by H. C. Mills
Temple full of traps. Lovely.
“Nobody’s found the Stardrop Flower yet,” Kaitlynn adds. Her cheeks have regained some colour, to my relief. “Or if they have, they’re not sharing. Frankly, we don’t even know what it looks like. Kai won’t give me any hints either; all I know is that it didn’t grow in the First Trial.”
“Hints?” Alec asks, baffled. “You ask your Personal Guide System for hints? Mine won’t even give me his name!”
I raise a brow at him. “Why not?”
Alec grunts sourly. “He says I haven’t earned it. Makes me call him ‘Sarge.’ And he keeps trying to make me do push-ups, says I need to work on my spaghetti arms.”
“Well, he’s got a point,” Kaitlynn teases.
“Hey!” Alec shouts indignantly.
I forcibly suppress a smirk and say, “I’m sure it’s not that bad. What’s your Strength, Alec?”
“It’s... it’s nine.”
I give him a pitying look. “Ah. I see.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!”
Kaitlynn laughs out loud. It’s a pleasant, clear sound. Contagious.
Dave shakes his head. “Mine is named Rose.”
[Ugh,] Suri’s voice chimes in my head.
I blink. “Oh, you know her?”
[We’re acquainted, unfortunately.]
Huh. Interesting. Clearly, there is more to Suri than I know and give her credit for. Combined with the odd personalities of Kaitlynn and Alec’s AI’s, I think I can safely retire my previous theory that Suri adapted herself to match me in some way.
“Emma?” Dave asks.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I asked what your Personal Guide is called.”
“Ah. Her name’s Suri.”
Dave's eye glazes over for a moment. He frowns, then shakes his head as if trying to clear it. I get the feeling the dislike is mutual.
Anyway, enough chitchat. Time to get down to brass tacks. “So... what’s the plan?”
“Right now?” Alec asks, glancing around. “We could gather some more food around the doors? We still need a fifth, and we could always use more food; we might be here for a while yet.”
“Sounds good,” I say, “but I was thinking more long term.”
It’s silent for a bit.
Dave is the first to respond. “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’d do anything to get back home.”
That’s a little longer-term than I meant, but at least he has resolve.
Alec groans. “Ugh, tell me about it! I hate this place. There’s literally nothing remotely soft or comfortable here, I’ve eaten nothing but nuts and berries for like a week, and I haven’t gone without internet this long in years.”
My eye twitches. “Really? Those are your main concerns about this place? Not the fact that your right eye is gone or the constant spectre of death looming over you?”
Alec shrugs. “I mean, those just kind of go without saying, you know? Besides, those things might all get better when we get out of this place, but I doubt there’s going to be dank memes.”
I stare at Alec as internally debate the pros and cons of trying to slap some sense into him. I ultimately, reluctantly, decide against it. Kind of weird how strong that urge is, I barely know him...
Dave clears his throat. “What about you, Emma?”
I suck in a breath and shove my fantasy of strangling Alec to the back of my mind.
“I’m getting back to Earth, one way or another,” I state curtly. “There’s promises I’ve made. People who need me in their lives.”
I pass the question on to Kaitlynn with a raise of my brow.
She smiles sadly. “I just want to get back and hug the people I love. Let them know I’m alive and well, that they don’t have to be worried or sad anymore.”
I blink, kind of caught off-guard by her soft-spoken sincerity. “Right. Suffice it to say, we want to get back to Earth, for various reasons.” I take a moment to glare at Alec, who just looks confused in response. “We should keep that in the back of our mind as our main goal, but I was perhaps actually thinking more medium term, as in, the coming week or so.”
Dave clears his throat. “Well, I figured we would just focus on gathering the stuff we need to level up. That means hunting the Blue-Scaled Trigots, looking for the Stardrop, and eventually facing the temple, though I’d prefer to save that one for last, see if we can gather some more info about it first or something.”
Kaitlynn and Alec nod and utter agreements.
“Yeah, I have to disagree,” I say. “I think we should postpone collecting those things for a bit.”
They all turn to stare at me.
“Look, obviously levelling up is important, but how long have you guys been here so far?”
Dave shrugs. “I’ve been here for about two weeks, and Alec for about a week, if I recall correctly. We only picked Kaitlynn up a few days ago, but I’m not sure...” He turns to raise a brow at her.
“I’ve been here for about ten days, maybe eleven,” she says. “Why do you ask?”
I purse my lips. “And was the conflict yesterday the most dangerous thing you experienced here?”
They share glances, then all nod.
“I figured. Look, I’m sure this place holds some hidden dangers, but the truth is, so far, I’m more worried about the Fourth Trial than about this Hub.”
I get up to pace, as my mind races.
“What’s more, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not satisfied with just surviving. I want to thrive. I want to conquer Hub Two and make sure we make the Fourth Trial our bitch.”
Dave frowns and leans forward a bit. “Then what would you suggest we do?”
I meet his gaze with a small smile and a huge amount of determination. “Push-ups.”
“Is this really necessary?” Alec asks doubtfully as he pushes his body up from the floor once more.
I suppress the urge to roll my eyes. “Look, Alec, in many ways, it’s like we’re playing a game with our life on the line. Inside the Trials, our growth is limited by time constraints, but out here it isn’t. Just think about it, man, we have stats! Stats that determine how strong and tough and fast we are, and we can permanently increase them! Are you saying that’s not worth a little blood, sweat, and tears?”
He huffs out a breath. “Well yeah, but I’ve been doing this off and on for like an hour... unfh... are you sure it’ll even work?”
“I’m sure,” I lie. “And it’s been more like twenty minutes. But don’t worry, you don’t have to do just push-ups; you can alternate with sit-ups, squats, burpees, whatever strikes your fancy.”
Alec groans.
“Keep breathing,” Kaitlynn says, lounging on her side. “You need to get enough oxy—no, wait, there’s no oxygen here...”
Dave scratches his chin. “That’s true. Interesting. Try holding your breath for a while, Alec, see how it affects you while you do that.”
“Why am I... the only one doing this?” Alec complains.
“Because you have spaghetti arms,” I deadpan. “Also, it’s an experiment; it doesn’t make sense for all of us to be trying the same thing when we don’t know for sure if it works.”
“What?” Alec gasps. “But you just said—”
“Anyway,” I interrupt him, “I’d do it myself, but I’m still weak from the Toxic Energy, so... keep it up! And try holding your breath like Dave says, I wanna see what happens.”
Not much, as it turns out. At some point, his Lavi starts dropping, of course, so he has to resume breathing, but he doesn’t appear to get tired any faster or start gasping for Aether or anything like that. Pretty interesting.
“All right,” I say after a while, clapping my hands together as I get up. “Alec, you’re going to keep doing this. Dave, you’ll watch him, and try to learn Respiration like I explained. Remember to slowly build up the depth of your breaths. Kaitlynn, you’re with me; we’re going to try out phase two.”
“What’s phase two?” Kaitlynn asks excitedly.
“One of the least fun things we’ll probably ever do,” I say with a sigh. “But we’re doin’ it anyway. If it works.”
“You want to do what now?” Kaitlynn asks wide-eyed.
“Just, you know, roll down the tree trunk,” I repeat sheepishly.
I mean, it’s not that crazy. We’re only about twenty feet up from the ground, and the trunk flares out widely from here as the twines that make it up transition into roots.
“If you have a better idea of how to raise our Toughness, I’d love to hear it,” I say with a shrug. “I figured this would be the easiest way to get smacked and bruised all over without breaking anything or doing any serious damage.”
She blinks at me, then shrugs helplessly. “I guess. If you really think it’ll work, I’m willing to give it a try.” She turns to look down the trunk and nervously bites her lip.
I put my hand on her arm. “That’s very sweet, but I was actually going to do this myself while you watch over me and practise Respiration as well. My Strength and Agility may still be lowered, but my Toughness is fine.”
Kaitlynn whirls on me and jabs me in the chest with a finger. “Don’t even think about it! You were on your deathbed a few hours ago, and you are far from recovered. You’re going to sit there and watch, while I see if this works, and that’s final.”
I’m genuinely stunned. She raises her brows at me, daring me to contradict her.
I nod mutely and she hands me her fanny pack.
I sit down and watch as she takes her first of many painful tumbles down the trunk.
Oof. She gives a little wave once she hits the bottom, letting me know that’s she’s okay.
“Maybe you should start a little lower next time!” I call down, shaking my head.
Sheesh, what a masochist.
CHAPTER 29
Let the gains begin
SINCE KAITLYNN IS entertaining herself, I find myself with time on my hands.
“Hey Suri, this Rose you mentioned earlier... what’s so bad about her?” I ask innocently.
[Ugh, don’t get me started. She’s a stuck-up wench, always bragging about how far her candidates make it. It’s not even like she’s had anyone finish, otherwise she wouldn’t be here, now would she?]
Wait what? I frown. “She wouldn’t be here? What do you mean by that?”
[Hmm. I suppose I can tell you. Well, if a participant manages to finish the program, their Personal Guide System gets to accompany them in exploring the Realm beyond these walls.]
“So the guides who remain are the ones who have yet to succeed in guiding someone all the way to the finish?!”
[Essentially, yes. Mind you, we don’t get to choose the material we work with either; it’s all randomly selected—apart from a pre-selection based on affinity, of course—so it’s in large part luck.]
“Suri... how many participants have you guided so far?”
[That’s classified.]
Shit. Shit shit SHIT!
My training methods better work, ’cause it sounds like even though we’ve made it this far, we’re still totally screwed.
In fact, I better train too. Improving my Strength isn’t really an option right now, as the remaining Toxic Energy in my system wreaks havoc on my stamina, and deprives me of the Lavi I need to activate my greatest training tool, Boost Physical.
I was originally planning to train my Toughness, but since Kaitlynn insists on trying out my method first, I guess I’ll keep an eye on her and work on my breathing for now. Though I may be lacking the required Toughness to learn the Breath Control Skill, I bet I can still get a little closer to it.
Who knows when it’ll come in handy again.
Kaitlynn keeps going for nearly three hours. Her perseverance, her blind faith in my idea... I’m honestly touched, seeing her climb back up that tree trunk over and over again without a single complaint. Like a young, pretty, blue-haired Sisyphus. I actually have to force her to take a break sometimes.
And she doesn’t stop because she had to give up either; she stops because she actually succeeds in raising her Toughness from 8 to 9!
I know this because she runs up the trunk, tackles me in a hug, and shouts it into my left ear.
After my ear has recovered, we head on back to the hut. Slowly, because I’m still weakened from the Toxic Energy, and she’s covered in scrapes and bruises, which cause her to wince with every step.
When we arrive at the hut, we find Dave breathing deeply. And, well...
“Huh, where’s Alec?” Kaitlynn asks.
“He went to take a break from his workout,” Dave says sheepishly. “About two hours ago.”
I stop in my tracks. “Excuse me?”
Dave sighs. “Map says he’s by the stream near the doors, probably picking some birberries.”
So he’s playing hooky on the first day of training, is he? I can already feel a headache coming on.
“Fine,” I say. “We’ll wait for him to return. Show me your breathing.”
It doesn’t take long for Alec to come slinking back in. He looks like a puppy who knows he’s been bad, but still clings to the futile hope that it will go unnoticed.
He comes in wielding a cluster of birberries like a shield, waving them around as if they prove he wasn’t just slacking off.
Nice try, buddy.
“Hey, Alec,” I say, barely looking up from my work on Kaitlynn’s cuticles. She insisted they were in dire need of care, and I folded like a sucker for her pout. Dave’s sitting on my other side and is just putting away his Yang Focus Crystal, as he’s out of Qi again. “Training didn’t go so well, I take it?”
“What makes you say that?” he asks, badly feigning surprise as he takes a seat. “Look, if I train for an hour a day I’ll still get stronger eventually, right? I mean, I don’t think we should overdo it...”
I purse my lips and shake my head.
Dave clears his throat. “Maybe he’s right, Emma. We don’t know what’ll happen if we train too much.”
Alec perks up a little. “Yeah, exactly! And like you said, we’re not on a time constraint anymore like during the Trials, so we can take some time to relax and train ourselves bit by bit.”
A silence settles as I let go of Kaitlynn’s hand with a sigh and turn to stare at him.
“Damnit, Alec,” I bite out, “we are not taking ‘some time to relax and train,’ we are spending our time training. We may not have a twenty-four-hour limit hanging over our head, but if you think we’re not living on borrowed time one way or another, you’re deluding yourself. Moreover, we’re in competition with the other survivors.”
Dave frowns. “I do think our best bet for survival lies in cooperating with the other—”
“We need to be realistic about this, Dave,” I say, cutting him off. “There’s only one Minor Lavi Crystal coming out a day, and they can be used for more than just levelling up. And who knows how many Stardrop Flowers there really are? Face it, we’re in competition with the other teams that are no doubt forming, and if we’re not getting ahead, then we’re falling behind. One of the reasons that I think we should train before starting to collect more materials, is to make sure we come out on top when we inevitably come into conflict. Again, I might add.”
Dave sighs, then looks down with a troubled expression. It’s dead silent in the hut.
I get up and turn to face Alec again. “I need you to get this through your skull Alec, the Fourth Trial is group combat. If you can’t pull your weight, that affects all of our odds at survival. Why are we even still discussing this? You get to upgrade yourself—permanently! As much as it sucks to be here, if there’s one good thing about this place it’s that we get to grow stronger, and learn Skills that are practically magical, so how can you still even be thinking of slacking off?!”
“I just—I can’t, Emma!” Alec erupts, using my real name for once. “I can’t do what you do, I’m not strong enough!”
&nbs
p; I fold my arms over my chest. “You seem to think you have a choice, Alec, I—” I pause, narrowing my eyes. A sneaking suspicion is budding in the back of my mind. “Alec... what is your Willpower?”
He blinks. “Excuse me?”
“Your Willpower, Alec, the value of your Willpower stat. What is it.”
He skittishly looks around the room. “I... I don’t really see how that’s relevant, seems a bit of a personal—”
Oh for cryin’ out loud. “Dave, what is your Willpower?”
“It’s ten.”
“Ten, okay, that was the starting average, right?”
Dave nods.
“Kaitlynn?” I ask.
“Eleven.”
That’s my girl. I nod in satisfaction.
“Alec?”
He clenches his jaws and refuses to meet my eye.
I sigh. “Look, I’m not trying to embarrass you, Alec. I just need to know what I’m working with.”
“It’s... It’s seven.”
Oh boy. That’s worse than I thought, which might be why I fail to suppress a groan.
Alec deflates like a traumatised soufflé. “My mom’s a neat freak, so I never had to help around the house. School was easy enough for me, that I got passing grades while never doing any homework, and then Uni turned out to be so much harder that I dropped out after the first year. So, there you have it, I’m a fuck-up with no discipline. Happy?”
“Hey, come on, man, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Dave says with a frown. “What about that Iron Man suit you made? I mean, I never got to see it, but from your description, if you made something like that by yourself...”
Alec shrugs. “That’s different, it’s a hobby. That’s not discipline, it’s... I don’t know, motivation.”
“Listen up, Alec,” I say softly. “I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is, the Willpower stat can also be increased.”