Chapter 323 + 324

A day late, but with a bonus chapter, so it makes up for it!
Especially since they’re not small chapters, but big ones... Enjoy!

PS: Priam Character Sheet (you can thanks the Discord guys!)

*

Chapter 323: Hard Difficulty

Priam had an issue with the Tutorial’s difficulty labels. What did Hard mean? What about Perilous? Nightmarish? Impossible? And if “Impossible” wasn’t really impossible, could “Hard” truly be considered hard? According to whom? Based on what criteria? Priam would have gladly traded the vague label for a detailed risk assessment, a study on the mortality rate of species similar to his own, or better yet, a projection of his survival odds based on his physical and mental characteristics.

These were the thoughts occupying Priam's mind as he stood guard on the ground floor of his family home. His furrowed brow, while his eyes attempted to pierce the darkness of the garden, betrayed his frustration. If only he knew what rewards awaited him…

Bah, might as well do some mental math. [Algebra] isn’t going to level up itself.

Before he could begin grinding his second skill, something caught his attention.

“Quieeck.”

While Priam’s naturally poor vision was further hampered by the absence of light, his ears thrived in the nocturnal silence. A high-pitched noise, distinct from the groaning branches tormented by the wind, had broken the stillness of the dark. Its origin seemed distant, but...

Silently, Priam rose from the couch and reached for the makeshift weapons piled on the coffee table. His hand hovered over his father’s old hunting shotgun before he shook his head. A gunshot would draw too much attention. Instead, he gripped the handle of a lumberjack’s axe, his fingers tightening around the wood. With any luck, it would do the job.

Barefoot save for a pair of socks to muffle his steps on the tiled floor, he crept toward the sliding glass door. It was open about forty centimeters, letting the cool night air seep in. A curtain covered the opening and the rest of the window, concealing Priam from prying eyes outside.

The reason he had left a clear path from the garden into the living room was simple: an intruder would likely choose the easiest route. A cunning thief might sense the trap, but Priam wasn’t expecting a human. Hidden behind the heavy curtain, he raised the axe above his head and waited.

“Quieeeeck.”

The noise was closer now, and Priam recognized it: it sounded like the pigs he had seen on a farm earlier this year. Except this is a peninsula. The nearest farm’s over a dozen kilometers away.

Even if it was a stray pig, Priam wanted nothing to do with the animal. His sharp memory dredged up a worrying fact: an adult pig could devour a kilogram of raw flesh in under a minute. Earlier that year, a French farmer had been eaten alive by his own hogs.

The thought didn’t help calm his nerves. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as blood thundered in his ears. Priam was half-convinced the frantic drumming of his heart was loud enough to alert whatever was approaching.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

Outside, something was crushing the pine needles scattered across the ground. Priam swallowed hard, realizing the creature had entered his yard.

The crunching grew louder, then stopped abruptly. The creature had reached the patio—mere meters from the sliding glass door.

For ten agonizing seconds, there was silence. As ridiculous as it seemed, Priam felt an overwhelming urge to scream, to shatter the oppressive quiet. Anything to end this maddening wait.

A stench of rotting flesh hit him, triggering his gag reflex, just as the curtain began to shift. Something was pushing through, parting the heavy fabric as it advanced. Like a ghost animating the material, the outline of a head emerged.

As the most terrifying moment of Priam’s life reached its crescendo, fear drained from his body. The danger was here, and he discovered he was ready. Channeling his meager lumberjack experience, he brought the axe down with all his strength.

“AHHHHHHHHH!”

The blade sliced through fabric, flesh, and bone before crashing into the tile with a deafening impact. Shards flew in every direction, and Priam felt a sharp pain in his shin. A moment later, the blow ripped the curtain from its rod. Dropping the axe, the fledgling warrior leapt back, flicked the light switch, and grabbed the hunting shotgun from the coffee table.

The sudden transition from darkness to blinding light stung his eyes, but he forced them open. The stillness of the mass covered by the curtain reassured him. Cautiously, he approached the bloodied heap of fabric.

“Priam?!”

“What’s going on?”

Two voices called down from upstairs before his father and Victoire raced down the stairs.

“Everything’s fine,” Priam replied, using the shotgun barrel to lift the curtain.

The severed head of a boar emerged, its neck barely connected to the body. The animal stood half a meter tall at the shoulder.

“A squeaker,” Alain observed as he joined his son. The old man had been a hunter four decades ago. “The young of a wild boar. It must’ve wandered over from the nearby woods.”

That explained the pig-like noises Priam had heard.

“Isn’t it a bit big for a piglet? This thing’s got to weigh at least sixty kilograms.”

“It’s odd,” Alain admitted. “But it still has its stripes. Normally, they lose them around four months and mature by sixteen.” He frowned. “This one looks like a baby, but it’s built like a young adult.”

“The System wasn’t lying,” Victoire murmured. “This world’s turning hostile to humanity.”

Half a day into the Tutorial, not much had changed. Alain had chosen a non-combatant class, while Priam and Victoire had opted to become fighters. Deep down, Priam refused to abandon his dreams of adventure and exploration.

A final notification had informed them of their mission.

Main Quest: Earth’s Wrath
Cross one of the portals linking Earth to Sector Hope.
Rewards: Access to the Seven Concepts Universe, one Epic rarity skill of your choice.
Difficulty: Hard.
Time remaining: 7 days.

Description:
The introduction of large amounts of aether and the infusion of Concepts such as Mutation, Evolution, Abundance, Fantasy, Mythology, and Domination has triggered a drastic and rapid transformation in Earth’s flora and fauna. 

The System protects its users from this effect for seven days.

Materializing a Hard-difficulty portal requires the sacrifice of one gram of aether.
This resource is naturally concentrated by living beings and certain natural events.

Looking at the oversized baby boar before him, Priam better understood what the System meant by “rapid transformation.” If this epidemic of gigantism continued unchecked, Earth would soon become uninhabitable for humans.

It was bad, but there was worse. Priam shivered at the thought that failing to complete their quest in a week would mean losing the System’s protection. What would happen to them then? Would their brains endure such aggressive growth? Would their egos be altered? If so, it was death in another name. 

“You okay?” Victoire asked, stepping closer to massage his temples. She knew how to soothe him.

Forcing a smile, Priam nodded. “Just lost in thought. Dad, can you fetch the knives? Victoire, could you help me patch up my ankle? I’ve got a shard of tile lodged in it. After that, we’ll haul this body to the basement.”

*

The half-core of Sumstreh froze as it entered Priam’s pupil, immobilized by one of the draconic sigils. Any further and it would have destroyed the eye and with it, the ritual.

Wasting no time, the add-on redirected the aether into other meridians. As if managing a water distribution network, it used [High Aether Manipulation] to open valves, erect dams, guiding the primordial fluid to form new runes.

Once fueled, they activated, releasing a pulse that struck the trophy directly. Like a comet blasted by a gamma-ray burst, the half-core vaporized, transformed into a mist. Another draconic rune awakened, drawing the gaseous remnants into Priam’s eye and forcing them into orbit around the gate’s seed.

Performing a stellar ballet, the semi-core's remains swirled, condensing to create something marvelous. With each revolution, part of the cloud adhered to the embryonic gate, gradually increasing its volume. For twenty minutes, the add-on oversaw the operation, ensuring the flawless formation of an energy pearl.

The final orb, reminiscent of a planet, comprised a draconic core forged from Priam’s aether and a High Tribulation mantle formed from Sumstreh’s fragmented essence.

Had Priam been conscious, he might have drawn a parallel between the Earth's birth and the creation of a gate. Had the inventor of tempering been inspired by the genesis of his world, or did reality itself favor the symmetry of spheres?

[Priam’s System] didn’t have an answer but recorded the gate’s evolution for its host.

As Priam’s dream accelerated, the planet completed its formation. The orb, the size of a small pea, held half the energy of a Tier 4 and its mere presence influenced the energy within Priam’s body. Each rotation simulated a tidal effect, pulling and pushing the primordial fluid through his meridians. The process was treacherous, and only the add-on’s flawless control prevented catastrophe.

[Second Phase—Seed Fertilization—completed successfully.
Awaiting possible trophy ego awakening.]

The tireless add-on monitored its creation for any anomalies. As a former core of a still-living Fallen, there was a possibility that Sumstreh might exploit a karmic backdoor to destabilize the pseudo-gate before finalization. Since the System had worked on the trophy, infusing the core with a High Tribulation’s essence, the likelihood was slim, but Priam wasn’t one to gamble. If any complications arose, the assistant would immediately activate two rewards—Minor skill Epiphany and Seed of Potential—to bolster [Consequence Resistance]. In theory, this would suffice to repel Sumstreh’s influence.

The action window passed without intervention from the Fallen. No relief overcame the add-on, which continued its mission.

[No foreign ego detected.
Initiating third phase: gate finalization.]

Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 15
WILL +6
CHAR +3

*

Thirty minutes later, Priam had his arm buried elbow-deep in the beast’s belly. 

“Think I’ve found something,” he announced as his gloved fingers brushed something hard.

“Please tell me it’s not more guts,” Victoire grimaced. “I’ve never smelled anything so foul.”

“Want to switch places?”

“No thanks, babe. You’re doing great!”

Priam growled and yanked. After a brief struggle, he pulled free a small shard of cristal. A rinse under the tap revealed a milky white hue.

“This looks like what they were talking about online,” Victoire said. “Solid aether.”

The integration hadn’t immediately cut off all sources of information, and the world had flocked to social media for answers. Sifting through doomsday prophets, marketers selling apocalypse survival courses, and trolls claiming they had concentrated large amounts of aether in their testicles after thirty years of celibacy, Priam had found some useful information.

First, a compilation of questions asked during the Tutorial’s difficulty selection.

The entity projecting the interface into their minds called itself the System. It refused to communicate about its creator, the Seven Concepts it had mentioned—possibly because they were related—or anything not directly tied to the Tutorial. As insane as it sounded, the System originated from a universe other than Earth’s.

This new universe was where Earth had been transported, specifically within the Sector Hope, an artificial galaxy. Priam had verified this by observing new constellations when night fell. According to astronomy enthusiasts’ questions, the star the Earth was orbiting was a replica of the Sun, as was the rest of the solar system—except for Venus, Mars, and a few satellites visited by human probes. The System justified this by saying they were part of humanity’s history. This was undoubtedly significant, but Priam had no idea why.

What he did know was that the energy and technique required to transport three planets from one universe to another and recreate an identical star were incomprehensible to humanity. This provided some perspective on the System’s capabilities.

While fascinating, these considerations weren’t critical in the short term. Fortunately, some practical-minded individuals had asked about the Tutorial’s purpose. The answer was simple: to prepare humans for their new life. Quite obviously, its difficulty scaled with the final reward.

Reading those words, Priam had briefly regretted choosing Hard difficulty before chastising himself. He had made his decision with full awareness. He would save his father and Victoire, then explore this new universe.

“With this System, a humble start doesn’t mean a mediocre finish. One day, I’ll visit every peak,” he had vowed.

[Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 16
WILL +6
CHAR +3]

Other questions had been raised, but their reliability was questionable. Priam had focused instead on the discoveries made during the first hours of the Tutorial. Three facts were undisputed.

First, only those who had selected the Normal, Hard, or Perilous difficulty settings remained on Earth. The rest of humanity was missing, their whereabouts unknown. Second, the laws of reality in this universe—or perhaps the System itself—enabled the transformation of ordinary skills into Skills. The capital “S” was critical, as it denoted not only a quantified measure of the skill's potency but also a corresponding enhancement of the individual’s attributes. Third, traces of solid aether fragments had been detected in minute quantities within the bodies of mutated animals.

An hour and a half into the Tutorial, Priam’s internet connection had grown unstable. When it finally cut out altogether, his first thought was an EMP triggered by nuclear war. His father had dug a radio out of the basement, and they were all relieved when the host refuted that grim possibility. The man then apologized, explaining his family depended on him, before leaving his post. From that point on, Priam, Alain, and Victoire lost all contact with the outside world. Living in a secluded house in the woods a kilometer from the nearest village wasn’t always a blessing.

After thoroughly examining the crystal found in the boar’s stomach, Priam removed his gloves and reached out to touch it directly. “Only one way to find out.”

Ignoring Victoire's grimace and the worry in his father’s eyes, he closed his fingers around the shard.

“Ow!”

“Priam?!”

“It’s fine,” he reassured them after a second. “Felt like grabbing an electric fence for a second—unpleasant, but tolerable. Now… it feels like I’m dipping my hand into cool water.”

The sensation was alien but pleasant.

Victoire glanced at Priam’s hand, hovering a meter above the ground and far from any actual water. “There’s nothing but air.”

“I know. It’s just an impression. More importantly…” He grinned. “This is what we’ve been looking for.”

Exit Tutorial Portal:
Boar core (bad quality) detected (1.2g).
Aether percentage: 29%.
Sacrificing this object will advance your Main Quest progression by 34.8%.

“This shard—or rather, this core—accounts for over a third of my quest.”

“We need five more, then,” Victoire calculated.

As a non-combatant, Alain didn’t share their Main quests. His only requirement was to obtain sixty levels in non-martial skills. He had completed his quest in less than an hour after sketching a blueprint. For reasons unknown, [Architecture - Epic] had singlehandedly filled sixty levels of his progression bar. Priam theorized its rarity was equivalent to a common skill at level sixty.

“To think people say humanity loves violence.”

The lost look from his father was telling, and Priam explained.

“Anyone with passion, specialization, or advanced education can unlock at least one epic-tier skill and clear the Hard Tutorial as a non-combatant. On the other hand, without a weapon, that boar would’ve butchered me.”

“True, but a soldier with an assault rifle could kill that thing’s mama,” Victoire pointed out. “At least, I hope so.”

Priam nodded, then froze. Sows were known to keep close tabs on their young. Judging by the size of the boarlet, its mother had to be absolutely massive.

“We might need my hunting shotgun after all,” Alain said grimly.

*

Chapter 324: Betrayal

The sow and its brood attacked at dawn, shattering the bay window in a violent charge. Perhaps the animal did smell its child’s blood because its guttural roar made the walls quiver. Anyone who had never heard the wrath of a boar couldn’t fathom the terror of realizing such a feral, malevolent beast wanted you dead.

“Now,” Priam ordered, his voice steadier than he felt.

Victoire and Alain each tipped a basin filled with vegetable oil down the wide staircase. The liquid cascaded step by step, pooling into a slick, treacherous sheet at the ground floor.

“We’re upstairs!” Priam shouted.

“You think she understands you?”

“I hope not, but it should get its attention—”

A terrifying crash followed by a jarring tremor announced the sow’s demolition of a wall. Barreling out of the living room by bursting through the door, the animal appeared at the foot of the stairs.

Priam leveled his shotgun, locking eyes with its dark gaze. Unexpected courage kept him steady as a monster weighing over two hundred kilograms glared at him with all the hatred the animal kingdom could muster.

“Wait for the right moment, son.”

Heart pounding, Priam held his breath as the beast charged the stairs. He fired. Two shells of buckshot halted the animal’s charge, and the oiled steps sent it skidding back to the ground floor.

You have gained the skill: [Shooting - Rare].

The weakened sow staggered to its feet, its massive bulk dislodging shards of a shattered armoire. Its head swiveled in Priam’s direction, but its ruined eyes could no longer see him. Blood-matted fur made it even more imposing. Pain warred with rage and lost as its bellow heralded a second charge.

Hands shaking with fear, Priam fired, reloaded, and fired again. He was reloading once more when his father’s hand settled on his shoulder.

“It’s over.”

Priam glanced down at the sow’s motionless body, wary. Just as he was ready to exhale in relief, more guttural growls rumbled through the house. The remaining boarlets were enraged by their mother’s death.

*

The house that had seen him grow up was in ruins. Broken glass crunched beneath Priam’s feet as he wandered among destroyed furniture, shredded upholstery, and carpets smeared with blood and filth. In their frenzy, the boarlets had ransacked everything, leaving a stench so foul it had made Victoire vomit.

Priam bore it stoically, sifting through the wreckage for mementos to carry into his new life. He found none.

“No diary, no photo album, no heartfelt letters… I’m a real loner,” he said with a faint smile.

As far back as he could remember, he had kept his emotions tucked away, preferring fantastical dreams to material possessions. Even now, as his father sighed at the destruction of the home he had built with his own hands, Priam’s thoughts lingered on the skill he had just gained.

[Shooting] - Thirteen centuries ago, the Chinese invented black powder. A mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, it expands 300 times its original volume upon ignition, creating a blast powerful enough to propel projectiles. Nine centuries ago, the Arabs used it with a cannon and an arrow: firearms were born. The rest is history.
You wielded a firearm to launch lead pellets at subsonic speeds into a living target. It didn’t appreciate it.
This skill enhances your ability to predict a target’s movements, optimize your shooting technique, and help your aim with any tool capable of firing projectiles.
Fun fact: At eighteen, an American is old enough to own a firearm but too young to buy alcohol. Perhaps this respect for the Second Amendment is why aliens have never successfully invaded this country. At least, that’s the Hollywood version. In reality...
PERC +1
DEXT +2

Behind the System’s caustic tone, Priam saw the endless opportunities of this new world. Unlocking [Physics - Waves] and [Algebra] had come with a surge in his mental speed of thought and memory—a change hard to quantify but deeply appreciated. Meanwhile, [Shooting] had granted two points of dexterity, which Priam promptly tested by juggling four tennis balls. Yesterday, such a feat would have been beyond him.

Still, nothing matched the awe inspired by his enhanced perception. Priam removed his glasses and realized he could see better without them. A grin spread across his face as he let the glasses fall from fingers that had clung to them for over half his life. After his confrontation with the boar and its brood, the gesture felt like liberation. This System isn’t a curse—it’s an opportunity. An opportunity I’ll seize!

[Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 17
WILL +6
CHAR +3]

“You seem unusually excited,” came a voice.

Priam turned, startled that his father had managed to sneak up on him. “Dad…”

“So?”

“... This is everything I’ve ever dreamed of.”

Alain gestured toward the ruins of their home and then to Priam’s injured ankle. “It’s dangerous.”

Priam responded by crushing his glasses underfoot. “And exhilarating.”

“I didn’t know you were such an adventurer.”

Just hours ago, Priam had been just another bright young man. Now a burgeoning warrior, he took a moment to consider before answering. “Maybe I’ve always been an adventurer. I was just born in the wrong century—or the wrong universe.”

A creaking floorboard announced Victoire’s arrival.

“I got it!” she declared, holding aloft a big aether crystal. “Five grams! Even impure, this thing’s enough to get one of us through the Tutorial. With the ones from the boarlets, we’re set!” Her smile faltered as she caught Priam deep in thought. “What’s wrong?”

“Well,” Priam began, "the Hard difficulty only requires a gram of pure aether, and we’ve hit that goal in under a day. With six days left, why not aim higher?"

“…You’re kidding, right?”

Priam shrugged. “I mean, the Perilous difficulty only asks for five grams—ten if we do it as a pair. We’re already a third of the way there…”

[Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 18
WILL +6
CHAR +3]

Victoire cursed, and Alain groaned. Seeing their reactions, Priam fought the urge to smile. He knew he would convince them eventually. The risk was undeniable and he wasn’t sure the System would even allow him to escalate the difficulty now. However, something told him this entity rewarded risk-taking.

Besides, he couldn’t help himself. Deep down, Priam couldn’t accept mediocrity. Not when it came to magic.

Such was the nature of the Juggernaut.

*

[Initiating third phase: gate finalization.]

The indefatigable add-on redirected all available aether into the final stage of the draconic ritual. The intertwined meridians of the right eye formed an array composed of hundreds of cryptic runes. Once powered, the arcane formation lit up, its patterns rewriting reality itself. Shaped by an ancient and fearsome power, the pseudo-gate shifted form, transitioning from a planetary sphere to a ring.

Following the instructions of Heavenly Dragon, the add-on scanned the third layer of Priam’s soul, searching for a specific resistance. Among the twenty-four epic-level skills inscribed there, it located [Free Will] and copied its rune. Utilizing [High Aether Manipulation], it engraved the same rune onto the gate’s inner surface, surrounding it with additional draconic runes until every inch of the structure was adorned. The result resembled the One Ring, though far smaller—none of the runes exceeded a tenth of a millimeter.

Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 19
WILL +6
CHAR +3

Once completed, the gate was positioned around the primary aether meridian—a pathway overlapping the optic nerve—and activated [Three-Headed Hydra] to trigger fast regeneration. Within seconds, Priam’s punctured pupil healed, though the process exacted several hours of lifespan as payment. A small price to pay to break a Tribulation. 

Priam’s unconscious body opened its eyes. His left pupil remained unchanged, its hazel color shrouded in thick mist. Understanding a Concept always left its mark.

Visually, his right pupil was a twin to the left, but a keen observer might notice the unusual behavior of the surrounding ambient aether. Born from untapped potential, turbulence stirred the ambient energy, as the gate drew aether like a star attracting matter. This phenomenon would persist until its power was channeled toward a specific purpose. A virgin gate couldn’t remain long without resistance.

Even Priam’s internal aether wasn’t immune to the gate’s pull. The add-on measured a steady drain through the right ocular meridian and posited a theory: the gate functioned as a toll, taxing the primordial fluid as it flowed through. The siphoned energy powered [Free Will]’s rune and the surrounding draconic engravings, initiating a new ritual. Its purpose was straightforward: to establish a permanent link between the gate and Priam’s soul, anchoring the resistance to his physical form and elevating its quality.

Only one step remained: tempering the gate in a hostile environment. A proper refinement required a trial worthy of the artifact. Priam had chosen the dual Mental Tribulation.

When the rune of [Free Will] reached full charge, the spiritual connection stabilized, achieving resonance. If Priam triumphed over the ordeal, his right eye would become the embodiment of the skill. Born to safeguard his autonomy, the resistance written into his soul would allow him to read the world through an unbound lens.

For as long as Priam possessed the will to break his shackles, [Free Will] would let him see them.

[Hostile conditions detected. Initiating final tempering phase.]

Acknowledging the mental Tribulations as anomalies, the resistance flared. The gate transformed the aether coursing through it, imbuing the flow with unique properties. In an instant, Priam’s pupil shifted. The mist veiling his gaze dissipated, revealing a honeyed hue that pierced through the System’s illusions.

Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 20
WILL +6
CHAR +3

For a fleeting moment, Priam’s trapped consciousness glimpsed both the skies of Proxima and the dream conjured by the Tribulations. The dissonance fractured the illusion, and the Juggernaut began to awaken.

After four simulated days of hunting in a forest teeming with monsters, Priam’s consciousness had finally validated the Perilous difficulty of the Tutorial. When the truth broke through, his will faltered for only a moment before rebelling against the ordeal’s chains. With a roar of defiance, Priam turned his back on the portal and fixed his gaze on every corner of the dreamscape. Wherever his eyes landed, cracks began to spiderweb outward, as if reality itself were glass under pressure. As the point of no return approached, Priam tilted his head back, his eyes locking onto the false firmament dotted with fake stars. A black stain snagged his attention. The new moon was invisible, concealed by Earth’s jealous silhouette.

Hecate's New Moon, the mythological mutation slumbering within Priam’s pupils, stirred to life, awakened by the presence of the gate embedded within his right eye. Enraged by this rival encroaching on its domain, it lashed out, wielding its power of negation to drain the influence of [Free Will].

Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 21
WILL +6
CHAR +3

The double Tribulation seized the opportunity to reassert its control over Priam’s dream. Oblivion wrapped around him once more, and his consciousness sank back into slumber.

*

Flanked by his father and Victoire, Priam exited the Tutorial, leaving Earth behind. Their arrival was met with the towering grandeur of an enormous building, a skyscraper beyond the reach of mundane construction. Above the massive double doors, a sign was inscribed in letters of gold and blood. Though the alphabet was unfamiliar, Priam had no trouble reading the inscription.

“Mercenaries’ Guild.”

*

Despite Priam’s hydra-like regeneration, his right eye was weeping blood. The battle between the gate and the mutation exacted collateral damage, and the consequences were anything but trivial.

Incapable of panic, the add-on sought a solution to its host’s predicament, aware of the limited time before the organ failed. Hecate's New Moon’s betrayal was an unforeseen variable—one Priam had never imagined, let alone planned for, leaving the add-on without clear directives.

Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 22
WILL +6
CHAR +3

A notification from the System offered a glimmer of aid.

[Chimera - Legendary] is ready for evolution. Presence of a catalyst detected.
Use 14 170 POT to trigger evolution?
Use 14 120 POT to trigger evolution?
Use 14 070 POT to trigger evolution?

Among Priam’s array of abilities, one stirred in response. Dragon versus Phoenix. Hecate's New Moon versus [Free Will]; [Chimera] was in overdrive, barely containing the warring elements.

Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 23
WILL +6
CHAR +3

Use 14 020 POT to trigger evolution?

Yet even as the gate and mutation clashed, their duel became a wellspring of levels.

[Analysis…
Simultaneous possession of opposing forces is wearing down the host’s body.
Simultaneous possession of opposing forces is accelerating the host’s growth.
Recommended action: none.]

Lvl Up: [Free Will] lvl 24
WILL +6
CHAR +3

Use 13 970 POT to trigger evolution?

If there was one thing Priam trusted about himself, it was his unparalleled capacity to adapt.

Thus, while tempering an epic resistance, the Juggernaut began to tame a rare Talent and a mythological mutation.

[End of analysis.
Extremely hostile environment detected.
[He Who Eludes Death] primed.

Triggering protocol “All In.”]

*

I thought I could wrap it all up in one chapter, but I got greedy! I'll need one more on Gaia - the capital of the Hope Sector - as the Mercenaries' Guild is there. Since the System will recreate the Thaal's city for Priam and he’ll remember it if he endures his mental Tribulations, it's not a bad thing for him.
You’ll see that in the next chapter!