Hyperion Evergrowing

Chapter 139: Dignity

It didn’t feel real, and perhaps, maybe, that was because it wasn’t. Could the system really know? How accurate were these projected futures? Were they divergent realities somehow split from the main path at specific points in time? Or were they merely illusions meant to test his character and nature? Leif wanted to be sick, he felt hollowed out, empty, paralyzed with indecision and uncertainty.

His shocked, despondent reverence ended when something smashed into him from behind. An impact rocked his body as he was sent tumbling, flying through the empty void of the trial space, rolling over featureless ground, crashing against the base of a moss covered tree. Moonlight filtered down from above, crimson and angry, as blood writhed in angry patterns, slithering towards him like serpents seeking prey.

In the centre of the clearing stood the Monster, their towering form wreathed in sanguine shadows. A deformed fist, easily the size of Leif’s torso was outstretched from when it had struck him, in the other was the limp form of the Worker. A pair of golden eyes locked onto burning red as the forest slowly returned to silence.

“Do you understand yet?” The Monster asked, its rumbling voice dripping with mockery.

Leif didn’t respond. A spear condensed above the Monster, then shot forward, pinning the scion against the tree as his torso was penetrated through completely.

“Do you see why this path of yours is doomed?”

Another spear fell, this one punching through his gut, stabbing into the roots behind him.

Leif’s gaze never left that of the Monster. A third spear fell, and the scion moved his head to the side, the crimson conjuration carving an inch into his skull. The wound immediately began to heal.

“Aren’t you going to show me a vision? Show me where our paths diverge?” Lief asked, his tone flat and emotionless.

“Why bother?” It replied, stepping forward, letting the unmoving form of the Worker fall to the forest floor like a discarded doll. “You already know, you knew the moment you saw me.”

Spears formed above the Monster, their edges becoming jagged and cruel as they fanned out like a crown above its head.

“You went home.” It wasn’t a question, more a bland acknowledgement of fact.

“I went home.”

“I’m sorry you went through that.”

“And I’m sorry you did not!” It spat, the spears plummeting down to impale, lacerate, maim and kill.

Leif’s vision went black, the distant sensation of physical stimulation he felt instead of pain falling away as parts of his body were ripped apart. He came to what could have been an eternity later, but was likely only moments, his ruined form being dragged through the mud. Leif was lifted, then smashed down into a nearby tree. Wood splintered as a crack resounded through the forest. His body rose into the air, then was brought down once more. Again and again he was driven down into the devastated remains of the tree.

The Monster let out a howl of triumph, then flung Leif with enough force that the parting of the air made a cracking sound not unlike a bone snapping, or maybe that was the dozen branches he crashed through, splintering them under the sheer power behind his momentum. Leif landed, the impact creating a crater out of dirt and undergrowth.

He lay face down in the dirt unmoving even as his broken body rapidly stitched itself back together. His cultivated vitality surged within him, eager and willing to act even when he himself was not. This is worse than when the ice elemental blew up right next to me. Leif mused, his arm regrowing out of the socket it had been ripped out of, his legs being reshaped in accordance to the pattern he had forged them into after his evolution.

It was so hard to get my body’s healing to not revert the changes I made to it. He reflected, life-force flowing into his newly remade fingers. Compacting and compressing all that mass was such a pain in the ass. Something approaching him made the ground quake. It sure is nice of the system to so faithfully recreate a forest environment, right down to the vitality wriggling through the soil.

“Giving up so soon?” The Monster growled, its colossal form looming above Leif. The scion flipped over onto his back, looking up into the alien face of his alternative.

“Thanks, I needed that.”

“What?”

“I haven't been able to see how effective my self-healing had become, it’s not really something I could test in Ahle-ho, and nobody goes so far in the practice duels to actually do serious damage. I would always yield if my opponent got enough good attacks in.”

“What are you blabbering on about?”

“The world is full of terrible people. They’re violent and hateful. Angry and spiteful. But I’ve met a lot of good, honest people. People who were willing to help me even when they knew what I really am. Did you ever encounter-”

A foot smashed down into his head, pulverising it into the already churned ground.

“I’m angry, confused, and if I’m completely honest with myself- appalled with what I’ve seen in this trial so far.” Leif continued, telepathically.

“SILENCE!” The Monster roared, its foot coming down once again, the impact shaking the world.

“But I’m still going home. But I’m not going to rush it, I’m going to do it right. I’ll be coming equipped with knowledge, information and allies. Hells, I may even be able to pass for a human by the time I get there. Wouldn't that be funny?”

“Anyone who would willingly walk into a trap is a fool, unworthy of the life they live! I will never allow myself to do such a thing. I will cripple you, break you, cause you to fail this trial. You will forever be stuck as you are, never able to advance!”

The Monster took a step back, leering down at Leif as if to observe its triumph. Two amber eyes stared back up at it. A dozen spikes of blood drove down into the scions body, stabbing and constricting Leif. Then they hauled him up out of the crater, splaying his limbs as if to examine a fresh kill.

“Out of curiosity, what classes do you have? You clearly have more [Might] than me, but I’m guessing you didn’t go the [Charisma] route. How synergistic are your skills and perks?”

“You will die curious.”

“No.” Leif said, flexing his body even as it was pulled apart in several directions at once.

“No?”

Vitality he harvested from the ground, roots and trees blazed to life within Leif, every crack, wound and gash in his body flaring with amber light and renewed strength. Golden arms burst from his body, then grabbed onto the tethers of blood and began to drain. Life-force, rich and nourishing flooded into him as he fell. Leif kicked off the moment he landed, dashing forward to drive an ivory fist into the alternative’s leg. Roots and branches whipped up and around Leif, the blur of movement enough to veil his location from the Monster’s counter attack.

The colossal fist swiped through the air but found nothing. Lief struck the creature from behind, then again and again as conjured limbs lashed out in unison. The Monster screamed in fury, striking out with heavy blows. Leif vanished in a stream of golden light, appearing behind it and once again driving a series of powerful strikes into his alternative’s back. He regretted then, that this was a virtual space. He may have been able to rank up the largely neglected [Font of Life] from just this one encounter otherwise.

Would defeating a foe of this strength grant him significant experience? If this was the outside world how many levels would he gain? Leif drove a fist into the Monster’s side, sending the creature staggering from the sheer force behind the blow. A fist sized indent remained, and it didn't heal. What are my effective attributes right now? [Consuming Aeons] provides a sixty percent increase, and then I’m putting twenty percent of my [Charisma] attribute into [Might], and after my [Inspiring Brawler] perks and skills… Leif shook his head in an attempt to clear it. I can’t have my mind wondering. Focus, even if it hurts, focus until this is done.

He ducked a wild backhand, blocked a rain of blood spears and parried a barrage of frenzied charges. There was no grace to the Monster’s movements, no skill or finesse. Leif was rarely accustomed to being the speedier combatant, but he found himself running circles around the Monster. Leif reached out with his will, calling a nearby tree to uproot itself and fall onto his opponent. Branches twisted into spears, then with an infusion of vitality they blasted towards the Monster, streaks of gold through the night.

A tide of blood answered his attack, only for a portion of the liquid to flow into Leif’s body. The will that controlled the blood was crushed by [Consuming Aeons], then it flooded through his body at the behest of [Surge of Life and Growth]. A fist of amber-infused ivory met a giant hand of blood-coated grey. Leif's was stronger.

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===

Leif dragged the withered husk that was his alternative through the woods, the Monster’s unmoving body creating a furrow in the ground. The world slowly faded into nothingness, the empty plain of the trial washing away the scene of destruction.

The Worker coughed weakly at Leif’s approach, the man’s eyes struggled to focus as he blinked languidly. Leif dropped the Monster, letting the drained, almost-corpse of the thing fall to the ground with a dull thud. “How are you feeling?” Leif asked, kneeling down next to the man.

“Ugh.” The Worker said, “I think… I think my ribs are broken.”

Leif reaches out and places a golden palm to his chest. Healing energy trickled into the alternative, guided to where it needed to be through deft skill and more than a little experience.

“A healer, you know, that isn’t a bad path, not bad at all.”

Leif huffed in amusement. “Is it better than… whatever you were doing? Cart maintenance?”

“I’ll have you know I’m a savvy business manager, the carts are more of a hobby.”

“Your house looked more than a little dedicated to the hobby.”

The Worker grinned, his breathing no longer laboured. The smile faltered when he looked past Leif and saw the shrivelled body of the Monster. “Gods, not to be rude, but why haven't you killed that thing yet?”

“I wanted to hear your thoughts first. See if your perspective on them is any different from mine.”

“I feel pity. Some other things too, but mostly pity.”

“Mhmm, we’re the same then.” Leif said, sitting back, leaning against the Monster’s bulk for support.

“We’re the same person, even if it’s hard to see that sometimes.”

“Right.”

The two of them remained in silence for a while, Leif contemplating all he now knew, the Worker giving him the space to think. “You seem a lot better put together than the rest of them, so where do we diverge?”

“During Military training in Varan city. I got myself assigned to logistics instead of becoming a squad captain.”

Leif blinked. “That’s it? That’s all it took for you to survive the war in one piece?”

The Worker shrugged. “I told you I was the boring one. I can show you if you want, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Oh, why is that?”

“I think… I think it will make you sad.”

Leif didn’t respond to that. He considered the Worker’s words, and realised he was likely correct. Watching his past selves undergo trials and turmoil had left him, if not stable, then emotionally callused, distant in an effort to process what he had witnessed. How would he react to seeing himself live a normal life? He didn’t know, or rather, he suspected he did, Leif just didn’t want to confront it.

“Are you happy?” The Worker asked. “As a… you know, as you currently are?”

“Happy.” Leif said, looking up into the featureless sky. “Almost. There are parts of my new life I enjoy, parts I find contentment in. I heal the sick and infirm, and in doing so I frustrate and even anger those who make their living by exploiting those very people. That’s quite a lot of fun.”

The Worker snickered. “Hells yeah, stick it to them. Bunch of pricks. If I was a tree monster person, I’d do the same thing. The noble houses, the healing orders, even some of the merchant and adventurer guilds. Those with power always find a way to screw it up for everyone else. I’m glad I stepped away from that life.”

They lapsed into silence once again.

“I want to see it. Your life. I know… or I think it’ll hurt. But I don’t think the trial will be completed to my satisfaction without seeing it.”

The Worker smiled, a sorrowful hint to his expression. “Are you sure? You could just kill me and end it. That’s a perfectly valid way of advancing.”

“Show me. Please.”

The Worker nodded, and the scene changed.

===

Leif and the Worker stood and watched as a younger Leif, still in the military school in Varan city, escaped from the suffocating duties of the endless drills and discipline training sessions. The young man stumbled into a warehouse. There he found somebody who was trying to escape just as he was, only for different reasons.

In the vision she is faceless, but far from emotionless. Leif watched as his younger self subjected himself to endless lectures about the intricacies of cart and wagon engineering. The scenes shift, and their friendship slowly blooms into something else, something more. They are no longer retreating to the warehouse full of failed engineering projects and half disassembled carts to escape their different duties, but instead for each other’s company. Leif watches as his younger self applies for the position of a logistics officer, and is rejected. At the request of the girl he tried again, and is rejected once more. On his third attempt, the day before squad selections past Leif managed to convince the grouchy higher up.

The war passes, and Leif never sees combat with the enslavers. The battle he sees is with bandits and paperwork. When the war ends he accepts an invite to the Vin estate, and rejected their demands that he return to the family. The verbal battle that ensues is more violent than any he had witnessed during the war.

Leif and the Worker watch in silence as the younger Leif, now definitely a prior version of the Worker, reunites with the girl, now a woman, who inadvertently saved his life. The scene skips ahead, bare flashes of moments as time passes. There’s a business, a home, a marriage, a child.

When the world fades back into the featureless void, amber tears are staining the interior of Leif’s mask.

“See?” The Worker said, his smile comforting. “I told you it would hurt.”

“It does.” Leif said, the sound more a gasp than a coherent sentence. “Was, was your child a son or a daughter?”

The worker shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.”

“It doesn’t matter to the trial. I… I don’t know the answer, I’m sorry.”

“You really aren’t real then, just a projection.”

“A bit of both, I believe.” The worker said. “Leif, now that you’ve seen my life, the life you could have possibly lived, how do you feel?”

Leif didn’t respond, he simply looked down at his hands. His clothing was in tatters, much of his body was stained in blood and debris from the battle in the forest. “I would have had a kid.” He said, not answering the question.

“Maybe, what you’ve seen aren’t the only possibilities, only the most… significant, the most pertinent.”

“Unlike the past, the future isn’t predetermined.”

“Yes, I think you know more about that than me though. I’m just a small business owner.”

“You’re far more than that.” Leif laughed. “A father. A husband. A human.”

“All true, and I’m happy because of it. This may sound wrong, but I don’t think I would ever trade the life I have now for the one you now live.”

Leif took off his mask, letting the painted wood fall to the perfectly blank floor. “That… that's fair. It’s funny, I have a complex about having… offspring, I guess is the right word. The species I was reproduces in a very… unsavoury way. But maybe, maybe things won’t be like that anymore. I don’t even know how any of this really works, it doesn’t help that apparently I’m alone.”

“Don’t you need to grow a flower and ask a bee politely? Or drop a bunch of fruit onto the ground? Spread your seed or whatever?”

“Very funny. I don’t think I flower, at least I haven't yet. Maybe back at Far-reach things are different.”

“So, what is your conclusion? Can you accept things as they are?” The Worker asked.

“I… I can. I’m jealous, and if this was the me from just after my rebirth I think I would even hate you for the life you lived. But… there are things I can do now that I could never do before. Maybe the world will look different when I’ve lived for longer than most people? I have Lani and Bam, all the people back by the domain tree who are relying on me. Maybe my sense of self importance is too high, or potentially misplaced, but I’ve inherited a legacy of some not insignificant importance.”

The Worker clapped his hands together. “That’s great! You need to focus on what you can do now. I’m sorry for showing you what I did, but I’m glad you see things like that.”

“Right, thank you. What do we do now?”

“Hmm, it’s a bit anticlimactic, but I think I just need to-” The Worker goes still, then his body transforms into clear crystal. For several moments Leif waited for it to shatter like the other alternatives, but the Worker remained, complete and smiling.

Leif placed a hand on his shoulder and looked into the man’s eyes. He let out a sigh, mostly of relief and wariness, then turned back to the still prone form of the Monster. Red eyes glared back at him.

“You’re the last one. I suppose that makes you the strongest.” Leif said, crossing his arms.

“Why haven't you finished me off? Do not tell me you’re too soft for even that?” It growled.

“I am not. I wanted to at least hear your last words. Give you what little dignity I could.”

“Dignity… I have none left. It was stripped from me well before our meeting.”

“I see. Any advice?”

“You wouldn’t listen even if I told you, damn fool.” Then the Monster shattered into crystalline shards, and the system populated his vision with messages. But they weren’t the ones he was expecting.

Congratulations! You have completed the initial stages of the level fifty advancement trial!

You must now make a choice about your path!

Error! Choice has already been made!

Error! No choice recorded!

Error! Choice has already been made!

Warning! Deviation in progression path detected!

Warning! Rewards for trial completion may be altered or nullified!

Error! Unable to grant trial rewards!

What on earth?

“Ohh, sorry about all this! It happens sometimes, rarely but it does happen. I’d apologise, but it’s really not my fault.”

Leif spun, a man made out of crimson light stood before him. The figure waved.

“Hi there, long time no see. It’s been what, over a year since your first evolution? Congrats on the second one by the way, we haven't seen one of your kind for over a millennia! Feels like old times.”

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