Elias finally returned to his main task, the distraction of the System and Skill interactions provided a well-earned but brief respite from reality. Now? He needed to get out of this Dungeon.

  He stepped forward and winced, a gentle reminder that his choice not to choose Pain Resistance would not be easily forgiven.

  "Left, or right? Seems simple enough" He muttered as he tried to feel his way to the right decision.

  "Right is right?" he joked as an attempt to amuse himself.

  With his decision-making complete, he chose. He'd realised that indecision would only lead to further emotional turmoil—followed by an eventual choice that matched the one he chose now.

  He stepped over piles of ash, the now customary stench of mould and rot lapping at his senses as he approached the door. He turned the knob and pushed it open. Ahead of him, a corridor.

  “More corridors, huh?”

  Whilst he trudged forward he thought on his choices during the enhancement process—going through the almost endless choices available for his skills was his way of avoiding some of his more negative trains of thought.

  Soon, he came across another archway, the linearity of the dungeon was becoming evident, this place lacked any real kind of choice or real exploration. The most freedom of choice he’d experienced was within the open caverns and in reality, that only really had one exit—which he would have eventually stumbled across regardless of his decisions.

  The door in the archway was plain and wooden. He once again opened the door and moved forward.

  Expecting a putrid smell or an assault of new terrors from the oncoming area he found himself only surprised. Inside the door was a large rectangular room, ceiling arched high above him and decorative pillars evenly spaced throughout. The pillars were carved with detail and almost looked as though they were displays rather than supporting structures. His eyes were immediately drawn away by the singular pedestal towards the far end of the room.

  As soon as his eyes looked upon it, his chest thumped. The pedestal held a small glass-like orb above it, which glowed with the ever-so-familiar crimson of corruption. It floated just a hand's width above the pedestal.

  Looking quickly in each direction, he willed any illusions to shatter—to no response, then he clawed forward.

  Thump!

  His eyes snapped back to the orb, which was resonating with the essence in his chest.

  "Never good news…" he groaned as he moved closer. Totally unable to resist the pull of the corruption.

  Scratching through the room he enjoyed the unfamiliar freshness in the air, no mould, no dank smell of aged moisture and, well, he could smell himself—which provided a revelation—Dungeon delving was not for the faint of heart, the dried blood, ichor, corruption and sweat oozed from him like an aura of repulsion. He thanked the Twins that no one else was here.

  "Why am I thanking them…?" he muttered.

  THUMP!

  “No more distractions,”

  Seconds passed and he found himself stood in front of the Pedestal as the orb called out to him. He was about to succumb to his urge to touch it before a voice resounded throughout the large room.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  "Pather, you have passed the first trial, you have survived your encounter with the fearsome Banshees and proven you are not a complete waste."

  "Orus?" Elias said as he took in the familiar voice, which was disguising itself as authoritative and commanding.

  "So now you face the Trial of Aptitude, channel your—" the deliberately overbearing voice stopped abruptly as a sharp orange light flashed across the whole room.

  Elias quivered, and the voice seemed to stutter unnaturally. "Channel your— Channel your Pr—"

  Orange light reminiscent of that seen on the entrance portal engulfed the room once more and the familiar voice changed.

  [Channel your corruption into the Orb—] The passive voice of the system interjected before the overbearing voice resurged.

  Orus’s voice continued, "—and be measured for your eligibility for your chosen Path, only those with enough innate power can embark on the journey ahead. Don't be shy, if you somehow manage to fill my Tier one—"

  [—Corruption crystal—] the System interjected again, completely silencing the other voice.

  "Then I'll… well, I'll guess you've cheated! Hah! Now get to it… or leave!" the voice finished.

  "Leave?!" Elias spurted out as he looked around, momentarily pulled from the draw of the orb as the thoughts of escape filled him with hope, "how?!"

  Just as he finished speaking a System Prompt showing his full quest description began to form—he dismissed it along with his hope.

  "Right… death… got it." he said.

  His delusional sense of hope was crushed just as it had arrived, and he focused on the task ahead. The upside was that for once in this dungeon, he was told what to do—he could follow instructions, how hard could it be? Touch the orb. Let the dungeon tell him how he was in fact: ‘Ineligible’, fail the quest and—die.

  He stopped hesitating and reached out to the orb.

  As his hand connected with the floating sphere, his core thumped violently. His already painful channels exploded outwards as if they were about to burst and he immediately tried to withdraw his hand. It didn’t budge. He was glued to it, he felt his channels and the orb connect, and the sphere glowed violently with crimson energy as the corruption pierced out through his own body.

  “I really should've picked Pain Resistance!”

  As his channels continued to roar in discontent, the orb in front of him pulsed fervently with a growing energy. His vision began to bounce between crimson and grey, his feet crunched down in agony and he struggled to remain standing, kept aloft only by the connection to the orb.

  His core thumped in time with the pulsating of the evermore intense glow of the sphere, and he felt like crying.

  The kind of pain he felt now was beyond anything he'd felt previously—it was like he'd been soaked in a dozen numbing balms and they were all wearing off at once.

  His crimson veil fell from his vision as he let out a whimper of undisguised agony. His eyes wide and a flood of emotions roared within him.

  "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" he yelled out in between his desperate wails as his eyes opened wide to his own reckless stunt.

  Clarity was returning for the first time since the fall. Why would he touch the orb? Why would he even consider that? Worse still, a notification flashed desperately in front of him, each time the numbers decreased rapidly.

  [Essence: 218 / 15]

  [Essence: 178 / 15]

  [Essence: 135 / 15]

  "SHIT!" Elias yelped,

  “Or is it good?”

  He was torn between agonising existence and self-doubt. His essence was falling rapidly, his vision had returned to normal and his mind felt clearer than it had been since entering the dungeon.

  But clarity provided no respite to his current situation, in fact, it made it worse. He glanced down to the most agonising of the shooting pains that embraced his limbs, his feet. As he looked down at his feet he saw that his claws were flashing in fleshy protrusions as his Essence decreased; the claws were one second appearing bird-like and resembling that of an Aberration's appearance, followed quickly by his own blessed feet. The transfiguration flashed between both forms quickly, unsure of which to settle on.

  He watched as his Essence drew closer to zero and his vision began to close in, the pain too much for his mind to bear, despite his recent improvements, his channels were being torn apart from within.

  [Essence: 0 / 15]

  A deep black overthrew his senses and he gasped for air as he was released from the orb. He collapsed to the floor as the crimson light engulfed the entire room. He felt weak, his body and spirit engulfed in the echoes of pain.

  His eyes fell upon the orb as the thumping in his chest had simmered down to a soft beat alongside his own heart. Cracks had begun to form across its glass-like surface. The crimson within looked like a contained storm cloud, and a snake like darkness swam inside the cloud, its form almost alive as it slammed into its glassy prison. Deeper within the crimson he saw slight hints of the Systems orange light, weaving subtly into the fabric of energies.

  Herolled onto his side and vomited aggressively as his stomach caught up to the unfolding events, a putrid dank and moss-like substance spewed forth and spread across the floor.

  A familiar voice billowed out from all around him:

  "It seems as though my Dungeon is broken! It seems to think that you contain as much—"

  The resounding voice was cut off by the System's neutral tones: [corruption]

  "--as a Tier two. It's unheard of. Impossible even—you can pass. But don't think your guise as a—" The voice paused as if calculating something "—a Tier Zero Pather will fool my Dungeon! Prepare yourself for a challenge befitting your real strength!"

  "Orus!" Elias called out in desperation, "It's me! That guy you met earlier!"

  His voice fell upon deaf ears as the billowing voice gave no reply and the presence that had accompanied Orus’s voice had vanished entirely, just as quickly as it had come. His mind raced in confusion and terror as he curled on the floor. What did he mean? Why didn't he respond… didn't he recognise him?

  "System shit…" Elias spat as he closed his eyes and let his tears fall once more, becoming one with the overload of both sensation and emotion.

  [Sub-objective updated: Pass the Trials of Orus 0/1]

  [Hidden objective: Pass the Trial of Greed 1/1]

  [Hidden objective: Pass the Trial of Aptitude 1/1]

  [Bonus objective: Unlock the hidden Trial 1/1]