Chapter 9: Trial (2)

—Crackle.

The purple serpent uncoiled, and Wisteria snapped on the ground, glowing in its purple aura. 

[The Contract Administrator is looking at The Hermit]

[The Hermit is watching you]

'Why's she watching?' Zane wondered as he continued to bite down on his lower lip. The taste of blood was nearly repulsive, but he could imagine how much worse it would be if he were to end up with a broken body part instead. 

[The Hermit has granted you faux magic!]

[The Contract Administrator wishes to make a contract with you]

Just conveniently, Zane snapped his hand and defended his left side with the whip when the first disciple charged at him with the sword raised. He turned on his footing and took a few steps back. "Rhian, do you have any weapons?"

Rhian glanced back at him, and shook his head, quickly rushing towards a dried-out tree and breaking a branch to defend a blow that was thrown at him. "Think of your skills," Zane suggested, purposely letting the other man graze his forearm. It took a moment, but the blood began to show up.

"I'm not registered in whatever System!" Rhian snapped back. 

Zane breathed out through his nose and pushed the sword back, holding onto the other end of Wisteria. The weird feeling of nausea ran through his body and he coughed blood.

[Triggering skills!]

Zane picked 'Peek'.

[Peek lvl1 has been triggered!]

[Due to your ongoing 'sacrifice' you will be eligible to view ␣␣'s skills]

[Register with the System to find out]

'After their incident in Hua Clan's forests… Rhian seemed oddly… compliant?' Zane stared at the skills that were seen. His eyes widened. 

<␣␣␣>

<␣␣␣>

<␣␣␣>

'Huh? Why're they censored?' That shouldn't be the case. Unless…

He blocked the disciple's sword while he pressed his back against Rhian's again, his eyes scanning the latter's skills. 'Why were there so many at a time like this? It didn't make sense. This was just the start of the levels after the System had restarted a few decades back.'

<␣ of apostle>

"... of the apostle?" Zane asked, narrowly remembering the skill Caue had. Rhian glanced at him as if he had done something unexpected. There was something else, but for some reason, he couldn't recall that. 

"What does it do?" Zane asked, swinging Wisteria, managing to keep the disciple within at least a range that wouldn't harm the two of them.

Rhian opened his mouth and hesitated. "Sword... " he muttered finally. "I need a sword. I think I've seen someone I know use it."

'Fuck it.' Zane snapped Wisteria against the ground and ran towards the man in white robes.

[1st attribute of Wisteria in use!]

[Due to the excessive mode of sacrifice, the magic level of Wisteria has increased!]

[Wisteria: Electricity lvl 1 > Electricity lvl 2] 

'Fancy.'

A purple aura surrounded Zane as he jumped off a large boulder that surrounded a pond and towards a disciple. Somehow, with enough momentum, he managed to swing the whip that it coiled around the disciple's sword. He snatched the latter's sword with the whip, bringing himself to hold it in his hands as he landed on the ground. 

Its sword felt oddly heavy. Unlike [Executioners] and countable other swords, the [Dao] sword could be wielded by anyone, and would easily change their master. It was the sword that was typically given to all the newly acquired knights, or disciples who could test their skills and mana with it. 

Zane turned around and threw it to Rhian as he used the whip to defend himself. 

[The increase of Wisteria's magical ability has caused the level of the attribute to rise!]

[Wisteria's 1st attribute: Defender lvl 1 > Defender lvl 2]

Sparks burst out of the whip and the moment he spiked it, sparks left and knocked the sword out of the other man's hand. Zane dove ahead, taking the hilt of the sword into his hand and held it out. 'Man, it feels so good to hold a sword again.'

In his previous life, he had fought with an enlarged dagger and a sword. Zane tried to replicate the way he'd held the dagger, but that proved to be futile since this body clearly lacked the physical experience. 

"His left is open!"

Zane looked to his left just in time to defend himself from a heavy blow. It was charged with mana and caused him to fall back and hit the trunk of a tree. He looked up to see the disciples rejoicing a little at their accomplishment. 

"That's it, Hua Ling, you're doing well!"

"Your mana control is insane!"

Something crossed Zane's mind. 'Weren't they just youngsters?'

He stood up taking support of the sword. It was a Dao, as expected. 

"Wah! He's still alive!"

"Hua Ling!"

"Yes… I got it," Hua Ling said, his golden eyes falling on Zane. 

He looked quite young. Perhaps in his late adolescence or a recently turned adult, since Zane knew only those above the age of eighteen were allowed to own the 'pouches'. He took a defensive stance as Hua Ling reached into his pouch and seemingly took something out as he charged at Zane. 

That something, soon turned out to be a thick powder. "Shit!" Zane cursed. The [Thick Powder] was something that was obtained from the refining of a medium-grade runic stone as a byproduct. It would—

White dust erupted in the air and Zane immediately covered his nose and scrunched his eyes as he let his right hand hold the sword ahead of him. 

"Can you see through this?" Hua Ling asked as he managed to land a blow to Zane's side when Zane defended his sword. 

"This is nothing," Zane said, pushing himself to stand up. There should be something he could do about this other than just wait for the dust to settle. The longer he let the air hang heavy, the longer he would simply have to try relying on his hearing. 

Zane swallowed. 

[You've fused your spiritual energy with Wisteria!]

[Warning: your spiritual energy is low!]

[Warning: your behavior may evoke suspicion!]

Zane twisted Wisteria a few times before he snapped it against the ground, causing the sliver of electricity to travel everywhere, and cause the dust particles to fall immediately fall down. 'Sick.'

"Did you think things would just end there?" Hua Ling asked. "What a childish thought."

"Are you calling me childish?" Zane asked, frowning.

"You happen to look younger than me, not to mention your height. Are you still growing?" Hua Ling asked. 

'Oh no. What a low blow,' Zane thought. Of course, his growth had been affected due to being taken captive since he was nineteen. And his height wasn't that bad! 

"You ass," Zane murmured, using Wisteria as a distraction as he clashed swords with Hua Ling. They continued pressing, and suddenly Zane had driven the younger man towards the tree, only to have Hua Ling fall back. 

As if that was planned, three more disciples jumped down from the roof, their hands wielding swords. They were quick to move and charged at Zane, who groaned. How many people were on the roof? He had been lucky that none of the disciples had tried to shoot arrows when the fog was present—but now it had resumed. 

Zane's eyes caught the sight of the tree whose branches reached the roof. He meticulously ran past the disciples. His 'sacrifice' would last him only for a considerable time. Then any more injuries would be a pain. Zane was glad that this body still had the expertise of climbing as it did move up the tree and left him on the roof. 

"Sorry," Zane murmured, as he snapped Wisteria and then swung at the disciples that stood there. "You're in the way."

The disciples fell into the siheyuan.

"Rhian!" he shouted. Now it was frustrating. At the moment, he possessed no skills that would wipe out people in front of him. He didn't want to kill them, but neither did he want them to be a hindrance. "How much longer?"

"It's not as easy as you think, dammit! You're asking me to just… stab myself!" Rhian shouted back. 

Zane found himself being kicked on the side of his head, sending him hurtling into the siheyuan, however, he was prevented from actually suffering the brunt of the kick. He blinked drearily and looked to his side to find Rhian helping him stand, then looked back up at the roof to see Hua Ling fixing his robes with a shit-eating grin. 

"I dislike that kid," Zane murmured. "Now…"

"I can't do it," Rhian murmured. 

"Hm," Zane thought, using Wisteria to knock a man off his feet. "You have quite long hair. Try… thinking of it and cutting it."

"And how will that help?"

"Everyone can use their skills. You just have to trigger it," Zane said, "And frankly, if an external being is watching you, they will grant access."

Zane blocked their swords with Wisteria and Dao. "But, do think quickly."

"If you keep prodding, bastard—" 

"Then get to it!"

Zane could feel pain burst through his body as an arrow grazed the side of his abdomen. As much as he wanted to let these attacks just be thrown at Rhian, and possibly knock the latter out, he didn't want to continue this for any longer than necessary. 

A mana shot from a blind spot caused him to be displaced from his position. 'Damn that kid.'

"Xia Tai ge you can go for the attack!" Hua Ling shouted at the man who had thrown the mana shot. The disciple ran at Rhian, and Zane was too late to be able to extend Wisteria—

[An unregistered player has managed to trigger a skill!]

[Reason for trigger: ␣␣]

[Repercussions will be given momentarily!]

[Rhian Amren has activated ␣ of Apostle lvl 1!]

A blue aura surrounded Rhian, the sword in his hand glowing, causing the disciple who was aiming at him to be pushed back by the sudden pressure. It was not necessarily a familiar aura, but moreover, it was… the skill that was making Zane feel like he'd felt this before.

Zane's eyes widened. 

For a moment he could swear he saw Caue with his back turned. 

Rhian turned around and drew the sword down, pursing his lips as the sword lit up in a blue aura and burned the grass on which he stood. However, something irked Zane again. It was as if he was forgetting vital information. 

〈"Do you know the tale of the apostles?" the priest asked, setting down a candle as he walked towards the window that overlooked the town outside. "It's an interesting tale. It tells us a lot about certain people and their personalities."

"I'm afraid I shall claim I'm atheist at the moment," Morgan said, his voice hoarse as he sat up on the bed next to Zane. Bandages were adorning his torso and Zane almost reached out to adjust them. 

"Hm. There were twelve." The priest ignored him. "As you know. But... Did you know about the internal dispute and Great Betrayal?"

"Of course," Zane said, even though he didn't have the slightest inclination to tell the priest that he had given up on any hope of 'God'. The Great Betrayal was a well-known verse, however, he wasn't so sure about the specifics of the internal dispute. 

"That's right. The twelfth apostle, the man who was replaced by Saint Matthias." The priest then turned to face him, his face much more serious. "I'm afraid, these skills you have earned: ␣␣ of Apostle… are based on the roles these men played in helping the Holy one."

"Then—" Morgan opened his mouth.

"I'm afraid your friend has received ␣␣."〉