Gilgamesh spotted two humans with evil demeanors lurking in the distance, as a gremlin ran right past them. Gilgamesh clicked his teeth and broke down one of his Boulder Apes.
He left behind a Bomber to annihilate the gremlin swarm as he raced towards the two warlocks, and killed them with another bomber before they could do whatever they had planned.
[ You have earned 1 Attribute Point.]
[ You have earned 1 Attribute Point.]
“The trial is almost over.” Gilgamesh scanned his surroundings from atop his wooden throne. “I can’t waste my time on demons.”
Gilgamesh looked to the side and saw a 9-foot tall humanoid horse with disproportionately long limbs. Its body was sickeningly gaunt and its eyes filled with a terrifying greed that peered right into his own.
“Pay the toll.”
[ Tikbalang - Demon (Iron Rank) ]
Gilgamesh had his Roaming Throne create space as a precaution, and the demonic horse destroyed the area he had just been in with a blurring maul of its arm. Gilgamesh’s eyes widened. That attack had been far faster than he expected, too fast to evade if he had moved second.
[Perception: 15 -> 18]
He sent his Boulder Ape to attack, but the tikbalang destroyed it with ease just as his second one had formed. Gilgamesh activated Bombers one after the other for the remaining Boulder Ape to hurl, but his most powerful attack did little more than surface level damage.
Gilgamesh left the Boulder Ape behind as he fled on his throne, and summoned a Forest Hand to latch onto his back. That demon was easily twice as strong and three times as fast as his best vanguard.
It was a higher tier of existence than the monsters he had encountered thus far. Though he was unaware of the nature of monsters and demons, he was certain the tikbalang was the equivalent of a Mid Grade or higher.
The demon followed after him. Its movement was slower than its striking speed, but still fast enough that even his Roaming Throne couldn’t lose it. It swatted at Gilgamesh, and the Roaming Throne only just barely managed to dodge with the use of its Rush feature.
With a plain chase not in his favor, Gilgamesh wove through the alleys to use as obstacles against the demon. The slum streets slowed the demon, but not enough to escape.
As the tikbalang barreled through the alleys, obsessively locked onto Gilgamesh, another hero ran into its path. A woman whose face paled at the sight of it.
“Pay the toll.”
The woman turned and ran with a scream, but barely took a step before the tikbalang caught her. It grasped her with both hands, and squeezed. Blood spurted between its fingers, but it squeezed down harder with a surge of foul magic. When it opened its hands, there was no corpse. Only pieces of jade.
Gilgamesh watched as the tikbalang swallowed the gore-covered jadestones, and its gaunt body swelled with power. The demon closed the gap in an instant and smashed the roaming throne to pieces.
Gilgamesh flew off with the Forest Hand just in time and cut through the alleys. The demon crashed through the buildings in rabid pursuit, as though they were made of sand and grass. And it was gaining.
Gilgamesh saw the writing on the wall and headed back towards the Bazaar. But just as it came into sight, another gaunt tikbalang emerged from behind a building right in front of him.
“Pay the toll.”
Before he could turn around and find a new route, the first tikbalang caught up. Gilgamesh noted that its body was a little smaller than before and on closer inspection, he could see its muscles slowly withering away.
“Is its power wearing off?” Gilgamesh’s mind raced. “I need to buy time until it becomes gaunt again.”
He glanced at the two tikbalang that hadn’t yet attacked. “They’re wary of and hostile to each other. Rival hunters…”
Gilgamesh saw that both were more observant of the other than of him. He waited until one made a move, then broke a smokescreen beneath him. Gilgamesh burst through the smoke with two Forest Hands.
The tikbalangs both reached for him, but a Wind Bomber followed out of the smoke as the Forest Hands covered him completely, and it exploded. Violent blasts of wind knocked away the demons’ grasping hands and propelled him towards the Bazaar.
His Forest Hands had sustained damage, but neither had broken. And they had done their jobs. Gilgamesh was unharmed and soared undeterred towards the safe refuge of the Bazaar.
But as soon as he carried himself further, he slammed into an invisible wall. Gilgamesh watched as a sinister aurora rose over the border and miasma seeped up from the grounds of the slums.
[ Mammon’s domain has befallen the land. ]
[ Some gods tell you to flee. ]
Gilgamesh fled but the tikbalangs were right behind. Even with Bombers slowing their advance, he was losing ground against them.
“No, it cannot be this way... These Trials are fair. The Tower is a place where talent can be overcome!” Gilgamesh cursed. “I survived. I stepped forward. You cannot change the rules now!”
Gilgamesh wrapped two Forest Hands around him as he activated a Wind Bomber once again. But just as he did, a gremlin lunged from within a building and stole the core of one of his Forest Hands.
That Forest Hand crumbled away at once, leaving part of Gilgamesh exposed. Another gremlin stole his Snakecore Ring, then seemed to finally catch notice of him and reached for his chest with greedy eyes. At the same time, the first gremlin marvelled at the Forest Hand core in mindless freefall, before the Wind Bomber exploded on them all.
Gilgamesh crashed near the barrier wall as Red Light paralyzed him with excruciating pain. The tikbalangs caught up in moments but kept their distance, fearful of the Red Light.
The bandages eventually repaired themselves and suppressed the Red Light, allowing Gilgamesh to rise again. But he now stood alone. And with the strange threat gone, the demons' eerie eyes quickly filled with greed once more.
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“It cannot be like this… It cannot be this unreasonable…” Betrayal and burgeoning despair rose within him. The Tower was a place that granted opportunity to those who wished for it. This was not what was promised.
“I am Gilgamesh! My journey will not end here!” He pulled out golem cores but the tikbalang attacked faster than they could form.
Just before the demonic hands could destroy him, a man with a build that rivaled the greatest heroes of yore stepped through the barrier into the territory of hell and walked right past him.
Long, wild golden hair hung down his neck like a mane, and his eyes, golden like the peerless sun, stared unwaveringly ahead at nothing in particular.
The tikbalangs aimed for the stranger, and he caught their hands with ease. Gilgamesh watched as the demons who had threatened his life became helpless before the man.
Their powerful arms could not even budge from his grasp, and their devastating thrashes in retaliation were no better than a child’s tantrum against his indestructible body.
Attila finally released their arms, but only to grab each by the shoulder, and with his unrivaled strength, he forced them to a knee with ease. Fear struck the demons of greed, though Attila gave them no words nor consideration. He merely grabbed their heads and crushed them in his grip.
Attila did not acknowledge him. He did not even seem to notice his existence. He only glanced ahead in search of what he came for, and stepped forward. He was the very visage of an infallible hero.
A lull set in Gilgamesh for just a moment as the demons turned to ash, before a harrowing realization. Then came a rage.
What Gilgamesh felt at the sight of Attila was not relief, but awe. He had found himself almost in reverence at the undeniable supreme. Instinctively, he had placed himself below Attila, and in turn, he had inflicted upon himself the sickening feeling of being inferior, now and always.
Gilgamesh slowly grasped his head, fingers strained so fiercely against himself they would have clawed apart his face had he the strength.
Awe. He had never once felt awe. Envy, perhaps. Resentment, often. But not awe. Never awe. Awe was a discomfort that crawled across his wretched skin, a bile that festered in the back of his throat. It was an unbearable disgrace, one that pulled forth the deepest evils from within him. And in turn those evils pulled with them a deep, unrelenting…
MALICE.
“One day…”
Attila stopped at the words and turned to look at Gilgamesh for the first time. And what he saw was a leper who eyes bled hatred.
“...I will make you feel what I feel.”
Gilgamesh glared his soul into Attila, malice concentrated so densely that the infallible hero who stood so far high above was forced to acknowledge his existence. Though acknowledge him was all Attila did.
[ You have passed the Fourth Trial. ]
[ Exceptional achievement recognized. ]
[ Rewarded 1 Mid Grade item from any store you have patroned or trained in. ]
[ Fourth Trial Rankings ]
- Kubera Pandava
- Shen Wei
- Khufu
- Charlemagne Atreus
- Eskender Saba
- Nefertiti
- Lugalbanda
- Vandal
- Rhodri Rhun
- Tiago
….
4,259. Gilgamesh
…
Gilgamesh did not even glance at the messages, so focused was his hatred still.
“Tenacity!” Nem shouted in the silence. “A hero is diligent! A hero is motivated! A hero does not stop trying their hardest the moment it gets a little easier. Such lazy fools will surely perish in the Trials to come!”
Nem let out a mocking laughter which suddenly fell to an expression of grim disdain. “I hope you all die…”
Nem snapped his fingers, and the world around Gilgamesh disappeared. He found himself alone in a swirling space with only the Schema as his company and the list of his potential reward.
His state of malice endured for a long moment, before he finally directed his focus towards the path ahead. He had options for magic items and gear, but such words didn’t even take hold in his mind. He only saw the golems.
[ Obsidian Giant - Golem (Mid Grade) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 240
Agility - 100
Vitality - 100
Perception - 25
Force - 0
Spirit - 25
Control - 10
Willpower - 0
Material: Obsidian (Mid Grade)
Mana Capacity: 650/650
Consumption: 30 motes per minute
Recovery: 30 motes per minute
Gilgamesh contemplated taking the strongest Lancer, as its stats would surpass those of the Tikbalang’s. But he hesitated. No amount of Attributes would overcome Marduk or Melinoe, and its Strength would not even match that of the Atreus man.
[ Stone Gazer - Golem (Mid Grade) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 0
Agility - 0
Vitality - 10
Perception - 30
Force - 300
Spirit - 60
Control - 100
Willpower - 0
Features: Flight (silver), Firebolt (silver),
Material: Stone (inferior)
Mana Capacity: 600/600
Consumption: 3 motes per minute
Recovery: 3 motes per minute
[ Flight (silver) ]
‘Fly freely via magic power.’
Magnitude: 1.0
Mana Cost: 6 motes per minute (Feature)
[ Firebolt (silver) ]
‘Cast an explosive ball of flames.’
Magnitude: 2.0
Mana Cost: 35 motes
Gilgamesh stared at the most powerful Dragoon type, but he did not feel compelled to choose it either. It did not feel like the right path.
“How many more obstacles are there in these Trials? How many more will I encounter? I need a golem for them all… Not the physically strongest. Not the most destructive or the most indestructible. I need something that will allow me to win…”
[ Shifting Sand - Golem (Mid Grade) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 50
Agility - 0
Vitality - 50
Perception - 100
Force - 100
Spirit - 100
Control - 100
Willpower - 0
Features: Hive Shift (silver), Flight (silver)
Material: Brass (low grade+)
Mana Capacity: 1,000/1,000
Consumption: 14 motes per minute
Recovery: 16 motes per minute
[ Flight (silver) ]
‘Fly freely via magic power.’
Magnitude: 1.0
Mana Cost: 6 motes per minute (Feature)
[ Hive Shift (silver) ]
'A collective form bound to a core, able to fuse into a designed shape at will.'
Mana Cost: 3 motes per second
[ Brass ]
‘A low grade metal of moderate durability with a resistance to mana.’
[ Low Grade+ ]
'The material is slightly enhanced beyond its normal qualities.'
The moment Gilgamesh made his choice, he found himself in a desert, a barren land hostile to all life. In the next moment, he realized he could feel the heat blazing down on his golem body and sense the thirst drying in his throat.
“I’ve been waiting for this Trial!” Nem exclaimed. “No one but yourselves to rely on now. No luck to fall into your unworthy hands. Ah, finally…”
Ecstatic joy painted his expression. “So many of you worthless inferiors will finally fall."
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