Trial by creation
Chapter 16
Eris flexed her fingers as she walked the dim corridors back to her quarters. The sting of exertion lingered in her arms, but it wasn't overwhelming. In fact, she had recovered faster than expected. Too fast.
Her mind replayed the quiet notifications she had glimpsed mid-fight—Increased endurance. Faster recovery. Heightened resilience. It hadn't been her imagination.
She reached her room, locking the door behind her before leaning against the cool stone wall.
Then the realization struck her.
Her body had changed.
Not dramatically, not in a way that would raise suspicion, but enough that she felt it. Enough that she had adapted mid-fight without fully understanding why.
Her fingers curled.
The game had done this.
Her gaze flickered to the air in front of her. She hadn't planned to check her status yet—avoiding reliance on something she didn't fully trust—but now?
She needed to verify.
[SYSTEM STATUS: ERIS VALE]
Cold, impersonal text flickered into view.
Her eyes scanned the details, absorbing the changes she had previously overlooked. A thousand-unit increase in magic power. Physical and mental enhancements. Boosts to endurance and resilience.
A slow breath escaped her.
This is real.
The game wasn't just rewarding her. It was altering her.
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
Training wasn't just about skill anymore. If she pushed herself in the right ways, she could surpass natural limits. That should have been impossible. A person's magic grade dictated their peak, but now… now she could go beyond.
If only the price of failure wasn't death.
She shut the interface, fingers tightening slightly.
A new thought took root.
What else can I change?
The oil lamp on her desk flickered as she sat, pressing her fingers to her temples. Logic told her to rest.
But her mind raced.
The hub.
Three hours inside was only fifteen minutes in real life.
Even if she trained the entire night, she'd still have time to sleep. More growth. More progress.
Her breath steadied.
This was an advantage. A loophole.
Decision made, she stood, locking the door and dismissing any attendants. One hour in real time. That meant twelve hours inside the hub. She could push herself hard and still recover before morning.
This schedule was doable. Her physical and mental resilience must have been aiding her more than she realized.
With a deep inhale, she reached out—mentally summoning the system.
[ENTER HUB?]
Her vision blurred.
The world twisted.
Darkness pulled her in.
---
The Hub was alive with shifting neon lights, suspended pathways, and an eerie hum of unseen mechanisms. Eris walked with purpose, her gaze sweeping over the stalls filled with peculiar items—enchanted relics, strange orbs, and potions with swirling, unnatural hues.
Unlike the main plaza where most players gathered, this part of the Hub catered to those looking for real challenges.
She passed by a vendor advertising weapon upgrades, another offering temporary stat boosts—but none of that interested her. She was here for something specific.
Her footsteps slowed as she reached a darkened alcove where a display of Dungeon Crystals hovered midair, each encased in a shimmering barrier. A small plaque beneath them read:
"Trial Chambers – Adaptive Growth Paths"
She scanned the selection, each crystal labeled with its respective trial. Some focused on raw endurance, others on survival under extreme conditions.
Then, one caught her attention.
[Adaptive Trial (for newbies)– Challenge Your Limits] - 500 coins.
Its description was brief:
"A test of instinct, reaction speed, and adaptability. Failure is expected. Learning is necessary."
Before she could reach for it, a voice interrupted.
"That one's not about strength," a vendor muttered from the shadows, his tone amused. "It's about how fast you think."
Eris turned slightly. The man wasn't old, but his eyes carried the weight of someone who had seen too much.
She met his gaze, then looked back at the crystal.
"Good," she said simply, plucking it from its display.
The vendor chuckled. "I hope you survive long enough to learn something."
Eris didn't reply. She flipped the crystal between her fingers, then activated it.
The world blurred.
Darkness swallowed her whole.
1. Entering the dungeon
The moment Eris stepped into the dungeon, she felt it.
The air was thick with danger.
A chill rolled down her spine as she scanned the shifting battlefield—a warped forest with twisting roots, half-formed ruins, and flickering shadows. The ground trembled under her boots.
Then came the first attack.
A blur of silver.
She barely dodged as something streaked past her, a sharp pain slicing across her cheek.
The first monster: Mirror Hound.
It prowled from the darkness—a wolf-like beast made of reflective glass. It moved too fast, its jagged body distorting the dim light.
Eris exhaled sharply, summoning a basic sword from the system.
The hound mirrored it instantly.
Then improved it.
Her breath hitched as she noticed the difference—the hound's blade was slightly sharper, lighter, faster.
She lunged. The hound matched her perfectly.
Each strike she made, it countered with a better version.
Her fingers twitched.
Her sword was useless. If she kept fighting predictably, she would lose.
Then—an idea.
She dropped her sword entirely.
The hound hesitated for a fraction of a second. A delay. A weakness.
Her fingers moved fast, sketching in the air.
Instead of a weapon, she drew a shifting blade—one that curved at unnatural angles. A weapon with an unreadable trajectory.
The hound copied.
But as it adjusted, she changed it again.
She kept sketching, shifting, altering—faster than the hound could keep up.
It faltered.
In that split second of hesitation, she drove her blade through its core.
Shards of glass exploded outward.
Victory.
But no time to rest.
A hissing sound from the trees.
Eris spun around as three more creatures emerged.
Shard Wraiths.
Their translucent forms pulsed with eerie blue light, floating just out of reach.
One of them darted forward.
Eris swung.
Her blade passed straight through.
Her stomach dropped. Physical attacks were useless.
One wraith screeched, swiping at her—and even though it had no claws, the force sent her flying.
She crashed into the dirt, her ribs throbbing.
Think. Think fast.
The wraiths didn't attack with their bodies—they attacked with force.
How do you fight something untouchable?
Eris's mind raced.
Her magic was about creation. If she couldn't hit them directly—she had to change the battlefield itself.
Her fingers blurred.
She sketched chains—chains made of null-iron, a theoretical material that negated energy. A gamble.
The chains flashed into existence.
Eris lashed out.
The first wraith shrieked as the chain coiled around it, its form flickering wildly.
It was working.
But the other two weren't waiting.
A second wraith slammed into her side—Eris barely twisted away, but pain flared as her arm went numb.
She wasn't fast enough.
Adapt.
She changed the chains mid-swing, turning them into weighted netting. Instead of fighting one at a time, she threw the net out, catching the remaining wraiths in a single trap.
They howled, their forms flickering—until they vanished entirely.
Gone.
Eris panted, her hands shaking.
That was only the second fight.
And the ground was still shaking.
She turned—and froze.
The final trial had begun.
---
3. Final Trial - The Swarm
This wasn't a single boss.
It was everything.
The dungeon itself was unraveling, spewing monsters from the ruins and trees. Dozens—no, hundreds of creatures, surging forward.
Eris gritted her teeth.
She had fought one-on-one. She had fought three-on-one.
Now?
This was a war.
A Mirror Hound lunged—she sketched spikes into the ground, impaling it mid-air.
A Shard Wraith shot toward her—she threw another null-iron chain, dragging it down.
But more were coming.
Too many.
Her breathing turned ragged as she kept creating, modifying, dodging.
A blade grazed her side.
A blast of force slammed into her back.
Her vision blurred. She was losing ground.
She had to think bigger.
Create something stronger.
Eris dropped into a crouch, skidding across the dirt.
One last sketch.
Her fingers moved faster than ever, lines of light forming a massive, intricate design.
She wasn't making weapons.
She was making a storm.
The air crackled.
Above the battlefield, the sky split open.
A tempest of pure destruction surged downward—a vortex of crushing winds, jagged spikes, and unrelenting force.
The monsters shrieked, their forms pulled apart by the sheer chaos of it.
Eris swayed, her vision darkening at the edges.
Too much magic.
Her body wasn't ready for this.
But the dungeon was collapsing.
A bright light engulfed everything.
---
4. Aftermath & Takeaways
Eris gasped as she stumbled back into hub's combat area..
The dungeon was gone.
She collapsed onto one knee, breathing hard.
Her whole body ached.
But she had done it.
And now, she knew the truth:
Her power wasn't about fighting stronger.
It was about fighting smarter.
She could create anything—but only if she was fast, precise, and bold enough to take risks.
This was only the beginning.
She would return.
And next time—
She wouldn't just survive.
She would dominate.
---
[SYSTEM REWARD CALCULATION: ERIS VALE]
ADAPTIVE TRIAL COMPLETED – Evaluating Performance...
✔ Survival Duration: Extended (Above average)
✔ Combat Adaptability: High
✔ Tactical Awareness: Significant
✔ Skill Application: Recognized
[STATUS UPDATE]
✔ [NAME] Eris Vale
✔ [MAGIC CLASSIFICATION] Neutral Magic – Creativity (Mid-Tier)
✔ [MAGIC POWER] +100 Units Increase (Adaptive Growth Bonus)
✔ [ENERGY RECOVERY] +5% (Efficiency Increase in Hub Zones)
✔ [SYSTEM RECOGNITION] Minor Growth Detected
---
[REWARDS GRANTED]
✔ Blood Coins Earned: 650 (For combat adaptability and creative problem-solving) ✔ System Credits Earned: 0 (Can be exchanged for Hub items)
✔ Skill Upgrade: Woven Constructs – Adaptive Form (Allows continuous adjustments to created objects mid-use)
✔ Skill Proficiency Increase: Sketch-based Manifestation → Precision Manifestation (Higher efficiency, reduced energy cost for small creations)
✔ Title Unlocked: Quick-Thinking Challenger (Recognized in minor Hub circuits; slight favor from training NPCs)
✔ Hidden Reward – System Synchronization (Minor enhancement to reaction time in system-monitored spaces)
---
Eris exhaled, steadying her breath.
The rewards weren't overwhelming, but they were solid. A confirmation that she was improving.
Her fingers twitched slightly as she reread the skill updates.
Woven Constructs.
She had felt the shift during battle—the moment she realized she could change a creation mid-use. The system had recognized it.
That meant she could refine it further.
A slow smirk curled at her lips.
This was good.
This was only the start.