"Did you know that Nathan measured your dick?" Samantha asked once the eight seniors had been gathered in the exam room at the new school and were waiting for the doctor.

"Nathan didn't measure him," Elise told Samantha.

"Uh, yes, he did," Samantha said as Keith cracked up laughing.

"No," Elise responded. "I think it was Michael who did."

"Why would Michael do that?" Samantha asked as Keith continued laughing. "And Nathan said he did."

"Well, he lied," Mitchell snorted. "And I measured myself, Elise. Michael was just there to make sure I was honest."

Samantha gave everyone confused looks.

"We caught a few of the guys," Elise said. "Ranking the girls. Mitchell and Michael were included that list, and part of it included our sizes and which ones they thought were best. We told them that, to make up for it, they had to measure every guy's dick and sort them by size for us or we'd stop sleeping with the ones involved."

"Not going to lie," Kendra said. "We were all surprised that Nathan was actually on that list. He was terrifying enough by himself that we were pretty sure he was just going to leave it be."

"Nathan wanted to make sure he was the biggest," Keith said. "Of course he proudly showed himself off."

"You're also not going to measure the other victims'," Samantha told Nathan. "Just to make sure you're the biggest. Just because we were unaffected by the traumatic experience in a negative way doesn't mean they aren't. They're likely still recovering from that."

"Actually not," the doctor said as he entered the room. "We believe there's some sort of magical influence involved in the game that makes those who survive past the first Challenge or two more likely to accept what's going on and less likely to be traumatized. Some are affected by it a little, but none in the way we'd expect. We also believe that it makes you more likely to act on sexual feelings, based on reports from past survivors here in the States and from our talks with other countries."

Nathan frowned at that news. He did not like the idea that someone influenced him into certain mindsets, though after a quick mental review, he was pretty sure he hadn't acted any differently than he would have. That calmed him a little bit, though he was still bothered by the idea that someone had influenced Samantha into having sex with him and into accepting things and not being traumatized.

"We're going to take some blood and urine samples," the doctor informed them. "As well as measure your vitals, height, and weight. We'll interview each of you separately, and you don't need to answer if you don't need to, but we do want you to answer as much as you can or are able. It'll help us help you, as well as hopefully help us get closer to whoever is doing this."

"She's pregnant," Nathan glared at he doctor. "So make sure nothing you do can hurt her or the baby."

"Why are you so sure I'm pregnant?" Samantha asked him.

"Keith taught me one of the training methods used to try and obtain psychic powers," Nathan answered. "Every attempt of mine said you were pregnant. I'm gonna be a dad."

"You've attempted to learn psychic magics?" The doctor looked at Keith.

"Yes."

"Are you aware that we'll perform an aura read?" The doctor asked. "Since you're confirmed to be a magician? That'll let us know if you've developed full or only fledgling psychic abilities."

Keith sighed, then looked at Nathan, who nodded. He looked back to the doctor, then removed his contacts, revealing his violet irises.

"I'm a full psychic," Keith informed him. "Though I have a hard time seeing more than a few days into the future unless it's a fortune-telling, and you probably know how unreliable and shifting those are, when you do get an answer. She's pregnant with a boy, which we found out while I was teaching Nathan the basics, though I didn't know that's what he was asking."

Nathan shrugged.

"Wait," Keith frowned, then looked at Nathan. "I, uh, didn't tell you this, Nathan, but I did tell William, Michael, and Kendra while you were out. When I use my magic sight, your aura comes out different."

"Different?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah," Keith nodded, then looked at the doctor. "You'll notice it, too, when you do the aura read. Instead of being the blue of a normal magician, gray of a necromancer, or purple of a psychic, his raw magic is pure-white."

Nathan frowned. He wondered if something that happened with his magic was related to that. When he awakened it, he was pretty sure he'd temporarily ripped a hole in the alternates, which was the reason why he suspected that Keith could see between them.

"Pure-white?" The doctor asked, and Keith nodded. "I've not heard of that before. I'd have to consult with others and see what they say, but-"

"Also," Keith said. "Nathan needs a familiar pronto. He's at about three times the required mana for needing one, and while he doesn't show signs, he-"

"Three times?" The doctor looked at Nathan in shock. "You awakened during the game at three times the amount needed for a familiar?"

"That's what Keith said."

The doctor began rattling of symptoms, asking if Nathan had them, and the teen denied each symptom, saying he felt fine.

"We'll have to see if we can find you a familiar," the doctor told him. "It'll need to be something strong, to help support all that mana. Something weak wouldn't do."

"How about a phoenix?" Nathan asked, and the doctor paused. "I want a phoenix."

"I-" Agent Samtol began.

"Be grateful he's not still asking for a dragon," Samantha told him. "We managed to talk him out of potentially antagonizing them."

"There's one at the Yellowstone volcano," the agent said. "However, odds of it agreeing are slim, to say the least."

"It'll agree," Nathan said. "I'll ask nicely."

"We'll see," the agent said. "For now, you all need to get examined. Doctor."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

The doctor began sending each of the youth through the tests, performing the physical part of their evaluation himself. None spoke much about what happened to them in the game, which interested Agent Samtol.

The other youth were hesitant to talk, but they'd give answers when prompted, and their hesitation came from not wanting to talk about what they'd been traumatized by. This group, however, seemed stronger, sturdier.

Especially Nathan, who was being led into the exam room.

If the agents' and doctors' estimates were correct, that meant that the eight youth who survived had a higher natural inclination towards the actions that they took in the game than the rest of the survivors. In a school as large as theirs, it wasn't as surprising to have found eight students who did.

"Sit on the table," the doctor instructed Nathan once they were in the exam room. "Take off your shirts."

Nathan removed his shirts, setting them beside him on the table. The doctor checked his temperature, ears, eyes, nose, and mouth, then his heart and his breathing. After that, he took a sample of Nathan's blood, then had him enter the attached bathroom for the urine sample.

With that finished, Nathan was sent to wait for the psychiatrist, who was speaking with Mitchell at the moment. Nearly twenty minutes passed before Mitchell was released and Nathan was called into the room.

Rather than speaking, however, Nathan returned to his usual mode and just sits there until the psychologist dismisses him. Finished, Nathan left the room and was directed to the briefing room. The agent inside informed him that the phone will tell him most of the information he needs, but he could ask if he needed it. Mitchell, Keith, and Michael were already waiting.

"By the way," Keith told Nathan as the other senior took a seat. "We've got additional rewards we can acquire, including a limited-edition Skill. Not sure what that means, though."

"They're rare Skills," the agent explained. "It's possible multiple people can have them, we believe, but they're obtained by performing certain actions between Milestone Events. According to the System, those are key events. Completing the Tutorial is the first, though we don't know what others are."

"The next game isn't?" Michael asked.

"It isn't," the agent answered. "It'll also occur for you in roughly one month. The one after that is roughly two months, then roughly three months. We're not sure when the next is, though it's probably four months."

"And they'll be harder, since they're in Normal and not Tutorial," Keith said. "And Normal is three degrees higher."

"Yes," the agent frowned. "How did you know?"

"A few of us got stuck in Beginner for a Survival Challenge."

"How many of you made it out?" The agent asked.

"All of us," Keith answered. "It was Nathan, Michael, Samantha, William, and me."

"And you survived?" The agent asked in shock.

"Yes," Nathan responded. "We're badasses. Expect survival."

"The thirty-two of us in the Final Challenge survived," Michael told the agent. "It killed twenty-four of us because only eight can pass."

"Have any of you told-" the agent began.

"Samtol already knows," Michael interrupted, nodding. "Most of us were debriefed, though I heard that Nathan, Samantha, and Keith had an interesting conversation instead."

"Keith wants to-" Nathan started.

"No!" Keith exclaimed as Michael laughed.

Nathan pulled out his new phone and powered it up, looking through the various messages. He could set the difficult for any game he participated in that wasn't a mandatory game. The difficulties were Tutorial, which was only active for the Tutorial Game, then Beginner, Easy, Normal, Adept, Advanced, Elite, Master, Insane, Impossible.

The higher the difficulty, the greater the rewards earned. Anything over Normal would also award extra things on top of just Points, Stat Points, and Skill Points, such as Levels and items.

To complete any game at Impossible difficulty would be to earn an immense amount of rewards, the guide told him, though what it was depended on the game itself. However, it also said that it was better to not even consider playing an Impossible game until one had 'advanced enough'. It wasn't specific on that, but Nathan suspected that there was a strong reason it was called Impossible and decided not to try one anytime soon.

He'd rather live.

The guidebook also listed the types of weapons that could be purchased in the game, and Nathan frowned. Whips, shields, cloaks, amulets, swords, knives, spears, knuckles, and staffs. No projectile weapons.

"No guns or bows?" Nathan asked, looking at the agent.

"Anything on you when you enter the game," the agent said. "So you can bring guns and bows into the game. However, once you run out of bullets or arrows, you're out of them, and the game won't supply more."

And because of how much fighting was done in the Challenges, chances of having enough to last were slim.

Nathan returned his attention to his phone, pulling up his rewards. For being the top student, he earned +5 Levels, +50 Stat Points, +50 Skill Points, +500 Points, +5 to each Stat, 5 Weapon Upgrade Vouchers, and 5 Weapon Mod Vouchers, +1 Limited Edition Skill. He had to manually accept the rewards, and as soon as he did, the notifications appeared, informing him they'd been added to his totals or his Inventory.

Just like with the Tutorial Completion Reward, Nathan noticed that his doubling reward didn't occur. Not unless the Points, Stat Points, and Skill Points were normally off of what the Levels, Weapon Upgrade Vouchers, and Weapon Mod Vouchers were, rather than being even in the number.

To acquire the Limited Edition Skill, Nathan had to access a special shop, and he pulled it up.

Limited Edition: 326 Skill Points Accompany: 100 Skill Points

Accompany? He wondered, before buying it and viewing its information.

Accompany: Level 1 Allows you to accompany others into any non-mandatory game. You will be given the option to join them if they go to enter while you're around. All credit will go towards you for any kills you perform during an accompany, regardless of how many others participated. Level 1 Max

He wasn't sure how useful that would be, other than the Experience-steal aspect. According to the guide on his phone, they could enter alternates in groups of up to eight if they wanted to, for non-mandatory games.

Dismissing the notification, Nathan went to pull up his Points Shop.

"No!" Michael exclaimed, and the others looked over at him. "Skills now cost as many Skill Points as their Level."

Nathan quickly pulled up his Skills and checked Meditation, which was Level 2 at the moment. Sure enough, it required 2 Skill Points in order to bring up to Level 3. An annoyance for sure, but he wasn't too worried about that. He spent only what Skill Points he had, and so far, he had plenty leftover without having bought a single one. He cared more for his weapons, anyway.

Closing that window, Nathan opened up his Stat Points. With 93 Stat Points to add, he quickly got to work, improving himself further. 50 Stat Points, he added into Endurance, before adding 25 to Speed and the remaining 18 into Strength.

With all of that finished, Nathan skimmed the rest of the information given, which wasn't much outside of what he knew, and nothing he deemed immediately relevant. By the time he'd finished, everyone had arrived, Samantha showing up last and taking the seat directly beside Nathan.

"Now that you're all here," the agent in the room said. "Do any of you have any questions?"

"I do," Samantha said, and the agent gestured to her. "According to Keith, you guys didn't know what was causing it, and neither do the various underground groups."

"That is correct," the agent said. "So far, no one's claimed responsibility, and the only pattern is that it targets only those eighteen years of age."

"But it's known that it's possible to force?" She asked, and the agent hesitated. "This one was a forced instance, based on what we know."

"It is," he nodded. "One black magic guild, the Black Orb, has been attempting to force them to occur. It requires exactly a power of eight students eighteen years or older at the school to occur. If you can manipulate things so that a school has exactly that many one day, you can theoretically trigger the game. It's less forcing and more… manipulating the circumstances to match the requirements. It also occurs roughly seven minutes before the school day ends as well."

"Six minutes, forty-three seconds," Keith said, and the agent nodded.

"Are they trying to be edgy?" Everyone turned to face Nathan. "What? They call themselves the 'Black Orb'."

"Their symbol of power is an enchanted orb that's completely black," Keith told Nathan. "It powers all of the defensive wards on their hideout and makes it impossible to crack."

"Correct," the agent nodded. "Keith – you're to report to the director's office once we finish here, to discuss your hacking. Nathan, you're to meeting Agent Barts out front. The phoenix at Yellowstone has – oddly – agreed to meet you. Whether or not he'll accept your request is another matter entirely."