Path to the Apocalypse

“You want me to reach the Circulatory realm. In a year.” Tori replied skeptically. “Pretty sure that's impossible, no matter how many advantages I have.”

[Given the rate at which you evolved the Physical Training Rune, I estimate it will only take you two months to fully evolve each Rune. As for energy, I am capable of taking you to the peak of Core Strengthening this very instant if I was allowed to, and fully evolving six Runes is more than enough to qualify for such an infusion. The true barrier to our success is the acquisition of an appropriate Qi Rune to merge with your Blade Rune.]

Tori paused. “My Blade Rune?”

[I don't believe I need to explain the synergy between your Craft and Design Runes, and your Physical Training Rune should merge nicely with your Study Rune, but your Blade Rune fits poorly with any of the Runes you currently have. You might be able to force it together with your Craft or Study Runes, but such combinations would be ill formed and would compromise the rest of your combinations as well.]

“That's- fair, I guess.” Tori muttered. Not that she knew enough about how merging Runes worked to really have an opinion. “So what would you suggest I go for?”

[Butchery.]

Tori blinked. “Butchery? Like preparing meat?”

[Yes. It would merge well with your Blade Rune and bring it in line with the rest of your Runes.]

Tori hesitated. “Not something more along the lines of stealth?”

[Do you wish to be an assassin? Do you think an assassination type Rune would merge well with your other Runes?]

Tori threw up her hands. “How is whatever the Butchery Rune turns into going to be any better?!?”

[Because the Butchery Rune would complement your Blade Rune, just as your Design Rune complements your Craft Rune and your Study Rune complements your Physical Training Rune. Design knows what to create, Craft knows how to create. Study improves the mind, Physical Training improves the body. Blade knows how to cut, Butchery knows where to cut. Concealment would restrict you, forcing you down the path of a hidden blade. Butchery would simply enhance whatever it is you wish to do with your blade.]

Tori paused, taking that in for a moment. “Okay… but how the hell am I supposed to get a Butchery Rune?!? I've never learned how to butcher anything!”

[You have two hundred days of break time and I have plenty of training materials.]

Tori grimaced, not exactly excited at the idea of spending even more time in this trial. She checked her Rune page, making sure there wasn't a Butchery Rune there, before letting out a weary sigh. “Alright, let's do this.”

*

“So, remind me how this is going to help get you out of here again?” Tori asked as she sliced apart the hyper realistic mannequin of a deer.

[Anyone who shows promise of achieving True Ascension is granted the ability to request a tailored reward. The greater the potential, the greater the reward you may request. If you reach the Circulatory realm with three complementary pairs, it will be sufficient enough for you to request me as a reward, if only due to the degradation of my restrictions over time.]

Tori nodded. “Right, so… how does that work? How do I actually get you? It's not going to ruin this whole True Ascension thing, is it?”

[No. Avatars are born from Runes, but we are not Runes, and as such we exert no influence on your energy's intent. I will simply be bound to your Runescape.]

“And you're sure about that? Because I was under the impression that no one has ever actually performed a True Ascension.” Tori commented.

[The founder of the Gin Empire was the apprentice of a True Ascender, who was known to have inherited an Avatar from their own master.]

“Huh.” Tori grunted. “So this actually works?”

[It does.]

“How is it different from the Path to Ascension?” Tori asked.

[The Path to Ascension is a false Ascension supported by the world, permanently binding those who walk it to their world and forcing them to do its bidding. They are those you would usually refer to as ‘gods’.]

Tori blinked. “The gods are the world's slaves?”

[As much as one can be enslaved to an unthinking, unfeeling entity that only seeks to perpetuate its own existence, yes. They are only compelled into action if the world is in danger. Otherwise they are free to do as they wish, enjoying the power and authority their position grants them.]

Tori frowned. “Still not sure how I feel about that…”

[If you fail to acquire the Butchery Rune, it may be your only choice. Being compelled to protect the world you live in is a small price to pay for immortality. Afterall, without the world, you would not be alive at all.]

“I mean, yeah, fair, it just doesn't seem like an option you should pursue. Seems more like something you should settle for.” Tori muttered absently, thinking more about Beatrice than anything else. It seemed like a waste for Obanonos to push her towards the Path to Ascension when True Ascension was an option.

[The resources required to even have a chance at True Ascension are insurmountable for the average Cultivator, not to mention the luck involved in acquiring the perfect set of Runes. For most, the Path of Ascension is the only option they will ever know.]

“I guess.” Tori agreed, letting the topic drop as she refocused on the deer. The Path of Ascension may be good enough for most people, but for Beatrice? Not a chance.

*

It took Tori a month of constant practice before she was comfortable enough with her mastery of butchery to try to acquire the Rune, and she was still nervous. Acquiring Runes hadn't ever exactly gone well for her. Well, it had, apparently, but it'd never gone as expected, with the sole exception of her Blade Rune, which was the one she was having issues with! So, despite all her preparations, she wasn't exactly confident in her chances of acquiring a Butchery Rune. She just hoped she wouldn't get anything bad. And it had better be a Qi Rune.

Tori sat down and took a deep breath before entering her Runescape, automatically ending her break time. Any interaction with her Runes would end it, to prevent people from using the breaks to get around the tasks. *Come on, Butchery, Butchery, Butchery!* Tori chanted as she called for the Rune. Hopefully the last Rune she would ever acquire. She watched the Rune form, waiting to glean its meaning, and… Subterfuge. Tori's expression twisted as the Rune continued to form. It was a Qi Rune at least, the concealment Rune she'd been trying to get for a while now, but… that wasn't what she wanted anymore. She didn't want to be forced down the path of a hidden blade! She wanted- Butchery!

Tori froze as her Runescape flashed red and the emerging Rune stopped. A few tense seconds passed as Tori wondered if she'd fucked up, waiting for her Runescape to collapse because she'd rejected the Rune, only for the Rune to start erasing itself! Tori watched in shock as the lines faded away as if they were never there and new lines began to form, shaping themselves into the Butchery Rune she wanted. That she'd demanded. That- wasn't how it was supposed to work, right? A part of her felt like she'd just done something really, really wrong, but- this was good, right? She had her Butchery Rune, didn't she? She had a complete set of Runes she could use to progress to at least the Circulatory realm, possibly all the way to True Ascension, and that was good… right?

[Analyzing… Qi Rune detected. Time to completion: four minutes. Rating: N/A. Reward: Rune comprehension assistance.] The trial announced, pulling Tori from her thoughts and her Runescape as the room began to shift again, adding a space to practice with her Butchery Rune. [Next task: Evolve the Butchery Rune.]

Tori took a deep breath, giving herself a determined nod. Mistake or not, this was her path now. There was no point in doubting it anymore.

*

Time began to feel like an ephemeral concept as Tori progressed through the Trial. After rushing through the evolution of her Butchery Rune, then evolving her Study Rune without even knowing why again, before jumping right into evolving her Blade Rune, all in just over two weeks, Tori decided to slow down a bit, using some of her break time after the completion of each task to message Beatrice and actually sleep. Even if the points took care of her exhaustion, months of uninterrupted consciousness were starting to wear on her.

After her Blade Rune, she worked on her Craft Rune, learning how to use her Qi to fuse and split materials. Fusing required the materials to be mostly similar, so she couldn't fuse metal to wood, but she could basically fuse any metal together, though the more similar the metal the stronger the fuse would be. Next she worked on her Physical Training Rune, which taught her how to use her Essence to push her body's limits, then her Butchery Rune, which taught her how to use her Qi to analyze a body to get a basic understanding of its structure and find the pieces that would be worth taking.

The trial then cycled through her Runes again, starting with her Design Rune, which she evolved fairly quickly since she'd already worked on it quite a bit, before moving on to Craft, which taught her how to make materials more malleable. Then she worked on Physical Training, learning how to analyze her body to figure out precisely where her limits were, and Study, which taught her how to record and replay anything she sensed using her Spirit. And finally, she worked on Butchery, which taught her how to prepare a body with her Qi, such as removing blood and weakening joints to make it easier to cut, and Blade, which taught her how to form her Essence into blades.

The cycle then began again with Design, and Tori hit her first roadblock. Not only was the ability her Design Rune wanted to teach her somewhat distasteful, involving literally implanting commands in someone's mind so they would carry out her designs exactly the way she wanted them to, but she also had no idea how to actually evolve the Rune. Her screwdriver metaphor only covered three evolutions, and she needed four. But what else was there to cover? She knew what Design was, she knew what it acted on, and she knew how to use it. What was she missing?

Tori rocked back and forth in a rocking chair she'd created while working on her Craft Rune, considering the problem. She had her design. She had the people to carry out her design. They were carrying out her design, whether they liked it or not. What was the next step? She had all the pieces and she'd put them together, told people her plan, and carried it out. That was it, wasn't it? Design done! The board was screwed! What more could you ask for? Tori paused, a thought occurring to her. Why was the board screwed? Not in the effective sense, but in the… purposeful sense. As in, yes, you may have attached two boards together, but why did you attach two boards together? To build a house? To make a box? To put up a sign?

Tori felt her Runes tremble as she followed that line of thought, a brief grin flashing across her face as it confirmed she was on to something before it quickly shifted into a frown as she realized the problem. It was subjective. There wasn't any fact to it that she could logic through, it was entirely based on why she did what she did. What was she trying to accomplish with Design? It definitely wasn't controlling people, that was for sure. If anything she wanted to stop people from being controlled. Was it just to be creative? Tori snorted. Definitely not. She wasn't some artist who would create for no reason. No, her designs had to have a point. Like the toilet, or her clothes, or even the games she made. She wanted her designs to benefit someone. She paused. Was that why she did it? To help people? Tori eyed that thought carefully for a moment, before dismissing it. She wasn't some paragon of altruism. She tried of course, and she hated seeing people oppressed, but as long as everyone was free to do what they wanted, she didn't particularly care if they sinked or swam. So what was the point? Why did she design? To help herself?

Tori sighed. That was it, wasn't it? It sounded selfish- it was selfish, but she didn't see the point in doing something unless it made her life better. She designed the toilet so she would have a toilet. She designed clothes so she would have something comfortable to wear. She designed games so she would have something fun to play. She turned her attention to her Design Rune which was vibrating with an almost giddy anticipation as she focused on it and infused it with her intent. *I Design to make my life better.* The Rune cracked, its lines condensing down into a dot as it etched itself into her forehead, before unfurling, expanding into her Avatar of Design, which… was some kind of gun?

Tori raised an eyebrow as she summoned the Avatar, ignoring the trials announcement and the familiar feeling of energy surging into her core as she examined it. She pointed it at the wall and pulled the trigger, a beam shooting out of it and… scanning the wall. “Oh, it's a scanner. That makes sense.” Tori nodded as the information flowed into her design space, dismissing the Avatar. “Alright, give me a ten hour break.”

[Approved. And well done. You are progressing even faster than I'd predicted.]

Tori grunted. “How much time is left?”

[One hundred and ninety-four days.]

“Fuck.” Tori groaned. She was only halfway through and she was already miserable. Even her messages with Beatrice were starting to become more of a burden than a help, because they only emphasized how isolated she was. The time gap made carrying on an actual conversation impossible and it'd only been two days for Beatrice, so while Tori could send her a whole freaking essay on what she'd been doing, the only thing new for her was what Tori had messaged her. It made Beatrice feel… distant, and it wasn't a comfortable feeling. Tori knew it was all in her head, but it was still getting to her, making her feel lonely and depressed, feelings that were getting harder and harder to ignore as the days went by.

Almost bitterly she wrote another message for Beatrice before getting some sleep, glancing over the reply once she woke up, which was filled with the same platitudes she got in the last message Beatrice sent her, congratulating her on her accomplishments, assuring her she was there whenever she wanted to talk, telling her she loved her… “Yeah, but I don't feel it.” Tori grumbled, dismissing the message before throwing herself back into her Runes, losing herself in them so she wouldn't have to feel anymore.

*

[Analyzing… fully evolved Blade Rune detected. Time to completion: twenty-four days. Rating: peak. Reward: Essence infusion.]

Tori lied on the ground, staring at the ceiling with a blank expression as the trial brought her final core to the peak of Core Strengthening. “So. What now.” She asked, no inflection in her voice.

[Next task: Create a Circulatory Rune.]

“Hm.” Tori grunted, not even bothering to move as she got to work, forgoing her break, just as she had the past two times, simply sending Beatrice the message ‘I'm alive’. Doing anything more would only give her time to think, and thought was the enemy. All that mattered were Runes. Tori entered her Runescape, calling up her Craft and Design Runes. Unlike assimilated Runes, fully evolved Runes could be pulled in and out of the Runescape at will, allowing you to merge them into Circulatory Runes, which… honestly wasn't that difficult. You simply called up the Runes, focused on them, and willed them to merge. The more compatible the Runes were, the easier this process was, and it helped if you already had some idea of how the Runes fit together. So all Tori had to do was push the Runes together and focus on creating things, and like that her Craft and Design Runes clicked together. “Innovation. Interesting.” Tori commented in the same toneless voice as before.

[Analyzing… Spirit-Qi Rune detected. Time to completion: forty-four seconds. Rating: N/A. Rewards: Aspect Holvost’s journal.]

Tori paused. “Huh. No energy?”

[Energy infusion isn't available past the Core Strengthening realm. Mixed energies are too complex and personal.]

“Gotcha.” Tori sighed.

[Next task: Create an Essence-Spirit or Qi-Essence Rune.] Tori didn't even reply as she called up her Study and Physical Training Runes and pushed them together, gaining the Personal Development Rune, which only made sense. The why of those Runes was to make herself better. Her reward this time was some Aspects personal training guide, and her next task was to create a Qi-Essence Rune.

Tori frowned slightly as she pulled up her Blade and Butchery Runes. These two had been the most difficult ones to figure out her why for, arguably because the reason was actually quite simple. The only reason she had the Runes and wanted to use them was so she could fight. Of course, it probably would have been easier to figure out if she'd done the Blade Rune first, but it'd taken ages to figure out that the purpose of her Butchery Rune was to help her fight better. She got caught up thinking about the purpose of Butchery in relation to hunting or studying Rune Beasts, which she did value the Rune for, but it wasn't what she actually cared about. No, all she wanted was for it to help her kill things better. That was it. However, she wasn't sure what the result of that would be. The only thing she could think of when she thought about merging the two Runes was a better Blade Rune, which… was really all she wanted.

Tori sighed as she pushed the Runes together, no idea what she'd get, which made the process slightly harder than the others had been, but still not difficult, the Runes clicking together as they became… Slaughter. Tori paused. “I guess that's essentially what I wanted…”

[I am growing concerned over the nature of the Unified Rune you will form…]

Tori snorted. “Yeah, that last one really puts a bad spin on it, doesn't it?”

[Indeed.]

Tori shook her head. “What's the next task?”

[To evolve one of your Runes, which you will not accomplish before the trial ends. But it doesn't matter, we have accomplished our goal.]

“Your goal.” Tori corrected. “I'm just doing it because I'm here and it keeps me distracted.” The time in the trial and the nature of cultivation had forced her to be a lot more honest with herself. Helping some random Avatar trapped in a trial created by an ancient empire honestly didn't matter to her. It was just convenient. If ditching it would let her leave the trial right that instant, she'd do it in a heartbeat and not give a single fuck afterwards. Which was probably why she never bothered to learn its name.

[Right…]

Tori cracked a small grin. “Just four more weeks…”