Trial Begins
Will was a young man of 17yrs. With a firm build, brown military style hair, and eyes the color of silver lightning. You could call him above average in handsomeness but not world shattering by any means. He looked like your typical good young man and carried himself with a sense of confidence and humility, which only served to make him more approachable.
Both of his parents had passed away when he was 8 years old, sending him to foster care where he was adopted by an older couple who loved him dearly. He loved them both very much but was never really able to become super close with them, as he was afraid that they would leave him one day too.
Today was the first day of summer break and he was relaxing in the back yard reading one of his favorite books. A wonderful book about nine hero's who banded together to destroy a certain evil artifact and save the world. He always loved those heroic stories about people striving, growing stronger, and defeating evil. He often wondered if he were strong like that if he could have prevented the death of his parents.
As he was reminiscing about his parents he heard a strange sound. Like it was coming from above him and all around him at the same time. It sounded something like a trumpet and rang out in seven long blasts followed by dead silence. There were no birds or animals to be heard, which was strange as his adoptive parents home was literally a cabin in the woods. As he looked around him trying to find the source of the sound he suddenly heard another strange noise.
'Ding!'
"Congratulations William Dracule, your world has met the requirements to participate the the God Trials."
Will was stunned, he had read novels where this kind of thing happened but never in a million years did he expect it to happen to him.
"As this is the beginning of your trials a brief info pack will be downloaded, followed by your initial blessing."
Will was confused beyond all measure at this point. He had no idea what any of this meant. All he knew was that he wasn't hallucinating as he had already slapped himself in an attempt to wake up. He was horrified by the implications of this being real, as the stories he read did not paint an easy picture for those to whom this happened.
"Would you like to receive the info pack?"
"Yes please."
Will didn't really think about this as all he could process was that he knew nothing, and any information he could get about what was to come would be beneficial to him. Taking shots in the dark was the dumbest thing you could do in his opinion. Because more often then not when you shoot the dark, you hit yourself.
"Very well, downloading the pack now. Please be patient as this may take a minute."
Will was at least happy that the voice was polite, after all he hated those novels with the arrogant system voices that did nothing but spew insults at the host all day. Some found it funny, he found it annoying.
"What is the point of having a guide if said guide does nothing but hinder you?" He mused inwardly.
'Ding!'
"Download complete, would you like to view the info pack now?"
"Yes, thank you." Will responded automatically, and couldn't help but be a little excited as with every novel he had ever read, the arrival of a system of any kind would lead him to the strength he had always dreamed of. He hoped against hope that this wouldn't be as bad as he feared but decided to cross that bridge when he came to it.
"Very well, as this is the beginners pack you have access to only two files of information. Blessings, and Trials. These files have been verified as the most pertinent to you and your current trial level. Note: Further options will be available in the future."
Will pondered for a moment and then decided to learn about the trials first, thinking along the lines of "If I understand how the trials work I should be able to do something even without a blessing." Which of course is an idiotic thought but he can be forgiven for his ignorance as this is a new experience after all.
"Show me the information on the trials please."
"Request granted see below for the information.
1. Trials are the universal tests to determine the viability of every race in existence. The trials do not begin until a given race has reached an agreed upon threshold. This threshold could be anything and is determined upon the creation of the race.
2. Trials are given sequentially and are always based upon the capabilities of the one undergoing the trial. In the event that multiple people are undergoing the trial together the difficulty is averaged, but always excludes the lowest level beings within the group. The rewards of the trial are based upon completion grade, ranging from SSS-F.
3. Trials are normally based around the individual, this is to ensure that the best of each race are those whom survive. There is no room for the weak among the gods. Please remember that weakness and strength have both objective and subjective values."
Will was stunned, just this much information gave him a headache. He began trying to understand all the implications of just these three rules, but the one that was the most glaring to him was that these trials were designed to weed out the weak. If you were lacking in mental, moral, or physical strength or capability then you most likely wouldn't make it very far at all.
"This seems like its going to be really annoying." Will sighed, rubbing his temples trying to alleviate his growing headache.
"Might as well see the rest of the info and start trying to plan."
"Please show me the information on the blessings now."
"Request granted see below for the information.
1. Blessings are gifts from beings who have decided to sponsor either you or other members of your race. These blessings could be individual or global depending on the being and the amount of recourses invested.
2. Blessings are graded according to the relative power and potential of the blessing, ranging from SSS-F. You may think that F graded blessings are completely useless...And you would be right. However most of them appear as passive abilities which do not hinder you from obtaining another blessing in the future. And are mostly given by newly exalted beings trying to get their names out there.
3. Blessings come in all different kinds but always give a path to power beyond what a normal individual could ever posses. Remember these trials exist to allow individuals, and entire civilizations to become gods.
4. Both active and passive blessings can be upgraded, the difficulty lies in their initial grade.
"Well that's pretty much what I expected." Will murmured, "Seems fairly straight forward, the only thing I am not to sure about is if I get to choose the blessing or if it will be chosen for me."
'Ding!'
"Congratulations you are among the first 12 beings on your world to read through the trial information. You will receive a one time random reward of SSS grade."
"YEAH!!" Will pumped his fist and shouted as his excitement got the best of him. "Who knew reading through that stuff so fast would yield this?" Although if he thought about it, it would make sense as the the trials favored those who adapt quickly. "Please give me my reward now." Will eagerly wanted to get his first SSS reward he knew it would help him tremendously in the long run.
"Request granted see below for the information.
1. As one of the first 12 beings of your race to adapt to the changes. You have been gifted the opportunity to craft your own blessing, by fusing the options available from the beings who sent their options too you.
2. As you were in the top 5 you may fuse up to 3 options. This fusion is irrevocable."
"...WHAT!!!" Will was absolutely floored, this reward was beyond anything he could have dreamt of. The chance to create his own path was the pinnacle of desires of the characters he read about. As it always meant that he could tailor the blessing to himself, drastically improving his efficiency and power even with a lower graded blessing. "Please show me my options!" Will couldn't wait another minute to see what he could do, he could see a bright horizon before him and wanted nothing more than to run too it.
"Request granted see below for the information."