Milo woke to the feeling of slender hands shaking him, he opened his eyes to see Ivy hovering above him.
“Are you alright?”
She looked genuinely worried, Milo’s eyes went to his left shoulder and saw that it was back in pristine condition. He was also back in his own armour.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Ivy helped him up and then offered him a glass of water.
“How’d it go?”
Milo hesitated before answering.
“I took down six opponents, but I have no way of knowing if that’s good or not. Although based on the difficulty of my last opponent I’d be amazed if anyone got much further.”
His eyes focused on his surroundings and immediately noticed that the sun was up. Which was weird since it had been setting when he left. He frowned up at the sun and then looked at Ivy.
“How long was I gone?”
“Around 14 hours I think.”
Milo gaped at her.
“I was barely there for an hour!”
She shrugged.
“It is not unusual for time to pass at different rates in other dimensions.”
Milo huffed with annoyance.
“Feels like something that fish guy from the concordium should’ve told me…”
Ivy nodded.
“Indeed, we we’re lucky nothing happened while you were away, we will need to take this risk into consideration for the next event.”
“Agreed.”
Milo’s eyes swept down to the forest which had undergone quite the transformation in his absence. They’d cleared such a deep path towards Willowford that the workers were barely visible in the distance. Not only had they cleared the forest, but they had used the logs they cut down create something of a road.
“It will take them three days to connect with the mud road where we found Indra and the others. Once that happens, they will keep going and improve the road that already exists. Haldor hopes that it will be able to support an army on the march within a month.”
By army on the march, she no doubt meant all the supplies an army needed to bring with it to function. Already he had seen how slow the going was with a loaded mule, he couldn’t imagine trying to bring a wagon or carriage through the woods in its current state.
He was still staring at the forest with a thoughtful look on his face when his vision was once again filled with translucent red text.
“Congratulations champion, you have defeated six trials, you may now select your rewards.”
A row of six silvery vortices appeared beneath the text. Experimentally he reached out a hand to touch the vortex furthest to the left. As soon as he touched it another field of translucent red text appeard above it.
For defeating Kark the dread goblin you are hereby awarded 2500 spirit essence and your choice of the following items:
Name: Full set of steel chainmail
Description: A full set of steel chainmail.
Name: Steel greatsword
Description: A steel greatsword.
Name: Barrels of grain
Description: 40 barrels containing a total of 3 tonnes of grain.
Name: Herd of cattle
Description: 20 head of cattle (10 cows and 10 bulls).
By the time he finished reading Milo's expression had turned sour.
“Cows? Grain?”
He couldn't help but sound bitter, these were the great rewards he had been promised for participating in the events? This is what he had killed for? He was glaring at the text when Ivy snapped her fingers in front of his face.
“What was that about cows and grain?”
He sighed and then read trough the list again, this time out loud. Ivy clearly shared his disappointment, but unlike him she knew what to do.
“Wait here, I think I know somebody who can help us.”
She shadow blinked away and then returned five minutes later with Indra in tow. The converted woman looked unsure of herself as Ivy explained why she’d brought her.
“Indra was the wife of a merchant, if anyone knows what is worth selecting it’s her.”
Milo had to admit her logic made sense, Indra had lived in this world all her life and was used to trading. He read the list aloud again.
He’d expected Indra to need some time to consider the options, but it took Indra all of two seconds to come up with an answer.
“I’d go with the cattle.”
“You sound very certain, care to explain why?”
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Indra looked much more comfortable, and it was clear that she was now in her element.
“Grain is a finite resource, it will never grow unless we have fields to plant them in, which we currently do not. A herd of cattle on the other hand can multiply assuming you have the time and food to make it happen, which we do. They also provide milk and can be slaughtered for meat if we ever lack for food in an emergency.”
As far as explanations went Milo thought that was a pretty good one. He looked to Ivy for her opinion but she merely shrugged.
Milo tapped the section of text with the cattle and a few seconds later a giant vortex appeared. When it vanished, it left behind twenty mooing cows. The beasts looked mildly panicked by the sudden change in their surroundings.
Milo decided to move on to the next vortex. He tapped it and a new field of translucent text popped up. He read it aloud.
For defeating Gergorsh the mauler you are hereby awarded 5000 spirit essence and your choice of the following items:
Name: Demonsteel plate armour
Description: A full set of demonsteel plate armour.
Name: Demonsteel greatsword
Description: A demonsteel greatsword
Name: Armoured warhorse
Description: A trained warhorse armoured in demonsteel chainmail.
Name: Demonsteel ring of nourishment
Description: This ring allows its wearer to summon a single loaf of bread every 12 hours.
“First cattle, and now rings that summon bread, where are all the magical items? Hell, I'd even take a higher amount of spirit essence alone rather than this nonsense.”
This time it was Ivy who replied.
“I think you underestimate the value of demonsteel.”
Milo made a motion with his hand for her to go on.
“Demonsteel might be standard issue for hybrids back in Lilith’s realm but that does not mean it’s weak. It can hold elemental enchantments based on shadow and fire, and it just happens that we have the third best enchanter in Lilith’s realm right here in this base.”
Milo looked back up at the small settlement.
“You’re saying Lizbeth can enchant the sword if I choose that?”
“Indeed.”
With a sigh Milo selected the sword, a few seconds later a sheathed greatsword made of black metal clanged against the rocky ground. He picked it up and the moved to the next vortex.
“Please no more cows or bread rings, let’s see some of the good stuff…”
A new field of text appeared:
For defeating Eldrid the valiant you are hereby awarded 10 000 spirit essence and your choice of the following items:
Name: Truesteel necklace of spirit
Description: The wearer of this necklace gains 500 spirit essence every 24 hours.
Name: Truesteel crown of domination
Description: This crown can be used to dominate most animals and other non-sentient beings.
Name: Knowledge crystal (Fire shield)
Description: This crystal teaches the user the spell ‘fire shield’ this spell conjures a static sphere of protective fire around the caster
Name: 2 Truesteel ring of whispers
Description: These rings allow their wearers to communicate with each other for 15 minutes every 12 hours.
Things were finally looking up. The necklace which generated spirit essence would’ve been amazing on his first day, but he felt it had already become obsolete at this point. The crown sounded more useful, but it wasn’t really what he needed to conquer the world. No what really interested him was the knowledge crystal that would teach him a spell and the magical walkie talkie rings.
He looked at Ivy and then at Indra.
Ivy was the first to speak.
“That knowledge crystal is tempting but they only work for one use. I’m not sure how useful a static shield would be for a fighter like yourself. Those rings on the other hand…”
Indra picked up where Ivy had left off.
“Are extremely valuable. I’ve heard of such items and but never seen them in person. If you were to take them to Ferdor for instance you could demand your bodyweight in gold for them and nobody would laugh at you.”
Milo added his own thoughts on the rings.
“I could send one to Laurel and use them to stay in touch with Willowford.”
It was obvious that all three of them were in agreement and Milo selected the rings. He held out his hand beneath the vortex and as soon as he selected the rings a pair of silver rings with an identical blue stone dropped into his waiting hands. He was tempted to find out how they worked but they would have time for that later, he pocketed the rings and then moved to the next vortex.
For defeating Marieh, blade of the marshes, you are hereby awarded 20 000 spirit essence and your choice of the following items:
Name: Mithril greatsword of immolation
Description: This mithril greatsword allows the wielder to use fire magic on it without depleting their reserves.
Name: Boots of jumping
Description: These boots were crafted from the hide of a wyvern and have been enchanted with a double jump enchantment which allows the wearer to jump twice as high as normal.
Name: Ring of travel
Description: This ring allows its wearer to mark a spot once every 24 hours. The wearer can activate this ring
to return to the marked location until a new location is set.
Name: Amulet of metamorphosis
Description: This amulet greatly reduces the cost to your reserves and focus required to maintain the metamorphosis spell.
By the time Milo finished reading the text to himself his grin was so wide it could probably be seen from outer space.
Ivy whistled.
“Well, that’s certainly a jump upwards in quality…”
Milo didn’t even need to discuss this one, he already knew what to pick. He selected his choice and a fell seconds later a black necklace fell into his waiting hand. A large red ruby served as the focal point of the necklace and Milo immediately put it on. He activated the metamorphosis spell. The result was impressive to say the least. The spell took about half the time to activate, and Milo could clearly feel that the huge drain the spell usually put on his reserves was much lighter. Her estimated that he could probably keep the spell going for fifteen minutes with the amulet.
Satisfied with his new trinket Milo deactivated the spell and moved onto the last vortex. This one was different from the rest and had a slight golden sheen to it. He tapped it.
Congratulation’s champion! As the sole participant who defeated the sixth trial the concordium declares you the winner of the Arena trial event. You have earned the following rewards:
250 000 spirit essence
Exclusive access to a unique reward which will start one month from now.
And your choice of the following:
Name: Sapphir
Description: A dragonsteel greatsword forged by the great dwarven king Herek Starhammer by using the scales of a sapphire dragon. Sapphire dragons are also widely known as mana dragons due to their strong connection to magic. This sword can be attuned to any magical element. Once the sword is attuned it will greatly increase the holder’s potency with said element.
This item is soulbound to Milo Harper and may only be summoned and used by him.
Name: Black tower
Description: The black tower is home to a powerful archmage who specialises in fire and shadow magic. The archmage is bound to serve the ruler of the city in which their tower resides. The archmage will also provide a random knowledge crystal in tribute to their ruler once every month.
Name: Egg of the ruby dragon
Description: This egg contains the last living ruby dragon on Archeu and has been preserved in magical stasis for hundreds of years. Accepting this reward will bind your faction to the ruby dragon line forever. Once accepted the egg will be brought out of stasis to continue its normal hatching cycle. Estimated time until egg hatches: 2 months.
Name: Champion's crown
Description: This crown allows its wearer to access and use summoning lists anywhere on Archeus without penalties or restrictions. This item is Soulbound to Milo Harper and may only be summoned and used by him.
By the time he finished reading both Ivy and Indra were gaping at him. If the previous set of rewards had been an upwards leap, then this was a rocketship heading for the moon. Even just the 250 000 spirit essence by itself would’ve been a fair reward for winning the event in his opinion. But it was clear that the spirit essence might just be an afterthought compared to the other rewards. He was waiting for Ivy or Indra to weigh in but the first was deep in thought and the second looked shocked.
He waited patiently for Ivy to finish thinking. This choice could determine the rest of the contest, and he didn’t want to screw it up. Finally, she nodded to herself.
“I’d go with the crown.”
“Care to explain your thinking?”
“Right now, we have to return to this settlement every time we want to summon troops and other things we need. Spirit essence can only be used in our domain but imagine the tactical implications of this crown. You could summon an army anywhere on the planet. As soon as you get within the walls of any settlement the fight would be over.”
Milo had to admit she was making a lot of sense, yet something about the list was bothering him.
“Don’t you think this list is strange? The sword, crown and the tower all have very obvious, very powerful uses. And yet one of these things is not like the others.”
Ivy caught on at once.
“The egg.”
He nodded.
“It’s supposed to be a reward on level with the others and yet it almost sounds more like an obligation and a responsibility. Which makes me think the true value of the egg is hidden.”
Indra clearly agreed because she was nodding along with words.
“I agree, and so the choice comes down to this, are you willing to gamble on an uncertain reward?”
Milo was almost tempted, the egg offered a clue and was obviously part of a compelling mystery which might offer fantastic rewards in the future. For that he was willing to give up a spellcasters wet dream of a sword and a tower that produced knowledge crystals every month. The crown on the other hand…
With a heavy sigh and a slight feeling of regret he gave up on mystery and instead made the responsible choice. A black crown fell into his waiting hand. He turned the crown over in his hands studying it. The bottom of the crown was set with small rubies, but what really drew the eye was the giant perfectly cut blood red ruby which served as the crowns centre piece. The entire thing practically radiated magic.
He tipped the crown up and put it on his head.
“How do I look?”
Ivy snorted.
“Like a man who would really rather be wearing a helmet.”
He sighed and then turned to face the settlement.
“Let’s go find Haldor, we have a lot of spirit essence to spend, and I have a feeling he’s going to have some ideas about how to do it.”
