Chapter 94: Once Again, the First

Priam selected [Draconic] and [Double Heart] began its work. His rib cage opened. The experience was moderately pleasant, and Priam activated Micro to suppress the pain. Without Supremacy, he would have fainted.

His main heart shifted slightly to the left, to make room for the future organ. The [Double Heart] framework vibrated before doubling in size. More precisely, a mirror image of the cage emerged from Priam's thorax. The illusion quickly gained consistency and increased in volume as it moved towards its target.

It took it just two seconds to envelop the wyvern's heart. Once in position, the image became solid. The appearance of a solid aether cage around the organ severed the veins and arteries connected to it. From these veins, blood streams began to flow, invading the cavity. Priam paid no attention, too busy watching [Double Heart] glow.

Target: Heart of Heaven Wyvern - Shadow Touched.

Starting purification protocol.

...

An intense light emanated from the cage, and Priam's eyes filled with tears. A heavenly light smote the heart. A moment later, the light dispersed. The golden heart had turned crimson.

Affinities purged.

Organ: Young wyvern heart.

Beginning adaptation process...

The cage diminished in volume, compressing the organ. Despite this, the heart seemed to retain its proportions. Priam had the impression of seeing a zoom-out. Space and dimensions were unaffected, but the muscle was becoming more compact. More dense.

The System's magic was at work. Seconds later, the heart was just slightly larger than a man's.

Beginning assimilation process...

The framework containing the wyvern organ disappeared. The next moment, Priam felt an immense weight inside him. The heart was now inside him. It had shrunk, but retained its mass - around three hundred kilograms. The ultra-dense muscle now disturbed his balance and Priam leaned against a wall to stabilize. Without its powerful attributes, the heart would have killed him by crushing his other organs.

Fortunately, Priam's constitution was exceptional. Grimacing, he accepted the new weight and concentrated on what would come. The operation wasn't over yet.

Within him, two frameworks were now superimposed in space. At least, that's how his Domain saw it.

One contained the wyvern’s heart, and the other the flakes of Tribulations.

Merging two affinities...

The two cages began to transition onto the same plane of reality. The flakes merged with the new heart, which then changed color. From purple, it became silver. Every second, the System modified Priam’s body, connecting veins and arteries to this new organ. Priam felt profound changes taking place within him.

His mist was even more familiar. The steel concept fragment naturally obeyed his commands. His connection with the concepts seemed firmer and more natural.

New affinity unlocked: [Draconic Tribulation].

Both affinities seemed equally powerful, but [Tribulation] decided to support [Draconic]. Priam saw in it a clue about the Tribulation's nature.

New organ: [Heart of Tribulation Wyvern - Seraph]

Congratulations!

Warning: due to the difference in rarity between your race and this organ, there is a possibility of an incompatibility.

Calculating compatibility with your body…

Racial Talent Bonus +20

Bonus [Chimera] +10

Micro Bonus +5

Compatibility assessed at 52%.

Compatibility over 50%, little chance of rejection.
100% compatibility is required to take full advantage of the possibilities offered by [Heart of Tribulation Wyvern - Seraph] .

Title changed!

[Double Heart - Silver] becomes [Tribulation Wyvern Heart - Silver(Gold)] .

[Tribulation Wyvern Heart] - Your second heart has the power of a wyvern, a distant descendant of the Dragons. That alone would be impressive, but it also possesses a [Tribulation Draconic] affinity. While not unique, this affinity is exceedingly rare and creates a mighty heart. Only your body's extreme adaptability allows you to accommodate this organ without perishing.
The power of the Dragons now flows through your veins.
Their bloodline awakens in you. Their power strengthens you.
Be careful to remain the master of this power.
The Dragons' first gift is an innate instinct for destruction and creation.
The Dragon’s second gift... Delayed until compatibility exceeds 90%.
VIT +20% (30%)
Attribute evolution... Delayed until compatibility reaches 100%

New Talent!

[Draconic Instinct] - Your instinct can detect your enemies' mistakes. Your talent for manipulating aether increases.

New Title

[Dr... Insufficient compatibility.

The framework created by the System dispersed, joining the ambient aether. A second passed, and then the heart began to beat. Priam's whole body trembled. His blood now possessed a powerful affinity that nourished his body. The numbers given by the System did not do justice to the feeling of power that invaded him. For the second time that day, Priam felt invincible.

His smile quickly disappeared. He had a lot to do, and the Reunion's end was approaching. Seizing Promise, he used [Tribulation Piercing Spear] . The wyvern's chest exploded, allowing daylight to bathe him in light.

Priam turned to the shadow he had trapped in his Domain. With a thought, he compressed the filament of darkness. A moment later, it disappeared, crushed by the warrior's will. Priam's draconic instincts whispered to him that the battle was over.

He had triumphed.

Covered in blood, acid and fluid, Priam climbed out of the wyvern's corpse and looked around. All around him, buildings laid  in ruins. The battle had ravaged this part of the city. The dust was slowly settling, and silence replaced fighting noises.

Taking a few steps, Priam turned to his right. About three hundred meters away, one of Tommas' men was huddled on the ground. Priam approached, trying to walk straight, which was complicated with a three-hundred-kilogram heart in his chest.

Lvl Up: [Balance] lvl 9

AGI +1

DEXT +2

Pale-skinned, the man's tendons were taut enough to deform his skin. His hands had been torn off, and his eye sockets seemed to stare at the sky. For a moment, Priam wondered what this man would have become without the System.

"And me... what would I have become?"

Only the wind answered. His new instinct remained silent. Priam already knew the answer. He would have been an ordinary man. Maybe exceptional in some ways, but his flame wouldn't have set the world ablaze. The System had left him no choice, but if it had, Priam would have answered like Achilles.

He had no regrets about the old world.

Behind him, the wyvern's body was creating a pool of blood. Priam headed for the Colosseum.

*

The Bechar office had red and ochre tones. The decor was a clever blend of imperial Japanese woodwork and futuristic metal objects. In the center of the room, a globe slowly turned on itself. A green satellite, covered in a film of micro-water droplets, orbited the planet. Priam was trying to remember all the changes that had taken place on Earth. The first was immediately evident.

"Did the Earth get bigger?"

"A little," replied Bechar, handing him a glass.

Priam thanked him.

"To your victory!"

"To my victory!" They toasted and emptied the glass in one gulp. Once empty, Priam looked at his glass in astonishment. "Mango and mint soda?"

"I don't think so," laughs Bechar. "It's a drink from my planet. You look surprised. Did you think I was going to serve you alcohol?"

"Well... We humans usually toast with alcohol. But I like this stuff," Priam replied. He meant it.

"I like your booze, but I have to concentrate to get drunk. Too high constitution." Bechar bulged his chest as he raised his glass.

"This stuff here is Gombubitchapila, and it costs as much as the blood of the wyvern you just killed."

Priam looked out of the window. His eyes were powerful enough to check the beast’s corpse in the distance. To think I used to wear glasses...

"I suppose its body is expensive?"

Bechar grimaced. "Yes and no. Like everywhere else, it's the law of supply and demand. Nobody can afford to offer you much here. I could buy it for you, but until you have access to a civilized world, you won't be able to spend the money."

Priam shook his head. "I'll give it to the victims' families."

Bechar remained silent, opened his mouth and then closed it again. Finally, he nodded. It was for Priam to decide.

"You wanted to see me?" asked Priam.

"Indeed. You haven't opened your notifications yet, have you?"

Priam nodded.

"I thought so. A quadruple  Tribulation... The rewards must be exceptional. I hope you've chosen to postpone the next ones?"

"Yes. I'm heading back to Elysium in less than three days, and I don't think unleashing four or five more Tribulations is a great idea..."

"Indeed. Now that you've survived, I can tell you a bit more. You'll have to prepare yourself. Your attributes increase linearly, but the power of Tribulations follows a square function."

Priam frowned. "You mean that if my first tribulation has a power of... say two, then the second has a power of four and the third sixteen?"

Bechar smiles with all his many teeth. "Exactly! I like talking to people who know some mathematics."

That explained why the shadow had such an influential power but had used it so little. It must have had many limitations. On the other hand, despite all its advantages, the wyvern had nearly killed him for good. By contrast, the first two Tribulations were relatively straightforward. With his attributes, he could have crushed them.

Priam thought about the future. If it were true... "Retrying a quadruple Tribulation is madness," he realized.

Bechar shrugged. "It was already madness the first time. But indeed, it's better to try as much Tribulation as possible at the start of a Tier. The difficulty reset during a Tier up. It is why there is no Tier 0 capable of killing gods. The soft cap gets terrifying pretty quickly."

Priam squinted. "But by improving my Suprematies and familiarizing myself with my Concepts, another Quadruple Tribulation is possible, right?"

Bechar looked around nervously. "I can't say too much... In theory, it's possible, but be careful. You're already going to cause quite a stir. There's no need to add to it."

"A stir?"

"A successful Tribulation earns you a Bronze Achievement. For a double, it’s a Silver one. You've managed a quadruple, and if I know how to count, that qualifies you for a Legendary Achievement."

Priam nodded as he moved towards the pitcher containing the Gombubitchapila. He refilled the glasses as he listened to Bechar.

"A Legendary Achievement is rare, let alone for a Tier 0. It may be announced to the whole sector."

"The sector?"

"I forgot you were a country bumpkin," sighed the changeling. "The Concepts Universe is divided into sectors. The System creates a sector, which may contain one or more galaxies, and fills it with new civilizations. After several tens of millions of years, the sector is considered mature and stops receiving newcomers. Without this, human civilization would be up against civilizations billions of years old and entire galaxies. The war wouldn't last an hour."

"What war?"

"Sorry, it was a slip of the tongue. Forget it," Bechar apologized with a wink.

There's going to be a war , Priam realized. That's what awaits humanity later on.

"It's already forgotten," Priam smiled. "So you think my Achievement is going to be announced to a lot of people?"

"Billions upon billions upon billions, yes. It'll be great publicity for your race," Bechar chuckled.

The sheer numbers made Priam dizzy. But after all, if billions of civilizations had an infinite territory and millions of years to prosper, the population of one sector had to be immense.

Bechar rubbed his hands together with a sneer. "When I think of how many bureaucrats are going to spend the next few weeks trying to decide how to kiss your ass, it makes me laugh!"

The System cut the changeling off mid-laugh.

Announcement to Sector Hope:

Arnold NetSky withstood a quadruple Tribulation at Tier 0.
Final rank: Sector - year: 2
The Var Elegis will be rewarded for this feat.

Priam opened his eyes wide and then burst out laughing. The Var Elegis was a monster. Bechar opened his mouth before being interrupted again.

Announcement to Sector Hope:

Tyr Lögsögumad withstood a quadruple Tribulation at Tier 0.
Final rank: Sector - year: 4
The Aesir will be rewarded for this feat.

Priam's laughter continued to grow in intensity. As he read the unfamiliar name, his instincts told him it was one of his Elysian rivals.

Bechar looked at him, confused. "Two quadruple Tribulations... Three with you. That's impossible," said the changeling.

Priam stopped laughing. "If there are that many people in the area, it doesn't seem so unlikely to me, does it?"

"You don't understand. I've never seen these names before. I memorized all the most powerful factions long ago. These are unknowns. Besides, this kind of victory is normally kept secret. I encourage you to do it because you come from a new faction, and the System will ‘protect’ humanity for some time. But no faction would announce the names of its geniuses for fear they'll be assassinated..."

Priam shrugged. "They're new too . Tyr  and Arnold are with me in Elysium."

"In Elysium?" Bechar frowned before widening his eyes. "Wait, you mean Elysium, the spearhead world?!"

"I mean Elysium, the world with the highest density of aether. Don’t know about this spearhead thing," replied Priam.

Bechar remained silent for a few moments before emptying his glass again.

"That explains a few things... A quadruple Tribulation, without the backing of a faction willing to sacrifice a fortune, is abnormal. Unofficially, I think there must be three or four a year in our sector. I only know one guy who's pulled off a triple, and I know a lot of people. Even so, their rank is really high."

"How so?"

"To move up in rank, you have to not only survive a Tribulation, but also brilliantly defeat it," Bechar explained. "Ranks one and three must be geniuses from certain imperial clans or divine children. On top of that, they're certainly on their seventh or even eighth Tribulation at Tier 0. If I have to guess, you must be ranked... Fiftieth?"

Priam's lips stretched. He might have been lucky in the Tutorial, but he'd earned his victory today. He opened his notification.

Achievement - Legendary : You have withstood a quadruple Tribulation at Tier 0. Your exceptional performance during this Tribulation has earned you first place in the annual ranking. This year, among the countless Tier 0s enduring a Tribulation in Sector Hope, you are the one who has most impressed the System.

Message for Sector Hope:

Priam Azura withstood a quadruple Tribulation at Tier 0.
Final rank: Sector - year: 1
Humanity will be rewarded for this feat.

The Seven Concepts congratulate you.

Potential  + 5000. Fusion Token . Evolution Token - Legendary skill.  Opportunity (Elysium).

*

Tyr Lögsögumad was a very busy Aesir. Despite this, he would never have refused to participate in a party.

His people were few in number but biologically immortal. They all knew each other, and most of them liked each other. It was important because the slightest animosity could spread over millennia, taking on enormous proportions and poisoning the life of the entire community.

Try smiled as he watched the banquet given in his honor. His compatriots were feasting and drinking, happy and proud to be one of the greatest races in this new sector. It was this kind of moment that brought them all together. It was that kind of moment that made his job easier.

Or rather, his jobs. At once lawman, judge, policeman and mediator, he was responsible for strengthening the bonds between the Aesir. He judged who was right and who was wrong, and the other Aesir praised his strength and wisdom. However, the strongest Aesir was also the youngest. He was born less than three thousand years ago.

Aesir women gave birth by fighting or hunting. When an Aesir woman wished to become pregnant, she would organize a wild hunt with her husband. The more exceptional the fight, the greater her chances of procreation. Her spirit and that of her husband would unite with the blood of the dead beast, creating a baby.

The proud Aesir spent much of their time fighting. It was the basis of their way of life, their means of feeding themselves and perpetuating their race.

When Arnold NetSky announced his victory, his comrades asked him to show his own. Tyr was a proud warrior and agreed.

Tyr drained his mead as he thought of this Arnold. The Var Elegis was in Elysium, and Tyr knew he would soon have the opportunity to prove his worth.

Announcement to Sector Hope:

Priam Azura withstood a quadruple Tribulation at Tier 0.
Final rank: Sector - year: 1
Humanity will be rewarded for this feat.

Tyr reread the message three times. He knew that Priam was also one of his rivals. Chasing away the notification, he looked around him. The party had gone silent. His twenty or so friends, the entirety of his race, stared at him strangely.

Tyr stood up and looked at his wife, Freyja. "Sunshine, let's go practice."

*

Status: Race change detected. Please read the notification regarding attribute calibration.

[He Who Eludes Death] charge  OFF. Reloaded in 22 hours 51 min 13s

[Tribulation] : Tribulations are coming.

Time: 182 days 23 hours 24 minutes 26 seconds.