He saw the hallway and remembered. Ah right, I am still in the dungeon. He walked to the hallway and entered it, watching as the torches shifted from orange to green. Green? Maybe Endurance? I feel like Wisdom and Intelligence are going to be more blueish because of their connection to mana. He mused to himself.
He continued walking until he reached the end of the hallway, and found himself looking at a large room with a portal in the middle, looking identical to the one that he had gone through in the Trial of Dexterity.
The Trial of Endurance starts as soon as you enter the portal. Your goal will be revealed after you walk through.
Atlas smirked to himself. He had been right after all, it was endurance. He cracked his knuckles before striding to the portal and finally entering. His world twisted rapidly before he found himself standing in the middle of what looked like endless plains.
Run without stopping for 24 hours. Start whenever you move.
Atlas groaned and started to jog before picking up speed to a casual run. A timer appeared in front of him, hovering in his peripheral vision.
23:59:56
Atlas sighed. This was going to be a slog.
He ran and ran, never letting even the thought of stopping enter his mind. As he ran he started to realize that he could use this time somewhat productively. He brought up his stat sheet to try and see what he could do while still running.
Atlas Channing
Tier: 2
Level: 20
Class: Reaper
Subclass: Absorber
Titles (Disabled): Moonwalker, Skiller, Lucky, Boss Slayer, Strong Soul, Legend of the Tutorial, Sythesiser
Skills (Disabled): Ultimate Debuff (Z), Elemental Affinity (SSS), Death Mist (SS), Consume (SS), Reaper’s Senses (SS), Endless Strength (SS), Blitz (S), Demonic Claw (S), Fade Away (A), Weapon Mastery (A), Damage Resistance (A), Toughen (B), Crafting (B), Lightning Beam (B) Herbalism (D)
Spells (Disabled): None
Talent: Z
Potential: Z
Stats:
Endurance: 373
Constitution: 373
Strength: 452
Dexterity: 452
Wisdom: 402
Intelligence: 402
Free points: 0
Temporary Skills (Disabled)-
- Ruinous Mist -In use
- Debuffed Weaponry -In use
- Elemental Debuffs -In use
- Ultimate Consume -Add?
- Sense of Death -Add?
- Demonic Debuffs -Add?
- Armor of Debuffs -Add?
- Debuffing Beam -Add?
It was very depressing to see all those (Disabled)’s but there was nothing he could really do about it. He started to review all of his skills to see if he couldn’t come up with a way to level all of them up. As the minutes ticked by, Atlas continued to focus on the task he had made for himself, not caring about the endless pumping of his legs.
***
After hours of running and planning, Atlas had come up with a training regime for all of his skills except Battle Trance, Consume, Ultimate Debuff, as they could only really be upgraded through battle.
He checked his timer to see how much longer he would have to keep running for.
13:46:27
He had used almost half his time, but he still had a huge chunk of time left. Atlas desperately needed a new task to focus on so that he didn't lose his mind, and after a couple minutes of frantic searching he came upon a task he had been neglecting.
Building his town.
Atlas, elated about a new task to focus his mind on, brought up his town screen.
Town Center: Rank: Village. Owner: Atlas Channing. Resources: None. Residents: One. See list?
Town Core: Rank: Village. Upgrade? Core/Town/Buildings. Create? Defense/Production/Residences/Other
Magic Storage: Rank: Village. When you harvest a resource, it is atomically sent here unless there is not enough room. All resources will be cleanly organized and easy to find. Resources: Lumber: 129, Stone: 306, Iron: 147, Tin: 462, Copper: 232, Gems: 24, Grain: 20
Atlas first clicked on upgrade, as he really wanted to get more options and stronger fortifications.
Upgrade Town Center from Rank: Village -> Town? Cost: 1000 Lumber, 500 Stone, 100 Iron, 200 Bronze, 10 gems. Upgrade?
Atlas sighed, he didn’t have nearly enough resources, though he had some of the requirements met. He needed 900 more lumber, 200 more stone, and 200 bronze, which he could only get by smelting tin and copper together. If he remembered right it was something like 90% copper to 10% tin.
Or maybe that was only modern bronze? Bronze here could be a little different, but it wouldn’t change by too much, still having similar requirements for building.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
After some brief searching, he found the smelter, which actually seemed to be an add on to the blacksmith by the looks of it.
Smelter- Lumber 20, Stone 20, Iron 100, Blacksmith.
He planned on getting this as soon as he got back, and he started to search for anything that would give him passive resources, such as his Grain and Lumber Mill’s.
After some more searching he found a couple of convenient options he could use.
Automated Mineshaft- Mineshaft, Lumber 50, Stone 100, Iron 50, Gems 5
It looked like a very expensive upgrade, but one that would also be insanely useful in gathering materials, as it looked like it would be able to gather all resources in the mine, so it would be able to, in theory, gather all types of ores and minerals that were found in the mine.
Atlas continued to browse the different types of buildings available to him, but nothing really caught his attention.
After finally exhausting all of his options, he checked the time again.
6:33:12
At this point, Atlas’s legs were starting to burn, and he decided to fully devote himself to running. He ran and ran and then ran some more, never stopping, always in motion. He passed by the same endless grass and dirt than spanned everywhere in every direction, not even a speck that looked out of place in the eternal plains.
He continued to run, and the time slowly ticked down.
6:05:47
Atlas pushed all thoughts out of his mind, focusing only on the task in front of him
5:42:43
The time slowly ticked by but Atlas refused to give in, running at the same, steady pace that he had been running at for hours.
5:13:01
Doubts started to plague his mind as the time continued to drag on. But Atlas fought them back, clearing his mind of all thoughts but one. Forward.
4:30:10
Atlas tripped, barely keeping himself up, his body was just too tired.
4:00:59
The doubts returned in full force, preying on Atlas’s mind and whispering for him to just give up, but Atlas just grinded his teeth together and continued onward.
3:23:51
The time continued to endlessly drag on.
2:59:27
Atlas started to trip more and more often as his legs refused to listen to his helpless pleadings that they continue to push onward.
2:24:22
1:18:49
Atas felt as though his legs were being gnawed on, but he could only push past the pain and continue to move on.
0:57:27
Atlas felt a burst of confidence build inside him as he reached under an hour left, he could make this.
12:12
Atlas cheered mentally knowing that the end was near.
11:11
His legs started to crumble beneath him, but Atlas forced them to keep running with only his willpower.
10:10
Time slowed.
09:09
Atlas watched in torment as the time continued to slow to a crawl.
08:08
He pushed on, forcing his body to respond to his thoughts.
07:07
The doubts returned, but Atlas refused to listen to them, focused only on the next step.
06:06
His legs gave out, but he didn’t pause and continued to run even as his legs grew numb.
05:05
Time passed, and Atlas felt like an observer of his own body, as things started to get worse and worse.
04:04
03:03
Atlas screamed in rage and pain pushing onwards and refusing to give into the doubts that continued to attack him over and over. He was going to make it, even if the very world tried to stop him.
02:02
Two more minutes until he would finally be able to stop.
01:01
Just one more minute.
0:12
Atlas yelled, pumping his legs and sprinting for all he was worth as the time seemed to stop, and his numb legs started to buckle.
0:04
0:03
0:02
0:01
Atlas gasped in relief, legs giving out and collapsing to the ground. That had taken a lot out of him. He had severely underestimated this trial, and the time seemed to slow the closer he got to the finish, as he body got more and more exhausted.
You have completed the challenge!
1/2 challenges completed.
Your legs have been slightly restored.
Climb to the top of the mountain within a day.
Atlas’s legs felt like they had been filled with power once more, but Atlas was focused on something else. “Mountain? What mountain-” Atlas started to ask the empty air before a massive mountain appeared right in front of him. “Ah!”
Ready? Begin.
Atlas grit his teeth and started to scale the mountain, stifling a scream as his legs cried out in pain. He continued to push on however, not giving in to his legs that wanted to do nothing more than stop and give out.
Atlas ran up the mountain, gritting his teeth against the pain and going higher and higher, over the next few hours of tortuous climbing, the mountain slowly started to get stepper and stepper, until Atlas was not running up the mountain, but climbing it at an almost 90 degree angle. He steadily climbed on, finding footholds and handholds in the mountain as he continued to climb continuously onward.
An hour later, his legs gave out, and refused to listen to any of his commands, so he was forced to drag himself upwards with only his hands.
As hours started to pass, Atlas’s arms grew more and more tired, until every time he moved his arms even slightly, they would scream out in pain and spikes of exhaustion would assault his brain.
But Atlas refused to give up, and he continued to climb continually onwards using just sheer willpower.
After another hour of endless climbing, he could finally use his legs again, and he started to tear up the mountain, using all of the strength and power his body could muster.
He reached over a ledge and hoisted himself up, ready to continue climbing until he could no longer move.
Only to find himself standing at the very top of the mountain.
Atlas blinked blearily, hardly believing it. He was thousands of feet above the ground, and he could see the endlessly vast plains stretching in all directions, until they curved into the distance, completely out of sight.
You have completed the challenge!
2/2 challenges completed.
Trial of Endurance has been completed.
You may advance to the next challenge.
Your wounds have been healed. Your exhaustion has been purged.
That blessed, beautiful euphoria filled him once again, and his mind and body were cleansed of all traces of exhaustion, and he felt better than he could ever remember feeling. It was glorious, pure and simple.
A portal appeared in front of him, and he stepped through it, appearing back at the room he had started in. He took in a breath of fresh air, and started towards the next room.