Blackcap Forest
Deep underneath the earth, past the depth where creatures dwell, a winding path can be seen. The path is deeply weathered from continuous use, the mycelium floor packed thick into the dirt. Thick footsteps are planted deep into the path.
THUD
THUD
THUD
With every thud the towering fungus forest quaked.
THUD
THUD
THUD
A humungous boulder was rising and falling, slowly creeping towards a small mushroom cottage in the distance. Sweat poured off of the Prince's muscular body; on his back weighed a cold, hard, coarse rock. Like Atlas he burdened the immense weight on his shoulders with great resolve.
As he approached the cottage, outwards stepped an elf. 'The Caretaker' as the Prince would call him.
"It is wonderful to have seen you come so far in such a short time." he smiles, "Set the rock where it was when you first came, take a short break, and come inside when the river tires of moving you downstream. I have something to show you."
The Caretaker slithers back inside the cottage with almost inhuman fluidity. In his last few steps the Prince heaves the boulder off of his shoulders and onto the soft overgrown grass. Mushrooms? Whatever it was, a boulder landed on top of it.
[+1 STR]
'Screw that old geezer. The mischief he has planned better not be like last time.' the Prince blankly stared at the cottage for a moment, before shivering. 'Not like last time...' he sighed and hopped into the raging river as if it were still. It was not. Within seconds the Prince is swept downstream, underwater, it seemed as if death was inevitable.
His head emerged from the surface as if he were swimming leisurely in a lake. 'After the first hundred times, it's just not scary anymore.' he thinks to himself before gazing upstream towards the warmly-lit cottage fading into the distance, as the soft blue-green luminescence replaced the orange embers of light.
The Prince shifts his weight, and begins to reach with one arm and push the water behind himself, and repeats with the other arm. Liters of water are displaced by the strength his arms emit. From the riverbank, it would appear that he is completely frozen, apart from his flailing arms. Using only his arms he has counteracted the constant aggressive water crashing against him, persuading him to move backwards. Instead, he begins to kick his legs, and combined with the pumping of his arms, it would see that the river was flowing a different direction at first glance, due to the sheer speed at which he traveled.
[+1 AGI]
[+1 VIT]
[+1 SP]
The cottage quickly appeared, and he arrived at the riverbank near the boulder, walking out as if he hadn't just swam upstream in rapids. He closed his eyes and the water stuck to his skin began to shake before evaporating in a surge of steam.
[MP: 796/799]
As he ran his fingers through his hair, he opened the door to the cottage to be met with a speeding stone, rapidly approaching his face. His hand moved almost instinctively and met the stone before it could reach his face. He lowered the hand to reveal the bulging veins in his face and clenched teeth. Anger was soon replaced by ecstacy as a voice was heard in his mind.
[+1 PER]
[Title Awakened: Fanatic]
[+1 LUC]
"Finally." said the elf, grinning broadly as if the stone had never been thrown. "Now, my protégé, it is time for you to rank up."
The Prince glowed with excitement as he rushed to manifest his status card. A golden flash appeared above his hand, and a card materialized above his hand.
[Name:] ********
[Race:] Human
[Titles:] Card Wielder, Prince of Swords, Archer, Inhuman Will, Fanatic
[Rank:] 7, 243/3700 (6%)
[HP:] 70/799
[MP:] 796/799
[SP:] 277/799
[Affinities:] Lightning, Ranged Weapons, Body
[Attributes:]
[STR:] 79
[DEX:] 79
[AGI:] 79
[INT:] 79
[WIS:] 79
[PER:] 79
[LUC:] 4
[CHA:] 79
[VIT:] 79
[Cards:] Knight of Swords, Golden Eagle, Sword Kingdom Bow
[Unique Skills:] Heir of Swords: As the owner of the face card, Knight of Swords, the wielder is granted an extreme weapon talent for ranged weapons.
Inhuman Will: By repeatedly gaining attributes without ranking up you have shown the strength of your will. In order to reach your goal, pain has become a doorway to walk through, instead of a wall to climb over. Gain an affinity for your body.
Fanatical: You are either crazy, or ancient. You have ignored the exponential decrease of stat training and taken it to your very limits anyway. Someone as insanely driven such as yourself deserves to have it a little easier. +1 LUC
"I know I am much stronger that before, but is the reason you forced me to train just so I could obtain this title?" the Prince asked. Over the past seven years of hellish training, the Prince has come to appreciate both the wisdom and strength that 'The Caretaker' holds. Any time he asked a question, it was answered to the best of his capabilities, and 'The Caretaker' served as an important and strict guiding hand when he needed it. Nonetheless, the Prince has come to respect him as less of a landlord, and more like a teacher or mentor. Although sometimes cryptic with answers, 'The Caretaker' had always given him the best advice, leaving all choices for him to make, rather than how it was in the Royal Palace, where he just did what he was told to do.
"Yes and no. The title is easiest to obtain in the start of one's journey, so it only made sense to get you working on it while you were still young. The goal was not the title itself, but the effect."
"An extra point of luck?" he asked.
"If you would like to call it that," he glances at the Prince's status card, "I was never very involved with status cards, so I know 'luck' by its original name. World's Favor." He chuckles and gazes into the distance. "What a ridiculous name," he then quickly snaps back to the question, "World's Favor really has nothing to do with the world itself, the place we live or the card. It deals more in the amount of remnant soul energy you absorb from slain foes."
"Soul energy?" asked the Prince, raising one eyebrow.
"It's that number next to your rank that fills up as you slay creatures." he replied. "When a creature dies, its soul is used to nourish the area around it, but not in its raw form. Naturally, the soul is stripped of memories and made blank, so that the surroundings can directly absorb the nutrients, as they don't have their own source of soul energy like we do. We get the trimmings of fat from the meat that is a soul. World's Favor is a concept, a real one at that, where the more favored one is, the more soul energy one absorbs from those slain directly or indirectly by your hand. On average at least."
The Prince nodded thinking about his newly 'maxed' stats. "So why is there no feasible way to raise luck, or World's Favor, rather?"
"There is, and you've just finished with it. Any other method requires great risks or great interference. I did not interfere much in your training because I worry that intervention stumps growth. If you aren't allowed to think through a difficult problem in a safe environment, how are you expected to think through one while your life is threatened? Less than 1% of everything that lives increases their 'luck' in their lifetime, so be happy with four, and if you have the opportunity to gain more, it is surely a gamble." 'The Caretaker' warned. "Now, I have two very important things to share with you." he turns and walks towards his now clean desk. All that remains is a beast leather cover that is half filled with finished pages.
"First, I appeared to have finished my work in the depths here, recording all of the exotic beasts and their uniqueness. Follow me, the second thing I have to say requires us to be outside." 'The Caretaker' slowly, and almost solemnly walks out of the cottage. The Prince follows him outside until he stops in front of the border of the Blackcap Forest.
"Today," the elf says, "will be the day you finally begin to rank up!" before turning and jogging into the distance, just at the perfect speed so that he was out of earshot, but the Prince could still see him and where he stopped.
Around the prince light began to grow scarce as the canopy of mushroom caps became thicker and thicker until the dark grey stalks of fungal trees were all that filled his sight. The soft glow from the undersides of the trees was the only thing which kept this place illuminated, and even that was dimming as they ran deeper into the forest. Suddenly, after nearly an hour, the elf stops in a small clearing and turns to face the Prince.
"Here," 'The Caretaker' says, "is where your final test trial begins." he smiles brightly, before explaining his new torture method. "You must survive in this forest for as long as possible. Defeat any creature you see, all the creatures that aren't the trees within a few kilometers are malignant and must be hunted for the health of the fungal forest. If you are in immense danger, or reach Rank 25, channel mana into this amulet, and I will help you by informing you of what to do next."
The elf hands an amulet to the Prince, it appears to be made of gold, apart from the heavy centerpiece, which is an scale-like shape that appears to have been masterfully carved from marble. Once the Prince looks up from the amulet, 'The Caretaker' is gone. In his place is the feeling of isolation, confusion, and the soft sound of movement.