∼ Day 218 ∼

[LVL: 120 - Human "JasperCoanne, The Shadowed Lord", has been slain!]

[You have been awarded 11.2m points of EXP]

[Congratulations! You've reached levels 1-3]

[You've been rewarded with 3 skill points for reaching levels 1-3]

[Siphon]

[You've consumed the blood of an LVL: 120 - Human!]

[7.9m points of EXP have been acquired and stats have been added]

[Congratulations! You've reached levels 4-5]

[You've been rewarded with 2 skill points for reaching levels 4-5]

As the last potent drop of blood was consumed to strengthen my own, I looked to the massive black wyvern sitting obediently with her head cocked to the side as she observed me.

She had grown a lot compared to when I first had summoned her. Well actually, that wasn't entirely true. She was a lot bigger, like an entire bus-worth of size bigger - but originally, she was summoned in her much smaller form, which was just that. A form.

My familiars weren't like most other creatures of this world as they were but an extension of my power. A literal piece of my soul. As such, she could take anything form that would reflect my power. And this was her at full force.

Soul Familiar - Sombra

Information Attributes

Traits. Titles. and Skills -Name- "Sombra" STR 185 Skills 6 -Race- Soul Familiar (Shadow) VIT 155 Traits 2 -Sex- Female AGI 282 Titles 0 -Rank- C DEX 262 Resistances

-Level- Tier-5 INT 45 Health 4352/4352 CHR 42 Physical Resistance 46 Stamina 1636/1675 WILL 61 Magical Resistance 82 Mana 2424/2424 MAG 194 Mental Resistance 55 [Soul Familiar]

She was a terrifying beast in all her glory.

I hadn't been disappointed with the choice of my evolution when I saw the significant stat increases and the general rise in power. But back then, I had completely looked past the real power I gained.

Not attributes, not a flashy skill or two, and not some impressive title. It was my two new familiars who truly were the centerpiece to my newfound power of this evolution and race.

Looking back, the description of the Stragúl being the warfaring and fearsome race that they were, fighting the battlefield with armies of their own, made much more sense.

I raised a hand, stroking the scales of her long and sleek head affectionately, which was now even larger than I on its own. But still, she was basically just a much bigger version of her much smaller form - quite as evident by how the massive wyvern beast acted and behaved little different from how a golden retriever would or another affectionate hound would.

"Come, let's get moving," I said, letting out a snort as she bumped me with her large head in response.

But as she did so, her body turned ephemeral and became little more than streams of shadows returning to the safety of my shadow. Not that she really needed any safety to hide within, to begin with.

However, despite her incredible power, I was still reluctant to call her out, or any of my two familiars for that matter. That was because they both were literal extensions of my soul - a part of what I was and I couldn't imagine what was to happen if they were permanently harmed by some soul attack or similar.

I didn't know whether or not the powers my will wielded and the strength of my soul applied to my familiars as well. While they were a part of me, born from my soul, the trait, A Sovereign's Undying Will, was inherently more a construct of my mind as opposed to directly my soul. As I understood it, the 'will' was a product of both my mind and soul working in tandem - so I supposed should still apply even to my familiars. Though, I was still confident in their ability to stay alive.

But... I'd rather not find out the hard way. So I wouldn't risk it if I didn't absolutely need to.

I turned my gaze down the hall where the two pedestals and Morgana stood impassively, very little between the three differentiating them from each other as the cold woman was just about as stoic as a statue - like always.

A part of me had been a bit worried when Morgana pulled the rug out from under us that she'd just take both of them and disappear, leaving both of me and Jasper to die or whatever fate we were entailed for failing. But thinking on it a bit and knowing the System, such a cheap trick or loophole would never fly under the scrutiny of the seemingly both omniscient and omnipotent being.

That logic indeed also proved to be true as Morgana just stared at me beside one for the pedestals, obviously waiting for me.

I closed the distance and quickly found out why she had retrieved her's yet - or taken mine for that matter.

The two relics were embedded within the marbled stone itself. I recognized the pedestal to be either similar or the same as the one I saw after completing the first trial as it melted the heirlooms and forged them into a secondary relic.

Nothing differed from either pedestal, but I felt an instinctual draw to walk to the one standing unoccupied, left of hers, as I approached. The thought of maybe I should attempt to duke it out with Morgana and try my luck at prying out her relic did cross my mind. But even if I wanted to, my body apparently couldn't even act on it.

I wanted to say something to the statuesque woman as I took my place beside her. Some goodbye or something at the least. But the moment I looked from her to the pedestal and back again, she was gone and nothing but white empty space greeted me.

I was back in that place, with nothing but the pedestal before me as a prompt greeted me.

[Do you wish to soul bind this Secondary Relic to you?]

[Yes/No]

I accepted the prompt without much thought since I doubted there was really much choice in the matter.

The pedestal's surface changed and deformed, creating intricate pathways and moving about the relic like last time. And emerging from the marbled stone, came out my first secondary relic in all its splendor.

Side by side they lay.

Only one indentation remained.

Only one more relic and I would've completed the trials.

∼[The Trials]∼

[3rd-stage, Power]

[Choose your fights wisely, crush your opposition, and emerge victorious!]

[Heirlooms collected - 0/3]

I was swept away, darkness creeping in on the corner of my eye.

***

∼[The Hunt - Final Trial]∼

[The more powerful the prey, the more plentiful the rewards.]

[Heirlooms collected - 0/3]

Waking up in a small forest, eerily similar to the glades that had first nurtured me in this world, was the least of my expectations. Much less the prompt I was greeted with. This one wasn't much different from the other ones, however, I noticed distinctly one thing to be taken from the prompt.

It wasn't asking for relics, it was asking for heirlooms. It had to mean one thing - and one thing only.

It wanted me to hunt other lords.

Not only that, my own heirloom was for some reason activated to display its transformed gauntleted form and I couldn't de-summon it.

This worried me, as it had some implications. Though I could shroud it in darkness, hiding the ornament from sight, it didn't do much unless I just constantly shrouded myself entirely in my strongest shadows.

I had seemingly been thrown into a free-for-all between lords and ladies, and I wasn't sure if I would come out stronger than ever, or meet my untimely end at the hand of a true monster.

After seeing what Morgana was capable of with but a little showing off her abilities, I truly hadn't the faintest guess as to which one of us were to come out on top if we were to go all out. She was an enigma, and I couldn't understand her powers.

So if I met someone like her in the second trial, it would stand to reason I would be confronting just as strong, or even stronger individuals now.

I pulled up my status and skill level-ups from my fight with Jasper and the previous trial.

-Status!-

Status

Information Attributes

Traits, Titles, and Skills -Name- "Xavier Tal'chor" STR 68 ⇒ 70 Skills 21 -Race- Stragúl (Eldritch Avatar) VIT 286 ⇒ 296 Traits 10 -Sex- Male AGI 143 ⇒ 162 Titles 5 -Rank- C- DEX 65 ⇒ 71 Skill Points 3 ⇒ 8 -Level- 1/75 ⇒ 5/75 INT 72 ⇒ 75 Resistances

Health 2398/2398 CHR 61 ⇒ 64 Physical 60 ⇒ 65 Stamina 501/501 WILL 82 ⇒ 85 Magical 71 ⇒ 74 Mana 612/612 MAG 234 ⇒ 240 Mental 55 ⇒ 57

[Skill - Codex has reached level 6 ⇒ 7]

[Skill - Blitz has reached level 12 ⇒ 13]

[Skill - Greater Mana Mending has reached level 6 ⇒ 7]

[Skill - Onyx Incarnate has reached level 2 ⇒ 3]

[Skill - Eldritch Born has reached level 1 ⇒ 2]

[Skill - Greater Elemental Resistance has reached level 7 ⇒ 9]

[Skill - Petrifying Gaze has reached level 2 ⇒ 3]

I was pulled from my thoughts while I read the prompts as a thundering explosion like nothing I had heard before suddenly rang out. It was incredibly far away, but the sheer magnitude of it was enough to have me gawk.

There were strong people here alright, but other than proof of strength, this explosion and the multitude of cacophonies of battles erupting elsewhere all of a sudden told me of something else.

"The hunt has begun."