Quest Log Updated

Emergency Trial

Day 3

Congratulations, Survivors.

Reap those who have fallen,

More shall grow in their place.

Achievements shall be calculated

For Rewards.

19,496/36,471 Survivors

Survival Rating: Low-Medium

Clumps of light were scattered across the room, possessing a viscosity similar to water than energy. It made for a fitting environment to teach magic to a capable student.

Unfortunately, the whirlwind that was Castor was very distracting as he ran around through the living room and kitchen, using his fists and legs to blast the illusions away.

“Do you really have to practice your magic here, like that?“ Gabriella asked her sister, fed up with the distracting noise and lights.

“It’s okay, I think we’re done here.” Castor answered before Diana could speak up. He wiped the sweat off his brow, content with his progress.

Achievements Tallied!

1x Berserk Ghoul Slain

3x Skills Gained

1x Path Completed

Survived 2nd Level Affliction

(Party Multiplier)

155 Glint and 78 Shimmer

Rewarded

Unarmed Combat Proficiency Expanded!

Unranked 4

Blunt Weapon Proficiency Expanded!

Unranked 6

Castor Dark Human

Role:

Power:1.0 ???

Mind:0.2 ???

Attunement:1.5 ???

Twilight: 224G, 78Sh

RP:8/8

Abilities: Aural Synesthesia

Skill List: Alter (Ra), Blunt Weapon Proficiency (Ba), Intuition (Uc), Bond (Inc), Unarmed Combat Proficiency (Ba), Perseverance (Uc)

Spell List:

Blue Canivora

Bloodline: Canine

RP:7/7

Skill List: Guard (Ba), Bite (Ba), Bond (Ra), Alter (Ra)

Spell List:Shadow Sneak (Ba)

It was a minor difference compared to the last 48 or so hours, but Castor felt a lot more confident in his strength.

Literally, He thought as he flexed his muscles, only feeling a minor stiffness after that workout. It was a little hard to believe he was more than three times stronger than before, and lifting Blue revealed his suspicions to be true.

Granted, lifting the canine over his head should have been much more challenging, but in no way did he feel like he could throw Blue with a flick of the wrist. Just holding him in one hand pushed him to his limits.

“What are you doing to that dog! You’re going to hurt him!” Gabriella yelled at Castor across the room, angrily approaching him instead of training with Micah—who held multiple swirling [Mana Bolt] between his palms, waiting for his student to return.

The dog in question turned his head, his confusion obvious even without it leaking through their bond.

“Relax, he was safe the entire time.” As if to punctuate, Castor tossed Blue into the air, who landed on his feet without skipping a beat.

“…Still, you shouldn’t throw your dog around like that.” She grumbled, before quickly taking her place back by the remnants of the dying fire.

Sure must be nice to be able to use magic. Castor thought wistfully. “Are you going to be able to keep up that light show for any longer, Diana?”

“Mhmm.” She mumbled as she stifled a yawn.

Just seeing her yawn made Castor tired. “Why don’t you take a nap by the fire?”

At the mere suggestion, Diana brightened. She immediately ran to her sister’s lap and followed Castor’s advice, immediately passing out.

“I can see how they’re sisters.” Castor smiled at the pair. Blue came at his unspoken call, rubbing against his knee in a way that just so happened to place himself directly in front of Castor. In the back of his mind, a stray thought drifted beyond his bond. A perfect position to be scratched.

“You’re so annoying.” Castor said affectionately, giving into your Blue’s demand. He didn’t necessarily need his hands for the next part.

Paths Revealed!

Forerunner (0/150Sh), Beginner (0/100),

Power Integration (0/30)

Twilight: 224G, 78Sh

Just looking at the amount of Twilight he had, Castor didn’t want to spare any points on paths he couldn’t complete. And that leaves two that I can finish. He poured the Twilight into Power Integration first, then Beginner.

Congratulations, Traveler!

The light that shines upon

you seeps into your bones

Your Power churns

Congratulations, Traveler!

Your light reveals the way

further down your path

Would you like to invest more Twilight?

Several prompts popped into his vision, the last menacingly blinking as if waiting on his decision. He paused, considering the benefits of being frugal, yet whatever imaginary future Castor could conjure up meant nothing to surviving in the present.

He accepted the investment.

224 Glint invested. Processing…

The prompt lingered for only a moment before being replaced by another.

Insufficient Twilight.

2nd Reward downgraded

A brilliant shower of light particles flashed in the room, which would’ve blinded him if he wasn’t prepared and didn’t look away. Two items coalesced in front of Castor; a dull rock not unlike his prior rewards and a white crystal.

Skill Shard: Aura Release (Uncommon)

(Active & Passive)

Skill Shard: Gather Aura (Uncommon)

(Inert)

“What do you got there?” Micah called out from the other side of the room, until Gabriella glared and shushed him.

“Just some new skills.” Castor whispered excitedly. He moved to sit next to the trio, showing Gabriella and Micah his new stones.

Blue didn’t bother to get up and was content with sleeping on the cold floor.

Micah whistled, loudly at first, then softly when the older sister glared at him again. “Maybe this is what you need to use magic.”

“You think so?” Castor asked hopefully.

“Either way, it’s worth a shot. I don’t think the system would dupe you.”

Castor nodded and crushed both the rocks in his hand, or at least he did try to crush them. Only one gave in to his attempt to use them.

Skill Shard Consumed. Skill Gained!

Aura Release (Uncommon)

Release your resource through your Aura

Scores: ATM, ???

Skill Shard Consumption Failed!

The stone sparked in his fist and crumbled to dust; buried in its ashes was the white crystal.

Castor furrowed his eyebrows, and checked his Status to be sure. “I got the Release skill, but the Gather skill failed.”

Micah adjusted his glasses in thought, “Maybe you can’t use more than one at a time.”

“Maybe… I’ll try again later.” Castor tucked away the crystal in his pocket.

“I just finished a path and got some decent boosts to my stats,” Micah spoke aloud to no one in particular. “Tomorrow I’ll go for something that seems like it would give me more spells.”

It was as good a plan as any other, if a little hopeful

The crackling of the dying fire transformed any awkward silence into an amicable, if not sleepy atmosphere. Micah fed more kindling to the flames. When that didn’t take, he lifted the brazier up and summoned a spark.

With the fire refreshed, Castor noticed an oddity and asked a question. “Where is all the smoke from the fire? We should be choking in here.” The flame gave off plenty of heat and light, yet it seemed to lack all the carbon byproduct.

“Seems like some kind of hidden effect of the item, or just magic itself,” Micah said, holding up the metal torch. “Even with the gasoline, the fire made from the item is smokeless.”

“That’s pretty lucky,” Castor said, before asking another question. “So that means we don’t have to leave the torch here for the girls to have a light?”

Micah paused at the question. “Yeah, but why are you asking?”

“I’m just thinking…”

No one said anything for a moment. Gabriella especially looked uneager to contribute, focusing on the fire and rubbing her sleeping sister’s back.

“We still have all those supplies in those tunnels. I think we should grab them just in case.” Castor continued. “And by ‘we’, I mean Micah and me.” He pointedly excluded the two sisters.

There was no need to unnecessarily bring them into harm’s way.

“Don’t you think we should stay here, prepare some more?” Micah asked nervously. The tension—the fear in his voice was obvious, and understandable.

“We can,” Castor admitted. “But those monsters out there are getting stronger too. If we’re too weak or not at our best, that could be the one mistake to end us.”

“The sisters are still figuring things out. I don’t want to put them in a situation where they could be detrimental to us all, yet I don’t think we can allow supplies to float around. We need to take this chance to grow and grab our supplies.”

Neither of the teenagers spoke up against Castor's explanation, yet no one was keen on giving up any semblance of protection they had.

“When do you want to head out?” Micah sighed drearily.

“Finish teaching Gabriella what she needs to know, then we can get ready.”

An awkward silence hung in the air for a second, before Gabriella broke it with a question.

“Can you please stop using my whole name like that? It’s making me cringe inside.”

“Huup” Castor grunted as he caught Blue down the hole into the sewers.

“You think all that stuff is even still there?” Micah whispered.

“I hope so, we might be able to put some of it to use.” Otherwise, this whole trip would be a waste.

The dusty tunnels were eerier now that they had plans to shift bases above ground—there was also the fact that there were bipedal lizards lurking around. Castor couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of seeing another magic-wielding Kobold.

Castor thought his new skills would lead to magic of some kind; and although it did answer a couple of questions, Castor still couldn’t sneak in the shadows or summon a bolt of mana. It was demoralizing.

[Aura Release] was his first real active skill—his only skill that required a force of effort to use it. It was like flipping a switch to turn on the light; it took the roiling currents in Castor’s gut and crashed it violently against their confines, spreading some of that refreshing energy throughout his body. All at the cost of some mild nausea and a single point of RP.

Aura Release Expanded!

Unranked 1

Refresh Bestowed!

Whatever that skill was intended to do, it effectively turned Castor into a shitty inhaler, with the [Refresh] status making it easier to breathe and erasing muscle soreness. He hoped that meant he could purify toxins and poisons—that was more magical and way more useful—but there was no knowing without experimenting.

Castor rather not experiment with his life on the line.

The walk to their deadend was both uneventful and silent. All three of them were on lookout for monsters in either direction, but no sight, scent, or even a hint of scales allowed the trio to relax, if only somewhat.

When they returned to their old corner, the only thing out of place was the amount of dust that covered the few supplies they had.

“Was it even worth the trip?” Micah asked, dragging his feet while Castor packed everything up. “We could’ve spent this time looking for the Obelisk, or working on our spells.”

“The water is at least worth it.” Castor said as he lifted what was left of the case of water. “You see this place, Micah? It’s full of hostile things we don’t understand, dangerous things we don’t fully comprehend. It might be really easy to forget because of the magic, but we need three things at the end of the day.”

“Food, water, and shelter. If we’re not going out to be saved or freed soon, then we need to know where our next meal is coming from.”

Micah fell into deep thought as he helped pick up the rest of the supplies lying about, wearing a plastic poncho and holding the other to free up some space in the bag.

It didn’t take long to confirm everything was there and to pack it all up. Most of the water was packed into the bag Castor carried, being stronger out of the two, Micah carried the rest in the myriad pockets his robes and original clothes possessed.

They were almost ready to go, when Castor felt Blue grab his attention through their bond. A deep bark echoed through the sewers, followed by high pitch screams.

Castor ran to the mouth of the tunnel only to find Blue standing on guard, surrounded by a black energy, and two small lizardmen. Dead ones.

Kobold (Deceased)

Level 2

Scout

[Intuition] rang alarms in Castor’s mind, demanding he take notice of the stimuli it processed for him.

Footsteps. Tons of them.

“Fuck.” Castor cursed as he hurriedly finished his preparations, tightening any stray straps and zippers. He tucked his club in between his back and backpack.

“What’s wrong? Micah asked, terrified.

“Kobolds.” Castor said. “Come on, we need to leave now!” He didn’t waste any time on unnecessary words.

Castor didn’t need to see Micah to know he was right behind him.

The two sprinted out of the deadend and back the way they came, Blue following at their heels. Distantly, Castor heard the dreadfully familiar sound of clawed feet scratching the ground behind them.

A whole group of [Kobolds] chased them—a hunting party Castor realized with a few glances. The monster’s all wore similar shitty armour, with a few of them carrying weapons in their hand. The mob’s angry screeches and snarls loomed closer and closer with every second.

They ran towards the hole as fast as they could, but the monsters gained on them even faster. By the time Castor and Micah could see the flashes of lightning glinting of rainwater, a group of twelve was not further than thirty feet behind them.

Not a distance that made Castor comfortable.

Once more, [Intuition] called for Castor’s attention. He peered ahead, trying to see what his skill was trying to tell him. Then he saw it; past the hole another group of [Kobolds] ran forward, eager to cut off their means of escape.

Intuition Expanded

Unranked 5

One look behind him told Castor that Micah had no clue of what was ahead of them. One moment was enough to realize that if all of them tried to escape, none would.

Instantly, Castor made a choice.

Like he read his mind, Blue whined and cried for Castor not to leave. Castor ignored the dog, muting their [Bond] when that proved too difficult.

“I’ll distract them, Micah. Split up and meet me back at the house.”

“Alright.” The teen didn't even question as he bounded the rusted ladder into the storm. Luckily, the poncho would protect him from any affliction.

“Be good, Blue.” Castor commanded gently, despite Blue’s whimpers. Pleas and whines bled through their connection; Castor bit his cheek and ignored them. He ordered the dog to listen to Micah, until the next time they saw each other.

Castor swore that there will be a next time. He threw the dog up and out of the hole at Micah.

“You better take care of my dog!” Castor screamed as he pulled out his bat.

Letting [Blunt Weapon Proficiency] guide his hand, Castor charged forward with blistering speed, plowing through the trio in front of him in less than two swings.

Then Castor was gone as he dived into the dark, unknown tunnels. He didn’t look back as he ran with all the strength his legs could muster. He didn’t need to look back.

He could hear the wild cacophony as a horde of [Kobolds] chased after him.