Chapter 23 - Tutorial
[System: Weapon of Fate Protocol completed…]
Robert awoke to the sight of a gray steel ceiling above him. A dim torch crown protruded downward, casting weak light into his dazed eyes, illuminating the room. The puzzle room, he thought as he tried to move. Every muscle in his body felt as though it were stuck in thick mud, and a dull soreness radiated outward from his core.
[Trail Objective #4: Complete the Weapon of Fate Tutorial]
[System: Weapon of Fate Tutorial activating…]
With all his meager strength, Robert pushed himself into a sitting position. All around him, spread in a circle across the steel puzzle room floor, his party was doing the same.
"Not this cursed place again," Varg bellowed, rubbing his forehead with a massive hand.
Robert inspected the chamber as he tried to keep himself from vomiting while nausea overtook him. It truly was the puzzle room they had solved just in time before being dumped into the underground lake, he realized, but the ceiling was reset, no longer impossibly high, and the floor was level again, no longer rotated to send them tumbling downward into the abyss.
[Tutorial: You have now become Fatebound to a Weapon of Fate.]
[Tutorial: Weapons of Fate are considered unique equipment and are not labeled with standard equipment rarities.]
"Is everyone else receiving this tutorial?" Alice asked as Robert read the green script flickering across his vision.
“I am, Alice,” Oswin replied excitedly.
"Yes, human," Brukk added.
[Tutorial. Historically, Weapons of Fate are considered one of the great technological wonders of the universe when wielded within specification. It should be noted, however, that deviation from specifications has produced undesirable outcomes in the past. To address stability issues, several enhancements have been made over a millennia of iterations of the Weapons of Fate weapon platform within the system, minimizing said issues to acceptable levels.]
“What does it all mean?” Oswin asked, the original giddiness in his voice now slightly faded.
"Quiet, chanter, and let me read," Varg barked.
[Tutorial: Weapons of Fate provide no stat increases and are imbued with a single ability, which will be detailed later in this tutorial. From a physical standpoint, their construction makes them superior in strength to worldbound metals. However, clashing Weapons of Fate in combat against other Weapons of Fate is not advised unless substantial protections or abilities are put into place ahead of time.]
Robert inspected his own equipment between the brief pauses of green script, realizing his clothing and wooden staff, which lay beside him, were completely dry. They were all dry now, he realized, no longer soaked from the frigid waters of the depths. How long had they been out? And where did their mysterious stone weapons go? he wondered as the green script flared again.
[Tutorial: Stand and prepare to commence the Weapon of Fate summoning tutorial.]
They all rose unsteadily, still sapped of energy from whatever the Great Forge had done to them.
[System: Weapon of Fate call sign randomization in progress…]
[Tutorial. Weapons of Fate can be summoned utilizing a personalized call sign assigned to the wielder. Please note, however, simply stating the call sign without qualified intent will not trigger the summoning process.]
[System: Weapon of Fate call sign allocated…]
[System: Weapon of Fate Call Sign - Redeemer]
Redeemer… Robert thought. I suppose there could have been worse names chosen for a staff.
"Oh come on," Varg cried with a look of dismay from across the room. "What sort of name for a greatsword is that?"
"Please, Varg, no one wants to hear what you call your greatsword," Alice snapped as the flurry of script continued.
[Tutorial: Before summoning your Weapon of Fate, be aware of the following conditions and consequences of wielding such a power.
#1) Summoning a Weapon of Fate incurs a cost of 10 days of the Hour Unspent. Should the wielder not have sufficient days, the summon will not occur.
#2) While summoned, the Weapon of Fate will incur an ongoing cost of 1 day of the Hour Unspent per minute of your current world time.
#3) Spells and abilities cast by a Weapon of Fate incur no mana cost but now incur an equivalent cost in the Hour Unspent.]
Concerned by the tutorial’s revelation, Robert instinctively checked his remaining days.
[The Hour Unspent: 64 days remain]
Hmm, he thought, looking down at his battered wooden staff. I suppose my trusted oaken staff will remain at my side after all.
[Tutorial: For the next portion of this tutorial, you will temporarily be granted 10 additional days of the Hour Unspent. A warning, however, any remaining time of the 10 days provided will be deducted from your total at the conclusion of this tutorial. This is put in place to avoid wielders skipping this portion of the tutorial to retain the extra days of the Hour Unspent.]
[The Hour Unspent: 74 days remain]
[Tutorial: Weapons of Fate have been imbued with the ability Soulfire. Soulfire increases the power of the spell cast by the wielder by 100 skill points. The Hour Unspent consumed by this ability is listed in your skill menu. As with mana, more powerful spells incur greater costs.
Keep in mind, however, these cost listings are only estimates.
The unstable nature of the Weapons of Fate leaves the actual cost with a potential variance. Try to leave a sufficient buffer of the Hour Unspent when casting abilities to avoid catastrophic failure.]
“What type of nonsense is this?” Varg exclaimed, looking up toward the ceiling. "The Hour Unspent to use a simple weapon? Send me back to that underground lake, dungeon, so that I may fish out my lost maul."
Stolen story; please report.
"We’ll find you another weapon, Varg," Robert said.
"If memory serves me, Varg, weren’t you originally a sword and shield warrior?" Alice asked. "How many different weapons have you lost by now?"
"Bah," Varg barked. "I am a master of many arms."
Robert watched as Alice rolled her green eyes when the script flared again across his own eyes in a brighter shade of green.
[Tutorial: Summon your Weapon of Fate by calling out its assigned call sign.]
Robert looked around the room as each of them made eye contact, unsure who would be the one to summon their weapon first.
"Well everyone, who’s first?" Alice asked in anticipation.
"I’ll go," Brukk said in his usual growl.
“No, Brukk,” Robert replied. “I appreciate the offer to go first, but it should be one of us humans. If something goes wrong, at least I’ll be able to use my heals, which won’t work on you.”
Brukk simply nodded, expressionless, in response when Varg stepped forward toward the center of the chamber.
"Just be ready, priest," Varg declared, not waiting for a response.
Extending his hand upward in a heroic pose, he roared, “Butterknife!”
Confusion filled the room as nothing immediately happened. After a brief silence, Robert and Oswin began to chuckle under their breath until Alice burst into laughter.
"Butterknife? Your great Weapon of Fate is called Butterknife?" she said between laughs.
Robert expected a rage-filled response from the big man as his face grew red, but he soon realized it was not rage that left Varg standing frozen like a statue with his hand raised high. It was concentration, or maybe pain, he thought with growing concern.
A sickening sound of tearing flesh filled the room as Varg let out a low growl. Robert recoiled a step backward from where he stood as fluorescent blue tendrils, similar to the walls of the Great Forge but much thinner, like fence wire stretched between posts, began to sprout from Varg’s forearm and hand in the hundreds. They swirled upward from his skin in long coiled formations, first slowly, then rapidly as the tendrils began to take shape.
Robert did vomit this time, unable to control his nausea at the ghastly sight, as the giant greatsword materialized in Varg’s shaking hand. The blade was broad, rising from a large crossguard solidifying atop Varg’s clenched fist, extended upward with straight edges to a sharp triangular tip. The flexible, wiry tendrils that were forming the weapon’s shape began to solidify into place, creating a coiled texture of glowing metal, as if it had been crafted from thousands upon thousands of metal strands fused together, all subtly pulsing blue light along its length. It was the largest greatsword Robert had ever seen, almost two meters long, yet Varg held it high with a single hand.
"Its light... but it burns to wield it," Varg said through gritted teeth.
He made a few quick motions with the sword until he suddenly opened his hand, as if it pained him to hold it, releasing his grip on the weapon. To Robert’s surprise, the weapon hovered, suspended in the air briefly before the blue metal that formed it blackened and crumbled into gray ash before them.
Varg shivered briefly and shook his hand, as if trying to fling off something revolting still clinging to it.
"Unnerving," Varg finally said, staring at his empty palm. "Unnatural... finish your tutorials and let’s be done with this cursed place."
Heeding the warrior’s part plea, part warning, the rest of the party summoned their weapons one by one.
"Stormrock," Brukk roared.
"Silencer," Alice called, stretching out her hand before her.
"Oblivion," Oswin said, a crack of fear in his voice.
"Redeemer," Robert said last.
Their screams echoed through the small chamber as metallic tendrils tore through the flesh of their arms. Robert collapsed to a knee as his staff, Redeemer, began to materialize in his hand. Metal wires coiled outward from his palm, forming the familiar shape of a staff. Not the uneven tree branch structure of his trusted oaken staff, but something more uniform, something like Varg said, unnatural.
As the burning sensation of the summoning continued, Robert felt as if his blood were beginning to boil, heat radiating from his heart toward his outstretched arm until the full shape of the staff came into view.
It glowed a pulsing dark blue, similar to Varg’s greatsword and to the rest of his party’s weapons as they fully materialized. Brukk’s had coiled around the stump of his missing hand, forming a spiked mace the size of a river boulder. Alice’s had formed into a sleek bow, but instead of a bowstring, a thin beam of fluorescent blue light stretched in its place. Oswin’s summon had shaped into a thin, spike-like weapon, a circular base extending into a razor sharp blue tip, looking more like a dagger than an enchanter’s casting wand.
As Robert’s summoning process completed, he stood, holding the staff shaped Weapon of Fate in a clenched hand, extending it in front of him. The length of the staff was coiled with blue strands of metallic wiring, like a woven rope that swirled upward toward the top until it flared outward like a torch frozen in place. He waved it in front of him, testing its impossibly light weight as he continued to feel the draw of its power.
"Cast your light, priest. You have the most harmless spell of us. Let’s see what these things can do," Varg bellowed.
"Is that a good idea, Robert?" Oswin asked. "The tutorial warned us..."
"Bah, so we’re to go into battle having no idea how these weapons will perform?" Varg said, cutting off Oswin.
Robert considered it, feeling his energy continue to drain from simply holding the otherworldly weapon.
“Well, how much damage could a simple light do?” Robert said, letting curiosity get the better of him.
He extended Redeemer upward. "Mind your eyes, everyone," he warned, then cast his Holy Light. He held the spell for only a second, but it was enough. His vision exploded into white, and intense heat scorched his exposed skin as the room filled with shouts and screams again.
"Stop the cast, priest!" Varg bellowed.
"Cursed Varg!" Alice shouted in pain.
"Robert! I think I’m blind," Oswin cried in terror.
Robert dropped his Weapon of Fate, feeling a moment of relief as the cursed weapon severed its connection to him. He dropped to his knees and blindly picked up his oaken staff from the chamber floor, casting a basic heal on himself and restoring his vision. Around him, Oswin and Alice were also on the floor clutching their eyes, their Weapons of Fate already unsummoned. To his left, Varg was stumbling sightless around the room with his arms outstretched. All three of them looked as red as apples to Robert, as if they had been sitting beneath the sun for days without shade.
Only Brukk remained standing upright, looking around the room as Robert did. His skin appeared its normal gray, and his dull red eyes seemed unaffected, either better adapted to the powerful light or already healed by his enhanced regeneration.
"Sorry, everyone!" Robert called as he began casting Basic Heals. He had just finished healing everyone’s light induced wounds when the tutorial flared across his vision again.
[Tutorial: You have successfully completed the Weapons of Fate tutorial.]
[System: Trial of Passage - Fatebound has been successfully completed.]
[System: You have been awarded XP and +30 days of The Hour Unspent.]
[The Hour Unspent: 94 days remain]
[Level Up Acquired: Cleric (Level 25)]
[System: You have reached level 25. Your level 25 skill selection is now available. Any unused skill selections will be forfeited once the next fifth level is reached.]
[System: Trail of Ascension 4 of 5 will generate in 30 seconds.]
“Congratulations, everyone, on another successful trial,” Robert said, still sensing Varg’s and Alice’s annoyance at him for having burned and blinded everyone with his ill advised test of the Weapon of Fate.
[System: Trail of Ascension generation cancelled...]
Huh? Robert thought.
[System: Alert! World event in progress. All dungeons will be closed in 30 seconds. Find the nearest exit portal immediately.]
“Now what?” Varg rumbled as he looked around the barren room, confused.
A purple exit portal suddenly opened on the wall behind Robert. He turned in surprise, looking into the rippling violet hue.
Nothing good… Robert thought grimly.
