Gilgamesh waited in stoic silence, as the last embers of the Hearth snuffed out and the first rays of dawn graced the city. The door opened calmly, and Gilgamesh walked outside to the sight of Nightmares recoiling in agony with wretched screeches as they perished in the sunlight.
[ You have passed the First Trial.]
[ You are rewared 10 Attribute Points. ]
“What a beautiful dawn!” Nem exclaimed with open arms as he appeared in the morning sky. “Some of you may be wondering what this Trial tested."
The sadistic Watcher let the tension build before he gave the answer. “Virtue! Thrust into a hell with no explanation or way out. Were you benevolent to the end, or were you irredeemable scum pathetically clinging to life by any means?! I hope you are content with the choices you made. Reputation tends to follow one around~”
The mockery in Nem’s face grew a bit deeper with those words, but only for a brief moment. “Some of you have started to realize the true nature of the Trials, but don’t get cocky. You haven’t proven anything yet.”
In the blink of an eye, Gilgamesh found himself in an archaic outpost within a forest. Its walls were of decent height and made of large wooden logs. Humanoid beings patrolled the walkways, who Gilgamesh mistook for armored men until he saw their featureless wooden faces.
Half of the outpost interior was taken up by what appeared to be hills of trash. Ahead of him was a gateway wide open to the forest, and behind him stood a striking red gate closed shut.
Gilgamesh raised his hand a little, which now held a palm-sized brass badge, engraved with the hideous face of a starving monster.
[ Second Trial - Frontier ]
‘Pass through the gate within 7 days.’
[ Red Gate Key ]
'Stores the soul of a monster. Limit: 30'
Nem appeared in the air with playful laughter once again. “The Trial is simple this time as well. Use those badges to collect the souls of monsters. A full 30 is needed to pass through the gate to the next Trial. Be sure to give it your best, no matter how inconsequential that may be!”
As the Watcher vanished, Gilgamesh glanced around his environment once more, then checked his Status.
[ Gilgamesh - Hero (Iron Rank) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 2
Agility - 7
Vitality - 10
Perception - 7
Force - 3
Spirit - 1
Control - 8
Willpower - 14
Traits:
Incomplete Stigmata (???), Master Golem Core lvl. 1 (silver),
Material: Clay (inferior)
Mana Capacity: 10/10
Unalloted Attribute Points: 10
"My mana is restored. Will it do so for the start of every Trial?" Gilgamesh wondered.
Aside from that, nothing had changed, so he turned his attention to his pool of unallotted points and contemplated his direction.
Gilgamesh had no true magic spells, so that path seemed a waste. Investing in physical attributes might be the most prudent, especially given his moderate experience with weaponry, but the idea did not sit right with him. The points would need to be spread out to be fully effective, and that would merely take him from lousy to mediocre.
He was not comparing himself to ordinary people, but to the standards of Magi. Those who awakened to mana received at least a slight enhancement to their bodies. If 10 was the peak of the mundane, then there would be those across the Seven Clans that would have some Attributes as high as 15 or 20.
Gilgamesh peered over his Status for a moment more, then walked towards the hills of scrap. There was no clear direction with only what he knew now. His one true ability was Master Golem Core, and he needed to understand what was capable of before he could make a proper decision.
“There are weapons and armor among the refuse.” Gilgamesh saw. “Perhaps there are golems as well…”
Gilgamesh scavenged through the hills, shifting through the items that caught his eye one by one. Most of them were junk. Broken Swords and battered armor. A bow with a snapped string. Leather braces with deep claw marks. The Schema identified them for him once he touched them directly.
[ Wooden Bow - Inferior Grade (Broken) ]
[ Leather Bracers - Inferior Grade (Broken) ]
[ Iron Dagger - Inferior Grade ]
Gilgamesh picked up a sheathed dagger and drew it. The edge was chipped and slightly worn, but it was sound enough. He sheathed the blade again and put it between his cloth belt. Low physical attributes aside, it was better to have a weapon than not.
A red glint caught his eye and he reached for it, but an air of disappointment came about him as soon as he grabbed it. He didn’t need the Schema to tell him that it was broken, as half of the gemstone was missing. Were it whole, it would have been nearly the size of his fist.
[ Splinterlog - Golem (Low Grade) (Broken) ]
Just as he was about to move on, he noticed the same kind of gemstone deeper within that spot. Gilgamesh pushed over some of the pile, which caused a small racket, and grabbed it.
[ Clay Sentry - Golem (Low Grade) ]
Strength - 30
Agility - 35
Vitality - 10
Perception - 25
Force - 0
Spirit - 25
Control - 25
Willpower - 0
Feature: Partial Morphing (bronze)
Material: Clay (inferior)
Mana Capacity: 162/250
Consumption: 4 motes per minute
Recovery: 4 motes per minute
“An attribute total of 150…” Gilgamesh calculated. It was three times that of his own. Better than he expected.
[ Feature ]
'Innate magical ability engraved to a golem.'
[ Partial Morphing (bronze) ]
‘Parts of the golem can be morphed into set forms.’
Mana Cost: 1 mote per second
“That could be quite versatile.” Gilgamesh wondered how far that ability could be pushed. The extent of how intricate they could become would open up many options in a fight.
[ Consumption ]
'The rate at which a golem core consumes its mana to remain active.'
[ Recovery ]
'The rate at which a golem core absorbs ambient mana. Recovery is halved when inert.'
“Consumption and Recovery are the same? Then, it should be able to remain active constantly.” Gilgamesh thought. "But it will not gain any more mana if it does. Partial Morphing will decrease its reserves with each use, until I would eventually be forced to store it. Then I should avoid using it until I find a spare golem. 2 hours to recover from empty to full is a considerable amount of time."
He stared at the slightly cracked golem core for a moment, then willed it to heed his call, but nothing happened. As he pondered a bit more, he realized he could feel something within it. The trace of a possible connection.
He followed that feeling deeper, but a shrill screech broke his concentration. Gilgamesh just barely reacted in time to block a giant rat’s lunge with his foot, but the impact was heavy enough to knock him flat on his back. Quick thinking guided his limbs, and he used the momentum of his fall to launch the rat and its scrapping claws away.
[ Giant Rat - Vermin ]
The creature was the size of a dog and practically rabid in its aggression. It lurched upright immediately and screeched at him again. Urgency entered Gilgamesh’s expression. That block was half luck. The giant rat was even faster than Bryn and more than twice as strong as himself.
Gilgamesh wasted no time. He felt for the trace again now with greater intent, and in return, he felt something fundamental within the depths of his being form a connection to the core.
Gilgamesh threw the core out in front of him as slushes of clay burst forth to take its form. A hulking humanoid that stood 8 feet tall. Its torso was hefty and its thick limbs became larger as they reached its hands and feet. The head was little more than a half-sphere with simplistic hollowed out eyes that held a glowing blue light within.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The Clay Sentry had an imposing build to match its Attributes but contrary to Gilgamesh’s expectations, it did nothing. The brief moment of intimidation passed, and the giant rat charged at him again.
Gilgamesh scrambled for a half-severed shield he had thrown aside before just in time to block the rat’s mindless lunge. He fell back against the scrap, able to do little more than just barely hold his shield up to keep the rat’s gnawing, long teeth and scratching claws at bay.
“Protect me!” Gilgamesh ordered.
The giant rat finally bashed the shield from his hands and lunged with an open mouth, but the golem caught it just in time and pushed it away, sending it crashing across the ground at the base of the scrap hill. The giant rat lurched back to its feet just as fast as it had before, but Gilgamesh had already moved behind his golem.
“What a waste…” Gilgamesh thought.
If the golem had attacked in a different way, it could have ended the fight then and there. It did seem strong in nearly every way, but even that simple-minded beast was smarter.
“I can’t rely on it.”
For the first time, Gilgamesh focused on his trait. He felt for the connection that existed between him and the Clay Sentry, and took control. It was as though a portion of his spirit now inhabited the golem, to the point that it felt more like his own limb. However, that connection was incredibly murky. Enough that Gilgamesh likened it to acquiring a diseased limb.
The giant rat lunged again, and Gilgamesh willed the golem to maul one of its arms at it. But his power was unwieldy and the golem's movements were crude as a consequence. Its large clay fist struck the ground before it hit the Giant Rat, which diminished its great power enough for the vermin to survive the blow.
Gilgamesh watched the Giant Rat slide across the dirt then slowly rise to its feet.
"This ability is too inept... Is it because my proficiency is low? Or..." Gilgamesh thought of another explanation, one based on his own Attributes."
Control - Deftness in wielding mana.
The Giant Rat screeched out in a bestial rage, and Gilgamesh made another decision with callous eyes.
[ Control: 8 -> 10 ]
As the giant rat sprinted towards him, Gilgamesh wielded his Clay Sentry once again. He made it leap forth with the incredible speed of its high Attributes and squashed the rat into paste with a single swat of its broad hand.
With the creature reduced to a slush of bloody gore, Gilgamesh relaxed slightly. But suddenly, he was struck with an intense disorientation. He had starved before. He had gone days without water. But this was worse. He felt strangely empty.
Gilgamesh collapsed and found himself drifting within darkness, unsure of what had happened. He tried to remember.
“A Tower… trial… fighting…”
His thoughts were impaired by something that pulled away at them from all sides. He was drowning.
Just as suddenly, his eyes snapped back open. He rose to his feet to find the Clay Sentry standing beside him, and several more giant rat corpses strewn about.
He turned his focus inwards. The feeling within was not quite full, but he did feel something. Gilgamesh took a moment to assess.
“...I must have expended all of my mana, which made me lose consciousness.” He deduced. “But the golem continued to follow my command to protect me.”
It was the most likely conclusion, and one that bothered him greatly. He had lost his ability to move and the use of his senses. He still had his mind but even that was impaired. Gilgamesh glanced up to the sky, to the position of the sun.
“If this is similar to Earth, then roughly three hours have passed since I collapsed…” That only added to his concerns.
[ Clay Sentry ]
Mana Capacity: 142/250
"It used its Feature..." Gilgamesh thought before checking his own capacity.
[ Gilgamesh ]
Mana Capacity: 1/10
Gilgamesh looked around the Scrapyard. "It was dangerous enough here against mere Giant Rats. If this had happened in a fight against a truly dangerous enemy..." Gilgamesh refused to finish the thought.
“It couldn’t have been more than 10 seconds that I spent controlling the golem. Which means it costs 1 mote per second to wield a Low Grade golem. That is far too little time…”
[ Spirit: 1 -> 9 ]
Mana Capacity 1/90
Gilgamesh put all of his unallotted points into Spirit without hesitation, but his current reserves of mana did not increase with his Capacity.
"I can increase my Capacity as long as I acquire Attribute Points, but I need to find a way to hasten my Recovery even more..."
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] shuffles in place anxiously.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] says you can transfer mana from other cores.
[ Handsome Monkey King ] is shocked.
Gilgamesh hesitated for a moment, then he broke down his Clay Sentry to retrieve its core. As he held it in his hand, he willed mana from it, and found that it came to him easily.
[ Clay Sentry ]
Mana Capacity: 142/250 -> 141/250
[ Gilgamesh ]
Mana Capacity: 1/90 -> 2/90
It was near instant to his moderate surprise. A full unit of mana transferred over to fill the Stone Ape to its capacity. An idea raced through his mind, and he tested it right away.
[ Clay Sentry ]
Mana Capacity: 141/250 -> 142/250
[ Gilgamesh ]
Mana Capacity: 2/90 -> 1/90
Gilgamesh's eyes deepened. "This will work..."
[ Clay Sentry ]
Mana Capacity: 142/250 -> 53/250
[ Gilgamesh ]
Mana Capacity: 1/90 -> 90/90
Gilgamesh filled his own mana from the Clay Sentry completely, then tossed out the core to activate his golem again.
[ Handsome Monkey King ] demands that [ Serpent of False Mysteries ] explain herself.
[ Third Lotus Prince ] ridicules [ Handsome Monkey King ] for his ignorance.
[ Handsome Monkey King ] threatens to beat [ Third Lotus Prince ] with his staff again.
“...Are the others unable to give advice?” Gilgamesh took a keen interest in their messages. “These are powerful names… What is it that makes her so special?”
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] asks if you are still angry with her.
Gilgamesh stared at the message. “...I forgive you.” He spoke hollow words calmly.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] is overjoyed.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] wants to know what your Talent is.
“...Master Golem Core. A Trait.”
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] is happy to learn that.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] asks how you got Leprosy.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] asks where you got your bandages.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] wants to know why you still haven’t used your angel.
“...Give me Attribute Points and I’ll tell you.” The disdain Gilgamesh felt back in the First Trial had not fully withered away, but his rational mind was back in control.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] bestows 3 Attribute Points.
“Leprosy was the consequence of a failed ritual. The bandages were made by someone in my clan... I do not have an angel.”
Gilgamesh was not averse to sharing that much. It was hardly a secret with the clan. Had he been without a new path, the unattainable goal of awakening his bloodline would have stung far more deeply. But he was not without a new path.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] is happy to learn that.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] has become more curious about you.
“What kinds of golems are there?” Gilgamesh asked a question of his own. If this goddess could give him information, there was no reason to let the opportunity slip by.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] says there are many kinds that do many things.
“Which ones are the best for my situation, then?” Gilgamesh got straight to the point.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] advises-
“...the message cut off?” Gilgamesh had not thought that would be possible.
“You won’t tell me or you can’t?” He asked, and received only silence in return.
“Likely the latter, given her talkative nature, assuming that was genuine…” Gilgamesh reasoned. “The Watchers must have cut her off. Or the Tower itself. It seems the Tower is truly far above these gods…”
[ Handsome Monkey King ] is utterly perplexed.
“If I cannot get more information, then there is no point wasting any more time.”
[ Spirit: 9 -> 12 ]
[ Gilgamesh - Hero (Iron Rank) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 2
Agility - 7
Vitality - 10
Perception - 7
Force - 3
Spirit - 12
Control - 10
Willpower - 14
Traits:
Incomplete Stigmata (???), Master Golem Core lvl. 1 (silver),
Material: Clay (inferior)
Mana Capacity: 90/120
Unalloted Attribute Points: 0
Master Golem Core was his only ability, and he now knew the value of it. Which meant he needed as much mana as possible.
Gilgamesh walked over to one of the dead rats, and the Clay Sentry followed behind without needing to be commanded.
“So it will also do what is needed to follow the command given…” Gilgamesh observed.
"Stop." Gilgamesh ordered. The Clay Sentry completely halted in place as Gilgamesh took a few more steps.
"Move in front of me."
The golem did as ordered.
"Protect me." Gilgamesh restated, just in case one command overwrote the other.
[ Gilgamesh ]
Mana Capacity 90/120
[ Clay Sentry ]
Mana Capacity 53/250
"Neither I nor the golem lost any mana. I can command it to act on its own volition without expending any of my reserves." Gilgamesh noted. Then a thought occured to him.
"Raise your right arm." Gilgamesh gave his command by thought, and the golem obeyed. "It works..."
"Strike the ground." Gilgamesh thought to no one in particular, and the golem remained still. "It won't act on my thoughts unless I truly wish them to be commands. This is good."
"Move forward."
The Clay Sentry did as commanded.
"It can follow more than one command at a time." Gilgamesh decided to test the limits of its understanding further. "Walk forward while raising your arms."
Clay Sentry did as commanded.
"Clench both hands into a fist."
Clay Sentry did as commanded.
"Attack a Giant Rat."
Clay Sentry did not move.
"Search for a Giant Rat."
Clay Sentry started to head off deeper into the Scrapyard.
"Stop. Change your left hand into a shield and your right into a mace. Assume a Neutral Guard."
Clay Sentry morphed its hands into those weapons then held its shield out in line with its chest and its mace at an angle to the side.
"High Guard."
Clay Sentry moved its shield a little higher and raised its mace above its head.
"This is good." Gilgamesh thought. "It cannot follow commands that involve things it does not perceive, but it has a measure of prowess."
"Stop using Partial Morphing. Protect me."
[ Clay Sentry ]
Mana Capacity: 46/250
Gilgamesh restated the order to be sure, as he approached a Giant Rat corpse and held out the brass badge.
[ Medallion does not accept ‘Vermin’. Souls must be Low Tier or higher. ]
His attempt was met with only that message. Gilgamesh stared at it, then inspected the dead rats around.
[ Giant Rat - Vermin ]
Attributes:
Strength - 7
Agility - 18
Vitality - 11
Perception - 16
Force - 3
Spirit - 6
Control - 4
Willpower - 7
The others had some small differences but were mostly the same. They lacked any innate abilities but their raw attributes alone were still a significant threat to him, and by extension, most of the other heroes here in the Trial. Gilgamesh would not have questioned it if this creature were called a monster, and yet the Schema called it a mere Vermin.
“No Rank..." Gilgamesh noted. "Their Attributes total around half of the Clay Sentry's. If Low Tier monsters are comparable to this Low Grade golem, then hunting them will prove dangerous. Far too dangerous to try alone…”
Gilgamesh glanced up at the waning day, then set off back to the other side of the Outpost with a direction in mind. “I need pawns.”
