Chương 544: Chapter 513: First Place

"Congratulations on another first place." Ratgul, R-87, and Lyrian stood around a giant cake in the center of the room, wearing party hats and blowing whistles as if it were Thalion's birthday. They were standing inside what looked like a white marble palace, likely Lyrian's domain. The last days of the system event had been grueling, and Thalion had been on the run nonstop. It hadn't taken long for the hunters to finish the apes and begin chasing him instead.

Fortunately, his new form was perfect for speed and stealth, especially in the desert with the color of his fur. By the end of the hunt, Thalion had accumulated a total of two hundred fifty million points, plus a few hundred thousand more from being pursued by so many hunters. The first-place reward was also special.

Unlike during the first system event, the actual rewards had never been teased beforehand, meaning none of the others knew what he had received, and neither did he know what the rewards for second or third place were. Well, he probably could ask one of the three gods standing before him, but right now he didn't feel like it. When it came to rewards, he also wasn't entirely sure what to expect, as the official statement only said that the winners would be teleported to Lyrian's domain to receive the reward.

"Thank you, thank you," Thalion said, bowing theatrically to each god while ignoring what he truly thought about this shitshow of a system event.

"We knew you would make it, but we are all a bit disappointed that you didn't show more of your other forms. Also, take a piece. It's my favorite chocolate cake with round rocks in it. Those have the best flavor." R-87 waved one hand, instantly teleporting everyone into seats around a massive round table made of white marble like everything else in the palace. The cake stood in the center while R-87 began cutting pieces with motions of his hand. It almost looked as if he were conducting an orchestra.

"I thought you stopped eating your own kind?" Ratgul asked, raising one bushy eyebrow skeptically.

"Eh, well, I may have had a little accident, and since then…" R-87 started explaining in an uncannily high-pitched tone, as if deeply embarrassed.

"But it's only the round rocks, and look at them. They aren't even awakened like me, so it shouldn't count at all."

"Isn't that like eating a fetus?" Thalion asked, equally skeptical.

"There is no need to overthink it. Besides, there are far more interesting topics to discuss. How did you like the trial, Thalion?" R-87 replied in a bittersweet voice while handing him a piece of cake on a white marble plate. Thalion almost dropped it. The plate must have weighed more than a car, and he needed both hands just to lower it onto the table. He wasn't sure what to say because he still hadn't received his reward yet, and who knew what Lyrian might do if he considered the criticism too harsh.

"Well, I got first place, so I guess it was fine. Did you all have a fun time watching?" Thalion internally congratulated himself on the answer. Turning the question back on the three gods definitely seemed like the correct move.

"Man, this trial might have been even funnier than the last one we watched together." Ratgul burst into loud laughter, earning an icy glare from Lyrian.

"My stomach and face still hurt from all the laughing. I think R-87 laughed so hard that he even lost a few of his facial rocks," Ratgul continued, completely ignoring Lyrian.

"In the labyrinth, all the trial takers chose the wrong direction, but this trial was even better because there wasn't a right decision from the start. It didn't matter what they did. Some didn't find the note at the beginning and went in the wrong direction. Then there were those who went the right way but died fighting those pathetically weak D-grades. Oh, and the best part? The ones who escaped the D-grades and then tried to ambush a small hunting party, only to realize they couldn't even damage them."

Lyrian's demeanor grew colder with every word Ratgul roared through the massive chamber while R-87 constantly giggled beside him.

"I have to admit, at first we were quite worried when that girl threw you into her tiny ball of darkness. What skill did you use to consume it all? And were you holding back the entire time, or did you gain some kind of upgrade from it? I'm guessing you evolved because the light couldn't damage you afterward either," R-87 added. Now that was actually an interesting topic, and Thalion wondered whether the three had ever heard of the first Eclipsari.

The gods also couldn't share the knowledge tied to their unique employments, so why not reveal a few things in return? The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"I have a skill that allowed me to make contact with the first Eclipsari, and it gave me one of its skills," Thalion said. He had to admit that seeing the surprised expressions on the gods' faces was deeply satisfying. Unfortunately, it didn't last long, but that was probably just a god thing.

"Definitely an impressive skill, but I have never encountered that vile creature," Lyrian huffed.

"Me neither. I considered hunting it once, but the fellow spends all his time either in that dark place or inside the maelstrom, so it never seemed that attractive to me," Ratgul admitted before adding, "And it might be just a tiny bit too powerful for me."

"I met the fellow quite a few times. I even helped him build his mechanical arm, but we stopped talking after he decided to make himself a metal arm instead of a rock arm," R-87 said before continuing his rant.

"Like, can you believe that? I spent hundreds of years handpicking the perfect rocks, and then he just goes with metal? Everyone knows rocks are far superior and far more primal than metal. Especially when it comes to building prostheses with all those neat tricks only. Even if all of you lost your minds, we should at least agree that rocks looks far cooler than metal. The retro style is all the rage. Everyone says so."

It was difficult for Thalion to follow the rock-versus-metal rant, but before he could respond, Ratgul spoke up.

"Wait, you actually managed to talk to that maniac? I heard it attacks literally everything that comes close. The thing doesn't even spare its own kind."

"I don't think it ever considered me a real enemy. Also, I am a very powerful, wise, and ancient god," R-87 explained proudly.

"Every god is powerful, wise, and ancient," Ratgul muttered.

"How old are you exactly?" Thalion asked, using the brief silence.

"How old? Did you just ask how old I am?" R-87 exclaimed.

"And here we go again," Lyrian and Ratgul said simultaneously while theatrically rolling their eyes.

"Dear Thalion, I am a Rock, and rocks are simply the oldest objects in existence. We are not born. Some of my fellow rocks even believe we existed before existence itself. So when you ask me how old I am, then all my rocks are the exact same age, because we are all from before the beginning." Thalion highly doubted that was correct, but he also didn't care enough to argue about it.

"I think he doesn't mean how old the rock is, but how old you are. When did you awaken?" Lyrian asked, though it was clear he didn't have much hope of getting a proper answer.

"Oh, that. Well, I don't know. There wasn't exactly a calendar nearby, but I am definitely older than these two younglings," R-87 replied with a huff. Thalion was honestly getting confused, and trying to remember how they had even ended up on this topic only gave him a headache. So instead, he tried the cake. Naturally, he deliberately ignored the small round rocks inside it and focused on the rest. He had to admit it was actually pretty good.

"Say, Lyrian, what exactly is my reward for getting first place in your system event?" Thalion asked the elf, mostly because he wanted to get that out of the way before he started complaining about the stupid trial.

"Wait, before he tells you, you should know that out of all the countless versions of this trial, you ended up with by far the highest amount of points. The next best participant only had a little over four million. If this doesn't go down across the multiverse, then I don't know what will. By the way, what happened on your end after you left?" Ratgul asked before crunching down on a large spoonful of cake that definitely included one or two small rocks.

"Quite a lot, actually. It all began with…" And so Thalion told the three gods everything that had happened.

"Haha, Solan losing his entire faction and ending up with a daughter from one of the spiders is not something I ever expected. Couldn't have happened to a better walking solar panel. He was the worst hunting partner I can remember," Ratgul laughed loudly.

"It would be unwise to tell him that in the name of Ratgul. Solan is smart and ruthless. He doesn't forget things either. On another note, my personal nickname for the golden lord was always 'His Eternal Radiance, Bringer of Blindness, Scorcher of Peasants, and Patron Saint of Sunburned Idiots.' You don't need to worry. Everyone calls him that behind his back," Lyrian added.

Next came R-87, who apparently had an endless supply of nicknames—or rather insults—for the golden lord, and after the tenth one, Thalion frankly stopped listening and simply nodded along.

"If I ever get the opportunity to announce or introduce him somewhere, I will definitely use one of those. Now, back to my re—" He didn't get any further before R-87 interrupted him.

"Remember, elven gods like Solan always appreciate being announced with all their titles."

"Yes, understood. Now, back to my reward. It has to be something significant for first place, right?" Thalion tried once more to return to the important topic.

"Sure, brace yourself. So, there are of course limits, but the advantage of being this vague with the reward is that we can switch things up a little." Lyrian began explaining.

"You can choose to upgrade the rarity of two skills to the highest rarity currently available in your status screen. Then there is also a selection of equipment you can pick one item from, though judging by the way you are looking at me, I assume that's not really what you want. Eh… I could also give you a lot of currency… though you probably don't need that anymore now that you have gods backing you."

"Lyrian, did you even choose a reward before the end of the trial?" R-87 asked skeptically.

"Well, it's not exactly easy to come up with a suitable reward for someone like Thalion in what is barely a difficulty-three trial," Lyrian muttered.

"I am very sorry, but better rewards simply aren't possible."

"Actually, this isn't bad at all. I would take the first option," Thalion said thoughtfully. There were two skills that hadn't received a single rarity upgrade since he obtained them during the tutorial. With this reward, he could upgrade Acquire Skill and Shapeshift, which would be a massive power boost. Getting access to more than six forms in E-grade alone would already be incredible since every single one would automatically rise to divine rarity upon evolution.

The reward was already absurdly strong, but with every future evolution, it would only become more ridiculous.

"Huh? Really? What a relief." Lyrian visibly relaxed.

"So, since we all know you possess a divine class, which skills should I upgrade to divine rarity?"

"Wait, who said anything about divine?" Thalion replied with a mysterious grin that made the elven god simply stare at him.