A/N: Apologies, I took way too long editing and tweaking Hallowed Intuition's options.3.1k chappy :)
Kai stared at the notification scroll. One sentence. The third time he reread it, the meaning finally sank in.
Hallowed Intuition at level 100.
He had met the condition for evolving it to Green.
It was a long time coming, yet his mind flailed to grasp that it was actually happening. Now. With a few mental flicks, he could immediately gain a Green grade skill.
Well… As long as I’ve earned any good advancement options. And they don’t subvert my ability to detect danger. And their slot requirements don’t suck.
Kai breathed in the humid air, trying to control his bubbling expectations. The morning sunlight thinned the mist. He was about to check how many evolutions he’d actually gotten when he caught movement behind the semi-transparent window.
Students roused and stretched around six campfires. Some came out from actual tents, clearly not shy about their spatial artifacts. Across the meadow, several seemed to be throwing covert glances their way. And Kastor Forlow was still speaking and gesturing with a huddled group.
Damned busy bodies.
Isadora was nowhere to be seen, probably among the figures still asleep. Had she set him up? Did it matter? Even if her brother was acting on his own, there was no mistaking the rising tangle of whispers.
Danger was brewing. It loomed oppressively like storm clouds gathering on the horizon. Not yet a deadly threat, but if he lingered… he would be too late to avoid it later.
Is this what made Hallowed Intuition breach the peak?
It felt weak to justify breaking the last bottleneck. Had he already been close from his discount divining? Or was he missing something?
The whispers had only grown more jumbled since he’d entered the Trials. He wasn’t confident in his ability to decipher them in hours, let alone minutes.
Always with cryptic warnings, huh? Hopefully, it’ll get better at Green—
With an effort, he dismissed the pending evolution notification. Taking even a peek would leave him too distracted. It’d be a headache of a decision, especially if he’d need to free another slot for an evolution…
No theorizing now! Whatever Kastor is plotting, I’d rather not stay here to find out.
Valela rubbed the sleep from her puffy cheeks, noticing his sudden stiffness. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s… we need to go. I’ll explain later. Try not to look hurried.”
“Will do.” Valela knitted her brows, smoothing her wrinkled clothes, stealing a glance back as she finger-combed and tied back her hair. “The academy didn’t give us much to pack. What trail do we take?”
Picking up his satchel, Kai stretched and cracked his back, studying the narrow paths that opened into the treeline. The one where they arrived from and four more—
Six trails…
Recounting didn’t change the number: six unknown paths breached into the foggy woods, seven total. How had he missed two last night?
Probably just more strangeness of the Veiled Woods.
It didn’t matter. The whispers kept building. Going on three hours of sleep, he had neither the time nor the mental energy to try divining each trail. Still, choosing blindly annoyed him. His Luck worked best when he gave it purpose and direction.
Can’t waste time.
His gaze fell on the dewy purple grass. A spindly twig, charred on one end, poked from the embers of their campfire, still giving off heat.
Bending to pick it up, Kai tossed it into the air without much ceremony, his mind focused on his goals.
The safest path for Valela and the most profitable for me.
The twig spun above him before landing at his feet, the charred end pointed precisely toward the northwestern trail. Kai shrugged.
Good enough for me.
“That one.” He crouched down as if stocking their campfire and subtly motioned.
Valela looked between the stick, the trail, and back to him. Her mouth opened, working her jaw before closing again. Finally, she nodded. “A method as good as any, I suppose,” she muttered, then slightly louder. “Should we run for it or go around?”
“We… uhm…” Kai bit his cheek. His eyes flickered to the dead oak standing over the meadow. He’d been replaying how he got the five Shards. His actions… Their number… His suspicions had coalesced into a theory. He might be wrong, but if he wasn’t, leaving without testing it would be a waste. “You never tried channeling your mana into the tree last night, did you?”
“I… not really. I was keeping an eye on Isadora. And getting more Moonlight Shards felt like more trouble regardless.”
“Why don’t you go give it a real try now? I’ll create a distraction while you go to the hollow.”
Valela blinked. “Why? Why do you think it’ll work for me? I don’t even have Nature mana.”
“Call it a hunch. My affinity might have made it easier, but I don’t think it’s a requirement. Just use your mana to connect with the life deep inside the oak. If nothing happens, move to the northwest trail. If something happens… Well… move for the trail. Faster. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Mat… There are too many students. And splitting up doesn’t sound wise. What if—”
“Trust me.” Kai met her gaze with a confident smile. “The Trials are too unpredictable. If we lose this, we’ll need to take more risks to gather enough Shards.”
If he was wrong, they’d lose a minute. If he was right… Perhaps the Wandering Moon was not done smiling on them.
Worth the gamble.
Kai gave her hand a squeeze. “It’ll be fine. We must go now while the camp is still half asleep.”
As he stood and turned to stroll towards the red-headed Forlow sibling, poorly concealed stares and whispers followed him.
Good, keep your attention on me.
Kastor was speaking with another team, facing away from him. Two boys from Martial Studies and a mage girl noticed him first. The latter widened her eyes, locking his gaze and clumsily gesturing.
“What is it?” Kastor threw an annoyed glance back, doing a quick double-take.
“Hey, there!” Kai gave a friendly wave, approaching the camp and ignoring the tensing students. “How's the plotting going?”
“What—” To his credit, Kastor recovered quickly, squaring his shoulders with a slight sneer. “What nonsense are you uttering? You’re overestimating your own importance. I care not for your delusions. Return to your shabby hole. I don’t deal with beggars." He waved him off with a sniff.
“You sure?” Kai kept his amiable smile. “'Cause you've been throwing quite a few looks my way. Hey, no judgment. I know you got a bit obsessed with me after I stomped you in class. How many times was it… ten— no, eleven? Hmm… yeah, I should have guessed you enjoyed it after the first five. I don’t really see the appeal myself. But to each their own, man.”
Across the camp, students exchanged silent glances and edged back. The mage girl let out a peep of laughter before hastily covering her mouth.
Kastor shot her a death glare. He snapped back toward him, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles whitened, lower lip quivering. His pale face turned a shade closer to his hair. “You—you—”
“Me… yes?” Kai tried to help, the poor teen struggled with the words.
“You dare!” With a supreme feat of will—or a skill—Kastor pushed down his temper. His voice came in a tight, hissing snarl. “I'll see you put in your proper place, you freak mongrel! You’ll see. Your cheating tricks won’t help you forever. You never beat me in a real duel!”
Not the most coherent, but passable.
“Yeah… right. I must be the best cheater at Raelion if Professor Valdibal never noticed it across eleven bouts. But hey, whatever helps you cope. The journey to self-acceptance can be hard.”
“You! That—”
“Gods, Kastor! Can you keep it down?” Isadora stalked over from a nearby campfire, sleepy face and ruffled bed-hair. Reaching their loose gathering, her eyes narrowed. “Matthew? What are you— Kastor, bloody Moons! I told you to let it go,” she hissed, advancing toward her brother, who shrank under her fuming glare.
“It’s nothing, sister. I was just sharing some intel.”
“Sure you were! You had bloody promised, Kastor! You know…” she dug into his arm, giving him a meaningful look.
Their raised voices carried through the quiet camps, attracting more looks.
Kai almost missed it when the breeze carried a faint clink-clink sound. He did his best not to react, but the siblings were paying more attention despite their apparent argument.
Kastor’s head spun towards the grayed oak.
Having positioned to cut off their view, Kai smirked. “Staring at me again, huh?”
"Move aside!” With a snarl, the teen shoved him aside, his arms containing far more Strength than he should have. A burst of mana kept Kai on his feet, but he couldn't stop Kastor from looking past him.
Dammit.
Valela crouched in front of the hollow in the oak, using her frame to hide it from view. Her satchel flapped open as if to scoop up the earth. She stole a glance in their direction. Noticing the gazes, her expression caught like a child with her hand in the cookie jar.
She promptly snatched up the satchel and turned, but the motion of stuffing something inside was unmistakable to anyone watching with purpose.
Kai could see the realization dawning on Kastor’s stunned face with vindicated glee. Before he could shout, Kai shoved him back. The teen stumbled back towards his sister.
“Whelp! This looks like a family matter. No need to fight for me. I'll leave you to discuss it.” He winked, waving at the other confused onlookers. “Nice meeting y'all.”
The mana he'd been quietly pooling rushed for the nearest treeline. Bridging the distance, it seized onto the morning mist. He hadn’t used Water Magic to shape fog since the Myst Lake, but it wasn’t much different than ice.
He’d only meant to conjure a fake curtain to cover their escape, but when he tugged, the swirling banks surrounding the meadow rushed in as if they’d been waiting for an invitation.
The mist rolled over the purple weeds, immediately drawing startled exclamations and panicked cries.
“Monsters!” Kai pointed and bellowed, turning and preparing his next spell.
Alarmed shouts spread across the meadow as disjointed figures of Shadow shifted between the swirling fog. Students sprang from their bedrolls and breakfast. Weapons and spells flashed in the air, tipping any attempt at reason.
Kai was already dashing around the oak as Kastor’s outraged shouts rang behind him. Ahead, Valela had crossed the gnarled roots and was sprinting for the northwest trail, satchel clutched to her chest.
His Nature mana flowed into the earth, making purple weeds writhe and snag at feet, adding to the alarm. The mist unfortunately didn’t cover their entire escape. He sidestepped a cluster of students and decked a burly boy, who’d lunged to intercept Valela, never breaking stride.
“Don’t look back! Run!”
Roots tore and tripped any wannabe pursuer as yells and chaos consumed the meadow. They breached the treeline to the crackling of spells he had nothing to do with. Following the trail, Kai channeled more mana. The pale birches answered his summon with ominous creaks; branches swung to thwart any stomping steps behind them.
Their sprint didn’t slow until the sounds behind them faded to muffled stillness. At their backs, thin plumes of mist clung to the woods.
“I think… I think we lost them.”
“We… did?” Laughing breathlessly, Valela collapsed against a fallen log beside him, her chest heaving. “That… was… crazy.”
“But it worked, didn’t it?”
“Yeah… Perhaps… a bit too well.” She leaned on her knees, brushing loose strands of hair behind her ear. “How did you know… that the oak would give me more Shards?”
“Just a reasoned guess. The affinity didn’t matter as much as channeling into the right spot and reaching for the tree.”
“Why didn’t it work for Isadora then? Or anyone else, for that matter? We can’t be the only ones to have tried above the hollow.”
Kai lifted his shoulder in a half-shrug. “Luck? Most probably didn’t do it correctly. The oak isn’t completely dead as it looks. You need to reach and connect to its buried spark. It’s harder than it looks. And I think there is another hidden condition. We followed the Trials together, so if I had fulfilled it, chances were you had too. Altogether, you need both Luck and skill.”
“I see…” Valela dried her sweat with a flick of her wrist. “That makes sense.” Her eyes narrowed. “You know what the hidden condition is?”
A smirk tugged at his lips. “I may have some more reasoned guesses. How many Shards did you get?”
“Mhmm… a few.” She held the satchel to her chest with a smile.
“Make me beg?”
“If you want.” She giggled and lifted the flap; several faceted violet crystals lay inside, shimmering like crushed stars in the morning light. “Six of them. One more than you.”
“It’s not a race.”
“Of course not.”
Kai maturely chose to ignore the squabble. “So it’s eleven in total… it probably had to do with the mist wraiths. That’s how many we killed before reaching the clearing. We attacked many of them together, so I wasn’t sure how the contributions were counted.“
“So… it’s made to reward how many beasts we hunted?”
“Maybe. Or maybe the oak had a personal vengeance against the wraiths. Who knows, there might be some deep lore about how it turned into a grayed husk. I heard students talk about finding Shards on beasts they killed. I doubt the academy would let the Trials reward us twice, even with Luck involved. We just know too little about these woods.”
If they hadn’t known precisely where and how to channel their essence into the oak, they would have gotten nothing. Again, Luck and skill. How many other opportunities had they already missed?
Kai let out a frustrated sigh.
I thought the Trials of Luck would be more fun. I already hate these woods.
In the back of his mind, the whispers thrummed, like an itch just beyond reach. Leaving the clearing had only partially settled them.
“We should eat something and keep moving.” He scanned the misty trees. In the daylight, silver gleamed beneath the milky bark of the birches, their leaves veined with dark purple, lending the woods an eerily enchanted vibe.
Better than spooky, I guess.
Kai offered Valela some jerky and a handful of honey-roasted nuts from his ring. “It’s better than what they gave us. I need to check something.”
She nibbled on the snacks and nodded distractedly, her attention thoroughly hijacked by food.
Without an impending emergency, he could at least afford a peek.
Kai opened the scroll notification.
Hallowed Intuition (lv100) ➔
As you reach the final milestone, you are presented with four choices to continue your path:
Fortune Reader (lv1) — The convergence of Fate and opportunity whispers to you. Pivotal encounters and events subtly draw your attention. Fate’s currents become easier to sense the closer your emotional and physical involvement, and vice versa. [Skill Slot Requirement: 3]
Calamity Premonition (lv1) — Your instincts for danger sharpen into forewarning disaster. Hostile intent, hidden threats, and potential catastrophes become increasingly difficult to conceal from your senses. The greater the peril to your life, the clearer the warning. [Skill Slot Requirement: 2]
Wanderer's Instinct (lv1) — Focus on a path to glimpse at possible futures. The divining is stronger the closer the relation to yourself. The farther you peer, the greater the uncertainty, and the more varied the potential outcomes. [Skill Slot Requirement: 2]
Luck’s Favorite (lv1) — Fate bends subtly around your actions. Minor coincidences occur more frequently in your favor. The effect heightens near converging locus of Fate. [Skill Slot Requirement: 3]
Oh boy…
Beside him, Valela happily munching on her breakfast on the fallen log, blissfully unaware of his existential crisis. Kai scrubbed a hand through his hair. The trail stretched into the shrouded woods.
None with one slot… At least I’ve got options. What do I pick…
~~~
Alden limped through the thinning trail, his left sleeve torn at the elbow. A darker patch stained the right leg of his slacks. Each uneven step sent a sharp throb through his leg. He was starting to develop a deep dislike for the roots crisscrossing the trail.
Dried blood itched beneath his hastily applied bandages. His skin burned with spreading dark veins, held at bay by his panacea. He’d foolishly let himself get cut, confident that no poison in the Trials could harm him. Naturally, those craven cowards had known too. That’s why they’d used a cursed dagger.
How did they get their hands on that?
The Republic heavily regulated cursed weapons. Even for established Houses, they weren’t easy items to acquire. And none of his ambushers had come from an ancient line.
Nibbles hissed worriedly from his collar, curling tighter around his shoulders.
“I'm aware. I’ll be alright. The spread has already slowed. I just need to outlast it.”
The serpent tickled his neck with his flicking tongue.
“I told you it’s not your fault. You saved me. I should have been more cautious.”
While he hadn’t trusted the group to begin with, he never imagined they’d attempt something so brazen. They had waited until he feigned sleep to ambush him. He was beginning to doubt they’d just intended to force him to trigger the extraction bracelet. Assassinations violated the Trials’ only rule. The academy showed no mercy when the line was crossed. Even had they succeeded, their fate would have been unenviable, as would that of their Houses.
No first-year Trials or sum were worth risking the ire of his House. It made no sense.
Did one of our enemies pay them off?
He should have kept one alive to question when the others ran.
Alden adjusted the grip on his concealed dagger in his remaining sleeve, the mana alloy cold under his fingers. The trail drifted into the mist; the alabaster bark of the birches seemed to almost glow in the light. With the curse sapping his strength, he needed a place to rest before his legs gave out.
From the distance came an echo of softly splashing water.
What now…
Sounds never carried properly in the Veiled Woods. Space and light warped strangely around his perception. Beneath his collar, Nibbles squirmed restlessly.
“I know,” Alden murmured, gaze focused on the trees.
To think he’d be looking back fondly at his Mid-Term Trials.
Alden snorted a laugh, blaming his exhaustion and lightheaded mind.
Nibbles flicked his tongue again with a hiss.
Something rustled in the brush, carpeting the woods beneath the shifting mist.
His grip tightened.
“I hope you’re a beast, because I’m in a truly foul mood.”