Pandora Unchained - a Cultivation Progression Fantasy

Over the next half day, the team practiced their formations and respective abilities. Much of their nervousness faded as the examination turned from a life-and-death struggle into a casual walk through the bloodwood.

But only some of their battles were straightforward and easy to win. For example, a fight with six red-eyed saber wolves, one-star demons that hunted in packs.

"Vetner, what are you doing wasting your time with those small fries?" shouted Gareth. "Tie up the alpha now, or we're done for!"

"Fine!" shouted Vetner. He used his shield to bat away a lesser wolf and broke through the remainder of the pack to arrive at a wolf that was a full head taller than the others.

"Don't forget to taunt!" shouted Gareth. Fortunately, Vetner was already ahead of him. Blue mana coiled around his body and the opposing wolf's, preventing it from focusing on anyone else.

As the alpha began swiping at Vetner with its mighty paws, the others were able to relax somewhat. Lawrence took the opportunity to appear behind a wolf sneaking up on Daphne and stuck a dagger in its spine, killing it instantly.

"Sorin!" shouted Gareth.

"On it," said Sorin. He could have been more useful against weaker opponents, but against stronger demons, he was quite effective. Lawrence's attack happened to open a gap in the encirclement, which Sorin used to approach the alpha wolf.

Three poison needles shot out from his sleeve. Two of them clanked off the silver wolf's tough fur, but the last one lodged itself into its front shoulder muscle, throwing off its balance. Vetner used the opportunity to land a vicious cut on the wolf, drawing back its attention. Sorin used the opportunity to cut a deep gash in its side with a poisoned dagger.

Black lines of corruption spread out from the wound on the alpha's side. Its movements became sluggish, and Vetner's job became a little easier. But landing that hit had provoked the rest of the pack – the smaller wolves focused on Sorin, forcing him into a passive position.

There were four wolves left aside from the alpha, and they forced Sorin back towards his much larger opponent. The alpha swiped at him, but Sorin rolled beneath its legs and slashed once more at its torso, doubling up the dose of poison that slowly leeched away at its life force.

"Awooo!" the Alpha, finally realizing how dire the situation was, let out a howl. Demonic energy erupted from its four companion wolves, allowing them to dodge Gareth's arrows and break past Vetner's attempt to block them.

They were fast – too fast to dodge. Sorin knew that even at his peak, he wouldn't be able to block them. And that was when alarm bells went off in his head, and he rolled away just in time for a large fireball to light up three wolves, blasting them backward. They yelped as their fur melted and their flesh burnt to a crisp. Daphne's sudden spell had completely neutralized them.

"Duck!" Daphne called out, three seconds too late.

"Warn me next time!" shouted Sorin, raising his dagger to defend against the fourth wolf. It fell to the ground, dead, thanks to Gareth's triple shot to the back of its neck.

Seeing its entire pack fall at once, the alpha was enraged. Demonic energy spread out from its forehead, covering its body in corrupted runes. "It's going berserk!" called out Gareth. "Defensive measures!"

They fell behind Vetner, leaving the empowered alpha no choice but to attack the armored man. Its empowered claws smacked away the shield, and its teeth sank into Vetner's chainmail.

Fortunately, Janice had been waiting for just this moment. She cast a minor regeneration spell on Vetner as Lawrence pulled him back. Gareth took advantage of the opening to let loose three more arrows into its open mouth.

The alpha recoiled, and Sorin saw an opportunity and launched himself forward. He channeled a full quarter of his poison mana into his palm and slammed it into its side.

Black lines spread out from the point of origin and combined with the original poison that had been slowly sapping away at the alpha's head. It staggered, and three seconds later, it collapsed, coughing up black blood.

Everyone's mana was limited, and Sorin's was no exception. Fortunately, his experiences as a doctor gave him a way to recover some of his expenditures. He placed a hand on the dead alpha's corpse and summoned his poison out of the wolf's body. In this way, he was able to recover half the mana he'd expended.

"Sorin, he's bleeding pretty badly," Janice called out. "I think you should take a look at him."

"Sure thing," said Sorin. Their team was now used to peeling away Vetner's chainmail, so it was off in seconds. Blood was oozing out of the wound in spurts despite Janice's best efforts.

Sorin frowned. "The wound is very deep. Stand by because I'll need your help." Demonic corruption had begun setting in, so he used his poison qi to eat it away, then used a disinfectant solution to protect the wound from further infiltration.

The teeth sank into his main arteries, thought Sorin as he made some hasty stitches. "Does anyone have a healing potion?" he asked the party.

"I have one, but keep in mind that they're expensive," said Gareth, tossing him a bottle.

"Vetner will owe you then," said Sorin, catching the bottle. He unstoppered the cork with his mouth and carefully dripped half its contents into the worst wounds. They began healing over, but that alone wouldn't be enough.

Sorin made some quick sutures to assist the healing, then used his spiritual strength to find five tiny spots hiding deep inside the wound. He used a scalpel to cut away the corrupted flesh, then dabbed a bit more potion into the deep wound, finally stanching the bleeding.

"He'll need your heavy attention," Sorin said to Janice. "I don't think he'll be able to fight for the next week at least."

"Are you guys done fumbling about?" said Haley, appearing beside them. She was covered in sweat, and it was clear that she'd been chasing off other demons to allow them to complete their assessment in peace.

"Apologies, Assessor Haley," said Gareth. "The alpha's strength was a greater threat than we expected. Vetner is out for the remainder of the assessment."

"Don't lie to me," snapped Haley. "I hate it when people lie."

"This…"

"If you don't want to trash talk your teammates, I'll do it," said Haley. "Vetner?"

"Yes, Assessor Haley?" said Vetner, picking himself up. His arm was no longer usable and had been safely tucked away in a sling.

"You're out," said Haley. "Not just from combat duty, but from this assessment."

Usurpingly, Vetner accepted the assessment without a complaint. "Yes, Assessor Haley. I'll polish up my skills for a month before trying again."

"Make it two," said Haley. "And remember, just because you're a tank, it doesn't mean you need to take damage. Blocking, dodging, and even parrying are much-preferred alternatives. Next up is Janice. Is there anything you'd like to say?"

Janice looked down. "I'll go find some better spells and make myself more useful."

"Spells are one thing," said Haley. "Common sense is another. It wouldn't be a bad idea for you to spend some time at a clinic or at the Adventurers Guild to treat emergencies. Contrary to what some might think, you're not just a life mana battery. You need common sense to know what you can heal and what you can't. If a mortal doctor and a healing portion are better at your job than you are, what's the point of even having you on the team?"

Her eyes then fell on the last three in their team. "Daphne."

"Yes?" said Daphne.

"By all rights, I should fail you," said Haley. "But I respect someone who can blow up three one-star demons with a single spell like you did. Your aim isn't bad, but try to give some warning. If Sorin hadn't dodged, he would have been burnt to a crisp. Bare pass."

"As for Gareth, your team coordination and support are top-notch. You had a rough beginning, but you really stepped up. It's not your fault that Vetner got hurt over and over but his own. You did the best you could with what you were given."

"Thank you, Assessor Haley," said Gareth.

"Oh, um, yes! Thank you!" said Daphne, then returned to muttering to herself about stupid party members getting in the way of her burning down the world.

"That only leaves Sorin," said Haley. "Overall, not bad. You're a better medic than the team's healer."

"Thank you, Assessor Haley," said Sorin.

"But you're still lacking when it comes to your main role, which is dealing damage," said Haley. "Your footwork is garbage for closing distance, and you avoid fighting way too much. You hit that wolf about three times, but really, couldn't you have struck him with that palm at the beginning and saved Vetner some trouble?"

"That… with all due respect, Assessor Haley, the alpha, was still not completely tied down by Vetner," said Sorin. "I wasn't confident in being able to dodge any counterattacks."

"Excuses," said Haley. "It's something you could have easily done with more training. So as it stands, you fail." Sorin gritted his teeth but could only accept her harsh judgment. "That being said, you're not half bad. Earlier, while you were fighting, I happened to run into an interesting demon. Follow me, everyone."

She led them five kilometers away to an open glade. In the middle of the glade, they saw a tuft of seemingly harmless grass. But around said grass, there wasn't a single living thing. For the grass was poisonous and had killed all living things within fifty meters of it.

"Iron-melt cloud grass," muttered Sorin.

"That's right," said Haley. "It's a poisonous herb that can be very beneficial to certain demons. She threw a dagger out to a patch of grass, causing it to collapse into a pit. A spider demon with a glossy black exoskeleton jumped out, its dozens of eyes watching them warily.

"So my question is this, Sorin: How badly do you want to be an adventurer?" said Haley. "Are you willing to risk your life for it? That spider is a one-star demon called a flesh-melting demon spider. It will likely be resistant to your attacks. Its poison is quite potent, so if you get hit more than once or twice, there's no way I'll be able to save you.

"Are you willing to fight it? If so, step on up. If you win, I'll not only give you a pass but also the poisonous herb it's guarding. You've got ten seconds to decide. Nine. Eight. Seven…"

It was a frightening opponent for Sorin. As Haley said, the spider would likely be resistant to his poisons. Taking it down might take several minutes. He would have to dodge the spider's tricky attacks as he waited for his poisons to take effect.

The smart thing to do would be to retreat and polish up his skills. He could then take the assessment again and become an official adventurer. The problem was that his family would surely intervene; his family had already done so much to cripple his cultivation and make him lose his position as family head and would therefore stop at nothing to stop him from rising again.

Even the mighty Adventurers Guild wasn't immune to corruption, but it was very protective of its members. The reason he'd been so keen on taking the first assessment was because there was a big difference between barring someone from a big family from taking an assessment and stripping a member of his designation.

Then, there was Haley and her seemingly one-sided treatment of Sorin. This was especially the case when contrasting to Daphne, whose only skill was mindlessly— albeit very proficiently— setting things on fire. Haley was from the York Clan, a large and prosperous clan that would undoubtedly know about his difficulties. Moreover, the York Clan didn't have strong diplomatic ties with the Kepler Clan, which made manipulation unlikely.

Sorin had no idea what Haley's angle was, but there was nothing he could do about it. The choice to accept a more difficult assessment was his to make. "Fine," said Sorin. "I'll do it." Cultivating the Ten Thousand Poison Canon had been a calculated risk, and so was this.

"Are you sure?" said Haley. "It's no shame to withdraw from a stronger enemy. Your life is precious, after all."

"But not more precious than my freedom," said Sorin, taking out his dagger and a handful of needles. "May I begin, Assessor Haley?"

Haley smiled lightly. "Don't think I'm being hard on you for no reason. You're a member of the Kepler Clan, after all. And like all major clans, they like to meddle in the affairs of their members." Her words further reaffirmed to Sorin that she wasn't meddling out of spite. There were details here that he wasn't privy to; the advanced assessment would be difficult, but passing it might bring him unexpected benefits.

"Sorin, I highly recommend that you don't fight that spider," said Gareth before he could step up. "It's a one-star demon because it's immature, but it will eventually grow into a two-star demon. In terms of threat, it would be better for our entire undamaged team to fight it. Even then, we would probably avoid it because its poison is difficult to treat."

Sorin shook his head. "I've made my decision. I risked my life to regain my cultivation, and I won't let anyone or anything stop me from moving forward again."