THEOS

Luke groaned in pain as he stumbled onto his feet. Desperately scanning the room for threats, and for the moment ignoring the arrow lodged firmly in his thigh through sheer effort of will. Gritting his teeth in pain as he raised his sword, on guard against a potential enemy.

He sagged in relief when he found none, his vision swimming, he collapsed onto his knees as adrenaline left his body.

Fuck yeah! I made it!

That was… insane though. A current of pain surged through his body. And I’m mostly intact too. He strained his neck in an effort to look at the wound. Grimacing in disgust, as he saw the arrow’s shaft sticking out of him.

He gripped it as gently as he could, and cussed in pain, when it moved, just slightly, in response to his touch. With a flex of his will, he sent it to his inventory. Blinking away tears, as the now empty hole in his thigh flared with heat, and hot blood oozed out of it.

Another benefit of the Seed. It’s a pro at surgery. He thought morbidly. Blinking even more tears out of his eyes as he did. Let’s see what I have though.

Summoning a strip of cloth from his inventory, he wrapped it around his wound tightly, using it as a makeshift bandage, and scrolled through every item he had stored away. Most of it was food and water. He’d stocked even more of it in the week since he got his current quest. Packing enough to survive even months in the wilderness.

Status | Quests | Inventory

Capacity: 278.3 kg of 1520 kg

Items:

Healing Potion (x6)

Tier - Mortal

Aid in recovery

Healing Pill (x7)

Tier - Mortal

Aid in recovery

Blood Pills (x6)

Tier - Mortal

Replenish blood

Stamina Pills (x5)

Tier - Mortal

Replenish stamina

He was happy to see his capacity had increased to well over a thousand kilograms. At this point in time it was more than he needed, and would continue to scale rapidly. Far beyond what he ever imagined using.

Reading over the description of the various medicines he’s accumulated, some purchased and others pillaged, he withdrew a vial of the healing potion, and one of each pill. A grin came over his face as he pinched one between his fingers.

Popping pills and dropping bodies. I should write a rap song about it when I have the time. Or when I'm not cleaning out a wound, bleeding to death in a tomb.

Errantly, he tossed the pills in his mouth, and washed them down with water. Undoing the hastily done bandage on his leg, he cleaned the wound as best as he could with a wet cloth. Making faces of disgust every time the blood soaked rag came into his sight.

This is exactly why I didn’t want to be a doctor. I hate blood. Well, blood and the thought of performing prostate exams. Mostly the latter.

Uncorking the vial of healing potion, he spilled it all onto a fresh piece of cloth, and fastened it around his wound.

A sigh of relief immediately slipped through his mouth as the efficacy of the medicine became apparent. The pain leveled off to tolerable levels moments after the bandage was applied. And a few seconds later, his whole leg started to feel numb. Providing even more comfort.

Why did I ever doubt honest to god magic medicine.

… Probably because it was so cheap. Still, this is amazing. Nothing on Earth came this close. Wait? Am I high? Why can’t I feel my leg? Should I amputate it…

No! What’s going on? Why is everything so colorful?

He waved his hand in front of his face.

Has my hand always been this pretty? So many lines. Evolution really is –

He blinked.

Why are my eyes getting so heavy?

Slumping against the wall, he fell asleep. The toll of the day mixed with the effects of the medicine knocking him out instantly.

Groggily rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he leapt to his feet when he realized that he wasn’t at his house in the Society. The events of the previous day came rushing back.

Taking a deep breath, he sat back down as he processed all that had happened.

I killed so many people. Shaking his head, he suddenly slapped himself. Hard. No. There’s no time for that right now. Just falling asleep in this place was dumb, I can’t let myself fall apart on top of that. I just need to remember why I’m doing this. To live. To go back. To… no, that’s about it, and that’s enough of a reason.

Ignoring the sorry state of his mental health, he looked around the room again. Surprised to see a bed in the corner, and on a small table beside it with food and a pitcher of water resting on top of it.

Getting back to his feet, he hobbled forward. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his leg, as he stumbled toward his destination. Collapsing heavily on the bed his eyes raked over the food, frowning in distaste at the cold pieces of chicken and rice, before his eyes landed on the other contents of the table.

A vial of glowing blue liquid, resting atop a letter. Moving the vial aside for the moment, he read through the note.

Congratulations. You have proved effective against Beast, Man, and Chaos. Proving your destiny, and earning the right to advance to the next stage. In the vial is a Warrior-tier healing potion. Drinking it will restore you to optimal health, if it does not, your wounds are too severe, and you are not fated to continue living.

You are not alone in this, death comes for nearly all of us that chase divinity, and only those who can escape its grasp are worthy of divine power. I’d suggest you take the time until your inevitable passing, to appreciate the life you lived and the bonds you made. If the potion has healed you fully, the next stage will begin in: 14 hours 43 minutes and 12 seconds.14 hours 43 minutes and 11 seconds.…

What the… Luke blinked in surprise as the seconds ticked down on the page. Magic really is something. Well, not quite smart phone level, but still pretty cool. He continued reading.

Be warned. All those who have survived, I deem worthy. Killing will not be permitted any longer, on the pain of death.

Alexia Xancrest

Emperor and Hero of Carim

… That’s good? Really good actually.

Luke folded up the letter, and held up the vial of potion. Sending it to his inventory as he did.

Status | Quests | Inventory

Capacity: 277.8 kg of 1640 kg

Items:

Healing Potion

Tier - Warrior

Heals all non-fatal wounds for Mortal-tier beings. Efficacy decreases as the tier of the consumer increases.

Basically what the letter said. It seems like she expected a lot of people to die in the lava, and those that did survive, to be injured.

… Crazy bitch.

Luke folded it up, and sent the food to his inventory. Pulling out a fresh and steaming hot meal instead, and after a moment of deliberation, one of his mortal-tier healing potions as well.

Deciding that his injury, while severe, didn’t demand the use of a warrior-tier potion. Saving it for later is the move for now.

I should eat first. He thought, bringing the food to his mouth. I’m definitely not going to have an appetite once I start poking around with my bandages.

Of course it has to be sticky. Why would it not be sticky? Luke complained to himself, sweat dripping down his face as he tried to pry apart his bandage.

I’m dumb. Why am I even trying to peel it off?

Concentrating briefly, he sent the bandage to his inventory. Sighing in pleasure when the crusty strip of cloth was replaced by fresh air. Letting his sweaty skin of his thigh breath. That’s it, he thought. Just having an inventory alone is worth all of this. Maybe not all of it, but some of it for sure.

It healed a lot better than I thought it would. I wonder how much of that is the medicine, and how much of it is my Constitution? I've almost tripled it since I possessed Max’s body. It was what, thirteen when I started.

He opened his status.

Status | Quests | Inventory

Name: Lukas King

Tier: Mortal

Mana: 640

Rate: 15% per hour

Strength: 40 > 41

Agility: 35 > 44

Constitution: 38 > 40

Arcana: 32

Stat Points: 3

Bloodline: Locked. Conditions not met. (1/10 000)

Charges: 7/10

That’s… wow. He tallied up all the points that he’d gained. That’s definitely more than I was expecting. Three free Stat Points, that’s more than I ever got before. Unless I got them from killing stuff, but I already spent those particular ones. Which means that I got these points the normal way. Except, why so many? My other Stats went up a lot too. Five points altogether, if I don’t count the points I put into agility after killing that guy, and combined with the free points, that’s eight in total.

Which is nearly double what I usually get by working out and sparring to exhaustion every day. I shouldn’t have that many– but I do. So, there's definitely something that I’m missing. All the fighting was exhausting, but I was only really exerting myself in short bursts. It was intense, no doubt about it, but nowhere close to how hard I pushed myself in the Society.

He shook his head.

I’ll put the free points in my Constitution stat for now. More points in there should help me heal a bit better. He prompted the Seed. Fuck, that feel’s good. He thought, as added points took effect. That feeling is never going to get old.

Whatever the mystery behind the extra points is, I'll save it for another day.

His wound throbbed with pain once again. Pulling him from his musings. Cleaning it out again, he soaked another piece of cloth with a healing potion and wrapped it around his thigh. Then for good measure, popped another set of healing and blood pills.

Can’t hurt, and who the fuck know’s what’s next. The medicine will be hard to replace now that I’m not returning to the Society, but it’s better than dying because I can’t walk straight. The note said we can’t kill each other, but with how loony these trials have been, I shouldn’t bet on it.

He picked up the note once again.

14 hours 29 minutes and 52 seconds.

So much time to kill.

“ARGGGGG!”

Would it have been too much to have a puzzle or a magazine? O’ Great Hero and Empress. He tossed and turned in the bed.

Hey Seed. What can you tell me about this trial? What’s coming next?

He frowned when it didn't answer. I should have expected that.

Getting up from his bed, he paced around the room. Is there really no washroom? Really Emperor and Hero, you can make insane and deadly obstacle courses, but you can’t put a bucket in a room. Bitch.

I wonder though… He focused, and his eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and relief. Okay, that is wild! I never would have guessed that I would be able to send shit and piss straight into my inventory. Best feature ever.

Luke stared at the countdown on the note. Watching it impatiently as the seconds ticked down, one excruciating second at a time.

He was grateful for the down time. He really was. Another set of pills, and another potion soaked bandage had seen him make a speedy, bordering on miraculous, recovery. The hole had, at some point over the hours, sealed over leaving only a faint scar in its place.

It still hurt when he placed some pressure on it, but since he could walk and even jump with little to no discomfort, Luke was confident that it wouldn’t hamper him going forward. And even if it did, Luke was confident that it wouldn’t be more than a minor inconvenience.

All that aside, sitting alone in a quiet room, with nothing to do had been torture. So when the walls finally opened up with the oh so familiar mechanized whir, the second the timer on the note hit zero, an anticipatory grin made its way onto his face.

He drew his sword, and raised his shield, ready for any surprises that may come his way, carefully making his way down the torch lit corridor.

Making it to the end, he was surprised when it opened up, and instead of a monster, what greeted him was a small crowd of people. Haggard with tousled hair, and torn robes emerging into the same room. Most of them dressed in blue robes, marking them as Inner Disciples and at the late stage mortal-tier, with a smattering of black robed individuals.

“Luke! You made it! I was worried about you.”