Ob walked away from the group of recruits who looked confused. He did not want to work with any of them until they had to for the final stage of this assessment. He pulled up his mini-map on his UI. They were given a map that could be filled in with magic; it was just like using a magical weapon to act as a conduit for magical attacks; you did the same but without attacking.


    After he was a good distance from the group, he had Eclipse come out. "What is your plan?" she asked him.


    "I think we should fly up and map the area as soon as possible. With them giving us two weeks, I have a feeling the river hog will be a tough thing to find."


    "It is not the hog itself that is hard to find, it is the nest that is hard." Eclipse replied


    "Mm yeah, that makes sense. Okay, let''s map this island out." Ob jumped onto the back of Eclipse, and she took off, soaring into the sky. The island was not very large; it looked like it could be a couple hour''s walk from north to south and east to west of the island.


    Ob noted that there were several landmarks that he could use as callouts. To the north of the island, there was a large pond. Ob called it the large pond - simple and easy to recall; then he saw to the east a group of trees that looked like a fruit orchard; to the west was where they landed. It was the only walkable beach on the island; to the south were cliffs. Directly in the middle, there was a river brook. The river ran from the large pond in the north, cutting through the island and ending off into the southern cliffs into the ocean.


    Ob wondered how in the world the river kept refilling and the pond never ran out of water; he simply answered it with one word, magic.


    Ob and Eclipse flew for about two hours and went back to their portal location. He called on Charles, who appeared startled to find Eclipse still waiting to move on to the next stage. "That was fast," he stated, surprised, "Flying over the island to get a bird''s eye view, was very smart. You may move on to hunting the eggs of the river hog. Be warned the lowest level creature here is you. Proceed with caution."


    Ob nodded and began walking towards the large pond, Eclipse in tow. "Something is weird about this island," Ob stated.


    "What do you mean?" Eclipse asked.


    "Well, we just did that task for two hours and the sun has not changed position at all. I think this place stays at high noon every day. This will make fighting tough, and also telling how many days have gone by will be hard."


    "Mmm you are right," she stated as they entered a tropical jungle-looking area. Ob pulled out Hades and began to start chopping through the overgrown mandrakes and tropical foliage. He was beginning to be extremely grateful for the weapon he had received. Getting through this jungle would have been a major pain. As another couple of hours passed, Ob could feel the magic start to shift ever so slightly.


    "We need to find shelter and we need to find it now." Ob said.


    Eclipse didn''t know exactly what Ob felt, but she knew now more than ever to trust Ob. Eclipse dove down towards the large pond. As they got closer towards the large pond, they looked for a cave or a place where they could make their own cave. Eclipse spotted something that might have resembled a little bit of shelter, like an abandoned nest. It was big enough for the two of them. The two of them shared a nod and entered into that space. The area was not big enough to be comfortable, but it was enough to live in for the night.


    "What happened?" Eclipsed asked Ob. Ob was getting a small fire going.


    "I sensed a large magical shift beginning. There is something odd about this island. The sun didn''t move, it hasn''t since we''ve been here." Ob responded, sitting in front of the fire. "I wondered if there was something that Charles wasn''t telling us. I think that the river hogs only are out at night but night happens every 12 hours and lasts for 12 hours, or until there is that large magical shift."


    "I see," she said, staring out of the cave like she was trying to sense something. "The moon and sun act the same here."


    "Even with magic, how is that possible?" Ob asked.


    "It shouldn''t be. That''s why I am confused; when that magic shift happens, the sun will flip into the moon." Eclipse stated.


    "Is there a magical being that can do that?"


    "Not that I am aware of. Mind you, I am a child in dragon terms; there is much I do not know."


    "Yeah, I understand that. The reason I feel like we should go get protection at night is because I think everything gets a lot stronger at night." As Ob finished that sentence, there was a giant rush of manna; the two of them felt the pulse in full force. The sunlight had faded, and the moonlight was bright. It was midnight, and the moon was in the exact same spot as the sun. Thus proving Eclipse''s theory that the sun and the moon are the same. "Well, 12 hours begins now. I say let''s rest for a few then head out to explore cautiously." Eclipse agreed and began to curl up and close her eyes. Ob did the same.


    As Ob closed his eyes, he felt a powerful soul appear next to him; he turned to look and saw nothing but a silhouette. It felt eerie; there were two eye sockets that had a faint purple glow to them. The silhouette was shimmering purple, but it was very faint. Ob tried to look over to see if this was a dream or reality but could not find Eclipse. He pushed out his senses and felt them slam into a wall of that powerful soul.


    Ob sat up and looked back at the being, a small chill running down his spine. "What are you?" he asked.


    "You sensed my presence when you arrived." the being spoke into his mind. It sounded like a thousand voices speaking at once. "That is most unusual. You must have a strong aura. I had to come to see for myself, personally."


    "So you control the island''s magic. That makes sense, you must be extremely strong."


    "It is as you say. I am Scourge, I am a mystic being, a practitioner of the mystic arts. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ob."


    "A mystic being, huh? Nice to meet you too, Scourge." Ob said, nodding, unsure if he could even shake this being''s hand. "Why do all these powerful folks keep appearing to me?"


    "Because you are powerful, that cannot be the only question you have to ask me?" Scourge said.


    "Hmm, I guess not. There is something wrong with this assessment, someone is lying to us. I don''t know what to do with that lie, but something is off. I have one question, though, what is a mystic being?"


    "You are a cautious one, Ob. Yet you sit here willingly to talk to me, why is that?"


    "Because something as powerful as you to change the entire magical landscape of an island, could kill me instantly. Caution be damned if you can kill me without me noticing, you spared me and are here talking to me for a reason."


    There were a couple of moments of silence, "A mystic is something that decided they wanted more than their original life. They are those who surrender a portion of themselves to absorb a deity, a demi-god, or a cosmic power. I decided to merge with an astrological being, at least a small portion of myself. I can now control the sun and the moon of several small islands."


    "So my mystic skills are tapping into my celestine pool of power?"


    "Not quite; you chose mystic keystone items, no?"


    "I did."


    "A keystone item of the mystic arts is a small surrender. You have surrendered something to gain these mystic skills. That may not be unlocked until much later in your life. I believe though, you have made the correct call being a Celestine."


    "Why do you say that?"


    "Celestines are a unique race and are very rare. They are beings whose aura, soul, and physical potential are limitless and harmonized. This means if you had used a legendary keystone item your power would have been immense and your celestine nature would likely negate any side effects. But using a lower rarity keystone item of mystic allows you to tap into something related to aura or souls and since there is perfect harmony between them and your body, this creates an ideal scenario for you."


    "Bet, so mystic typically are aura and soul skills exclusively? But because a celestine has perfect harmony between the three, it can add a physical skill in there?"


    "Just so."


    Dang, Ob thought there are a lot of things that have to come together to make this specific powerset work well. It almost seems as if it would be nearly impossible to figure it out; how did Abigail know? Did she even know, or was she just a good guesser?


    "Do you know why I am here?" Ob asked Scourge.


    "I do not. I have my suspicions but I will keep them to myself, for now. We will meet again, Ob Jones. For now, complete this assessment. Be cautious." With a final swoosh, Scourge disappeared, and Ob could see Eclipse once more.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Ob sat there for another few heartbeats, feeling that the aura disappeared. What was going on? Why were all these beings of immense powers coming and talking to him personally and directly? Ob did not feel he was of significance. He felt like he was a lost puppy trying to find his way around a giant shopping mall. He felt out of place, yet gods, mystics, dragons, and Abigail believed he was here for a bigger purpose. He didn''t feel like he was here for that. He felt like he was here by some freak accident.


    Ob, his whole life, he had been told that he was not good enough. He was never enough for his birth parents as they gave him away. He was not enough for his family; his adoptive parents told him over and over how he had to earn his keep. He had coaches tell him that he''ll never be a Division One athlete. He had always had people tell him that he wasn''t strong enough, fast enough, or good enough to accomplish anything good in life. Yet despite all of that, he did.


    So why was it in this world, a world that is telling him the opposite of what he is used to, that he had trouble believing it? He personally knew he was always destined for something great, but now that something great is right in front of him, he is unsure. He has a hard time believing in himself when others believe in him. Is it pressure, is it discomfort? What is it that makes it so hard to accept? He accepted dragons and magic much quicker than he did so that he could be powerful.


    He thought back to Daisy. She had always believed in him. When he had his first track meet at 14 years old, he had saved all of his allowance to buy himself some cheap spikes. She was there for his first meet. She saw his first jump, she saw his first win, she saw his first loss. She saw it all. She would even go over to a friend''s house to watch him compete in college. She saw him win not one, not two, but four national championships in his event.


    "You''re going to be the best Ob. Not because of your skill but because of your heart. I love you big brother." he looked down, reminiscing on that night he left. On that night, his older sister called to tell him the news that she had died. He couldn''t help but shed tears. This was the first time since being in this world that he allowed himself to feel. Feel the exhaustion, feel the pain, feel the loneliness. Ob couldn''t help but sob after all that his life on Earth had been. It wasn''t all bad, but it was definitely full of very bad moments; he never allowed himself to feel that, to feel sad.


    The only thing left from his old world that he kept was the underwear he showed up in. He took them off, not needing them anymore, because he got more and threw them into the fire. A way of saying goodbye to his old self. He was spending time mourning Oscar-Blane Jones because he was dead. He didn''t have to say goodbye to them all, but in his mind, Oscar-Blane lay in rest next to Daisy. He watched the underwear burn; he watched as his last connection to his old world burned away. It was time that Ob started to believe the gods, the dragons, Abigail, and powerful beings, that he was powerful on his own.


    "What are you burning, it smells awful." Eclipse said, waking from her sleep; she looked up and saw tears, "Oh, are you saying goodbye?"


    "I am."


    "I''m sorry, it must be very difficult to accept your death in one world while being alive in another. Let me be the first to say, welcome Ob Jones. I am honored to be your friend. What is the name of you that you put to rest?"


    "Oscar-Blane, it is time to put that to rest. I am ready to accept what it takes to be great here and move forward."


    "May he rest in peace." She said mournfully in a sign of respect. Eclipse had no idea what it would be like to wake up in a new world where everything was different. She did know what it was like not to be what she was told to be. She respected Ob for giving himself a clean split. "Shall we explore outside the cave now?"


    "Yep, let''s do it. While we do. Let''s chat about Scourge." Ob told Eclipse of the mystic being who visited him. He informed her that this was what prompted him to want to burn his underwear. He needed to believe in himself the same way that all these great and powerful beings believed in him.


    As they walked out of the cave, the moon was shining bright and left a slightly blue hue over everything. Eclipse used her power to create a small light so they could see their surroundings a bit better. They didn''t hear too much, but they could feel the pond and all the inhabitants within it. They walked around the large pond, scouting it. Searching to see if there were any nooks or crannies where a hog could hide their eggs. This was a fruitless task; they found nothing.


    "I bet this is a two-part job." Ob said as the pair were making their way towards the coast. "I bet we have to catch the river hog during the day and have it lead us to its home at night."


    "That would make sense but why would the river hog show you its home after you take its own?"


    "Mm, fair point. There has to be something about this. Why would we have to hunt simply? -


    "That''s cause," a voice appeared behind them, interrupting Ob. "it''s not just a hunt for you; it''s a hunt for me," the voice said those last words, chuckling. Ob turned around to see a large boar with massive horns that twirled. The hog had blue beady eyes, gills, and fins on its hind and forelegs. The tail looked like a shark''s tail.


    "You can speak?!" is all Ob said.


    "That is what concerns you? The fact that I can communicate, humans are so dumb," it whispered to itself.


    "I''m not human, nor am I dumb," Ob said, pulling out Hades. "I understand now."


    "What is that?" the river hog said.


    "You are like a werewolf, you transform into something more powerful with moonlight, more vicious. Your eggs are not in a nest, they are loot."


    "Perceptive little one ain''t ya, I am sorry but you will have to die now," The river hog charged. As it was sprinting towards Ob, like a mad bull, water started to appear in front of it to form what looked like an arrowhead. It was coming at Ob, and it was coming fast.


    Objective: Kill the River Hog


    Reward: River Hog Egg


    Reward: Bonus


    You have been given the task to slay a river hog. Survive and claim your rewards.


    The river hog''s attack crashed into Ob with full force. Ob felt the brunt of the attack. He felt his arm split a little, a small fracture to his left arm. He grimaced in pain, damn that hurt. Ob used his item to identify his opponent, who is level 35, a tier above him. It was also a water user, which might pose a problem for dragon breath.


    Eclipse and Ob got into their battle positions. Eclipse took to the sky and began to attack with dark breath. At the same time, Ob used a light bolt to send a slash of light at the hog. The hog dodged the breath but was smacked hard with the light bolt. The hog stumbled but roared in anger. It began to charge once more toward Ob; Ob didn''t get hit this time; he jumped into the shadows to watch the hog phase right through where he once stood. He reappeared as the hog was in the process of turning around. He sliced hard, and the scythe barely made a scratch on the hog''s hide. The hog was tough, especially being so many levels higher than Ob.


    Ob sat back and thought hard. He had to think of some way he could deal damage right now because he was 0 for 2. Then Ob noticed something. As he was focusing back on his attacks and why they did little damage, he found out why. Ob thought of an idea and wanted to try it. As he jumped away from the hog after his attack. He told Eclipse of his plan. Eclipse then grew brighter and brighter using her solar eclipse power. The river hog started running in a panic, smashing into trees and rocks because it could not see.


    Ob took full advantage and rushed into the hog''s rear end and summoned dragon''s breath into Hades; as the fire hit the tip, Ob swung the scythe on the same small cut he had made earlier. The dragon''s fire attack spread on the cut of the river hog, causing more and more to appear. By doing so, the river hog began squealing in pain; the fire was spreading internally. It smelled like fishy pork in the air.


    This is when Eclipse swooped in and bit down on the neck of the river hog, causing all the blood to spurt out of its mouth and neck. With that, Ob jumped down, swinging Hades; as he swung, Eclipse had just gotten out of the way to act as a shield so the river hog couldn''t see the final blow with the hard swing and light bolt being used to add the mini-explosion. The river hog''s final noise was that of a person who was being guillotined. Ob watched as the head of the hog fell to the ground and rolled. The rest of the body disappeared into ashes.


    "How did you know that would work?" Eclipse asked as she walked up beside him and gave her soul-link a gentle nudge with her snout.


    "On my last attack, I could feel the river hog move its manna to protect the area where it was being hurt. It was subtle but I saw it. This is why no attacks did any damage," Ob began explaining, "My slayer nature allows me to attack things at a higher level without the typical tier disparity. So to have my attacks do nothing meant there was something going on. I focused on what was going on and if there was anything I noticed that I might have missed. Then that is when I remembered seeing a small shift in manna."


    Eclipse just stood there in awe of what Ob had just told her. How did he go back and replay the attack? Was that an ability? What was that?


    "I used to do it all the time when I was a former athlete. It''s called feedback, see what I did wrong or right and replicate or fix it. A useful skill."


    "It is indeed."


    Objective: Kill the River Hog - Completed


    Reward: River Hog Egg


    Reward: 15000 gold pieces (Amulet in effect)


    Reward: River Hog loin x5


    Reward: River Hog chops x5


    Reward: River Hog tusk x2


    The two began to head to find Charles now that they had gotten the egg. "Not so fast you two," a familiar voice from the shadows said. "I believe that you owe me that egg." It was the Harpy from the starting position. She was with two other recruits. "You see this is my fourth attempt at this assessment, I am tired of not winning, so I have been taking out the competition. I can and will spare you if you give us that egg you just looted." She smiled the smile of a predator getting ready to attack its prey. "Even better that we kill a damn Draconian and his pet dragon, a 3 for 1."


    "Not gonna happen," Ob said as he was walking away from the group. He had identified them; they were all lower level than him except for the Harpy, who was only 1 level his senior. None of them had a fully unlocked powerset, so it makes sense they were all close in level.


    "Why are you walking away then," the other recruit said. He was a lizard man, and without a response, he threw his spear right towards Ob.


    Eclipse sent a fireball to intercept the spear and burn it to ashes. Ob sighed. Here we go again, more people wanting to start trouble that didn''t need to be here in the first place. "I will give you one chance to leave me alone. If not, you will be joining that river hog."


    The group laughed, "There is no way we are going to back down from the likes-" Before the lizardman could finish his sentence, Ob had appeared behind him, swung Hades, and cut his right arm right off without another word. He looked at the other two. The Harpy screamed in anger. Before she could get her mace out, her arm was taken clean off by the scythe of this deranged man. What kind of person attacks before terms are set?! She didn''t really want to kill them; it was just intimidation tactics; it clearly didn''t work for this psychopath.


    "Are you crazy?! Why would you mane him? We weren''t actually going to kill you!" The Harpy started screaming in panic.


    "That is on you for playing games," Ob said coldly. Ob knelt over the body of the injured lizardman. He paused for a quick moment of silence. He hated this; he hated the violence, but he hated being treated like an ant amongst giants. "I''m sorry, friend," he whispered to the lizardman as its arm began to turn into green ash. "His being maned is on you. I hope it was worth it."


    The Harpy and her lackey fled immediately. Just as they were running away, the night turned to day, and the high-noon island was back. Ob felt the presence of an insanely powerful being watching over him. They didn''t come speak to him, but they made it known they were watching him. Ob wondered if it was this world''s god of death, would they be pleased or upset? Ob pushed the feeling aside and watched the Harpy fade into the sunlight.