Ascension Protocol

Trial by Time

Chapter 5: Trial by Time

Time Remaining: 13:20:57

The Oracle Shard pulsed faintly in his inventory, like a second heartbeat. Despite the cold silence of his apartment, Samuel couldn’t stop glancing at the system clock. Each tick of the countdown brought a heavy awareness not just of time passing, but of how fragile his survival was.

He hadn’t eaten. He hadn’t slept. He didn’t dare.

System Notice:

Vital Levels: Dropping.

Hunger: Moderate

Fatigue: Mild

Recommended Action: Resource Recovery

Samuel rose from the floor. The air smelled of stale food and scorched metal. Every instinct told him to stay hidden, but every lesson from the last twelve hours told him that inaction was fatal.

“Food, water, rest,” he muttered. “Things a normal person needs.”

He wasn’t sure he was normal anymore.

He headed into the corridor, keeping low and listening. Something had changed outside less traffic, fewer voices, a strange stillness as if the entire district was holding its breath. The Red Shadow operatives hadn’t returned yet, but he wasn’t naïve enough to think they’d simply forgotten.

The elevator didn’t work. Too risky anyway. He took the stairs down thirteen floors, past sleeping neighbors, flickering lights, graffiti-covered walls. As he reached the first floor, he stopped.

A drone hovered silently at the corner of the hallway.

Pulse Scan Activated.

Civilian-Class Recon Bot

Threat Level: Low

Affiliation: CityGrid Security

Status: Passive. Monitoring Unregistered Movement.

Samuel held still, breath shallow.

Skill Triggered: Silent Motion (F) — Movement suppresses noise by 80% when crouched.

With practiced care, he slipped past the drone, down the alley, and into the ruins of an old cyber-café turned black market food stall. There, he found packaged nutrient bricks, two sealed flasks of water, and a can of synthetic caffeine.

Inventory Updated

+3 [Nutrient Brick]

+2 [Clean Water Flask]

+1 [Caffeine Surge Canister]

He scarfed the food in minutes, body trembling slightly as the calories surged through his veins. His status bars began to shift upward—barely noticeable, but enough to keep moving.

Time Remaining: 11:08:35

The system pulsed again.

New Event: Micro-Rift Detected Nearby

Description: Temporary spatial anomaly. Cause: Data Corruption.

Duration: 90 minutes

Optional Objective: Enter Micro-Rift and survive encounter.

Reward: Rare Ability Unlock + Combat Trait

Samuel stared at the map overlay. The rift was just four blocks away beneath an old mag-rail station. The temptation was immediate. Risk, yes, but the chance to gain something powerful? Something he might need?

He hesitated only a moment before setting off.

The mag-rail station was dead overgrown with moss, lit only by flickering emergency strips. Echoes of the old world lingered in the dust-covered terminals and shattered vending machines. Below the platform, an old service tunnel yawned open, and within it, a faint, unnatural glow pulsed like a heartbeat.

Entering Micro-Rift Instance

Warning: Difficulty scaling in effect.

Samuel stepped through and the world shifted.

The tunnel twisted into a fragmented maze of broken subway cars floating in the dark. Gravity flickered. Time dilated. Creatures twisted mockeries of human form moved between the debris, composed of shredded code and ancient muscle.

[Enemy: Rift-Spawned Wretch]

Level: 3

Type: Aberrant

Behavior: Swarming

Reward: +10 XP per kill

Three of them spotted him.

They shrieked and charged.

Samuel’s system flared to life.

Adaptive Echo Form. Pulse Scan. Momentum Shift. He triggered every skill he had. His movements were faster now precise, fluid. The first Wretch lunged; he dodged and drove a metal shard into its neck. The second leapt onto his back, but he rolled with it, slamming both into the edge of a floating railcar.

Critical Hit.

XP Gained: +30

Stamina: 45/100

But the third Wretch the largest grabbed him by the arm and flung him into open space. His back slammed into a bulkhead. Pain lanced through his ribs.

Health: 38 / 100

Blood dripped from his mouth.

And then something inside him snapped.

System Instability Surged.

Hidden Trait Activated: Code Resilience (Passive) — When near death, system temporarily adapts combat protocols to user biology.

His vision flared red.

He moved like a phantom his form slightly flickering, limbs faster than his eyes could track. He vaulted onto the Wretch, grabbed a fallen blade fragment, and cleaved downward.

The creature fell in pieces.

Micro-Rift Cleared.

Time Remaining: 07:47:51

Reward: Ability Unlocked — Phase Edge (F): Temporarily renders melee weapons incorporeal for armor penetration.

Trait Gained — Instinctive Flow: Grants passive agility boost during rapid combat decisions.

System Integration: 32%

Level Up! Samuel Gray is now Level 3.

The rift closed behind him, and the world reset.

Back in his apartment, Samuel’s body was bruised and battered. But he was alive. Stronger.

And the system wasn’t done with him yet.

Trial Ending Imminent. Final Integration Phase Beginning.

Time Remaining: 00:02:44

He sat in the center of the room, surrounded by flickering lights and interface runes. The system interface grew brighter more aware.

Congratulations. You have survived the Initial Protocol Trial.

You are now eligible for advancement through Ascension Tier 1.

Initiating Candidate Path…

Suddenly, a new set of windows bloomed in front of him—cascading like a flood of choices.

Choose Your Growth Path:

[1] Combat Specialist — Weapon-focused, enhanced reflexes, access to advanced kinetic weaponry.

[2] Techno-Walker — Hacking and engineering proficiency, drone summoning, electromagnetic warfare.

[3] Echo-Warlock — Manipulate corrupted code, apply effects to reality, blend support and destruction.

[4] Unbound — Reject structure. Embrace system evolution. Gain random boosts and future mutations.

Samuel’s hand hovered between them.

He thought of Ayla. Of the Red Shadow. Of the Wretches. Of the Oracle Shard.

And he made his choice.

Selection Confirmed: Unbound

Ascension Tier 1 Activated

New Directive: Complete the Three Trials of the Unbound

Trial of Flesh

Trial of Code

Trial of Will

First Trial Begins in: 12 Hours

Samuel exhaled, standing tall despite the bruises.

This was only the end of the beginning.