The next few hours were characterized by many different things being explained to Boyd, usually very slowly and with many repetitions. The long and short of it was that he was to choose between execution and competing in what amounted to an interplanetary mix of Supermarket Sweep and Running Man. Both options would likely result in his death, but one option was immediate, and the other held the promise of untold riches, although this was extremely slight.
While each of the Forays and Combatants had different reasons for being here, all of them were ultimately competing for the same set of prizes. Inside Zenith was The Maze. It was the greatest source of Mana in existence and as such was itself, the most valuable thing in existence. Inside The Maze were Mana Nodes. These Mana Nodes were tappable, and if claimed by a Foray, would provide a stream of Mana to each of the groups for the next 30 years. This stream of Mana was so pure and so potent that it was the primary source of power for dozens if not hundreds of societies across the Universe.
Complicating the matter, every 30 years The Maze reset. Each of the Mana Nodes spaced throughout Zenith could be then be reclaimed and would remain the property of the claimer until the Nodes reset 30 years later. This cycle had continued for longer than anyone could remember.
Because the Maze was such a massive source of revenue, most of the successful societies who were aware of it were also highly dependent on it. The Maze had become both the world’s largest lottery and the world’s biggest sporting event. It was The Super Bowl and the Powerball jackpot at the same time. The Maze was massive and layered and had progressively better prizes the deeper you went. That meant that having a strong team that could go deep into the Maze also led to massive amounts of Mana and the rewards that accompanied it.
Quite simply, Zenith and The Maze was a focal point of the Universe for all magical societies. No one understood how it started, or if it would end. For now, it simply was, and it was important.
Zenith wasn’t simply a shopping mall that you could walk into and pick and choose your Mana sources though. It was insulated from the outside by a membrane-like structure that prevented access most of the time. If you think of Zenith as an egg, most of the time the membrane was hard like the outside shell. Every thirty years it would become thin and porous like the inside membrane of an egg. At that point, a single spot would become thin enough as to allow people to enter. One of the limiting factors for cultures to enter Zenith was the fact that even at its thinnest the only way past the barrier was by Transposition. This was initially discovered by an ancient and now defunct Race of creatures called the Salton, and thus the barrier was commonly called the Salton Barrier. During each 30 year period only 500 people would be allowed inside. The Salton Barrier would close immediately after the 500th entry. Efforts to get additional people into Zenith typically resulted in death due to whatever craft they had attempted to use exploding against the Barrier itself, although it seemed like every year a few more managed to sneak past.
No more and no less than five people could participate as a team. 100 teams entered on behalf of however many races or groups or planets they represented. This was selected in part through random draw, but largely through a complex system of political intrigue and policy rigging that occurred behind closed doors. Regardless, once a team of five was selected they were drawn together through any means necessary and listed as Combatants. Once selected, the exact five Combatants must enter The Maze together. They could then do as they pleased, but due to the high level of challenge and the fact that the Combatants were capable of killing each other, teams generally stuck together.
Most of this slipped right past Boyd while it was being explained. He just did what he always did and nodded his head and “uh huh” and “yea, I get it” whenever anyone asked him a question; however, when Fleon quizzed him over even the most mundane aspects it was clear none of the information had stuck. Eventually, a list of Rules were written out for him to study. This list of Rules was then condensed several times based on Boyd’s reading speed until it eventually became:
The Rules:
* 5 people to a team. 100 teams. You are on Fleon’s Fine Foray for the Filary. Fleon is Leader.
* We want to Tap as many Mana Nodes as you can. Tapping a node simply required your team transferring a unit of Mana into the node itself. Each Foray shares a Mana array that stores units of Mana as long as they remain a Foray. This will allow us long-term access to the Mana Node for the next thirty years and is our ultimate goal.
* Nodes provide larger quantities of Mana the further you go.
* Combat between teams is allowed and encouraged.
* You can leave any time you find an Exit, but you can’t return.
* You can leave your Foray at any time. Your Foray can remove you at any time.
* The only time limit is the 30 year span between this event and the next.
* Death is permanent. Your presence on Zenith is real. While it may feel like a simulation, you exist in a tangible entity and your death is real.
* Forays may reform while in Zenith from a broken group, but must reform under a designated Foray Leader.
There was a tenth rule that no one told him. The most important rule in the Maze.
Number 10: “Eventually, everything goes to shit.”
Boyd wasn’t aware of this rule at the time or he might’ve made a different decision. As it was, he was certainly no expert at decision making to begin with. He decided to make a brief list of pros and cons to help him figure out what to do next.
Pro: Boyd had been accidentally drafted into an elite crew of soldiers with the potential to earn almost infinite wealth and fame.
Cons: The long and short of it was that Boyd was now mandated to enter what was likely the single most dangerous event in the Universe without any preparation, which would place him massively underprepared and spelled almost certain death. It was also his only chance at every seeing home again.
Pro: Boyd, being from a non-magical society, would immediately be provided access to all of the magical enhancements his mind and body could tolerate. This would yield potentially dramatic increases in his personal power in addition to the opportunity to gain further levels during their Foray, further increasing his personal prowess to superhuman levels.
Con: It was rather quickly determined that Boyd, being rather meager of mind and body both, would still be laughably ill-prepared and unlikely to survive for more than a few days without a substantial amount of help and luck.
Pro: Boyd’s fellow Combatants were well poised for success.
Cons: None of them had even a modestly high opinion of him, with the kindest thing being said about him thus far being that his corpse would sustain them when he inevitably died (Jellybean Jenkins) and/or that he would be allowed to carry foodstuffs until that moment arrived (Fleon and Salia in a moment of empathy).
Pros: He was alive.
Cons: This place was worse than Texas.
The five of them were seated at a large table. Others had come and gone from the room in attempts to explain core aspects of The Maze or the current predicament to the team at large. They had brought food and drink and tried their best to convince Boyd that he needed to accompany the others.
“What happens if I say no? What happens if I just walk away from this?” he asked.
Jellybean Jenkins rose from his chair. “I will bind your corpse with ropes and throw it in the transporter myself. I did not travel this far to be thwarted by a half-wit Human.”
Salia interrupted, “That won’t work and you know it. He has to enter willingly.”
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Jellybean Jenkins scowled at Salia, “He did not know that though.”
Fleon raised his hand, “Boyd of Oklahoma, what is it that you would need such that you would accompany us on this journey. At least as far as into The Maze itself so we can pursue our Foray as four.”
“Look man, I just want to go back to Oklahoma. This shit ain’t it for me. I got a family, and a truck and a job and friends. I am not cut out to be no warrior adventurer. Send me back.”
They all looked at each other. Fleon spoke first, “Boyd I have no means to send you back to Oklahoma nor do I even understand where this place is.”
Salia looked at him and hung her head. It was clear she would be of no help.
"So, I just have to live here now?” Boyd asked.
Jellybean Jenkins smiled broadly, “How far is Oklahoma from New Hampshire?”
Boyd looked up, “Wait, you been to Earth? How you know about New Hampshire?”
Jellybean Jenkins scratched at his neck with his back foot. “I Pupated on your miserable backwater. I could send you back. Possibly. My people can transport Souls effectively. I don’t know that we’ve ever tried transporting a human, but it might be possible. This would of course demand that you acquiesce to our wishes.”
“Ah. Of course. I do The Maze game and then you send me back to Oklahoma? How do I know you don’t fuck me on this deal? Plus how I am getting to Dog World? And you don’t even know if you can really do it?”
“Do you have other options?”
“Can I think about it?”
Fleon interrupted, “Nay, Friend Boyd. Unfortunately, we will need your answer now. Will you allow our people to suffer or will you join us in The Maze. I simply cannot overstate the stakes of this endeavor. While I know you are new to this, many civilizations rise and fall on these results. My people are dependent upon this mission being successful. If we were to lose out entirely on this Foray, it would lead to starvation, destruction, and death for thousands if not millions. I must complete this. But in order to do so, I need your assistance and we must make haste. The pods will close in around four hours and our position will be offered to others.”
Boyd thought about it for a bit, “So I gotta help, and then you can do your thing, and then you’ll send me back to Haskell? I just need to go in and then we find an Exit, right?”
“No, it is more similar to how you were brought here. At a specific time, we will enter some pods that will take us directly into The Maze itself.”
“Then I can just leave?”
“More or less. We’d need to find an Exit, but they are plentiful.”
“Then I can go back to Oklahoma?”
Jellybean Jenkins nodded and licked his lips, “I will set our most vile and cunning magi to this task.”
“Fine. Let’s do this shit then.”
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The team marched down a long metal corridor to the pods that would transport them inside The Maze. The Filary was known not only for their holy fervour for Ioer, but also for their superior magical and technological capacity. The base built at the edge of Zenith’s atmosphere would serve as their Transposition point onto Zenith’s surface at the appropriate time. In spite of this, Boyd’s presence damaged the underlying morale of the team and the walk was largely silent. Fleon had intended this period to be full of intense planning and thoughtful discourse on the most prudent actions. As it was, he was just trying to figure out how they would survive any interaction with another Foray of Combatants, and how they might best avoid that for as long as possible. The loss of their arcane magic wielder was a substantial blow.
Salia broke the silence, “So how deep are we looking to go?”
Without a mouth, Gmol couldn’t very speak. Instead, there was the large interface occupied by a Rune in his center mass. He used this to communicate, and could even broadcast its image if needed. Currently, Gmol’s internal rune flashed the number 368.
Salia laughed, “Maybe with Zualt, but you think still? With this guy?” Salia motioned towards Boyd.
Gmol’s internal rune became a thumbs up sign. While he didn’t have thumbs, or even hands, Boyd understood what he meant.
Fleon sighed, “I agree with Salia Slitt. I think the record is now out of reach. This is truly a shame. I had wanted to bring glory to Ioer.”
"What’s so significant about 368?” Boyd asked.
“That is the deepest anyone has ever made it. The dangers that lurk below there are not known to any degree,” Fleon responded.
“I bet we can do it!” Boyd said.
The group looked at him but dismissed the comment.
“We should open our stat sheets to each other. We should know each other’s capabilities,” Salia said.
“What do you mean? You all already know mine,” Boyd said.
“You left yours open, what else were we supposed to do?”
“Wait, how do I close it?” Boyd asked.
Salia was almost always inside of her VMR. Her Venian form was tiny and frail. The VMR was a weapon of war. It was a perfect exoskeleton, almost identical to Salia herself, but armed to the teeth and virtually indestructible. Salia (and the VMR) sighed, “The whole purpose of this conversation is that we are trying to open this to everyone. Why would I tell you how to close it? Doesn’t matter. Just focus on someone and a menu will pop up. If they let you have access you can click on their character sheet same as you can your own.”
Boyd stared at his companions and found the menu appeared in each case. He began looking through everyone’s stats and was surprised to see just how far behind he was.
SYSTEM: Fleon, Rank 817 High Paladin of the Filary
Strength: 662
Agility: 255
Constitution: 600
Intelligence: 54
Wisdom: 678
Charisma: 810
Salia Slit, Rank 322 Mechanized Ranger
Strength: 262
Agility: 1,395
Constitution: 430
Intelligence: 1,450
Wisdom: 58
Charisma: 122
Gmol, Rank 1,436 Avatar of the Overslime
Strength: 12
Agility: 86
Constitution: 115
Intelligence: 92
Wisdom: 6,678
Charisma: 9
Jellybean Jenkins, Rank 696 Wolf-Lord of the Seven Plains
Strength: 1,112
Agility: 931
Constitution: 822
Intelligence: 182
Wisdom: 54
Charisma: 2,542
After everyone had a glance at one another stat sheets were closed again. Boyd was disappointed all then same. “I’m less strong than the Slime?”
“I’d be sadder you are less charismatic than the Slime,” Salia said.
“Speaking of, how is the Dog the most charismatic amongst us? That guy is clearly homicidal and scares the fuck out of me.” Boyd realized he said this aloud and glanced over at Jellybean Jenkins. “No offense man.”
Jellybean Jenkins licked his paw as he walked. “I have bred thousands of times. I am Sire to millions. I am Wolf-Lord to millions more. Before my transformation and evolution, I was voted both Cutest Pup in Merrimack County and New Hampshire’s Handsomest Boy. My Charisma knows no bounds. Your fear is because of your understanding I will consume you some day. Those who are outside of my ire appreciate my grace, lineage, and beauty.”
Boyd looked over the stats again. “None of this makes any sense. Ya’ll have hundreds of more points than me. How the hell am I ever going to catch up? Also why do you have all these awesome Classes and I am still just ‘Monk (Unassigned) which sounds weak as shit.”
Fleon clapped him on the shoulder, “Never fear Friend Boyd. These things can be raised through training, through equipment, through many different things. You will soon be twice the man you are now. Which, admittedly, would still place you as the weakest creature in the Maze.”
Boyd thought about it for a bit as they walked. “So how do I get some good gear? Any of you all have something I can use that you don’t need anymore?”
“You only get to take in what you can carry, so no one takes in extra gear. There is much to be had within the Maze itself though. I believe that we can find you a few rings.”
“Rings? What about like some armor like yours Fleon?”
“There is no armor like mine. My armor was crafted by the first High Paladin, Floim of Floim. It has been passed down through the ages to the High Paladin of the Filary, and is only used in time of greatest need. It is made of alloys long since forgotten using magic that no one alive is capable of now. It provides me with almost infinite stamina and more importantly, serves as a shining light to …”
Salia groaned, “It doesn’t matter because you can’t use armor, you’re a Monk. You’re supposed to use your Qi to harden your body against blows. You don’t have any Qi though. You’re also supposed to have a high Wisdom score which you use to predict attack patterns. You don’t have any Wisdom to speak of though. You’re supposed to develop your Agility so that you can use that Wisdom to adeptly avoid blows, but you don’t have any Agility to speak of either. So, basically, yea, we will find you some rings and that’s about it. If I was you, I would just put all my points into strength. The only thing you are potentially good for is carrying bags. The more strength you have, the easier it will be to carry bags. We’ll get you strength rings so you’re extra good at carrying bags.”
“How does that help us get Mana Nodes?”
“It doesn’t really, but it does save me having to pick my bag up and then put it down.”
Boyd felt very useless as he climbed into a tube that he didn’t understand to go to a place he’d never been with a group of people he’d never met..