Eyepatch of the Blind Monk [ Epic — E grade]

  The blind monks of the distant Zeppy Sector believe that through hardships, their skills are sharpened. One such example of this is the enchanted eyepatches they wear. Plus, they look pretty badass.

  Provides: -25 Perception, +15% Perception, +10 Charisma

  Aaron read the description and put on the eyepatch. The eyepatch only gained him 2 points of Perception after the reduction and bonus were taken into account, but if he kept using it for a while, that percentage boon would only keep paying off more and more. And 10 Charisma, whilst not something he was actively trying to increase, was still nice. He wasn’t about to complain about numbers going up.

  It felt a little weird looking out one eye, though. But he got used to having an eyepatch extraordinarily quickly, probably because of all of his Perception. After all, Perception ruled well, perception. The higher it got, the better he was at perceiving his surroundings. And so his sense of sight still felt ever so slightly better even whilst wearing it, and it kind of just drifted out of his periphery seconds after putting it on. So, in reality, it didn’t actually feel like he was wearing it at all.

  If I were twelve, I’m sure I’d think this was badass. Aaron thought as he imagined what he looked like. Though he would never admit it, his inner child still kind of thought it was badass.

  His banked free points had increased a lot as well. He currently had 64 unspent points, and whilst he had a pretty good idea of how he wanted to spend them, there wasn’t really any rush just yet.

  Sure, a bit of a boost would make him stronger against the trials, but if he made a bad decision, it could affect his ability to beat Mo’han, and failing the quest wasn’t a risk he wanted to take. It was his absolute main priority, and he wanted to have all his chips in a row when he attempted it.

  With that thought in mind, he turned and started to walk, but through the crowds he spotted Talia only a second later. She was standing beside a big tattooed man. He wore light armor and a shell necklace and looked like he belonged in a rugby scrum. And Aaron was fairly certain he recognized the man.

  But he didn’t get time to put his finger on it as Talia spotted him and waved him over.

  “Hey, Aaron!” She called, and Aaron nodded and walked over.

  Small crowds had formed, and whilst he was certain that the hallway was getting bigger, it was also getting harder to navigate. Weaving through chatting groups of trial takers, he made his way over.

  “Hey, what’s up?” He said as he reached them.

  “Aaron, let me introduce you. This is Joseph Lefiti. He’s from Earth as well.”

  “I’ve heard a lot about you,” Joseph said as he shook Aaron’s hand. “Talia tells me you’ve been here a long time.”

  “Yeah, I have…” Aaron replied, looking a little distant. “Joseph… Oh, yeah! I remember now!”

  “Huh?” Joseph glanced back at Talia.

  “Remember the viewing room I told you about? Like I said, he’s been here a while. He’s had plenty of time to look into the Tutorials.”

  “He was watching us? I hope not all the time,” Joseph nervously chuckled. “That could be embarrassing.”

  “I never thought about that,” Talia blushed slightly.

  “Wait. what? No! I just watched some of your fights. It wasn’t like I was in there all the time or anything. Your privacy was respected by me! By the way, you’re a good swimmer, Joe. I saw you underwater against that sea serpent or whatever it was. Impressive.”

  “My brother called me that…”

  Aaron realized he might have accidentally walked onto a landmine as Joseph’s face soured. Unfortunately, he was not skilled at comforting people.

  “How do you do it? The underwater fighting, that is? You get a special Skill that makes it easier?”

  “Oh, that? Yeah, kinda. It happened whilst fighting for so long in my water Tutorial…”

  He seems kind of glum now, shit!

  “What do you mean?” Aaron probed, hoping it might cheer the conversation up a little. “You just got good at fighting underwater because you did it so much?”

  “I mean, I got Water Affinity. It’s a Trait. I believe all Affinities can be unlocked as Traits.”

  “Really?” Aaron nodded and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

  “You didn’t know about affinities?”

  “He missed the Tutorial,” Talia clarified. “There are a lot of basics Aaron doesn’t know. But there’s also a lot he does.”

  “I see. That must have been hard. At least you didn’t have to lose the ones you cared for in the Tutorial…” he slumped.

  Ahhh, shit! I’ve gone and done it, haven’t?

  “You okay, big fella?” Aaron patted his shoulder.

  “I’m fine. It’s just a little hard when old memories are brought up.”

  Talia gave Aaron a little nod from the side.

  “We’ll be alright. When we return to Superearth, we can work on returning some kind of normalcy.”

  “Yeah,” Talia cooed. “Help people find safety, so no one else has to suffer.”

  Joseph looked like a man of steel, but at that moment, that steel was wilting a little.

  “It’s fine,” he said, sounding like he had choked back a tear. “Let’s move on.”

  “Yeah,” Aaron agreed, mostly because he sucked at this.

  Affinities are interesting, though, he thought as his attention returned to System stuff. Wait, that must be what his Title was about?

  Aaron inspected Joseph again.

  Joseph Lefiti [ Level 82 ]

  Titles: [ At one with Water ] [ Tutorial Champion ]

  Hmm, interesting.

  “So, affinities,” he continued, trying to lighten up the conversation, and Joseph took the bait, seemingly on the same page.

  He went on to explain that taking an affinity essentially made you considerably stronger with Skills that were within its domain, and weaker with everything else. But it didn’t stop there. It also affected unlocks and could even provide resistances and other benefits related to the affinity. For example, Joseph got additional boons to his Stats when in water. Not only that, but the System would match Skill options to your affinity, and on the other hand, it was very difficult to gain Skills not related to it if you took one.

  All in all, affinities sounded very powerful, but limiting. In the long run, Aaron figured it was probably a good idea to try to get one. But for now, he was happy to avoid it. He wasn’t sure what affinity he wanted, and didn’t want to get locked out of others until he was certain of his path.

  “I see,” Aaron rubbed his increasingly long beard as he considered what kind of affinities would suit him.

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  I really need to shave this thing.

  “You’re thinking a lot. You already have an idea what kind of affinity you want?” Talia probed.

  “I–ah… no. Not really, actually. This thing is just getting itchy,” Aaron ran his fingers through his beard. “Also, my hair is a mess.”

  “There’s a hairdresser.”

  “Wait, really?”

  “Yeah,” she nodded. “There’s a Profession for everything, and there’s almost one for every crafting station now. Although there are still a few I haven’t seen anyone use yet.”

  Aaron wondered what kind of person would—when offered superpowers to adventure the multiverse—choose to become a hairdresser of all things, but then again, he had picked cooking. And he was sure that it would gain its own critics.

  To their surprise, when reaching the crafting room, there was actually quite a line forming for the only hairdresser currently in the trials. Perhaps he hadn’t been too far off with his initial thoughts, Aaron felt. It seemed there weren’t a lot of people wanting to gain magical hair-cutting powers, and as such, this hairdresser had a little monopoly over the industry here.

  On the other hand, more popular Professions like blacksmithing already had multiple stations for multiple people. When more than one of the same crafter appeared, a new station did too, and the room grew a little larger.

  Of course, there was a problem. Aaron was still broke. However, he didn’t need to say anything. Talia stepped in immediately. She knew his situation and was happy to pay the small fee in system credits so he could clean himself up.

  However, being the group beggar wasn’t what Aaron had in mind long-term, and he made a mental note to try and make a little cash for himself, though it wasn’t a high priority. Doing some shopping whilst he was here, and not having to rely on others would be nice, but ultimately completing his quest, and the trials, if possible, was still his main concern.

  While waiting, he also learned that whilst the people gathering here were amongst the strongest in the entire sector, many had already given up on the trials. The reality was that it was hard to beat the higher stages, and dying absolutely sucked for most.

  Sure, the first three stages were pretty easy for anybody who reached the trials this early, but after that, difficulty spiked quickly. And by the time they got up to the fifth stage and beyond, only top talents could get through them without dying. There were a few exceptions, like if the trials were specifically easy for their build, but thanks to the variety of trials available, getting lucky with a trial you were made to beat only helped so much.

  “So, how do you want it cut?” The punky hairdresser said as Aaron took a seat before her.

  “My hair?” Aaron shrugged. “Cut the beard off, I guess. And for the hair, I dunno, can it just be like shorter?”

  “You’re one of them, huh? How about this? Give me a style you want, or give me permission to do whatever I think looks best.”

  “Go for it, you pick,” Aaron shot thumbs up. He had never been a stylish person and was more than happy to let the barber go nuts, as long as his hair was shorter and the beard was gone. He hated that itchy thing.

  “So, Joseph and I were thinking of keeping a lookout for others from Earth,” Talia said as Aaron’s hair was cut.

  “Alright. Makes sense to me.”

  “Apparently, there’s also a goblin around here somewhere that we’ll be sharing our world with. Not to mention, two thal’kesh have already arrived. That makes four potential enemies, including Darius. So, in other words, we need allies.”

  Aaron nodded along. What she said was perfectly reasonable. But what really made him happy about the entire thing was that they were taking the initiative. Some kind of alliance on Superearth between normal non-freaks seemed like the rational thing to do, but Aaron didn’t want to be the guy managing that kind of bullshit. If he got his wish, he would stand on the sidelines and punch people's faces in where necessary.

  At heart, he was an adventurer, and the absolutely last person to put their hand up for class president. If these two were willing to take a more active role in bringing people together, then with any luck, he could avoid having to do anything. This thought made him smile.

  “Sounds great. You guys really know what you’re doing.”

  Luckily, Talia didn’t pick up on what he was doing, and she took it as a compliment, which it kind of was, to be fair.

  “Thanks. I’m not really a leader, but I’ve gotten pretty good at looking after people,” she said.

  “Hopefully, we can get somebody who knows management,” Joseph said. “I’ve got muscle, but I’m not really into the politics either.”

  Dammit. You got this, big guy. Don’t be so hard on yourself.

  “I can take over for now,” Talia said. “At least until we have someone else who wants to lead this alliance, or whatever it is.”

  “Sounds good,” Joseph nodded.

  “Yep, I’m good with that,” Aaron agreed.

  “And there we go, all done,” the hairdresser beamed and pulled away a towel of foil from his head. There hadn’t been a mirror, but Aaron was a simple guy, and as long as it was short, he trusted the hairdresser. Up until she pulled a mirror out of a spatial storage, and he gasped at the sight of himself.

  “Wha… what have you done?”

  “What? You don’t like it? I think it looks cute.”

  He couldn’t believe it. He had bleached white hair cut into a number three buzz. It was even kind of shiny.

  “Why does it look like that?”

  The hairdresser teased his hair with her fingers. “Looks cool, don’t you think?”

  “It’s different, that’s for sure,” Talia said.”

  “I like it,” Joseph said.

  “See, you’re friends like it. Besides, it gives a buff of +10 to all Stats for two weeks, thanks to the dye.”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. Was +10 really worth this?

  “Hurry up now, I’ve got quite the line to get through,” she pointed to the angry faces and tapping feet behind them.

  “Oh, fine. Whatever. At least it's short.”

  “I dunno, Aaron. I think it looks good. Perhaps I’ll get the same,” Joseph said.

  “Wait, no,” Aaron raised a hand, but dropped it as he saw the excited look on the big guy’s face. He really didn’t want the entire sector thinking that a number three buzz cut with bleached white hair was Earth’s favorite hairstyle, but he didn’t want to rain on the guy’s parade either. If he wanted the cut, then that was his choice.

  “That’s quite the look you got there,” came a chuckling feminine voice, and Aaron turned to see Elmira wiping the corners of her eyes.

  “White hair and an eyepatch? Not what I was expecting, but it kind of suits you,” she said, her face bubbling up as she held in another burst of laughter. “Do they have boy bands on your world? They were kind of popular on mine, and you would fit right in with some of them.”

  “Oh great, I look like an intergalactic boy band member,” Aaron groaned.

  “Oh yeah, I could see that,” Talia said thoughtfully.

  “Not you too? Oh, whatever. I got to go anyway.”

  “Where are you going?” Elmira asked, trying to tame her laughter.

  “I’ve been working up for something. I’ve been itching to test it out. Might not be ready just yet, but who knows.”

  The two girls looked at each other. They already knew what he meant.

  ***Mo’han***

  Reappearing in the hallway after beating his patron god on the ninth stage of the Trial of the Challenger, Mo’han’s brow bent curiously.

  He might have been the strongest in the sector, but he was no grand strategist; that said, he didn’t need to be to know something was up.

  The steely-faced god of war wasn’t someone to take lightly, and he had proven to be one of the most formidable gods he had faced in the trials. There was only one other that really compared, but their styles didn’t match up. And as such, he knew not to take the god’s schemes lightly.

  Why had this almighty god taken an interest in Aaron?

  Of course, Mo’han had deep respect for the human. In his eyes, Aaron was the most incredible person in the entire trials, even if he wasn’t strictly the strongest. What he had achieved at his level was simply remarkable.

  But gods… well, they were supposed to be above this stuff. Even he was a nothing in the eyes of the gods, not yet at least. Not only that, but most talents would die before they reached godhood, even the strongest ones.

  So, then why had he offered a quest to beat Aaron? Furthermore, why was the condition that it be done on the last day of the trials? Or that they couldn’t spar or test each other against themselves until they dueled?

  Nothing made sense about it. And it was made even more confusing by the unusual smug smirk on the face of the god’s avatar.

  There could be no doubt in Mo’han’s mind that his patron god was up to something. And Mo’han’s hunch was that it was related to other gods somehow.

  Were mortals but games to the gods? No different from how some asura betted on drake racing back on his homeworld?

  It was humbling to think of himself in such a way, but nothing else made sense.

  But most importantly, there was no going back from it now. He had agreed to the quest, and he wasn’t about to let his patron god down.

  And even whilst Mo’han was confident in his own power, and had never needed help from anybody. He understood the value of a patron god and the consequences of becoming a fallen disciple. It wouldn’t prevent him from ascending to godhood one day, should he get that far, but it would make it far more difficult and make finding another patron god almost impossible.

  No, failing a god’s quest was one thing, but refusing to do it as requested was unacceptable. If a follower of a god didn’t want to do a specific quest, the formal way to go about it was to tell them when the quest was presented to them. Simply refusing to do it was tantamount to sacrilege.

  “Hey, Mo’han! There you are!”

  It’s A-ran!

  “Hey, A-ran!”

  “You know that duel we talked about? You want to give it a crack?”

  The human looked confident; he had no doubt gotten stronger again. Mo’han had already seen Aaron’s tremendous gains several times before and knew they were nothing to take lightly. His level hadn’t changed much, but why would it? The trials were not a good place to level, but that hadn’t stopped Aaron from getting stronger.

  He knew that even another month or so would bring more incredible gains, making Aaron stronger than ever, and then, he smiled.

  Was that it? Had he been too critical of his patron god? Beating Aaron now would be one thing, but if he did it at the end of the trials, that might actually mean something. Perhaps this was the meaning of the test. An attempt to push him harder towards better gains. To make him stronger than he already was.

  “No, not now, A-ran.”

  “Huh? Something wrong, big fella?”

  “I’ll explain later. But suffice it to say, I want us to duel on the last day of the trials.”

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