Chapter #52

The resting time given in between two trials were too short in Zeno's opinion since it wasn't even a week before he once again found himself strapped to the table.

This time however his eyelids were held open by tools, elixirs used in the Trial of Dreams were administered with a needle to the eyes and another one in the nasal cavity reaching the brain.

On top of that they still had a needle on their arms pumping in some other elixir. Zeno could feel it digging into his bone marrow, mutating it further.

Soon the needles were stabbed in his eyes pumping more hallucinogenic elixirs, this time mostly magical in nature.

Trial of the Dreams further enhanced the witcher trainees' abilities. The Trial, among other benefits, augmented their night vision. On the other hand, it also sterilized them.

If The Trial of the Grasses heightens the senses, The Trial of the Dreams makes them soar. Since the Trial of the Grasses is purely chemical, it is likely that the mysterious Trial of Dreams is magical.

Soon Zeno got lost in the hallucination produced by the elixirs. This relieved the mages overseeing the trials since they were expecting the mysterious energy to negate the magical effects of the trials.

_______

Zeno woke up in his bed at his parents house, drenched in cold sweat. He immediately took a look at the clock.

"Fuck it's still 3AM! Why did I have to see a nightmare on a Sunday night? I have work tomorrow dammit!" He cursed before deciding to change his soaked clothes.

Once he was wearing dry clothes again he got to the balcony, looking over the city which he called home for most of his life, he felt nostalgic.

"Still, Karmic Virtue is something else considering I am quite aware that I am hallucinating." He shook his head with a wry smile.

Zeno went back in to find his parents, he looked at them for a while remembering his life before the reincarnation before he closed the door.

'They would probably spit on my face if they knew what kind of person I had become.' He thought to himself.

Still he had no desire to change...

By the time he turned his back the warm home he remembered was gone, replaced by a grimm atmosphere in the middle of nowhere.

The only thing he could see for miles was an enormous tree, cracked at some parts and rotting at the other parts.

Zeno could feel the tree fighting whatever it's been eating it alive, that thing felt intangible and chaotic. Zeno felt his Karmic Virtue get agitated just by feeling it.

Shrugging Zeno made his way to the tree, as he got close he saw a notice board next to the tree's roots.

There was a single post nailed on it...

|Witcher Needed!

Help the world by cleaning it from harmful elements, master the elements and bring balance to the world!

Reward: Karmic Virtue based on your efforts.|

"..." Zeno really wanted to applaud his imagination but unfortunately he was aware that he was no longer hallucinating.

[...] System.

{...} Ouryuu.

<...> Zeno's draconic instincts.

'Hold up!' Zeno noticed an extra passenger in his head but it wasn't the time to dwell on that. because he felt someone behind him.

"Welcome young Witcher. Are you interested in the contract?" Zeno heard a soothing voice.

Turning around, he found the owner of the voice. It was someone Zeno knew but didn't get to converse for long.

"Lady Gabriel!" Zeno exclaimed.

"Surprised? Well I guess it is only natural." Gabriel giggled before she moved towards the tree.

"Forgive me for being blunt but why are you here? I thought I wouldn't be having such blatant divine intervention." Zeno said.

Gabriel didn't answer him and gently patted the tree, the bark fell off as she infused it with Karmic Virtue of her own. The tree revitalized wherever she touched.

"This tree is the core of this world. As you can see it is suffering and will continue to suffer. We don't normally mess with the words created by my husband but I figured, it would be a good opportunity for you." Gabriel explained.

"You want me to cleanse this world?" Zeno asked.

"The source of magic in this world is Chaos. As you might guess Karmic Virtue can be a source of Order, bringing balance. The main forces of Chaos won't stop you since the balance benefits them as well." Gabriel turns towards him pointing something behind his back.

Turning his head over Zeno saw his draconic form, purely made out of Karmic Virtue. It saw slowly approaching the tree ready to coil around it.

He knew his accumulated amount wasn't enough to make it yet but having a preview was nice.

"I simply want you to remain in this world for more than twenty years, also you're to not experiment with the Elder Blood until I give you permission, I will even help you with it later on." Gabriel continued as Zeno's Karmic Virtue dragon coiled around the world tree.

"It is doable, I was planning to stay here a long time anyway." Zeno thought out loud. "What do I need to do?" He asked Gabriel.

"Just follow your destiny." Gabriel said and disappeared, leaving a few white feathers behind.

Zeno shamelessly collected the feathers as the RPG player in him demanded he must collect the loot, before he ripped the contract out of the board.

Afterwards he felt an inexplicable connection being formed with him and a greater power. The power of Destiny.

Zeno did not know whether this was good or bad but he trusted Merlin and Gabriel. After all, they didn't have any reason to harm him... Not permanently at least.

________

Gabriel returned to Avalon, only to find her husband waiting at the entrance with his feet tapping on the ground.

Seeing his annoyed expression Gabriel felt a bit bad for what she had done but it was already done.

"Why did you do that Gabby? He was perfectly fine without any unwanted attachments." Merlin asked.

His expression said 'I am not mad, just disappointed.' making Gabriel feel bad, it has been several eternities since she saw her husband this annoyed.

"You might be okay with his mind slowly fracturing but I am not. He already has three passengers in his head!" Gabriel raised her voice.

"He would have been okay and you know that." Merlin argued back.

"After how many years of being basically crazy?!"Gabriel asked.

"Come on, which one of us hadn't gone crazy at least once in our lives." Merlin waved her off only to be hugged by his wife.

"Merlin I love you but I am concerned about your growing indifference." Gabriel spoke, her voice trembling a little. "Maybe it's time for us to retire. I am tired as well."

"Yeah, I am working on something... But I won't be leaving this omniverse to Zeno. He'll rather die than run an omniverse." Merlin hugged Gabriel back. His eyes held warmth once more alongside regret.

'No one said being a supreme being would be this stressful. I just wanted a safe place for my loved one's dammit!' Merlin thought.(AN: Just dropping some hints for my books for the future don't mind me.)

_______

Zeno's awakening was gentle this time around, because his bloodline was finally free of it's shackles.

His bloodline quickly surged through his body inspecting the changes, absorbing the useful mutations while getting rid of harmful ones like sterility.

Zeno once again got absorbed in the feeling of having power even though he knew it was nothing in the bigger picture.

This time only a single child had died, which was quite good. They were once again given a week before their last trial.

During this week Zeno helped Old Harkon around the keep. He needed a good reason to go in and out of sensitive places and this was a good opportunity.

Since his powers were unlocked, Zeno once again had access to his HUD and he wanted to fill out his map considering this place was going to be his home for the next century.

He was also slowly covering the castle with a biomass thread filled with Karmic Virtue to avoid its detection.

It wouldn't be useful for anything just yet but it will help a lot once Zeno starts to renovate the keep.

'I can set up some wind turbines on the mountains to generate electricity and bullshit my way to explain them. Still I won't start bringing out alien tech until I gain everyone's trust.' Zeno thought while carrying some crates for Old Harkon.

"Thank you young master. The winters are too much for my old bones to work at this point." Old Harkon said while coughing.

During this week, Zeno had learned about his past, and even got a side quest to deliver a necklace to Old Harkon's childhood sweetheart's grave.

The said grave happens to be in Vengerberg which interested Zeno. System even opened up a Quests Menu for him and listed this one in Side Quests section for full immersion.

Old Harkon wasn't a terrible person but Zeno never got along with old people like how he never got along with children.

"Don't worry too much. I wanted to roam the keep anyway." Zeno brushed him off as he continued to work.

"Zeno! Get yer ass over here. It's time for the next trial." Deglan's voice reached his ears just as Zeno finished putting the last crate.

Going over to the main hall, Zeno found it was filled with armors and swords, proper witcher gear.

Most of the armors were the old one's from previous witchers that got repaired but the swords were definitely newly forged judging by their smell.

Yes, Zeno could now smell an item's age...

'It is time for the last trial.' Zeno thought to himself as he wore the armor and checked his silver sword.