[Trial Type: Maze (Unique)]
Tristan's eyes glowed. As if that wasn't odd enough, there was the description as well as the requirements.
[Trail Description: A Memory is only as useful as those who remember. The fewer who remember, the more doubtful the memory. So, why bother to remember? Travel far, and soon enough, your destination will reveal itself.]
[Trial Requirements: Navigate]
It told him to travel, that the path would reveal itself. Then the requirements told him to navigate.
So, which was it?
Whoever this Yadera lady was, she was nothing if not mischievous. He could almost hear the giggles in the distance, his ears twitching.
'Hmm?' A steady wind slowly picked up, caressing his skin only to wash over, fading as quickly as it came.
It was cool to the touch, almost pulling him into a false sense of security.
'Is it like that?' Tristan's gaze sparkled in realization.
If there was a wind to follow, then that made this almost impossibly easy.
If he was right, then this was the maze's way of 'revealing the path,' and navigation would mean…
'Simple Enough.' His thoughts did nothing to slow his movements, his body already zooming in the direction of the howling winds.
The maze was odd. It seemed to switch terrain at random.
Sometimes, it would reveal an area filled with darkness, which would disorient most, then revealing a beautiful grassland whose flora seemed to shine and gleem.
But of course, the odd bluish gray walls would play as a reminder to take things seriously.
Soon enough, he found himself amid a forest clearing.
Maybe in another situation, he might admire the way the false sky glowed, basking the place in moonlight, but it was hard when the dull glows of the Arc Lamps broke the illusion.
But that was to be expected. After all, they weren't normal lamps.
Instead, they were Constructs whose purpose was to be a guide for Arc, drawing the energy and saturating the room.
'To so casually use such high-level Constructs as lamps?' Tristan sighed at the wasteful nature of it all.
He hadn't noticed before, but now that he had, he felt like punching the architect in the face.
[Constructs] weren't your usual pieces [Gears] or [Rune Tech].
Even mentioning them in the same breath felt insulting.
They were part of a very specific branch of Runology that allowed inscribed objects to communicate intimately with Arc.
It was not as simple as just inscribing an object with runes, it was an object reaching what was known as…
[Natural Immersion]
At that point, it became no different from any Natural 'Construct' hence the name.
Even he had only read of them.
'Well, that isn't exactly true.' his mind couldn't help but drift before he regained focus, finally observing his surroundings.
'Hmm?' Tristan frowned. It seemed escaping this maze wouldn't be so simple.
He looked at the slowly rising platform and couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
'Ghost Paws!'
He didn't wait for the platform to finish rising, running towards the unsightly creature.
In place of his short sword was the same sharp stone he had almost killed himself with.
Before the beast could understand what was happening, he was already upon it, and yet…
BANG!
A paw descended, Tristan sent flying into the distance with just as much speed as he came.
The impact forced his injuries to further rupture, his bracing doing nothing to lessen the impact.
It was then he recalled a certain requirement…
[Recommended Progression: 1st Limit]
"ARGHHHHHH!" The beast roared out. It sounded human yet twisted and distorted in a way only a beast could mimic.
"Cough!! Cough!!!" It would seem he had miscalculated.
It lashed out with a paw appearing before Tristan in what amounted to seconds.
Tristan forced himself to move, just barely avoiding the creature, as the paw hit the ground with a…
BANG!
The ground trembled, but Tristan was unmoved.
If there was one thing he was confident in, it was his movement techniques; how else would he be able to run away from all those people he offended?
But truthfully, this time, there was little he could do due to his body's condition, only narrowly escaping death.
Even this was miraculous, considering the state of his body.
The creature gave him no opening, following him like a ghost moving and twisting its body in ways that made no apparent sense, as it started to embody the moniker 'Ghost'
It was as if its body was nothing more than a puppet it used to satisfy its wishes. What happened to it afterwards was irrelevant so long as its goals were achieved.
Tristan grinned, barely dodging another swipe of the claw.
He had managed to help Baron's team defeat one so easily, so why was he struggling now?
There were several factors. One that was a controlled environment where he had been allowed to observe.
Two, it was four against one. Five if you counted him.
And lastly, that Beast had been [Unranked], a term used for beasts that had yet to form Conceptual Veins.
As for this one…
[Objective: Kill Ghost Paws (Rank 1)(Awakened)]
"Awakened?" He dodged out of the way of yet another paw. He frowned. 'Something is wrong here.'
What did it mean by awakened. Also…
The Ghost Paws were powerful, but not to this extent. If he had to point out a major flow of their species then it was their dog shit intelligence.
This one, on the other hand, seemed to have no such handicap.
His grin widened. Okay, if it was a show she wanted out of him, then it was a show she would get.
He seemed to lose all focus, falling into a state of daprivity. And yet there was a cold, intelligent light in his eyes, his smile grew wider.
Breaking a branch off a tree to his rear, he was forced to take yet another step back.
He stumbled to the floor—or at least so it seemed—until his hands grabbed the ground, twisting into it and using it as leverage to deliver a roundhouse kick to the creature's maw.
His breathing evened out into a calm cadence, using the few seconds he had bought himself to take off his shoes.
"Ptchw." He spat out a mouthful of blood, his smile growing wider and his eyes growing colder.
The balls of his feet seemed to sink into the ground, the air around him changing as he seemed to embody a savage beast.
As much as he complained about these eyes of his… was it possible to lose when you saw everything as variables? Did the dim lighting bother him?
Not in the Slightest!
He shot forward.
'Left.' As if prediction, the paw came from the left, the screeching cries of the creature echoing.
He dodged, closing in with as much momentum as the paw he avoided.
Seeing that its attack had been compromised, it leaned it with a chomp, its maw opened wide, aiming to swipe Tristan's head off clean
But that was exactly what he had been betting on. How predictable was this set of movements?
He avoided the rush, jumping over it, before using the momentum he built to force the branch into its eyes.
He landed heavily on the floor, rolling.
"ARGHHHCHHH!" Its cry carried a mournful wail.
'Not deep enough.' Maybe others would pale in fear at the failed attempt, but that only made him more excited.
It was then that Ghost Paws did something odd, causing him to take things slightly more seriously.
Its body turned over, bending and cracking as its limbs inverted. Its belly showed as its legs walked inwards, its tongue hanging out of its mouth.
Tristan paused. This wasn't normal.
No, not by any stretch of the word.
Tears leaked out of its eyes, and maybe if it wasn't so obvious before, it was when sections of its body that had been torn in its vain attempt began to leak with blood, its eyes soon following.
He could almost hear the whispers of what this was.
[Sorrow]
It was then that it hit him. "Is this what it meant by awakened?"
He asked the question with so much certainty that it seemed less like one and more like a statement.
Was it also possible to force something like this? He wasn't sure. But looking at the sight before him…
'Just what kind of…' He looked towards the creature, he could feel its pain. But maybe that was the point…
He stood for a while.
He could hear the creature's suffering. Whoever was doing this in the background had a mind twisted beyond repair.
What were they trying to prove?
Yadera, seeing his pause, didn't react much. It might seem like she created these challenges, but she simply used the template.
This was someone else's doing. Not that the difference mattered much to her. Why would she value the life of a mutated dog?
Lowering himself, he picked up the very same sharp stone he had lost hold of earlier.
It was clear that he had purposefully let himself land here.
Truthfully, his body had long since been screaming at him to stop, his organs and lungs having already reached their limits, but…
"Okay."
His smile faded, and his gaze dulled, losing all sharpness.
BADUM!
His body shot forward! His speed, despite not being any faster, seemed to reach an entirely different level of effectiveness. Not a single twitch nor movement wasted.
He reached the beast in an instant, angling the torque generated from his sudden stop into a fluid kick, which broke the leg of the creature, causing it to lose balance.
It fell, but it didn't seem to notice moving forward as if it still had all limbs.
Taking advantage of its position, it chomped towards him, aiming for his shoulder, but in a rare case of clumsiness, he slipped the bite, missing him completely.
But his eyes didn't react, his body moving to calmly execute the next step.
As if planned, his hand grabbed the ground, reaching under and pushing himself, his legs pushing up, breaking the throat of the creature.
But once again, the creature simply moved; it seemed the more injuries it retained, the faster it seemed to become. Like a rabid dog that couldn't stop itching.
It threw the broken paw at him, which for a moment seemed to truly embody a 'Ghost Paw,' a blue light layering on top of it, as it was forced to move through sheer will.
Unfortunately…it didn't matter.
Tristan grabbed a hold of its neck, dragging his body onto it before stabbing the sharp stone into the same eye.
The branch lodged in its eyes pierced through.
The creature wanted to fight back, seeking to reach even deeper into its bloodline, but it fell limply on the floor before it could do much.
The light in its eyes, fading. Replaced by the same dull look Tristan had.
"Blegh." He coughed up a mouthful of black blood the movements clealy having taken it's own toll on him.
His heartbeat slowed as his eyes began to regain clarity. He frowned in confusion before the image cleared up in his mind.
He stared at the corpse for a while, then walked away; he had already felt the wind.
It looked like whatever was going on here was far from over.
Yadera quivered, but it was unclear whether it was due to fear, suprise or some other emotion. But all of this was because she recognised the technique.
[Heart Resonance]
It wasn't some blood-burning method. In fact, it didn't affect functionality at all, at least at the higher levels of the technique.
It seemed… this boy was shrouded in more mystery than she thought.