Book 5: Chapter 1: Prejudice

Book 5: Chapter 1: Prejudice

Elijah only knew peace.

He didn’t know how long it lasted. Nor was he in any condition to question it. Instead, he basked in the quiet. For the longest time, he’d been forced to acclimate to a cascade of stimuli – from his enhanced senses to the input from One with Nature – and he hadn’t realized how much that tidal wave of information had weighed on his shoulders. Now, though – he felt only blissful silence, and to such a degree that he could, at last, relax.

Then, without warning, his senses screamed at him as he reappeared in an entirely different world. He had expected it. Planned for it. But the notion that he’d crossed untold lightyears – perhaps even dimensions – was almost too much for him to bear, at least in the short term. Still, he’d long since grown accustomed to pushing those distractions aside so he could focus on what was important.

Like his surroundings.

He didn’t think the system would immediately throw him to the proverbial – or perhaps literal, considering he didn’t know what sort of world played host to the Trial of Primacy – wolves. So, he opened his eyes as well as his senses and inspected the ruins in which he’d found himself.

The first thing he noticed was that he was inside what had once been a grand structure with eye-catching architecture. Fluted columns ringed the circular chamber, each one bearing elaborately carved capitols, though they were far too worn for Elijah to determine the subjects of those sculptures. The chamber itself was a little more than a hundred yards across, with a cracked dome overhead. It glimmered with a dull shine, but Elijah couldn’t tell what metal had been used in its construction. A large rift – maybe five feet across at its widest point – stretched from the center of the dome all the way to the edge, allowing a shaft of sunlight into the chamber. It was the only source of light.

And then there were the people, none of whom he recognized.

He’d hoped that he would enter the Trial alongside the people from Ironshore. He didn’t trust Robolo or Nia, but they were familiar. That was much better than trying to rely on strangers. Besides, Kurik was with them, and over the years, the dwarven scout certainly had earned Elijah’s trust.

Before he could say anything to the strangers – none of whom were human – a notification appeared before Elijah’s inner eye:

Welcome to the Trial of Primacy.

The Excised world known as Ka’arath has been temporarily reconnected to the World Tree and terraformed for the purpose of this Trial.

It will be your home for the next year. To leave, you must reach the Nexus Town, where you will find a World Tree Branch as well as safety from the local dangers.

The rules of the Trial are thus:

There are ten challenges scattered throughout the Trial Grounds. They represent the nine realms connected to the World Tree, with the tenth representing the Abyss. Defeat them, and you will be rewarded with powerful items. In addition, everything you do within the Trial will carry with it a point total. At the end of the Trial, these points will be added together to determine Primacy.

The rewards for Primacy are as follows:

First Place – 10 Levels (plus all rewards earned by those beneath)

Second Place – 5 Levels (plus all rewards earned by those beneath)

Third Place – 3 Levels (plus all rewards earned by those beneath)

In addition, there are rewards for the top 100. They are as follows:

Some people scattered. Others embraced spells and skills. And a few even threw themselves at their perceived enemies. For Elijah’s part, he backed away, ducking a blow from a nearby elf. He didn’t return the favor. Instead, he was intent on extricating himself from the situation. After all, he didn’t have any reason to fight.

Luckily, Venka, Grod, and a few others were thinking the same thing. With a nod from Elijah, they all took off across the chamber toward the only exit, which presented itself as a yawning crack in one of the walls. Elijah led the way, leaping over a pile of rubble, intent on putting as much distance between himself and the battle as he could manage. Behind him, he could hear spells going off, though he didn’t look back to see how things were going.

After a few more steps, he stumbled free of the domed chamber and got an eyeful of his surroundings. The area was dominated by the massive ruins of a city. Even crumbling and covered by dense vegetation, it was impressively sized. Here and there, Elijah saw some of the fanciful architecture that had survived what appeared to be thousands of years of erosion, and he was taken aback at the artistry involved. With only a short inspection, Elijah was reminded of Mayan architecture, though it was far more refined, as if that culture had survived and been allowed to evolve over thousands of years.

It wasn’t a one-to-one comparison. In addition to a clear preference for stepped pyramids, the builders of the city were also fond of huge domes and stone spires. Further muddling Elijahs impressions was the fact that a jungle was well on its way to overtaking the area. That, in turn, had brought many buildings to ruin.

Those thoughts passed through one facet of Elijah’s mind as he ran through the ruins, turning at random until the sounds of the battle faded. Once they’d reached temporary safety, Elijah slowed to a stop. Venka skidded to a halt right behind him, and a few seconds later, a huffing and puffing Grod arrived. Six others – two elves, one portly human man, and a trio of women with feathers instead of hair – followed.

“You run too fast,” Grod muttered. Once before, Elijah had referred to the residents of the Citadel of the Reaver as ogres, and at the time, he’d thought it an accurate label. Grod looked a lot like them, though, at only seven feet tall, he was a bit shorter and slightly less muscular. However, his features were more refined, and his eyes held a note of intelligence that the tower’s creatures had never possessed. “Grod barely keeps up.”

“Sorry,” Elijah said. “Figured it was best to get out of there as quickly as possible.”

“Good idea,” agreed Venka, his eyes methodically darting around as if he was trying to look everywhere at once. “Don’t want to kill anyone unnecessarily. We might need them later.”

The other six looked at the goblin a little warily at that justification. “A hill goblin with restraint,” said one of the elves. “Never thought I’d see that.”

“Mai,” said one of her companions. “We don’t –”

“Well, we’ll take our leave, then,” Mai stated. “I would appreciate it if you ruffians didn’t follow. Otherwise, things will get very nasty.”

Then, without hesitation, the elf – she was taller and possessed an even more refined appearance than someone like K’hana – turned and strode off. The two other elves followed, and so did the stragglers. One of the humans gave Elijah an apologetic shrug before leaving.

“Wow,” Elijah said as they disappeared around a corner. He shook his head. “That...I don’t even know what to say about that.”

Elijah preferred to travel alone, but he had the benefit of a nature attunement, One with Nature, and a host of abilities that let him thrive in the wilderness. Most other people only survived by working together, so it was more than a little surprising that they’d left so readily.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Venka. “Lots of people have prejudices associated with hill goblins. Even more have issues with ogres like Grod.”

“Grod don’t care. Grod friendsly.”

“Sure you are, buddy,” said Venka. “That’s why we stick together, right? Us against the world, I always say.”

Before Elijah could respond, he heard screams coming from the direction the others had gone. He glanced at Venka, who shrugged. But Grod was already stomping through the ruins, yelling, “Grod will save you!”

Elijah had to keep himself from rolling his eyes as he followed.