"What kind of question even is that supposed to be? I don't even know what the ascension is or what those floors are supposed to mean so how am i supposed to make a choice?"
[The ascension is the process of climbing the Obelisk to its peak.]
[A floor is a section of the Obelisk.]
[Location: Floor 1]
"Oh, well thank you for being clear then. If I take it from a certain perspective this Obelisk is actually fairly interesting outside of all the scary parts." Connor was certainly considering taking the offer considering he didn't see any other way out of his current situation with his current abilities.
However he was wary of any negative effects 'Ascension' might bring him so he was stuck at an impasse. Either wait here in an artic wasteland hoping something would change or take the offer of the Obelisk and start something that might be even more dangerous.
Connor really didn't like placing his faith in unknown things but if he was being realistic he was going to die. Normal people don't just survive in environments like this, even with the benefits he had his chances were next to zero.
Connor with great reluctance got up from bed and grabbed a water bottle to drink and quench his thirst.
'Though i will be honest adding a time limit to the decision does feel a bit like a scam to me. That's like those infomercials that tell you that a sale is only going to last a little longer.'
The panic and anxiety had passed by now, all that was left for Connor were the feelings of tired annoyance at his situation. And with an exasperated breathe Connor accepted the deal in his mind.
'A shot at salivation even if its just a lie is better than nothing i suppose.' and just moments later the voice came again. Sending in a wave of prompts for Connor to read
[Wonderful choice, you will now gain access to a variety of benefits that go towards ascendants.]
[Status unlocked]
Connor Elysium
"A strange little oddity."
Soul: N/A
Essence absorbed: N/A
[Ascendency unlocked, complete the trial of the first floor to proceed]
[Kill at least 10 creatures of moderate threat to you.]
"Knew it, this thing is going to make me be a murder hobo isn't it? The status is at least interesting though, what does it mean by soul and essence?"
...
"Oh not feeling chatty now that you already got me to participate in your little game? figures, but at least its something and its probably related to the trial anyway."
Seeing as accepting the Obelisks invite didn't change things drastically for him his plans really hadn't changed. He was going to spend today resting and thinking things over and then once the next morning came he would try to do some exploration nearby to his home base. Considering the trial that he was given though the outside probably wasn't very safe even without the cold weather hazard.
There were no weapons inside his room though obviously. He could only hope that he found a particularly sturdy tree branch or a nice rock once he was outside.
"I mean if its a 'moderate' threat to me then whatever creatures I'm going to fight should still get crumpled by a good hit with a heavy rock just like i would." Connors face still scrunched up a little bit at the gorey idea but he knew he couldn't be picky when he was in danger.
'I mean i feel like i should be a little bit more distressed right now, am i repressing my emotions? Probably, but really what the hell else am i supposed to do. I'm in a random dangerous place where I have little to no knowledge and everything just feels so surreal.'
Such clarity didn't really make sense to Connor, for the most part he probably wouldn't be a person to panic in an emergency but he still wouldn't be able to think very well. This whole scenario had probably just crossed some threshold in his mind into the bizarre, making him not have to bad of a reaction. Even with that benefit though at some points Connor would even just make meaningless noise to vent out his anxiety.
Not much else happened that besides the room finally settling out at a cold, but manageable temperature. Connor also tried to dislodge the metal bar that was used to hang clothes in his closet but didn't make much progress besides making slight cracks in the walls it was attached to. And after tiring himself out he went to sleep on his soft and comfy bed.
Like usual he didn't dream at all while he was sleeping and he woke up feeling fairly well rested, if a bit groggy.
"Oh yeah that temperature makes it way easier to sleep in these blankets, or that might just be that i didn't have any artificial light to mess with my brain."
After checking on the sun by taking a peek out of his room he could tell it was pretty early in the morning so he decided to start getting ready for a bit of exploration.
His preparations were about as good as he thought he could get, he was wearing around four layers of clothes, and two pairs of winter gloves on each hand. He still couldn't manage to get the metal pole out of his closet though so he decided to just go for plan B and look for a rock once he left his room.
After exiting his room he took a better look at the surrounding area, the plains in front of the room were actually not fully surrounding him. Behind the room was dense forest of trees, Connor could also see a couple tall mountains in the distance.
'Should i take a walk through the plains or should i go into the forest? It would be way easier to get lost in all those trees but also it would be safer than being totally exposed like in the plain of snow. Also the forest should have more things for me to use.'
After thinking it through Connor decided to go for the forest but he would have to be very cautious.
He walked to the back wall of his room and made sure to keep the structure in his line of sight at all times and after about 30 seconds he made it to the edge of the forest. He was mainly searching for a good branch but all the ones he found were from dead wood. It just cracked after one swing, so he switched his search to find a rock and his results were better though he had to dig through the snow a little.
After around half an hour his best weapon of choice was a spherical rock that had a decent enough shape that he could grip it and hit with it without dropping it. Testing it out on some trees had worked, at the cost of dropping some snow hanging from the leaves onto his head.
'Well my goal should really be to complete this trial as soon as possible. I don't have the survival skills to make a weapon or tool better than this rock and the longer this drags on the less food and water ill have. I guess it would be a different story if I could whittle this rock down into something sharp though.'
'Wasn't it supposed to be like a deer antler that people used for that sort of thing?'
By now it was noon in the forest and Connor was starting to feel the cold seep through his Clothing. He planning to go back to his room and take a break and warm himself up again before exploring the forest for a couple more hours.
However as he turned his back he felt a clump of snow fall directly onto his head. Looking up he saw a pure white leopard staring down at him from a high and thick branch. And his mind immediately froze harder than the snowy ground beneath his feet. He could see the Leopard preparing to pounce down as barely half a second went by before his mind finally caught up to his situation.
'Oh god damn it!' He immediately lowered his body and grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and threw it above him as his legs nearly ran away from his body as he dashed in the direction towards his house. As the leopard pounced down on the area he was at just a fraction of a second ago.