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Tenth Plateau: Simulation Trial Completed!
You have gained the right to leave the Tenth Plateau.
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Do you wish to exercise it now? You have 26 250 hours to make your decision.
Yes/No
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The Host's strength has been evaluated. You've met the minimum conditions for several other Plateaus. A skipping right has been granted. Please select:
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- Eleventh Plateau
- Twelfth Plateau
- Thirteenth Plateau
- Fourteenth Plateau
- Fifteenth Plateau
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"Save it for later," Rakna ordered out loud after he had reappeared in front of the tall pillar that he used to initiate the Trial. He took a look at the time in curiosity and was pleasantly surprised to see just a few minutes had passed since he touched the pillar.
"Alexa, does time flow differently in a simulation?"
[Affirmative. You will come to see in the future that this is an essential feature. The simulation you just went through is one of the simplest ones. It has a straightforward goal and is often fast to clear. However, some tend to last for weeks, months, years, or even decades. When that happens, the System will accelerate the flow of time in the simulation to match it.]
'Sounds tough,' Rakna commented as he took a seat on a sandstone bench nearby. He took out the journal and remembered something. 'Ah, right. Show me the description of Calamity Hunter,' he ordered and the window appeared.
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Calamity Hunter
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Over the years in the System, Hosts came to classify certain Wilden with titles because of their potential danger. To this day, there are six of them;
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Executioner – Destroyer – Calamity – Disaster – Annihilator – Fatality
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Most Wilden do not receive a classification. Only the most dangerous of them do. The conditions for them to be considered special cases always depend on how deadly they are, the scale on which they operate, and how hard they are to kill.
With the title of Calamity Hunter, you have shown yourself capable of killing one of such creatures and you will receive boosts to your stats whenever you fight Calamity Class Wilden as well as the lower Classes.
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Applied Effects:
+30% ATT, DEF, MA.
+30% Experience, Talys.
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'Uh, interesting. Then what about the classification of 'Legendary'?'
[That is a more general classification that is always tilting between official and non-official. As you know already, beings like Nine-Tailed Beasts and Dusk Lions are Legendary Class. That is mainly because they possess innate abilities with immense power that find their origin in legends.]
[Other than that, there exists the Ancient and Ultimate Class. The former includes creatures such as Luquilas, incredibly powerful creatures lost to time, while the latter includes beings… like the one they call Eternal Night.]
'What do you mean? I thought that guy was a God. So, shouldn't he be part of the Celestials instead?'
[Yes, but there is a certain information that most people don't know. The Eternal Night God was a human at first. To be exact, he was part of a race that people feared at the simple mention of their name; Life Hunters. They were the Ultimate Killers. They got stronger with everything that they killed. For them, taking life and robbing their power was as easy as breathing. That's why, even if they are extinct, bar Eternal Night, they will forever be classified as Ultimate Class.]
'So, you're saying there are other beings out there deserving of that classification?'
[Affirmative. One of them would be who we call the Children of Talent. They are people that got swept away by the waves of the River of Time at birth. Everything they touch, they will master. All that there is to know, they know. All that there is to understand, they understand. The second that they come out of the womb; they are said to be stronger and wiser than Gods.]
[A third one would be the World Sages. Immortal beings blessed with a life that never expires and mana capacity that would put the most notorious of powerhouses to shame. Their hearts are said to be made out of diamond and their blood of melted crystal. They never fall sick, never die. Their beauty is said to be unparalleled and their bond with nature could make a High Elf faint in shock.]
'...then people call me broken.'
"{Well, in the grand scheme of things, there are indeed many people more talented than you,} the lioness piped in. "{As Alexa said, some of them can even be as strong as Gods from birth. You can't get any closer to 'talented' than that. Though… that is counting people out of the System.}"
Rakna snorted. 'True. It'll get easy to forget in the future that there's more than just the System. Will we ever get out of here, I wonder?'
"{For all intents and purposes, I would say that the System is a good way to get stronger in a safe way,}" Fray remarked. "{If you were outside, you would need to find out by yourself how to use mana, soul, or spells. I believe it is appropriate to consider this place a convenient stepstone. Who knows, maybe one day you will be able to shed this crutch.}"
Rakna hummed at that and silently started reading the journal from where he left off. A short while later, he sensed a presence closing in and raised his head. "Good morning, Flavia."
She smiled at him. "Good morning. How long have you been here?"
"About twenty minutes? I already finished the Trial by the way," Rakna responded and closed the book. "That pillar is some sort of transporter. I think you can call this Trial a sort of virtual reality challenge?"
"Oh, really?" She looked at the pillar with a curious gaze. "What did you do in there?"
"It's apparently random. But I had to fend off some sort of sentient sandstorm. It was an annoying fight," the therian described dully.
"{I see that you consider purposefully letting yourself be heavily injured for five minutes straight by a Calamity only worthy of 'annoying'. Truly, a man of character,}" Higure sarcastically said.
'Shut it.'
"What are you reading?" Flavia asked as she leaned over him, pushing her hair behind her ear.
Rakna glanced at the enchanting figure of the older woman and looked back at the journal. "It's a book straight from Fray's library. Some senile and delusional old man wrote it. I'm trying to see if there is something to help me with my soul power."
Flavia smiled wryly. "Is there a reason why you added 'senile and delusional'?"
He didn't answer with words but rather flipped the book and showed her the page he was reading as he tapped near a certain line. The former teacher read it and blinked. "'The blessings of Heaven and Earth resonated with my soul and made me one with them. I was able to grasp the meaning of the life given to this land and the significance of death'... I understand," she deadpanned once she was done paraphrasing the book.
Rakna shrugged and continued reading. "Where are the others?"
"Nyx and Evelyn will be here soon. As for Allan and Marie, I don't know. Maybe the latter is now getting a taste of how bad her boyfriend can get in the morning," she giggled impishly.
He snorted. "Sounds accurate."
"Um… Rakna," she tentatively said with a nervous tone. Rakna looked at her in confusion and she fidgeted while avoiding his gaze. "I wanted to as you… would you like to… sleep with us?"
"…Flavia, please be careful of your word choice. Also, why? And did you say 'us'?"
The witch blushed. "But I was careful… I meant it literally. Other than when we first arrived in the System, when was the last time you slept in a bed?" She asked back.
"Well, not that long ago. It was two days ago when I turned during the full moon."
Flavia looked at him in admonishment. "And other than that?"
"…maybe since the Verias incident if an infirmary bed counts."
"Exactly. Other than that, you spend your nights in the Pavilion. You shouldn't do that all the time," she said softly. "Do you even sleep 'normally' lately? Are you always just meditating?"
"…"
"I know about your nightmares and how painful they can be to you… but I can't help but feel like this isn't the right way to deal with it," she said sadly.
"…where does sleeping with you come in?"
"Well, didn't you do it with Nyx?" She said with a small pout. "But… do you remember about last year? When grandpa died, you put up with my selfishness until I cried myself to sleep. Even with the grief, I faced that day, when I woke up in the morning and saw that you were still there, I had never felt more contented in my entire life."
Rakna's eyes widened slightly as she quite literally poured her heart out to him.
"What I mean to say… I know perfectly what a close company can do to you. I just want to see… if I can return the favor to you after all this time," she added and he fell silent for a moment.
"You are…" Rakna began and then sighed. The corner of his lips curved upward and Flavia had no time to comment on it before it went away as fast as it came. "Fine. If that's what you want. I guess I'll try."
She beamed happily. "Yes!" She yelled a bit too excitedly and quickly calmed herself down with a flushed face. "A-ahem… I'll go do the Trial now," she said meekly and went to the pillar as if she wanted to run away.
When she disappeared in a flash of light, Fray spoke up, "{That lady is… amazingly heartfelt and earnest,}" he commented with an impressed tone. "{What an incredible show of humanity.}"
"{I know right?!}" Higure shouted, delighted to have someone else who could understand it. "{How is it that the empty husk of a human being that is Rakna could ever get such a wonderful person to like him?! I cannot wrap my head around it!}"
"Oi," Rakna uttered blankly.
"{A-ah… well, tha-that is a bit exaggerated,}" the storyteller anxiously replied. He didn't want to attract the werewolf's ire by agreeing with that statement. He valued his afterlife.
Rakna sighed and glanced at where Flavia was standing when she entered the Trial. He let out another smile that lasted less than a second and snorted. 'Really, that woman…' He thought warmly as he resumed his read.