Sam turned slowly to look at Auroch. Ghostly fire lit up its black eyes.

With a sudden roar, the hulking ghost bent its knees and then sprang into a gallop, aiming the horns of its helmet straight at Sam. The ax stayed strapped to the spirit’s back.

Sam stayed glued in place. Now he had the staff, but it wasn’t like that gave him any idea how to fend off the warrior’s charge. Survive now, win later. He turned and sprinted to the opposite corner of the coliseum. Auroch slowed down, looked up for a second, and then pivoted and charged at him again. Sam dodged in the same way.

This went on for another few exchanges. Sam tried not to panic as his legs and lungs grew winded. He couldn’t keep this up. Worse yet, the crowd began to loudly boo and throw ghostly fruit at him. One globule splattered on the ground in front of him and dispatched seeds in all directions. A seed struck the top of Sam’s foot, leaving a burning welt. What the hell? He skidded to a stop and massaged his foot.

Auroch glowered on the other side of the arena. “You have no honor. Stand your ground and fight!”

He’s not wrong. Swallowing, Sam held the staff in front of him. Another fruit soared toward him, but this time he whacked it with the staff. It hit the wall and exploded, earning jeers from the nearest audience members, but at least the seeds landed nowhere near him.

Auroch used the opening to barrel toward him, and this time Sam crouched down. He channeled the qualities of a bullfighter. He needed to be nimble and clever. Visualize what you want to do. Then do it.

Right when Auroch dropped its shoulder and was about to bowl him over, Sam swung to the side and hit the giant in the back with the staff. Expecting the weapon to bounce off, he instead felt a surge of energy blast through it. Where the end of the staff made contact with Auroch, it delivered a host of sparks. The ghost’s transparent skin sizzled and smoked.

Auroch plowed into the ground and sent sand spraying in all directions. Sam looked down at his hands gripping the staff, amazed. He couldn’t tell if the staff had acted on its own or if it was an extra something he’d added.

The crowd had hushed as Auroch struggled to heave itself up, a victim of its own heavy weight. Sam stood in place, stuck. He had the upper hand, and he should use this moment to earn victory. But he couldn’t make himself attack somebody so vulnerable.

His hesitation cost him. The outline of a beastly arm flew out and hit his right leg, and Sam tumbled to the ground. He fell on his back, lungs emptying in an oof, and a blue-gray sky took over his vision. Stunned, he realized they were outside. What happened to the confines of the examination room?

His back hurt, his head hurt, everything hurt. In the movies, people got pounded and bounced back up. Sam got tripped once, and he was ready to call it quits.

His rival cackled and heaved itself off the ground. He stood over Sam, his massive head blotting out the weak sun. His fearsome glower emanated waves of fury. “Pathetic humans and your beginner’s luck. Time to end this.”

Auroch pulled the ax off its back and held it double-handed, high up in the air, an executioner in repose. Sam closed his eyes. In the face of defeat, his brain ceased to function. Like when he had just entered this strange world, his thoughts simply ceased to be. This time he didn’t try to resist. It felt right; good, even. Time stretched as the ax swung down toward him. He resigned himself to his fate.

Unaffected by his blankness, the mote remained active. In fact, without Sam’s brain competing for attention, Sam’s body and the mote grew even more entwined. Empowered, the mote grew, an orb of electrical energy lighting up his hand, and the stream of energy emanating from it grew into a river. At first, it was painful, as if he’d touched a live wire. His body twitched and convulsed.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Finally, his thoughts returned, flashing by only as single words. Energy. Power. Strength. He felt more alive than ever before, surpassing even the high of that one crazy three-pointer he shot to win a game, or that day his family visited a theme park and they didn’t leave until the park closed.

As the ax neared his throat, Sam lightning-quick moved the staff to cover him, suffused with his will. The ax landed with a thud on the staff, somehow not cleaving it in two. The pressure being exerted was enormous and Sam’s arms shook from the effort, but energy kept flowing into them and he held strong.

Marveling, Sam grinned and let loose a yell of exhilaration. Auroch snarled. Sam didn’t know how long he could pull this off. He was also tired of being on the ground.

He rolled to the side, and the sudden lack of resistance caused Auroch to lose balance. It toppled forward and lost grip of the ax, which tumbled to the side.

Sam rose from the ground, relieved to have survived. Auroch remained in the sand, sputtering. Sam couldn’t waste the opening this time. The obvious move was to keep whacking Auroch with the staff and hope that would do the trick. But he still couldn’t stomach the idea of taking advantage of the ghost’s helplessness and instead chose to chart a different plan. He wanted to win, and he wanted to do so honorably.

He suspected that in Tar’s world honor likely meant for nothing, but this was his mind simulation, dang it, so he’d fight the way he wanted to.

Eyes blazing, Auroch pushed off the ground. At the same time, Sam ran over and kicked the ax away from the spirit. The ax launched off the ground and practically flew, as if repelled by a magnet. It landed far out of the ghost’s reach. Step one down.

A ghostly pair of hands grasped for him. Sam ducked and pivoted, grateful for his years playing basketball. He feinted striking forward with the staff, causing Auroch to retreat, but before he could hit the spirit for real, Auroch blocked the staff with its forearm. A loud crack sounded. The two danced about for a couple of minutes. Unlike before, Sam’s lungs stayed fresh, the mote’s energy revitalizing him. At last, Auroch moved a second too slow, and Sam used the opening to jab the ghost in the knee. Step two done.

Auroch stumbled, heaved its other leg forward, and managed to keep from falling flat. Step three, you’re up. Sam used the only move he thought could both trump Auroch’s superior strength and not force him to shamelessly pummel the ghost while it was down. He went for the jugular, literally. He whipped the staff around Auroch’s head and braced it against its neck. Auroch tensed and growled. Its fists bawled, and Sam pressed the staff into its throat. It dropped its hands.

For the first time during the whole encounter, Sam spoke. “Don’t move. I’ve got the advantage.”

The figure in front of him trembled with rage but remained still. The crowd was shocked into silence. Sam took it in with a huge grin, elation racing through him.

“No, this is unacceptable! How could this be?” The portly ghost lord shrieked, like dry chalk on a blackboard. He stood from his chair, his face mottled with silver-cheeked outrage.

Auroch’s voice rumbled next to Sam, deep and powerful. “He won fair and square, games master. I am unable to react without incurring mortal injury.”

“To be defeated by such a weakling, you will be stripped of your champion status.” The overseer’s voice dripped with venom. “And you, human, learn from your superior. This power that you think you’ve gotten a taste of, you will never fully grasp it. You are unworthy. We’ve all witnessed your life before you arrived here. It is of no consequence. You, your sister, you mother, all left behind, rightfully so—”

Sam’s hearing shut off. Anger blasted through him, supercharging the energy within. Sparks of electricity jumped from his hand and weaved around the staff. Auroch bellowed in pain.

He instinctively sought to vent his fury, and he stomped his foot, sending sand billowing up around him. Some grains met and clashed with the sparks. The electricity fizzled and the sand liquified, becoming oily and viscous. The resulting substance splashed on the ground and stuck to his feet. It began to climb his legs, then his chest and up his neck. Sam watched it dispassionately, but a voice in his head screamed for attention. Let it go, Sam. You’ve been called worse. You’re better than this.

Like he’d pushed a button, the oil slid off him, forming a puddle. He let go of the staff, and it dropped in a heap. The shimmery world of the arena disappeared.

Combat test complete. Subject passes. Current capacity for aether sense assessed as medium-high. Potential assessed as exceptional.

Breakthrough recorded. You’ve climbed to the first step, congratulations. Subject has achieved Meditate step within the Legion stage along The Path.

Breakthrough recorded. You’ve climbed to the second step, congratulations. Subject has achieved Empower step within the Legion stage along The Path.

(Ghost_Noble configuration deemed unstable and unsuitable for future use. External protocol engaged. Results modified. Memory altered.)

Next test commencing.