Chương 263: Chapter 260 - A dragon muses

Day twenty out of seventy-two.

"[Resource Overdrive: Aura], do you think there's any chance you can change that classification to mana or qi?"

"Not anytime soon. Besides, even if I could, I'll need time to be in places of power or set up elaborate rituals for either energy source."

"But you said you could advance in realm with just aura alone?"

"I could, but it's a bad idea. I'd be potentially ruining both my antimagic side and the developing conceptual benefits of my body. It's better to let the Trial System push me as far as I can for now."

"Is that truly better? An artificial system you have no idea how it works or limitations of…"

"I have it on good authority that it's better than what I can do alone. For now. Besides, my pace isn't going to slow down anytime soon. The way it is now… I could probably rush to realm ten in under a year without needing to acclimatize." Not that he was going to, not after going through all the experiences he had in Valmere. Of course, when he told him about all of the Trial System's upgrades that went beyond just concepts they wanted more data from him.

"Wait… blood samples? Hair and skin tissue? Come on, now that's unnecessary."

"We should have done it sooner. Your body may be a marvel and we can track the changes within each realm grade." Ryan leaned away from a wandering scalpel, then he thought of an idea.

"I'll trade you. A full body scan for that theme-song ring." … Day thirty out of seventy-two. The new [Student] managed to learn a skill. They couldn't say for certain it was a skill but…

"I swear, something just clicked. My memory has drastically improved overnight." And he proved it, the researcher's memory was significantly higher than it had any right to be at his realm grade. Ryan frowned.

"Maybe a skill like [Improved Memory] then?" Fetterue looked like she wanted to hit him, though that might have been because this was their third consecutive day working together. He had noticed that she would get tetchier the longer he stuck around her without taking a break. Ryan had no idea why that would be the case though.

"What this implies is that the Trial System isn't the sole owner or granter of these skills. It confirms that there might be a firmament for skills, like there is for magic." The firmament of magic was what they used to reference the framework that spells were built off of, it existed all around them and was supposed to update every time that someone came up with a new spell.

Fetterue and the researchers had been arguing that skills like [Cleave] or [Double Stab] had some other sort of 'firmament' that they did not understand. But now that Ryan saw it in the wild… he had a different thought.

"I think it's different. I think the skills are actually in the class itself. That would explain why one or two skills are learned from class resonance at most." Had they found a backdoor into the Trial System?

"I've changed my mind. You will be using that [Class Change] skill on as many people as you can. We will research this ourselves." And with that decision, Ryan got his final quest update. Trial Quest Updated! It has been fifteen years since King Theskar has abdicated his throne, unrest and change has finally started to come to the Kingdom of Valmere. You are the [Conceptual Metamorph], find ways to influence the kingdom with at least two of your Epic classes.

Trial Completion Conditions: 2 out of 2 conditions completed! [Arcane Saboteur] has successfully influenced the Kingdom of Valmere's future! [Conceptual Neophyte] has successfully influenced the Kingdom of Valmere's future! You may leave the Trial at any time. You have a maximum of 42: 03: 02: 21 time remaining in the Trial. Capacity: Unique. Due to extenuating conditions, no other Trialist may enter this Trial. —— And time continued to pass. It wasn't that Ryan wasn't worried about what was happening on Earth.

For all he knew, Pinkie had gone on a rampage and wiped out the entirety of America's western coast. For all he knew, The Realm was being assailed by rogue spirits and millions were dying. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. It was a terrible thought. But unlike before, it did not make him impatient. No, if anything, he dove down deeper into the task at hand. It would never be wrong to work towards his own future.

He was still only the next generation after all. —— In between all of that, Ryan met with Agrinth twice a week. Not to fight or train. The demon did not want nor care about Ryan's current or future power level. Agrinth seemed to have made up his mind that Ryan would get there with or without them. No, what the Son of Valmere was most concerned about was Ryan's ability to rule.

"You are not here to argue, I am here to teach you statescraft and understanding the right levers to pull as a powerful person."

"It's the same thing, I learn better when someone proves that I'm wrong. Don't you?"" No, nobody learns better that way. Arguing at every corner will take far, far too long for me to impart what I need to."

"Let's agree to disagree." … And it wasn't just learning either. The last few days before his departure, Fetterue had something for him. Well-balanced knives that she had once used as bribes to work on his foundation.

"These are volatile knives. The delay can be changed by turning the dial in the center of the crystal here." The center of the symmetrical knife was a clear cylinder similar to the objects Ryan played with to practice his volatile mana control. At the bottom of the cylinder was a brass dial that he had thought was just decorative at first.

"They are one-time use only. You imbue your volatile mana into it and it will keep it separate from the spell that is within the knife itself."

"Whoa, so it's like a delayed [Fireball]?"

"It's more like a delayed [Antimagic Fireball]. Your [Arcane Volatility] lacks firepower on its own. This will cover it and still keep the effects of your volatile mana for anything caught in the vicinity."

"Only five?"" Five is how much you can carry on your body without the enchantments potentially interfering with each other. You will still have to strap each knife in a different location on your body. Arms, legs, and chest should be fine with what you have now. If you get any other magical gear then you'll have to check with an enchanter." Ryan's eyes shone with the number of uses he had for something like this.

"I mean, they might be one time use, but I do have to know their limitations right…?" Fetterue rolled her eyes but took out two more knives that she had prepared. The explosions were quite satisfying indeed. … Day seventy-two out of seventy-two. It was the final day. Ryan, the royal confidants and Agrinth gathered at Theskar's and Perinete's retirement estate. All of them paid respects to the ex-royal couple and had a meal together.

The [Swordsman] did not drink, Fetterue did not keep up her strict and proper appearance, Agrinth did not launch into politics and Ryan did not argue with anyone. Instead he asked a member he hadn't seen in awhile a question.

"Where have you been all this time Rhinestone?" The other mage of the royal confidant cleared his throat.

"I was busy dealing with various disputes and fires you caused." Everyone else glared at Rhinestone for the obvious lie. Fetterue, the one that had to deal with Ryan the most, stabbed at a piece of meat on her plate." He was avoiding you."

"What? Why? These two months were fun weren't they?" Nobody answered him.

"Hello?" … Ryan actually left at Fetterue's tower. Fetterue and Agrinth insisted and they flew him all the way there. He had thought they had one last surprise for him. It turned out they just wanted him to stand in a magical circle and be under observation before he left. Leave the Trial? Y/N? Ryan waved at everyone else and pressed yes. And he disappeared. Agrinth turned to the two mages.

"Anything?" Fetterue shook her head from behind a barrier spell, just in case something went wrong, and just in case the hidden guest decided to break the agreement.

"It slipped through all of our wards like they were a sieve. Magical signatures captured some of the dimensional shift, but the power… I think even if our wards were good enough to interrupt it, it would have ripped through them anyway." Agrinth gritted his teeth.

"My aura didn't work either. I saw a ripple but that was it, and I don't think I would have seen it if I wasn't so exposed to concepts either." A dusky chuckle reverberated around the room. A figure stepped out of a little alcove they made to hide her. They all turned to the horned scaled drake rolling a gold coin between her knuckles.

"I told you that would be the cassse. A valiant effort nonethelesss. For mortalss ssso young anyway." Agrinth turned to the new figure, he knew she was there.

"After seeing all of that, are you still not willing to help? I don't think you will meet another outlier like that ever again." The shapechanged dragon flicked the gold coin into a pouch. She chuckled again." And rissk turning into your King? No thanksss. There are ruless us 'bossesss' must abide by that people like you don't need to. Bessidess, forever iss a long, long time, and I have seen his ilk before." Agrinth's voice was a rumble of annoyance.

"You implied you would help." Her tongue changed that to a humans, she still emphasized the s's, more out of preference than anything else.

"Because I was curious, how could one deviate so much that an ascendant appears in their sixth trial? Why would I of all the dragons be called here? Well, now I know, and I have to prepare lest I suffer an ignoble death. I must thank you for that." The flash of violence was immediate. Agrinth's trident stabbed towards her throat as the magical trap runes flared up. Rhinestone used his buffing spells on Vedit as the swordsman prepared a slash where the dragon might dodge to.

This wasn't just a place to observe the shifts in dimension, it was a trap for the dragon as well. If she chose to back out of their agreement, the kill box was ready. The spells shattered harmlessly before they hit her scales and the trident went still in midair. Agrinth struggled at the invisible barrier as the ground shattered underneath him and his spear started to crack under his ascendant might. Ivarassel grinned toothily at the mortals, and the fresh ascendant of course.

You could not consider them completely mortal when they got to that stage.

"Rules, children. You should have asked that boy about them. As long as I do not attack you, you cannot attack me. Unless of course you were a Trialist attacking first. It's a shame that. You might have had the chance to kill me if you told him ahead of time." Of course if they did that then that would have given her best chance to nip the problem in the bud, or reduce it to ashes entirely. She would have done it too. Ivarassel did not like dying to irreverent adventurers.

She smiled as she sauntered out of the obvious death trap, protected by the barrier of the Trial System itself. Ignoring the mortals that did their best to kill her with their ambush. They always did that. Ivarassel cared little for all of it. Mortals with impossible potentials, the fate of the Trial System, the Great Civilization having lost control over their experiment, none of that mattered to her. Why would it? After all, here she had infinite lives to mess with mortals.

She lived risk-free as she slowly hoarded whatever knowledge the Trialists carried with them. This might as well have been a paradise to her. Ivarassel almost, almost considered not leaving when the Trial System was completed. Almost. It still didn't mean she would let the mortal just kill her because he had a tiny bit of a higher chance to complete the Trial System. No, if anything, she would have to try harder.

More potential meant you had to push them further, the shiniest diamonds were made with the highest of pressures after all. And if he died? Then he wasn't the one, and she would wait for another. For she did have forever to wait. Ivarassel was a dragon after all.