Chapter 34: As sweet as raspberry, As sour as lemon

Chapter 34: As sweet as raspberry, As sour as lemon

"I gladly accept," Maya replied. "I hope you will remember this in the future."

Priam wanted to sigh with relief. He had held his breath without realizing it. Maya had decided to bet on him. It was the smartest move because the mercenary would win either way. If he survived his Double Tribulation, his lead would be even more significant, and he would be on good terms with the Mercenaries. Maya would therefore gain an ally in the upcoming Meetings. If he failed, she would have received information about the threat for free.

Priam was in vital need of this information and was in no position to choose. He started as a loser and got the best deal possible. Maya had deemed him an acceptable champion for humanity.

Of course, it was not impossible that this choice was motivated by the desire to get a powerful political ally. Priam intended to keep his word. It was much easier to socialize when people believed in your word. To betray your word once was to alert all your allies.

Priam looked into Maya's eyes for a few seconds before nodding appreciatively.

"Thank you very much, I'll remember that," he promised. "But words are of little value without actions, so to honor my part of the bargain, here's what I know," he said, turning to the assistant who had picked up a notebook and pen.

Priam began to relate his experience with the revenants. He told them of his theories and his intention to attack Viracocha.

"I see. It's annoying because they've linked up with a powerful faction. The Cult of the Revenants is a religion led by Viracocha, a god who loves sacrifice. It is not a banned faction, but it is rather demonic. Viracocha must have asked the System to help integrate new civilizations. These things happen. Still, with this faction's support and the System's help, they are more dangerous than expected," Maya analyzed. "It's a good idea for you to go there, but we won't be able to help you. The portal tax has ruined me. As Baron, I could go with you for free, but I must stay with the Mercenaries..."

Priam raised an eyebrow. Despite the neutrality of the Mercenaries, Maya was forced to put her faction ahead of the rest of humanity. Maybe helping Priam was a roundabout way to protect humanity.

Priam excused her. "Don't worry, I'm happy to go alone. It will increase my reward. On the other hand, I'll leave you to search for Claire."

"No worries. It's not our specialty, but I have contacts who can track her down. We'll interview her. Maybe you want us to let you know when we find her?" asked Maya as she sorted through some pastries before her.

Priam remained impassive. He knew this was another test. Was he filled with resentment and ideas of revenge? Did he want to torture Claire? Maya wanted to know the answers to these questions. With pensive eyes, looking out the window at the city still awake, he took a second to ask himself the question calmly.

If Claire were brought to him now, he would kill her. But would he enjoy torturing her if he had to interrogate her first? He plunged into the heart of his spirit and looked at the reflection of his soul in the [Mirror of the soul]. It was giving him a bored look. Claire had to die, it was obvious. But he had no intention of torturing her. In his life, he only saw Claire as a secondary character. Not significant enough to be hated. He would remember the lesson, not the teacher.

"Not really," he replied, looking at Maya. "If I run into her again, I'll kill her quickly. I'm not a sadist. She deserves death, but I don't plan on torturing her if that's your question. I have other things to do. Not to mention that in this new world, torturing someone increases their resistance. I won't let her escape like a villain in a bad movie."

Maya nodded before grabbing a raspberry tart. She began to remove the fruit one by one.

"I like pastry cream," she justified herself when she saw the incomprehension in Priam's eyes. "Let's talk about your Tribulations Priam. If I have to summarize things... you're in deep shit."

"Excuse me?" replied Priam. Maya looked so innocent that vocabulary shocked him at least as much as the sentence.

"You heard right. You've triggered two Tribulations. I'll try to contextualize it for you to understand. Tribulations are known to everyone in this new universe. Parents scare their children with stories about Tribulations coming to abduct them. But they are real. The System gives us the means to become strong. Impossibly strong. But while the Concepts give us the ability to get to the top, the path to the top is getting steeper and steeper."

"It's not even sure the end of the road exists," interrupted her assistant.

"True!" exclaimed Maya. "Eons have passed, and no one has reached the top yet. Except for the seven Concepts, but they were born that way, so it doesn't really matter. While there is life, there is hope"

Maya stopped talking for a few moments. After about ten seconds, as the silence grew heavy, she turned to her assistant.

"Where was I?"

"You contextualized Tribulations, Captain," the assistant replied. The exchange seemed natural, and Priam mused that Maya must not have invested much in her Memory.

"Yeah. So, Tribulations are a method used by the Concepts to test whether you are worthy of your powers," she continued. "They want to push us to excel. There are other methods, of course, but they are less direct. For example, you may have noticed that the higher the skill level, the harder it is to increase it. The attributes can't increase forever. You have to find other skills to increase and diversify," Maya explained while licking her tartlet.

Priam shrugged. He hadn't noticed a significant drop in the rate of increase of his skills yet. He wasn't worried about the future. Elysium was so full of aether that this was less of a problem for him.

"This is one of the safeguards for the System, not to have people increase their Vitality infinitely and therefore their life expectancy. If everyone could live a thousand years, then worlds would be overpopulated, resources would be plundered, and the goal of the Concepts would not be met. Tribulations are a more brutal safeguard. When someone reaches a plateau, the Concepts test the person to ensure that the resources consumed have been used up."

Priam frowned. This contradicted what he knew about the Concepts. "Why? Concepts are omnipotent, right? How can they run out of resources?" interrupted Priam.

"Omnipotent within the confines of their Universe," Maya clarified. She pointed to her assistant's notebook with a cream-covered finger. "Imagine if they were given all the alphabet letters except one. They could create words, put sentences together, and write books endlessly. But without the last letter, they will always be missing something. Currently, they are forced to paraphrase or steal from other universes to get that letter. But it's not theirs."

Priam clapped his hands and completed. "But if one of us becomes the Eighth Concept, then our essence will complete this world and unlock the last letter. Their Universe will be complete. The Seven capture elements outside their Universe because while one universe cannot become perfect alone, two can."

"Exactly!" smiled Maya. "My theory is that the letter missing from our Universe was the ability for living things to interact with the aether. The letter they are missing... I guess it will depend on the Eighth Concept. In any case, the Concepts are forced to import some rare resources from other Universes. So they are limited..."

Priam smiled. He liked to learn things, and understanding the precise reason for the Concepts' invasion allowed him to theorize about the System. He almost asked another question but then thought better of it. It could wait. He was here to survive his Tribulations.

"Thanks for setting the context, but I need some practical information. A history class isn't going to help me," Priam reminded.

Maya wished him luck and walked him to the door.

"He's going to die."

Maya looked back at her assistant. Priam had been gone for a few seconds, on his way to slaughter the Viscount of the Dome.

"Why do you say that?" she asked.

"You talked to him about one percent survival, but that's among the elites. People who have been trained since childhood, who have thought their way through. Who are waiting for the right moment to trigger their Tribulation. Who gorge themselves on pills to increase their attributes to the maximum during three days. Who have gathered shields, barriers, and potions to help themselves. Of those, 99% succumb. Our officers have forbidden us to trigger a Tribulation for the time being. And he's going to do two at the same time?! This is madness. This is the way of the Princes of empires or the children of gods."

Maya looked at the ducal palace. In the golden light of the Dome, it shone brightly. But it was nothing compared to the light she had seen in Priam's eyes when he had announced that he would survive. The captain would have bet that in a few hours, the palace lights would be drowned in mist.

A smile stretched her lips. "The Royal Road... It may be the only way to save humanity."

Status: (Average value for a Homo sapiens male before integration: PHY 10 / MEN 10 / META 0)

PHYSICAL:

Strength 86

Constitution 103

Agility 116

Vitality 164

Perception 176

MENTAL:

Vivacity 132

Dexterity 107

Memory 33

Willpower 69

Charisma 84

META:

Meta-affinity 80

Meta-focus 56

Meta-endurance 4

Meta-chance 40

Potential: 202

Tier 0

[He Who Eludes Death] charge: OFF. Reloaded in 2h 19min 49s.

[Tribulation]: A Tribulation is coming.

Time: 54 hours 49 minutes 43 seconds.