Sieg's left eye twitched upon seeing the absolute state of his stats.
"Is this normal? Whatever, it's fine."
Closing the menu, he let out a sigh of dismay, though his gaze soon landed on the back of his hand — where the ascendant mark was supposed to be.
"It's not there."
"I started with 3 Sanity, can I at least know what that does? Does it save me from being a complete dumbass?"
› [Affirmative]
"Ah—" A sudden influx of information flooded his mind.
***
› [Sanity TLDR]:
Sanity fuels Spell-Arts and shields the mind from madness and psychic attacks. When it is damaged, spells weaken, and the mind becomes vulnerable.
Maintaining sanity requires rest and careful use of Spell-Arts. Overexertion causes fainting, migraines, dizziness, and headaches. Extreme damage can shatter the mind entirely.
As of the moment — you possessed no 'Spell-Arts'
You can handle minor environmental cognitive hazards.
› Reason for Sanity (III): [Fortified Cognition]
- Your background in the slums forged a resilient mind.
› Reason for Lethality (I): [Low Threat]
- If your life is in danger — you are willing to kill to save yourself.
***
Owie!
A headache struck Sieg's temple. "So my suffering in the slums might've been the reason for my stats… funny how that works."
Sieg remained lost. "I'm still missing so much context and information, but those other attributes seems so basic."
"Arts that attack the mind." The implications of facing such a threat crossed his thoughts; he knew that one day, he would have to face such a foe, But for now, his first goal was clear as day — to finish the Trial and obtain an Origin Aspect.
"I'll learn along the way…"
Closing the stat window, Sieg continued walking towards the designated path down the cobblestone road, for every step he took and every glance he looked at, he could feel a sharp pain radiating from his head.
This place is just making my headache worse… I couldn't imagine being here without a Tier 3 sanity stat! I thank the almighty for such a wonderful gift.
Then he stopped, something was emerging from the road. Its silhouette was that of a human, but its body movement said otherwise.
"Who's there?!" Every instinct screamed at him to run, but he forced himself to stay.
Soon it came into view. It was some sort of man, though its face was missing important features, such as eyes and a nose, but its mouth was ever present, smiling while holding a machete.
It started laughing…
› [Enemy: Smiling Man, Threat Level: Tier 0 — Mundane.]
› [Warning: Fight for your life, your sanity is slowly waning!]
The creature started sprinting towards him — the laughter was getting closer and closer.
"WHAT IS THAT?"
Sieg barely had time to raise his sword before the machete slammed down, sending a shock through his bones.
He staggered back, but the manic creature was already swinging again, its movements were some sort of animalistic tendency, wild and jerky.
The next slash of the creature managed to graze Sieg's skin — drawing first blood.
Sieg ran away for his life, it only caused the creature to tail him back to the starting point, so much terror was wailing in his racing heart, perhaps he was starting to regret being chosen for the Ascendant Trial.
I don't know how to fight, and I don't even know how to defend myself! This is insane!
The laughter was echoing from behind, Sieg then stopped moving.
But… I DON'T WANT TO DIE!
Sieg tightened his grip and met the next strike of the murderous machete head-on, He pushed with everything he had, but the boy noticed something quite odd.
The smiling man wasn't that physically strong, in fact he can somewhat over power it, once Siege realized that he was merely being intimidated.
That boundary between courage and fear shattered itself, and as the smiling man's machete pressed closer, inch by inch, toward his throat.
"Not happening!" Sieg pivoted his body and kicked the creature's knee. It buckled just enough for him to shove it off.
His heart beat was an all the time high, cold sweat covered his entire body, and in some instances he was feeling lightheaded.
Nonetheless, he endured, Sieg swung his sword in a desperate arc, but the creature ducked under it with an inhuman bend of its spine, then lunged again.
How is that allowed?!
Sieg barely sidestepped, feeling the wind of the machete brush past his ribs, in a panicked maneuver, he tried countering with a sloppy stab at the creature.
He did feel the steel piercing the creature's shoulder, to someone that has never harmed anyone, it was a disturbing sensation.
But the smiling man didn't show any hints of feeling pain, It simply looked at the wound, then at him, then its smile widening.
"Are you fu—" Sieg yanked his sword free just as the creature swiped again. He ducked, rolled across the dirt, and came up panting.
Even if he lacked the proper technique and training, his survival instinct honed in the harsh environment of the slums was his favored companion.
All those beating I took weren't for nothin! But more importantly, Sieg simply just refused to die.
When the machete came down again, Sieg stepped inside its swing and drove his sword straight through the creature's throat.
This time, it reacted — jerking violently as a sickly black fluid dripped from the wound. Sieg twisted the blade, pushed forward, and forced the creature to the ground.
It twitched once… and then twice…
Then it stopped moving.
Upon the death of the smiling man, the myriad of gazes, some were winking, others held amused looks, and a few rolled their eyes in disappointment that he was victorious.
"I… I won…"
"Are you all entertained?!" Sieg collapsed to his knees, with his chest heaving.
Despite the feeling of survival and victory, the more Sieg looked at the dreadful creature, the more he started to feel guilt — after all, it still looked like a real man.
But he knew the truth: I didn't do anything wrong… it's kill or be killed, right?
He groaned, clutching his head.
It hurts. What is this?!
The throbbing started suddenly, like a drum pounding behind his eyes. Just as quickly as it began, the pain immediately eased, settling into calm the moment a system message appeared before him.
› [C̸a̴l̶i̷b̵r̴a̸t̷i̴o̵n̷ ̴P̵h̷a̶s̴e̸ ̷1̴ —̸ ̷C̴o̷m̵p̷l̶e̴t̸e̷d̴.]
› [C̸o̴n̷g̶r̴a̷t̵u̴l̷a̶t̸i̷o̴n̵s̷,̴ ̷y̴o̷u̵r̶ ̴O̷r̴i̷g̵i̴n̷ ̸Árt ̷is ̷s̴h̷a̶p̴i̷n̵g̸ ̷n̴i̷c̶e̵l̴y̷ —̸ ̷p̴l̷e̶a̵s̴e̷ ̷c̴o̷n̵t̶i̷n̴u̸e̷ ̷f̴u̷r̶t̴h̷e̵r̸ ̷d̴o̷w̶n̴ ̷t̴h̷e̵ ̷r̴o̷a̶d̴.]
To Sieg's horror — the system in front of him was glitching.
Chapter End.