//------------------------------// // One if By Land: Part 25 // Story: Spike of All Trades // by Ariamaki //------------------------------// They had been absolutely correct to assume something was going to go wrong on the trip back to Ponyville sooner or later. Spike was just kinda surprised by when and where and why things went off the rails. He would have had his money on when they got to the woodline at the earliest, maybe at an outpost or a small village that was secretly taken over by Changelings or something? Instead he ended up getting himself into trouble about a hundred feet away from camp. Deconstructing the house and making their way back onto the road had been fun work: They were more careful with disassembly than just going full-blown wrecking crew on the structure, but not by a large margin. Repairing and replacing materials could be even more useful experience for him in the long run! Plus there was something joyous about kicking a support beam in half, just in general. Once that was all packed up it was time to go, and it was easy going... or should have been. They had several good maps to cross-reference with Spike's own (seemingly) infallible system Map, so they quickly got onto the best possible path to get home quickly. It took a few minutes before Spike noticed anything wrong, but eventually he stopped to clear out his ear-fins and look over at Pinkie. "Are you hearing something, Pinkie?" "Hmmm?" "Like a sort of... low dull beep?" Pinkie shook her mane vigorously. "Nope! Kinda quiet to be honest, I was about to start singing if it went much longer." If Pinkie wasn't hearing it with her keen ears? That didn't leave a lot of options. Mostly it leaned on things either being in his head or in his system. Spike quickly sorted through all of his menus until he eventually found the beeping's source: A new entry had appeared in the Game Options section. GAME OPTIONS > DIFFICULTY AND MODES > HUD MANAGEMENT > [INSUFFICIENT MALIGNANCY] > DUNGEON OPTIONS > CONTROLS / INTERFACE > BACK Checking his other sections here did not provide much more information than it ever had: The very first option still only contained a blank space of foggy uncertainty and a warning about how he had no control over his life's difficulty. HUD Management still let him control the visibility of lots of stats and information and how it appeared for him. Dungeon Options was entirely blanketed in fog and a mish-mash of unreadable info boxes. Controls and Interface did actually have some options he had never been able to turn on before that were now available thanks to his improved stats (he absent-mindedly flicked the toggles to make himself ambidextrous and improve his tongue and tail control), but that was all there was to see. All that left was the new error message crammed in-between the menu options: He didn't have any experience with the word 'malignancy' outside of disease. 'Malign' was a bit more common in both Twilight's books on magic and Rarity's romance novels, but still rare. Either way the message was an unsettling thing to see: Why would 'malignancy' ever be 'insufficient'? The best way he could parse it was either 'things aren't getting sufficiently worse', or maybe 'things are getting worse but not at a sufficient rate' and either way that was concerning. The beeping was getting louder and even a little faster too. Spike braced himself and turned back. "...Hey Pinkie, I think something bad's about to happen? Clear some space and be ready." She cocked her head in confusion... although the same motion then transitioned into her head turning further, her shoulder shaking, her tail wiggling, and one hoof popping up off of the ground. Pinkie gasped and did some kind of mental math before smiling at him. "Ooooh, that was definitely a doozie of some kind! Kind of a weird one though: I think you're about to get a sorta present type thingy, or a gift maybe? Like a surp-" Your [Balanced Soul] demands equilibrium. You must improve and test the growth of your powers. All challenges available in the region are insufficient. Accordingly, the Random Battle System has been enabled. Initializing Random Battle System Tutorial... Spike vanished. - - - - There was no break between the two moments: First he was listening to Pinkie Pie prepare herself and describe the results of her Sense, and then he was elsewhere. It was a very similar location to the one he had just left but with just enough details messed up that it all felt unsettling. There was no road, but lots of clear space that was trampled down akin to the road... just in random squiggles and patterns. Trees were present in weirdly uniform rows off to one side, and a small pond cropped up on the other side. In the middle of the trampled ground, Spike was standing in exactly the same position as before. A new window of information was open in front of him, and there was a small dark figure visible on the opposite side of the window. There was no real shape to it, a constantly churning mass of shadows with a nameplate overhead. Not the usual blue text either, but a much muddier reddish-brown. [In Potentia] Undetermined - Level ? Spike let out a long exasperated sigh before looking back at the system window. He could already tell that this was going to be a weird situation even by his newly rarified standards: While the blob of shadows was moving, nothing else was, not even the air. There was no sun in the sky, just a vague sense of illumination spread everywhere. The grass was... 'rendered' in distinct uniform chunks, as if somebody was imitating the style of an underpowered game engine without the reasons behind it. The information in the window doubled down on the strangeness he expected and then some. Welcome to the Random Battle System! A collaboration between The Gamer's powers and DisCo Discorporated, all slights observed. In accordance with Draconic Law (ref: No dragon shall ascend the heights of power without being sufficiently challenged) and in defiance of Draconic Law (ref: No dragon shall receive the aid of outside powers in their growth) this system has been created on a lark, because it will be a fun twist. As such, the Random Battle System is designed according to your needs and situation in order to provide the most obnoxious possible experience while also granting more benefits than you could ever get on your own. Every gamer loves loopholes, right? Eh whatever: I just thought I'd snark since I was in the area. I'll stop hijacking the text now, you do your thing Ms. System! ... ... ... Spike sat staring in bemusement at the fact that text managed to look confused. He didn't have any other option than just staying still and watching either: He couldn't move, like everything else in this strange false environment. Eventually the messages resumed, returning back to their normal tone. The Random Battle System may trigger at any time, based on your accumulation of experiences. You control frequency, intensity, style, and content of Random Battles with appropriate Skills. You lack any appropriate Skills, so the Random Battle System will adjust its traits automatically. Before initiating Random Battles, a tutorial will be used to introduce the System's features. This battle has no consequences for any kind of failure up to and including total brain death. This battle is not designed to reward you for any kind of success up to and including victory. Battles take place in dedicated 'stages' based on the local environment when they are triggered. When a Battle begins only the user is drawn into the stage, barring the use of appropriate Skills. Random Battles have a Par Time and a Breach Time. Completion under Par Time grants rewards. Failure to complete under Breach Time causes all combatants to be ejected into the world. Enemies fought vary depending on difficulty settings, environment, scenario, and user's Level. Despite appearances, enemies here are not people and can be killed with no moral concerns. You set the difficulty of this tutorial as you see fit, starting at a system-determined minimum. The maximum difficulty available is the highest level the system is currently capable of providing. Finally the box changed to something he could interact with: A single piece of menu he recognized as a difficulty slider. The marker (the same as the stylized flame Pinkie had used for his headrest back home) was currently a good bit off the left edge of the bar, and that entire segment of the bar was grayed out. Nice to see his system thought so highly of his power... or that it was only able to produce enemies with at least a certain level of risk. Maybe both? No sense not checking: There was a very clear CONFIRM button, so he could jog it around to get a feel for what was possible. Sliding the meter higher caused the blob of dark matter [In Potentia] to split and multiply, with some of the individual pieces getting bigger or shrinking down further. Eventually it started taking familiar shapes: About a third of the way in, it took the distinct forms of the Bermite King and Queen along with dozens of progeny... Apparently the weird amorphous shape it took the rest of the time was because it wanted to produce enemies he had never seen before? Spike’s best guess, anyway. A few notches further and suddenly all the blobs rushed together into just three, sitting at the center of the field with very familiar, if somewhat generic, shapes. [Self of a Former Shadow] Stalker - Level ?? [The Wings in Waiting] Controller - Level ?? [Helping a Lending Hand] Defender - Level ?? An earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn stared at him. They resembled the Tantabus in that they were all pony-shaped blobs of shadow, but that was where recognition ended. These had not even a hint of features or personality, all dark and no stars. Despite that Spike felt endless hostility, and he thought back to the last few messages: 'Despite appearances, enemies here are not people and can be killed with no moral concerns.' But this was only halfway up the chart. And the most important message was not that, nor was it any of the obvious interruptions: Speaking of the interruptions? He really had to figure out Discord's involvement and what it amounted to one of these days, because he knew in his gut that Discord was absolutely not the source of this power. He was just... pitching in, maybe? Contributing. The most important message, in Spike's opinion, was 'This battle has no consequences for any kind of failure up to and including total brain death.' No consequences, not even death. Every battle he had fought so far was one where (in theory) his life had been in danger. Maybe not much danger but still! There was always that little concern holding him back. Not out of instinct, because Gamer's Mind and Gamer's Body kept that from hampering his actions. But he still held back out of his own very rational worries and concerns and just... caution. Now he didn't have to! And if this was only half of what this system could throw at him... Spike pulled the slider further to the right, watching as the ponies arrayed against him began to multiply and spread out, sometimes morphing back into blobs or into other creatures entirely. At one point an eerily recognizable pegasus outline led an entire field of Timberwolves and bears, while the pond flooded with octopi and sharks and stranger things still, the sky dark with birds of prey... But eventually he reached the end of the line. In several different senses of the term. [Ex Nihilo] Incarnate - Level ??? Dark like a hole had been cut out of space and exuding endless pressure even without properly existing. All others were gone: One single enemy stood alone to face him at the highest difficulty. An alicorn. Spike closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Eidetic Memory guaranteed he would remember every last hit and blow of this battle, lessons learned the hard way. This was a chance he wouldn't get twice, a chance you normally never even got once. He could push himself to the limit and go for broke without concern for their safety, his safety, this environment, resources... Not even his life. Even without moving he could still channel his power and activate skills, layering one buff and mod after another until he was in peak perfect condition. An attack ready to fire as soon as he could move, every layer of defense stacked up, eyes on target... "Confirm."