Azrie Part 2/2
◇ ◇ ◇
[Wakey, Wakey, Blair!] I awoke to Glim’s usual alarm.
And through my hazy vision I saw green, a shadow— a figure. She was looking down on me, I was unsure if she was displeased or angry, or even amused considering her curled lips.
“You’re finally awake,” she sighed. “You were trying to cross the border right? Walked right into that ambush.”
“Huh?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.
She coughed. “I said. You were testing your Prophecy across the room right? I walked right into those seeds.” She pointed to the door, where a mess of seeds was present.
I slowly regained my wits, realizing that I had made a mess out of the room I was provided.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s fine.” She interrupted. “Based on the dead tree and the lack of mana potions I can tell it was fruitful.”
“It was,” I admitted. “Sorry about the… mess. I thought—well rather, when do I have to go?”
Elasia pondered. Her outfit seemed rather casual this time around. “Maybe in about eight hours from now? Time inside the Skirmish is still ticking after all, technically speaking the minimum period is twenty-four hours total and the maximum is forty-eight, so if you want you can stay here until the Skirmish ends. Perhaps get to know me.” She smiled awkwardly.
“It’s fine, I’d like to leave as soon as possible. My level is still… stagnant.”
“Ah right, yeah…” She awkwardly scratched her head. “I just remembered, you have some quests right?”
I had a brief pause remembering Lumina’s quest. “Yeah.”
“You should’ve completed the quest of getting a Prophecy now.”
I recalled for a second, looking through the notifications.
[You have completed — A Dream Of Stars (Rare D): Once upon a time the stars seemed so distant, but with the Inspiration of the Universe, constellations interconnected to create a unique fate. One to soar above the stars. Reward: Trial Pass. Condition: Claim a Prophecy to call your own. (1/1)]
I claimed the reward, and a small card popped into existence, slowly coming to my hand.
[Trial Pass (Epic) — Skip to the end of any trial, rewards are the lowest possible. If there is no low reward, receive none.]
“So, that card, well you’ll need it.” She shrugged. “Maybe not for the trial I’ll give you, but maybe for a different one.”
“Trial you’ll give me?” I asked with confusion.
She grabbed a small crystal from her pocket and tossed it to me. It was a pitch black and inside, it had an orange nebula of flickering lights.
[Trial Teleport — The Illusionist’s Playground: Trial Of Endurance. Estimated rank: D.]
As soon as I read the words Trial Of Endurance I shivered, painful memories coming back to me for a second before I stopped them.
“Is this, that trial?”
“It’s the real version of that trial. You’ll most likely need to do it to get stronger at some point. Ah, fair warning, this one does not give you infinite mana or abilities, but it does give you experience points and loot.”
“I figured.” Closing my eyes, I stowed the crystal into the far corners of the ring. Hopefully never to be seen.
“Ah,” she gasped. “He is really sorry, you know? It’s just, he never thought you would be E rank. D ranked beings just have better mana capacity and manipulation, so getting that many perception skills should be instinctual to them.”
I frowned. “So because I am E rank I am just a disappointment?”
“The contrary.” She shook her head. “Do not dwell on that. Now, how about we go back to the Fangtooth monsters? Before you have to leave.”
My mood was sour, but I still agreed.
◇ ◇ ◇
I stood back in the familiar room, this time with a spear on my back, a bow in hand, and a quiver full of plant arrows at reach. The golems still stood at the sides of the room, unmoving and unassuming. I had yet to see another person in the building and The Illusionist was nowhere to be seen, or maybe he was just invisible to me for all I knew.
“Ready?” Elasia the secretary asked from behind me. I felt her mood to be rather casual today, not even a trace of reverence for The Illusionist, but maybe it was better for me to get familiar with her.
“I’m ready,” I confirmed, nocking a Lyco Puff arrow.
There were a few things I wanted to try. I used Power Draw on the string, and laced the arrow full of mana with Explosive Shot. I also felt the seeds within it. She snapped her fingers, and the familiar Fangtooth monster appeared.
[Toothless Fangtooth. Lvl. 42]
Toothless Fangtooh, I corrected myself inwardly as I shot the arrow. There was no barrier this time around. A gust of wind broke through the air, the arrow became nothing but a green flash and I felt the lingering connections with the seeds. In an instant, it hit the monster, breaking out into a green explosion, but it remained, the mana remained—
Bloom. I felt the mushrooms grow at the edges of the explosion, some badly damaged, but mana remained within, small traces like wisps, remainders of what was once the Explosive Arrow— Explode.
They broke into a cloud of toxic spores, a chain explosion, gas filled the air once more, showering the monster that was now limping. It was missing a leg from the arrow, and as soon as the spores began to fill its lungs it began shrieking—screaming in pain, thrashing on the ground with no capability to fight back.
I heard another finger snap, and the monster was consumed onto the ground.
“It was a fruitful night indeed.”
I simply stared. I could’ve killed it with one more arrow. My mana was— it was I had most of my mana left? Huh… Just— how strong had I gotten from becoming a Champion and receiving a Prophecy?
I thought for a few seconds, pondering about the arrows I could now use—the utility I had. Somehow, it was a different contrast to think about the types of arrows that I could use rather than seed multi-tasking, somehow the arrows just felt right in their simplicity. They were straightforward, they were—just perfect. But at the same time something felt odd about my Prophecy, in comparison to the two I saw with the Emperor, why was mine so… Simple? Simple wasn’t the right word, it was simply closer to more versatile. I had more abilities from the get-go.
“I see you seem a bit confused?” Elasia asked inquisitively.
I fiddled with an arrow from my storage ring, I no longer had any quiver to carry or things—they all were held within the ring. The weight of the ring when taking it off was definitely noticeable, but as soon as I got used to wearing it, it just faded into nothingness.
“The Prophecy,” I began, taking a deep breath. “Compared to the ones I’ve seen, it just seems stronger… Or rather, more versatile.”
I looked back to Elasia, her golden eyes closed as she began to laugh.
“Oh, initiators are always funny. Blair, the thing with Prophecies is that one makes their own value. If one isn’t creative enough then they might stagnate.” She wiped her cheek. “That said, a lot of them tend to have vague concepts, so generally their skills are learnt from level ups rather than one’s own inspiration. The Guidance of the stars allows you to see some paths and alternatives to work towards.”
She finally stood normally. “The more skills you learn of your Prophecy the clearer the path becomes, and once you understand what comes after in the tier, that’s when you can tier-up. What lies beyond the rank of your Prophecy.”
Tier up?
Azrie Part 2/2
◇ ◇ ◇
[Wakey, Wakey, Blair!] I awoke to Glim’s usual alarm.
And through my hazy vision I saw green, a shadow— a figure. She was looking down on me, I was unsure if she was displeased or angry, or even amused considering her curled lips.
“You’re finally awake,” she sighed. “You were trying to cross the border right? Walked right into that ambush.”
“Huh?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.
She coughed. “I said. You were testing your Prophecy across the room right? I walked right into those seeds.” She pointed to the door, where a mess of seeds was present.
I slowly regained my wits, realizing that I had made a mess out of the room I was provided.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s fine.” She interrupted. “Based on the dead tree and the lack of mana potions I can tell it was fruitful.”
“It was,” I admitted. “Sorry about the… mess. I thought—well rather, when do I have to go?”
Elasia pondered. Her outfit seemed rather casual this time around. “Maybe in about eight hours from now? Time inside the Skirmish is still ticking after all, technically speaking the minimum period is twenty-four hours total and the maximum is forty-eight, so if you want you can stay here until the Skirmish ends. Perhaps get to know me.” She smiled awkwardly.
“It’s fine, I’d like to leave as soon as possible. My level is still… stagnant.”
“Ah right, yeah…” She awkwardly scratched her head. “I just remembered, you have some quests right?”
I had a brief pause remembering Lumina’s quest. “Yeah.”
“You should’ve completed the quest of getting a Prophecy now.”
I recalled for a second, looking through the notifications.
[You have completed — A Dream Of Stars (Rare D): Once upon a time the stars seemed so distant, but with the Inspiration of the Universe, constellations interconnected to create a unique fate. One to soar above the stars. Reward: Trial Pass. Condition: Claim a Prophecy to call your own. (1/1)]
I claimed the reward, and a small card popped into existence, slowly coming to my hand.
[Trial Pass (Epic) — Skip to the end of any trial, rewards are the lowest possible. If there is no low reward, receive none.]
“So, that card, well you’ll need it.” She shrugged. “Maybe not for the trial I’ll give you, but maybe for a different one.”
“Trial you’ll give me?” I asked with confusion.
She grabbed a small crystal from her pocket and tossed it to me. It was a pitch black and inside, it had an orange nebula of flickering lights.
[Trial Teleport — The Illusionist’s Playground: Trial Of Endurance. Estimated rank: D.]
As soon as I read the words Trial Of Endurance I shivered, painful memories coming back to me for a second before I stopped them.
“Is this, that trial?”
“It’s the real version of that trial. You’ll most likely need to do it to get stronger at some point. Ah, fair warning, this one does not give you infinite mana or abilities, but it does give you experience points and loot.”
“I figured.” Closing my eyes, I stowed the crystal into the far corners of the ring. Hopefully never to be seen.
“Ah,” she gasped. “He is really sorry, you know? It’s just, he never thought you would be E rank. D ranked beings just have better mana capacity and manipulation, so getting that many perception skills should be instinctual to them.”
I frowned. “So because I am E rank I am just a disappointment?”
“The contrary.” She shook her head. “Do not dwell on that. Now, how about we go back to the Fangtooth monsters? Before you have to leave.”
My mood was sour, but I still agreed.
◇ ◇ ◇
I stood back in the familiar room, this time with a spear on my back, a bow in hand, and a quiver full of plant arrows at reach. The golems still stood at the sides of the room, unmoving and unassuming. I had yet to see another person in the building and The Illusionist was nowhere to be seen, or maybe he was just invisible to me for all I knew.
“Ready?” Elasia the secretary asked from behind me. I felt her mood to be rather casual today, not even a trace of reverence for The Illusionist, but maybe it was better for me to get familiar with her.
“I’m ready,” I confirmed, nocking a Lyco Puff arrow.
There were a few things I wanted to try. I used Power Draw on the string, and laced the arrow full of mana with Explosive Shot. I also felt the seeds within it. She snapped her fingers, and the familiar Fangtooth monster appeared.
[Toothless Fangtooth. Lvl. 42]
Toothless Fangtooh, I corrected myself inwardly as I shot the arrow. There was no barrier this time around. A gust of wind broke through the air, the arrow became nothing but a green flash and I felt the lingering connections with the seeds. In an instant, it hit the monster, breaking out into a green explosion, but it remained, the mana remained—
Bloom. I felt the mushrooms grow at the edges of the explosion, some badly damaged, but mana remained within, small traces like wisps, remainders of what was once the Explosive Arrow— Explode.
They broke into a cloud of toxic spores, a chain explosion, gas filled the air once more, showering the monster that was now limping. It was missing a leg from the arrow, and as soon as the spores began to fill its lungs it began shrieking—screaming in pain, thrashing on the ground with no capability to fight back.
I heard another finger snap, and the monster was consumed onto the ground.
“It was a fruitful night indeed.”
I simply stared. I could’ve killed it with one more arrow. My mana was— it was I had most of my mana left? Huh… Just— how strong had I gotten from becoming a Champion and receiving a Prophecy?
I thought for a few seconds, pondering about the arrows I could now use—the utility I had. Somehow, it was a different contrast to think about the types of arrows that I could use rather than seed multi-tasking, somehow the arrows just felt right in their simplicity. They were straightforward, they were—just perfect. But at the same time something felt odd about my Prophecy, in comparison to the two I saw with the Emperor, why was mine so… Simple? Simple wasn’t the right word, it was simply closer to more versatile. I had more abilities from the get-go.
“I see you seem a bit confused?” Elasia asked inquisitively.
I fiddled with an arrow from my storage ring, I no longer had any quiver to carry or things—they all were held within the ring. The weight of the ring when taking it off was definitely noticeable, but as soon as I got used to wearing it, it just faded into nothingness.
“The Prophecy,” I began, taking a deep breath. “Compared to the ones I’ve seen, it just seems stronger… Or rather, more versatile.”
I looked back to Elasia, her golden eyes closed as she began to laugh.
“Oh, initiators are always funny. Blair, the thing with Prophecies is that one makes their own value. If one isn’t creative enough then they might stagnate.” She wiped her cheek. “That said, a lot of them tend to have vague concepts, so generally their skills are learnt from level ups rather than one’s own inspiration. The Guidance of the stars allows you to see some paths and alternatives to work towards.”
She finally stood normally. “The more skills you learn of your Prophecy the clearer the path becomes, and once you understand what comes after in the tier, that’s when you can tier-up. What lies beyond the rank of your Prophecy.”
Tier up?
