84 Testing The Limits, Double Breakthrough (1/2)
Elizabeth walked out of the Time-testing substation and went over to the grand table in the center of the round room to check the use of the new tickets.
[Status
Name: Unmarked Gold Ticket (Legacy Currency)
Description: A note of true gold used in the legacy trial's exchange hub for methods. Equivalent to 100 Yellow Tickets or one Peak-tier method or technique.
Name: Unmarked Cyan Ticket (Legacy Currency)
Grade: Low-tier Divine Enchantment
Description: A note of temporal cyan used in the legacy trial's exchange hub to trade for other tickets or re-entry into the legacy trial. Equivalent to 10 Superior-grade tickets (Gold, Black, or White) or 1 additional day in the legacy trial.
Current Effect: Tears a stable rift into the void of any dimension and transports the user back to the round room of the legacy trial.
Name: Unmarked Grey Tickets (Legacy Currency)
Description: Bland and dull grey notes used in the legacy trial's exchange hub for resources. Equivalent to 1/100th of a Black Ticket.]
Upon reading that the Cyan Ticket was endowed with Divine-level inscriptions, Elizabeth's eyebrows rose in query, as she reached over to see if she could make out the general meaning behind the ticket's inscriptions. At first glance, the ticket looked just like all the others; similar to a banknote, though only colored in one hue. However, as Elizabeth strained her eyes, she could just barely start seeing the intricate patterns that lined the surface of her Cyan Ticket.
As she started to see the base layer of the patterns, she activated her Timeworn eyes. But, shortly after further augmenting her sight, she had to stop as protective measures used in the ticket's creation were starting to deal massive damage to Elizabeth's soul. Elizabeth came out of this probe with blood trickling down her eyes as if they were streaks left behind by tears, yet she didn't show a pained expression. Rather, she stood gazing at nothing in particular, as her thoughts raced.
In the end, she shook her head and wiped the blood from her face, helplessly sighing at the futility in her actions. Just the base layer of inscriptions were nigh impossible for her to understand, so for an enchantment rated as Divine… Elizabeth drew in a deep cold breath as she tried to imagine the level of complexity her Cyan Ticket possessed.
Still, her efforts weren't entirely pointless, as she could just about pick up on the foundational signatures of Spacetime and Neutral Inscriptions. She wasn't entirely sure if those were the only types of inscriptions used in the construction of the ticket, but their presence was virtually confirmed.
Elizabeth released her Cyan Ticket, letting it float back over to join the other tickets on the grand table, before she continued with the legacy trial substations. She had gained another 6 hours from the Time substation and with all the exciting things around her, that obsessive nature of her's had its integrity challenged.
After Time, Elizabeth thought it would be fitting to try Space. Thus, after entering the Space Legacy Trial Substation, Elizabeth cracked her knuckles in anticipation for what was to come. She watched as the white room disintegrated once more, and in its place, she found herself in… a vast and endless black expanse?
Not at all expecting this frankly anticlimactic result, Elizabeth held her hands up as if to ask, ”What the fuck?” However, as she held that disappointed posture, she noticed that the room hadn't just changed colors. Rather, she could feel a faint trace of spatial energy of to the north yonder. Just as the sensation of spatial energy hit her, the instructions for the legacy trial manifested in her psyche.
[Locate as many Spatial Spirit Stones as possible. Performance will be graded on the number of quality of Spirit Stones collected. Time Remaining: 1 Hour, 59 Minutes 59 Sec...]
'Oooh~' Elizabeth felt like she couldn't contain any more joy as she read the term ”Spatial Spirit Stone.” She wasted no time and practically flew towards the source of the spatial energy she previously discovered as if her life depended on it. Spirit Stones were a luxury she didn't expect to see for a long time, hence her overjoyed reaction at the mention of special Spatial-types. As for what Spirit Stones were, it was best to think of them as the culmination of spiritual energy so dense that a solid form materialized to contain it all.
On Earth, there was absolutely no chance that one might spawn as the land was as spiritually inert as can be, and even in the Shadow Realm, Elizabeth didn't expect to find any Spirit Stones for herself until she crossed into more dangerous territories. Right now she might find it relatively easy to get by in the Forest of Beginnings, but even then, the chances of finding Spirit Stones was abysmal…
Elizabeth ran supernaturally fast as evident by the impressive 60 attached to her Speed Stat. But, it would seem that the distances in this black room were hyperbolic to the extreme, as it took Elizabeth a solid two minutes to find the first spirit stone. Granted, she spent about ten seconds trying to distinguish the pitch-black rock from the equally dark expanse around her. With the stone on hand, Elizabeth quickly read through its status before consuming it.
[Name: Worthless Spatial Spiritual Stone
Grade: Peak-tier Mortal Grade
Description: A travesty of a miracle, this is a Spirit Stone that isn't well… Spirit Grade? Due to its exceptional instability, this Spirit Stone is losing energy at a saddening pace.
Current Status: Less than 20% of its estimated original energy is contained, and the remaining energy is still bleeding through.]
'Heh...' Elizabeth laughed to herself as she thought, 'Funny. For a Time Mage, it seems that Time is my greatest enemy...' She bit her tongue as her body was starting to break from the massive spike in energy it was taking in. However, she had the resolve in her heart to die before wasting an opportunity as great as this.
Fortunately, her Space Affinity was already at the brink of forming even before this trial. So, after a couple seconds into her refinement of the pure spatial energy of the Spirit Stone and the creation of her Trash-tier Energy, the pressure she had to bear was dampened by a couple degrees.
[Alert! Breakthrough in Affinity!!!