[Warrior of Mankind, welcome to your first trial]...
Kaito opened his eyes slowly to the sound of the enchanting voice. The pain in his stomach had faded away swiftly, just as the words spoken by this mysterious voice ended. His thoughts were no longer scattered, but he did find himself in an interesting situation.
'What..? Where.. Where am I?'
The frail young man turned his head and was met with a subtle cool breeze that made his hair dance in the wind. There were only trees and grass everywhere he looked. Soon his gaze narrowed as he began to stand up. His dry lips quickly formed into a frown.
'Did I not get sent anywhere by The Hex...? Wait.. was I even infected by The Hex? Ugh... maybe I just ate something that was spoiled...'
His thoughts were suddenly put on halt as he heard a low growl, Kaito turned his head almost instantly at the direction of the sound. It was dark, the night swallowed every bit of light that was left. Except for one specific spot, right behind two trees, two red orbs that burned with a red hue stared back at the young man.
'I was definitely sent somewhere by The Hex... Damn it...'
The young man quickly rose to his feet as the two glowing red orbs seemed to approach. Once on his feet, Kaito gritted his teeth and took a step back. His eyes widened greatly as the figure emerged from the darkness. Illuminated by the soft glow of the moonlight there stood a figure covered in tree barks that assumed the form of an armor, its skin was black and there seemed to be black smoke constantly leaking from its skin. The wooden masked creature stepped closer to their red eyes that seemed to emanate the same smoke as its skin but instead red seemed more intense. The creature brought its hand towards the hilt of the wooden blade that was at their side.
'Damn it! You've got to be kidding me!'
Just before the young man could curse The Hex for putting him in such a situation, he looked above the creature's head. His anger replaced by complete and utter fear, above its head lies the words.
[Protector of the Great ElderWood Forest, GrymWake].
The name of the creature was a pure dark red. The color of names indicates the difference in power between the two combatants. Dark red means that the enemy is leagues above yourself. Kaito gritted his teeth while continuing to read.
[Rank: Distorted Monarch].
Without hesitating the frail young man turned on his heel and began running away, further into the forest. He hadn't read anymore, those three words were all he needed. That creature was no regular beast, it was a Distorted Royalty, the second highest class a creature from the trials could have. Kaito ran as fast as he could, his thoughts focused on one single objective.
'I need to survive! I need to run!'
The armored creature simply stood in the same place, watching Kaito's retreating figure. It removed its hand from the hilt of its blade and turned back towards the opposite side of the forest. Disappearing into the shade granted by the tall trees.
"Damn it, Damn it, Damn it! It's impossible for me to defeat that thing! Please, please, I can't take anymore nonsense today!"
After a long while of running, Kaito fell to his knees, still surrounded by trees. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes as his lips quivered. He took a deep breath and looked around frantically. The frail young man now on his knees prevented himself from weeping silently.
'No.. It's fine.. It's all fine! I just need to check my abilities and traits. Then I'll be able to clear this trial and keep living! I'll even be able to live comfortably after my enlightenment!'
As Kaito continued reassuring himself, he slowly crawled towards a tree, his legs still trembling after running for so long. Once he reached the tree a sigh escaped his lips. While leaning up against the tree the young man looked up, trying to gaze at the sight of the night sky. Instead all Kaito could see was leaves, leaves from the trees in this never ending forest.
'Calm down.. Calm..down...'
With a deep inhale followed by a short sigh, Kaito focused intensely, his mind still shaken from the previous events.
'Profile... Show me my profile.'
As soon as his thoughts all focused on one word, a blue panel slowly materialized and spread vertically in front of him, displaying his profile. Kaito let out a satisfied sigh and began to read.
[Name: Kaito Yoshida].
[Attributes: Hated, Jack of All Trades].
The young man paused and focused on his attributes, beginning with hatred.
[Hated] Attribute Description: You are hated by all beings including fate itself, reality will bend to force misfortune upon you.
The young man scowled and clenched his fist, slamming it against the tree he rested against.
"Are you kidding me?! Is this why my luck was so terrible all this time?! The world just hates me?!"
Just before he continued to yell the young man took a deep breath and stopped screaming. His blood was boiling but he had to maintain silence in case any creatures were nearby.
'Whatever, let me see what else I have...'
Kaito's eyes quickly focused on his second attribute.
[Jack of All Trades] Attribute Description: All weapons are easily understood by you, no weapon is impossible for you to wield and use. This ability has room for growth based on your mana cores.
'No way.. Isn't this just too amazing? This is just my attribute? This is awesome, I've got to say for someone who fate hates so much they sure granted me with such a wonderful boon! Let's see more!'
Mana cores: 1/9.
Weapon proficiency: Inferior.
Elemental Affinity: All.
'Amazing, this is just amazing! I can't believe this, I really can become the strongest Enlightened!' Kaito practically beamed with excitement while already daydreaming about his new life.
With newfound vigor the frail young man glanced down at the rest of his profile, his hair swaying slightly as he lowered his head with a grin. That did not last long.
[Innate Abilities: King of None].
Kaito quickly froze, there has never been an Enlightened without an innate ability, not that he had heard of. He quickly shook his head and reassured himself that it was fine. It said King of None, not just none.
'Huh?'
The young man tilted his head in confusion while reading the description, however it quickly turned into anger and frustration.
[King of None] Innate Ability Description: You are unable to master or increase your proficiency with any weapon or element, in return you will gain a forced inferior mastery of all weapons without room for improvement.
Kaito froze for a brief moment as he read the last words of the description, he gritted his teeth and held back a curse. It couldn't be, his innate ability forced him to be stuck at an inferior mastery of all weapons and things, forever?
'What?! What?! No, why would my innate ability contradict my attribute, why won't it let me grow?! I'll die if I'm forced to stay at an inferior mastery while everyone improves, I'll be left behind!'
The young man closed his eyes while trying to calm down. If he managed to clear this trial, he would be able to gain an ability. They are similar to innate abilities but normally stronger, more abilities can be gained as you complete more trials, the only downside is that the first ability you gain grants you a curse. These curses can be all sorts of things.
"It doesn't matter, I would gladly take almost any curse for an ability that's better than my innate one!"
Kaito scowled in frustration. At that same moment he heard rustling from the bush a couple of feet in front of him. He gritted his teeth and looked around, finding a sturdy stick and grabbing it while rising to his feet. It's time to test his abilities. He couldn't run any more even if he wanted to, his legs were too weak for that.