As we ran, Four and I eventually came across a three-way intersection. I could sense a crate to our right and a strange machine to our left. In front of us was another enemy.

“Foe ahead, tools to our right and something new on our left, sounds like a fridge.”

“Hmm… I’ll go check out the right. I could use some body armor if they have some. I’ll brig you back something if they have enough for you.”

“I get it. You’re the melee while I’m ranged. Anything light would do. I’ll be down the left path.”

“Let’s try to be quick. I’m sure the others will arrive while we’re away.”

While I didn’t trust Four, I did see the logic in working together. If he was a better fighter, then he’d need all the help he could get. If anything, I was the odd one with strange powers. Hell, I didn’t know I was even using them—or if I was using them.

As I walked down my path, I eventually arrived at a vending machine, but instead of buttons, there appeared to be a crank.

Pulling the crank resulted in a robotic voice speaking from the machine.

“Congratulations you have found the food dispenser as the first one here you will receive double credits for completing the challenge. Five seconds after this message, various targets will appear, each hit grants points based on where the hit lands with the bullseye granting five hundred after the increase. Excess credits will be added to your account for a later use. Five, Four.”

“How much is a credit worth?”

“Three, two,”

I withdrew three daggers with each hand and waited. My senses told me where each target would appear, when it would arrive, and how fast it would travel.

The second the first target appeared, my first knife came slightly early, earning me ten credits.

I adjusted accordingly and waited. My second knife score on the outer ring near the center earned thirty points.

The third target appeared and was hit in dead center, which told me that I had finally mastered the timing between my senses and throwing. It also taught me the difference between darts and knives. Adjusting to the weight was what had gotten to him. However, every shot I made after the third was also a bullseye. A target would appear where I sensed it, and a dagger would already be in its place.

“Congratulations, you have set a new high score 10+30+500*18= 9040 High Score rank. #1, due to being the first to discover this training machine and setting a high score that won’t be reachable under normal means. You have received an extra 1000 credits! Use them or lose them.” I watched as the targets were sucked into the ground along with all of my knives.

“Oh, so that’s the game.” I muttered.

A screen appeared for me to purchase all kinds of things from the machine, from food to weapons and gear. I, of course, brought four cans of different coffees for a hundred credits. I then proceeded to buy a few sandwiches and a carrying bag. Which cost two hundred credits. Looking through the items led me to kinetic-resistant clothing. I bought two sets for two thousand total. According to the minor description I skimmed over, they could repel bullets and protect against powerful attacks from monsters. A stack of twenty recently used knives for 40 credits and a second bandolier for two hundred.

“2540 credits spent. Do you require anything else?”

“Yes.”

Then, I looked at the most expensive items.

Psychic power enhancer: Permanently increases the effectiveness of psychic abilities and potential. The process is painful. It is recommended that you only drink one every twenty-four hours. 2000 Credits

Mental Energy Stimulant: Permanently increases the amount of psychic energy one can absorb from defeating those with Psychic energy. Which includes monsters and other Espers. 5000 Credits

“7000 Credits spent. Do you require anything else?”

“Your remaining balance is 500 credits.”

The power enhancer was a small shot of some liquid, which I downed immediately in hopes of gaining power. Oddly enough, I felt nothing for a brief moment. So my dumb self took the mysterious pill, also known as the stimulant, with a can of coffee.

As the coffee washed the pill down, I felt a throbbing in my skull as the areas that had been replaced grew more potent, and the connection to my enhanced senses grew exponentially. For a while, it appeared as though nothing happened, and the pain felt like it went on for hours before things faded. It was odd that Four hadn’t looked for me.

I guess he didn’t actually need my help. Since I was so slow anyway, I changed out of my hospital gown and into the new resistant clothing. In hindsight, I should have probably bought shoes. They were only two hundred credits, after all. Moments later, I saw the leaderboard change 0 was at the top while number 5 was in fifth place with a measly 2700 credits. This also confirmed that either Five was a girl or another batch in a different maze. As I returned to the meeting spot, I could sense that the monster was still in its position, and number Four was still at the crate.

Concerned, I decided to walk there briskly, arriving at an odd scene.

Four was moving as slow as molasses through the crate, although he had separated most of the items present. There was armor, but it was bulky and meant to go over clothing. Various weapons were lying about. I noticed he’d also found shoes that would be a godsend on this cold floor. As I relaxed, Four began to speed up considerably.

“Four? Need any help?”

“Huh?” Four jumped in surprise. “When did you get here?”

“Just now.”

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“Im fine but I didn’t find any armor for you. Unless you want a bullet proof…” For eyed the clothing and sighed.

“The machine is a game that lets you play for credits. I did pretty good I think. Got you some clothes as well.” I passed Four the other set of clothing and tuned to let him change.

“Thanks Five. That will do me some good.”

“Perfect, now do you want to try your hand at hitting a target with projectiles?”

“I have shit aim with most things that require accuracy. My eyesight is pretty bad, but my powers can hit a large spread out area.”

“Right. I also got some drinks. Want anything in particular?”

“Do you have water?”

“Ack!” I felt targeted. “Just coffee. I also have sandwiches.”

“Save them for later. Did the target practice teach you anything about your powers?”

“My senses greatly enhance my accuracy so while you can hit multiple foes, I can hit one where it hurts assuming I can find such a place.”

“That’s good to know.”

“So far your power seems quite useful. Try using it in other ways going forward.”

“How so?”

“Monster fighting.”

The two of us made our way back to the three-way path. Someone had come, and they had been crushed. A splatter remained on the ground, along with a bloody gown. The splatter appeared to have brought a gun from the previous crate, but it wasn’t enough to beat whatever was ahead. As it too was nothing but rubble.

I sensed another figure quite far behind and retreating. Assuming that was the same three who ran away before. I imagined that I would need to continue the slow path if we were to succeed.

“Five? Let’s go do that target practice. If a gun doesn’t work, I doubt we are meant to best it with arms alone.”

“You may be right.” I led Four to the machine and watched the target practice begin.

Four was caught by surprise when the first one appeared, barely managing to activate his power in time. He turned the air into a projectile as he swung his bat at the target. Scoring a solid five points. Although he hit in the same area as I did. Before the second target could appear, Four brought his bat into the ground, causing debris to shatter. When the second appeared, he sent a rain of debris at it and kept it up for the following eighteen targets, leaving him exhausted. Multiple hits led to the best hit counting, which was bullshit, in my opinion, but he did earn three thousand and four hundred points. Which put him right above number five.

“Any suggestions?”

“For your eyesight, there is an eye repair function for a hundred credits. Also, since you earned over two thousand, I recommend that you get a psychic power enhancer. I’m unsure how it works, but it should strengthen you.

“I’ll also get some water.” Four left a thousand credits in the bank as he took his enhancer. The change wasn’t visible, but I could tell a field of energy surrounded him.

After it ended, his body was covered in sweat, but his presence had grown considerably. He then put eyedrops into his eyes and blinked rapidly as they adjusted. “My vision. I’ve never been able to see this well. Huh, you’re more athletic than you sounded.”

“And you act more nerdy than you look. Was that why you squint at everything like it owes you money?”

“Bad habit.” Four slammed the bat against the ground again, nodding to himself.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Ready.” He stated.

When we arrived at the monster ahead, a few more bloody patches littered the area. Each one crushed.

“Why are there so many people here?” Four looked around.

“This is sickening.I was told this was a race, but seeing all this death makes me think it was a way to thin the group down.”

“I’m glad we met early on then. Don’t know about you but I’m set.” Four said as he led the charge.

“Stay mobile just in case.” I followed a few feet behind.

We arrive at the second monster we see, a green-skinned giant with one eye and a large meat mallet covered in blood. Blood also covered the monster’s face and upper torso, showing that it had eaten the remains of the people it killed.

“Avoid the mallet, it has powers ontop of being very deadly.”

“Of course!” Four dug his bat into the ground and ran forward, creating a line of disturbed earth.

As the cyclops moved to crush Four with the mallet. Four brought the bat upward, causing a snake made from disrupted earth to knock the mallet out of its hand and behind it.

I let four quick flying daggers loose into the creature’s eye and watched as they sunk in deep. The pressure caused it to land on its back, stunned and reeling.

Four kept up the heat as he brought his bat down and shattered the creature’s eye and brain.

“It has occurred to me that the people who came before either hadn’t been working together or hadn’t known how to use their powers nor tried to figure it out. Without knowing your power you seemed to be quite deadly.” Four said as power entered him.

“That’s quite disturbing.” Power also entered me, but it wasn’t as much, possibly due to Four landing the killing blow. Still, it was a noticeable change as Four seemed to slow down again, only to speed right back up after ten seconds had passed.

“Yup. Do you think we can handle the next monster?”

“The next area seems dangerous, but I do not sense any monster yet.” I said as I led the way.

Despite the fight’s letdown, things made themselves apparent. Teamwork was calibrated for this test, but we weren’t supposed to spend as much time powering each other up. On the other hand, the next area was designed to be extra lethal.

“Step on there and we get spike. There and we get fire. Here and a boulder comes which triggers every trap it passes. Do what I do Four.”

I got close to the right was and lunged to a tile ahead of the leading one. I then moved forward two tiles. Afterward, I lunged diagonally two more tiles before jumping over the last trapped tile and landing on the other side.

Four followed the lunging of the first. He then moved forward two tiles. He tried to lunge diagonally, but his armor got in his way, leading him to jump. I was fine with that up until the shockwave from the jump spread to other tiles, causing the spike trap from above and the flames from below to activate.

“Jump forward!” I yelled before they could trigger.

Four did so immediately, making distance only for a spear to nearly sewer him. Only it connected with his shield and shattered.

As Four landed, however, he seemed mentally exhausted, as though the shield drained much of his energy.

“We are now on the clear path. No more traps for a bit further. You may not have been able to survive the other two paths.”

“Can I have a sandwich first?”

“Sure.” I handed him a sandwich and watched as he consumed it, letting out a sigh of relief as his shield grew stronger.

“So our powers burn calories?”

“Not quite, the energy used to activate slows at returning when we require food. I was trying to go as far as I could without eating.”

“So maintaining a balance in nutrition allows us to regain energy faster. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. I just noticed. You’d do the same.”

I was at a loss for words. Four could be a friend in this deadly test.