Chapter 1: An Unexpected Journey

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Journey

Under three suns of different colors, an ocean stretched as far as the eye could see. The curvature of the horizon did not seem to exist. This world was too vast. Floating islands dotted the sky. A few trees, titans on top of these wandering forests, sometimes pierced the rock of these islands to come and absorb the water and allow an ecosystem to be created. A traveler could have ascended by climbing along the roots connecting seas to lands. Various creatures used these vegetal bridges to navigate in these archipelagos. In this paradisiacal setting, life was abundant but also fragile. The Concepts had named this world: Elysium.

Welcome to Elysium. You have been deemed worthy of entertaining the inhabitants of the world most blessed by the aether. Surviving long enough may make you a powerful force in the Seven Concepts Universe.

Shape your destiny!

Main Quest: Survival

Survive three days.

Rewards: Titles, skills, or information.

Difficulty: Epic

First Quest: Invasion

The inhabitants of Elysium are often immensely powerful due to the colossal density of aether and the extreme conditions of this world. But most seek to escape, even if only briefly, to use their power, dominate the weak, and find new resources.

Explore other worlds.

Reward: Depending on the method, the laws of Paradise will give you some time off before they send you back.

Difficulty: Variable

World Quest: Apogee

Become the master of Elysium.

Reward: Unknown

Difficulty: Impossible

Priam first noticed the heat.

He had always enjoyed the warmth and preferred summer to winter. But the youngster loved the soft rays of sunshine. These were too harsh. Maybe because there were three suns?

Whatever the reason, the temperature was too high for a human. Unsuitable for the survival of complex biological organisms. Priam wasn't suffering, he was cooking.

In addition to the intense heat, there was also a high gravity. Priam struggled to stand, the weight on his shoulders being quite literal.

Yet around him lay a clearing covered with knee-high grass. Blue grass, of course, but grass. Photosynthesis had to work differently here. Right now, that wasn't Priam's first concern either.

"My new home...and this heat! Global warming spares no world," Priam commented. "Well, I have to hurry, my eyes are starting to sting, and it will probably be better under the shade."

Priam, the first survivor of the Tutorial, had always proudly claimed to be pragmatic, Cartesian, intelligent, and not very modest. Since he was a young boy, he had always dreamed about being confronted with magic, but he had never seriously considered being involved in a fantastic event. Fortunately, the people in charge of all this, Concepts, Gods, or Fate, had given little importance to his opinion.

Priam stood in the center of a clearing about a hundred meters in radius, set in a forest setting. Beside him was a portal made of blue and gold threads winding around each other. A portal that was currently levitating a meter above the ground. Magic or futuristic science, he had not yet decided. However, he understood the essential: it was a one-way ticket to a new universe. Attempting to cross the portal for a return trip would send you directly to the afterlife. In many pieces. The last part was a deal breaker for most men, but Priam was interested. He was no longer an ordinary man and death was good for him.

As he trotted painfully toward the undergrowth, Priam was still careful of the tall grass. If the Tutorial had taught him anything, it was that a mistake could be fatal. Snakes, insects, goblins, beasts, or even a trap, there could be many hidden dangers. Priam had many lives, but each one was precious.

Crossing the edge of the woods without having encountered any particular problem - except for the heat - Priam observed his surroundings, his mouth dry. With tears in his eyes, leaning against a tree, he still wondered if he had made the right choice. Exhausted, hardly sure that he was not hallucinating, he encouraged himself to continue. He took advantage of the shadows to decide on a plan. The immediate danger was his thirst. Without water and with this heat, he risked having a headache. After that came delirium and then death. Given the heat, he didn't have much time ahead of him...

You have gained the skill: [Heat Resistance].

[Heat Resistance] - Some people spend their day at the foundry, others at the stove. Some like their baths very hot. Either way, slight resistance to temperatures above your body's internal heat can't hurt. For each level in this skill, your biochemical reaction system and your cells will be able to adapt to a higher internal temperature.

The thermometer indicates 42C. Go to work, you lazy bastard!

VIT +1

"...My life has become a real game. With no save," Priam lamented. "Still, I have a water problem." He began walking through a forest of unfamiliar trees. From the clearing, he had seen some huge conifers and hardwoods, reminiscent of the majestic American redwoods. But up close, the forest was mostly made up of colorful trees at least five meters tall, with a canopy of vegetation about fifteen meters above the ground. Every trunk, every broad leaf, every branch could hide a predator. Here, he was the prey...

Priam plodded North. The notion of cardinal points no longer made sense now that he had left Earth, but he did not want to get lost and therefore walked in the same direction. To be sure not to deviate from his path, he often looked at the moss on the trees. It prefers humid places with little sunlight. In the northern hemisphere, where he grew up, it often corresponded to the North. Currently, he was hoping to quickly find water to quench his thirst.

After about twenty minutes of laborious progress in the thickets, taking care to push back each low branch and to avoid the scratches of the brambles, soaked by sweat, he had to give up. He had noticed a few animal tracks, but they were huge. Maybe they led to a waterhole, but they could just as well have led to a den. In view of the traces dug by the claws, Priam had no desire to meet these beasts.

Priam was beginning to despair. The heat was starting to give him a headache, and he was afraid he would hallucinate soon. Thirst was starting to give him stupid ideas. While he was pondering, looking at the flowers at his feet, he had an idea. Most flowers were 80% to 95% water. By consuming enough, they could meet his water needs. If I have to turn into a herbivore to survive so be it. The only problem was that they could be toxic...

Priam had passed hundred of flowers since the beginning of his journey. He stopped in the middle of a carpet of a dozen identical flowers. He bent down to examine a pretty one, white on the outside and yellow on the inside. Poisonous flowers could be dangerous even without eating them. Skin reactions, redness, itching... He knew he had to be careful.

Priam leaned over to the flower and smelled it. The flower didn't smell good, and his dry nose didn't help. Then he picked it, rolled it between his fingers, then on his tongue. Most poisons taste bitter, and the flower was rather sweet. Finally, he threw it into his mouth. Swallowing with difficulty without chewing to vomit if needed, he waited.

You have gained the skill: [Identification].

[Identification] lvl 1: One of the natural skills of natives. Using your senses to identify a substance, a material, an object, or a living being can be handy. But be careful young seeker; touching poison or swallowing molten metal is not a good idea without some solid skills.

In the meantime, this should help you in the future. If you survive.

MEM +1

[Aethereal Wood Daffodil] - A daffodil that colonizes the undergrowth. Its trumpet-like flower signals the arrival of spring. It is delicious to the taste and contains much aether.

Priam grinned. This skill could become an extremely useful tool to survive in this new world.

Sitting down on a reclining log, Priam began to breathe calmly. The aether had partly modified him, and he was no longer a mere human. The aether, the original fluid, the carrier of fundamental forces, was a miracle creator. This new Universe was governed by different laws than the one in which Priam was born. Its first law was that of the aether, and this fluid made the impossible possible. According to the tutorial, the more aether there was, the more magic there was.

But to compare the density of the ambient aether of the tutorial, and that of Elysium, was tocompare a puddle and an ocean. If one followed that logic, between the very high temperature, the intense gravity, and the feeling of being underwater that had accompanied him since he had set foot on the blue grass, his body was not prepared to easily handle the amount of aether he had ingested in the form of a single flower.

Staring into the greenery, thirsty like he'd never thought possible and hot like he was being slowly cooked, Priam wondered for the hundredth time in 20 minutes if he'd been too greedy.

Looking at the trees, part of his brain wondered why they weren't dying. The heat should have evaporated the water faster. Maybe the lack of evaporation could be explained by the increase in atmospheric pressure and gravity. On the other hand, he was now in a fantasy world, and some of his scientific knowledge was bound to be wrong. Priam shook his head. These considerations would surely be useful one day, but not today. He had to learn how to make fire before trying to build a rocket.

Shaking his head to clear his head, Priam began to think about short-term survival strategies. When he thought about survival, his first ideas came from movies or games. Minecraft had taught him to bury himself to escape enemies. The marks on the trunks and the ground showed that the forest was inhabited, and Priam had no intention of introducing himself. Currently, he was prey with no extra life, and he was well aware of it. He couldn't hide his scent, but burying himself would certainly discourage the laziest beasts.

[He Who Eludes Death] Charge: 1

Lvl Up : [Heat Resistance] lvl 3.

VIT +1

Spending the night in a jungle is not necessarily fun. Especially when the jungle was full of predators that could shake the ground with their howling. Priam thought it best to remain silent to avoid attracting a predator. He also heard wings whirring. The insects must have been the size of a fist. He was holed up under a tree whose roots pulsed with a faintly glowing sap. Faintly glowing through the wood. A possible source of light in the future...

When the deafening cacophony of nocturnal predators faded for a few hours, Priam's sense of thirst finally overcame his fears. He had thought of cutting the roots and drinking the sap directly. With his teeth if he had to. But the sight of the fluorescent blue-green color, and the recent memory of eating a particular flower, told him this might not be a good idea. It might even be his last. The fact that his instincts were screaming at him that there were easier ways to commit suicide only confirmed this decision.

Priam emerged from his den. He had been thinking during the night about what to do next in this strange new world...

The environment was extremely hostile. His most crucial current quest was to survive, which was epically tricky. For three days! Considering the difficulty of the quests offered in the Tutorial, the hardest of which was Epic, and that he had barely completed it despite sacrifices and absurd luck, his ability to survive in this new world would be severely tested.

Of course, his perk [He Who Eludes Death] allowed him to revive once a day. A fantastic perk every day of the week and wonderful in his grave situation. He would have to use and abuse the synergy between [He Who Eludes Death] and [Humanity adapts - Silver] to stay alive and strive in this fucked up new land.

Immediate priorities would have to be:

Survive Explore the surroundings, and collect food. Find ways to become stronger.

One way to solve priorities one and three would be to consume the sap from these trees. It seemed powerful, much more so than the flowers, and could surely push - through his death - the new limits of his body. Since the Tutorial, he had noticed that his body, though human in appearance, could now quickly become stronger. Much faster. A few push-ups and stretches at the beginning of the tutorial improved his physical condition by at least twenty percent. All that in a few hours. If his ability to progress had then begun to decline, he was sure he had not yet pushed his body to its new limits. If there were any.

For now, I might as well eat these flowers. Thanks to [Osmosis], my body should be able to handle them, which would nourish me. With a few hundred flowers, I shouldn't be so thirsty anymore.

Priam walked over to the nearest flowers and began to pluck one. He cautiously began to lick it, then to taste a petal, and seeing that there seemed to be no dangerous effects, he swallowed it in one go.

"..."

Except for a hot-cold sensation in the back of his throat, nothing strange happened.

CONST +1

Satisfied, Priam began to swallow the flowers one by one, ensuring they were all the same. He had previously dealt with mushrooms on Earth that could look alike and grow in the same places. One was delicious, the other poisonous. Before the reset of [He Who Eludes Death], he would pay much attention to his meal.

Suddenly, Priam had an inkling. The portal! Without knowing why, he knew someone was coming. He began to pluck the few surviving flowers and gobbled them up as he made his way as quickly as possible to the clearing. He had not gone too far, but the forest was virgin and therefore full of brush, tall grass, and brambles. It was challenging to move quickly without leaving an obvious trail.

Four minutes later, Priam arrived at the edge of the clearing. The portal in the center of the clearing was pulsing. The light was bright enough to be visible. I would have alerted half the forest if I had arrived at night.

He stopped at the edge to observe and reflect.

It can be anyone. Ally, enemy, or neutral individual. I need resources to survive. At the moment, there is no sign of civilization, so the laws are obsolete. Only morality prevents us from fighting, and we don't necessarily have the same values. If I can think of that and be afraid of this unknown, he can feel the same. It's the dark forest theory but applied to two individuals instead of two civilizations. Better to observe the situation and stay hidden before making a decision.

Only a minute after he arrived, the portal expelled a body. Wide-eyed, Priam tried to survey the scene. A... human? No, the proportions of his body look strange.

Something was wrong. Priam wondered if he should come closer, but he was afraid. Going through the portal meant being a survivor of the Tutorial. But he knew that other civilizations had passed the Tutorial. There was no indication that the lying individual was a friend. For all Priam knew, it might even be a trap. Even if it wasn't one, communication options were also limited. The probability that the stranger spoke English or a Romance language was abysmal.

Last but not least, Priam had passed the Tutorial faster than any other, but he had been very lucky. He knew he was not as powerful as someone who passed the tutorial the hard way. If only I could tie him up for questioning. But what if he wakes up at the wrong time? I will die... His only advantage was that the individual was unaware of its existence. Priam hid and waited.

Two hours. Priam had waited two long hours, hidden behind the dense vegetation, and sweating profusely, for the stranger to wake up.

The pseudo-man stood up, stretching his limbs. He looked like a cat waking up. Two hours of exposure to the heat - almost enough to kill Priam - didn't seem to have bothered him. He was now observing his surroundings. A few seconds passed before he took an obvious direction: that of Priam's footprints.

Shit! He's coming in my direction, and if he follows my tracks, he'll eventually spot me. He's fast and doesn't seem to be tired from the heat. Above all, he's impossibly agile. He looks like a feline stalking his prey. If he's that fast now, I have no chance of escaping him if he detects me. Should I climb a tree to cover my tracks, move forward to greet him and play nice, or ambush him?

Only a few seconds to decide before the stranger was there. Now that he was closer, Priam could see what was wrong with the individual. First, he was not wearing any clothing on his chest. His skin was bluish, his muscles, bones, and tendons taut as springs. He was too strange to be human, but had enough similarity to make Priam uncomfortable. This is how I would imagine a homunculus. An artificial being.

Suddenly, the homunculus accelerated towards Priam. The latter, aware of his obvious disadvantage, started to move out of his hiding place. He might as well pass for an honest stranger instead of a secretive one.

"Hello, my name is Priam. Do you speak English? Tu parles franais ? Habla espaol ?" Priam asked with the best smile he could muster.

A few meters from Priam, the homunculus stopped. He began to look him up and down, like a cook wondering if the turkey on the display was good enough for his meal.

I have a bad feeling about this. But I could be wrong, he may look like a Terminator, but a silicon heart may be beating underneath!

Arnold's POV

The environment was saturated with aether. The density was at least a thousand times greater than Elegi's. Arnold couldn't move while his system was synchronizing with the density...

Upon arriving in this new place after passing the tutorial with flying colors, Arnold was already thinking about taking over territories to facilitate the arrival of the next Var Elegis. He had been built, trained, optimized, and armed to be the best. The resources spent on his creation were staggering, but he was not alone. Unfortunately, the other Var Elegis in his tutorial had to sacrifice themselves to ensure his top spot in this universal struggle, but that was irrelevant. They should have killed themselves at the end of the Tutorial, as only one individual per Tutorial could claim the Elysium. But other Var Elegis from other Tutorials would come. Maybe not as fast as he had been lucky and his attacks exploited the natural weaknesses of his opponents. But they would come.

An alert came, and Arnold concentrated. The Tutorial was just that, a tutorial. The real game was starting, and it had to be lively.

Aether analysis shows a disturbance. Presence of animal tracks on the ground. Infrared scan. Presence of a bipedal entity. Synchronization of the system is finished. Protocol One was chosen: find new information on the unknown element.

After a few seconds of brisk walking, Arnold found himself in front of... the human? A pale, totally biological imitation of the Var Elegis it seemed. Was it some kind of Mimic? A biological analysis of the individual indicated that his body was not yet on the decline. Pathetic protections covered him from his feet to his neck. Black hair, not very muscular considering the biological potential of the body, and obviously trying to communicate with Arnold.

"Hello, my name is Priam. Do you speak English? Vous parlez franais ? Habla espaol ?"

Given the low speed of sound propagation, a sound signal was necessarily the sign of a young and not very advanced civilization. Yet, the individual had arrived before him and had therefore finished his Tutorial very quickly. The two pieces of information seemed incompatible. But I don't feel any danger and his measured attributes are very low. He must have found a loophole and exploited it. Protocol One calls for careful handling of encounters, diplomatic if necessary, and decisive annihilation if the opportunity arises.

Suddenly, even as Arnold was considering a massacre more and more seriously, he froze. Reading the stranger's body, it seems like he was not yet adapted to the aether.

He is barely metamorphosed. Not enough to have any active skills! How could he finish the Tutorial without it?! No weapon was detected either, and no trap... Continuation of Protocol One.

Without missing a beat, Arnold accelerated towards the individual. The latter started a quick backward movement to dodge the attack. Too slow. Arnold's left index finger followed a straight path to pierce the enemy's brain through his eye. His right hand flattened out to pierce the beating heart, passing between two ribs. Both objectives were accomplished simultaneously within a second of Arnold's acceleration. Withdrawing his finger from the opponent's body and seeing him collapse, Arnold smiled.

A potential problem is solved. Definitely.