WARNING: This chapter contains a character behaving in a way, and performing actions, that could be construed as suicidal. I did not intend to convey the character's actions/attitudes in this manner, but please be advised.

Thanks to elephasmaximus23 for the assist

Chapter 48

Zara’s mighty leap was breathtaking, her fingers just brushing the orb but not quite grabbing it. My heart sank as I watched her fall into the pit, the awful sound of her impact echoing in the chamber. Wolflings pounced on her instantly. Her sword flashed, driving the first one back, but then another beast pinned her to the ground. My blood ran cold, my heart skipping a beat. I hesitated, torn between the urge to help her and the certainty of death if I joined. A tiny, dark part of me scratched her name off the list of competitors, moving me one step closer to becoming a Griidlord.

Then the powers of gods were unleashed. A pillar of light scored from above, the heat radiating across me even from the edge of the pit. Vaelstrom was employing her BEAM. The Beam of a Scepter could destroy even a Griidlord from miles distant. The beam disintegrated several of the wolflings, startling the beast that had Zara pinned, allowing her to kick it off of her. But the angle of Vaelstrom's position and the walls of the pit obscured at least half of the fiends from her beam. Zara was still in imminent mortal danger.

I sensed movement, barely saw Magneblade as he streaked past me, diving into the pit. The scene that followed was incredible. I watched in utter awe at the ease with which his blazing axe cut the remaining fiends into pieces. This was power. For all the strength I felt I had in the suit, I was an ant compared with this power. Magneblade cleaved the last creature in half, then gathered Zara to him and leaped the dozens of feet from the pit as easily as I might have climbed a single step of the stairs in my father's house.

He released her, and she stepped back from him, dazed and a little confused. Magneblade said, "The most important thing, youngling, is that you will live to see another dawn. But the rules are clear. We had to intervene on your behalf, so your time in The Choosing is at an end."

Zara barely seemed to process his words, though there was maybe a faint relief spreading on her lips. Magneblade continued, "Come with me, youngling. I'll take you to the priests to have your suit removed."

He could see she wasn't right, perhaps afraid she'd try to find another way to bury her shame.

He paused, looked at me, glanced at the orb dangling above the pit, then down to the pit now vacant of threats, just lumps of sizzling meat and burning fur. His helmeted head was expressing something obvious—what was Zara's loss was my gain. I could still attempt to take the orb, but I wouldn't face the same jeopardy she had. The worst that could happen to me would be to become trapped in the pit and miss the rest of the round, ending my time in The Choosing.

I stood there, considering the orb as it swayed slightly from the contact Zara had made with it.

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The voice came to me, it said, "I think you should do it."

I thought in reply, That's not a big surprise, you love when I take stupid risks.

The voice responded, "Is that what you think?"

I paused. It continued, "Well... I do enjoy the excitement, but I think maybe you have me wrong, Tiberius. What I love is to see you push yourself, to grow, like you have been doing from the start. This is another chance to level up."

I replied silently, "Or another chance to fail and end my time in The Choosing."

The voice’s tone was rare now, sincere instead of mocking. It said, "With the growth that Lance has achieved, if you ever hope to match him or exceed him again, isn’t it really a case of grow or fail anyway? If you don’t take the chances to push yourself, then you might as well exit The Choosing anyway. You need to grow, desperately, urgently."

I paused, realizing the voice was right. No other contestants were present. It was just me.

The voice said, "To level AGILITY, you need to use it. You need to give yourself to it. All the suits come with some basic ability to move you. That poor foolish girl who went before you did not have the faith she needed in her suit. You have to believe in the suit as an extension of yourself, as something you can trust."

I prepped myself again, thinking of what I wanted to do, letting the suit feel my desire, preparing to cross the expanse. I closed my eyes for a moment, visualizing the leap, the arc, the snatch, the landing. This time, I resolved to truly surrender. I took another deep breath, relaxed my muscles entirely, and opened my eyes. I could see the orb swaying slightly from the chain, taunting me.

I let go completely, trusting the suit to move my legs. It took everything I had not to intervene as my feet struck the ground at the edge of the pit. To say it was without my control was not quite right; it was almost as if my brain was still a component of the action, but there were other neurons outside of me translating the movements. It was an act of total surrender.

As I neared the lip of the pit, all I could imagine was plummeting down. But then, something incredible happened. The suit took over, and I leaped, my body twisting in the air like an acrobat.

As I flew through the air I understood better. It wasn’t about sacrificing all autonomy to the suit. It was a symbiotic relationship. I willed the suit to act, but I was still there, feeling the motions of my muscles and those of the suit. I could guide it, but I couldn’t dominate it. Like a willful horse, sometimes it was better to give it it’s own head.

I floated in the air as my body twisted. It was close. My mind could see my trajectory, how close I would come to not quite reaching the orb, or not quite making the landing on the opposite side.

My fingers reached out, grazing my prize as I passed it. I just, just, had enough contact with it for my finger tips to find purchase. Grasping with all the strength the suit afforded me, my fingers found a way to press into the surface of the orb enough to take hold.

The chain snapped, and the orb travelled with me. I, or maybe the suit, tucked my legs in as I reached the opposite side. I hit the ground in a roll and came up standing. For a few moments I just stood there, heart hammering, chest heaving. That had worked. That had been exhilarating beyond words.

Before my eyes Agility 0.0 faded, and was replaced with Agility 0.1. If that had been the suit moving without the attribute, I was excited to see what it could do at 1.0.

That was one challenge passed. As difficult as it had seemed, as great as the risk had been, it was deflating to think that this wasn’t the greater part of the test.

Now I needed to go through Lance.