Rise of the Living Forge

Chapter 97: Challenge

A crystal carved with intricate patterns rested on the plain stone. It was dim and lifeless, faint lines of purple crossing over its surface and winding beneath the glistening crystal. There was no doubt that this crystal was the one depicted in the murals.

Arwin stood with bated breath, waiting to see if opening the chest would cause something to change – but the room remained silent and empty. Rodrick hadn’t said anything from above them where he stood watch, so it didn’t seem likely that the crystals had all suddenly come alive.

The Mesh glittered before him as it swirled to life. It danced in lazy patterns, as if mildly peeved to have been called back so suddenly after its last message, then took form into its usual letters.

Heart of the Devouring Prism: Epic Quality

[Dead]: This item was once a piece of a greater being, but no longer. It lies dead, though some of its former power still simmers beneath the faceted surface of its heart.

[Suppressed]: Bands of life have been woven around this item, binding its powers permanently.

[Magical Hunger]: The Heart of the Devouring Prism requires a continuous flow of magical energy to keep beating. Any sources of magic that come into contact with it will slowly be drained of their energy. Suppressed: [Magical Hunger] cannot drain more energy than the Heart of the Devouring Prism can contain.

[Spreading Corruption]: The Heart of the Devouring Prism will infest its host, modifying it in its image. Suppressed: [Spreading Corruption] cannot spread beyond the confines of its host.

[Crystalline Plague]: The Heart of the Devouring Prism can convert magical energy it has absorbed over a period of time into pure crystal that can absorb energy and send it back to the Heart of the Devouring Prism. Suppressed: New crystals formed by[Crystalline Plague] can no longer store energy and have a limited range of operation.

“Godspit,” Lillia muttered from beside Arwin. “It’s been dead for years, got suppressed so badly that its abilities are mere shadows of what they once were, and its heart is still Epic? I don’t even want to think about how difficult of an opponent this would have been when it had been alive. We would have needed an army if it got so much as a foothold anywhere.”

“I wonder how powerful the skeleton that bound it was,” Arwin said, his brow heavily furrowed. “Doesn’t it seem a bit… odd?”

“More like terrifying,” Anna said. “What do you mean by odd?”

“Well, Lillia and I – we were the strongest soldiers in our respective armies,” Arwin said. “That was the whole point. But… I don’t think I could have handled something like this on my own. Not if it had spread as far as the murals showed that it had.”

“Neither could I,” Lillia said. “I knew we weren’t as strong as we’d been led to believe, but the skeleton singlehandedly took this creature out. An enemy that should have been enough to stand up to our entire army, dead to a single enemy. One that wasn’t even strong enough to make any legends or records that I’ve ever seen.”

Anna looked from Lillia to Arwin. “Are you implying that you were actually far weaker than you actually thought?”

“No,” Arwin said. “I don’t think it’s that we were all that weak. Sure, we missed out on countless Achievements and Titles that would have made us far stronger, but we were still powerful warriors. I don’t think it was us. I think it was everyone else. I don’t think the peak of power is anywhere near where we thought it was. If creatures like this were just… wandering around, then the true peak is far, far higher.”

“It would make sense,” Lillia said. “If we were literally just puppets in a play for the populace, then there’s no reason to tell us that we were actually only halfway to the top – or however far we actually were from it. I don’t even know anymore.”

“How many Tiers were you told existed?” Anna asked, a worried frown crossing her lips.

“Ten,” Lillia said. “Apprentice, Journeyman, Adept, Expert, Master, Grandmaster, Archon, King, Emperor, and Legend.”

She looked to Arwin for confirmation and he nodded. “That’s what I know of as well.”

“Same as what I know of,” Anna said. “What rank were both of you?”

“King,” Arwin and Lillia said at nearly the exact same time.

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“And you don’t think you could have handled the crystal thing?”

“Almost certainly not,” Arwin said. “But, if I’m being honest, my strength now compared to my strength when I was Apprentice ranked as the Hero isn’t even comparable. I’m considerably stronger – but a lot of that is because of my Titles. Without them, I’d say I’m roughly equal as long as I can count my equipment.”

“Do you know much about the Emperor Tier?” Reya asked. “Maybe it’s way stronger than we thought.”

“If it was, there’s no way two random monsters that duked it out and killed each other wouldn’t have been at least known of if they were both literally at the peak of power,” Arwin said. “This place is out of the way, but if a guild as small as the thieves’ guild had a key to its entrance, it’s unlikely that it was some insanely ancient crypt that we just happened to stumble upon.”

“Meaning it’s really likely that the Tiers go a lot higher than we all thought,” Lillia said. She ran her hands through her hair and blew a breath out through her mouth. “Godspit. That’s terrifying. How much information was hidden from us?”

“Might be easier to figure out what wasn’t hidden,” Arwin grumbled.

“If your theory is right, then you two weren’t the only ones being deceived,” Anna said. She swallowed heavily. “It’s everyone. And that isn’t all – whoever is doing the hiding is probably going to be strong enough to protect it. So the person or people orchestrating the war…”

“Are probably stronger than Emperor Tier,” Arwin concluded. “Holy shit. I’m even gladder than ever I didn’t go trying to storm the Adventurer’s Guild full of righteous fury and start demanding answers.”

“It leads me to wonder why information about this hasn’t come out, though,” Lillia said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and tilting her head to the side. “I mean, this was just a Journeyman dungeon. Surely another adventuring team has cleared a dungeon with information similar to this. You can’t keep a secret of this magnitude if there are hints like this just lying around.”

“Yeah, it’s certainly odd,” Anna said. She chewed her lower lip in thought. “Is it possible that other people have figured this out? I’ve heard ridiculous rumors of impossibly powerful items or adventurers before. They’ve always just sounded like stupid legends with no bearings, but what if they’re real?”

“People could also get silenced if they start pushing the information too hard,” Arwin mused. “We don’t have any way to know right now, but it’s something worth carefully looking into once we’re back.”

“For now, I think we have a more pressing matter,” Lillia said. She nodded to the crystal in the chest. “That’s dead. Do you think it’s going to stay dead?”

“Seems like it,” Arwin said. “The description certainly implies that it will. I might be getting a bit blinded by greed right now, though. That looks like something that could be made into a really powerful magical item.”

“It does say it’s permanently bound,” Anna mused. “Even if it isn’t dead, it looks like it isn’t a threat anymore. I think that, as long as we’re careful with it, it should be fine to take. Just… maybe don’t stick it into your heart or anything stupid like that.”

“Trust me, I have no plans of it,” Arwin said. He turned his gaze back to the crystal, a contemplative frown crossing his features. He didn’t have any plans of putting the crystal into his heart, but there was certainly a degree of similarity that it had to him that he couldn’t ignore.

The effects of [Magical Hunger] and [The Hungering Maw] weren’t dissimilar. In fact, they were strikingly close.

Could there be some form of relation between my class and the class of whatever this thing used to be? And, if there is, can I somehow use it to curb [The Hungering Maw’s] ramping requirements for energy?

Arwin reached down. He paused before he touched the crystal’s surface, fingers hovering just an inch above it. Nobody stopped him. He picked the crystal up. It was heavier than he’d expected but felt just like a normal glossy stone.

Light refracted through it, twisted by the carvings and purple lines running through the Heart, and danced across Arwin’s face. A faint tingle of energy tickled the back of his head he felt the Mesh wake.

He dropped the crystal, jerking his hands back, but it was too late. Golden lines erupted before his eyes and curled into letters.

Challenge: [Curb the Hunger] has been initiated.

[Curb the Hunger] – You’ve unveiled a hidden aspect of your Class. All that lives must consume to persist, but some hunger more than others. Unfortunately for you, your hunger is far greater than what your body can sustain. Find a way to bring it under control before you consume yourself. Rewards: range on completion. Failure to complete a sufficient amount of the Challenge will result in your death.

Milestone 1: Discover your lack of knowledge and initiate the Challenge.

Reward 1: [The Hungering Maw] will have an extra variant to choose from upon your next Class Specialization. This achievement will be consumed upon your next Class Specialization

Milestone 2: ?

Reward 2: Unknown Item

Milestone 3: ?

Reward 3: Unknown Title

“What the hell?” Arwin breathed, staring at the words before him as if they were in a different language.

Lillia grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently, snapping him out of his daze.

“Arwin! Are you okay?” Lillia demanded; her hand raised as if to slap the life back into him. He blinked and raised his hands to forestall her.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Arwin said hurriedly. “Nothing is wrong.”

“You looked like you saw a ghost. What happened when you picked up the crystal?” Anna asked. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, I’m definitely fine. I just got an unexpected message from the Mesh,” Arwin said slowly, his eyes still running back over the golden letters even as they faded from view.

“What was it?” Lillia asked. “Don’t make me shake it out of you.”

“A reward for figuring something out about how my class works,” Arwin said. “But… what in the world is a Challenge?”

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