[Primordial Trial: Initiated]
Objective: Survive 30 seconds against the Ascended Form.
Reward: Unknown.
Penalty: Death.
The message burned across my vision in deep crimson. Not static text. It pulsed, like breath—like it was aware of me.
And it was not called a Quest like everyone else had.
It was called a Trial.
Then the rear of the aircraft was gone.
Ripped open by force, not heat. Mana screamed through the breach, tearing at metal and flesh alike. I braced, clinging to a loose harness as the wind howled. Joy was gone. Calen too. Eitan, somewhere forward, already unconscious or worse.
I checked instinctively.
[Status – Mana: 23%]
My eyes widened.
That shouldn't have been possible. Not after I hit zero. Not after pushing Ember Step past its threshold.
But there it was. A slow regen, steady and unnatural.
Not from potions. Not from rest.
Ascended.
It really was keeping me alive. Rebuilding me.
Something clicked. I reached into my jacket and yanked out the dull green shard still faintly glowing from earlier.
[Lesser Carapace Core – Do you wish to consume this item?]
"Do it," I whispered.
[Confirmed. Core Consumed.]
A sharp jolt struck my chest. Cold at first, then swelling pressure, like my lungs were inflating.
[Permanent Increase – Mana Capacity: +12%]
I inhaled. Deeper than before.
The air around me vibrated. Mana resonance.
And then I felt it.
The pressure. The focus.
It wasn't coming for the aircraft. It was coming for me.
I stepped toward the breach. Wind roared in my ears. My heart slammed against my ribs like a war drum.
Thirty seconds, I just had to not die. That was the Trial.
I leapt.
And again, what I felt was not fear or uncertainty, but excitement.
Why was I excited about this?
The wind screamed as I fell. Not panic, but velocity. My body twisted with instinct now, not hesitation. The weight of the Trial pressed against me like the air itself was trying to crush my lungs.
[Trial Timer: 00:03]
I flared Crown. The flames didn't spread. They tightened, coiling around me like armor.
Then it arrived.
The Evolved Form hovered above me, still, silent. Not flying. Just there, suspended like an inevitability.
And it moved.
No sound. No warning.
Just a blur across my vision and suddenly it was right in front of me, inches from my face, arm raised.
I twisted, barely avoiding the strike as something ruptured the air behind me. A hole—no, a slice.
The atmosphere bled light.
[Trial Timer: 00:06]
I kicked off a burst of flame mid-fall, Ember Step redirecting me sideways through the sky. Not elegant. Just fast. Controlled falling.
Another flash. A tendril of mana whipped toward me like a tether. I cut it with instinct alone, flames lashing out in reply.
Pink fire licked the sky.
It didn't seem impressed.
The creature tilted its head slightly, observing me like a child might a crawling insect that hadn't died fast enough.
And I laughed.
The wind tore the sound apart, but I didn't care. My blood was burning. My mind was clear.
[Trial Timer: 00:10]
I did not want to survive. I wanted to kill it.
My flames should be able to erase it—no matter its resistance. Hellflame doesn't burn. It consumes.
If I could just blow its head off...
I ran at it.
God, this was fun. I'd missed this.
Then it appeared behind me, grabbed me by the black hair, and hurled me into the sky like I weighed nothing.
Before I could recover, it appeared again above me, and slammed a hammerfist into my chest, sending me spiraling toward the ground.
My ribs cracked. Pain lanced through me. But even broken, I saw my chance.
Mid-air. Exposed. Now or never.
It was time to burn it out of existence.
"Brand."
The mark formed—right on its head.
It moved at the last moment, flicking its neck to the side. Not enough to dodge.
The mark landed low.
And then the fire came.
Hellflame erupted from the creature's neck like a geyser of pink, seething death. The air bent around it, trying to escape.
It recoiled, shock on its featureless face.
I doubt it ever thought it could be hurt by my flames.
[Trial Timer: 00:24]
But it regenerated. Fast. Too fast.
And I was out of mana.
It didn't hesitate.
A limb burst from its chest like a spear and ran straight through me, piercing my heart.
I gasped. Not from pain.
But because I was still alive.
I laughed.
"My heart's just another organ."
I grabbed the limb with both hands.
"And I stopped needing it some time ago."
[Trial Timer: 00:30]
Time froze.
[Primordial Trial: Complete]
[Congratulations. Reward: Partial Limb – True Vessel Form (One-Time Usage) Granted]
The message didn't blink. It shone, like it had weight. Like the System itself was holding its breath.
My body was still impaled. My mana was gone. My ribs shattered. But in that instant—I felt something shift.
Not recovery.
Permission.
I will activate it.
I wanted to see what Hellbringer really was.
Was it truly something that great?
Was it truly worth dying billions of times for?
[Activating this will remove the limb you are replacing it for. Are you sure?]
Yes.
I chose my left arm.
And my arm disintegrated.
It came apart at the seams. My arm didn't burn or break. It simply stopped existing. And in its place, something new formed.
The new arm looked like it was made from dark, polished metal. Smooth and solid, but alive with energy. Cracks ran through the surface, glowing with soft, pulsing pink light. Hellflame, condensed and sealed beneath black glass. Strange symbols flowed across it, glowing brighter with each pulse, as if written in moving fire.
Flame didn't coat it. Flame obeyed it.
The air around it shimmered. Warped. Bent to avoid contact.
Even the Evolved Form, the being that hadn't flinched once, took a single step back.
I flexed my new fingers. They moved like they remembered war.
What tremendous power.
A new prompt hovered in my vision.
[True Vessel (Limb) – One-Time Activation In Progress]
[Last Activation of Hellbringer prior to fulfillment of prerequisites]
[Use it wisely, Vessel]
I raised my head and met the creature's eyeless gaze.
"I wonder…"
The sigils on my arm pulsed once.
"…how much of you will be left after this."