Chương 332: Chapter 324: Betrayal

The sow and its brood attacked at dawn, shattering the bay window in a violent charge. Perhaps the animal did smell its child's blood because its guttural roar made the walls quiver. Anyone who had never heard the wrath of a boar couldn't fathom the terror of realizing such a feral, malevolent beast wanted you dead.

"Now," Priam ordered, his voice steadier than he felt. Victoire and Alain each tipped a basin filled with vegetable oil down the wide staircase. The liquid cascaded step by step, pooling into a slick, treacherous sheet at the ground floor.

"We're upstairs!" Priam shouted.

"You think she understands you?"

"I hope not, but it should get its attention—" A terrifying crash followed by a jarring tremor announced the sow's demolition of a wall. Barreling out of the living room by bursting through the door, the animal appeared at the foot of the stairs. Priam leveled his shotgun, locking eyes with its dark gaze. Unexpected courage kept him steady as a monster weighing over two hundred kilograms glared at him with all the hatred the animal kingdom could muster.

"Wait for the right moment, son." Heart pounding, Priam held his breath as the beast charged the stairs. He fired. Two shells of buckshot halted the animal's charge, and the oiled steps sent it skidding back to the ground floor. You have gained the skill: [Shooting - Rare]. The weakened sow staggered to its feet, its massive bulk dislodging shards of a shattered armoire. Its head swiveled in Priam's direction, but its ruined eyes could no longer see him. Blood-matted fur made it even more imposing.

Pain warred with rage and lost as its bellow heralded a second charge. Hands shaking with fear, Priam fired, reloaded, and fired again. He was reloading once more when his father's hand settled on his shoulder.

"It's over." Priam glanced down at the sow's motionless body, wary. Just as he was ready to exhale in relief, more guttural growls rumbled through the house. The remaining boarlets were enraged by their mother's death. The house that had seen him grow up was in ruins. Broken glass crunched beneath Priam's feet as he wandered among destroyed furniture, shredded upholstery, and carpets smeared with blood and filth.

In their frenzy, the boarlets had ransacked everything, leaving a stench so foul it had made Victoire vomit. Priam bore it stoically, sifting through the wreckage for mementos to carry into his new life. He found none.

"No diary, no photo album, no heartfelt letters… I'm a real loner," he said with a faint smile. As far back as he could remember, he had kept his emotions tucked away, preferring fantastical dreams to material possessions. Even now, as his father sighed at the destruction of the home he had built with his own hands, Priam's thoughts lingered on the skill he had just gained. [Shooting] - Thirteen centuries ago, the Chinese invented black powder.

A mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, it expands 300 times its original volume upon ignition, creating a blast powerful enough to propel projectiles. Nine centuries ago, the Arabs used it with a cannon and an arrow: firearms were born. The rest is history. You wielded a firearm to launch lead pellets at subsonic speeds into a living target. It didn't appreciate it.

This skill enhances your ability to predict a target's movements, optimize your shooting technique, and help your aim with any tool capable of firing projectiles. Fun fact: At eighteen, an American is old enough to own a firearm but too young to buy alcohol. Perhaps this respect for the Second Amendment is why aliens have never successfully invaded this country. At least, that's the Hollywood version. In reality...

PERC +1 DEXT +2 Behind the System's caustic tone, Priam saw the endless opportunities of this new world. Unlocking [Physics - Waves] and [Algebra] had come with a surge in his mental speed of thought and memory—a change hard to quantify but deeply appreciated. Meanwhile, [Shooting] had granted two points of dexterity, which Priam promptly tested by juggling four tennis balls. Yesterday, such a feat would have been beyond him. Still, nothing matched the awe inspired by his enhanced perception.

Priam removed his glasses and realized he could see better without them. A grin spread across his face as he let the glasses fall from fingers that had clung to them for over half his life. After his confrontation with the boar and its brood, the gesture felt like liberation. This System isn't a curse—it's an opportunity. An opportunity I'll seize! [Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 17 WILL +6 CHAR +3]"You seem unusually excited," came a voice. Priam turned, startled that his father had managed to sneak up on him.

"Dad…"

"So?"

"... This is everything I've ever dreamed of." Alain gestured toward the ruins of their home and then to Priam's injured ankle.

"It's dangerous." Priam responded by crushing his glasses underfoot.

"And exhilarating."

"I didn't know you were such an adventurer." Just hours ago, Priam had been just another bright young man. Now a burgeoning warrior, he took a moment to consider before answering.

"Maybe I've always been an adventurer. I was just born in the wrong century—or the wrong universe." A creaking floorboard announced Victoire's arrival.

"I got it!" she declared, holding aloft a big aether crystal.

"Five grams! Even impure, this thing's enough to get one of us through the Tutorial. With the ones from the boarlets, we're set!" Her smile faltered as she caught Priam deep in thought.

"What's wrong?"

"Well," Priam began, "the Hard difficulty only requires a gram of pure aether, and we've hit that goal in under a day. With six days left, why not aim higher?"

"…You're kidding, right?" Priam shrugged.

"I mean, the Perilous difficulty only asks for five grams—ten if we do it as a pair. We're already a third of the way there…" [Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 18 WILL +6 CHAR +3] Victoire cursed, and Alain groaned. Seeing their reactions, Priam fought the urge to smile. He knew he would convince them eventually. The risk was undeniable and he wasn't sure the System would even allow him to escalate the difficulty now. However, something told him this entity rewarded risk-taking. Besides, he couldn't help himself.

Deep down, Priam couldn't accept mediocrity. Not when it came to magic. Such was the nature of the Juggernaut. [Initiating third phase: gate finalization.] The indefatigable add-on redirected all available aether into the final stage of the draconic ritual. The intertwined meridians of the right eye formed an array composed of hundreds of cryptic runes. Once powered, the arcane formation lit up, its patterns rewriting reality itself.

Shaped by an ancient and fearsome power, the pseudo-gate shifted form, transitioning from a planetary sphere to a ring. Following the instructions of Heavenly Dragon, the add-on scanned the third layer of Priam's soul, searching for a specific resistance. Among the twenty-four epic-level skills inscribed there, it located [Free Will] and copied its rune.

Utilizing [High Aether Manipulation], it engraved the same rune onto the gate's inner surface, surrounding it with additional draconic runes until every inch of the structure was adorned. The result resembled the One Ring, though far smaller—none of the runes exceeded a tenth of a millimeter. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 19 WILL +6 CHAR +3 Once completed, the gate was positioned around the primary aether meridian—a pathway overlapping the optic nerve—and activated [Three-Headed Hydra] to trigger fast regeneration. Within seconds, Priam's punctured pupil healed, though the process exacted several hours of lifespan as payment. A small price to pay to break a Tribulation. Priam's unconscious body opened its eyes. His left pupil remained unchanged, its hazel color shrouded in thick mist.

Understanding a Concept always left its mark. Visually, his right pupil was a twin to the left, but a keen observer might notice the unusual behavior of the surrounding ambient aether. Born from untapped potential, turbulence stirred the ambient energy, as the gate drew aether like a star attracting matter. This phenomenon would persist until its power was channeled toward a specific purpose. A virgin gate couldn't remain long without resistance. Even Priam's internal aether wasn't immune to the gate's pull.

The add-on measured a steady drain through the right ocular meridian and posited a theory: the gate functioned as a toll, taxing the primordial fluid as it flowed through. The siphoned energy powered [Free Will]'s rune and the surrounding draconic engravings, initiating a new ritual. Its purpose was straightforward: to establish a permanent link between the gate and Priam's soul, anchoring the resistance to his physical form and elevating its quality.

Only one step remained: tempering the gate in a hostile environment. A proper refinement required a trial worthy of the artifact. Priam had chosen the dual Mental Tribulation. When the rune of [Free Will] reached full charge, the spiritual connection stabilized, achieving resonance. If Priam triumphed over the ordeal, his right eye would become the embodiment of the skill. Born to safeguard his autonomy, the resistance written into his soul would allow him to read the world through an unbound lens.

For as long as Priam possessed the will to break his shackles, [Free Will] would let him see them. [Hostile conditions detected. Initiating final tempering phase.] Acknowledging the mental Tribulations as anomalies, the resistance flared. The gate transformed the aether coursing through it, imbuing the flow with unique properties. In an instant, Priam's pupil shifted. The mist veiling his gaze dissipated, revealing a honeyed hue that pierced through the System's illusions.

Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 20 WILL +6 CHAR +3 For a fleeting moment, Priam's trapped consciousness glimpsed both the skies of Proxima and the dream conjured by the Tribulations. The dissonance fractured the illusion, and the Juggernaut began to awaken. After four simulated days of hunting in a forest teeming with monsters, Priam's consciousness had finally validated the Perilous difficulty of the Tutorial. When the truth broke through, his will faltered for only a moment before rebelling against the ordeal's chains.

With a roar of defiance, Priam turned his back on the portal and fixed his gaze on every corner of the dreamscape. Wherever his eyes landed, cracks began to spiderweb outward, as if reality itself were glass under pressure. As the point of no return approached, Priam tilted his head back, his eyes locking onto the false firmament dotted with fake stars. A black stain snagged his attention. The new moon was invisible, concealed by Earth's jealous silhouette.

Hecate's New Moon, the mythological mutation slumbering within Priam's pupils, stirred to life, awakened by the presence of the gate embedded within his right eye. Enraged by this rival encroaching on its domain, it lashed out, wielding its power of negation to drain the influence of [Free Will]. Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 21 WILL +6 CHAR +3 The double Tribulation seized the opportunity to reassert its control over Priam's dream. Oblivion wrapped around him once more, and his consciousness sank back into slumber.

Flanked by his father and Victoire, Priam exited the Tutorial, leaving Earth behind. Their arrival was met with the towering grandeur of an enormous building, a skyscraper beyond the reach of mundane construction. Above the massive double doors, a sign was inscribed in letters of gold and blood. Though the alphabet was unfamiliar, Priam had no trouble reading the inscription.

"Mercenaries' Guild." Despite Priam's hydra-like regeneration, his right eye was weeping blood. The battle between the gate and the mutation exacted collateral damage, and the consequences were anything but trivial. Incapable of panic, the add-on sought a solution to its host's predicament, aware of the limited time before the organ failed. Hecate's New Moon's betrayal was an unforeseen variable—one Priam had never imagined, let alone planned for, leaving the add-on without clear directives.

Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 22 WILL +6 CHAR +3 A notification from the System offered a glimmer of aid. [Chimera - Legendary] is ready for evolution. Presence of a catalyst detected. Use 14 170 POT to trigger evolution? Use 14 120 POT to trigger evolution? Use 14 070 POT to trigger evolution? Among Priam's array of abilities, one stirred in response. Dragon versus Phoenix. Hecate's New Moon versus [Free Will]; [Chimera] was in overdrive, barely containing the warring elements.

Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 23 WILL +6 CHAR +3 Use 14 020 POT to trigger evolution? Yet even as the gate and mutation clashed, their duel became a wellspring of levels. [Analysis… Simultaneous possession of opposing forces is wearing down the host's body. Simultaneous possession of opposing forces is accelerating the host's growth. Recommended action: none.] Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 24 WILL +6 CHAR +3 Use 13 970 POT to trigger evolution?

If there was one thing Priam trusted about himself, it was his unparalleled capacity to adapt. Thus, while tempering an epic resistance, the Juggernaut began to tame a rare Talent and a mythological mutation. [End of analysis. Extremely hostile environment detected. [He Who Eludes Death] primed. Triggering protocol "All In."] Status: PHYSICAL: Strength 893 Constitution 1 434 Agility 1 194 Vitality 1 326 Perception 865 (+1) MENTAL: Vivacity (D) 599 Dexterity 760 (+2) Memory 902 Willpower 1 116 (+84) Charisma 745 (+54) META: Meta-affinity 1 016 Meta-focus 568 Meta-endurance 935 Meta-perception 541 Meta-chance 616 Meta-authority 453 Potential: 27 711 (+25) Tier 0 Sun points: 1 143 444 [He Who Eludes Death] charge: PRIMED. Next arc already complete on Patreon if you want to find out what happens next! https: //www. patreon.

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