Elise de Vries knelt near the front of the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Basiliek, where the last of the autumn light still rested high in the vaults. Below it, the church had already gone dim. Candles burned before the side altars. Old stone, incense, and cooling wax filled the air each time she drew breath.
Her rosary lay looped through her thin fingers. Her blond hair, wiry now with age and streaked with gray, had slipped loose around her face. She kept her eyes on the altar, on the crucifix above it, anywhere but the doors behind her.
Five days since her son had entered the challenge arch. Five days without a word.
She made the sign of the cross slowly, touching brow, breast, shoulder, shoulder.
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Her thumb moved to the next bead.
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee…”
The words came worn smooth by years of use, but her voice trembled under them.
When the prayer ended, Elise lifted her eyes to the crucifix.
“Lord Jesus,” she whispered, “You know where my son is.”
Her fingers tightened on the rosary.
“If he is cold, keep him warm. If he is afraid, strengthen him. If he is wounded, preserve his life. And if it is Your mercy, lead him back to me.”
Her voice caught. She bowed her head again.
“Holy Mother, shelter him where I cannot.”
She pressed the crucifix of the rosary to her lips.
“I place him in Your hands, Lord,” she said softly. “But I am still his mother.”
She drew one breath, then another.
“So I ask You, please, return him to me.”
Rem sat on the rock outcropping above the lake with his staff across his knees, his bracers snug at his forearms.
Eyes shut. Essence sight open.
White light pulsed through him.
It no longer churned in tangled strands of different color, crossing and knotting when he drew too much at once. The greater body foundation pill had broken that state apart. Under its force, he had learned what true control demanded. Compression. Rotation. Binding the tangled mass inward until it formed a coherent core, dense and clean, turning in a steady spiral.
From there, everything had changed.
The white essence fed from that rotating core in a steady rhythm. He guided it through the channels of his body with exact control, watching it with essence sight as it moved where he willed it to go. He had already done the deeper work. Muscles. Organs. Bones. Ligaments. Mind.
Only his skin remained.
He pushed the current outward again, following the smallest channels beneath the surface of his flesh. Across his throat. Over his chest. Down his arms. Across the backs of his hands. Along his ribs, his belly, his back. Down through his thighs and calves. Into his feet. The flow stayed tight and even, pure white with every pulse, held steady by the spinning core at his center.
One final section resisted, faint and stubborn along the right side of his jaw.
Rem narrowed his focus and fed more essence into it. Not harder. Cleaner. He kept the core turning. Kept the current level. Kept the flow from thickening or fraying as he pressed essence into that last stretch of skin.
Heat built under the surface.
His jaw tightened.
The last barrier gave.
White essence spread through the final patch of skin and settled there. Complete.
Rem stayed still and checked the whole of it with essence sight. From crown to sole, the saturation held. No gaps. No weakness. Nothing left undone.
A full cycle.
He drew one slow breath and opened his eyes.
They shone bright green, nearly illuminescent now.
Done.
Congratulations. You have unlocked a new profession: Cultivator.
Cultivators gather essence and store it within their bodies.
He smiled and barely restrained a laugh. Another profession.
He rose, took up his staff, and left the lakeside, walking back through the cave. Ravens cawed overhead beyond the mouth of it, their voices thin against the stone and fading as he went deeper.
At the glyph wall, he stopped and placed his hand against the carved surface.
Light flared beneath his palm.
Words rose before him.
End challenge four and receive your rewards?
“Yes,” Rem said.
The cave disappeared into darkness but nothing took its place. An infinite void of darkness spread out beyond him in every direction.
Please wait as we review your progress on challenge four.
Rem tried to use his essence sense but that returned nothing. Disabled.
Eight traits acquired.
Eighteen titles acquired.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Nineteen general skills acquired.
Ten professions acquired.
Twenty-two professional skills acquired.
One hundred twenty-five skill levels acquired.
Ten profession ranks acquired.
One attribute acquired.
One hundred and twenty-two attribute points acquired.
One level acquired. Nineteen schematics acquired.
Four formulas acquired. New race acquired.Twelve notable discoveries.
Three paths acquired.
Congratulations Rembrandt de Vries, you have set a new record! Your score of 44,110 on challenge four is the highest score in your planetary region.
Calculating your rewards
The next pause was even longer. Rem waited. Hopefully.
Error. Challenge four reward calculation failed. Largest area of growth could not be determined.
Select a rewards strategy to proceed:
1. Improve Strengths
2. Reduce Weaknesses
Rem paused at that. He thought back. He’d lived so many years with this system now. Not once had it ever asked him to pick anything. Not a single time.
It had only ever passively rewarded him for doing something after the fact.
“Really? I’m satisfied with the race upgrade. That was definitely an improved strengths move.”
Rem thought about it. What would the reward of improving strengths be? Improvements to his essence control? Improvements to his merge power?
He almost selected improve strengths, but at the last minute decided.
“Reduce weaknesses, option two,” he replied.
Strategy locked. Weakness assessment beginning.
The pause this time didn’t last nearly as long.
Weakness Identified. You are using a dual non-integrated system due to emergency compelled integration. As a result you are ineligible for refined growth pathways, access to higher tier interfaces, or prioritized resource allocations
Commencing system repair.
Rem waited for a very long time. Before a screen appeared, hovering before him.
“This is system Administrator Muyua Atol of the Ascenda Systems conglomerate,” a pale, strangely smooth face spoke from the screen. White bushy eyebrows dominated his face. Rem opened his mouth.
“Do not speak unless spoken to,” his small hand gestured for Rem to stop. “I am responding to a class three escalation request by the local Zwolle cluster, using standard anonymizing protocols per Concordant law section seventeen point three. Do not state your name. Do not state your age.”
He paused as he seemed to type and turned his head to another screen and read it.
“I see. Most unusual… system upgrade requests are rare and quite expensive. To resolve this issue I'll need anonymous access to your personal achievements record. Do you agree to provide me with such access?”
“Sure,” Rem replied. How was anything anonymous from a system admin? Was the system security that good that even admins didn’t know who was who?
The man kept reading. His eyebrows climbed his forehead. He coughed and his brows descended to their normal elevation.
“I am authorizing this request under Article Seventeen of the Ascenda Systems Charter, as specified in Annexation Conglomerate Licensure Law, Section One, Article Fifteen. Good luck, citizen.”
The panel disappeared, leaving Rem alone in the dark again.
He hovered there for some time. After what felt like minutes, new system messages arrived.
Reward approved.
System upgrade authorization granted.
Your current system is no longer sufficient to process your full development profile.
Six legacy high-tier protocols have been made available.
Each protocol represents a complete architectural shift.
Choose carefully.
The first option rose in pale light before him.
Noble Reach (Protocol 188441)
Merge Domain Compatibility: High
Rem read it once, then snorted softly through his nose.
The text vanished.
Chimeric Path (Protocol 229303)
Merge Domain Compatibility: Moderate
Rem did not react.
“A bit primitive," he muttered.
The next panel took its place.
Apex Lattice (Protocol 311180)
Merge Domain Compatibility: High
Rem’s mouth twitched.
That one vanished too.
Foundry (Protocol 407721)
Merge Domain Compatibility: Very High
He read that one more slowly.
Then it was gone.
Blood and Bone (Protocol 526044)
Merge Domain Compatibility: High
Rem frowned a little at that.
“Not wrong either.”
The final option rose.
Heavenly Divine Ascent (Protocol 682209)
Merge Domain Compatibility: Exceptional
Rem let out a breath.
“Full of itself,” he said softly.
The text held for a moment, then all six options appeared together before him, hanging in the void.
Legacy protocol warning:These systems were built for exceptional users, not safe users. Selection will permanently affect future development. Certain protocols may merge, retire, or overwrite existing categories. Some losses in flexibility may occur in exchange for higher coherence and long-term growth.
Select one protocol to continue.
Pick your poision
