AN: Back from vacation! It feels good to get some rest and take a much-needed break after a terrible start to the year :)
Back to posting, and since I know I'm a little behind, expect more posts this week to make up for lost time and advance the High Tribulation! Enjoy!
*
Failing a High Tribulation meant risking remaining at the same Tier for the rest of one’s life.
The news dispelled whatever peace Priam had drawn from the bath. He straightened, his torso rising from the comforting warmth of the water into the cool night air. Steam curled around him like a loyal beast seeking to comfort its master.
A lifetime of stagnation for a failed examination.
The sentence was dreadful because it robbed a person of the chance to ascend. To one day reach the Zenith. And what was worse than losing hope? For Priam, being condemned to mediocrity truly was worse than death. He who had wagered everything on the slim possibility of conquering the Impossible Tutorial could never accept such a fate.
“Explain. From the beginning.”
Luc obliged.
“System Tribulations are designed to target a person’s current weaknesses, whereas High Tribulations come from the aether itself and test one’s Path. The trial leading to a Tier up isn’t inherently lethal. The deaths come from people pushing too far because they refuse to lose. When failure means being barred from pursuing a Path, candidates tend to go above and beyond.”
“The prospect of dedicating your life to a Path only to discover it ends in a dead end is unacceptable,” Priam admitted. “But you can always walk another one, can’t you?”
“Of course! Still, most people aren’t polymaths.” Luc winked. “Let’s say it takes a talented guy ten years to reach Mastery I, and failure strips him of any future in that Supremacy. Even if he refuses to give up and switches to Micro, it’ll take him two or three times longer to reach Micro I. After all, he’ll have less affinity for that Path—and he’ll be older.” He shrugged. “On the other hand, he’ll have survived more Tribulations, which improves his odds of defending his Path the second time around.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, the System places its users under immense pressure to stimulate their potential. Plenty break under it, but those baptized by fire and steel have an easier time being baptized by aether.”
“The System’s recipe for raising its users can be summed up in a single saying,” Béchar commented. “Sweat for artisans, blood for warriors.”
“Considering only one fighter in a hundred survives their first Tribulation, I’d be surprised if the survivors didn’t post impressive numbers,” Priam scoffed.
“If you want statistics, one out of two succeeds their first High Tribulation in the universe of the Seven,” Luc revealed. “In neighboring universes, it’s closer to one in ten. At Tier 1, that difference doesn’t look like much, but it compounds. The last universe we destroyed, Yggdrasil, had a hundred times fewer Tier 6s than we do. Even with home-field advantage, they eventually folded.”
“You seem well informed.”
“Being the sugar baby of a Demiurge and the intern of a Primordial has its perks.” Luc grinned.
“I bet.”
Absentmindedly stirring the water with one hand, Priam took a moment to process the information before continuing.
“You mentioned defending your Path during a High Tribulation. What does that actually mean in practice?”
Of the four men present, he was the only one whose soul had yet to be baptized.
The others exchanged glances before Béchar answered.
“For me, it meant proving my mastery, my vision, and my potential with Micro.” He frowned, searching for the right words. “When I realized I’d exhausted my potential at Tier 0—that is, when I no longer had the courage to face another Tribulation—I invoked the spirit of the world. At least, that’s what we called it in my tribe.” He shrugged. “In practice, I called upon the aether as judge of my worth, and the High Tribulation descended.”
“Micro...” One of the three Heart Supremacies, and the one Béchar had helped Priam awaken. “How did you know it was your Path?”
“Well, it kind of imposed itself on me.” The Tier 3 scratched his chin. “For a shapeshifter gifted in Body Tempering, Micro was the obvious route, and I wasn’t about to swim against the current. I reached Micro I without much trouble, which is the threshold for inviting the aether, and the universe never really suggested any alternative subjects.”
“I see.”
Priam processed the new information before offering his own interpretation.
“If the Zenith is the summit of a mountain, then a Path is one of the trails leading up it. In that metaphor, High Tribulations are tests designed to ensure that only the worthy can continue the ascent,” Priam summarized. “Am I close?”
“They’re more than that,” Béchar replied. “Passing one clears the fog from that mountain. The trial reveals what lies behind you; the baptism reveals what lies ahead—the rest of the Path. As for the climb itself, it allows you to see within yourself.”
“Right. The journey is the reward and all that.”
Priam turned toward Luc and Kazuki.
“Anything to add?”
The hoplite answered while performing his ablutions. “I sensed your relief when Luc mentioned you could pursue other Paths after failing one. Don’t count on that. While Béchar’s Path stretched straight ahead, I stood before a crossroads.”
Priam’s eyes widened slightly. The friendship between the Champions had long since outgrown their rivalry, and Kazuki had already told him which choices had appeared at the start of his High Tribulation: the three Supremacies, Wind, Duty, and Technology.
“Show-off,” Béchar grumbled.
The hoplite ignored him. Eyes closed, he used his palms to spread hot water over his body, not so much to cleanse it as to purify it.
“What’d you pick?” Luc asked.
“That is none of your concern.”
Luc winced dramatically.
“And here I thought I was part of the gang! Am I truly unworthy of such confidences?!”
“Yes.”
Pressing a hand against his heart as though mortally wounded, Luc sank beneath the water. Nobody paid the clown any attention.
Priam already knew the answer to Luc’s question. Kazuki hadn't chosen a single option. He had chosen several. Micro, Mastery, and Technology. The first two were self-evident. The third was more surprising, though Oasis’ Champions’ working theory was that it stemmed from his symbiosis with his Knightmare mech.
The hoplite’s High Tribulation had been as swift as it was brutal. Perform a thrust comparable to a mythical skill while piloting Knightmare. A task designed to test all three selected Paths and their synergy. Nothing lethal, but Priam found himself recalling Luc’s revelation about the dangers of these trials.
“If you’d failed, would you have lost the ability to advance along all the Paths you selected?”
“Indeed. When your time comes, don’t let ambition rob you of a fallback option.”
“Says the man who triggered his Tier-up in the middle of a war against the tribes.”
The hoplite merely shrugged.
Priam sighed and synthesized everything he had learned. Based on Kazuki’s and Jasmine’s experiences, High Tribulations differed fundamentally from ordinary Tribulations. They weren’t ordeals but tasks. Labors, like those undertaken by the heroes of myth. Sometimes a quest. Sometimes a mission.
For the agenda of the aether... or the Seven?
Naturally, it had taken Kazuki only an instant to prove his mastery over spear, body, and machine. His reward? A high baptism. Whatever that truly meant.
Since Jasmine had received one as well, Priam lacked any point of comparison.
“Is there a difference between a normal baptism and a high one?” he asked Béchar.
“High baptism, high risk, high reward.” The old changeform smiled. “The more Paths you choose, and the better you complete your task, the more effort the aether puts into raising your soul. Instead of a common baptism, you might receive a rare baptism, or even a high one. If I stick with the mountain metaphor, climbing several Paths won’t let you reach a higher summit, but it will let you see more of the landscape. Gain more muscle. Gather more experience.” Béchar scratched his chin, squinting thoughtfully. “If memory serves, a rare baptism increases one’s talent for the Supremacies, while a High baptism expands one’s soul to accommodate another legendary skill slot.”
“I’ll cut off a nut if there isn’t such a thing as an ideal baptism,” muttered the Juggernaut.
Luc resurfaced beside him. Far too close. “Easy thing to say when you know it’ll grow back.” He grinned. “By the way, do you already know which Paths will be available to you?”
Not just any Tier 0 could request such a trial. Otherwise, humanity would have celebrated superhumans long before the System’s arrival. The Juggernaut, however, was more than qualified.
Priam shoved the naked young man out of his personal space. Using his kinetic mastery to avoid touching him directly.
“I’ve got a few educated guesses, but that’s about it. It’s not like I know the requirements for every Path.”
“You can infer them.” Béchar climbed out of the pool and sat on the edge, legs open. Mist rose immediately to preserve the audience’s innocence. “In my experience—and in the experience of the thousands I’ve watched pass through my Colosseum—the soul must travel a certain distance along a Path before it’s recognized as an option during a High Tribulation.” He folded his arms. “A Tier 0 jack-of-all-trades can defeat a Tier 1 without ever crossing the threshold needed to truly claim a Path. Unlocking all three Supremacies is meaningless if none reaches Stage I. Tiering up is less a matter of power or quantity than quality.” He nodded to himself. “Yes. A soul must possess a certain quality before it can be baptized.”
“It must acquire a foundation sturdy enough that, once crystallized, it can support its own future growth,” Kazuki added. “Which has little to do with the System. Its stat increases exist independently of Paths.”
“A Path allows a soul to grow. System skills merely make it larger.” Priam shook his head. “I understand that much. Still, without an exhaustive list of Paths, though, it’s difficult to know where I stand.”
“The three Heart Supremacies, Concepts, bloodlines, and the two primordial skills—aether manipulation and perception—are the best-known Paths. Even if only the high and supreme bloodlines lead all the way to the Zenith,” Luc explained. “Plus the Faith Path, for anyone brave enough to risk the Seven’s wrath. There are probably others, but they’re well hidden.”
“Or simply undiscovered,” Priam countered. “The Pioneers exist.”
“The what?”
“The people who create their own Paths to the Zenith.”
At minimum, Faith had not existed before the Faith God. Likewise, there must have been a first dragon before the Dragon Law opened a road to the summit of creation.
Forging my own road would be pretty damn cool...
“Doesn’t ring a bell,” Luc admitted, frowning. “But I doubt it’s a popular choice. Most people would rather follow a marked trail than head into the wilderness hoping to carve out a new route that doesn’t turn into a dead end. Or a cliff. Broken Paths exist.”
“Hum?”
Priam wasn’t the only one to raise an eyebrow. Kazuki opened his eyes.
“Explain.”
“Yes, Sir!” saluted Luc with a smile. “During my High Tribulation, I wanted to choose the Luck Concept Path. Boss Thaal advised against it. According to him, Luck is a sub-Concept of Chaos—one of the Seven. If I rely solely on that Concept for advancement, I’ll eventually find myself blocked at the gates of the Zenith.” He shrugged. “Apparently that’s what happened to a certain Tier 9 Priam badmouthed.”
The Juggernaut grimaced as he remembered She Who Weaves Fate. If one of the Seven had blocked her ascent, it was undoubtedly Order. Served Her right with Her fucked Concept.
Deep down, Priam felt immense relief that the Tier 9 had never reached the Zenith. A universe ruled by Fate was deterministic and therefore devoid of freedom. To the Juggernaut, that was worse than hell.
“I don’t mean to be rude, kid,” Béchar said to Luc, “but if I were you, I wouldn’t worry about getting stuck at the penultimate Tier. Depths, reaching Tier 2 would already be an achievement.”
Luc merely shrugged. “Lasha will drag me to the Zenith whether I like it or not. And with any luck, Priam will have cleared the road by then.”
“I appreciate the vote of confidence, dude, but that’s too much.” Priam laughed. “I’m a Tier 0 and they’re Tier 9s.”
He possessed enough power to shatter hills. The Seven could rewrite reality on the scale of universes. Though Priam possessed a healthy dose of self-confidence, he wasn’t arrogant enough to think he had any real chance of reaching that level.
Of course, that wouldn’t stop him from trying.
“If the Juggernaut has no fans, then I’m dead!” Luc winked. “Anyway, I chose a bloodline to complement Luck. Originally I wanted a Qilin, but there aren’t any in the Sector, so I settled for Pixiu. It’s only a mid-tier bloodline, so it won’t carry me to the Zenith, but it’s good enough until Immortality.”
“Pixiu? Never heard of it,” Béchar said.
“A creature that brings fortune and accumulates wealth by swallowing it, never releasing it because its anus is sealed,” Kazuki explained. One of the myths the hoplites shared with humanity. Apparently, a powerful Pixiu had left its mark upon their original universe.
“Charming,” Béchar deadpanned.
Unable to resist, Priam used Domain II to inspect Luc’s anatomy. He raised an eyebrow.
“How exactly do you... you know what I mean.”
“Have prostate orgasms?” Luc asked with a wink.
Priam burst out laughing. “Alright. I deserved that.”
“Seriously, though, I’m impressed you still look human.” Luc studied him thoughtfully. “Phoenix and wyvern bloodlines... You won’t be able to ignore the atavisms forever with bloodlines that tyrannical.”
“I certainly hope I can. At the very least, I intend to keep a humanish appearance. No way am I becoming a slave to my own blood or an abomination for a bit of power.”
“Ah!” Béchar exclaimed. “That reminds me of The Three Supreme Bloodlines. You know, the story about the guy who acquires the Eldritch Bloodline to gain the power needed to marry his childhood friend. He ends up with a four-dimensional body, and merely looking at him drives his fiancée crazy.”
“You picked the worst possible example,” Luc groaned. “Some mods are cool! Look at the kitsune from wave ninety-eight and tell me you don’t want to fluff her tails?”
For a brief moment, Priam imagined Jasmine and Esmée sporting fox tails. Yeah. Fox-girls are cool.
The conversation drifted toward lighter subjects, and the four men lingered in the hot spring until the Champions’ leave expired.
As the bath drew to a close, Priam grew increasingly quiet. Tomorrow, the aether would test him. He still didn’t know which Paths he intended to choose.
“Oh, right. I’ve got something for you,” Luc said when a portal opened to Elysium.
Priam raised an eyebrow. “A gift? We barely know each other.”
“Ever since the first Reunion, everything’s gone my way like I’m some kind of protagonist. I won’t bore you with the details, but it’s thanks to you.” Luc extended a hand. “I wanted to thank you.”
Resting in his palm was a glowing pill. The mere sight of it awakened something primal inside the Juggernaut. Every cell in his body stirred with anticipation.
Before he could think, his body moved. Priam closed his fingers around the gift.
“If Boss Thaal wasn’t lying, that should grant you a physique immune to senescence.” The Mercenary laughed. “Honestly, you could think of it as an investment!”
With mere contact with his skin stirring his vitality, Priam had no trouble believing him.
“... Keep it,” he said with a sigh, opening his fist to release the pill. Without Micro, he wasn’t certain his body would have obeyed. His cells wanted that drug.
“Oh? If it doesn’t suit you, I can find something else—”
“I can hunt for my own meal, Luc,” the Juggernaut said with a smile as he turned toward the portal. “I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.”
*