+ Reid +

The transition from mountainous forest to grassy plains was somewhat abrupt, and also saw a change in local wildlife. Birds with black and yellow feathers, fan-like tails, and hooks at the end of each wing blotted out large portions of the sky whenever they left their home trees. They took flight as large, beige felines scrambled up branches in attempts to secure themselves dinner. None of the beasts attempted to get near him here - like the ones in the mountainous terrain had done.

Reid was on his second day of sprinting travel when he finally neared the target.

The flat expanse made large objects easy to spot, so Reid saw the top of the beast lord before he could identify anything else about its surrounding area. As he got closer, details revealed themselves. A watering hole roughly the size of a tennis court sparkled as wind lightly swept over incredibly clear water. Tufts of tall grass showed signs of being recently eaten and were in the process of regrowth. Tracks from a number of different animals showed signs that other things used this same area - but none ventured too close to the lord lazing on the ground.

The lord of the lower plains was a boar with dirty and matted fur. Two pairs of tusks came up from its bottom jaw, and ended in star-shaped serrated edges. The only notable thing about it was its size, and even then, it was about the same as the final mole prince had been.

So, the lord of the lower plains had nothing worthy of note going on - and to top it all off, the beast was snoring. It didn't stir until Reid was almost on top of it.

It let out a spittle-spewing squeal as it woke up, and tried to get onto its feet. Reid closed in quickly and slammed Requiem down into its belly. Steaming hot intestines spilled out of it, and fire erupted from its screeching snout as it flailed wildly.

Reid realized he hadn't even considered whether or not the bird had magic. Everything had ended too quickly to notice. But the boar definitely did - it just wouldn't get a chance to use it.

Reid slashed out sideways with his weapon and doubled the size of the hole in the beast's belly. There was a decent amount of resistance, but between Reid's empowered strike and the weapon doing its work, the beast was completely outmatched. He continued tearing holes in it until it stopped whipping its head around to spew fire. Only then did Reid bring himself around to deal the killing blow. Tusks snapped like twigs as Reid's mace rearranged the boar's skull.

Reid watched the notifications pour in, and smiled.

You have defeated Beast Lord of The Lower Plains - lvl 21. Experience Awarded (+150,000 xp)

Questline Stage Completed: The Beast Lords - (Stage 2 of 10) Secret Challenge Completed: Took No Losses in Stage 2 Secret Challenge Completed: Finished Stage 2 in less than ten days

Bonus Experience awarded for completing secret challenges.

Achievement Upgraded! Venator -> Venator II (Earned for engaging and defeating beast lords in solo combat)

New Achievement Earned! Invulnerable (Earned for defeating two beast lords without taking any losses)

Invulnerable

Your foes have a harder time perceiving the damage you take. Allies fighting in your immediate vicinity gain bonuses to their defense when you are not injured.

Final Experience Awarded: 10,000,000 xp Accelerated Growth Experience (.13) Awarded: 1,300,000 xp

Experience: 416,688,400 -> 428,138,400 / 419,430,400 Level: 24 -> 25 Grade: G -> F

Reid took a deep, drawn breath.

He felt a rippling charge pulse out from his abdomen and course through his body.

Where the pulse touched, Reid felt it permeate his physical and metaphysical self with distinct purpose. It washed back and forth through him, and churned as waves crashed into each other. He could feel a purpose to the motion and the movements - like it was searching through his body for something it couldn't find.

"Nyx, what's happening?"

"Well, you aren't screaming, for one, which is a good sign. Every time someone makes a new grade, the system allocates a predetermined amount of energy to... assist in the process. People aren't just 'ready' to evolve - their physical and metaphysical selves need to be adjusted to be able to handle the qualitative increase of F grade energies. So, any inherent physical and metaphysical weaknesses that could stop the evolution are brought up to the minimum. That means burning and terrible pain is the 'price' for grade evolutions, to accommodate the power that follows. It's one of the defining experiences of going from G to F. Fun fact, though - if someone is too weak, the process runs out of energy before it gets them to the minimum, and you get a 'fractured' evolution instead of a full one."

Reid blinked. "When you say burning, terrible pain..."

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"Correct. You've already done all - or very nearly all - of the prep work that your physical and metaphysical selves need to undergo evolution by maxing out your stats, and getting them completely balanced. But usually this step is almost instantaneous. If I had to guess, I think the process is taking such a long time here because it's struggling to find something to improve. Most people at least use up some energy, but you aren't draining an- Oh no. No, no no no! Stop! STOP! GET AWAY FROM THERE!"

A massive wave of pain bloomed from Reid's head as his gut flipped itself over. He dropped to his knees, and emptied the contents of his stomach on the ground.

He could feel the energy within him pushing itself up towards his physical mind, and he could feel Nyx's efforts to redirect and control it. His head lolled, and he threw his hands out toward the ground in a desperate attempt to maintain balance. The world was spinning around him, and he was filled with nausea and pain. As the feelings intensified, Reid lost his awareness of himself and his body - as well as the energy within him and Nyx's attempts to move it.

#

Reid kept heaving long after his stomach was empty of fluids to expel, and he used what little strength he could muster to throw himself sideways and avoid the puddle he'd created. He shook and sweat profusely as the awful experience continued for minutes more, then opened his eyes as both pain and nausea began to slightly fade.

With some of his conscious senses back, Reid could again feel Nyx struggle within him to corral and redirect things. He pushed his awareness into his body, and added what little effort he could muster in his current state to aid her efforts. A snakelike current of system energy - the same kind he'd felt at the beacon - fought to get past a swirl of black and silver, towards a section of Reid that he couldn't quite make out. With every attempt the current made, the swirl burned a bit of itself to shunt the energy down and away, into a pool of black energy that greedily devoured it. Reid felt feeble, but his energy swarmed over the current with orange-yellow light. He pushed and wound himself to it, then screamed with effort as it resisted his attempts to force it towards the black pool. He could feel bits of his metaphysical self burn as he overloaded himself - and then something odd occurred.

Instead of fighting him, bits of the system energy floated off to repair his metaphysical damage. Reid grit his teeth, and burned his energy bright again. More of the system energy moved to fix the newly wounded sections.

A tooth cracked as Reid strained with effort, forcing himself into overload to siphon energy out of the system's current. The pain was... immense. Consuming. It was taking all of Reid's focus and willpower just to stay conscious and on-task. He pushed on through it all, until a worried and pleading voice finally reached him.

"LISTEN, YOU NEED TO STOP! Reid! REID! STOP! PLEASE! I... you can hear me again, right? You need to stop, Reid. Please. No more. You've done enough, so rest. Just rest. Please. I can handle it from here."

The snaking current Reid saw as he let his efforts slip was less than a tenth of its original size. Black and silver latched onto it, and heaved the thing straight over and into the black pool. It swirled and sank as Reid lost consciousness, absorbed by impossible darkness.

)+\( Hugo )/+(

He watched muscles flex and weapons shoot forward in the day's fading light.

Running into Serroc had been a high gift, and gifts were best when used effectively. It still pained him, just a little, that Serroc didn't want to join Hugo and the rest of his kind. But he somewhat understood. A man separated from his home, and forced to become as strong as Serroc was, had little use and little time for Hugo and his people as they currently were - or, rather, as they had been. That man also had a wider view of the universe than Hugo did - or, the cosmos. Everyone seemed to like calling it the cosmos. But that wide view meant Serroc didn't see Hugo with the same idea of deference or loyalty or power that his people did. To Serroc, Hugo was simply one regent among... maybe dozens, or maybe thousands. He smiled to himself. On such a large scale, it was inevitable that princes would exist by the dozens. He'd never felt less special and less important - but he felt quite alright with that. His goal wasn't himself - it was his people.

A trio of soldiers were turning colors as they strained to crush stones between both hands. It was a simple act, but the idea of strength and measurement had stuck with the rebuked officers and became the goalpost by which they measured themselves. First, they grew able to crush the husk-like shells of the oblong fruit that grew near their camp. Then, they would attempt to bend strands of broken metal. Next would be to dent or damage one of the harder metal storage cubes. The final test was the rock crush - but none had yet been able to execute it. He was thankful for that.

Getting most of his people beyond antiquated ideology was only the start. Hugo had established a new set of rules and roles for his people inside the tutorial. One of his key and fundamental changes was to pronounce himself a warrior, and naming proxies. Proxies weren't a good idea for long-term stability, he knew. Vuxarina had its share of familial and noble squabbles whenever successors or seconds were known. But there was no alternative that would have allowed him to put himself in more danger. By taking those steps, he was truly allowed by his nobles to pursue a path to strength.

If something did happen to him, his officers were not inept. They would see his people through things. More than that, Serroc was still out there, felling massive creatures and growing his own power. He only knew enough about the man to know that he was interested in his own growth, but there was also something in him that felt... true. Not necessarily 'good' or 'just', but right and righteous in a very personal and rigid way. Whether that would mean he helped Hugo's people in the future or turned a shoulder to them, Hugo couldn't be certain. Asking him for anything more than he'd already provided would be the height of greed. But he felt the man would lean towards help.

Ivory weapons flashed forward.

Without the man's assistance so far, they would all have been dead or imprisoned. He'd given them freedom, a cleared and safe base to operate from. He supplied them with food and water that carried them long enough for his people to understand and make use of the local wildlife in their survival. He gave medicine that healed the weak and wounded, and he even armed and armored them. They were a force entirely propped up by that one man's help. Hugo wasn't concerned with how the armor made his people look - unlike some nobles that still called it barbaric and unrefined. If Serroc had given them stone weapons, Hugo would still use them with pride.

There hadn't been a single creature they encountered yet that stood up to the crafted spears. Where guns and traditional swords had failed to kill all but the lowest level awakened beasts on Vuxarina's surface, Serroc's ivory blades plunged through tough hides like tearing through thin fabric. Noble women drilled along with the men, in a move that was equally controversial and necessary. While women had long had roles in the armed forces, noblewomen were disallowed from conflict. But, there simply wasn't room for them to hang on to tradition - not in the face of extinction. More were warming up to that fact.

Hugo idly rubbed at the new definition on his arms. New strength had allowed him to properly use fighting forms that had been trained into him since childhood. Serroc's weapons made each fight where he needed to use that training much easier. Both he and his people were truly transformed. Ready for Belar if they came back. They could, potentially, win. If not that, they had enough strength, training, and skills to fight a retreating battle and break free of the company.

Hugo bit his lip. If things became truly dire, there was one more thing he could do - that he hadn't yet dared to try.

The skill's description opened, then closed as he grimaced.

Only for his people, and only as a last resort.

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