Chapter 146—Not Everything’s a Surprise

Tom stared across at the innocuous looking two metre long worm that only came up to his ankle. It represented WADOR and had six kills to its name. Apparently it was more than capable of murdering him, and he was very glad he had a full shield.

It also had made no attempts to communicate.

The countdown reached zero and Tom reacted.

Everything sped up as it focused on him, and he received the enhanced attributes. A burst boosted him further and then faster than someone with unenhanced human attributes should have been able to react: he was leaping away.

He had already scoped the arena, and he went for the nearest cover, a gigantic cluster of boulders, which was five metres to his right. It consisted of around thirty stones all of which were bigger than him and some substantially so. At its peak the pile was over three metres high. The stress that the turn and spin created caused Fateful Earth Body to release a point of fate that he immediately directed toward helping him reach his target.

A smile split his face. The power that came with increased attributes was as always exhilarating. He was now acting at something approaching a rank twelve, which was the point that his opponent’s attributes, even with the bonus of his burst, exceeded his own.

Yet even then, he had the benefit of time thanks to his two traits. Despite how fast he was moving, it was still like he was leaping sideways in slow motion. There was nothing wrong with that, as it allowed him on a relative basis to use magic faster than he would otherwise have been able.  This way, he would be able to form and fire off two Lightning Javelins before he lost sight of the worm.

Then alarm bells went off. Something was going wrong.Atmospheric turbulence had created a tiny error in the spell form. They happened all the time and usually didn’t even affect the strength, but this time it caused one of the javelins to collapse in an arc of lightning.

It crackled and rather than arcing to the ground instead it hit something at head height only a metre away from him.

Tom’s eyes widened in realisation.

Boom!

A wave of compressed air picked him up and, because of the positioning of the explosion he was propelled towards the protective boulders. It was like a giant had slapped him, and now the previously friendly rocks looked like anything but that. There was something about being hurtled through the air at car crash speeds, which made hard surfaces appear less appealing. He rotated his body to protect his head. His skin hardened, shields of earth formed on his back.

He thumped into them, and the entire cluster of rocks vibrated. A stone that must have weighed over five hundred kilograms swayed and started falling. It wasn’t going to land on him, so he ignored it. He sat there his brain so shocked that for once tactical plans weren’t spinning around in his head. He gasped for air and then after a moment spat out the copper tasting saliva.

What was that? He thought groggily. He hadn’t hit his head directly, but the whiplash of the collision had scrambled it. Twenty points of mana disappeared into Touch Heal, as he sent undirected healing to fix up his brain. The rest of his body remained injuredand even though the duel had been going for less than ten seconds, he knew that massive bruises were already forming on his back. Next to him the dislodged rock thudded into the ground with a thump that caused vibrations he felt through his bum and feet.

Wow, he thought. He wasn’t sure what the misfiring Lightning Javelin had caused to detonate early, but it had certainly packed some punch.

What now? He wondered, and then felt his attributes drop to indicate that the worm was no longer focusing on him.

Why? He asked himself. This was a duel. Why would it stop paying attention. Was this a hubris he could exploit?

Fateful Earth Body went crazy. He could feel his skin hardening and multiple earth shields forming to protect both his back and front.

Another moment of realisation struck him. He didn’t have time to turn the dread into words, even as a thought.

The world flared white.

Abruptly, he found himself back in the main foyer. “What the fuck?” he whispered. Whatever had hit him must have been massive to have expelled him from the duel that quickly.

“What happened?” Corrine asked immediately.

Tom didn’t answer her straightaway and instead studied her for a moment. He had learned to read her moods, and she was not happy. “You lost?”

“Yeah it’s no biggie.” She gave him a forced smile. “It’s not like any specific fight fucking matters.”

“Corrine it’s okay. Mostly whether we win or lose is the luck of the draw.”

“Don’t you think I know that, Tom? I have less than a fucking year now. Under a hundred fights.”

“That sounds like an eternity.” Kang observed.

“It’s fucking not. It’s a blink.”

“I agree.” Tom said. “After two years a hundred fights doesn’t seem like much.”

“Ninety eight,” she corrected angrily. “And I have to win fucking fifty two of them.”

Tom patted her on the shoulder and could feel how tense she was. “It’s doable.”

“Not if I keep fucking losing. It’s not. What about you? You swore when you arrived. Did you face the trident?”

“No, nothing like that. I just got stomped hard. Basically, it swatted me away like I was a bug.”

“Fuck. Yeah, there’s always an occasional fight where you have no chance. I don’t know how they,” she waved at the room. “Get the courage to go into a fight knowing that if they run into someone like that it’s an instant death. They’re brave.”

Tom shook his head. “No, not brave, desperate. They feel like they have no choice. It’s why I need to get the coins finished and make a difference.”

“The impact will only be a fucking drop in the oceans to the GODs.”

“But it’ll matter to everyone here. You know, the kids that we’ve actually had a chance to meet and chat with.”

“True.” She agreed.

He could see that he hadn’t distracted her from her own problems like he had been hoping.

“What killed you?” Kang asked, probably seeing the same issues he was..

“Some shitty worm. It looked so insignificant before the duel.”

“I think I fought that.” Kang volunteered. “Three seconds nothing happening and then bam. Dead and I’m back.”

“I lasted ten seconds but…” Tom shook his head. “That person was a WADOR representative, and it didn’t even ask if I had a shield.”

“Same with me. It’s a prick.”

“Kang, you’ve been here three months.” Corrine stated abruptly. “What’s your win percentage, anyway?”

“I’ve won seven, so about one in three.”

“Fuck. I fucking hate that you get an extra two years in here. You’ll fucking end up earning way more than me.”

“We’re all on the same side,” Tom reminded her. “The stronger we each get the easier it’ll be for us to change the world and save the billions in stasis”

“Speaking of that. Tell me about your little followers.” She winked at him.

“They’re not our follower. But they’ve both got invites for the next intake.” Tom told her. 

Corrine winced. “Really? They’re competing in the same session?”

He nodded. “Unfortunately.”

“Ouch that’s going to be fucking hard on them. Can you imagine if there’s only two spots and they’re both taken up by humans and then they have to stand in the circle and justify why they should get the opportunity.”

“It won’t come to that,” Kang interrupted with a big sigh. “Eloise will turn the chance down. She loves her pranks, but if she had her way, the world would be fairies, butterflies, and cupcakes.”

Corrine scowled. “That little tart. She’d really turn down power? There’s no cupcakes if we’re all dead.”

Kang’s head snapped up, and he met her gaze with furious heat. “Don’t speak about her like that. That’s unfair. She’s only eight. You can’t call her names because of how she feels. And yes, Corrine, I know the arguments I’ve made them. You’d think   given she has not parents you’d expect her to feel it more than someone like Bri but it’s not the case. Bri understands she’ll fight. But Eloise, nope she just isn’t that type of person.”

“She’s so talented. It’s such a waste.”

Kang shrugged. “She’s competitive. She’ll compete, but if both her and Bri make the top three, then Eloise is giving up her spot you can guarantee it.”

“What a fucking waste.”

“Corrine, I’m serious. Leave her alone. When she’s an adult and more mature, it’ll probably change. But for now, she’s a kid and we don’t have a right to force her to.”

“You’re as fucking weak as she is.”

“It’s not their fight.” Tom interrupted. “They don’t have loved ones to think of. They haven’t been purified in the forges of the tutorial. We can’t blame them for not being as passionate as we are.”

“And when she gets older her attitude will change,” Kang repeated. “But right now. She’ll give the chance to another species that needs it. That’s just who she is and I can’t say I’m not proud of her character.”

“So when is the big event?”

“Two days,” Kang answered.

“And Dimitri’s making you do what?”

Tom rolled his eyes. “The four of us, ‘officially’ are going to have an adventure. We’re going to sneak out just before lights out and spend the night in the floor one isolation rooms.”

Kang chuckled. “We’ll actually be the second group from the eight-year-old cohort to do it. It’s become a rite of passage for the last couple of months. All the cool young kids have been doing it.”

Corrine laughed. “Yeah Dim’s fucking great at his job. Well, I guess I’ll see you then, if not before.”

Two days passed and Tom was up bright and early and was crafting his ritual disks. Mr Cricket was on duty.

“You have to get over it.”

Tom stared at the jumble of arms that kind of brought to mind a hedgehog. “I have to get over it?” he questioned incredulously. “I asked. No, I begged, and you said no. It’s my work and you blocked me, anyway.” 

“You didn’t give me a proper reason.”

Tom rolled his eyes. “You’ve been working with me for how long and how many times have I made e frivolous decisions.”

“There were those three days you skipped training.”

“Not volunteering to get tortured when I was needed for something else is not frivolous.”

“Calm down. You asked and I told.”

“You insisted on a fucking reason. Me, a species with secrets on secrets? You’re old and wise enough to know better than insist I speak out.”

“I do what is best for the collective.” Mr Cricket responded calmly. “I don’t know why you’re so keen to earn your coins early, but it makes no sense. Waiting has been modelled to deliver a fifteen percent better outcome for the collective and give you twenty percent more profit. Bringing it forward like you want is stupid.”

“It wasn’t about getting coins earlier,” Tom growled.

“So you said. But you failed to provide an adequate reason, so I can only assume.”

“Fuck you.”

Mr Cricket said nothing for an awkwardly long period of time before continuing. “I don’t hate you Tom. In fact I think you’re very admirable and you’ve applied yourself adequately for months. I definitely didn’t reject your request to be malicious. It was refused because that’s what I had to do to do my job.”

“Fuck you,” Tom repeated and ignored the open competitor and focused on his ritual disk. Worry, he realised was making him more sensitive than usual.

An hour and a half later and a completed coin. He put it aside. He had been working himself to the bone to make sure the disks would be in use when Briana and Eloise would get in so they would receive the protection Kang hadn’t received, but also apparently, given he was still alive, hadn’t actually needed. Unfortunately, their offer to compete had come sooner than expected, so there would still be a dangerous period of a little over two months but he doubted either of the girls would lose their caution that quickly. The GODs had taken months to spring the trap on him. You had to win on your own merit, then go into fight with a shield where you won anyway and then see the fate trick working a few more times before you could be tricked, and that took time.

Both Kang and Corrine had joined him while he worked and were chatting together quietly. He got up and joined them and sat on the lumps of wood Kang had sourced from somewhere to act to chairs. He already had a third one out waiting for him to use.

They still had ten minutes to kill and once it reached five am Kang started his duty. With a twist of reality, he disappeared to check on the isolation room and then a moment later came back again. Kang’s check served two purposes if they didn’t get in he would bring them the news and second if one of them was successful but injured there was a chance they would be sent straight back to Existentia where Dimitri waited, with both his superior healing and mana pool rather than them coming into the trial.

Minutes ticked by.

Kang popped in for about the twentieth time and shook his head and left again.

“It’s taking fucking ages.”

Tom nodded. “Waiting’s hard. But delays are good. I reckon it means one of them made it and they’re listening to all the speeches about why their species deserves the spot more.”

“I hated them. Those little speeches. So fucking self-righteous. Like I get it. It’s why I’m here but being forced to listen. It sucked”

Tom snorted. “At least you didn’t get a million ranking points to celebrate you successfully screwing an entire species over.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that. That must have been fucking awful.”

“It was. It definitely was.”

Kang reappeared with the same solemn head shake.

“I hate fucking waiting.” Corrine repeated her regular complaints.

“Me too,” he agreed, watching the snakes spin about her, she was taking the opportunity to train. When his own mana regenerated, he practiced his spells as well. With his real body in the isolation room and free to duplicate his actions, he almost got full benefit from the attempts.

Kang reappeared.

Both of them focused on him as they picked up the shift in his body language.

“Eloise didn’t make it. She was knocked out in the second to last round. She would have needed to have battled a rank eight person to have survived the cull.”

Tom whistled. That meant Briana had to have fought a person that was at least rank eight. That was two ranks higher than the strongest one he had beaten. It was understandable. She was aiming for child bucket number two where everyone was older and presumably more powerful, so it made sense that the standards she needed to reach had improved.

“It’s not something to be excited about. We knew she’d have to fight up that far.”

“Logically yes. But she’s not reincarnated. To battle a person possessing four times your physical attributes is incredible.”

Corrine shrugged. “The condemned prisoners that get thrown into this fight are rarely the most impressive fighters for their rank.”

They waited.

Kang reappeared and disappeared multiple times.

Abruptly, Briana snapped into existence directly in front of them. Her positioning was so perfect it had to have been the doing of a higher power. Tom’s heart jumped, and he leapt up in excitement.

She was not grinning.

“Bri are you okay.” Tom said stepping closer.

“I…” she looked around the place her eyes wide. “I thought I would be happy, but… the people who didn’t make it were so sad.” She started crying.

Helpless to do anything else he just hugged her as she began brawling. Corrine joined in.

There were now four humans in the divine champion’s trial and three of them in a single bucket. Given the breadth of Existentia it was an amazing achievement and it was up to them to make it count.

AG. No chapter tomorrow. Next chapter will be next week.