Crucible Aeternum: Ascending through Skill Trees

Vaulkeen's End

It was an expansive field of rock formations. There was no vegetation in this area as the ground itself seemed to be made of minerals, metals and other things that most people could not even bother identifying.

One would expect many people to be flocking toward it to mine, but it was in fact the opposite. People avoid it like the plague. The name speaks for itself. Vaulkeen's End was the site of a tragedy dating back about five hundred years ago.

A man named Vaulkeen led a group of warriors to establish a city in this region that was outside the influence of others. They were a free folk and thus did not want to be chained down by anyone. When they arrived in this region, they loved the paradisiacal environment that seemed free of Prisma. It reminded them of the old Corrin from before this infectious mineral spread everywhere.

They founded their city, the Free City of Therion. They wanted to embrace being what they were, wild and free animals who roamed the lands. The city was initially small and relatively unknown until tragedy struck when a new wave of meteor rain came.

One of the meteorites fell several tens of miles outside the city, turning it into this strange apocalyptic landscape of rocks and Prisma. But that was not the end of it. The animals that originally inhabited the area were turned into something else, mutant and savage beasts that charged toward Therion like a surging tide.

Vaulkeen and his brothers stood at the frontlines, fighting the beast tide to their last breaths. They succeeded in culling practically 70% of all the beasts who were then forced to retreat back into the forests made of rocks. And Vaulkeen and his brothers were honoured as heroes.

The beasts, who have already developed intelligence enough to understand that further sieges would only wipe them out, remained within the stone forests, marking it as their territory.

Since then, the Free City of Therion became a hub of wanderers and warriors, becoming one of the safest places in the world and also one of the strongest.

Although the city itself was smaller than the independent states or the commercial cities of companies like Navalli, no one would dare attempt to wage war against Therion as their military might would likely be above any other just from the sheer number of wanderers and warriors who treat it as their safe haven.

In the vast field of Vaulkeen's End, one would hear a cacophony of noises ranging from the ever-shifting earth to the sounds of beasts that inhabit the region. But on one particular day, under the dark morning sky covered by thick clouds that no doubt carried Prisma dust, a different sound mixed in among them.

It was a low and smooth hum that persisted for seemingly forever. It was relatively silent, seemingly eager to keep its presence from being discovered. If one were to look from sky, they would find a subtle trail of dust racing across Vaulkeen's End.

It was a slick black hoverbike moving at speeds that would definitely not be allowed inside a city. Clearly it was customised for traversing the outer wilds where not only mutated beasts were the sole danger, but even scavengers and monsters spawned from Prisma.

Riding the hoverbike was a man wearing a white long coat flapping in the wind as he sped away on the open field. Beneath his coat was a combat suit made of synthetic Prisma alloys that looked like black glass. His head was hidden behind a helmet made of similar materials and seemed connected to the rest of his suit. There were no features on his helmet, leaving it a plain black glassy surface.

The man was about an hour away from Therion and was just now truly entering the wild territory of Vaulkeen's End. In his vision, there were a few holographic displays that read:

[The Guild has received a special commission.]

[Contractor G413 has been specifically requested by the client.]

[Commission: Search and retrieve]

[Client: Valerian Emporium]

[Commission details: Search for an unidentified object around the designated location. Retrieval is a must.]

[Note: The object is of unknown nature. Its danger levels are undefined. Care is greatly advised when handling the object.]

[Note: This commission is time-sensitive. The client has requested its completion ASAP. Time limit given is twenty-four hours.]

[Note: In the event that the object is not found or retrieval is impossible, the Contractor must report to the client in person for debriefing.]

The man checked the miniature map on his holographic display showing Vaulkeen's End as well as his distance to the designated area for the commission. It was barely eight in the morning, but the man was already forced to get out of the city to work. He glanced at the time limit he was given before closing all of the displays other than the map.

It was not his first time receiving a time sensitive commission. In fact, this particular one seems rather generous compared to others where he was given barely half a day to complete. But considering who the client was, the man was assured that he would receive proper payment.

The Valerian Emporium was among the most well-known business establishments in the Free City of Therion. They have a wide range of merchandise for sale whose prices were enough to put most people in debt for at least a few years. That was how valuable their commodities were. This meant they had a reputation to uphold. Plus, no one would dare cheat on The Guild, especially when it came to commissions.

The Guild was an organisation created by wanderers and warriors following the demise of Vaulkeen and his brothers. They carried on their legacy of freedom and valiance by working as a new age of mercenaries, lawful and devoted to the prosperity of human society.

They did not tolerate crime, especially when it was within Therion and The Guild itself. They acted as a sort of police force within the city, keeping everything and everyone clean of the filth that plagued ancient human nations from before the Prisma Era. They also valued honour and integrity, carefully screening each person who wished to join them to become Contractors.

Of course, there were independent contractors not affiliated with The Guild, but they were not well-trusted. It was to the point that if anyone claimed to be a Contractor and they were found to not be from The Guild, they would find it difficult to get a proper commission.

The Guild may have started out in Therion where their main headquarters was, but their influence had surely spread all over the world after so many years. Their creed carries not only their reputation, but also the responsibility of upholding Vaulkeen's legacy.

But of course, not everyone truly cared for this legacy as much as others. This Contractor G413 was one such person. As long as he abided by the rules and the creed, he would have a steady and reliable supply of commissions that will allow him to continue his otherwise sedentary lifestyle. So why would he want to break that when comfort was in the palm of his hand?

Checking his minimap once more, the Contractor found that he was closing in on the designated area. He was about twenty minutes away based on his current speed, but already he could sense something unusual.

His current location in Vaulkeen's End was a no man's land outside the stone forest. It was a sort of buffer zone between beasts and Therion City. It was very rare for beasts to come to this place, and usually it was for very specific reasons like territorial wars or a beast tide. But today, the Contractor found quite a number of beasts gathering in the area.

He was fifteen minutes away from the designated area now, and the beasts were beginning to notice his presence. There were several different variations of them, ranging from wolves to foxes to deers. These species would normally not be gathered in one area like this without ending up in a bloody fight, but they all seemed to be facing a single direction further ahead.

The Contractor pressed a button on his hoverbike and a secret compartment behind him opened up to reveal a sheathed sword. He would not wait for these beasts to bare their fangs at him as he pulled the sword out, holding it in one hand while driving with the other.

The beasts acted exactly as he thought they would, pouncing on him with a wild ferocity sharpened further by a growing intelligence. Still, their intelligence was not enough or else they would not have jumped toward a speeding bike.

The Contractor tilted his hoverbike to the left, skidding through the air about a meter over the dark stone ground as though tempting gravity to take him under. The bike acted like a shield, its underside that released a pseudo-gravitational flux repelled those unlucky enough to be hit, making them fly some distance away, crashing into the rough and jagged surface of the stone ground.

His sword drew a line on the ground as its tip barely touched while the hoverbike drifted into a spin. The sparks caused by the sword temporarily blinded and scared some of the meeker beasts, but the Contractor soon swung it around as he fixed his bike's orientation.

A few swings of the sword and a number of beasts' heads fell to the ground as he sped on ahead. The commotion naturally attracted the attention of the beasts further ahead and some charged toward him only to be met with a similar fate. The more intelligent ones immediately fled, not wanting to contend with the man who was clearly just toying with them.

Most of these beasts were hunters so they could recognise a fellow hunter when they saw one. And this man was a fearsome hunter.

Finally, most of the beasts had fled or died allowing the Contractor to close in on the designated area for the commission which also happened to be the source of the unusual gathering of beasts in the area. When he arrived, the first thing he saw was a small crater of about five meters in diameter.

He got off his hoverbike, left his coat on it and walked toward the edge until he saw what was at the centre of the crater. There, at the bottom, was an incomprehensible thing. It looked like a rock, but it was also moving albeit slowly.

He instantly knew that this was what the commission was about.