Chapter 65: A New Start

  Congratulations Vorin, you have successfully completed your trial dungeon!

  Bonus experience has been awarded

  Triumph of Oneself Achievement has been unlocked.

  Triumph of Oneself: You have completed a trial dungeon and triumphed over what was weighing down your soul. Through knowing yourself better and cleansing your soul, your resources have benefited. Stamina and Mana will now regenerate at double the rate.

  Healer’s Leadership Achievement has been unlocked.

  Healer’s Leadership: You and your allies gain a 5% boost to natural health regeneration.

  Vorin had obviously heard of the fantastic rewards the others had got for completing the trial and he wouldn’t say he wasn’t excited to find out what his were. Both of these achievements were already amazing. Five percent didn’t feel like a lot, but that could be the difference between life and death. On top of these achievements, he looked at his status to see that he had gained nearly thirteen levels, putting him at level thirty-eight. Progress felt good after being stagnate for so long.

  He turned around to find a door when two items manifested in front of his eyes.

  Mask of the Plague Doctor (Legendary): Gain immunity to all illness. While wearing this mask, you gain the ability to see anyone who is infected and instantly know what they are infected with.

  Scythes of the Plague Bringer (Legendary): Plagues can be delivered directly through the blades of these scythes as if you touched your foe. Damage scales with each plague your foe is inflicted with.

  Vorin’s face lit up at seeing the items. The mask would be amazing for levelling up his skills more. It was hard to check every single person showing minor symptoms. Now he could skip that awkward conversation and look for himself. He liked the aesthetic of the mask as well. In fact, he felt they matched the scythes well.

  With handles of dense bone, and a black metal blade, the scythes looked incredible. The first ability alone could make him more efficient in combat. On top that, they were a bit longer and lighter than his current ones, making his range and mobility better. He went ahead and equipped both items with a thought. To his surprise he got another notification.

  Set Bonus Detected

  Plague Set (2 of 4): For every plague cured with one of your skills while having this set equipped, gain a 1% bonus to your natural health regeneration.

  Current Bonus: 0%

  He had, of course, heard of set bonuses before, but they were only found on legendary or higher rarity items. The possibility of him ever finding equipment like that never occurred to him. This bonus was the cherry on top for completing such a difficult experience.

  To him the true reward was finally releasing himself from the burdens he had carried with himself for most of his life. He knew that it wasn’t that simple of course. It would be a lot of work to maintain his new outlook. One trial wouldn’t simply erase all his problems, but for now he was going to enjoy his newfound levity.

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  ***

  With the wood finally dried, the group was applying Synexus’ special sap to the ship to treat the whole thing before finally testing it out. For the sails they had decided to use some bamboo from his bag. Crix and Mipp knew how to spin the thread and weave it.

  To everyone’s surprise it would be almost as big of a project as making the ship itself. Synexus had to grow enough bamboo and then the class chosen came together to smash it. Then the process of separating the fibers came into play which they didn’t have any way to speed up. Luckily, there were still three trials to go through after Vorin emerged.

  They had a couple of class expected working on separating the fibers while Mipp and Crix got to work on spinning it using a rudimentary spinning wheel they put together. Everyone else was down at the ship applying the sap.

  That was until another thunderous crash sounded from the mountain range. All the existing fissures deepened, nearly breaking off another peak. Smaller gemstone rocks were falling from the gashes.

  This was commonplace now. No one even flinched this time. Calmly they all got up from their tasks and walked to the mansion for the count.

  When they got there, Vorin was standing outside wearing his mask and wielding his new scythes.

  “Hey everyone! What did I miss?”

  “You sound chipper, captain. Are you okay? Zuls looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

  “Thanks, Zuls. I feel great though except for being a little exhausted.”

  “I’m glad you’re out, captain! We have started work on the sails and we are finishing up the ship. It looks like you made the best of your time in the dungeon.” Prith was inspecting the blades on Vorin’s new scythes as he spoke.

  “That I did, Prith! Got some levels, some new gear that will help me greatly, and found the whole experience cathartic.” He paused and looked around before continuing. “Actually, while everyone is here, I would like to say something. The trial made me realize that I’ve been holding onto a lot. I’m sure most of you have realized that. Constantly carrying that weight had taken its toll and in turn, I didn’t act like much of a leader when recent events occurred. Inside I had the chance to face the cause and reflect on myself. Going forward I will do better for myself, and for all of you.”

  “So, did you get to fight stuff in there?” Kumo asked to break the awkward silence.

  Everyone laughed. Synexus saw that it must have taken a bit of courage for Vorin to say what he did, so he decided to speak up.

  “Thank you for saying all that captain. Know that none of us ever saw you as anything other than a good leader. You’ve got us through some tough times. That being said, if you have found something that you weren’t happy with involving yourself and want to change, then of course we will support your decision. Everyone deserves to be happy with who they are.”

  “Well said, Synexus.” Drackenn spoke from the back of the crowd in his deep voice. “I believe we all will have things to work on after coming out of the trial and all these changes will result in progress towards our classes and toward who we are as people. From one captain to another, I think you’ve done a fine job, but we all know ourselves better than anyone else. I’m glad you got to face your demons and banish them once and for all.”

  With that the rest of the crowd yelled various things celebrating Vorin as a captain. All he could do was smile before walking up and passing out on his bed.

  ***

  Shell loved how Synexus and Drackenn supported Vorin like that. She had been quite nervous for her turn in the dungeon because she was still very much a stranger to everyone here. If you asked others they would say she was their friend, but often times she felt like an outsider. It was always hard for her to fit in even amongst the Wave.

  She did enjoy the mediations in the mornings and comparing notes on techniques with Prith. Synexus also provided her with fascinating conversations. There was just always something that separated her. When they had figured out the question that the lock was asking, it made her meditate on her answer. This led her to realize what this something had been all along. Experience.

  Her entire life had been spent in her settlement with the Wave. When she did get to leave it was still confined to the ocean. The entire point of her being chosen for the mission with the pirates was because her mother thought she could benefit from some life experience.

  Standing in front of the door she reached out with her mind to answer the question and enter her trial.

  “My lack of world experience is holding my progress back. If I stay in the ocean my whole life, then I won’t be prepared for the infinite variables found in life. My world will stagnate my class progress and my growth as a person.”

  Accepting the answer, the door swung open, and Shell of the Wave entered her trial.