An invisible ripple of mana spread from the center of the training room. Where it passed, any nonuniform features returned to plain white tiles. The table, the dummy, the water curtain, the warm air. Everything vanished.
The walls morphed and contracted, the square room becoming a circle about fifty yards in diameter.
The previously white lights took on a tinge of orange, and the System’s prompt appeared before Dylan’s eyes.
[Individual Combat Trial has begun.]
[You will face 3 waves of monsters.]
[You must successfully kill each monster to advance to the next wave.]
[Between each wave you will have 5 minutes of rest.]
[The first wave will begin in 3 seconds.]
Dylan glanced at his hand. Two Basic Energy cards, an Intermediate Energy, a Mana Shield, and a Mana Spike.
[2]
Okay, not the best, but I can work with this.
[1]
I hope.
[Initiate]
Light flared from the center of the room. A glowing red circle burned itself into the formerly pristine tiles. The air pulsated within the circle before a second, smaller flare of light became the first monster summoned by the System.
It was a spider. A giant, nearly three-foot-tall spider.
Before his conscious mind could react, Dylan’s body was already moving.
In quick succession, he played the Intermediate Energy and Mana Spike cards, and just as the monster was getting its bearings, a streak of pale blue energy crashed down between its bulging eyes. At the moment of impact, the spider’s head exploded into a pulpy mess.
Shit, Dylan cursed, not sure if it was at himself for being so impulsive or if it was at the monster that had just appeared. I hate spiders.
It was nice to know how effective the spell was against a living target, but he could have planned that better. He was not good with spiders, and he’d let his visceral dislike of the things get the better of him.
He’d been impetuous. Instead of weighing deck, turn, or energy management, he’d simply acted. Considering Mana Spike was the only card in his hand that could hurt the spider, it probably couldn’t have been saved, but he’d wasted one of the better resource cards in his deck. If he’d had his head on straight, he would have waited just a few more seconds for his turn to end. Then, he could use his beginning of the turn action to generate and followed with one of the Basic Energy cards. It would have been nice to hold onto Intermediate Energy for later just in case he needed to play something more expensive in a hurry.
Stupid.
A new turn started, and he chose to draw a card. Phantom Sword.
Dylan managed to calm himself and prepare for the next monster. Based on what he’d learned about similar combat trials, it was most likely another spider. The thought was almost enough to make Dylan upset again.
It wasn’t just that he’d abhorred the things ever since he'd been bitten by a thornwisp when he was younger. It was also because seeing spiders now meant he’d most likely be seeing a lot more later.
Combat trials in the individual stage of the Tutorial often pulled monsters from the dungeon used in the group stage. It was the System’s backdoor way of preparing combat classes for the more complex challenges they’d have to face in the near future.
Dylan eyed the circle.
Relaxing his muscles, he waited. His next turn came, and he chose to generate.
After a few more breaths, the air within the circle began to pulse once more.
About thirty seconds, Dylan thought. But since he’d pulped the spider as soon as it’d appeared, he couldn’t be sure if the trial operated based on the time between kills or the time between summons. Hell, he couldn’t even be sure if the time would stay consistent. Nothing to do but pay attention.
When the new monster appeared, another spider, Dylan played his sword and began to back further away from the circle.
The bulbous, eight-legged monstrosity noticed him and charged. This time, he took the opportunity to observe it more closely. Dark brown and hairy, its legs spread to a width of about four feet. It had no obvious characteristics that Dylan could use to judge its abilities. It looked like a giant-sized version of a normal spider.
When it had closed about half of the distance, a new turn began. Dylan once again chose to generate before immediately activating the Mana Shield card.
The air within three inches of his body took on a transparent sheen, and Dylan readied the sword. Although his physical power was poor, he should be able to use the weapon to deal with one low-level monster.
He’d tested both the sword and shield against the phantoms. He knew that, unless the spider was much stronger than it looked, the shield should hold long enough for the sword to help him kill the thing.
When the spider was about five feet from him, it pounced, jumping into the air and angling its fangs at Dylan’s head. He dodged backward, face barely avoiding the incoming blow, and swiped out with his sword. Steel struck one of the creature’s legs as another one hit Dylan in the shoulder. His shield briefly flashed into existence, blocking the attack. Even still, the spider’s momentum forced Dylan back a step.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Taking his sword, he drove it toward the spider’s head. The creature, now fully returned to the ground, reared back to meet the blade with its front legs. A deep cut marred one of the appendages, but the force behind Dylan’s attack wasn’t quite enough to slice all the way through. The other came clean off. It was enough to momentarily hobble the spider.
A new turn and Dylan added a Draw card to his hand.
He considered waiting a turn to generate before playing the card, but he felt uncomfortable with no means of attack or defense readily available in his hand. Taking advantage of the spider’s injury, he stepped back to activate Basic Energy before playing Draw.
Two new illusory cards appeared in front of Dylan, and he quickly shifted them to the side. Phantom Soldier and Mana Bolt.
He reengaged the spider, looking for an opening to make a decisive strike. The two exchanged blows, Dylan slowly getting the better of the monster until a new tremor came from the summoning circle.
While he was distracted by the thought of a new monster, a lunge from the spider coincided with a wrong step on his part, and Dylan soon found himself on the ground. He rolled to escape the monster’s fangs, his shield awash with constant little flickers of light as it fought to protect him. But no matter how he tried, he couldn’t get away from the creature. In a desperate bid, Dylan gathered all the leverage he could find and pushed his sword up at the spider.
The blade pierced the creature’s neck and, for the first time, found purchase in something truly important. The monster screeched and tried to get away, but only aggravated the wound. Not willing to give the thing any opportunities to counterattack, Dylan continued to force the sword forward with all he could muster. A mass of fetid ichor splashed down on his face, but Dylan ignored it. He drove all distractions from his mind as he drove his sword deeper.
Finally, the squealing stopped. The monster died; its weight dropped to the ground. After dragging himself out of the way, Dylan took a breath, but he wasn’t given any time to rest.
The third spider was nearly there.
A new turn came, and he drew a Basic Energy while forcing himself to his feet.
In the mere seconds he had before the monster reached him, Dylan decided not to use any new cards yet. The sword was still there, the shield was still mostly functional. He’d rather try to conserve his resources for when they were more needed.
A new fight began.
Dylan was more experienced in dealing with the spiders after the last encounter, but he was also more fatigued. The short battle having left him winded and a little shaky. The new exchange of blows mirrored the last. Both monster and man striking at the other, looking for the opening they needed to make it a quick fight.
Neither found it. The spider slowly accumulated wounds while Dylan’s shield began to flicker more and more. A warning that it would soon fail.
When his next turn came, Dylan chose to generate. At the back of his mind a voice told him to hurry up and finish the monster. It'd almost been another thirty seconds, and a new spider was probably incoming. The voice was right.
The circle in the center of the room began to operate again. This time, Dylan maintained his focus, pushing himself even harder. His redoubled efforts didn’t pay off; the fight continued to grind in the same way it had before. The two combatants circled each other, exchanging blow for blow.
Soon, Dylan heard the skittering of another spider racing across the tiled floor and cursed himself for managing to position the circle behind him. He couldn’t afford the time to look back. His shield was on the verge of collapse, and if he gave the monster in front an opening, he was sure to regret it.
Guarding with his sword, he drew a Basic Energy card as the new turn began and then played it, readying himself to summon the Phantom Soldier. Before he had the chance to play the second card, however, the spider in front of him jumped.
Not knowing how far away from him the new spider was, he didn’t dare to dodge backward like he wanted to. Instead, he took a gamble. He dove forward and rolled, trying to move under and past the airborne arachnid.
Lucky for Dylan, it worked. Mostly. The back legs of the monster caught him as it descended, causing the already strained shield to shudder violently. He estimated it might not even last another blow.
Dylan grabbed the soldier’s card and began to summon it while he turned to face the spiders. Unfortunately, he was just a step too late.
As the Phantom Soldier came into existence, the fresh spider smashed into Dylan’s side, shattering the shield, and sending him tumbling across the tiled floor.
Before the monster could chase after him, Dylan ordered the newly summoned soldier to attack.
Forcing himself to his feet, he briefly watched the beginning of the fight. He noted the creature and his summon seemed evenly matched, and then, he turned his attention the injured spider.
Deep cuts on its front legs had only grown worse after its jump, and the way it moved became slightly wobbly. Dylan was careful when he reengaged it, not wanting to take the brunt of its attacks without a shield.
As the two fights progressed, a new turn saw Dylan drawing a second Phantom Soldier card, which he moved to join the rest of his hand.
Despite his caution, he still suffered a few bruising blows to the left arm, but the spider in front of him was obviously more injured than it appeared. Just as the circle began to thrum again, he finally killed it.
He glanced at the other fight. Taking his sword and circling around the back of the spider, Dylan ordered the soldier to slowly move further away from the center of the room. He wanted to make sure he had all the time he could scrape out to hopefully finish this spider before the new one could make it to him.
The fifth spider appeared in the circle just as Dylan made his first strike at the back of the fourth. It charged, and Dylan struck again. A new turn had Dylan choosing to generate energy, and he struck again. Finally, the spider died, just in time for Dylan to order his soldier to intercept the new one.
He took a few moments to catch his breath and then forced himself to move. The soldier’s duration was almost up, and Dylan wanted to finish the spider without wasting any extra cards.
He repeated his old tactics, circling behind the spider while the soldier held its attention. During the fight he drew an Intermediate Energy. The start of the new turn had him beginning to worry about the appearance of another spider, but just as the one in front of him dropped, a prompt from the System appeared.
[Congratulations on successfully clearing the first wave.]
[You can have up to 5 minutes of rest.]
[Alternatively, say “Begin” to start the second wave at any time.]
Dylan felt ready to collapse, the short series of fights more draining than he’d expected.
I need to find a sustainable way to fight at range. Dylan looked at the sword in his hand. I’m really not cut out for this kind of thing.
Just as he was thinking, a new turn began, and the Phantom Soldier disappeared. Its time limit was up. Dylan looked back at the sword. This thing’s about to disappear too. He simply dropped it on the ground as he chose to pass his beginning of the turn action. He already had one energy and a full hand.
He looked at his cards. Basic Energy, Basic Energy, Intermediate Energy, Mana Bolt, Phantom Soldier.
He decided to play one of the Basic Energy cards and then waited to draw at the beginning of his next turn. Another Mana Bolt.
Feeling he had a decent enough hand, Dylan chose to pass his next few turns as he caught his breath, but it wasn’t long before he started worrying about wasting his mana. He felt a need to keep moving.
When half of his break was gone, he chose to continue with the trial and looked at the summoning circle.
With the spiders gone, he didn’t know what would come next. He didn’t know if it would be a similar monster, the kind that would simply charge at him, or if it would be something with more diverse capabilities and the ability to attack from range. In order to prepare for either possibility, Dylan moved to a position halfway between the summoning circle and the wall. Giving him room to advance or retreat.
He grabbed the Phantom Soldier card with his right hand, took a deep breath, and firmed his eyes.
“Begin.”