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LOCATION: THE LUSTY WENCH
CITY: GRIMWATCH
DATE: ??? | MORNING
Early the next morning, the team once again gathered in the main hall of The Lusty Wench for a light breakfast, coffee, and tea. There was a buzz in the air—quiet excitement mixed with speculative tension.
As usual, Ronan kept his spoilers light.
“All I will say is that you should pay attention to System notifications today,” he told them. “Read them carefully, and act promptly.”
Brick sighed loudly and rolled his eyes so hard you could almost see only the whites.
“Thanks for the major fucking reveal, man. I would have been lost without it…”
The table erupted in laughter, but Mallory backed Ronan up. She explained that experiencing things more organically provided a better data set for his team to analyze—and would help refine the rollout for future cohorts.
After breakfast, a few stayed around the inn while others wandered through the village. Darian drifted toward the stone plaza, lost in his thoughts, eyes focused vaguely on the fountain’s surface.
Then came the ping.
---
System Message
As Precursor, you know more than others that time is not immutable. Experience this concept now.
---
Nothing like a fucking fortune cookie to start my day.
As the message faded, a red blip pulsed on his map—urgent, insistent. He stared at it for a moment… and then his chest tightened.
No time to think.
He turned toward the marker and broke into a dead sprint, his body moving before his mind caught up. The trees whipped by as he tore through the forest, leaping fallen logs, ducking under low branches, his footfalls light and precise. Each motion came effortlessly, like he’d trained for this his whole life.
A clearing opened ahead.
Two boys—no older than eight or nine—were climbing a tree at the edge of the glade. Their linen tunics were dusty and worn, and their laughter rang out unguarded, unaware. One boy had already reached the lowest branch. The other was jumping, struggling to find a foothold.
Fifteen feet away, hidden in the brush, a dark gray wolf crouched—massive, silent, and far too close.
Darian froze in the shadows, breath caught.
The wolf crept forward, step by step, its eyes locked on the second boy. Saliva dripped from its jaws. Ears flattened. Haunches tightened. It was coiled to pounce.
And then—he saw it.
Not the wolf’s motion. Its future.
In his mind’s eye, he saw the beast leap—saw the boy’s leg caught in its jaws, blood spurting as the child screamed.
And he couldn’t allow it.
In one fluid motion, Darian unclipped the twin rings of Parallax from his waist. His fingers moved before conscious thought—guided by the clarity of what had not yet happened.
He hurled the first ring sideways. It spun like a skipping stone, flat and fast, and struck the wolf’s snout with a bone-cracking thunk. The beast staggered mid-leap, stunned.
The second ring also flew true.
It curved through the air in a precisely calculated arc—anticipating the wolf’s recoil—and severed its head in a single, nearly soundless cut.
The body dropped to the ground, momentum spent, claws never having reached their mark.
Both rings dissolved into vapor mid-air and reformed in Darian’s hands before he even stepped forward.
He returned them to the magnetic holsters on his waist and rushed to the children.
The boy on the branch had nearly fallen off from shock and now hung by his arms, legs dangling just above the ground. The other lay on his back at the base of the tree. He had lost his grip on the trunk during the wolf’s leap—and upon landing on his side, found himself face to face with the lifeless gaze of a predator that should have ended him.
But didn’t.
Because Darian Sirova had already seen that future—and had chosen to rewrite it.
Darian ensured the kids were safe—they were shaken, but unharmed—and watched them bolt into the woods, back toward Grimwatch. As they disappeared, a new message lit up in his field of vision.
---
System Message
You have slain Greystalker Wolf, Level 1.
100 experience points have been awarded.
Well done, Precursor. Your instincts will continue to serve you well if you heed them always. Your next trial awaits.
---
Would have been boring if that was all it took.
Looks like another challenge. Bring it on.
Still riding the adrenaline high from the wolf encounter, Darian felt something else stirring—excitement. The kind he hadn’t felt in years. He was a combat class now. And it was time to see what that really meant.
A new blip appeared on his interface—this time white, not the urgent red from before. He followed it through the trees until the forest abruptly gave way to a steep, stony cliff face. At its base, embedded deep into the rock, was a door.
It didn’t belong here.
The structure was ultra-modern—smooth alloy plates, flush joints, and faint glowing lines running along its surface—utterly foreign against the wild backdrop. Darian stepped forward and tried the knob. Locked. He frowned, glanced at his notifications. Nothing.
Then he leaned in, letting his Perception stretch. Thirty-two points honed into one task. His eyes narrowed—and there it was. A faint outline, the shape of a human hand, etched subtly into the door’s center.
He pressed his palm into the groove.
A pulse of light flowed outward across the surface, converging on the handle. When he tried it again, the knob turned easily, and the door swung inward to reveal…
Jungle.
Thick trees. Towering canopies. Moist heat and the scent of vegetation hit him like a wave. The lighting shifted instantly, and Darian instinctively stepped back—only to realize the doorway was gone. The door had closed behind him, and the cliff wall was no longer there.
The jungle surrounded him.
Surprisingly, despite the armor he wore—fully enclosed from neck to toe—he didn’t feel stifled. The material flexed with his body, adapting to the humidity and heat. Adaptive mesh. Nice.
He took a single step forward, and another System message arrived.
---
System Message
Welcome, Darian Sirova, to your first combat trial.
There are three forces you must face and overcome.
You cannot access the next room until the first is cleared.
Keep your wits about you, and show you are worthy, Precursor.
---
Darian nodded at that, drawing both Parallax rings from the holsters at his waist. He smiled slightly, admiring the weapons—the twin disc-like blades gifted to him yesterday. Similar in design to chakrams, but cleaner, more refined. Razor-sharp edges. Perfect balance. Meant to fly, meant to return.
The wolf had been a warm-up. This… this was the real test.
Despite his years in academia, Darian hadn’t forgotten where he came from. Like Grim. Like Brick. He’d been special forces too. That fire never truly left.
He dropped into a low stance, eyes scanning the undergrowth. The jungle felt so dense it was like a living organism.
Several yards to his left, a moss-covered stone pillar jutted from the earth at an angle. He crouched behind it, pulse steady, breath controlled. His perception tingled—and then he saw it.
Far ahead, high in the trees—two hundred feet, maybe more—an ape clung to a thick trunk. Camouflaged in shadow and leaves. Silent. Still. It hadn’t spotted Darian yet.
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Perfect.
He drew back one ring, calculating trajectory. He didn’t aim at where the ape was. He aimed at where it would flinch when it sensed the attack.
The ring flew.
It sliced through the air on a tight curve, catching the ape off guard. It jerked its head—right into the arc. A clean decapitation.
The body tumbled to the jungle floor below with a muted thump. The ring dissolved midair, reforming in Darian’s hand before it even lost any altitude.
---
System Message
You have slain Primal Climber, Level 1.
100 experience points have been awarded.
Primal beasts defeated: 1 / 10
---
Ten of them? Alright.
Let’s see what else you’ve got.
Darian moved instantly, shifting left a dozen yards to a new position. No sense waiting to be jumped at the position of his last attack. He crouched low behind a fern the size of a man.
He immediately detected movement.
Directly ahead, a massive ape burst through the brush, pounding forward on all fours. It saw him—roared—and charged.
Darian waited. Calm. Controlled.
As the beast reared up to swing, he ducked low and spun. One ring cut beneath its arm, the second sliced across its throat.
The ape collapsed, gurgling, fingers still clutched around its neck.
---
System Message
You have slain Primal Charger, Level 2.
120 experience points have been awarded.
Primal beasts defeated: 2 / 10
---
Two down, eight more to go.
And this jungle wasn’t getting any quieter.
Darian stalked through the underbrush, killing as he moved. The action blurred, one skirmish bleeding into the next. Precognition guided his feet, his aim, his instincts. Bodies fell. The kill count rose.
He wiped his forearm across his brow—more out of habit than necessity. His armor regulated the heat, but instinct still crept through the tech.
Four down. Six to go.
The jungle was quieter now, but not calm. Birds no longer called. The rustling had changed—less scattered, more deliberate.
He crouched behind a thick patch of foliage, one Parallax ring in each hand, and waited.
A crack of wood sounded above him.
He spun and ducked just in time to see another ape—Primal Climber, by the look of its tree-hardened limbs—swoop down from the canopy. It landed hard where his head had been, claws gouging the soil.
Darian, having already seen the arc in his mind’s eye, moved before the impact. Both rings slashed upward in a scissoring motion. One missed. The other caught the ape’s leg, carving deep into its inner thigh. Arterial spray.
The beast stumbled back, howling. Darian pressed the advantage, pivoting low and slashing again with his left hand. The ring tore across its side. The Climber shrieked and leapt for the nearest tree.
But Darian had already predicted the jump.
His second ring met it mid-air—clean across the throat.
---
System Message
You have slain Primal Climber, Level 2.
120 experience points have been awarded.
Primal beasts defeated: 5 / 10
---
He had only a moment to catch his breath before the earth itself seemed to tremble.
A Primal Charger burst from the tree line —twice the size of the others, foam flecking its lips. It charged like a battering ram, bellowing rage.
Darian flung his first ring—not at the beast, but at a hanging vine overhead. The blade cut through cleanly, dropping a mass of foliage into the ape’s path.
It tore through the distraction, slowed just enough.
Darian sidestepped and spun. One ring lashed across its back, drawing a roar. The second cut behind its knee, severing the tendon. The Charger collapsed, half-turning, trying to grab him.
Too late.
Darian vaulted off a mossy log and slammed one of the rings down like a cleaver.
---
System Message
You have slain Primal Charger, Level 3.
150 experience points have been awarded.
Primal beasts defeated: 6 / 10
---
Six down. He finished off one more climber before it had noticed him and continued onward.
Darian moved through the underbrush, careful to stay low. The jungle was quieter now.
Too quiet.
Predatory quiet.
That’s when he heard it—the sudden thunder of movement to his left.
Two apes charged in tandem, each twice his size, pounding forward at full sprint. The lead one bellowed, its roar shaking leaves in the trees. The second came low, flanking to cut off his escape.
Darian didn’t hesitate.
He pivoted hard, jumping back and to the right, letting a vine-heavy branch break the line of sight from the first. As he moved, he loosed his first Parallax ring—not at the ape, but at the path it would take to evade.
The beast moved exactly as he’d predicted. As it lunged past the tree, the ring arced and struck just below the eye, cutting deep. It screeched and crashed sideways in a heap of limbs and fury.
One down. But not out.
The second ape had already closed the gap—its massive fist swinging.
Darian moved to duck, but it clipped his shoulder, sending him rolling across the mossy ground. Pain exploded down his left side, but he kept his grip on the rings. At the end of the roll, he popped up inside its guard and drove his second ring upward—ribs first, then throat.
Hot blood splashed across his armor.
The beast crumpled instantly.
Behind him, the first ape staggered upright, howling through bloodied teeth. It charged again.
Darian gritted his jaw, backpedaling fast—left arm still throbbing, but the pain already fading.
He smiled.
Good. This is more like it.
He launched the right-hand ring low, slow—just enough to bait the charge.
The ape fell for it, veering to the side instinctively.
The second ring curved from the opposite arc, rising upward beneath its jaw in a flawless cut. The creature collapsed in a tangled mess of twitching limbs.
Then it was still.
---
System Message
You have slain Primal Charger, Level 2.
You have slain Primal Charger, Level 2.
240 experience points have been awarded.
Primal beasts defeated: 9 / 10
---
Darian exhaled, finally slowing his steps. He’d taken only one hit so far—not bad, all things considered. He checked his health. Already ticking back toward full.
Apparently, 21 Endurance was enough to shrug off a sledgehammer to the shoulder.
Nine down. Which meant the last one… wouldn’t be like the rest.
He pushed forward through the underbrush, slower now, senses extended. Up ahead, the jungle opened into a wide glade—and there it stood.
Eight feet tall.
Broad-shouldered. Pale gray fur, matted and scarred.
A beast that didn’t move like prey.
Darian instinctively crouched and narrowed his vision. As he focused, a System overlay shimmered into view above the creature’s head:
---
Primal Alpha
Level 4
---
Well, that’s new.
Looks like when we focus on certain targets, the System shares some intel. I’ll have to ask the others later.
But right now, there was a very large, very dangerous looking ape standing between him and the next door.
The Alpha stood motionless, leaning on its forearms, almost statuesque. But its eyes moved—tracking something unseen.
Not preparing to attack.
Waiting.
Darian shifted into position, angling to get a clear throw. He had one ring half-raised when the Alpha turned its head and looked directly at him.
Then, impossibly, it stood upright and—waved him forward.
“Come,” the creature said, voice deep and gravelly.
“Let us test your mettle. I won’t go easy on you.”
Darian blinked. Then nodded, lowering the ring.
“Same,” he said. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
And with that, they began.
They circled each other in the clearing, exchanging light strikes at first—testing the waters. Darian quickly realized something. Every time he tried to predict the Alpha’s movements, the foresight was blocked.
He felt it—like a fog over his precognition. A scrambling field.
Then came the first real attack.
The Alpha dipped low and, in one brutal motion, hurled a large stone right at Darian’s head. Darian flung both rings and ducked under the stone. The rock blasted into a tree behind him with a loud crack of splintering bark.
The Alpha smirked—until he saw the rings curving around the stone, heading straight for his head.
He twisted aside, one ring grazing his temple and carving a red slash just above his eye.
“Well done, little human,” the Alpha rumbled. “Impressive. Let’s see what else you can do.”
The fight stretched on for nearly twenty minutes.
They clashed and separated. Darian threw from range, darted between trees, rolled beneath attacks. The Alpha adapted—fast. Smarter than any of the others. Stronger too.
And sometimes, strangely, it spoke.
“Keep your stance tighter on the left.”
“You’re over-committing with your right arm.”
“Good feint—but too early.”
At first, Darian thought it was mockery. But it wasn’t.
It was teaching.
He was learning. Improving. Responding faster, predicting smarter. Becoming.
But the Alpha wasn’t slowing down either.
There was no Phase II of the boss fight. No sudden rage-burst. Just a steady, evolving battle.
And then—it happened.
They both charged—Darian with his combat speed unlocked, the Alpha at full momentum. A single opening appeared. The ape’s swing came just an inch or two high. His neck was exposed.
Darian twisted, launched himself into a midair spin.
The killing blow was there.
Time slowed in Darian’s mind.
But something inside him whispered: Not like this.
At the final moment, he let the ring go—his magnetic holster catching it as it dropped—and drove his fist into the side of the Alpha’s neck instead.
The beast staggered, coughing, clutching its neck.
Both fighters landed. Breathing heavy. Spent.
The Alpha looked at him, blood running down his chin.
And smiled.
“Darian Sirova… You are skilled, but your compassion at the final moment speaks louder than all your strikes. There is one more area beyond this door. And beyond that, the Trial's final boss. Because you showed mercy, you are awarded three things. Please check your System messages.”
Surprised at this turn of events, Darian did just that.
---
System Message
You have shown incredible restraint and compassion in a critical moment.
You have been awarded the following:
Precursor’s Pact (Unique Item):
- This ring grants a passive +1 WIS and +1 PER while equipped.
- When The System detects future moments of compassion, the ring will grow stronger.
- Additionally, once every 30 days when you return to Grimwatch you may spar with the Alpha, gaining further tactical insight and refined combat techniques.
New Skill:
Primal Moment (Passive):
- At critical moments during combat, you may slow your perception of time.
- Heightened reaction speed, enhanced environmental awareness and precision are granted during this state.
- Duration scales with wisdom and perception.
Path of the Ascending Mind (Trial Modifier):
- Due to exceptional combat performance and qualifying moral judgment, the next stage of your trial may be skipped.
- You will proceed directly to the final boss.
- XP will be awarded as if you defeated every enemy in the skipped area.
You have been awarded 750 experience points.
You are now Level 2. Stat points allocated. +5 free points.
---
Wow. That was a lot to take in at once.
A plain silver ring appeared in Darian’s hand—smooth, simple, and faintly humming with latent energy. He slipped it onto his finger and immediately felt the subtle sharpening of his mind, the faint pull of perception stretching wider.
The Primal Alpha stood silently nearby, waiting for him to finish reading.
Then Darian asked, “May I know your name?”
The Alpha smiled proudly—a rare, solemn gesture on a face built for war.
“My name is Ashur.”
Then, after a pause:
“Tell me—what did the System grant you?”
Darian told him everything, holding nothing back.
They spoke for nearly half an hour as Darian rested—his health, stamina, and mana ticking upward to full. They discussed combat tactics, Ashur giving Darian more tips and advice. Darian also asked how he’d be able to return, and Ashur simply assured him he would.
“You’ll be back,” he said. “This place has more to teach you. You have more to become.”
Darian decided to ask everyone when he got back. He was under the impression that the Tutorial was a one-time event that lasted around a week. How could he spar with Ashur every thirty days?
When Darian finally stood, he stretched once, nodded to his new ally, and turned toward the stone door.
Ashur watched him go.
“Good luck, Precursor.”
Darian didn’t look back.
He didn’t need to.
Because even at Level 2, Darian Sirova was loving every second of this.