The Tribulations faced by the hoplites unfolded like a twisted tapestry, each thread woven with unique trials. Mental combat, summoned foes, navigating labyrinths, and enduring the forces of nature... each challenge was distinct and often paired with secondary support trials—memory erasure, an obligation to defend something, or the restriction of speed above a certain threshold.
Watching them, Priam realized that the System had no real limits. It tailored the nature of the Tribulations to exploit the weaknesses of those who faced them, offering a perilous but fertile ground for growth. Most would fail to improve to its standard.
Just like their leader, the hoplites died.
Powerless to change their fates, Priam could only observe their struggles with keen interest. It wasn’t without its rewards; by digesting the styles and trump cards of the hoplites, he leveled up several of his combat skills. His new racial Talent, [Hoplite Warpath], played a crucial role in his latest power surge by boosting his warrior aptitude.
Lvl Up: [Hoplite Slash] lvl 12, 13
STR +6
Lvl Up: [Unrelenting Thrust] lvl 34, 35
STR +6
Lvl Up: [Spear Grappling] lvl 7, 8
STR +2
AGI +4
Lvl Up: [Battle Footwork] lvl 13, 14
AGI +4
DEXT +2
Lvl Up: [Matrix Dodge] lvl 10, 11
AGI +4
DEXT +2
Lvl Up: [Parry] lvl 20
STR +1
[Parry] has reached level 20, its maximum level as a common skill. Depending on your background, three upgrades are available.
[Great Parry - Rare] - General upgrade. No future upgrade possible. Potential Cost: 5
[Spear Parry - Rare] - You specialize in spear parrying. Future upgrades possible. Potential Cost: 80
[Hoplite Parry - Rare] - Your body and mind have assimilated the Hoplite expertise of the parry. Impressive. High upgrade potential. Potential Cost: 160
You have selected the skill [Hoplite Parry - Rare].
POT -160
[Hoplite Parry] - For millennia, hoplites have refined the Art of War. By studying the best hoplites of this generation as they survive against deadly challenges, you have deepened your expertise. The fruit of these revelations is a defensive skill that uses finesse to deflect strength, slowness to counter speed, and violence to punish feints.
Your mother also knows how to use the soft to block the hard...
STR +3
“I see that my mother’s reputation is multiversal...” Priam muttered.
Rose perked up at his remark. “Your mother ?”
“A spear enthusiast... I was reading a skill description.”
“Oh. I know you can multitask, but it’s unsettling to see you staring at the fight while you’re instructing me.”
“Sorry, but you’ll have to adapt.” He had no intention of slowing his progress to adhere to some politeness code.
“I suppose it’s our specialty as humans,” the teenager sighed. “An ideal upgrade?”
“A high upgrade,” corrected Priam.
“You’re losing your touch.”
The girl’s teasing rolled off Priam like water off a duck’s back; he was not in the mood. “I know my strengths and weaknesses. Extrapolating from the prerequisites of the skills I’ve already obtained, I’d struggle to achieve an ideal upgrade for this skill—I'm missing a certain spark of genius for the spear.”
“Your new racial Talent—”
“Helps, but I’m still far from matching a prodigy like Kazuki. If the tribes have so few ideal upgrades, there’s a reason. Honestly, from my perspective, this new Talent feels more like a curse than a blessing.”
Rose furrowed her brow, prompting Priam to elaborate. “If killing a Champion grants their racial Talents... I’ve got a massive target painted right on my chest.”
After all, Homo Elysian [Predation] and [Obsession] were terrifying.
“If the tribes haven’t killed you, there must be some limits,” Rose reassured him. “I don’t see the System rewarding a Tier 4 for the murder of a Tier 0.”
That was contrary to the System’s meritocratic policy.
“You make a point. Maybe the slayer needs to be of the same Tier as the Champion... Or they’re just waiting for the sheep to fatten up.” Priam's voice turned grim. “Two legendary Talents are tempting, but not as much as two mythical Talents...”
The sands of the beach trembled. In the distance, a hemiplegic hoplite dodged a deluge of flaming meteors summoned by a fire elemental. Priam tensed as the end of Sakura’s Tribulation was drawing near. “Let’s not waste any more time. Have you found the trap?”
Two high upgrades... I suppose I’m not far from hitting the ideal upgrade.
Priam swiped the notification away, opting to hold off for now. If one of his theories held water, each high upgrade might actually be one of the five prerequisites for an ideal upgrade. Unlike [Parry], he had several ideas for other prerequisites and knew he could count on Elaine’s guidance.
The hoplite sniper obliterated the second dragonfly and held her position as a third appeared. This one was the size of a real dragonfly, and Priam strained to catch sight of it from such a distance. Must be the final phase of the Trib—what the hell?!
As the battle entered its final act, the sea heaved, catching the attention of all spectators. An invisible form rose into the air, only discernible by the water cascading off it. A kilometer up, Elaine didn’t hesitate to leap from her mech, which was promptly consumed by the unseen enemy. A wisp of smoke appeared, signaling the armor's self-destruction, but the creature seemed unperturbed by the explosion.
As Elaine plummeted, attempting to line up her shot on the final dragonfly, Priam sprang to his feet. His eyes widened as he realized the mist partially cloaking the storm couldn’t identify the enemy. Worse yet, the beast was entirely invisible to both his meta perception and his instincts. I have to hold him off until she finishes her Tribulations!
Dashing toward the Tribulation to confront the intruder, Priam was taken aback when the unidentified monster grazed the dragonfly while crashing back into the ocean. The System deemed this unacceptable and expressed its displeasure as an aura infinitely heavier than that of a god descended upon the scene.
The black clouds trembled once before a column of electricity as wide as a baseball field fell from the sky. A million bolts seemed to coalesce into an abomination capable of shattering worlds. The sea evaporated in all directions like it had been hit by a gamma burst, and Priam screamed. The blinding light scorched his retinas as if he had stared directly into a nuclear explosion without protection. A second later, the heat wave radiating from the superheated plasma singed his eyebrows despite his [Fire Champion Physique]
Burning through his lifespan to regenerate, Priam accelerated toward the cataclysm faster than a fighter jet. His vision returned just in time to meet the shockwave created by the father of all lightning, which ruptured his eardrums. Ignoring the pain, he nearly stopped in his tracks, stunned by the spectacle unfolding before him.
His gaze naturally pierced through the mist that now enveloped the world, revealing the full extent of the System's wrath. The lightning pillar had evaporated over a cubic kilometer of water, creating a crater in the ocean floor. At the center of the chasm, a charred creature twitched within a magma lake.
It’s still alive?!
Swallowing hard, Priam identified it.
[Identification]
[Charybdis’ descendant - Tier 1 - Prince] - The secondocean’s Terror.
[5 hours 51 minutes before optimal activation of Back in Time.]
Status:
PHYSICAL:
Strength 782 (+27)
Constitution 1 199
Agility 915 (+18)
Vitality 1 147
Perception 814
MENTAL:
Vivacity (D) 599
Dexterity 680 (+7)
Memory 875
Willpower 1 168
Charisma 738
META:
Meta-affinity 898
Meta-focus 423
Meta-endurance 719
Meta-perception (A) 433
Meta-chance 308
Meta-authority 234
Potential: 12 337 (-135)
Tier 0
Sun points: 1 488 111
[He Who Eludes Death] charge: PRIMED
[Tribulation]: Five Tribulations pending.
Future Tribulations delayed until:
Time: 152 days 11 hours 47 minutes 50 seconds.
Next thresholds: 12 attributes > 600 / 6 attributes > 900 / 1 attribute > 1 200
This arc is already complete on Patreon if you want to find out what happens next!
/ANovelConcept