by H. C. Mills
“I hear you.”
“And it’s not like I bought it myself. It was a gift from my mother.”
“These are all solid reasons to own a fanny pack, and yet...”
“You—just shut up and watch!”
I barely manage to reel my smirk back in and watch as she, still flustered, lifts the crystal in front of her.
She narrows her eyes. The crystal clutched between her fingers lights up white, then starts to give off an increasingly warm, orange glow.
A glowing orange sphere forms around her hand. the intensity of its glow increases quickly as it grows to the size of a head.
When the build-up seems to reach a kind of climax, she lets loose a shout.
“Haah!”
The orange sphere suddenly bursts forward, forming a beam of orange. It strikes the trunk of a tree 40 feet away with a deafening boom and a flash of blistering heat.
The orange glow fades away fast, but a clearly scorched and damaged spot remains on the trunk’s surface.
I turn my wide-eyed gaze back to Kaitlynn. “Holy shit!”
She sticks her crystal back in her fanny pack and shakes out her hand with a pained but satisfied smirk, before setting off back towards the hut.
I glance at scorch marks on the trunk one more time, before hurrying after her.
“Is your hand okay?” I ask when I catch up.
She nods. “My hand gets pretty hot when I do that, which hurts, but it doesn’t actually burn my skin or anything. The Heat absorbed by my body does drain some of my Lavi, but not a dangerous amount. Plus, it helps raise my Heat Tolerance bit by bit.”
Damn. That sounds awesome.
I walk in silence for a bit, lost in thought.
“You know,” she says eventually, “even Batman wears one.”
I raise a brow at her, genuinely confused.
She points at her fanny pack.
I shake my head with a snort. “Keep telling yourself that.”
She sticks her tongue out at me.
CHAPTER 27
I have a very particular set of skills
ON THE WAY BACK, Kaitlynn tells me the Skill she used is a Yang-type, medium-grade, Qi-based Skill called Astreum Manipulation, and this attack—which she dubbed Astreum Blast—was its first level.
Apparently, Aether can only store a certain amount of Heat before it enters a different state that is referred to as Astreum. When heated beyond this point, Astreum expands very rapidly.
By controlling the flow of Heat, Kaitlynn can direct the Astreum to expand into a certain direction, forming a lance of super-heated Aether that strikes her target, pushing it back and heating it.
The power and range of her attack depend on how much Heat she generates from the Qi in her Focus Crystal, which has a maximum capacity of 10 Onkh of Yang Qi. The reason she couldn’t use it on Bruce and his gang yesterday is that she ran out of juice after taking out the Blue-Scaled Trigot in a single, fully-charged shot.
And to think I considered myself safe because I was on a different branch. I shudder to think what might’ve happened if one of Meathead’s lackeys had a Skill like this.
If I recall correctly though, Skilldreams for medium-grade Skills all start out at 50 Trial Points. Saving up that many points during the first three Trials isn’t something everyone manages.
Kaitlynn earned extra points for appraising a buttload of plants in the First Trial, for gaining a point in Agility in the second, and for beating the ten-hour speed goal in the third like me.
As we round another tree trunk, the hut comes back into view. It appears to be mostly made of large sheaths of bark, tied and glued together to form an elongated cube. I always forget what that’s called... a cuboid? It doesn’t appear very rain-proof, but I have a feeling that might not be an issue in this Realm. Either way, it’s quite large and looks well-constructed.
Which, frankly, is rather odd. “Say, I know I was slow, but... did you guys really have time to build all this?” I say, indicating the hut with a wave of my hand.
Kaitlynn laughs. “We didn’t, actually. Dave and Alec found it. They adopted me about two days ago after they found me plucking birberries in the stream by myself. You really took your sweet time in there, didn’t you? We were starting to give up hope anyone was still coming out.”
As we approach the hut, Dave appears in the hut’s doorway, looking bleary-eyed and confused. His expression turns to relief as he spots us.
Whoops. Maybe I ought to leave a note next time I flee what may very well have been my deathbed.
Dave folds his arms over his chest and raises a brow at Kaitlynn when we draw near. “You know, it’s considered bad bedside manners to allow the patient to leave without alerting the attending physician.”
Kaitlynn ducks her head and blushes.
I laugh and link my arm through hers. “Nurse Kaitlynn here felt it pertinent to take me out for some fresh Aether and didn’t wish to wake the clearly overworked night-staff.”
Nurse Kaitlynn’s brows rise at her new designation. Dave chuckles.
“Seriously though,” I continue. “Sorry for being such a pain to take care of. Normally when I drink too much I just need to hang over the toilet for a bit. You guys really went above and beyond. Thank you.”
Dave sighs. “It was the least we could do, and frankly, it felt like I wasn’t doing enough.” He shakes his head. “I racked my mind for a way to improve my output, but came up with nothing. I even tried to have Kaitlynn charge my Focus Crystal for me, but I simply couldn’t control her Qi.”
That’s a pretty cool idea! Too bad it didn’t work.
“Well, I’m still here,” I say. “So clearly you did do enough.”
“Heeey, Nonya, you’re alive!” Alec exclaims as he walks out, emphasizing my pseudonym with a big grin on his face. “Dude, you were amazing yesterday! Ah man, that guy’s face when he figured it out... I just can’t even. Plus you totally sent Bruce running with his tail between his legs, and you’re way too good at pretending to be a council enforcer. I was seriously starting to doubt myself!”
“I had no doubts at all, I completely bought it,” Kaitlynn adds ruefully, as she unlinks her arm from mine and steps back to appraise me.
I stick my hands in my pockets, suddenly feeling a little shy under the praise. “Well, I’m not sure it helped much anyway.”
Alec shrugs. “It worked either way. So, are you officially joining us? I mean, I’m pretty sure I speak for everyone when I say we’d love to have you.”
I blink at the sudden change in subject and glance at Kaitlynn, who claps her hands together as she makes a small, excited hop.
Dave just nods with a smile.
“Uh, I mean, if you guys want me, then yeah,” I manage to bring out. “I would like that, very much.”
Alec grins and holds out his arms for a hug. “Awesome! Welcome to the team!”
Now, hugging isn’t really my thing, but I have been contact-starved for a week, so I decide to allow it.
I still roll my eyes as I step into his embrace. Apparently, the second his arms encircle me, the hugging season is officially opened, ’cause Kaitlynn and Dave immediately close in from both sides and I find myself engulfed in a group hug.
I scrunch up my face at the musty smell of Alec’s unwashed hair, but sigh and bear it.
It’s good teambuilding, I’m sure.
I still pat Alec on the back when the group hug lingers a little longer than I’m comfortable with.
After he lets go, I thank him for taking care of me as well.
He grins, looking both happy and kinda uncomfortable. “Ah, please, I barely helped. Well, except with carrying you up here, I suppose. Anyway, it’s great to have you with us!”
I nod, then shoot Kaitlynn a look that’s meant to say ‘Help?!’
Kaitlynn fights back a smile, and says, “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving! What’s for breakfast?”
“What do you think?” Dave responds d
ryly.
Kaitlynn’s shoulders droop.
Alec sighs. “Jicca nuts and birberries it is.”
We eat from hard bowl-shaped leaves and sit on what appear to be chunks of bark. As I look around the hut from the inside, I get the impression that none of the materials used have actually been cut in any way—they’ve just been stuck together like this. There isn’t much in the way of furniture either: a couple of logs to sit on, and a kind of rock washbasin precariously perched on a pile of rocks about waist high.
I dig in voraciously, but as soon as I have about half my breakfast down, my curiosity wins out over my hunger, and I turn to Dave. “So, Kaitlynn already told me a little about her experiences during the Trials, but I’d love to hear about yours and Alec’s too.”
Dave looks up at the ceiling, taking a moment to chew and swallow. Finally, he slowly and thoughtfully begins recounting his experiences. “I’m ashamed to say I went through the First Trial in a state of near panic. I only stayed at the oasis long enough to Purify the excess Toxic Energy I’d taken in, then hurried on, afraid something would pop up to kill me. Only after I finished it did I manage to calm down and did I start regretting the missed opportunity to learn more about this Realm. It wasn’t a complete waste though, as I gained Meditation in my efforts to forcibly calm down and received 10 extra Trial Points for clearing the Trial within an hour.”
So the time limits for those bonus points are indeed different for each Trial. That’s good to know.
“The Second Trial...” he shakes his head. “That was a real struggle for me. I nearly ran out the clock on that one, barely made it in the end. I did gain a point in Toughness, which netted me five points. The Third Trial was better, and I managed to get the bonus points for speed again. That got me to enough to buy a Skilldream for a medium-grade Skill.”
“I take it that’s the Skill you used to cure me?” I ask.
Dave nods. “It seemed pertinent to get some kind of healing Skill. At first, I hoped for something that mimics the effect of a Lavi Crystal, but there doesn’t seem to be a Skill like that. There’s a Lavi-based Skill that produces Lavi, and one that transfers Lavi, but I only had enough to get one Skill, and I preferred something that used Qi. Therefore I ended up vacillating between two versions of this Skill called Radiate, that has similar effects to some of the crystals we’ve come across. I was very tempted to get the version that Restores wounds, but Purification ultimately seemed more useful, as it works on all types of foreign energies, not just Toxic Energy. The only other things I bought was a skin of Hydrum and a skin of zirot juice for the Third Trial, but I didn’t end up needing that last one until yesterday.”
Ah, so that was Dave’s juice! “Well, I for one won’t argue your buying decisions,” I say. “I’m still about 4 Onkh over my Tolerance Limit, so I’ll be relying on you some more in the coming days.”
He makes a kind of sitting half-bow. “At your service, milady.’
I shake my head with a smile. Dork. “How much was the juice, by the way? I’ll see about reimbursing you in the future.”
He waves it off. “You scared off Bruce; that’s more than enough recompense. Besides, we’re a team now.”
“You guys are so lucky,” Alec says with a sigh before I can protest. “I’m saving up for a medium-grade Skill too but I didn’t have enough yet to get one before Hub Two. I was fast enough to get bonus points in the First Trial, but not in the second or third. Didn’t raise any stats either, just went through everything cautious and slow. How about you, Nonya? Did you get a medium-grade Skill after the Third Trial? Was it that breath attack you did?”
“Yeeaah, that wasn’t much of an attack,” I drawl. “It does kind of belong to a Skill though, a low-grade one called Respiration. It enhances Lavi absorption from the Aether. It’s not without its dangers, though, because it also increases the absorption of Toxic Energy.”
Dave nods. “I considered taking a Skilldream for that one before the Third Trial, but my Personal Guide System ultimately advised against it. Said it wouldn’t help much in low Lavi conditions, and that I’d be better off buying some drinks and saving my points for a medium-grade Skilldream after.”
“Good call,” I say. “Like with Meditation, you don’t need a Skilldream to gain it; I got it in the very first preparation room.”
“Really?” Dave asks, his eyes lighting up with interest.
I nod. “Yup. Granted, I did destroy my lungs and almost died at first, and then I poisoned myself with Toxic Energy by breathing too much too soon and almost died again during the First Trial...”
Dave’s lips quirk upward for a brief moment. “You’ll have to teach us how to gain it safely later then. I’ve already been helping Kaitlynn and Alec to Meditate so they could pick up the Meditation Skill like I did. Did you have a better time with the later Trials?”
I smile wryly. “Well, not exactly...”
They’re all staring at me expectantly, so I take a deep breath and start telling them about my own experiences in the Trials. I leave out the part where I broke my leg, as I don’t want to throw a pity-party or gross them out, I just... want to share my suffering a little.
When I’m finally finished, silence follows.
I purse my lips and glance at the stunned faces around me. “Did I say something wrong?”
“You...” Alec pauses to lick his lips. “You reached 20% Toxic Energy Tolerance, and could afford to get the Skilldream for a medium-grade Skill after only the First Trial?”
Dave looks like he’s trying to figure out whether I’m a genius or a madman. “You gained Meditation in the first preparation room, and raised it to the second level without a Skilldream?”
Kaitlynn stares at me like I’ve fallen straight out of a comic book. “You even have a self-taught Skill that’s level 3?”
“Yeah, well,” I say, scratching my head. “I worked hard on those Skills and my Toxic Energy Tolerance, but most of the time I was just fighting to fix my own stupid mistakes.”
Dave shakes his head. “What you accomplished is still amazing, Emma. And Boost Physical sounds like it has real potential as both a life-saving tool and as a means of growth. Are you sure you can’t teach it to us?”
I nod. “I wouldn’t even know where to start. I had a five-hour-long Skilldream about the inner workings of my Lavi circulation system, and even then it took me the better part of a day to truly grasp it. But I can definitely teach you guys Respiration.”
Dave nods thoughtfully. “That should come in handy too, but Boost Physical would be really nice for the Fourth Trial.”
Right. In all the commotion, for a brief, blissful moment there, I forgot the last line in Hub Two’s welcome screen.
‘Trial Four involves combat, so make sure to pick the right people.’
CHAPTER 28
Life’s a grind
WELL, AT LEAST WE’LL be going into Trial Four together. It seems almost uncharacteristically nice of the bastards who made this place, but maybe it’s only meant to balance the Trial for different roles in combat. Like Dave, who chose a healing Skill after the Third Trial, an ability which might very well prove crucial to our combined survival, but would have been far less useful than for example Kaitlynn’s powerful offensive ability, if he were forced to go solo.
Actually, speaking of those bastards...
I clear my throat. “What do you guys think of the b—I mean, of this facility?”
“It sucks,” Alec declares.
“Oh my god, yes,” Kaitlynn agrees, “these Trials are totally unfair!”
“Well, obviously,” I say with a sigh. “Let me be a little more specific: how hard do you guys think we’re being lied to?”
Kaitlynn and Alec stare at me with wide eyes. Oh, the naïveté of youth.
“Emma,” Dave starts in a low voice, then takes a moment to glance around and lick his lips before he continues. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to talk about this?”
“Humour me. Frankly, I don
’t see how much worse they can screw us over, so...”
Dave hesitates for a bit, then reluctantly answers. “I would say... pretty hard. I mean, they claim they want to ‘help train us to survive,’ yet they hold back crucial information.”
“Exactly!” I exclaim. “They also say they are ‘lacking in resources,’ yet they built thirty parallel Trial Tracks and make everyone go through them individually; that’s like the farthest thing from resource-efficient!”
Alec looks stunned. “Woah. You’re right! It’s like they’re not trying to train us at all, but, like, test us instead!”
More like they’re trying to eliminate the weak, I correct him silently, biting back the words. Kaitlynn already looks kind of upset, and it’s really just speculation on my part.
“I also don’t buy the transfers being accidental,” I say instead. “The locations are clearly targeted at large masses of people. I just can’t figure out what they want from us.”
Dave sighs. “Problem is, we lack information. And our Personal Guide Systems aren’t much help in that department; anything interesting is either classified or they don’t know.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Well, whoever built this place needs us for something, that much is obvious. That means we hold some value to them, but only if we make it through.”
I glance over to check on Kaitlynn, who’s been rather quiet. She looks a little pale. I catch her eye, and her bottom lip starts to wobble a little. Yikes.
I clear my throat. “All right, let’s change the topic; this is depressing. All we can really do for now anyway is keep our eyes open and try to survive. So, we know how to get our hands on Minor Lavi Crystals, is anything known about the other two objects we need to combine those with to level up?”
Dave hums and scratches his chin. “Only about the Qi Pearls. There’s a structure in the middle of the woods called the Yin-Yang Temple. Inside is an obstacle course like the Second Trial, but more dangerous. Only one person can enter it at a time, and they may only enter it once. If they make it through alive, they can grab either a Yin or Yang Qi Pearl at the end. We haven’t visited it yet. Frankly, I’m not looking forward to going through it.”
