LOCATION: LI WEI’S HOME
CITY: BEIJING, CHINA
DATE: FEBRUARY 29, 2032 | TIME: 12:01 AM
Li felt a shift in space, and he was back in his chair. The System Entity was gone.
He was surprised to notice that, though it felt like he had spent hours with her, only one minute had passed in real time.
Before he even rose from his chair, a new notification appeared.
---
System Message.
Congratulations.
You have completed all stages of your Level 100 Trial.
Your body has been bolstered to handle more powerful stats without fracturing.
Your pathways have been remade to begin producing your own vital energy and mana in limited amounts.
And finally, your mind now houses a fragment of System code. This will allow you to carry your enhancements with you beyond the practical range of the System.
To close your Level 100 Trial, you are being offered a choice.
Life is forged by decisions, and some close off one path while opening another.
This is one such choice.
Your class, Jade Sentinel, is powerful, but it is time for it to evolve.
You may experience each option in a vision before making your decision.
Ponder carefully, Li Wei.
This choice will cause your path to branch forever.
There is no undoing it without severe consequences.
Option 1: Edge of the Blade
Option 2: Sentinel of the Watch
Select one to experience it in a vision.
---
A smile filled Li’s face.
He had hoped there would be something like this at the end of the Trial.
Not that the three stages didn’t provide sufficient justification. It was just that, who didn’t want to advance their class?
Specialization came with a sort of risk on its own. But Li knew that it also brought power. He was never interested in becoming a jack of all trades, master of none.
So, he took a deep breath and selected Option 1.
---
You have selected to experience: Edge of the Blade.
Prepare for immersion.
---
Li leaned back in his chair and prepared himself. He closed his eyes. The darkness behind his lids lasted only a split second before he heard a whoosh of sound.
He instinctively ducked and rolled to the side, only narrowly avoiding the swing of a sword that would have decapitated him.
He chuckled to himself as he held tightly to his own Jian sword.
“That would have been the shortest preview ever…”
He didn’t have time to consider the notion, however, as the attacker was merciless in his onslaught.
Swing after swing came at Li, all with extreme precision.
There was no feinting here. Every strike was perfectly placed to kill.
Li dodged and countered. Within moments, he felt his Perception improve. He was beginning to sense where the next blow would originate.
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Li began moving faster with increasingly smaller margins for error, until he finally landed the first blow on his opponent.
The man was sent backward, landing on his back ten feet away.
Li wasted no time in leaping after him, but before he arrived the man was back on his feet, striking with lightning speed.
The battle raged on for hours, and Li learned much from this master swordsman.
All around them, thousands of warriors battled in their own fearsome duels while building burned and smoke filled the sky.
But Li didn’t allow himself to be distracted. In the midst of a live-or-die fight like this, to lose one’s focus… well, the outcome was obvious.
As he finally landed the winning strike, severing his opponent’s head from his shoulders, Li smiled.
Every other duel ended at exactly the same moment. Li spun around, shocked to see that every man left standing was… him.
They raised their Jian swords in the air and let out a battle cry. Li felt a rush of knowledge enter him, as the lessons from the thousands of iterations of himself passed on what he learned.
The scene faded but it took several minutes for the smell of ash, sweat, and blood to follow.
---
Edge of the Blade is the ultimate offensive build.
Every battle you engage in will be analyzed a thousand times over, from every angle possible. Your prowess at combat will continue to improve at an exponential rate.
Edge of the Blade brings with it the following one-time bonuses:
+100 Dexterity
+150 Perception
+50 Free Points
Two new offensive skills immediately plus one new offensive skill every 25 levels.
Stand by to experience: Sentinel of the Watch
Prepare for immersion.
---
Once again, Li’s study was replaced with darkness. Then a new scene appeared in an instant.
Li was standing with his Jian sword in one hand and an enormous shield in the other. His shield glowed with a golden light.
Behind him, a thousand people cowered in fear. Men, women and children. Many of them were crying.
In front of him, an open portal shimmered a hundred feet away.
The sky was orange, and the rocky ground in front of the rift was covered with corpses piled up on top of one another.
The smell of blood and gore was overwhelming. Li’s nose curled up and the only thought that filled his mind was how badly he wanted to step away from all of it.
To lead all of these people to safety. That was when he realized they were in a valley with walls too steep to climb. The thousand civilians were trapped between the wall and the portal.
Li knew he had to close the rift any way he could.
Normally he’d have someone hold it while he and a small team went inside to deal with those on the other side.
But today there was no backup to help with either task.
---
Defeat the General to close the portal.
---
The message appeared and Li inhaled sharply when he saw what came out of the portal.
A giant of a man stepped through, ducking deeply in order to fit. He was accompanied by two lieutenants. The General himself was over ten feet tall, and the two attending him were at least two heads taller than Li himself.
He wondered how he was going to be able to defeat three of them without allowing any injuries to the innocents behind him.
The General laughed as if he was reading Li’s mind. The giant’s voice was deep and booming, and Li smelled urine close behind him as more than one of the civilians wet themselves.
“You stand no chance against us. These are my greatest Battlemasters. Give up now and I’ll spare you.”
He pointed a single giant finger at Li.
“You already know my answer,” Li said. He banged his sword against his shield. The sound resonated outward in front of him in a cone.
He watched as blood began flowing from the noses and ears of the General and two Battlemasters.
Li’s brows raised from that, but it was the last moment of respite he would have this afternoon.
As the battle raged on, the orange sky began to fade to darkness. The moon shone on the rocky terrain, reflected in the pools of blood that Li spilled from his attackers.
The General fought with a cylindrical wooden club with metal spikes. Each time he swung and Li blocked with his shield, a clang reverberated in the air around him.
Eventually he realized the sound bolstered the defenses of those behind him, while shattering those of his enemies.
He fought expertly, striking occasional blows that removed an ear from the General, the right hand of one of his Battlemasters.
The fight continued for hours. One of the Battlemasters struck Li’s shield with a sword, and when the sound rung out like a bell struck, the Battlemaster slipped in a pool of blood.
Li brought his Jian sword down into the man’s heart.
“Finally,” he panted. “One down.”
He was exhausted by the long battle, but felt his Endurance kick in, replenishing his stamina enough to fight on.
After he took out the second Battlemaster, he could finally focus his attention on the General.
Just as Li thought he had the giant on the defensive, the General threw his club as hard as he could into the crowd.
Li had to make a decision in that instant. Finish the enemy off, or save the people.
It wasn’t even a choice.
He dropped his shield and lunged after the club.
Before it struck any of the civilians, Li’s hand wrapped around it and pulled it back.
The metal spikes dug into his palm, pushing all the way through and out the other side of his hand.
He yelled out in anger and pain.
As he turned to face the General again, his own shield slammed into his head and chest, knocking him backward onto the hard rock.
Children screamed. Some of the others rushed to his side.
Li raised his head, trying to sit back up. The General was already ten steps away.
Li ripped the club out of his hand and allowed the others to help him stand.
He reached out toward the shield and was surprised when it flew through the air and into his hand.
He had just enough time to get a grip on it before he smashed it into the General’s face.
The resulting wave of force sounded out like a gong, and sent the General hurtling back.
Li ran forward and swung the spiked club with all of his might, right into the giant’s head.
The people cheered, shouting his name.
“Li Wei! Li Wei!”
“Sentinel of the Watch!”
Li didn’t feel like a hero in that moment, but he did allow himself a smile. And he already knew which path he would choose.
He would have to travel to the 3D Forge in Svalbard, far to the north of Norway, to forge the shield. But this was one trip he would not delay. He couldn’t wait to hold that shield in his hands.