Various figures could be observed roaming the endless halls of the giant stone labyrinth.
Some were carefully and meticulously analyzing the stone that it was made out of, while others did the same with the very air that was present inside the passageways.
Entire teams stopped at the various engraved murals, regardless of the level of damage that they possessed and began to examine them.
Magic that could restore objects back to their former condition was being cast with little to no results.
While it was a miraculous magic, it was mostly designed for small uses and somewhat recent changes. It could easily make a piece of cloth clean once more, but it couldn’t make a bone regrow the muscles and tendons that once covered it, much less if any significant time had passed.
Those that were in front shuffled out of the way, opening up a path for more seasoned spellcasters. These spellcasters narrowed their eyes, examining their target with great curiosity.
Without exchanging a single word, they began to cast different magics. They were all casting a different spell, but they were all part of the whole.
One was a spatial limiter, another an amplifier, while one was at the center of what they were doing. Slowly, the spell came to completion. The intricate magic circles and characters danced in the air, with growing intensity.
The mural began to shine, along with various particles that were strewn about the entire labyrinth.
Every single speck that was illuminated began to make its way back toward the mural. They knew it was working because they could actually see the particles make their way back to their original location.
But this was a long process. While the caster remained the same, at their backs, there was a row of ever-changing people that walked up, gave them mana and retreated to rest.
Time passed and inevitably the main caster began to feel that his concentration was beginning to waver. But suddenly, a powerful rush of mana invaded his spell, the spell of his helpers and usurped the authority over all of the spells, relieving the casters.
Just as suddenly, all the bright particles that were making their way back to the mural began to accelerate dramatically. No matter how far they were, they reached the mural in a matter of seconds. When the hijacker deactivated the spells, the mural revealed itself to be complete.
The mural revealed a winged being flying high in the sky, sword brandished in one hand, shield in the other.
From the clouded skies large beams of light shone down, as if attacking the very ground. In the ground, flames roared in defiance of the vary heavens, engulfing the city.
Within the flames, dark hound-like creatures howled at the sky. Despite its simple art style, the images evoked a vivid intensity. Hatred from the hound-like creatures. Disgust from the winged being. Indifference from the heavens. Heat from the flames and despair from the city.
Some of the weaker researchers began to be overwhelmed by the image and had to retreat and recuperate.
Others noticed that something was wrong and activated a specific protocol that would put them in containment until the rest could be sure that they were safe. The more they looked at the mural, the more likely it was that they would find it necessary to commit themselves to containment.
Braltas sat a certain distance from the mural, his gaze unfazed and keen on taking in every detail it had to offer.
“Careful, you might go insane,” Sarah said in a playful tone.
“Do you feel it?” Braltas asked, his voice serious. “It’s alive. It breathes and speaks. It wants to tell us something.”
Sarah let out a light laugh. It was gentle but it made Braltas uncomfortable for some reason. It was almost as if she was laughing at him and not for what he said but more for how she perceived him. He felt like a child making guesses to an adult who had all the answers.
“Don’t make that face,” Sarah said with a kind smile. “How about I give you a hint?”
“A hint?” Braltas asked, turning his head to Sarah.
“Yes. A hint to why the labyrinth makes you feel as it does,” Sarah began, glancing around the tunnel. “The answer will surprise, and it might just horrify you,” she added with a devilish grin. “Map out the magic circuits,” she gestured.
With that, she winked and began to walk deeper into the labyrinth, her destination set long before she arrived.
Braltas frowned, once more feeling like he was missing certain information that could complete the image in his head.
“For now, I suppose it’s better if I listen to her.” He snapped his fingers toward the closest researcher. “Begin to map out the magic circuitry that lays outside the labyrinth,” he commanded.
“We are already doing that sir,” the researcher answered, not lifting his gaze from a white device with a transparent screen.
“Well increase the number of people doing so,” Braltas said, his voice firmer than before. “I want it finished before dinner time. It’s the only free time I have to indulge something like this.”
“Understood, sir.”
----------
Eric somehow took a step back, gaining an even clearer view of his entire Star Map.
He traced the stars that he was sure were arranged in a strange pattern, marking them apart from the rest. Then, he overlapped an image in his mind. It was faint, and not really there, but it was more than enough.
There, he said mentally.
He focused his gaze on one of the stars that was focused near the top of the map, and everything suddenly came into place. Near it, just below and a bit forward, was another similar star. And that was all he needed to finally understand what he was looking at.
The image he had overlapped was that of the human body. It was rough, disproportionate and faint, but it was more than enough for him to get a good idea of what the Star Map actually was.
It’s all… me, he said mentally. Every word resounded throughout his entire being, occupying the entire space. This should be intelligence. He pointed at the highest star. This should be perception, he continued, pointing at the star below and slightly in front of the previous one.
He rapidly began to trace the other node locations he knew with the stars he was seeing.
Strength was in the upper right chest. Vitality was somewhere near my chest. Tracing the connections, and using the overlapping image, he arrived at a star that was near where his heart would be.
Finally, he traced the connections toward the center of his chest, near his lungs. Endurance… and those are all of the ones I know.
Taking a couple of steps back, he once again saw the entire map develop before his eyes.
Where are the rest of them? he asked himself. There’s a lot of connections and I can’t trace them all individually.
As he lowered his gaze toward his core, he saw the large bright star, and the three smaller stars that connected to it and were also illuminated.
Tracing one of the three stars, he eventually arrived at the endurance node that he already knew.
It’s also brighter than the rest of the stat nodes I’ve discovered. Could these be the stat boosts that I gained on evolution?
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
With his new idea, he made his way back to the other two stars and traced their connections. One led toward an unfinished connection, it wasn’t long, and it led nowhere. The other one, however, led directly to a bright star node that was directly connected to a pathway that led to the core.
This must be constitution, he thought, observing the star near his upper back.
Eric took a moment to observe the stat stars—nodes. I don’t know what to call them now. He paused, trying to come to a decision. He didn’t. Eh, I understand myself… hopefully.
He observed the stat nodes with careful detail, and after some time, he noticed certain aspects that they possessed, and the other stars didn’t.
For starters, they were smaller compared to the amount of energy they contained. The two stars that connected with constitution and endurance were larger than the stat node, yet they possessed less energy. It wasn’t a crushing difference, but it was a difference, nonetheless.
Another aspect he had noticed was that the nodes connected to his core through a main pathway. There were no intermediary stars between them.
And finally. They just feel fundamentally different. There is a deeper sense of permanence and potential within them. At least, that’s what I feel when I see them.
With that, Eric managed to trace a total of twelve nodes. But it wasn’t all good. One node was completely black, like the large star near his core. Only, it was somehow harder, and he didn’t feel like it was a necessity. But he wasn’t sure why that was the case. It was located near his lower abdomen and not even its location gave a hint as to what it might be.
Then there was one node that had several pathways that lead nowhere in his right arm. The way the node had several pathways branching away from it, started to give him an idea, but he needed more information.
But there’s something different about these two nodes, he thought, thinking about the black node and the one on his right arm. The pathways that connect them to the core are… flimsy? Weak? It’s almost like they’re not the same as the other pathways. The pathways also connect to nothing else. What could that mean?
He made the questions vanish from his mind. I need a clear head to get a clear picture of what I’m doing.
Returning his focus to the other ten nodes, he discarded the six he already knew. That left him with only dexterity, agility, charisma and wisdom. The location of the nodes he located were his throat, his lower back, the back of his head and his upper left chest.
If we go by common sense then charisma should be my throat, right? Or is it more about wisdom in words or something? He paused, shifting his focus. My lower back should be agility since legs kind of relate to speed. Wait, what were my stats, again?
Dexterity 43
Agility 41
Charisma 24
Wisdom 32
Another way to identify them quickly popped into his head. Narrowing his gaze, he identified his throat as charisma, as it was the faintest of the four. Then it was wisdom, since it had the highest level of difference between the other two. I was right about the legs. That means that the one in my upper left chest is dexterity. That’s the ten stats, what are the other two nodes about then?
He gave himself a mental note, satisfied at having found all the stat nodes in his body. Wait, why did I come in here to begin with? It wasn’t this, was it?
Taking a moment to remember the reason he was here to begin with, his mind automatically drifted to the node in his right arm.
Something within him was guiding him and for some reason, within this space, their influence was greater and more noticeable. It also held a hint of familiarity in the sensation, but Eric couldn't place it.
Looking at the node and tracing the thickest of the pathways that sprung from it, he remembered why he came here.
Something resonated within me when I reached level twelve in sword mastery. One node… four pathways… four masteries…
His concentration broke and with a blink, he was inside the thug’s kitchen once more.
“Is that what Harkus meant when he said I should only focus on one weapon? Does having more than one mastery make the others weaker or just harder to level? Are all skills connected to my core?”
He exhaled with a level of tiredness that really didn’t fit his level of physical fatigue. His mental fatigue on the other hand was more than appropriately represented.
“I should focus on one weapon in the meantime. At least until I get some answers.”
Eric got up and walked to the nearest window, taking a quick glance at the sun in the sky. Even though he felt like he had taken quite a bit of time within himself, the reality was entirely different. The sun remained in almost the same position as it had been when he first entered his Star Map.
Rummaging through the supplies, he found some water pouches and a lot of liquor. The problem with Eric was that he didn’t really like to drink. So, he made do with the little water he found, and began to prepare himself to continue reading the System messages.
You have made a significant advancement toward the Mastery of the Sword.
Mana Insight has reached level 17.
Eric frowned; he was unsure of when something like that could have happened. “Was it also during my fight with the electric sword man? It has to be, right?” Taking a sip of water, he thought about it some more.
“Oh! I'm so dumb," he said with a light chuckle. "This should be where I left off. Anyway, better continue.”
Mana Insight has reached level 18.
You have developed the skill: Dash level 1.
Dash has reached level 6.
You have developed the skill: Leap level 1.
Leap has reached level 3.
“This must be when I ran away and ended up jumping toward the giant mushroom.”
Leminea Sporae +45000 credits.
Quest complete!
+1 Reward Point.
Quest complete!
Increased resistance to Leminea Sporae
Quest complete!
+3 Reward Points.
“That’s obviously when I struck the last blow to the giant mushroom.”
Quest complete!
+2 Reward Points
“Second floor, platforms. Didn’t unlock the secret objective.”
Bloodline assimilation increased!
????????????????: 77%
Quest complete!
+3 Reward Points.
“If the previous one was only about the rewards, then this must be about the third floor. I kept getting skewered by arrows and other shit.”
Quest complete!
+4 Reward Points
Bloodline assimilation increased!
????????????????: 84%
“Poisonous valley., fourth floor.”
You have developed the skill: Amplification level 1.
Mana Insight has reached level 19.
Amplification and Dash have been forcefully evolved into: Body Reinforcement.
Mental Focus has reached level 18.
Body Reinforcement has reached level 2.
Quest complete!
+5 Reward point.
“This is definitely the fifth trial, where I had to push the squares back in by only using mana reinforcement.”
Eric shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as he suddenly became aware of the mana channels and realized that they still felt foreign and wrong after the anger within him seized and modified them.
Bloodline assimilation increased!
????????????????: 90%
Quest complete!
+6 Reward Points.
“The sixth floor, training dummy," he said as he massaged his arm, remembering how he almost lost it.
Bloodline assimilation increased!
????????????????: 94%
Sword Mastery has reached level 15.
Bow Mastery has reached level 12.
Spear Mastery has reached level 11.
Axe Mastery has reached level 10.
Fist Mastery has reached level 3.
Kick Mastery has reached level 2.
Quest complete!
+7 Reward Points.
Quest complete!
+15 Reward Points.
“The seventh trial. My biggest boost. Not reading all the ghost kills though. Also… What was up with Devak? He didn’t really feel like a god, though to be fair, I have no idea how they’re supposed to be at all. Maybe like the outer god?”
Bloodline assimilation increased!
????????????????: 96%
Quest complete!
+8 Reward Points.
“Eighth floor. Fuck that one in particular. And I’m not reading all the monster kills.”
Bloodline assimilation increased!
????????????????: 99%
Pain Tolerance has reached level 17.
Body Reinforcement has reached level 8.
You have acquired the skill: Mental Resistance.
Mental Resistance has reached level 20.
Quest complete!
+9 Reward Points.
Quest complete!
+20 Reward Points.
“Finally, those are the rewards from the last floor…”
He began to remember everything that had happened in that trial. When he entered, he expected another trial like the rest, instead he met a demon that seemed to know about him. Said demon even made him doubt the very nature of his existence.
Taking a deep breath, he let matters settle to the back of his mind, which was getting crowded.
“That should be—” he noticed a couple more messages, more recent too.
Human +50 credits.
Human +38 credits.
Human +27 credits.
It was a large list of all the humans he had killed since arriving at the third stage. Combined, the total amount came to 684 credits.
Now that his entire system message inbox was mostly clean, Eric noticed that there were some more, far older than the ranking messages he got from leveling. Some were even older then the ranking system announcement. He opened one, already sure of what it was.
Congratulations! Your Hub crystal has evolved from a Hamlet into a Village.
Store prices have been reduced.
New items are available.
Congratulations! Your Hub crystal has evolved from a Village into a Town.
Store prices have been reduced.
New items are available.
Congratulations! You are the first to evolve your Hub crystal further.
Due to your consistent effort to remain as the frontrunner in the settling of your new world, you have been granted early access to a feature available at level 12.
You have unlocked the title system in your settlement.
Your citizens receive a slight percentage of selected titles.
Warning! No titles have been selected.
Warning! Titles must be selected at Town hub.
Title slots: 0/1
Eric’s eyes widened in surprise. “Now I have a reason to return to Solace,” he said with a grin and this time, the grin came exactly as he wished.
