“Arggh! That damn kid, is he doing it on purpose to make me worry myself to death?! I swear, I had three individual heart attacks and the little bastard was smiling like a smug little Gravloch! As soon as we get home I’m going to disown him and bury him alive for a week so he knows what it feels like.”
Melissa Alltud gave the sort of long suffering sigh that only a wife could give and patted her husbands leg. “Calm down dear, he’s definitely not doing it on purpose. Also, call our so a Gravloch again and you’ll make me unhappy.”
“Ah! No, no, no, no, you misheard me, I said he was like a Gravloch. Wait, no, I mean, I never mentioned Gravlochs at all, uh, it was that guy over there!”
The ‘guy’ in question turned around in her seat and gave him a withering glare. “What did you just say?”
Kern froze, his poor mind unable to think of a way out. Fortunately his loving wife was there to save him.
“Please don’t mind my husband, he gets a bit … excited when it comes to the kids. Both of our sons are in the Trials you see, and our one son, Torin, was the young man with the bow fighting the Matroxi.”
The lady’s eyes lit up. “Oh yes, that was quite excitable, wasn’t it? The way he stood his ground firing arrows like that, he must be very brave.”
“Brave?” Kern exclaimed. “More like reckl-”
“Yes, he is quite brave, wouldn’t you agree dear?” Melissa asked, a smile on her face.
“Ah, uh, yes dear, quite brave.Uh, do you mind loosening your grip? It’s becoming quite painful.” Kern asked, sweat forming on his brow.
Melissa smiled. “Oh, sorry dear.” She said, loosening her grip but not moving her hand from his leg. “So, do you know anyone in the Trials?” She asked the lady.
The lady’s smile turned sad. “Yes, you could say that. My daughter’s actually one of the participants, though she doesn’t know I’m here.”
Melissa frowned. “Why do you say that?”
If the woman seemed sad before, now she was downright malencholy. “I gave her up when she was just a child.” She stared down at the arena, her eyes looking but her mind elsewhere. “She likely doesn’t even remember me.”
Melissa and Kern glanced at each other, their eyes holding a conversation in the way that only two people who were intimitely familiar with each other could. It went a little something like this.
Kern: No way! Do you think?
Melissa: I’m not sure. If it is it’s one hell of a coincidence.
Kern: Do we tell her?
Melissa: No, not yet. Let’s find out more first.
Melissa turned to the woman, smiling gently. “My names Melissa, this adorable dummy is my husband Kern. What’s your name?”
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As the organizers had promised, there was better snacks. Torin was still somewhat annoyed that he didn’t get the paralyzing venom from the Matroxi but he found that after the third cream filled pastry he suddenly didn’t mind as much.
After he bit into a doughnut and discovered it to be filled with both jam AND cream, he suddenly realised that the organisers were likely the most wonderful people on the planet, with the possible exception of whatever genius baked this feast.
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Johann didn’t even see the delicious treats. He was so exhausted by the constant running and dodging he simply collapsed on the couch. He likely would have stayed like that for hours but he forced himself to get off the comfy couch and eat something. The tournement was next and it might be hours before he’d get another chance to eat something.
He looked over the array of snacks and drinks and was pleasently surprised to find a much better selection available. He tried a few of the pastries and while he did enjoy them he didn’t really have that much of a sweet tooth, unlike Torin. Johann chuckled at the thought, Torin must be in heaven right now, probably on his knees praising the organisers for their amazingness or something.
Still chuckling, Johann grabbed some jerky, a few apples and a bottle of water and returned to the couch. Where Torin loved all things sweet Johann preferred something simple and wholesome. Besides, he was about to do a whole lot of fighting and figured nutrients would help him more than sugar.
He still ignored the rations though. He may have wanted nutrients, but not that much.
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Gloria entered the break room and immediately moved over to the snacks. As much as the healing had helped she had still burnt a lot of calories in that fight. Ignoring the various treats she grabbed a handfull of ration bars and proceeded to devour them one by one.
To the eternal horror of her friends Gloria actually liked the ration bars. While she did enjoy the flavour she mostly loved how efficient it was. Shapeshifting burned a lot of nutrients and energy and with each bar worth an entire meal it made it so much easier.
After she consumed several ration bars Gloria moved over to the center of the room and sat down on the floor cross-legged. Clsoing her eyes Gloria went through the previous fight in her mind, going through every moment and analysing what she did and what she could have done better.
Throughout the fight her class skills had been prompting her actions, giving her little nudges on an instinctual level. At the time she had been unable to properly listen, her mind and her instincts both struggling for control. Now that she had a moment she listened, trying to understand how the skills affected her and why.
Skill Levels Increased!
-Basic Shieldwork lvl 3 > lvl 4
-Basic Mace Wielding lvl 1 > lvl 2
-Pain Tolerence lvl 2 > lvl 3
Gloria was ecstatic. Three skills levelling in one fight was amazing, and completely proved her personal belief that fighting was by far the best method of levelling skills. Granted, she was right, but only when it came to fighting skills.
Gloria was just about to meditate on her battle further when she was interrupted.
“Greetings Participant. In a moment a portal will open I front of you leading to the third round of the Trials. However, this year the Trials have been changed. Rather than three rounds culminating in a tournement, this year there will be five rounds. The fifth and final round will still be a tournement, but the new third and fourth rounds consist of a wilderness survival and a puzzle round.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Gloria grimaced. She wasn’t exactly fond of unexpected surprises, especially when her future was on the line.
“For those of you who are complaining, the Adventurers Guild has this to say ‘If you are unhappy about an unexpected challenge, you may want to persue a different career.’”
Gloria couldn’t help but laugh self-deprecatingly, she couldn’t argue against that!
“For those who wish to continue, the third round is the Wilderness Survival round. After you step through the portal you will find yourself in a Fabricated Survival Dungeon. The aim of this round is to survive for a full weak within the Dungeon.”
Gloria groaned. “Dammit, that bastard”
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Johann slumped. “Why did it have to be that? Gods above I hate that guy.”
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Torin froze, the mini-quiche falling from his hand. “Oh for the love of all that is holy, he’s going to be insufferable now.”
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“Achoo” Kern suddenly sneezed, almost falling from the power of it.
Melissa looked to her husband, startled. “Are you all right Kern?”
Kern, his face a mask of surprise, said “Um, I think so? Huh, must be someone praising me behind my back.”
Melissa looked at him skeptically. “Kern, you know I love you, but that is literally impossible.”
This time Kern did fall of his chair, his heart broken from Melissa’s fatal strike.
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Johann looked around the forest he found himself in. Tree’s: check, bushs: check, twigs, leaves and various other things littering the ground: check, faint sound of birds and various animals: check. Yup, looks like a normal forest, exactly like the one Kern chucked them into a couple months ago.
The three of them had gone through three months of gruelling training and they were desperate for a break. After much pleading Kern offered them a week long break, which they accepted with no hesitation.
In hindsight, it was obviously a setup.
Rather than having a nice, relaxing break, the three of them went to sleep in their beds and woke up in the middle of a forest. Naked. Cold. Hungry.
After a week spent cold and miserable they woke up back in their beds, as if they had never left. After a massive breakfast and several attempts to brutally murder Kern, the three spent the day learning how to survive in the wilderness. A lesson they would never forget, after a week they refused to remember.
Recalling the lesson johann looked around and, selecting the tallest tree he could find, began to climb. Survival lesson one: learn the lay of the land. If you don’t know the land, how could you possibly survive?
Sadly, the view from the top was about as informative as ythe view from the bottom. Everywhere he looked Johann could see nothing but trees upon trees upon trees. At one point he thought he saw something interesting but no, it was just another tree. Shrugging, Johann began the climb back down. After getting the lay of the land, or at least trying to, the next task would be to find a source of water.
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Torin was not deposited in a forest, which would have been ideal, but instead appeared in the middle of a desert with nothing but sand for miles around. He spent a few seconds cursing the two faced organizers before scrambling up the side of the nearest dune. Standing at the top Torin looked out over the desert. For the most part it looked exactly like you’d expect, dry and desolate, but in one direction Torin thought he could see a faint glimmer of something green.
With no real desire to spend seven days baking under the sun Torin started heading that way. As he did so he pushed Mana into his ring, wanting to check how much provisions he had but to his shock his Mana was rejected, a notification appearing in his vision.
Warning!
All storage items are locked within the Survival Round Dungeon.
Torin was so shocked byy the notification and all it meant he missed his next step and, like a lightweight after a night of drinking, fell flat on his face, tumbling down the side of the dune and getting sand everywhere.
“DAMN YOU, YOU BASTARDS!!!”
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Gloria appeared on a beach overlooking the ocean. She blinked, surprised at the beautiful surroundings. The sand was pure and soft, the waves gentle and relaxing. Looking up Gloria found a bright sun overhead with a scattering of puffy white clouds.
Turning around she found that the beach she was on was part of a small island with nothing but a small patch of grass with a single palm tree in the middle.
“Huh, they actually look like that? I always thought deserted islands like this only existed in books and movies.”
Gloria took a moment and breathed in the ocean air. Western Feulac was located on the western shores of lake Feulac and five hundred miles from the kilometers from the nearest ocean, so Gloria had never smelled that salty breeze before.
The peaceful atmosphere and pleasant weather made her want to just lie down and have a nap. After all, the last five months had been so stressful and exhausting that a peaceful nap on a beautiful beach sounded really nice right now.
Which is exactly why Gloria refused to do so. No matter how nice the surroundings or how much she wanted to have a nap, this was still a Trial. That one fact changed the surroundings from a relaxing vacation spot to an insidious trap. Now she just had to figure out how it was a trap.
Gloria first checked her surroundings for monsters. Even though it was a wilderness survival Dungeon it was still a Dungeon, which meant monsters. That being said, unless the palm tree transformed or something burst from under the sand then there was zero places for the Monsters to hide.
With no visible Monsters Gloria was about to check for hidden ones when a different thought entered her head. Her eyes narrowed and a second later her suspicion was confirmed as her inventory ring rejected her Mana. The notification that sprang up merely confirmed her inability to access her stores of food and water.
She finally realised the trap. The island was so enticing, almost magically so, that it lulled anyone who stepped foot on it to just relax and take a break. But with no food or water on the island, and no other land in sight, if she were to rest until she felt thirsty or hungry, it would already be too late to swim to somewhere with food or water.
To make matters worse, Gloria wielded a mace and shield, and her leather armor had metal plates sown into it throughout. With the sheer amount of weight she carried she wouldn’t so much swim as she would simply sink, unable to create enough force to keep her head above water.
For most in her position, this island would be a death trap. It might be possible to desalinate enough water to survive on but a week without food would be enough to kill most people, and the weight of her armor would be enough to drown those without extreme Strength.
While Gloria may be proud of her Strength, she knew it wasn’t enough. Fortunately for Gloria, drowning was optional. Walking into the waves Gloria activated her Trait, the pain from shifting her form racking her body.
As she walked she strapped her mace to her side and her shield to her back. She paused to make sure all the various straps were tight and all her pockets were closed when the water started to reach her knees.
It would be a pain to get her armor dry and clean again, and the chafing was going to be Hel, but that was a problem she could handle. As the waves began to lap against her chest slits appeared on the sides of her neck and on her cheeks. With her gills ready she bent down and leapt into the water … and sunk like a stone.
Opening her mouth Gloria gulped in water, the liquid draining through the gills in her cheeks and neck. She stayed still for a few moments to make sure the gills were working before she moved off, swimming slowly but surely towards a glimmer of land she had glimpsed in the distance.
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“Sorry to keep you waiting folks, but even with time dilation, it will still take a few minutes to get the recordings from the third round! In the mean time, I’m going to let you all in on a little secret!”
The commentator had the audiences full and complete attention. The last secret had included two brand new rounds, something that hadn’t happened since the Adventurers Guilds founding. What could the new secret possibly be?
“In this round each of the contestants are placed in an artificial Dungeon! The dungeon only has one level, measuring at one hundred square kilometers and featuring a wide array of terrains!”
“The more astute amongst you may be wondering why on Terra the Adventurers Guild would create such a massive Dungeon for each participent?! Seems like overkill, right?!”
“You’re ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, that WOULD be overkill! But I never said that the participents were in seperate Dungeons!”
“THAT’S RIGHT FOLKS! IN THIS ROUND ALL THE PARTICIPANTS ARE IN THE SAME DUNGEON!!!”