Back when his grandfather had been alive, he’d been big on antiques. He’d picked up furniture and trinkets from all over the world—from rarer hand carved furniture to touristy junk. He’d been particularly proud of a tall antique grandfather clock and diligent about winding it to ensure it kept perfect time.

As a child, to Logan, it had seemed immense, taller than even his grandfather, but also loud. When he’d stayed over at his grandfather’s house in Hope’s End, he’d struggled to fall asleep, having to resort to stuffing his ears with cotton to block out the tick, tick, since the clock echoed throughout the whole house.

To Logan, that clock might as well be this trial.

Tick, tick.

Tick.

Tock.

“System, how much time is left?”

[Trial Progress: 39 minutes remaining.]

“Can you tell me how much time is left during each trial update?”

[Confirmed. Trial status update option turned on.]

For once, the System was being an accommodating fucker. At least that way he wouldn’t have to waste time asking, but every second was another tick of the clock, driving him crazy as urgency surged. His heart was racing out of his chest, making it impossible to maintain focus and keep his senses open. That became even more challenging as he began to comprehend the difficulty before him. He had to overtake Asthea to win this trial. She had already earned ten perception points which meant he needed to earn at least eleven to beat her, and that was only if she didn’t earn any other points before the trial was over.

Now that he knew how to advance his perception attribute, Logan would have said that his chances were high, but not now.

Not when he was dealing with acid pollen.

And that was just the white, small shit. There were large clumps the size of mugs on top of those tall, monstrous weeds, clumps that grew looser the more the wind raged.

This was going to get worse. A hell of a lot worse.

Instead of a perception trial, this might as well be a focus trial. It would require concentration while dealing with immense pain. Normally, Logan would excel at this since he could deploy [Mimicry Armour], but because of his oath to Asthea, that wasn’t an option. He had towels and blankets inside of his spatial storage, but you bet your ass Asthea would notice if he suddenly pulled out a tent’s worth of belongings. There went his lie about his supposed ‘garbage grade’ spatial storage.

Fuck fuck fuck.

No armour, no blankets, no clothing other than his swim trunks.

Well, never say that Logan hadn’t struggled through adversity. If it were a matter of pain, he could suffer through pain. At this point, pain was a friend. And after his upgrades to [Idiot’s Paradox], it might not be such an insurmountable obstacle. If he could grit this out, tune out what happened to his body, then he had a chance.

Logan bit his lip and tried to lower his breathing rate, taking sips rather than gulps. If he continued taking deep meditative breaths, there was a chance he’d suck in particles of pollen. He didn’t fancy burning lungs in addition to burning skin.

Logan had earned a perception point by scrutinizing a rock, peering into the past from its creation to its present state. The tricky part of that equation was that he didn’t know how he’d done it, but he had a suspicion. As a child, he’d been frustrated when the adults around him made jokes that went over his head. Year after year, they’d laughed, and he’d furrowed his brow in puzzlement. It was only as the years passed and he learned about the world by talking to older kids and absorbing everything around him that it had clicked. The first time he’d laughed along with the adults, his parents had side-eyed him, and the jokes had stopped. Or at least around Logan.

As for the rock, it had been a rock when he entered the chamber, nothing but a hunk of stone. Figuring out that a rock had a history would have been the last thing he’d tried.

But as soon as Logan had opened his senses and cracked open his Karma pool by envisioning a reservoir of water, from the way he’d pictured a brick wall when he’d merged his two growing skills to create [Life Cycle Master], to the way he’d managed to crush diamonds and intermix them with sandstone to form his talons, he’d had the ability all along. It was nothing but imagination and the capacity to think beyond the obvious. Looking into the past was only one step further.

It had been there all along.

Logan had only needed to discover it.

Next to him, Asthea hissed in a breath as the pollen drifted over to her like a dissolving cloud. Unlike Logan, she was wearing long sleeves and pants, and although scratches and rips made her chainmail look shoddy and ruined its natural alien shine, it provided a heck of a lot more protection than his swim trunks. And yet Asthea was already showing signs of pain, her face pale, her mouth in a grimace. She was wearing her fingerless gloves, which meant that when she tried to brush the pollen off her face, it stuck to her fingers instead. But for now, she looked as if she were sticking it out and trying for more points.

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Damn.

But there was only one way ahead, and that was forward.

Logan closed his eyes. He tried to take a mental step back and focus on nothing but the life around him, pushing the pain and the worry of the ticking clock to the back of his mind.

If he picked the rock again, there was a further option. He’d followed it from its inception to its present state, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t go forward. To the future. Yet that might take time to figure out that he didn’t have, and although he’d be better equipped to increase his perception through the daily cheat method in the future, that wouldn’t help in this trial. The ticking clock continued.

Disregarding the rock for now, he searched for the next best thing. Something that should have been obvious, something that [Life Cycle Master] had given him an advantage over. Although he wouldn’t deploy the skill, when it came to plants and trees, Logan was a master.

He’d start with the easiest option first.

The grass underneath his feet.

Logan only needed to envision it and then follow it back.

Grass started at the seed level. It needed soil, water, and light to bring it to life. For this particular seed, it had begun with a deposit, the seed burying deep into the dirt, laying dormant until the time was right.

The dirt sucked in the moisture of the purple stream, the atmosphere flush with humidity, the water of the stream splashing and seeping into the dirt. The seed took advantage.

Fine hair-like roots spread from the seed, wiggling their way through the soil like a cobweb. And from there, a sprout, growing, growing, searching for sunlight and air. As soon as it breached the surface, it sucked up the artificial light from the sun in the chamber, its stem lengthening, thickening.

Ding!

[You have earned one perception point!]

[Trial Update:

Asthea: 11 Perception

Logan: 2 Perception

Arsen: Disqualified

Errol: Disqualified

Thorin: Disqualified]

[Trial Progress: 36 minutes remaining.]

One increased perception point wasn’t much but it boosted his senses, and he realized how strong the wind had become. His ears popped and he could hear more acutely. From the rustle of the long grass to the water rushing past in the stream. Even the… what the hell?

The weeds were screaming. As the white flowers and pollen knocked against each other in the wind, it made the weed excited, and it thought….

Oh man.

It thought it was breeding season.

Pushing out gushes of purple sap that trailed from the flowers, the sap seeped down the thick stem and droplets went flying. One landed on top of Logan’s right shoulder and then sizzling, sunk through his skin and into his flesh an inch deep. A wisp of noxious burning flesh wafted towards his nose like smoke.

Holy shit, holy shit! Even with [Idiot’s Paradox], that hurt like being burned by coal from the pits of hell.

Not to mention that Logan had earned one perception point, but Asthea had too. He was still in the same position as last time!

But Asthea might have hit her limit. The sap was flying at Logan, but it was also flying at her. Each drop that landed ate through her armour, seeping through and reaching her skin.

“Oh, the clan,” she moaned.

But Logan could give her one thing. When she gave up, she did it tactically.

Eyeing Logan, she gave him a look of speculation, examining his bare skin and looking as if she were doing a calculation in her head.

As another droplet of sap landed on top of her arm and ate through her armour, she said through clenched teeth, “I think I’ve got this one, stealth player. I might have finally beat you. Although I know you’re a machine, I see no reason to suffer through pain when I’ll end up on top anyway. See you on the other side.”

Getting to her feet, she rushed to the stream and jumped in with a smooth plop. The stream was deep enough that the purple water covered her whole body, just the top of her head and nose and mouth above the surface.

She hadn’t conceded, so she was still in this, but Asthea had the right of it. Why hadn’t Logan thought of that? If he jumped in the stream, he’d shield most of his body from the flying pollen and acid, and yet he could still focus on increasing his perception while swimming.

In fact, Asthea had made a mistake by jumping into the water and showing him a solution. She should have toughed it out and let him fall further behind.

Logan scrambled to his feet, wincing and muttering underneath his breath, “Fuck fuck fuck,” as the pollen and sap landed on his back. It felt like welts the size of glass jars were forming in patches over his skin. It was so bad he was surprised his skin wasn’t sloughing off!

Screaming, he used his new agility and strength to jump into the water so fast he created a massive splash, water flying in a torrent.

Logan sunk into the stream, and at first, he had nothing but relief. With the artificial sun and the coldness of the chamber, he would have assumed the water would be cold and brisk, but it was like a warm bath. It had a pleasant, violet scent, as if he’d jumped into a stream full of blooming flowers.

Logan kicked his feet, having no problem keeping his face above water.

If he hadn’t made a vow to Asthea, he could have sunk to the bottom and activated [Deepwater Explorer]. That way, he could have sheltered his entire body from the flying pollen and acid and concentrated on extending his senses at the same time. But overall, it wasn’t a big deal. Even if he kept his face above water, that still covered almost everything.

This could work. He could paddle in place and…

And….

He’d….

What was he just thinking?

Logan blinked at the purple water.

It smelled so good. Like a bed of roses. It was if he’d sank into a stream of blooming flowers.

Wait.

Hadn’t he already thought that?

The water was warm, perfect for relaxing. In fact, he didn’t know why he’d been so stressed. What was stress amongst the purple water. The water was everything. It would shelter him, nurture him. He could let himself float and ignore everything around him, let his worries dissolve and disappear.

Why had he bothered with this trial in the first place? It was a lot of effort and pain for nothing. He could just relax; the water could nurture him. He wouldn’t have to worry about Lara or Ernie….

Wait.

What?

Logan blinked. What had he just been thinking?

Lara.

Ernie.

The Save Humanity Quest!

The trial!

Something was wrong.

Even though the water was warm, Logan shivered, goosepimples breaking out on his skin as a stone of dread lodged deep in his stomach. Prying himself out of the water and onto the bank was one of the most difficult things he’d done. Not physically. That was nothing. But having the willpower to drag himself out was like dragging himself away from the grip of a spider or on the other extreme, stepping away from a mother’s warm embrace.

The water wanted him, wanted him to stay, how dare he…!

As he scored the bank with his fingernails, scrambling up and climbing onto dry land, Logan blinked. Second by second, the grip of the water faded, his thoughts solidifying. Shaking his head, he let the purple water drip down his body and fly away in the wind.

Pollen and sap flying and hitting his body like shrapnel, he glanced back at the purple stream and stared.

What. The. Hell.