Nexus Games [Chps 42 + 43]

Hey peeps!

So, I've given this to a couple of editors. One of them (who I have worked with for a while) basically had this exchange with me...

Editor: I love you, but how quickly did you write this?

Me: I wrote it during write-a-thon, while getting married, and after I had gone through surgery.

Editor: Yeah, I can tell. One chapter had 27 mistakes, and you made a contradiction to information given 10 chapters ago.

Me: Er, sorry about that. I'll fix it all before the official release.

Editor: Awesome. Good thing you haven't shown this to many people.

Me *nervously chuckling*: Yeah. Good.

So, what I'm trying to say is: you guys are the real heroes here.

Thanks for all the encouraging statements even though I may or may not have been drugged up while writing some things. >.>

(It'll all be fixed before physical/audio release, for reals)

—Chapter 42—

—The End of the First Game—

Kellan dwelled on everything that had happened over the last day. His thoughts spiraled downward, like quicksand stealing his focus. The first game—out of ten—had taken its toll. Monsters. Deadly environments. Crazy competitors.

He wanted more of a game plan. A strategy. When he had run operations in the Delta Force, he had intel on the location, the target, and the potential nearby threats. Kellan disliked running blind on every mission, practically playing catchup with every step of the process. Everyone else seemed to know what was going on.

I’ve just got to up my game. No excuses. The game will be rough if I don’t get my shit together.

He lightly slapped himself on the side of the face, trying to focus.

After a long exhale, Kellan climbed a set of elegant stairs and made his way to Xiang’s suite. He pushed open the door, intent on speaking with her about travel magic. To his surprise, the rest of Team 101 was gathered in the central sitting area. Husker and Mavis sat on the couch, while Xiang and Sen stood in front of the TV.

Kellan held his breath as he shut the door and walked inside.

“There you are,” Sen said, pointing. “What happened? What rule did you break? Did the Arbiter punish you with a hex?”

“Let the man gather his thoughts,” Husker growled.

“We’ve been waiting! He had time to think on the way over here.”

Xiang held up a hand. Both her brother and Husker quieted themselves.

While Kellan was away, Xiang had changed her clothes. She now wore a giant yellow sweatshirt and slimming black jeans. Some hanzi was printed on the back, and the outfit gave her a youthful urban look—something straight out of a modern fashion magazine.

Another illusion? Kellan was starting to think all her clothing was fake.

“The Arbiter told me that our team would have to participate in a PvP match for the upcoming game,” she said matter-of-factly. “Is that because of you?”

Sen whipped around and held his hands to his mouth in a silent gasp. Even Mavis seemed concerned—she turned her attention to Kellan, her eyebrows knitted. She silently mouthed, That means we’ll be fighting the other teams, right?

“I attacked Jace during the first game,” Kellan muttered. He ran a hand through his hair. “So we have to do a PvP game as punishment. I… I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking when I lashed out, and this is my fault.”

The others didn’t respond.

Xiang and Husker exchanged knowing looks. No words, but their intense gazes were worth a whole novel’s worth of text. Then Xiang combed her silky hair with her long fingers.

“In the future, please restrain yourself,” she said. “We don’t need needless complications. Things are already going to be rough.”

Kellan nodded once. “Really… I’m sorry about this.”

“You needn’t be so apologetic.” She sighed and then waved away her own comment. “I knew this would happen eventually. We have to face Brenner at some point, and it should probably be soonerrather than later. If that man takes any more hexes, we might be in for a rough time.”

“You want us to do a PvP match?”

“I would’ve preferred to wait one more game, but honestly, this isn’t as bad as it could be. If the Arbiter had killed you, we would’ve been down a member, and all the arcana you gathered during the game would’ve been wasted.”

Husker stood from the couch. Sometimes Kellan forgot how tall the werewolf man was—he towered over everyone else, his ears giving him an extra few inches that added to his imposing stature.

“It’s a relief to know the Arbiter isn’t imposing a harsher punishment,” Husker said. He tightened his coat around his large body and walked for the door. “Now that I’m not as worried, I’ll gather us something to eat.” He headed out of the suite without another word.

The others glanced between each other.

Xiang turned and headed for the door of her room. Kellan leapt to her side. He didn’t want to waste any more time.

“Wait. Can you teach me that magic now?” He had the arcana. It would be simple, wouldn’t it?

“Not now,” Xiang said, a slight strain to her voice. “Later tonight. After I’ve… rested.”

Until that moment, Kellan hadn’t realized she was tired. But now that he was close to her, he could see the fatigue and the stress. Was she hurting? She stood like someone in pain but trying hard not to show it.

Why was she so secretive?

“Do you need something?” Kellan asked, his voice a whisper.

Sen hurried to his sister’s side. He pushed Kellan aside. “I’ll take care of my sister. You and the others just make sure you’re prepared for the next game.” Sen motioned Kellan away. “Just sit in this room and don’t get into any more trouble. I doubt the Arbiter will be as forgiving if you break the rules a third time.”

Without another word, both Xiang and Sen disappeared into one of the far rooms. Kellan watched as they went, his attention on Xiang’s shaky gait. Something was wrong. Why would she hide it from the rest of her team?

Mavis stood from the couch. She brushed off her pants and then made her way to Kellan’s side. With a smile, she said, “I’m so glad you’re not getting flayed or something. You should’ve heard Sen and Husker talking before you got back. They were both really worried you were going to be gutted.”

“Oh, yeah?” Kellan lifted an eyebrow. “You sure Sen wasn’t hoping for it?”

“No. He seemed genuinely concerned.” But before Kellan could comment further, Mavis grabbed his arm, her excitement unable to be contained. She smiled as she said, “You’re not going to believe this, but I got a focus. I’m D rank in magma magic. It happened during the games.”

“I believe it.” Kellan motioned to the room. “Show me. What did you get?”

Mavis took a step back, rolled the sleeve of her T-shirt up, and then motioned to her skin. Her pale complexion wasn’t much to look at, but in the next moment, she glowed with inner heat and then hardened. A black crust, similar to the top of cooling lava, formed on her arm all the way down to her knuckles, creating a protective layer over her body.

The heat and blackening spread to the rest of her. In a matter of seconds, she had a new second layer over her body—including her face, but not her hair—and although it looked stiff, it moved with her, never hindering her actions.

“Awesome, right?” When Mavis spoke, her mouth glowed with the same type of intense heat her skin had demonstrated. Her insides were ablaze with inner fire. “It’s called Stone Colossus. I get plus four armor rating, touch damage that’s fire, and my stamina is counted as double for checks. Husker was excited.” She held out her arms and stared at the black crust. “I feel like a superhero,” Mavis whispered.

Kellan snorted and crossed his arms. “You look like a superhero.”

“Really?”

He nodded and half-shrugged. “Yeah. I like it. Impressive.”

“You mean it?”

The magma-hardened crust disappeared from her body, turning to ash in an instant. Mavis rubbed at her forehead and chuckled, her cheeks pink.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Mavis motioned to the room. “We made it back, right? That’s the best feeling in the world. And we have more magical powers. I think we might actually win this.”

“We’re only ten percent of the way through.” Kellan didn’t want to become lax. They needed to stay focused until the last game was over. “What else did you learn?”

“Husker and I fought a yami. It wasn’t large, but the thing was some sort of nightmarish horse. It was black and at least the size of a truck.” Mavis held her arms out as she pantomimed everything she said. “We were walking along the road when some fighting broke out. Another team started fighting this giant monster, and Husker and I fought the horse while trying to dodge chunks of falling building. It was something. More intense than my deployment, let me tell you.”

“Next time you get hit with a grenade, you’re gonna have the armor to take it.”

Mavis sarcastically laughed as she stepped close and hit Kellan on the shoulder. “There won’t be a next time. Apparently, magma mages can cause things to combust, even from afar. If an enemy has an explosive, they’re the ones who will explode.”

Something about her excitement made Kellan smile. Although the Nexus seemed bleak and unforgiving, it had completely changed Mavis around—for the better. She had seemed alone and distant when they met in the bar not just two days ago. Now she seemed enthusiastic for everything, even a creepy adventure through an unforgiving hellscape.

Kellan’s kind of woman.

The door to the suite swung open. Husker stomped in, his breathing rough. He carried a large box in one hand—it had a metal hand on the top, similar to a lantern.

But the box…

It looked like a miniature dresser, complete with three drawers. Was Husker bringing them more clothes? The outside of the box was painted a bright red with pink and white flowers decorating the corners.

Husker set the box on top of the large coffee table in the middle of the sitting room. “It’s time to eat.”

Kellan took a seat on the couch and eyed the strange chest of drawers. “What is that?”

“A lunchbox. Don’t you have them in your dimension?”

Mavis sat next to Kellan, so closer her leg touched his. She leaned forward and squinted at the dresser. “A lunchbox, huh?”

Husker snorted and then carefully—with the tips of his claws—opened the top drawer. Inside was a whole host of steamed rice and vegetables. Apparently, the dresser had been keeping it fresh, because Kellan hadn’t been able to smell it until Husker set it on the coffee table.

Then he opened the second drawer. Meat and flat pieces of bread. Small jars of sauce were tucked into the corners.

The last drawer had finger-sized dessert cakes with fresh fruit. The smell of sugar was almost as strong as the meat from the second drawer, enough to give Kellan cavities even just looking at the desserts.

“I didn’t know what you were accustomed to,” Husker muttered. He spread out the drawers and then revealed the underside of each had thin plates tucked underneath. Each plate had its own set of flat utensils. “So I grabbed something from the most popular categories. Humans eat many things, yes?”

Mavis nodded. “Yeah. This looks delicious. Where did you get it?”

“The kitchens in the AVU Palace are run by androids who serve the Arbiter. He provides food to all contests, no matter the time of day. You may eat there whenever you need.”

Kellan grabbed a plate, some rice, vegetables, and meat. He wasn’t entirely sure what kind of meat it was—brown and red—and he wasn’t about to ask, either. Some part of him knew the answer would disgust him, and he just wanted to eat without thinking about it.

It tasted good, whatever it was. Sliced thin, yet still juicy. Definitely not beef or goat.

Mavis grabbed several dessert cakes and some bread.

But Husker… He piled half the meat onto his plate and then took a seat on one of the many chairs. Then he removed his coat, relaxed back, and slowly plucked the meat from the plate and nibbled on them, obviously enjoying the moment.

Once Kellan had gotten halfway through his meal, he realized a single point of mana had returned to his reserves.

He swallowed his rice quickly and turned to Husker. “Wait, eating restores mana?”

“A little bit each day, yes,” Husker muttered between bites. “About four mana can be restored through eating. Unless you’re a body mage… Then you can benefit more from food.”

“No one told me this.”

“You’ve been informed now.” Husker then pointed to the balcony at the back of the suite. “Besides, we have a mana spring here. You can restore everything once you bathe.”

Yet again, Kellan felt he was being left out of vital information. He poked around his food, remembering his fight with the man in the dark alleyway—the one who had tried to kill Twi and Hua. If Kellan had kept some food with him, he might not have been so close to death.

I’ll need to pack a Snickers or something when we head out to the second game.

Xiang’s door opened. Sen shuffled out into the common room, his legs heavy. He wasn’t wearing robes—he wore a kid’s outfit. A T-shirt with a happy face skull and a pair of small jeans.

Kellan was about to make a quip about how he was finally dressing his age, but he held back once he noticed Sen’s sullen expression. The kid ambled over to the TV and then stared at the black screen, straight into the eyes of his own reflection.

No one said anything as Sen touched his face.

Had he gotten younger again?

There wasn’t too much difference, but Kellan could’ve sworn Sen didn’t look right.

What had happened with Xiang?

Kellan knew Sen wasn’t going to discuss it, though. The kid never walked to talk about anything that would make him seem weak. So, instead, Kellan grabbed one of the many plates and scooped some rice and vegetables.

“Sen,” he said, holding up the plate. “You should come eat with us.”

The man-child continued to stare at his reflection. A full minute went by before he turned around and shuffled over to the couch. To Kellan’s surprise, Sen took a seat on Kellan’s other side. Sen grabbed his plate and held it close.

With a look of not giving a shit, Sen ate his food without bothering with the utensils. He used his pudgy little hands and shoved some rice into his mouth as though he were an actual child.

Again, Kellan was tempted to make a joke about table manners, but he decided against it.

No one else commented either. They returned to their food, slowly eating everything from the bizarre lunchbox chest of drawers. Although it was mostly quiet, Kellan found it pleasant.

No chaos. No yami. Just peaceful eating.

Kellan savored the moment.

When Sen held out his plate and pointed to the desserts, Kellan handed over half a dozen. Sen slowly ate them, one at a time, his eyes watery.

Then the TV flickered to life.

The pleasantness died as fast as a flame hitting water.

The news came on. Everyone’s favorite creepy news anchor, Bitso, sat behind a different steel desk, this one with etchings across the surface. Writing? Kellan couldn’t tell from the camera’s angle on the room.

“And that’s the end, gentle souls,” Bitso said with a sweep of his arms. He was chained down this time, but instead, free to swing around in his chair. “The last key in the PvP Seek and Destroy has been claimed! That means… the first game is officially over!”

Screens behind Bitso played footage of fireworks, birthday cakes with candles, and a pinata being exploded by an RPG.

“Are we ready to hear some numbers?” Bitso slammed his hands on the desk and laughed as though he had just made the best quip of all time. “Of course you are! Numbers are everything! And get this—seven hundred and ninety-six people registered for the Nexus Games this time around. Intense, right? Not the most ever, but pretty damn high.”

“That’s almost an average of eight people per team,” Sen said, some cake in his little mouth. He rubbed fruit juice from his lips and added, “Outrageously high. Who would want a team that large? Risky, that’s what it is.”

“Of those seven hundred and ninety-six, four hundred and two died.” Bitso yanked at the collar of his suit. “Oof. That’s rough. More than half of you chumps couldn’t make it through the first round. That does not bode well for the rest of the games. We might not have a winning team this year…”

No one said anything. Everyone just watched the TV, the tension in the room building. Kellan hadn’t thought about the possibility of everyone losing.

Bitso placed his elbows on the desk. The screens behind him played scenes throughout the games. Kellan recognized a few, including the bird yami who had given birth to several chicks, and the centipede with the bunny clutched in its pincers.

But most of the scenes were unfamiliar to Kellan. People fight monsters. People fighting each other. At one point, there looked to be a storm raging through the city, complete with rain and hail. Kellan hadn’t seen a storm. Had that been in the PvP match?

“One hundred and one teams registered for the Nexus Games, but thirty-eight of them are completely out of the running.” Bitso motioned to the screens. His blindfold darkened with blood, and he had to take a moment to fix it tight around his head. Then he returned his attention to the playbacks. “That leaves only sixty-three teams. And of those teams, only twenty-seven of them earned keys! I’ve never seen a Nexus Games start off that rough. Is anyone even trying?”

Sen scooted forward on the couch and used his small fingers to help him count. He mumbled a few words and then said, “Five PvE keys were found… and four Lucky Door keys were found… which means only eighteen teams in the PvP match managed to get keys.”

“Brenner took twenty-three keys for his entire team,” Kellan stated.

Everyone turned their attention to him, as if to see if he were joking. Kellan offered them a serious glower. Why would he josh around when it came to Brenner? The man was clearly a sociopath.

“Why would he do that?” Mavis asked. She set her plate down. “I thought he couldn’t use those extra keys? He has to gather the keys from different games.”

“He did it to prevent other teams from getting them.” Sen huffed and threw down his own plate. Then he crossed his little arms. “And he’s likely trying to intimidate us. Brenner likes to get inside people’s heads.”

Husker nodded once. “Yes… I think you’re right.”

“Are we ready for the more amusing numbers?” Bitso chuckled as he stood from his chair. The desk was yanked away by something offscreen, as though being cleared for a larger stage. “We have so many highlights to go over, so everyone pay close attention! You might need to know some of this for later…”

—Chapter 43—

—The Rulebook—

Kellan watched the TV, his attention on the screens behind Bitso. While the lunatic news anchor spoke about the games, footage of people playing in the Nexus Games continued in the background. Kellan recognized some of the other teams, and he studied their actions in the brief scenes he was shown.

Team 80… Hank and Fern.

Video showed them running around the city as a pair. They avoided yami, used some minor powers, and then fled to the underground. Fern’s hard was marked with the sign of the Straggler, and although there wasn’t any sound for the video, Kellan saw the two of them pointing to her hand several times.

And then footage played of Kellan meeting them in the sewer…

He turned away from that screen and watched another. He didn’t want to see the Kuji a second time. And he definitely didn’t want to see Fern die.

Another screen displayed a Nexus resident… The leader of Team 5. What was his name? Nosferatu. Kellan thought the name was somewhat cruel, but he suspected it was a moniker.

And while the man was misshapen, he didn’t conduct himself like a monster from an old-timey novel. He wore a suit—black and white, crisp and clean—and walked through the game with such confidence and ease that he seemed as though he owned the place.

Nosferatu strode thought a city—not the city Kellan had been in. It was a place of museums, amusement parks, and zoos. Gates, signs, cages, and maps were everywhere, a mishmash of entertainment Frankensteined together, and not in a coherent manner, either. Pathways led to walls, food shops were inside tiger pens, and a single skyscraper seemed to be in the center of it all.

The Net surrounded the massive creepy Disney World, keeping all the players inside while the games commenced. Nosferatu didn’t seem interested in the rest of the game. He walked from one location to another, stopping only for a few seconds to glance around, as if searching with his nose rather than his eyes.

Kellan paid close attention as Nosferatu walked to a carnival game stand, stared for a short moment, and then climbed over the counter. He walked straight to a stuffed bunny hanging on the backboard—one of two dozen—and then ripped it open and removed one of the USB drive keys from the animal.

He just…

Knew where it was.

And because he was in the PvP Seek and Destroy, he wasn’t instantly teleported away. He had to hold on to his key for at least an hour.

And to make matters worse, the key glowed a sinister red, bright and vibrant—enough to see from hundreds of feet away. Even when Nosferatu tucked it into the pocket of his slacks, the glowing key was quite noticeable.

Then Nosferatu headed to the next location—a pen for bears in the middle of a zoo. The yami bears in the pen were bizarre amalgamations of several animals. The bears had several heads—a goat’s head, a snake’s head—all stitched together with crude white string stained with blood. They were much larger than normal bears, practically the size of a truck, their mouths weeping spittle and mucus.

Kellan had no idea why such yami existed, but there they were, spitting in the eye of nature.

And when Nosferatu approached, the two multi-headed bears lumbered over, their many mouths open, their fangs ready. Nosferatu threw out bits of metal—too tiny on the screen in the background of Bitso’s show to see the details—but Kellan could see the bits of metal fly through the air as if caught in an invisible storm.

With bullet-intensity, the bits of metal shot throughout the bear pen, cutting into the bears and ripping them apart from the inside. The bears didn’t seem to notice, however. They still rushed for Nosferatu, and when the first one drew close, it tried to bite the misshapen man.

But then a shimmer of pink and gray appeared around Nosferatu, built with tiny hexagons, flashing into existence as the bear was about to connect. The shield blocked the monster, deflecting its many heads.

Nosferatu waved a hand, and the metal bits sped up, ripping the monsters to shreds. Some sort of telekinetic attack? Or were the metal bits just magical items? Kellan was impressed when both the bears died, but he didn’t know why.

Bitso had said Nosferatu was an M rank metal mage. Did he have other magics?

Once finished with the monsters, Nosferatu scooped up the arcana—he didn’t absorb it—and strode to the back of the pen. Again, he just seemed to know where the key was. He picked it up and left the pen, no other business to perform.

Both keys glowed bright crimson.

Kellan kept his attention on Nosferatu, even as Bitso rattled off bizarre numbers.

“Forty players were killed by the Kuji,” Bitso said, pointing at a back screen. “Low, given the number of deaths, but we can all thank Brenner Hawke for the bloodbath.” With a laugh, Bitso continued, “The dead ones are the lucky ones, if you ask me, but the Arbiter wants someone to win, so some of you might want to consider acquiring a bit more arcana in the next game.”

Again, Kellan tuned it out. He wanted to focus on Nosferatu, and the man’s game plan. Was he like Brenner? Was he hoarding keys to prevent others from winning?

No. That wasn’t it.

As Kellan watched, he saw Nosferatu head to a group of mages. The mages started to scatter—obviously spooked by Nosferatu’s presence—but the misshapen man held up a hand and then underhand-threw one of the keys to the group.

He had… given them a key.

Bitso’s laughing cut into Kellan’s thoughts.

“These Nexus Games are going to be some of the craziest,” Bitso said, his smile so wide it seemed painful. “Twenty-seven teams have keys, but half of them came through unconventional means.” He pointed to a screen with Kellan on it. The Kuji was dragging away Hank, and right before he was killed, he grabbed the key out of the stuffed animal. “See this? Team 101 gave one of their keys to Team 80.”

Kellan crossed his arms. The eyes of Sen, Husker, and Mavis were upon him. He didn’t regret helping Hank, but he knew it probably wasn’t the best play for surviving the games.

He didn’t want to discuss it.

“And Team 5 gave away ten keys.” Bitso motioned to the screen with Nosferatu. With a chuckle, he added, “Apparently, Nosferatu wanted to balance out Brenner’s complications. Team 42, led by Brenner Hawke himself, hoarded twenty-three keys, killing several other teams in the process, but Nosferatu actually protected people from the madman’s rampage. I thought Xiang would be Brenner’s rival, but it seems the Nexus resident has different plans…”

The information gave Kellan hope. He thought everyone would be a murder-happy lunatic during the games. He hadn’t imagined Nosferatu would be like him.

“Speaking of Xiang…” Bitso leaned over and smiled at another screen. “It seems she’s too busy grappling with past complications to be bothered fighting with Brenner.”

One of Bitso’s many TV screens showed a montage of Xiang and Kellan. The moments they stood close. The few times she had touched him. Even a short video of her smiling while they spoke. The footage had been edited together so quickly, and so tightly, that it looked like Kellan and Xiang were having the greatest of times together.

Kellan held his breath, shocked Bitso would even cover that.

“The gods have truly cursed us,” Husker muttered, his ears flattening out.

Sen ran both his hands down his face but said nothing.

Why? Kellan still couldn’t believe it. Why show that? Somehow, Xiang knew it would be shown. She had made a point about “posing for the cameras.” Why?

Everyone else’s silence added to the tension. Kellan knew this would cause problems. They all knew it would cause problems. Brenner was clearly the jealous type. Well, the psychotic type with jealous tendencies, but close enough.

What did Xiang hope to gain from this? More animosity?

Bitso chuckled as the montage looped again. “I guess Alex Kellan has the best meat in all the known universes, because Xiang couldn’t go without him. She got herself a knock-off brand to cuddle with at night, it seems.”

If Kellan knew how, he would’ve turned off the TV. He placed his face into his hand, unable to look at the others in the room, his face hot.

“It’s not true,” he said, his gaze drilling a hole into the floor.

“Of course it’s not true,” Sen said with a huff. “My sister isn’t about to settle!” He threw an arm into the air. “This is purely for drama! Bitso is instigating something. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone put him up to this! Someone who wants Brenner and my sister to fight each other as soon as possible.”

Just to change the subject, Kellan exhaled and then waved at the TV. “How did Nosferatu find the keys? Did any of you see that? He just knew where they were. Why?”

Husker, who probably wanted to change the subject himself, scooted to the edge of his lounge chair. “Metal mages have abilities to locate magical items. Metal magic encompasses the use and enhancement of tech and equipment.”

“So, he can find all the keys without trouble?”

Sen huffed and shook his head. “Eclipse magic hides things. Magical items—even tech—can be concealed with eclipse.”

Kellan ran a hand over his eyebrow. He had been replying on his Blitzkrieg Analysis to tell him all about magical items, but some of them were concealed? Would he know when? Or would he just never get a notification?

“Mind magic involves a lot of trickery,” Husker muttered. “Mind mages can easily conceal tech and items as well.”

Sen nodded once. “And a mind and eclipse mage can create combination powers that conceal things to ridiculous levels. They are the sneakiest of mages—and if their magic is used to hide something, it’ll never be found, even those keys.”

So magical items could be hidden, just like mage’s basic information. Kellan hated that. He wanted to know everything he could. He was trying to gather intel just so he could—

He stopped himself and stood from the couch. Bitso was still breaking down odd numbers, including how many steps some of the teams took while on their hunt for a key, but Kellan wasn’t interested in those types of facts. He strode from the main room, his mind elsewhere.

Mavis stood. “Kellan?”

“I’ll be right back.”

He went to his bedroom—the one he had shared with Mavis the night before—and threw open the door.

The bed had been made, as though they had been visited by maids. Kellan walked over and stared at the sheets. He got no information—they were just normal bedding. But when he turned his attention to his pillow, he caught his breath.

A large booklet with spiral bindings sat at the head of the bed.

Kellan scooped it up. The cover was written in a language he didn’t understand. With narrowed eyes, he flipped through the hundreds of pages, his eyes scanning for something familiar. To his surprise, he found an English section halfway through. The first page read:

The Nexus Games Official Rulebook

English Edition

With a smile, Kellan sat on the edge of the bed and went to the second page, eager to learn all the rules of the competition. To his dismay, the “English” of the book was rougher than he would’ve liked, as though the entire thing had been translated by someone who knew English as their seventh language.

The first few lines read:

The Nexus Games is created and sustained by the Arbiter.

He is the only judge of all judgment controversies.

Fantastic, Kellan thought. He flipped through the next few pages, trying to find the meat of the rules. He managed to find a couple. They read:

1. Each game will be different.

2. Each game will have its own type of keys.

3. Each team must acquire a number of different keys to match its members.

4. The rules of the games will be announced before the season.

5. Any broken rule will be judged by the Arbiter.

6. Each team must register before the first game.

7. After the fifth game, a selection will be held.

8. The winners of the Nexus Games enter Zenith using their keys.

9. Teams can lose their keys in games three, six, and nine.

10. Players cannot leave the gameplay arena.

11. The Stragglers must perform in games two, four, six, eight, and ten outside their lines.

12. No extra help is allowed while games are in progress.

Kellan stared at the page, baffled by some of the wording. Rule eleven didn’t make much sense to him. With little understanding, he flipped the pages and only stopped when he came upon a section regarding the magics.

All twelve of them were listed.

Elemental Magics:

Eclipse

Magma

Storm

Being Magics:

Mind

Body

Soul

Destiny Magics:

Wyld

Metal

Entropy

Ascendancy Magics:

Fate

Travel

Meta

Two lines under the magics read:

Ascendancy magics are restricted.

The Arbiter alone can determine who can learn them.

When Kellan turned the page, he noticed descriptions of all the magics. Types of powers, famous mages who mastered the magics—even weird information, like the types of personalities that best fit into each type.

Eclipse mages were listed as loners who worked well by themselves. Kellan touched the page, his fingers gliding over the ink that made up the words. Then he glanced over travel magic. It said:

Those who learn travel magic separate themselves from all society and are released from all others.

They care too little.

Xiang had separated herself from the group the moment they returned to the suite. Even now, the only people away from the common room were the eclipse mage, and the travel mage. Kellan stared at the paper, wondering if learning travel magic would change him…

The rulebook said yes, it would.

With a sigh, he turned his attention to fate magic. It read:

Those who learn fate magic let out a look at the future.

They see many events, but rarely the truth.

The awkward writing made it hard to understand, but Kellan could see why Bitso warned him away. Seeing the future? Seeing potential possibilities? It could drive a man insane.

Out of curiosity, Kellan read the description for personality change regarding meta magic, the last of the ascendancy trio:

Those who learn meta magic think outside the box.

They have many tricks and sway magic at their will.

Sway magic at their will? What does that even mean?

Kellan touched the part of the page that said, They have many tricks.

Who else had meta magic? The Arbiter… and Brenner. Kellan hadn’t seen anyone else with it. Of course, he hadn’t seen all the contestants, and some of them concealed all their magics, but it had to be rare.

When Kellan turned to the next page, he was surprised to see a list of potential rooms. Apparently, the rooms were spawned at random, and in difficult to find places, often within buildings. Kellan examined the list.

Potential Rooms:

Prize Room

Puzzle Room

Trap Room

Shadow Room

Chance Room

A prize room consisted of a single question and then a prize awarded upon successful answer. The questions were always something the player knew, never a question that the player couldn’t answer.

Puzzle rooms consisted of deadly obstacles that could be disarmed by correctly solving riddles and physical games. A prize was hidden in each puzzle room, but they were harder to find than the exit. If the mage didn’t leave the room within a set amount of time, they died.

Trap rooms were just that—traps. Mages caught in a trap room would have to escape, but at the end, they were awarded arcana.

Shadow rooms…

Kellan stared at the awkwardly worded description for a long moment.

The shadow rooms are filled with doppelgängers and wizards.

It is to be fought or consumed by its demons.

He didn’t know what that meant, but a prize was listed for beating the room, so he moved on to the last.

Chance rooms seemed to involve some sort of lottery problem. The mage could risk arcana to play, or they could simply leave the room. If they played the game, they could win multiple prizes, but if they lost, they didn’t recover the arcana.

The door to the room opened, and Kellan immediately stood from the bed.

“Kellan?”

Mavis stepped inside, one eyebrow raised.

“Yeah,” he said. “What is it?”

“You never came back.”

He nodded and then walked over. He pointed to the rulebook. “Sorry. I was reading. I’ll do it out there.”

Mavis motioned her head to the front door. “Also, apparently something came for you. A package.”

“For me?”

She replied with a shrug.

Keeping the rulebook close, Kellan walked over to the front door. He expected the package to be inside, but he found nothing. Instead, he opened the door and glanced out into the hall.

An image of the dead children haunted his thoughts for a moment. He hadn’t seen their blood in his mind’s eye when he arrived at the suite, but glancing into the hall brought it all back.

Brenner…

It took Kellan a moment to remember why he had glanced out.

A package was on the ground in front of him. It was wrapped in brown paper and tied with a string. A handwritten note topped it all off. Kellan plucked the note off the package and glared at it.

His name had been poorly written across the top, with a message scrawled out beneath it. The note read:

Alex Kellan the Rulebreaker,

You do not know me, but I am the leader of Team 80. Thank you for helping our team during the first game. As a token of my gratitude, I have enclosed a gift.

As a token of appreciation, Hank Gardener has also enclosed a gift.

I look forward to meeting you in person,

The Leader of Team 80

Kellan thought it strange that the leader didn’t leave their name, but he knew he could figure it out if he wanted. He grabbed the package and backed up into the suite. No part of him wanted to speak to the other players at the moment.

“What is it?” Husker asked.

“I don’t know.” Kellan headed over to the couch and sat down. He placed the package on his lap. It didn’t weigh much. “Should I open this? I feel like it’s going to be a poison dart or a terrible hex or something.”

He just assumed everything would be negative, given his experience with the Nexus, but a small part of him hoped they were pleasant gifts. Perhaps Kellan had made allies.

“Who is it from?” Sen asked.

“Team 80.”

“The team you saved.” Sen motioned with his arm. “Open it. I doubt it’ll be deadly.”