as the coils of artificial muscle augmented me further. Saevel’s eyes widened in disbelief behind his Mask as my blade cut through his collarbone and down into his chest.
Time seemed to slow; the lightning flashed in his eyes then winked out. His eyes met mine and his Mask slipped from his face to reveal his lips turned up in a smile.
“Well… fought,” he whispered. Then, the life drained from his eyes. He fell, his body dissolving in light and vanishing along with the weapon still stuck in my body.
Silence.
I fell to my knees, blood seeping out of my wounds. I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. I won.