This time, I didn’t feel as if I was floating in space inside a small box. Thankfully, everything lasted only a second.

The air sucked me into nothingness and spat me out like a whole man again. One second we were in the Myriad waiting room, listening to the hostess’s voice, and the next, we were in a… jungle?

I blinked several times, my eyes slowly adjusting to the new light. I scanned my surroundings and found everyone safe and sound only a few feet away from me. For some reason, both the wand and the dagger were in my hands.

Quickly dismissing them, I turned to my companions.

“Everyone safe?” I asked, receiving several nods of agreement. They didn’t have their weapons in hand, but something had changed.

A large bracelet, almost like a shackle, circled their right wrists. Elk’s was blue, Mary’s red, and Tress’s green. They stared at them with a mix of wonder and curiosity. I glanced at my own hand and saw nothing—until a message appeared before my eyes:

Congratulations on surviving the proving grounds.

You are now in the survivability stage of the game. Towers will be available from time to time, and in between, you’ll need to keep sharpening your skills—both those provided by the system and your social ones, if that’s your cup of tea.

Each designated area contains five hundred players of all races. There are seven city stones scattered around the area; the first to touch one will gain control of a settlement. However, if you die and someone else touches the stone, they’ll gain control instead.

The stones’ locations are highlighted on the map, but their power will only be activated in seven days.

You may choose not to interact with the stones, but be aware that the jungle will grow more dangerous with each passing day. Reaching the stones will take you several days, use this time to sharp your skills, earn shards and prepare to hold your ground.

Rest assured, the seven groups or individuals holding the stones at the end of the seven-day countdown will receive a major advantage in the towers and the chance to gift goodies to their home planets.

The hostess’ voice read the message inside my mind. Despite what they said, this wasn’t simply a survival game—we were still competing, with the number of competitors trimmed each day. The challenges would only grow harder, and we’d need to deliberate on our course of action.

Before I could follow the thought further, a new message appeared:

Bracelets available!

These are tied to your class or patronage. They indicate your alignment and express your skills and affinities. With each rank evolution, your bracelet will be upgradable.

Where is my bracelet? I wondered, looking at my wrists and fearing I’d been left out. Was it because I had two classes, or was it related to the patronage I’d acquired?

What’s different about me compared to the others? I quickly realized I’d appeared in the forest with both weapons drawn, so I resummoned them into my hands. The process was fairly quick, with only a slight delay of maybe a second. However, this time, the weapons appeared the instant I thought of bringing them out.

With the weapons, two bracelets materialized on my wrists.

The one on my left was whitish, almost beige, and appeared to be covered in reptile-like scales. It was beautiful, exuding the same power as my wand.

The bracelet on my right was dark, made of black scales that seemed to warp the light around it. The dagger in my right hand seemed to darken further, mimicking the strange effect of the bracelet.

Lyratho’s Bracelet - Legendary - Rank F

A bracelet imbued with the power of Lyrathos, the Kindly Reaper. The god of death shows two faces to those who wait: the merciful face of the maiden or the wrathful grin of the beast.

Your weapons can be summoned and resummoned in a fraction of a second, and your bracelets can be hidden to obscure your true alliance.

Passive Abilities: Your right weapon can be imbued with the power of your left one, and vice versa. A light-infused shadow weapon will cause a stunning effect and increased damage, while a shadow-infused light weapon will cause poisoning and increased damage.

Warning: Competitors with a Life affinity will be able to see your position highlighted on the map. Your Death affinity makes the reverse true. Keep an eye on your minimap.

Minimap?

I asked myself, and a small square appeared in my line of sight.

The map displayed a nebulous view of our surroundings. I could see all of us marked as blue dots, with several X’s scattered near the center of the square.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Other groups of yellow dots appeared near the margins of the map, which I could only assume were the other competitors. It seemed like the system had placed all the city stones close to the center of the area, forcing everyone to converge there if they wanted to claim the ultimate prize.

Nothing on the map indicated anyone aligned with a Life god was nearby—whatever that meant. Somehow, I was now sponsored by a god of Death. As badass as that sounded, I couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy about what it actually meant and why they’d chosen me of all people.

Deciding that couldn’t be my focus, I sighed and finally took in my surroundings. The place wasn’t particularly eye-catching. Tall trees surrounded the small ravine we were in, the ground was littered with dead leaves and fallen branches, and vines crisscrossed the forest like a giant spiderweb.

The sun struggled to pierce the dense tree canopies, but it was clear it was still morning. Being tossed into a jungle wasn’t exactly what I’d expected, and it was far from something I was accustomed to. Damn, I could count on one hand the times I’d even been remotely close to the woods. Ignoring trips to the park to meet a girl, I’d probably only been near a forest once in my life—and that had been inside a freaking car.

Thankfully, Tress seemed right at home.

She was crouching on the ground, grabbing a handful of dirt and smelling it.

“Interesting,” she said after a few seconds.

“What?” I asked.

“I’ve never smelled dirt like this. This forest is so… strange.” She glanced around with amusement.

“I think this place mimics Earth’s geography,” I told her. I wasn’t an expert in plants or forests, but I recognized Earth vegetation when I saw it.

Judging by the way Elk was trying hard not to step on any branches or leaves, he wasn’t as familiar with the place as Mary and I were.

“What’s the problem?” I asked him as Tress went back to analyzing the ground.

“These things... aren’t they going to climb us and bite?” he asked, his face twisting into a grimace of disgust.

“What? The leaves? They’re not animals, man,” I said, suppressing a laugh as I noticed he was on the verge of being terrified. “They’re just parts of the trees that fall over time. See? These are similar to the ones in the Myriad waiting room.” I picked up a few leaves and let them fall from my hand back to the ground.

He seemed to calm down a little and let out a breath as he walked slowly toward me. When he stepped on a branch and it cracked, he almost jumped in place.

“What should we do now?” I asked, directing the question to everyone and no one at the same time.

Mary glanced up from beside Tress but said nothing. When the silence stretched for a few seconds, the small woman poked Tress with her elbow.

“Ouch,” the elf protested, finally snapping out of her thoughts. Realizing she was the best suited to answer, she got up, wiped her white armor, and smiled. “Sorry, I got distracted. We need to find shelter, water, and then a food source.”

“And what about the city stones the system mentioned? Should we head toward them?” I asked. They exchanged glances, unsure of what to say.

“I don’t know, man. That sounds like throwing yourself into the lion’s den,” Mary said, walking toward us.

“Is it that dangerous?” Elk asked.

“Very,” I replied, then quickly turned to Mary. “It’ll probably be dangerous, but the message was clear. The forest will get worse and worse as the days pass,” I argued, and Mary remained silent.

“Do you think they’re moving?” Elk asked, his gaze distant. It didn’t take long to realize he was looking at his minimap.

I opened mine and stared at it for a few seconds. Most of the dots were exactly where I’d seen them before, but some had already shifted. They hadn’t moved far—barely an inch toward the stones—but it was enough to notice.

“It seems the scale is quite large. If the people moving on the map are walking at a normal pace, it’ll indeed take several days to reach the stones,” Tress said thoughtfully as she crouched to examine the ground again.

“What about this?” I asked, opening my arms to grab everyone’s attention. “We don’t need to decide now, but if we eventually decide to try conquering one of the stones, it’ll be better if we’re closer rather than farther away, right?”

They nodded, and I continued, “So, let’s search for shelter, water, and food while moving toward the stones. We’ll make sure to avoid engaging with any other party and try to learn as much as we can about this place. Then, we can decide.”

“That’s fair,” Mary agreed. Since she was the only one who’d shown any sign of disagreement, the others silently nodded, and we started moving.

There was no reason to delay, and the woods weren’t particularly difficult to navigate. I kept an eye on the minimap, watching for anyone moving toward us. Most of the dots were following straight lines toward the nearest city stones, while others remained stationary.

That didn’t seem like a smart idea, but I wasn’t going to backtrack to tell them that. At the end of the day, this was a competition, and I wanted to win. I’d agreed to decide later about the stones, but in reality, my mind was already made up. I didn’t want to ditch anyone since our party worked well together, but I’d fight for the stone with those who wanted to stand by my side, no matter what.

I couldn’t let the chance to help my people slip away—not because of fear.

With those thoughts in mind, we kept walking until my breathing grew more and more labored. We were climbing a slope.

“This is a good sign,” Tress said, her voice unaffected by the effort of climbing the hill. “Maybe we can rest with our backs to the slope. It’s not an ideal shelter, but it could work. We’d need someone to keep watch, but one side of us would be completely protected.”

Damn, that was smart. I silently thanked her for her wisdom and hoped she wouldn’t decide to opt out of the quest to conquer one of the stones. Losing Tress would be a major blow.

We continued up the slope, the forest coming alive around us. I heard animals leaping over dead branches or scurrying away from predators, but none ventured close. With each step, the forest grew thinner, the space between trunks widening.

The change in the surroundings made it easier to notice something else. The sounds nearby weren’t just small animals running. Something with two feet was moving to our right, and another set of legs followed on the left.

I stopped abruptly. Tress had already done the same, her eyes darting through the woods, searching frantically.

“What?” Mary asked, oblivious to the sounds. I glanced at her, but before I could reply, a noise echoed through the forest.

At first, it was a grunt—then a desperate cry of pain.