Ding!

[You have completed the dexterity trial! As the winner of this section of the trial, you will receive an extra reward. The reward will depend upon your results relative to the other members of your party.]

[Calculating rewards…]

[….]

[…]

[Rewards calculated!]

[As the weakest person in the dexterity trial, you have defied the odds. Well done, Idiot! You have been granted double the amount achieved in the dexterity trial—35 bonus dexterity attribute points.]

Logan sagged in relief, his body becoming boneless as he let his armour dissolve into dust around him. He shook his head, dislodging sand and dead insects as he blinked at the table, having a tough time believing that the ordeal was over.

The System had let them out.

Or rather, escape.

The insects had fallen motionless—lifeless—around them, hundreds of the carcasses littering the table and the floor.

The dexterity upgrade was surging through his body, giving him a solidness to his movements, that fine motor skill you needed for complex tasks, but he was having difficulty noticing anything through his feeling of numbness.

Ding!

[In addition, you have been granted a boon.]

[Dexterity Ring of Pure Grit. B Grade. When worn, this ring will grant the wielder double dexterity. The Dexterity Ring of Pure Grit is part of an attribute set. Upon ownership of all five rings, the rings will dissolve into your skin and become part of your body. Thereafter, the doubling power will turn into tripling power.]

Logan looked down at his hand. The ring was resting in his palm just like the others. He was about to get up from his chair, but the System wasn’t finished.

[You have been granted the title, Malicious Meat Sack! Ruthless, take no prisoners, you will use everything at your disposal to pummel enemies into pulp and climb out on top. This title grants 20 bonus points to intelligence.]

Asshole. The fucker sounded as if it were relishing giving out that title, when if anyone were to receive it, it should be the System. It had been the System who had trapped them in that trial, the System who had forced him to direct the insects at Arsen. This was FUBAR.

That’s all the time he had for venting before Logan was hit with the mother of all boosts. Houston, we have a problem. The world had opened up. Scene after scene passed through his mind, from his first strength trial where he pushed past his limits and then went beyond them, to the agility trial and his euphoria as he learned that Ernie had survived, to the endurance trial where he’d discovered his ability to communicate with mold, and lastly, to the hell of the dexterity trial.

Gasping in a sharp breath as the upgrade faded, Logan could only blink. He’d received a small five-point increase after receiving the Run Until You Drop title, but a massive intelligence boost hadn’t happened since he’d defeated the snake swarm. Twenty additional points was nothing to sneeze at.

But make no mistake, Logan wasn’t in any way grateful. He’d be having insect nightmares for the next decade!

There was something wrong with the System.

Seriously wrong.

“Asthea, are you okay?”

Asthea looked traumatized. Her face kept twitching as she looked at Arsen’s corpse.

Logan gave her a grimace of sympathy. “You did what you had to. When Arsen comes back he’ll be grateful that you ended his pain.”

She raised her eyes as if from a dream. “…come back?”

“Yeah, the reset…”

Shit.

Logan had forgotten.

[In this trial, if a Non-Player Character (NPC) kills you, your death will not be permanent.]

[The death nullability applies to NPCs only.]

“Oh,” he whispered.

Asthea’s mouth twisted. “Yes. ‘Oh.’”

Rather than let Arsen go through death through insects, go through torture, she’d killed him. Really killed him.

Logan swallowed. It had been Asthea’s decision to make, but Logan didn’t think he’d make the same decision in her shoes. If Logan had been in Arsen’s place, he would have preferred to go through hell and still come out on the other side. Asthea had taken that option away from Arsen. And based on their close relationship, that must have been a horrible decision to make. A decision that would tear her up from the inside.

Asthea ran a shaky hand through her hair. “Don’t give me that look. I don’t make rash decisions without thinking them through.” Pushing back her chair with a stone-on-stone scrape, she got up and moved over to Arsen’s body.

She bit her lip as she stared at him, her eyes red and puffy. Hissing out a breath, Asthea crouched and then reached for his wrist and pulled back his sleeve. Around his swollen, chewed through brutalized wrist, he was wearing a bracelet that glinted in the blue light of the room.

“Our clan always has a back up.” Tugging off the bracelet was difficult—his hand was so swollen that blood and pus drizzled by the time she managed it.

It was a spatial storage device.

Holding the bracelet, Asthea’s eyes became unfocused, that same look Logan got as he mentally rummaged through contents of his own collar.

Asthea looked down and opened her hand.

Within her palm was another silver marble that glinted with gold specks. This one radiated with an aura that made Logan sit up and take notice. Compared to the aura that emitted from the metal chains, this one was off the charts. It would be the difference between looking at the hope diamond and fool’s gold.

Logan scanned it with [Idiot’s Inspect].

[Resurrection crystal. S Grade. This crystal brings back those who are lost. One time use only.]

“These cost more than our world makes in ten years,” said Asthea, her voice in a reverent whisper. “They’re so dear that we only have one on reserve at a time. Hard to get a hold of, exclusive to the rulers of the clan. This was intended to be a back up, something that Arsen carried around to resurrect me if it came to it. He’s going to be so angry when he learns that I used it on him instead.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Logan sat back, reeling. It was impossible. That was something you could buy? It was the wizard-shit all over again. Holy shit, he needed to get his hands on that marble. He could save Ernie if he needed! Save Lara!

But just how much would he need to save to afford ten years’ worth of a world’s productivity? It had to be a heck of a lot. An impossible amount.

With a grimace, Asthea opened Arsen’s mouth and then pressed the marble against his swollen tongue. Rubbing her thumb and finger against the crystal, she waited for it to dissolve and disappear before she took a step back with an expectant air.

Logan waited.

And waited.

...Was something supposed to happen?

“No!” With a guttural roar, Asthea hit the table, sending the bowls flying and shattering onto the floor, spattering milk like a paintball gun. “Why isn’t he coming back?!” Her chest was rising like she was having a panic attack, her lips pulled back, baring her incisors, muscles and veins straining against her neck.

Logan pushed his chair away from the table and got up. “Maybe he will?”

“What?” she cried.

“You’ve never been through the trial yourself before, right? Maybe the crystal worked, but it won’t kick in until 24 hours is up. You might have to wait until the rest come back.”

Asthea hesitated. “Maybe,” she whispered. “Oh, the clan, I hope you’re right. If I had known this was a risk… I never would have….” A single teardrop trailed down her cheek.

Logan raised his hand, about to pat her on the back, but then he backed away. She looked like she’d attack the next person who touched her.

“This trial… your System. Soncontal piece of shit. What… what.” She straightened and ran a hand over her mouth. “What was all that, stealth player? Our clan has been using this Trial of Awakening for decades. We never once had this problem. Refusing to allow us to concede….? Unthinkable.”

Logan swallowed. “Welcome to my world. I don’t suppose you got a response after submitting that System error report, did you?”

Asthea rubbed her face, wiping her eyes, then shook her head. “It was an error report. The bug will be lodged with the System admins and eventually make its way through the chain until they deploy a patch. But this… your minion took over our System. Infected us. That shouldn’t happen.”

Logan didn’t like the sound of that. He was new at this—the System Integration had just happened! Asthea’s people had been dealing with the System for a hundred years. For her to be worried, that couldn’t be good.

She blew out a breath, fluttering a strand of her long hair. “It’s no matter. Twenty-four hours will be up soon enough. Then I’ll find out if your theory is correct. Arsen better come back.”

Oh fuck.

The trial!

Urgency like nothing else shot through Logan. After what he’d been through in the dexterity trial, winning had been the last thing on his mind. But he’d just won the fourth True Grit Ring and he still needed the last one to complete the set. A traumatizing insect trial didn’t wipe away the fact that he needed to grow strong so that he’d have a chance to save Lara and the kids, save Ernie, save Humanity. Not to mention standing up against a murderous AI System intent on torturing him for all it was worth.

“System, how much time is left?”

[Trial Progress: 1.09 hours remaining.]

Holy shit, that was nothing!

Adrenaline shooting through him and making him feel jittery, Logan didn’t bother putting on the True Grit Ring; rather, he stored it in his spatial collar. It had taken minutes to recover from the last ring upgrade, and Logan didn’t have minutes. Time was ticking, and if he had any chance of finishing the final trial, he needed to move his ass.

Logan brushed away the remaining insect corpses. After he’d conceded, they’d dropped to the floor, lifeless, as if they’d walked into a Bug Zapper. For the ones that were sticking out of his skin like ticks, he plucked them out, but the others… ugh. [Regenerate] and his constitution attribute would have to take care of the rest.

All in all, physically, he hadn’t taken too much damage.

“Asthea, I’m sorry about this. I know you want time to recharge, but I don’t have time. The clock is ticking, and we need to get out of here.” He wanted to be respectful of the dead, but if his theory was correct, it wasn’t like Arsen was truly gone, and the trial wouldn’t reset until he moved his body out of the chamber.

Logan held back a grimace. Arsen’s skin was swollen, bulbous with liquid. “You’re a good man. Forgive me,” he said to Arsen’s face down corpse. Frowning in distaste, Logan grasped a handful of his shirt and then lifted the body like a sack of potatoes. Letting Arsen’s legs flop to the floor, he started dragging him out of the room. After the strength trial, it was like lifting a feather.

Asthea stood up and followed. “You’re not thinking of moving to the perception trial after all of that?”

Logan shot her a frown. “Of course I am.”

Asthea sighed. She seemed to have put herself together. Her eyes were still puffy, but her face was back to its normal state. “I don’t know why I’m not surprised. You’re a machine, after all.”

Logan glanced back at her but kept dragging Arsen. “You’re big on wanting to show your clan and your mother that you can excel at this trial. I’ve heard you. I can hardly speak to what the hell’s going on there—my own family isn’t a bed of roses—but I remember you saying that your people don’t normally make it through all five trials. Well, if you did, wouldn’t that be a story? The only one in your clan to make it out? That’s got to be worth at least a dozen brownie points.”

Asthea followed Logan as he dragged Arsen’s corpse to the door. A trail of blood dripped to the floor like spilled paint, making it seemed as if he were fleeing a gory murder scene.

“Be careful with him.” She was quiet before she said, “I don’t know what brownie points are, Logan.”

Er. Right. “It’s—”

“But I have a sense of what you’re saying. Your words have merit. At the same time, I know you’re also saying them to get me to hurry. You have your own motives.”

Ding!

[Trial reset in progress…]

[…]

[..]

[Please stand by.]

Logan gently placed Arsen’s corpse against the wall next to Thorin and Errol’s. The stench had gotten progressively worse, so horrible that he was surprised flies weren’t flying around the hallway. “I’m not going to lie, of course I want to hurry you along. But it doesn’t mean what I’m saying isn’t true.”

She looked at him carefully for a weighted pause. Finally, she whispered, “You want to win. I want to win too. But to me, the Tactician Trial is more valuable. Why should I subject myself to pain in a trial that gives me nothing but perception? I have enough of that already.”

“What about winning? Winning an attribute trial that your clan never makes it to? That means nothing to you?”

“It’s something,” she said grudgingly. “It’s not nothing.” Asthea’s gaze became far away, her mouth in a worried line. “Mother might be impressed. Might.”

Logan ran a hand through his hair, brushing his bangs away from his eyes and pacing back and forth. He suspected his hair was standing on end like a hedgehog. He needed to find a way to make Asthea agree. Shit. Logan had never been good at manipulating people and Asthea had a mind as strong as steel.

“Stop pacing,” Asthea snapped. “You’re making me dizzy.”

Logan came to a stop. “It’s difficult to stand still when every second is a second wasted.”

Asthea pinned him with her gaze. “It means that much to you?”

“It means everything.”

She sighed. “All right, I’ll do it, but not because you’re manipulating me into it. I’ll do it because I owe you.”

Logan furrowed his brow. If anything, he owed Asthea, not the other way around. She was the one who had helped him by answering his questions, submitted a System error report, and given him the Save Humanity Quest.

“Without you, we’d still be stuck in that dexterity trial being tortured by insects. You kept them away from me and made them… eat you in my place. The debt needs to be repaid. However, I have a condition.”

“Name it.”

“Arsen called you a trickster for a reason. I know of no skill that controls mold and insects. You’re standing here, bleeding, the insects having chewed chunks out of your flesh, and yet you act as if you’re unharmed. Your skill depth is immense. In the next trial, you must give me your oath that you’ll refrain from using your skills and employ no more tricks.”

Ding!

[Trial reset complete.]

Fuck. He was wasting time.

“I can’t…”

“No more skills. That means no more invisible armour, no more insect communing, and no hidden tactics.”

His mind raced through the possibilities. If Logan agreed, he’d go into the trial with a serious handicap. He’d begun to rely on [Mimicry Armour] and [Life Cycle Master] was his ace in the hole. “And if I don’t agree?”

She lowered herself to the floor and leaned against the wall of the hallway. “I think it’s time for a nap, don’t you think? An hour should do.”

Shit. “System, how much time is left?”

[Trial Progress: 52 minutes remaining.]

Shit shit shit and fuck! Logan resumed his pacing. There was no way to start the trial without Asthea. The clock was ticking, and he didn’t have the luxury to argue or fight. By the time he changed her mind, 24 hours would be up.

It might be the best he could do. But it was a hell of a risk. Against Asthea, going into an unknown perception trial where she would be at a massive advantage? Logan didn’t like those odds.

He swallowed, his throat feeling dry like parchment. “All right. No skills, no tricks. I won’t deploy my full armour, and you won’t see me communing with critters.” He gestured to the layer of armour around his neck that hid his collar. What was one white lie when an S Grade spatial storage was at risk? “This stays though. It’s part of my body and it doesn’t come off. But I won’t deploy the rest of my armour. You have my word.”

She raised a white eyebrow. “Your oath?”

“If that’s how you say it in your world, then yes, you have my oath.”

Asthea got to her feet and brushed dirt off her torn pants before turning towards the chamber door, her face full of resolve. “So be it. But you might come to regret it. You’re subjecting yourself to needless pain. You’re going to lose, Logan.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

“Oh? I was born of the dirt. Born of the clan. Our people have always been one with nature. Forced out in the wild as children, we either hone our senses or die. You’ll lose. It’s inevitable.”