Chapter 60: Chapter. 56: The Illusionist & Trial

[Blair, wake up! Blair!]

Glim’s distant voice called, as I opened my eyes. Sunlight streamed and hit my face. What had happened? I could barely remember anything as Glim floated by my side, its light mixing in with the natural one and turning into nothing more than a white patch within my vision.

[Finally awake?] Glim asked, I couldn’t tell if it was anxious or not. But the first thing I did was look around.

A room? The floor was made out of a yellowed wood with green streaks. It was shiny and highly polished. The walls within the room were smooth and glossy as if they were made of the same material as my spear. My weapons! I scrambled only to realize I was sitting on a bed, I was stripped of my belt or things and I simply had some form of shorts and a long white shirt. My eyes looked around as I got out of bed and then I saw them⁠— on a table right next to the bed was my quiver, cloak, belt and armor piece. Leaning against the wall was my spear and bow, and on the ground were my boots. I calmed down, examining the room once more. The ceiling was made out of a darkened wood, and near it, there was a window that filtered all the light from the world. I couldn’t see anything but blue sky out of it, but that was about to change. I stood on the surprisingly soft bed and managed to peer over the window.

What? My mind paused as I looked at what seemed to be a gaping abyss. It was a city of squared buildings as far as the eye could see, but in the far distance nearing the edges of the horizon there was an incredibly long abyss. And it sparkled. As if it was glittering with stars its depths sparkled in different colors, and the sky itself melded into the abyss that⁠—the abyss pierced onto the sky? It was as if the sky was divided into two at the horizon. The door clicked.

“I see you’re enjoying the view,” a melodious femenine voice commented with a chuckle.

I felt Penumbral Instinct flare up as my hairs stood on end as I looked back. I tried to reach for my spear but my mind paused as I tripped.

Woodland elf?! My breathing grew heavy as I registered the woman’s appearance within my mind. She was about a head taller and had sparkling green hair with elongated ears.

“How about you calm down?” She asked and I snorted.

“How about I kill you?” I said finally, grabbing my spear.

“Oh, take a second look.” She said with confusion. “Don’t you have some sort of history with the elves?”

I nodded.

“Needless to say, I am not an elf. Like I said, take a second look.” I finally registered her appearance, she looked like an elf and wore what seemed to be a black attire. It was unnecessarily fancy. And finally I looked at her level.

[Dryad. Lvl. 83]

I paused. Penumbral Sense still alerted me but the woman showed no initiative to try to do something. She wasn’t an elf, but I had no clue what the dryad was. Could The System be lying to me? I did not know.

[Er, Blair,] Glim called. [I see the need to tell you this, but ignoring whether this person can or cannot snap you out of existence, you cannot be harmed during your stay here. Because ultimately killing you would be direct interference with the Skirmish, which is a huge no no.]

I finally relaxed.

“Nice, an assistant. Did you know that about one-percent of the owners of one tend to, you know.” She smiled and pointed her finger at her head before sticking her tongue out and closing her eyes. She recovered quickly with a hearty laugh. “It’s quite funny.”

Ha?

[Ooh!] Glim bobbed. [You can see me?! Hello, I am Glim!]

The dryad nodded. “I am Elasia, nice to meet you Glim. You must be a naughty one!” Glim passed by her side and she reached her hand. She pinched it out of the air. And with her other hand she tickled Glim. “Oh, yes, you’re a real naughty and endearing assistant!”

Glim laughed as I felt any reason escape me. It was just possible to grab Glim⁠— wasn’t Glim intangible?

[Wait, aren’t I intangible?]

“Oh, oops!” She let go. “I get carried away sometimes. Mana can be grabbed after all.”

[Well, yes! It can be sensed too! But to grab me wouldn’t you need to⁠, to even meet you you would need to be—] She pushed her finger onto the bobbing Glim.

“No, no. Glim, you see this is Voting Interference, yes? Let us not speak of the details… I am the one handling the offer after all.”

Glim bobbed very slowly.

She then turned to me as I began to feel uneasy. She had stopped Glim from speaking for some reason, it was about to say something she didn’t like. This person… I narrowed my eyes. Is dangerous. Even if she wasn’t a direct threat according to Glim, I had to act carefully.

“Blair,” she called. “You have been asleep for quite some time, and unfortunately that is what we lack. So I’ll get straight to the point, I need you to meet my lord.” She closed her eyes and bowed.

“Your lord?”

Her ears trembled. “Yes!” She piped up. “The great lord of Illusions! I see you must be a worshiper too, given your cloak and pauldron. An apprentice too! Don’t worry in spite of his other name given by The System he is to be trusted!”

Other name? I remembered the fact that I had two items related to The Illusionist but I had no idea who that was.

[Blair cannot be a worshiper for she was just integrated!] Glim suddenly said.

“Oh, right.” She smiled. “Yes, recently our lord gained the ability to put loot within the Skirmishes to expand his influence, he recently became a true Monarch after all. How silly of me, but I am just his most devoted secretary. So I suppose it’s to be expected?” She let out a small chuckle. “Well, Blair, you must meet our lord.”

I frowned.

She noticed my expression and added. “Alternatively we can toss you back to the cave with that death worm.”

“I’ll meet him.” I finally agreed with displeasure. I needed to be wary of his secretary even. Right hand woman? I forgot the term, but she wasn’t even the person I was supposed to be wary of, and that filled me with slight anxiety.

◇ ◇ ◇

I begrudgingly departed without weapons and gear, only the clothes I was provided with. I had remembered the encounter with the mysterious person, the so-called Star Slayer, was he The Illusionist?

We walked across a long hallway of the same type of wood. We seemed to be high up on the air judging by the windows I saw between hallways and at the ends, but after turning left and right a few times we arrived at a big door. The secretary dryad stood there as she touched the door.

“Blair,” she said, meeting my eyes with her golden ones. “Do not anger him, he has made quite a sacrifice to even be able to meet you.”

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“Right…” She shook her head disapprovingly.

“I will enter the room first and he will give you both clearance after.”

I nodded as she entered the room, the door closed with a small click, and suddenly I was alone with Glim by my side, he had been quiet the entire time.

“Glim⁠—”

[If I were to answer any kind of question regarding our situation, I am sure I would instantly die, and not by the hands of The System.] It quickly explained while trembling.

Aha… I was in no real danger according to Glim, so that eased me enough to simply wait.

“Enter.”

A voice entered my ears and I took that as the cue. I grabbed the door handle and twisted it just like the secretary had done, it opened with a small push and once more I found myself standing in the middle of a rather familiar office. I turned to the right where there was a window and saw marks of frost on the ground. I turned to my left and saw a man sitting on the present desk. Or well. His body was quite thin, he wore an outfit that covered his entire body, and his face itself was covered by black bandages, a mouth piece, and only a single red-tinted monocle that allowed him to see. And of course, a hat.

He met his eye with me, it was a golden color. “Take a seat,” his voice was less deep than what I remembered but it was still similar. He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk that I had not noticed before. I had a brief pause before sitting there. I felt defenseless, but Penumbral Instinct had shut off now, so it didn’t force me to be alert when there was nothing I could do to begin with.

[The Slayer Of Stars. Lvl. 143]

He lightly coughed. “Allow me to introduce myself, I am The Illusionist. Nice to meet you Blair.”

“Nice to meet you too,” I sighed. “Why did you need to meet me?”

His eye curled as if he were smiling. “Yes, untamed, I see. No need for pleasantries then?”

“No, pleasantries.” I cleared his question feeling a bit of nervousness.

“Very well,” he began. “This is an invitation to invite you to become my champion, now before you say I refuse or anything, you must hear the terms.”

I frowned. “Terms? Is it slavery?”

“No?” he asked. “Actually the terms are quite relaxed, since you are the matriarch of a non-existent race,” I frowned. “It is simple to assume certain things such as you do not have any kind of management for a potential city, nor have manpower under your command.”

“That is simple to assume.” I wanted to just walk out, but I couldn’t. What if I just got sent back to the cave without my things?

“Well ignore that, the true terms are. You will gain approximately ten-percent more experience per kill. And I will receive the ability to sponsor your city. Think about it as, you will rule and I will send minions to build it and the like.”

I frowned. “What’s the catch?”

“None.” He shook his head. “Sponsoring gives us great benefits. Because practically speaking we would own all the infrastructure and you would own the land. So ultimately you would get a cut of our profits as rent, but we would get most of it. It’s a business.”

I did not understand what a business was, but the ten-percent benefit and free rewards sounded a bit too good to be true.

“Is this deal backed by The System?”

He nodded. “Don’t agree so fast, but yes it is backed by The System. Otherwise there would be no talks. I am well aware you come from a slightly less civilized planet, so what I am saying might be foreign to you, but you can always ask your lovely ball of light Glim. I can assure you this is not the thing you should be worrying about.”

“The thing you should be worrying about is why am I being chosen as a champion?” he asked the air. “It is quite simple, and this is where I reap my true rewards. Any Prophecy you acquire will be mine. ANY. That said if you happen to buy one, or receive one from another initiator then it is fair game.”

“Yeah, no⁠—”

“Before that,” he interrupted. “You will also get a temporary Feat that increases all your attributes, probably a bonus Feat after, and a Prophecy suitable for you. Now, tell me, is your plant affinity general or specialized?”

“Wait.” I paused. “So I get all of that, and you get just the Prophecies?”

“Full explanation is. Once you reach the same tier as the person whose champion you are, the temporary feat will vanish, but do keep in mind that that increase changes depending on race grade. I also get a few attribute increases that scale from your attributes simply because you exist, but that does not affect you.”

I frowned hearing he would get things for this, there was also the fact that I would too, gain a temporary boost that would last until I was level 143, but I didn’t like the idea of being tied to someone or losing my strength after a certain point in time. At the same time it was all suspicious, it sounded too good to be true. The dryad was weird and had practically silenced Glim. Then, the offer about Prophecies. Was there something I didn't know about them? Giving him everything I got in the future so I could get something right now. Wouldn't that be unfair? How many Prophecies would that be, a dozen, a hundred? Just... why? It didnt click with me. I didn't trust these people to not find a sort of loophole to exploit me...

“I don’t need your help.” I said, closing my eyes. I was free to refuse. I couldn’t be harmed.

He sighed, his voice deepening. “Untamed will always be untamed. I will give you a piece of advice, Blair. When speaking to someone much stronger than you, do not directly refuse them. That said, you are free to go, but you are not strong enough to survive. Unfortunately for you, to leave you must undergo my trial, otherwise it would be too⁠—lopsided.” He flicked his fingers. “Oh, and you can have your things back, and infinite mana too because you’ll need it, no potions though.” He removed the mouthpiece only for me to see him grinning from behind the bandages.

What? He vanished into a wisp of smoke and the entire room did as well. Things became nothing as particles flew. I felt sudden weight in different places of my body and sudden cold in others. I felt my bow on my back, my spear, my quiver at my hips⁠—my things were back?

[You have entered a trial.]

The system voice spoke.

“Glim didn’t you say there was no danger?” I asked with a frown only to get no reply.

I felt a brief period of no gravity before I landed on stone ground. Rattles and echoes entered my ears and I found myself in a cave, or rather a system of caves. I saw trees sprawled through the cave, some that had broken through the ceiling letting sunlight into it. I grabbed my bow and quickly noticed that the quiver was⁠—shining, mana endlessly poured onto it as an arrow was regenerated after taking out one.

I felt my mana in my body only to realize it was overflowing. I felt light. Right, this was a trial. I frowned, didn’t Matt have to undergo one a few days ago? I got ready to fight only to hear a scream not a second later. A beak as big as me popped from a distant cave, soon the whole bird showed⁠—it was featherless and its skin was rugged as if it were stone.

[Rock Zinele. Lvl. 39]

A trial, huh? I sent mana to create an Explosive Shot only to feel it refill within my body. This is going to be fun.

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