The Path of Secrets

As Alista cautiously approached the distant town, he saw strange weed-like saplings sprouting roughly a meter out of the ground, shaking violently in the torrential winds.

He used this long, lonely walk as an opportunity to experiment with the alleged superpowers bestowed by the path of entropy. Since arriving, he had felt a strange tension in his chest, as though his breath had caught and threatened to burst. Focusing his mind with his eyes shut, he searched for what the trial's powers required for activation - a connection with the spirit body.

Looking inward - an incredibly strange feeling akin to losing blood in your head - he noticed a blue-ish door-like entrance somewhere within his mind. Alista's consciousness shot through the door as if pulled by an unseen force, and he gazed down upon a perfectly mirrored illusory version of himself, standing exactly as he stood in the real world, except this time in a blank expanse of white.

Alista made a bare effort to raise his left arm, and his spirit body mimicked him perfectly.

As his bubble of consciousness neared his spirit body even more, a rush of mystical information assaulted his mind in an instant, stunning him temporarily as he hurriedly attempted to digest what he just learned.

 Alongside a greatly increased physique and intellect, the liquid boon from the pathway of entropy had granted him a few abilities, as he had heard about from local gossip:

"Steal" - 'Steal' anything within a short range that isn't absurdly large or tied down by mystical or otherwise stable means.

"Distort" - 'Distort' the space around you to a small degree, as well as distort the words and thoughts of intelligent creatures to a small degree.

"Skeleton Key" - A mystical key constructed of thin white bones with no true key cut, capable of fitting any 'lock' or 'seal' of low mystical parameters.

"Bribe" - Throw or gift an item close to a target, and assuming the item is not outright dodged, it will be recognized as a 'bribe' - those who have received a 'bribe' may be subject to any of the following;

Bribe: Charm - The target will immediately begin to lose the will to fight.

Bribe: Disarm - An unseen hand confiscates the weapon of the target.

Bribe: Weaken - The target of 'weakening' will immediately begin to feel noticeable corrosion of their spirit body, slowly weakening them over time.

"Insane..." Alista's cold breath condensed in front of him, his nervous voice portraying his extreme disbelief.

Along with these gained abilities, he also gained a small plethora of bizarre silly spells and a few spells of the storm domain. Looking up at the torrential storm above, Alista silently thanked his choice of pathway.

In a forsaken land like this, filled with raging storms, chaos and uncertain danger, Alista believed the best choice for a challenger of the trials would be the pathway embodying such destruction!

One final realisation hit Alista as he settled in thought.

The natural order of life within the spirit world goes as follows:

Besides from an ordinary creature bearing no manipulatable spirituality, from weakest to most unfathomable, Mage; Warlock; Spirit Guardian; Transcendent; Saint; Angel; True God.

Most summoned by the spirit world awoke amidst their first trial as a Mage, the first step along the path of spirituality, with few awakening as a Warlock, and even fewer as a Spirit Guardian.

Interestingly, despite his awful luck back home, Alista had awakened as a Warlock - the second stage of the spirit body.

From what he had heard, simply ascending to the warlock stage in the First Trial was an impressive feat, and he had been here no longer than some hours, doing nothing but walking!

*****

Seated within the sole decrepit church in Rapture City, once a majestic cathedral and symbol of power for the Church of Inevitability, a young lady with strange ocean-blue hair clasped her hands together and tilted her head slightly. A faint white light suffused her body as she spoke,

"I beseech the blessing of the Mother of Life, I offer my spirit body to the Goddess' benevolent embrace, I pray for the protection of me and my comrades."

She whispered under her breath in a soft, solemn and pious tone before inclining her head again, opening her light blue eyes and gazing at a mural of a delicate woman clutching a cornucopia.

Just hours from now, her team of Scouts, led by the town's leader, would again leave the relative safety of home to search the surrounding land for signs of life or supplies. Despite the obvious danger that comes with being a scout, it is essential for the village's future, and those with the capability don't have much choice but to take up arms.

Regardless, Leona had never second-guessed her decision to join the elite group of adventurers.

She waited a while in silence and remained seated in the wooden pew on the left-hand side of the small church, before standing and exiting through the grand entrance behind her with the symbol of a snake devouring its own tail engraved on both large wooden doors.

*****

Alista walked for hours, admiring the village shrouded in fog in the distance. During his slow meander, he played with his gained abilities like a child stretching its limbs. Vaguely, he questioned if it had truly gotten any closer, yet the town appeared as far away as it did the moment he first laid eyes on it.

Either the storm is clouding my vision, or I've been walking in place this whole damn time...

A hoarse cry drew his attention behind him, and he spun in place instinctively.

Alista smelt the creature before he saw it, as a grotesque two-headed horse covered in rusty metal armour hobbled shakily out of the fog. Foul acid spewed from the creature bloodied lips and open wounds festering along its body.

Alista calmly regarded the beast with his hands in his pockets, brows pricking up slightly in amusement. Despite the horse standing over a meter taller than him, carrying with it a corrosive aura of strength, it seemed to be on the doorstep of death.

Suddenly, Alista had an idea. He casually took off his belt and threw it in front of him, landing about half a metre in front of the two-headed horse.

As the horse's gaze shifted from the young man and the belt in front of it, its legs wobbled unsteadily, and it took an unsure step forward. Seeming to lose all strength and failing to catch its own weight, it crumpled to the mud with a pained whimper.

The creature had been bribed and weakened!

Seeing the decaying two-headed horse crumpled in the dirt, Alista looked down at its form with a triumphant smirk plastered across his face.

His victory was undeserved. The beast, clearly far stronger than him but already incredibly weakened, needed only the killing blow. Regardless, it felt good to experience a victory in his life, even if it was basically handed to him.

Alista's cheeky grin suddenly returned, as if he had just thought of a hilarious prank. With his right palm, he reached out and grabbed a seemingly tangible slice of air and wrapped his palms around it.

He had stolen the dead creature's remaining spirituality!

His intent was not only to restore the spirituality he used to weaken the beast but to also flood his spirit body with spirituality to stimulate its ascendence. Unwittingly, he had viewed the spirit creature's final moments of vitality.