[Congratulations to the host for finishing the game]
Liam was back, back to his own place. He had been in the game for a long time this time since he was in a bit of a hurry to complete it. Now that Liam had finished it, he just stared at the wall. This was the longest he had been. The previous one took time for sure, but not this long.
Even though Liam knew that Celebrimbor would betray him at the end, he had grown to like that old and dead elf. That elf had taught him the art of swordsmanship and archery. But the ring—unchecked power would corrupt anyone.
"Ah. I will miss the physical enhancement of Talion," Liam thought. And this was true. There was no difference between him and Cooper in the first game. But Talion was different. Even without the enhancements of wraith abilities, his physical form was beyond what normal humans were capable of.
But then again, it was the world of Middle-earth. Here, the blood of Númenor flowed in the veins of some men, and the normal humans were blessed with enhanced strength.
"What are the rewards this time?" Liam asked, as his time for contemplation and mourning was over.
[Congratulations. You have done an excellent job and thus have been given the evaluation of an S rating.]
This made Liam take a deep breath. He couldn't believe his eyes or his ears as he saw the panel in front of his retina. This wasn't what he had expected. He had been expecting an A+ kind of rating, but this was more than he had wished for. Living in such a dangerous world made him skeptical and expect less from things and people around him. Be it people or circumstances, odds were stacked against him.
But this—this was a surprise. A welcome one at that.
[The S rating will provide you with four rewards.]
This made Liam smile wide. This was the happiest Liam had ever felt—even more than when he got his first car a few days ago.
[1. 10 tonnes of mithril
2. The host will be blessed with an extensive, rich bloodline of the Númenóreans.
3. The host will be provided with all the knowledge and mastery that Celebrimbor had.
4. The host will be provided with all the wraith abilities from the game.]
If the ratings came as a surprise to him, then the rewards came as a bomb to Liam. He almost couldn't believe his eyes. Since the time he had gained the understanding that he had come to this dangerous world, he had been living in fear.
This was also one of the reasons why he went to save Tony. One was to check if the TVA would interfere or not, and the other was to gain friendship. He felt fear since he had no powers. The first game, though it gave him power to protect himself, wasn't enough in this dangerous world.
But the rewards of today gave him hope—a hope that he would have his own personal power, instead of relying on machines that he didn't have any knowledge of.
"Give me the blood of Númenor."
[As you wish, but there is another reward for completing a game with an S rating.]
"Wait, what? There's more?"
"What is the other reward?"
[Now the host is allowed to access two games in a single play. Two distinct games.]
This put a smile on Liam's face. This was more than he wished for. He would have an arsenal of abilities soon.
"Can't wait for the abilities."
The next moment, Liam felt a wave of pain—a pain in the heart, like a stab of a million pins inside, and the same proceeded towards the rest of his body. Liam felt as if his skin was crawling with ants biting him. But there was a small thing that Liam had learned over time: tolerating pain.
Liam didn't utter a single word when the process started. His body was changing in ways no original human ever had. Liam would be the first of his kind in this whole world and probably the whole universe.
The pain was a bit unbearable, and thus his brain actually shut down by the end when the pain reached his bones. Even then, Liam didn't utter a single word or scream. He was someone who had fought the orcs with an open gut and still killed one at the end. Of course, his health regenerated when he used his drain ability on another orc later, but he was still able to fight through the pain before. So pain had been his ally for as long as he could remember.
Longer than the people around him and even his own parents.
Liam woke up gasping, his body drenched in sweat and trembling uncontrollably. He sat up slowly, every fiber of his being aching with a dull, lingering throb. The transformation was complete, and though the pain had been excruciating, the rewards had already begun to manifest.
Liam flexed his fingers experimentally, marveling at the strength surging through his veins. His hands, once ordinary, now felt like they could crush steel. He stood up, his movements unnaturally smooth and precise, as though his body had been fine-tuned to perfection. he air around him seemed clearer, every detail of the room sharper, every sound crisper.
"This is more amazing than I thought it would be." Liam inherently knew now that his own lifespan had just reached 300 years at least. This was the headline for that bloodline. Longer lifespan.
His features hadn't changed drastically, but there was a new intensity in his eyes, eyes with blue in them. He had brown eyes before but now it had turned blue. And that wasn't the only thing the system had administered into him during his night sleep. Celebrimbor's knowledge and mastery.
His brain was now filled with knowledge and mastery that didn't belong to him. But he knew that this knowledge was enough to safeguard himself. And the wraith abilities were the main highlights of this.