[Sub-objective: Enter the Well 1/1]
[Calculating rewards]
"Wha—?" Elias whispered as his vision began to fade back in, a warm numbness encompassing him. "—Rewards?"
The primordial voice of the system faded into the periphery of his senses as he tried to focus on his immediate surroundings. "What happened?" he said as he scratched his fingers against a gravelled floor; it felt wet.
His eyes began to focus as a blur of dark colours started to congeal into shapes, dimly lit crystals, stalactites on a ceiling about five meters above him and a sea of crimson water, "Where am I?" He said.
Elias coughed as he rolled to his side, his whole body ached, "Typical" He groaned and tried to stand—he felt the gravel against his feet as his toes found purchase on the ground; he began to recall the room with the deep hole, the well of Enlightenment.
[Rewards calculated]
The familiar dread he'd felt staring down into the fog of the enormous hole returned, and just as soon as it did, the memories flooded back—he'd jumped in. What in the Twins had possessed him? "What the fuck, Elias?!" he cursed.
Suddenly, the dread escalated to a point where his heart pounded painfully in his chest and his stomach lurched: He was swimming to safety, his feet broken and the inevitable tide of power had tried to consume him. He stood and looked around; he saw the endless tide of corrupted water surrounding him; it swayed in the crystal light of the cavern.
He was stood on an outcropping on what seemed to be an island in this underground lake, the familiar rocky surface stretched out as far as his eyes could see outwards from the centre of the 'well', albeit his eyes could not see far, they were obscured by thorny and almost-carnivorous looking plants which were tinted an unnatural reddy-purple. The plants were massive, stretching meters in all directions; along with the plants was the familiar moss that had sustained him so far, but unlike the dank-mould-like appearance it had shown before, this moss was mottled with the same Aberration-esque tint.
He stepped a few paces away from the water. A notification pierced his vision:
[Elixir of Pri—]
The notification flashed from view before reappearing—
[Elixir of Corru—]
The notification cracked and flashed once more,
[Elixir of [REDACTED] Enlightenment - Rarity: Unique - Few have survived a baptism of [REDACTED] energy and even fewer before being awakened by the System. This elixir contains the unfiltered energies of the Well and can be used to prime the user's Core prior to a Tier breakthrough.]
Elias blanched at the text before him—It had redacted information from him and, at the same time, given him hints of the workings of the System, ones that he'd never heard of before. Red light appeared in front of him, it's light shooting out in all directions--It felt similar, like it had in the village, he reached out into the light and as it faded in his hand appeared a crystal bottle, full of a crimson liquid that seemed to almost dance with energy. He held it for a few moments before returning to the notification.
He understood that the 'Well of Enlightenment' contained the corruption energy that was so awry in Eridoria, is that what was redacted? and what was a Core? Did that mean his spirit? What was a Tier breakthrough? He half understood how one progressed in power under the System, but this was—"Not the time!" he said aloud.
The familiar tint of crimson overlaid his vision, and he understood why. He'd been bathed in Essence, so much so that he was scared to glimpse at his current overcapacity.
His toes crunched down as he pushed into the rock below, and he paced back and forth.
Another couple of notifications had appeared, all flashing in his periphery, but he was still trying to figure out how he'd survived; the fall into the water had shattered his bones. Yet, he felt fine… His feet felt—he looked at his feet.
"Ya-agh!" Elias screamed, his heart almost thrusting out of his chest. "No, no… FUCK!"
Three claw-like appendages pushed out from mottled-purple skin at the base of both of his ankles. Two at the front and a third at the rear; they were longer than looked natural, which made sense. They were fucking corrupted.
"I hate this. So… Much." Elias groaned as he tried to rationalise the abhorrent substitutes for his own feet. But what else could he have possibly expected from the Systems labyrinth of horrors. He had to know:
[Essence: 713 / 15]
"Oh, come on?!" he thought as he looked at the overwhelmingly large Essence number on his Status screen.
He started to feel faint as he swayed on the spot, staring down at the Aberration feet that plagued his body. He could feel them just like his own toes; it was as if he'd had them for his entire life; they felt natural.
His stomach lurched as he bent over and vomited: A mix of crimson and mushy moss decorating the rocky ground.
It hadn't taken long for Elias to have completely emptied the last week of his mossy rations onto the ground, but it had taken a while for his mind to rationalise the situation.
He had dry-heaved, paced, cried and cursed for an hour before resigning to poking at his new limbs. Curiosity had always gotten the better of him at the worst of times and, if he couldn't get his own feet back right now, he could at least work out how these ones worked?
He'd most likened them to a hawks claw, larger and missing a 'toe', but they felt like the most similar type of feet that he had encountered. He could squeeze and clench the claw together like a fist, and he could move each individually. As they connected with the ground they seemed to anchor him to it, each individual appendage seeming to stabilise him, with all six touching the ground he felt as though it would be impossible to knock him over.
After a small while of entertaining his own intrigue, he decided it was time to move. "I guess I'll check what's next on the Orus to-do list…" he said as he referred to the two flashing notifications still in his mind.
[Title earned [REDACTED] baptism - Endurance, Vitality, Willpower increased by 15 points. Endurance, Vitality, Willpower increased by 5%. Life Force increased by 50 points, Life Force increase by 5%. Luck increased by 15 points. - You have bathed in the [REDACTED] energies of the cosmos and awoken stronger, continue to bathe in the favour of all that is, Aspirant.]
He read over the notification a couple of times "That's… That's a lot." he muttered, "Maybe claws aren't that bad?"
"No!", he thought, they were awful and he had to get rid of them; but, the power this title bestowed him was incredible—this had to be the most powerful title he had. This alone almost double his Life Force. It served as an intense reminder that the System favoured desperate struggles between life and death.
Elias was confused as to why the System kept referring to him as an Aspirant? Was that just because he was 'challenging' the dungeon? If so, he was appalled by the Systems lack of awareness—it had forced him into the Dungeon without so much as a please. In fact, he was ready then and there to abandon all aspiration for a slither of hope of escape. Right now, he was riding on his vow to live for Tessa's memory—and his mothers.
The second notification came into view, the one he was putting off:
[New sub-objective received: Pass the Trial of Orus 0/1]
"Great," Elias said "All this was just… the entrance to the Trial?"
He shook himself and looked towards the thorny flora in the distance, the System and its Quests had led him quite directly from point to point and the Dungeon had presented itself in an almost linear manner. Looking around he was faced with either a lake of corruption—That was a definite no. Threatening plants, yeah, that was a maybe. Certain death by means of failing the Systems demands? Well, Ok, the plants seemed the better choice. So he moved on, his clawed feet grasping at the rock beneath as they carried him forward.
As Elias approached the various plants and trees that formed a barrier to whatever led beyond, he felt an almost heart-like pulsing of energy from within the jungle. How did he sense it? Well, he wasn't sure. It was like it was calling to him, to... his chest? He focussed on the plants in front of him, the flora was shaped like most any variety of plant you would find in Havens Point; and Eridoria, the uniqueness of the plants in front of him came from their carnivorous additions, spiked leaves, thorny stems and throbbing ivy-like appendages that wrapped around clusters of the plants.
Elias's already crimson-tinted vision was plagued by the oppressive red, causing him to squint as he came within thirty meters or so. He felt something within resonate with him, a strange pull in his chest, like the one he'd felt before in the forest. He couldn't make out where it was coming from exactly, only that it was coming from within.
He pushed mana through his channels and formed the familiar orange runes in front of him. This time, he wrapped the energies into a barrier in front of his face. As he did, he felt the oppression of the red flora fade slightly. He wasn't sending much mana into the skill, and it was demanding even less—he could keep it up.
Elias moved forwards, careful not to make contact with any of the potentially harmful flora. He was moving through natural paths that ran through the living barrier, following the instinctual draw he felt within. His chest pounded with anticipation and curiosity.
"I wonder what Uthred would think of these?" He said, glancing down at his bird-like feet, "Probably amputate them then and there, praising the almighty Twins…" Elias looked up to the rocky ceiling and he felt a wetness in his eyes, "Are you almighty? Are you even real? If you are then—then—" his voice trailed off as his thoughts took up the words in his mind: "Then why are you putting me through this? Why would you put anyone through this… haven't I suffered enough? Don't I deserve something the power to protect the people I love?!"
His lips twisted into a grimace and his fists clenched, "I guess… If I have no one left to love, it doesn't really matter, eh?"
Tears fell down his face as he kept walking forwards, "Arwen, you shaped the moon. Just so that Eridoria could feel companionship—What does that mean for me? All you've done is take those that filled my skies."
Elias's thought trailed for a small while, question after question, all left unanswered. But in the end it had felt relieving to say—or think them, even if there was no response, it was cathartic in a way.
He had pressed on for what felt like almost an hour until the flora in front of him had become so dense he was bound to make contact with it soon. The Mana Barrier he'd erected was also holding steady, only having drained twenty or so mana when balanced against his regeneration.
After another twenty minutes or so he had to stop. He looked up at a seemingly boundless wall of flora that blocked his path. He would need to touch it to pass any further and whilst a small part of his mind was telling him to do so, the rest was urging him to avoid it. He knew what was trying to influence him, it was the same thing that turned his vision crimson, that spoke to him as he was drowning in its power: The Corruption.
Elias was trying to work out what the Corruption wanted from him; it had yet to actually hurt him, and whilst the claws on his feet made him feel sick to the core, were they negative? He quite conclusively thought they were—simply for the distinct similarities to the Aberrations, but he didn't feel more violent? He could still talk—"Can I—" he said "Yeah, I can still talk."
Why was it that the corruption seemed to almost converse with him, through feeling. Was it like this for everyone who came in contact with its power? Or just him… was it to do with his innate ability? He didn't know. All he knew was that he needed to go deeper, the draw he'd felt before had only intensified, it called out to whatever resonated with it deeper in the 'jungle'. He didn't know what it was, but who knew anything in this accursed place?