She caressed the dead tree with her full body, Axl feeling like he should look away. "Yeah, I got a weird sense from its Mana. Odd it's so intact, even with it dead."
"Absolutely! How did you even kill it? It's not like Rare variants like this are more likely to produce peak corpses than normal creatures."
"A soul attack. And not one using [Filial Deathshroud], either."
Moxlin nodded vigorously. "Maybe that's what would do it? Killing something's soul might leave a more attuned body behind? And maybe it's not something that using that item of yours would do, since that would be too useful, making literal natural treasures with each kill. But that doesn’t explain how you saw past the illusions. How could you tell which was the real tree?"
"What do you mean?" Axl rose an eyebrow in surprise. "There was only one tree. I didn't see any others."
"Or the ghostly figures with daggers and fangs coming out of their faces?"
Axl shrugged. "No? I only saw a dense mist and felt constant attacks on my soul, but I blocked them all."
"Huh," Moxlin paused. "Its illusions were targeted directly at the soul? That's really powerful. You're insanely lucky you have such a strong soul protection. For a plant-based creature to attack the soul in F-Grade is super scary, even the most powerful plants don't usually develop a soul."
"This one certainly had one, I could see it. Destroying it even killed it, as it did with some of the mantis."
"Well, keep up the good work!" Moxlin raised a forelimb and waved it up in a clear mimicry of a thumbs up—Axl wasn't even sure where she picked up the very human-like gesture, it wasn’t from him or the orcs. "More soul-slaughter, please!"
"Yeah, about that, is killing a soul… Bad?" Axl paused, Moxlin turning to him, a confused look on her face. "I mean, wouldn't it give me fell Karma or something? Souls can be reborn, right?"
"Why would the system care?" Moxlin shrugged.
"It cares about random stuff like using fire or lightning, apparently. This feels somewhat more important."
"Maybe that’s just a sentient problem. Most of the users of the system are beasts, after all, and they don't care so much about killing or dying, more about their instinctive paths. Why would the Deep System care so much about the specific weirdness of less than a tenth of those who use it? Maybe it's even about elementals, who outnumber beasts by more than beasts outnumber sentients, so there's that."
"I'm not so sure, it does seem like something as intricate as the Deep System would be designed, and I don’t think mere beasts or elementals could do something like that."
"Oh?" Moxlin smiled widely at him. "You think beasts can't do so much? As far as I remember it, you've been quite thoroughly pushed around by mere beasts for quite a while."
Axl paused, in fact remembering the giant wolf that gave him his hunted title, Nox, and, most dramatically, the gigantic cow that really felt like a being that he really shouldn't have encountered.
"Fair enough," he eventually replied, fully conceding the point. "Soul killing for now it is, until I get more information on it, at least. It's not like I'll be doing it so often since it's not really a viable attack anyhow. And my item didn’t work on the snake or the tree, so I don't want to rely on it too much."
"Yeah, sounds like that item is more of a training web for you to get that Skill on your own. It's not upgradable, right?"
Axl examined the item description just to check, but he knew. "No, it's just F-Grade."
"Just F-Grade," Moxlin mumbled. "Just a soul-attacking peak F-Grade item. No big deal, sure."
Chuckling at the small spider's envy, he turned back to the tree. "Anyhow, clock's ticking, how do we store this thing? It for sure won't fit in my dimensional pouch, but it might in the dead orc's ring if I move some things around and cut it into pieces."
"We should keep it as intact as possible, maybe just trim off the branches and cut off the base where the roots connect? Then I think I can put the whole trunk in my deeper storage if you help me lift it."
With that, they spent a few minutes carefully trimming the tree, the wood tough as rock but ultimately not a real problem for Axl's mining, since he could use the same trick with [Mana Shroud] he used back in the undead blacksmith's quarry. Soon, the bundle of branches and the single mess of roots disappeared into his storage, and Axl slowly lifted up the trunk, carefully setting it down onto Moxlin's forehead, and it slowly disappeared into her body. It felt unreal, how a mass four meters tall and over a meter in diameter could simply disappear into the tiny fuzzball spider. Storing the large object strangely used up a good deal of her Mana, and she was sluggish afterwards, returning to the side of the arena to rest before the final battle started.
Axl barely had to do anything to prepare, but still focused on fixing the minor lingering wounds on his body, filling the orbital storage and flask nucleus of [Gastric Cauldron] with healing potions, and checking all his weapons and gear. Because, like Moxlin said, he'd just been lucky so far.
His last two enemies played too much into his strengths, probably because they were readily countered by Rare skills, even if they had matching Attributes. The kobold was unable to deal with the no-downsides boosting of [Mana Shroud], and the tree with the defensive power of [Mind-Soul Bulwark]. Axl was pretty sure that if he had an equally overwhelming Skill to attack at range, the snake would've been just as easily dominated. But this last enemy would certainly have higher Attributes than him, and if he was countered like he was with the snake, he'd be in serious trouble.
Axl also remembered what the elf girl from his dreams said, which made him extra apprehensive about the fight, not to mention he had no clues about this one, unlike all the previous ones. He thought for a moment whether he should quit while ahead, not risk this last part of the trial, but then he brought up the countdown to his Terrania quest again:
>>Terrania Quest (Ultimate Priority): Establish the Terrania Nexus.
>>Establish a Foundational Nexus for the Terrania Sub-System. Necessary attunement: Water, Earth, Metal, Void. Deadline: 2y, 00m, 15d.
No dice. It's been over a month since he burned a whole year from his deadline by getting his new Class and Dao, much of it training at the longhouse and faffing about with alchemy and catching up with his Attributes. There was no guarantee he'd be able to keep stumbling into opportunities to gain power as regularly as he'd been so far, especially with his levelling speed so slow, so he couldn't afford to let one right in front of him slip by. Slit, for all he knew, the only reason the System kept giving him opportunities was that he took them.
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So he sat, doing some light meditative cultivation to re-center himself, and soon got up as the Mana in the room started to be absorbed, indicating it was time for the next round. He got up, sword in one hand and kunai in the other, [Mana Shroud] focused on detecting how the next opponent would open their attack. A bit ahead of schedule, he got a notification.
>>Challenge and Transit Rift: Greenhouse Crossroads
>>Update: Reached the final round of challenge rift with 1 fighter and no to minimal support.
>>Reward: Face a garden keeper of the Vale Keep, rewards upgraded.
>>Quest (Shrouded Crescent Valley): Final round of the Greenhouse Crossroads
>>Spare the life of the keeper of the third garden of the Eastern Wall by rejecting the duel to the death.
>>Reward: Personalized guidance from subsystem administrator (system-moderated).
There it was, what the weird elf girl hijacking his dreams warned him about. And a good one too, since he'd normally have no problems going for the duel to the death, since that one was offered by the deep system, so it would likely give out better rewards. But he also sure needed guidance, more than anything else, really, so getting that from the subsystem seemed like a good deal too, so might as well go for that.
There was a flash of light, and Axl was no longer at the arena, but in a large meadow, with stone-infused trees neatly aligned in a circle a good few hundred meters always. Above, instead of a sky, he saw the entire Shrouded Crescent Valley, curved inwards as if lining the inside of a snow globe, its base the massive castle behind him. Far below, he saw the mountains normally ringing the valley, now clustered around the castle, as if the mountain range zipped up the entire valley into a pocket of its own.
The Mana was so thick it almost felt choking, and not the well-behaved nature-attuned Mana from the outside of the Crossroads trial, either, but the mess of the vale's usual air. Axl hastily ramped up [Mana Shroud], basically needing to exert pressure to keep the Mana from assaulting his body. He wasn't even sure he could properly use Mana so dense and with so many mixed-up attunements.
An elf appeared before him, wearing a simple blue robe, hands to the side in a neutral, almost downtrodden posture. He had light green skin, veined with a darker grey, as if the marbling of stone appeared on a leaf.
>>Challenge and Transit Rift: Greenhouse Crossroads
>>Update: Duel to the death offered.
>>Reward: Rift rewards greatly upgraded. Void-attuned natural treasure (early F-Grade).
>>Accept? Yes/No
Axl's eyes widened as he saw the reward offered by the system. An actual void-attuned natural treasure, the one thing keeping him from easily finishing Terrania's quest. One battle was all it would take, and he'd not need to face a peak F-Grade metal dryad, nor worry about running out of time. Sure, certainly not as ideal as the thing Nox sent him to get, a half-step E-grade treasure probably making Terrania's nexus that much more powerful, but could he really risk it? There's a good chance he'd slitting die before even reaching the damned thing. And this quest? What's the deal with it—he was fighting to the death in each of these battles already, so how was this any different? Not to mention, the last time he had rewards "greatly upgraded" was when it happened to his alchemy quest, leading to getting [Gastric Cauldron], so something that great could happen here too.
"Please," the elf muttered, voice quiet and resigned. "We don't want to die."
Axl paused, looking carefully at the elf. He didn't have the hollow eyes of the kobold he had fought earlier, and this wasn’t a mindless creature or some bloodthirsty undead charging at him. He'd killed people before back in Ost, raiders that tried to kill him when returning with a good yield, even a guy who tried to break into his rig bay at night. Still, this was a war, one humanity was losing, so he couldn't afford this kind of luxury. It was going to happen sooner or later anyhow.
"The deep system is cruel," the elf continued. "It will lead you to a path of greatest power, but not the path that is best for you. Look carefully at what it offers. Is it what you truly need?"
Axl's attention hovered over the simple text asking him to accept the duel. Why was he hesitating? He could just accept and move on. Even Nox said that a Nexus could be improved later. Wasn't this the obvious choice?
"Your side isn't really offering much in comparison. Some personalized advice against a void-attuned natural treasure and greatly improving the trial results?"
The elf's eyes widened slightly. "Indeed, you should accept the better offer, the duel to the death. Sorry, we are so weak, so unable to offer you greater gain."
Axl's Charisma pinged the lie easily, apparently the elf finding the reward offered by his sub-system too big, in fact. But was he being played, though? His opponent was supposed to have higher Attributes than him, after all, and that would include Charisma—but his previous ones didn't match all his attributes, the kobold or even tree clearly not having Bilesong or Limerence for sure, and almost certainly had lower Intelligence, as far as he could tell.
Axl extended his will into detecting the elf's soul, willing the five of his Attributes into the arduous task, for a moment dropping [Mana Shroud]. A few seconds later, the elf looked up, angry, his body and Mana suddenly aligned into fearsome violence, every stitch of his previous deference gone.
"Stop that!" he yelled. "Just fight me, mindless savage! Slave of the tyrannical heaven! Vile wastrel!"
His soul was there, in the rough shape of a large hand, as if sculpted in green marble, shaking another hand, one that was very much not his soul, but linked to the castle looming behind. Just below it, Axl could sense the elf's Cultivator's Core, with an attunement that seemed puzzling to look at.
But staring at his soul had another benefit, apparently, in that his Charisma worked much, much better. "What were you saying about fighting you to the death being better?"
The elf seethed in fury, a short scythe suddenly in its hand. "Choose the fight to the death, and I will fight you with honor. Choose the duel, and you will not win."
Well, he certainly believed that, Axl's Charisma sensing a bitter truth in every word against the elf's soul.
>>Quest (Shrouded Crescent Valley): Final round of the Greenhouse Crossroads
>>Update: Rewards upgraded.
>>Reward: Personalized guidance from subsystem administrator (system-moderated) and subsystem nobility title.
Axl was puzzled by this last system notification, since it seemed like the Shrouded Crescent Valley subsystem just randomly upped his rewards. Maybe it felt like he was bargaining, and this was it caving a bit? But why, what was so special about keeping that elf alive? Or was it the other way around—did the Deep System really want him dead?
"Looks like the Deep System is trying to nudge me into killing you. Why?"
The elf's anger subsided slightly. "We are both prisoners here, but my child loses so much to keep me safe and alive. Every time he needs to divert a young monster like you from a killing quest, his foundations risk being damaged, especially with a reward as you described. The tyrannical heavens simply care to nurture the powerful, and I have long started to become a hindrance. Just do it, take the favor of the Deep System and continue on your path to glory. I've lived long enough."
Axl was carefully observing the elf's soul as he said all this, feeling a resigned conviction in what he said, not a stitch of deception that he could see. He also wondered why the system just let him have this little conversation before making a decision. It felt very strange, and he even brought up the quest to accept or reject the duel to the death, indeed finding no added timer or anything. Could this be a hidden test of sorts? It felt like he was being given the chance to really decide if he should side with the will of the Vale or the Deep System.
Suddenly, this felt less like bartering for optimal gains and more like staring down two monstrous beasts. Did he dare piss off either of them? If he took the void treasure, would the vale subsystem try extra hard to get him killed? If he turned down the Deep System, would it make things harder for Terrania itself?
Axl's eyes widened as he realized this was what Aria meant, the decision that would make it more likely for him to live or die. In a way, it made sense. This elf was precious to somebody who had huge control over the subsystem, and they'd find a way to get back at him while managing the rest of his time in the sanctuary. Meanwhile, the Deep System has slit knows how long of a reach. Would it really care so much about what a single G-Grade cultivator does?
"Sorry, buddy," Axl said, bracing himself for battle. "You get to live a little while longer."
He rejected the offer for the duel to the death and immediately cursed under his breath. He was wrong. The Deep System could be a petty little bastard, after all.
>>Challenge and Transit Rift: Greenhouse Crossroads
>>Update: Duel to the death rejected, capture the garden keeper alive or fail Challenge Rift (equivalent to round 1 failure).
>>Update: A living stone elf enters, round five begins.
The elf roared in fury, the dense Mana in the air exploding outwards as he lunged at Axl, scythe cutting the air.