[The time distortion has been successfully fixed, returning to the present.]

[Due to your vampiric nature, fixing the timeline grants you strength. New trait ‘Ageless’ gained.]

[You have gained a level. You are now level 2. Recalculating stats…]

Lost, floating along the great river of time that would bring her back home, Alicia was musing on everything that had just transpired. The visions she just had, that distorted shadow turned ‘human’, the names that were mentionned…

How did that Fanny end up like that? The system called her a distorted nightmare when she first appeared, didn’t it? But in the memories, she and Helena spoke of themselves as nightmares, an ancient race, just like vampires. Was her flickering form a consequence of her attempt at fixing the distortion?

More importantly, they said there were no vampires left in the territory of the council. Just how many of us are there left in other places? I guess this will warrant investigation, but the possibility of me being the last feels awfully real…

Eventually, she felt the cold hard stone floor beneath her feet again and was brought back to reality, finally noticing the system’s attempt at feeding her information.

[The Trial of Causality has been successfully completed.]

[Quest – Lost gift of the ancestors : objective completion 2/5]

“Oh. I did gain a level, and apparently a trait for fixing time as a vampire.”

Character info.

 

It’s mostly the same save for some stat growth and that new trait. I don’t think the aging part of it will have much of an impact, but who’d say no to not becoming wrinkly and old… Wait, doesn’t that mean I’ll never grow up?! Gah! Not even magic can save me from the fate of being small... it makes it hard to be grateful about the side effect negation part.

[The third part of the trial of the ancestors, the Trial of Arms will now begin.]

[The thrill of combat is part of a vampire’s nature, but risk without strength only results in death. Insight, mastery and adaptability are key when temperance fails.]

Trial of arms it is. Whoever these ancestors are they really like changing the scenery, don’t they?

Her short journey through the meanders of time seemed to have left her in a different but altogether similar room to the one she initially entered. A large hall tiled with stone with no exit in sight, filled with a number of black stone pillars shooting to the ceiling. Uniform grey brick walls that went beyond sober to qualify as simplistic.

“Well, I’ve fought in worse. I’ll be ready for whatever you throw at me.”

Stretching a bit for a warm-up, she waited for the system to go on.

[Show resourcefulness and skill, defeat the elite monster and pass the trial.]

Shadows began to stretch, reaching the middle of the room and forming a tangible ball of dark energy. It grew slowly as the air turned cold.

[Help – Elite monsters :

Monsters are divided in different categories depending on the threat they represent in their level group. The ranks are normal, elite, boss(1 to 3 stars) and epic. Elite monsters are a challenging encounter for solo players of similar level and can be rarely encountered in the fields. The rewards are usually worth the danger, usually taking the form of experience and materials. ]

As the help message rang, armor appeared around the large ball of darkness as dark lightning ran around it. The monster took on a large humanoid form wearing heavy armor and dropped on the ground with a heavy crashing sound. It readied its two-handed hammer, its glowing red eyes fixated on Alicia, waiting for her to make the first move.

[Shadow Guardian – Elite lvl 2]

She looked at the towering figure of the elite monster, and smiled slightly, her bright red eyes gauging it. The next instant, she had dashed towards it with surprising speed.

The guardian immediately reacted, trying to make use of its reach to strike first, but its bulkiness made its movement too slow for it to make it in time.

    -12    -12

Alicia got the first hit in, but dealt little damage as her clawy nails scratched again the metal plate of the guardian’s armor. If anything, the sharp sound of screeching metal almost made her flinch, still, she made use of her inertia to take her distance from the monster before it had the opportunity to connect an attack.

A quick glance at the health bar atop its head informed Alicia that their altercation wasn’t enough to have done much of anything.

This is going to take some time, its health barely moved. At least my claws are sturdy enough to scratch metal without breaking, hurra for natural weapons! Still, I need to try and aim for the inside of its armor somehow…

The creature seemed more on guard now, making it more difficult for Alicia to get in range safely as it approached her.

She moved around the guardian, looking for an opportunity, positionning herself next to a pillar. She stepped into range, baiting an attack. The hammer swung at her but she successfully avoided it as it crashed into the pillar, taking a good chunk out of it in a burst of dust. She jumped at the pillar and bouced on it to get extra height, aiming for the side of the creature’s torso as it took back its hammer.

    -124

Swiping at the inside of a shadow guardian was a strange experience, a bit like cutting through ice cold cotton candy, but it seemed much more effective. Although still slightly lacking as the creature’s health only went down by fifteen percent.

Having no time to ponder on the feeling, Alicia hurried back to avoid a second hammer attack. Unwilling to test it seeing the damage it dealt to the black stone.

This seems alright, just need to do it 6 more times? Unfortunately my stamina is going down pretty fast, it’ll be a close call but I might as well give it a try.

But before she could put her plan into action, she was interrupted by a system notification; surprising her just enough to almost get hit by her opponent.

*ding*

“Why would you do this at such a time?! Wait, a message from Ayana ?”

[Ayana : ‘Hey Alice! I just finished the human starting questline and it seems I’m first for once, I’m in Mayua, message me when you’re done. I’ll be looking forward to hearing your first impressions as a mage.’]

…

“A mage? … Wait that’s right?! I’m a mage, I should be able to use magic!”

Intelligence is my highest stat too, so damage shouldn’t be too bad. The question is how to use it…

Taking a few more steps back to put enough distance with the guardian, she held her right hand towards it.

“Fireball! … Fireball? … Fireball please? … It’s not working?! Do I not have that spell? How do I open the magic menu… ”

[Spellbook :

Abilities : Mana manipulation, Water manipulation

Magic –

Fundamental skills : Mana bolt

Elemental skills : Water ray ]

“Oh, so that’s how. Okay, let’s try again… Water ray!”

High-pressure water surged from Alicia’s open hand straight towards the charging guardian.

    -74 (Kinetic)

The water left a nasty dent in the shadow’s armor, surprising her with its potency.

Wow, that’s stronger than I expected a water based attack to be… Well, time for some hit and run!

And Alicia did just that. She ran out of range, aimed and fired rays after rays of water as the drenched guardian struggled to catch up.

This would have made fighting the slimes much less awkward wouldn’t it? Still, it’s a bit dull compared to charging into the fray. How about trying out some water manipulation? Can I make a sword out of it?

Now knowing about her skills and abilities, she successfully conjured water and started shaping it. Unfortunately, she couldn’t arrive at a satisfactory result, lacking in precision, power, and time as her enemy was still catching up. She decided to settle for something much simpler instead.

She augmented her nails with the same high-pressure water that ‘water ray’ produced and pounced to the side of the shadow guardian, its attack missing her by an inch. She jumped right into its side, slashing at its exposed weakness with water-enhanced claws.

    -460 (Kinetic)

The damage was enough to finish off the guardian and stun Alicia. And as the shadow dispersed-

*ding*

[Skill discovered – Kinetic Swipe (Water)]

“That… was more potent than I thought. Though striking its weak point is more than likely to have something to do with it. And I got a skill for it, so that’s pretty good.”

Alicia’s attention was drawn towards a black crystal on the ground, right where the shadow guardian once stood.

[Crystal core – Rare

A crystal core, full of energy. It seems to be tailor made for something… but what?]

She smiled wrily at the description and picked it up for later. A quick glance at the time told her that she had been playing for about an hour and a half.

I’ll finish these trials and head off for lunch. We’ll probably use that time to plan our next course of action and find out how to group up.

[The Trial of Arms has been successfully completed.]

[Quest – Lost gift of the ancestors : objective completion 3/5]

“Alright, two more to go. Bring it on!”

And as if to answer the small vampire’s enthusiasm…

[The fourth part of the trial of the ancestors, the Trial of Kindness will now begin.]