Chapter 11

Energized Haymaker [ Uncommon ] Why strike the enemy many times, when one sufficiently powerful strike will do the job? When activated, Energized Haymaker floods the desired fist with energy, delivering a devastating blow that can pierce even the strongest of defenses.

Feather Step [ Uncommon ] On your feet, you’re as light as a feather. When activated, Feather Step lightens the weight of your steps to almost nothing, without affecting the weight you put behind your attacks.

Infallible Eye [ Rare ] You won’t fall for cheap tricks, not when your eyes shine yellow. When activated, Infallible Eye sees through illusions and other tricks, exposing your enemies for what they are.

Faux Core [ Elite ] Circulating System energy comes naturally to you, so much so that you formed a Faux Core. Passively absorbs energy from the atmosphere that can be converted into Mana, Stamina, and Health to regenerate lost points.

Expedited Retreat [ Elite ] Killing you is no easy task. When activated, Expedited Retreat surrounds you in a defensive orb whilst increasing your movement speed by 50%. Unable to attack or use any other Skill during the Skill’s duration.

Aaron’s brows perked as he read through the Skills on offer. Elite sounded good. Was that the kind of rewards the System provided people for taking out something like the orc champion on level 9?

“Color me impressed,” he murmured, already deciding against the Uncommon Skills. Not because either of them sounded particularly bad, but just kind of average.

Infallible Eye actually sounded very good, even if he could sense System energy. As honed as his skill was, Aaron was fairly certain the multiverse was home to all kinds, including powerful illusionists who could deceive him. Still, it didn’t really make him stronger, which was what he needed right now. What if he didn’t meet any illusionists? The skill would be useless.

Next, he arrived at Faux Core. This sounded pretty damn good, he had to admit. It essentially sounded like a regen Skill for all three resources that he depended on. Not only that, but it sounded like he might be able to use it with his energy trick. If that were the case, that would be immensely useful, both for the trials and potentially after.

But he couldn’t make a decision without considering all of his options, so he continued down to Expedited Retreat. He realized that this skill was actually extremely good. In fact, it was probably the best Skill, the more he thought about it. From what he had gleaned from Douglas, there were all kinds of extremely powerful entities in the multiverse, and even the most powerful and gifted often fall at some point. With a Skill like this, he would be able to survive all kinds of dangerous situations. However, was it helpful in the trials where he would just respawn? Aaron reminded himself that no matter how good he was at escaping, he still needed to keep passing trials if he didn’t want to leave this place a weakling, and that meant getting stronger.

This was probably the most uncertain he had been when making a Skill selection, but after a long moment of contemplation, he decided to go with Faux Core. Ultimately, he had to scale the trials before worrying about what was beyond them. Keeping his eye on the prize, and all that.

With his decision made, he placed the orc banner down in the hallway and decided to go check out his other rewards.

“Wait, seriously? You can own entire worlds?”

“Not just worlds,” Douglas sighed. “There are empires that rule multiple sectors in the multiverse. In fact, once the decree is lifted, your little world isn’t likely to remain independent for long, if it doesn’t manage to conquer another world or two.”

“Geez, that’s really something to take in,” Aaron said contemplatively as he stuffed fries into his mouth and nodded enthusiastically.

“You have a lot to learn, and unfortunately, you missed the tutorial.”

“Thanks, Douglas. I really needed that pointed out. Anyway, I’m not doing so bad, am I? I mean, look at me; I already have three stages to my name. That ain’t so bad.”

“How in the endless multiverse did you pass that stage anyway? Even stage one of the Trial of Domination requires defeating at least one E-grade warrior. Beating the shadow was impressive, considering who it was. But still, it was downgraded to an F-grade for the purposes of the trial.”

“E-grade?” Aaron raised a brow.

“Yes, like on your status page. You’re barely middle F-grade. How could you possibly pull that off? What tricks did you play?”

“None. I just beat the hell out of that orc chieftain with my own brawn and determination.”

“Ch-chieftain?” Douglas stuttered. “That thing would have been Middle E-grade… that’s… at your stage,” he shook his head as if dumbfounded. “Not possible. Tell me, how’d you do it?”

“Well, it wasn’t easy,” Aaron said, leaning back in his chair with a smug grin. “But like I keep telling you, I’m persistent.”

“Fine, maybe you have a little more potential than I first thought.”

“That’s the second time you’ve said something like that. And you know what? I’m enjoying every second of it.”

“I suppose I deserve that. You’re far more persistent than I could have imagined. Most don’t take too well to dying, even if it isn’t permanent. It has a nasty habit of leaving scars, the mental kind. I’ve seen more than my fair share of world-conquering champions arrive here, just to have their spirits broken by a handful of deaths in the trials. The verdict is still out on you, but I must say that I’m impressed that you’re able to keep going. It’s weird, almost scarily so.”

“You think? Is it really that weird? I mean, it’s not like I’m actually dying.”

“The fact that you even said that makes it even weirder. There’s no trick to this place; you have truly died, each and every time. How is it possible, after so many hundreds or even thousands of deaths, that you have not noticed it? The death is real. Every. Single. Time. This place was created via a combination of godly powers and a System quest that empowered it with the energy of the System itself. That’s what makes it so special. There’s a barrier around this place that prevents your soul from escaping, and then the power of the System itself rebuilds your body and pulls your soul back into it. Not to mention all the other System nonsense that keeps track of your gear and ensures you’re dressed when you wake up. What you have been experiencing really is true death, and somehow, it doesn’t seem to even faze you in the slightest. It is beyond strange. It is insanity. Oh, forget it, I’ve said too much anyway.”

“Wait, no, you haven’t! Go on! I want to hear more!”

“Sorry, I got ahead of myself. I’m not supposed to divulge information about the Shadow Trials themselves. It just… You are an anomaly.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“In your current situation, I suppose it is, yes.”

“Why’d you have to go saying it like that? Is it going to be bad when I get out of here?”

Douglas shrugged.

“C’mon! I thought we were buddies now?”

“You thought wrong.”

“You don’t have a lot of friends, do you, Douglas?”

“I’m an eternal being stuck in this trial for relative infants, what do you think?”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

“Okay, when you put it like that. Sorry, buddy, I’m rooting for you.”

“That won’t be necessary. Just continue your trials, and I’ll continue doing my job.”

Who’d have thought I’d end up feeling bad for Douglas?

The assistant had given him a lot of food for thought, not that he knew what to do with it. For now, all he knew to do was return to breaking his way through the trials.

Aaron had grown significantly from his fight with the orc champion. The levels were nice, but it was his ability to control his energy that was the real upgrade. It might have even been enough of an upgrade to get through one of the trials he previously believed impossible, especially with his new Skill.

Without further delay, Aaron put all ten free points into Fortitude. While he wasn’t sure if the aether was the move in the long term, he knew that Stamina would be a persistent issue. He could make his movements as efficient as he wanted and use aether to boost his power, but if he wanted to outlast opponents dozens of levels higher than him, he needed more raw Stamina. Plus, if he figured out how to move like the orcs, he could probably use his Stamina for other physical skills. Agility would probably remain his mainstay, at least in the near future, but it didn’t matter how fast he could move if he could only do it a couple of times, so investing a bit in Fortitude was necessary as well.

Satisfied with his decision, Aaron glanced over his status screen.

[ Name: Aaron Dober ]

[ Age: 23 ]

[ Race: Human ]

[ Grade: F ]

[ HP: 500 ]

[ MP: 500 ]

[ SP: 1600 ]

[ Class: Brawler, lvl 11 ]

[ Profession: -, lvl 0 ]

[ Stats ]

[ Strength: 29 (+7) ]

[ Vitality: 5 (+5) ]

[ Fortitude: 16 (+6) ]

[ Dexterity: 35 (+7) ]

[ Agility: 47 (+8) ]

[ Intelligence: 5 (+5) ]

[ Willpower: 5 (+5) ]

[ Charisma: 5 (+5) ]

[ Perception: 5 (+5) ]

[ Titles: Shadow Trials Trailblazer ]

[ Traits: - ]

[ Racial Skills: Inspect ]

[ Profession Passive Skills (0/3): - ]

[ Profession Active Skills (0/6): - ]

[ Class Passive Skills (1/3): Faux Core ]

[ Class Active Skills (2/6): Thick Skinned, Relentless Scourge ]

His Stats were looking better, but he needed to focus on getting his Vitality and Fortitude higher. His control over his body meant that he didn’t need as many Stamina Points as most likely did, but its relatively low number was still a problem. If he could increase those numbers high enough, he could use his precision and control of aether to fuel himself in battle far longer, and in doing so, bridge the gap between him and higher-level individuals.

It’s going to be a long road, but I can do this.

Aaron defiantly nodded and closed his status screen. It was time to get back to work, but not before checking out his latest unlock.

The doors opened for him as he walked into the System store, and sitting behind a shop counter that looked as if it could have been plucked straight out of a 7-Eleven was a strange, human-sized elephant—except its eyes were huge, comically big, like a cartoon or a sugar glider. Oh, and it was purple.

“Welcome to the System store, multiverse denizen.”

“Hi… ahh…”

“Nigel, or Zoxilium Teffa Nigel, if you prefer my full name. Your Ligmen store manager. Now, is there anything I can get you?”

“Ligmen?” Aaron’s face scrunched up as he made sense of the bombardment of strange words.

“That’s what I am—a race of cosmic drifters. You’ve heard of us, no?”

Aaron shook his head.

“Oh, right. Integrated pre-FTL travel, huh? Well, we are a mystical species that float through the multiverse, traveling between the stars and feeding on errant energy. It probably sounds like a strange existence to you. Through our unique connection to System energy, many of us have found a way to coexist with the System's features. And because of that, we end up in places like this.”

It sounded strange, alright, but no stranger than an alien race describing themselves as mystical, Aaron thought. But it was no weirder than anything else, and so he just kind of went with it.

“Yeah, definitely sounds strange,” Aaron nodded.

“No stranger than your existence sounds to me, let me assure you.”

“Yeah, well, my life has really taken a turn, that much is certain. To think, I’m not even bothered by meeting some space-drifting alien.”

“Optimistic, I love to see it. Now, is there anything I can help you with?”

“Yeah, um, what can I purchase here anyway?”

“We have a selection of unique items found in no other System store, as long as you have the SC.”

“SC?”

“System credits.”

“Oh…”

The alien raised a wiry, purple brow. “Are you short on credits?”

“Well, that depends on how you define short,” Aaron smiled sheepishly. “As in, I have none.”

“How? How did you get in here without a single SC?”

“It’s a long story.”

“That’s most unfortunate. Well, if you manage to come by any, be sure to stop by.”

“You don’t happen to know if it’s possible to get SC in the trials?”

“Unfortunately, I believe it isn’t. However, maybe another trial taker will be willing to buy something off you?”

“Right,” Aaron nodded, thoughtfully scratching his chin. “And I don’t suppose you can trade with me?”

“No, I’m afraid not. I strictly sell. The limited catalog I have on offer is part of the reward for getting this far. But don’t worry, at stage one my store is fairly bleak anyway.”

“At stage one?”

“Has that old bastard Douglas not explained how the rooms work?”

“Eh, not really. We got off on a bit of a rough foot, so to speak. We’re patching things up now, though.”

“I see. Well, defeating the first stage of a trial unlocks a room, as you have seen. Completing each additional stage of said trial upgrades the room. At higher levels, I have some extraordinary items for sale. These are items that can be very tricky to get hold of in the multiverse, especially for progenitors from fledgling universes, which is what makes this place so special. However, usually, those who make it this far already have a small fortune saved up from the tutorial. Those quests love to pay out, and there’s not really anything to spend it on in the tutorial. Most who find themselves here are already loaded with a few million SC and have no idea what to do with it. So, when they walk through my doors and see the amazing items for sale, it’s quite the treat.”

“A few million?! Oh, dammit,” Aaron groaned.

“Oh, don’t look so down. The fact that you made it here is an achievement in and of itself. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of opportunities in the future.”

That made Aaron want to groan again, but he held it in. This was hardly the worst surprise he had gotten since arriving here, and it wouldn’t break his spirit any more than the trials could.

“I guess I’m going to go and drown my sorrows in another trial.”

“I hope to see you back here again with some SC,” waved the alien’s stumpy hand as Aaron left with a depressed slump to his gait.

It seemed that he wasn’t going to be getting anything from the store, at least not for now. He had the banner, which he didn’t need, and maybe he’d be done with the Focus Stone and Gi by the time someone else rocked up. Then again, what if they got the same quest rewards? Aaron realized he needed the question answered and went looking for Douglas, whom he found sitting idly in the dining hall—apparently, he wasn’t even allowed to use rooms until at least one trial taker had unlocked them.

“What do you want?”

“You know the quest rewards for the trial stages?”

“Yes, of course I do.”

“Well, are the rewards the same for everyone?”

“No, of course not. Do you really think a place as amazing as this would be that cheap? Every reward is unique—a gift selected from a store of special prizes. Some are even specially tailored for the recipient from the System itself, which is true of the multiverse in general. Except here, the System is a little more generous. Anyone who finds themselves here is assumed to be a generational talent who has put in tremendous amounts of work. And as such, most of the rewards the System provides here are far more tailored to their needs than normal quests, which can sometimes provide questionable results.”

“I see, that’s pretty cool. So, it gave me this stuff because I needed it?”

Aaron realized that this place was more of a reward than he had given it credit for. That might have seemed obvious, looking from the outside, since that was the entire purpose of the Shadow Trials. But Aaron had believed his untimely arrival had been unfortunate. To be fair, the trials had been no walk in the park, and there was still no guarantee he would be able to keep up with his peers who were currently taking the tutorial. But still, if the System was really looking out for him, maybe this was the best place to be? Or at least, it made him feel good thinking about it that way.

I’ve done incredible things since I’ve been here. I’ve defeated challenges and monsters I had no right beating. And I’m stronger for it.

The feeling running through him was beyond determination. It wasn’t just trying to prove Douglas wrong or wanting to avoid slavery. Knowing that the tutorial was helping him lifted him up a bit, almost enough to forget that it had screwed him out of SC for the store. That said, it gave him a strange rush of confidence.

Aaron clenched his fists as he marched toward the trials. It wasn’t just about surviving anymore. He wanted to prove himself. See how far he could go. Oh, and that smug shadow. He really wanted to know what that smug guy’s problem was.

Time to test my new skill.