Rain dripped down Zoe’s Mirrored skin as she stood frozen in thought. The giant’s announcement rang in Zoe’s head worse than any system notification — Mubilashi in that field of wildflowers, where Bella and Skidmark waited for her return. Zoe struggled to fight a single newborn Mubulashi, and she was the strongest of her friends by far. Would the others be able to hold off any of them?

She noticed the giant studying her.

“This is all a test,” she said. “Every aspect of this Mountain is a test.”

She charged into the sand.

“There’s no Mubilashi! You just want to distract me.”

She swung Mirrored chains and formed a bell on the end like a percussive flail. The giant bent with unnatural flexibility and dodged the first swing. Zoe and Moth forced control through the chain and made it bend back toward the giant from behind. The weapon lost some momentum but managed to strike the target.

A shockwave spread out and blasted sand into the air.

The giant darted forward as the sand fell. Fists blurred toward Zoe. She dodged the first and, too slow, braced herself to catch the second. It slammed into her crossed arms and drove her to the ground. Another fist came, and Zoe sprung her trap.

Chains of Mirror exploded from her hands. She used almost all of Moth’s Mirrored body to bind the giant. He strained his colossal muscles against the confines, and Zoe knew she didn’t have long before it broke free.

But she could always make more time for herself.

She twitched her fingers as she yanked on the Mirrored chains.

[Empress in Time]

Standing this close, she couldn’t help but capture the giant in the technique’s effects. He froze mid-struggle, halfway to the ground as she pulled him off his feet. Despite being trapped within the sliver of a second, intelligence still glinted in his eyes. There was definitely something different about this Mountain and the creatures upon it if they could resist this ultimate technique of hers.

She would figure that out later, for now, she needed to seize her opportunity.

Releasing a primal roar she pummelled the giant’s head. It was the perfect height for her to reach and she put every point of her Strength and Dexterity into punching as hard and fast as she could. The collisions echoed like thunder. Rain blasted away from each impact. Anto clapped his hands over his ears to drown out the noise. Zoe slammed her Mirrored knuckles, feeling them crack and heal in rapid succession as she drew back her fists and punched again. It was endless. It was brutal. It wasn’t working.

No matter how hard she delivered the onslaught, she couldn’t drown the whispering fear in the back of her mind; doubt that the giant told the truth; that she wasted her time while Mubillashi stripped the flesh from the bones of her friends.

She felt the technique failing and so she activated the flames of time. The giant staggered back in the inferno.

The effect was so bright she had to look away.

But when she looked back, instead of ashes, instead of nothing, she saw a fist rushing through the air. Knuckles caught her chin unawares and knocked her off the ground and out of the ring. She hit the wet tiles and rolled limply. Black spots bloomed in her vision as Anton raced to her side.

It took a few minutes before she could even hear him asking if she was alright. By that time, the giant had returned to its cross-legged position. The rain passed, but the mist remained. She sat up, her body aching, blood pounding like a hammer through her jaw. After a few more minutes, her Vitality healed her enough that she could speak. She spat blood and glared at the giant.

“You tricked me. Filled my head with doubt.”

“Doubt comes from within,” said the giant without opening its eyes.

“Don’t give me that! Your lies are what triggered my —”

“I told no lies.”

Zoe huffed.

“We have no way of verifying anything you say.”

The giant cracked a single eyelid with amusement.

“Why would you need to verify anything? This is the Mountain of Faith, after all.”

Zoe stared at the giant with confusion, before she turned to Anton.

“Can you send your eyes down through the mist and see what the others are up to?”

Anton shook his head.

“It’s not a matter of distance. The mist feels wrong somehow. My eyes won’t travel. What about your heart technique?”

“Same problem,” Zoe replied. “I think such communication techniques aren’t allowed in a place like this.”

She said this last bit loudly, in the hopes it might spur the giant into revealing more about how this place worked, but the giant continued ignoring her.

“I wonder…” Anton said.

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“What?”

“Your last round started so strong, but you got weaker as it progressed. What were you thinking about?”

“Nothing… but, no… at the end I was wondering about the Mubilashi.”

“Doubt is the antithesis of Faith.”

Zoe nodded. She had come to much the same conclusion, but wasn’t sure how to apply it, unless… She gazed at the giant seated in the ring of sand, and then at the ornate gate at the far end of the courtyard. The recent rain had cleared away enough of the mist to reveal the open passageway to the next area of steps.

“I don’t need to fight you,” she said to the giant. “You can’t step outside the sand. You can’t stop me from going past you.”

The giant smirked at her.

“Do you really believe that?”

Zoe smirked back, feeling the strangeness of her smile without the scars twisting her lips into something menacing, and strode past the circle of sand. She did feel a strange sense of gravity pulling her toward the giant. Her knuckles clenched, and she gritted her teeth as she resisted the force that attempted to guide her. With a great effort of will, she passed the circle of sand and left the giant behind her. The wide courtyard passed under her feet in a matter of moments, and she stood at the gate. Without glancing back, she continued up the steps and into the mists.

Anton kept a step behind her, and as they cleared the courtyard the gate slammed closed behind them.

[You have passed the second test]

The system words were cold comfort though, as they failed to drown out the giant’s final words.

“I never lied about the Mubilashi.”

But Zoe kept her back straight and faced ahead. She had made too much progress to throw it away. If her friends faced those monsters, then she would have faith in them. She was not the only strong one in her group. Bella had her sword, and Skidmark had Bella.

Everyone had their challenges, and she believed they would overcome them. She had to believe, and her heart hammered that message through her blood as she advanced up the Mountain of Faith.

###

It wasn’t fair. He was supposed to be a ruler amongst men. All the riches and power and women of the new world were his for the taking, but that rug got pulled before he even stepped upon it.

The tutorial was over, and Ben found himself unprepared. They were supposed to have a few more days. A few more final secrets were imparted, their missions granted, and the faith of the Crimson Armada placed upon the shoulders of its chosen warriors.

But that never happened.

Instead — he shuddered as the rain beat down on the tin roof of his shelter — it all came crashing down. The vein-streaked roof of the Tutorial’s pocket dimension split and shattered and the city the participants lived in was inundated with a rain of blood.

So many drowned. Despite the training and the levels, they weren’t ready. Bodies floated as the waters settled.

A figure of blades and terror loomed in their eyes as the proud members of the tutorial cowered. All the power they gained, all the power they stole, all the lives they ruined —

No.

He had no choice.

Eat or be eaten, the law of the jungle, and he was a lion. He even had the mane to prove it, he smiled as he swept a hand through his long blonde locks. Skein had only made his body more glorious, more chiseled, even Michelangelo would have wept and thrown aside his chisel rather than attempt to carve perfection into mere marble.

Ben let out a deep sigh. It always helped to think about how great he was. The rain lessened, and he rose from the makeshift bed and went outside.

The building was little more than a shack holding a long-dead generator. Some kind of farm… but now nothing but mud under a sky of spiraling green. The air was hot and humid and steam rose from the deceptively deep puddles. Mountains stood in the distance, almost obscured completely by the shroud of rain. An idiot might have called such a scene ‘pastoral’, ‘idyllic’, or something equally optimistic, but only an idiot.

To Ben, he was standing in the middle of a field of diarrhea, and he would literally kill for a hot shower. For a spa day, he would ruin a soul.

He was almost alone out in the field, but two black specks on the horizon ruined that peaceful illusion. The only thing worse than being in this hellhole alone was being here with company.

The two figures bounded across the muddy fields. Their movements were graceful as they avoided the treacherous puddles and practically skipped over the mud. None of the brown splatters touched their dark robes. It always amazed Ben when the heavyset Mr Biggs leaped like that. His brain refused to believe what his eyes reported. It was too unreal, even for the new world they found themselves in. The flapping of the dark robes distracted him, and he let his coffee grow cold as they neared. His rage flickered at the loss of all that should have been there. They were the best of the best, who entered the tutorial — who survived the tutorial — they deserved the world.

And they had it before Rue snatched it all away.

The two figures reached the scattered wooden boards that served as a deck for the shack. Mr. Biggs and Giuseppe. Ben sullenly walked over to greet them. Damned if he would be pleasant while they held him hostage.

“How is the good doctor?” Giuseppe asked with a grin.

Ben ignored him as he pulled out his scalpel.

“Ready when you are.”

Giuseppe flicked his wrist and a man appeared in the air above the mud. He fell, gasping and blinking, as he tore at a cocoon-like coating. His shaky fingers tore a hole above his mouth and he sucked in air.

“Oh, come on!” Ben said to Mr Biggs. “He’s supposed to be unconscious.”

Mr Biggs looked at Ben for a moment, his hard expression unchanging, before he gave Giuseppe a slight nod.

Giuseppe’s hard-toed leather shoe kicked the man in the temple. He squawked and slumped over.

Ben crouched down and inspected the man’s breathing. Pre-system, such a wound could be fatal, but the unconscious man had enough levels and Vitality to survive such an impact.

He thanked again the [Sense] technique the Tutorial taught them. It was almost like reading a patient’s chart. This young man’s build was too invested in Dexterity. He lolled inside the tight cocoon almost bonelessly, his limbs pressed upon themselves in an unnatural way.

At least a flexible body like that would make a good puppet.

With a smug grin, Ben placed the scalpel against the man’s sternum and reveled in his prowess.

[Blessed Doctor]

He sliced through the man’s chest and the flesh peeled away on their own accord. Ribs unfurled. Blood slowed. Ben put aside the scalpel on a steel tray. He placed two fingers upon the unconscious man’s forehead.

[Two Worlds One Body]

Golden light flashed inside the chest cavity. Mr Biggs leaned over and smiled.

“Heavy is the heart of a young man’s profession,” the fat mobster said as he pulled out the young man’s heart. His nostrils flared as he sucked up the vapors before he bit into the heart like an apple.

Ben rolled his eyes at the theatrics. His techniques provided a meat suit for Giuseppe to infiltrate the nearby town. There they would acquire more resources, power, and information, before moving on to the next island. Mr. Biggs had a plan that extended for years if not decades, and Ben already found his part of it dull to the extreme. He owed Mr Biggs for helping him through the tutorial, but in reality, he just wanted —

He frowned as a strange feeling rushed over him. A sensation like eyes peeling — like he was an eyelid — like the world watched — like a blink into leaden slumber — like…

The ground twitched. Had this deck always stood in the center of a crossroads? There didn’t even seem to be real paths, just an X marking the spot like a child’s treasure map. His memory buzzed like static as he frowned and tried to recall if it had always been like that. The others were engrossed with the new meat puppet, and so Ben was the first to notice the burning spaceship crashing toward them out of the hallucinogenic sky.