Trey

Trey found himself pacing in his oversized tent, only an hour and a half before the deadline. It was a habit he thought he'd purged himself of back in college, before which he'd wasted so much time pacing he'd killed all of his productivity.

But this wasn't the time to ponder the resurgence of bad habits. Practically everyone within the tutorial had seen the battle to the mountainside, including him. He'd watched with bated breath as lightning had struck on a clear day. Then that astonishment had burned to ash as his scouts had reported the movements of Val Kazar.

'Understood' was still the last he'd heard from Devon. Trey had then waited for the next hour for the follow-up response they'd gone over in that situation in case Devon found himself pressed hard enough they'd have to take drastic measures, but had only received radio silence.

At first he'd found himself glad of the silence. The stillness on the mountain and among the overseers led to the assumption that the conflict between the leader of the overseers and Devon had been a non-starter. That assumption had been dashed when a scout reported an unconscious human being taken into the overseer's camp.

He should have awoken and sent a message by now. Did they seal his system functions as Kal'o Kir did to mine?

Trey was at least certain Devon was still alive. A scout, one of the ones Devon had trained as part of his overseer killer squad, had gone a ways up the mountain and confirmed via spyglass that the overseers had Devon bound in the center of the arena they'd constructed.

The entire situation sucked, to say the least. His best friend and biggest pillar of support and planning was locked away in a place that he physically could not access.

That means everything is on me now. How wonderful.

He would still push through with Devon's plan as it remained the best option at hand, though it would be considerably harder to initiate now that Devon was… occupied.

His friend had anticipated that the best time to act would be immediately after the protected period ended. They knew from the datalogs that there was the chance more overseers would enter the tutorial once the 30 days were up, and their best chance of drawing all of them out into a decisive conflict was to force them into the choice as soon as possible, before any new recruits got their bearings or a good grasp of the situation they were in.

He'd already pulled back most of his scouts who had been keeping eyes on the scattered overseers. Keeping them in the field past the expiration of the protected period only served to needlessly put them at risk.

Several members of the squad Devon had whipped into shape were stationed around the overseer camp, concealed as best they could be for their proximity. If Devon's assumptions were correct the barrier around the camp would fall at the same time as the protected period expired, so if it was necessary he could attempt a rescue operation.

He knew Devon possessed the rejuvenation token, an unbelievable gift from the system, but without a better understanding of exactly what the situation Devon was in Trey was not content to simply leave his friend to fend for himself. Only a little longer and he may have the chance to…

Trey's thoughts ended abruptly with the halt of his pacing. Something had moved in the corner of his eye, despite the fact that he should have been alone within his tent.

Susan would have announced herself or intercepted any visitor. Which means I've got an uninvited guest.

Whoever they were, they were good enough that a fleeting glance was all Trey had gotten. His hand reached for his tile that appeared in midair on command. He didn't have his armor on, so he lacked his usual defenses, but that wouldn't stop him from defending himself.

The blade came from the shadows, and Trey instinctively jumped as the blue flash cut through where his leg had been only a moment before. He barely had time to register the familiar face of his assailant before the bone cudgel was in his hand and he swung down toward the fleeting figure.

But Trey was far too slow to catch the slippery shadow, and it eluded Trey's attack as afterimages of that hazy blue blade flashed across Trey's vision.

He's too fast for me to catch with purely physical attacks. But he also isn't like Ray, someone who secluded themselves in a cave and only came out to hunt. He was at the heart of Nix's network of information, which means I should assume he already knows the majority of my spells and has ways to counteract them directly. After all, there's no way they didn't spy on me if they thought I was a threat.

But even if Zane didn't know a majority of his spells, it was extremely unlikely Trey could beat the man in a one on one fight. Zane had retained his second place spot on the ladder through everything, while Trey was struggling to maintain sixth. Their level of combat proficiency along with the statistical difference made a slugfest a bad idea.

He aimed for the legs. Does he not want to kill me for some reason? But if that's the case then why come here at all?

Trey didn't have any clue what the man was thinking. All he knew was that his best option was to utilize his greatest asset.

He felt mana well up within as he readied his spell, but Zane wasn't content to let him cast so leisurely. The blade once again flashed through the darkness of the tent, but this time its arc was predictable… too predictable.

Trey's first instinct was to block with his cudgel, but he fought that urge down as his rational mind realized that was exactly what Zane wanted him to do. So instead he raised an arm and winced as the blue sword pierced his flesh.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

He felt a maniacal smile appear on his face as he saw Zane's expression. The man looked shocked that Trey would rather have his arm impaled than block with his weapon.

You have no idea how much easier you've made this for me, motherfucker.

Trey unleashed the magic he'd been storing up, and a burst of tempestuous winds exploded within the tent. Cuts appeared all over both their bodies as a Galeforce backed by a high amount of arcane detonated right on top of them.

The force of the localized storm ripped the tent around them to shreds, and Trey heard cries of panic from the area around them. Zane scowled, and Trey's smile grew all the wider at the man's anger.

Using all the force he could muster, Trey kicked into Zane's stomach as hard as he could. Zane brought up an arm to defend against the blow, and his expression seemed to expect Trey to have some spell up his sleeve.

But Trey did not imbue his kick with any kind of spell. It was a simple kick, and with the leverage it granted him he pushed himself away from Zane, ripping the sword from his arm. Trey had no reason to try and actually hurt Zane, a fact that seemed to greatly confuse Zane.

By now the voices were closing in, and Trey heard Susan gasp from the side. Zane's scowl grew deeper, but he was no fool. He knew he'd lost his one chance and wouldn't get another. Without a word, he dashed away through the line of tents.

"Trey!" Susan exclaimed as she rushed over to him, "Who was that? Why did they attack you?"

"...That was Zane."

"Zane?" Susan gasped, "No, this is no time for that! You're injured, take a healing pill quickly before the bleeding gets any worse!"

Trey held up his arm and examined the wound inflicted by Zane's sword. Both sides of his arm were coated in blood from where the sword had impaled his arm and gone clean through.

"Yeah, I will. But before that can you assemble as much of the camp as possible? I have something that needs to be said."

Susan looked very scared at the implications of Trey's request. He had never gathered an assembly of the camp before. He was only doing it now, after the man known as Nix's second in command had tried to attack him. Trey doubted it would take long to gather everyone, his exploding tent had already gotten the attention of most of the camp's residents. With that worried expression on her face, Susan rushed off to start the process of gathering an assembly.

Neither he nor Nix had spread the information that Zane was a traitor to their species. That information was simply too volatile and would lead too many to ask questions that would lead them to the truth of the overseers' desire. And that, in turn, would spark unrest that couldn't be controlled.

Besides, keeping the lid on that information served another purpose for Trey and Devon.

Still, what did he hope to achieve, attempting to only wound me? He went for my leg... Did he hope to immobilize me before attempting a kidnapping, an imitation of what Kal'o Kir did in Arkania?

Trey looked at his inventory screen, and his gaze passed over the stockpile of healing pills he had. He'd told Susan he would take one, but the truth was that this injury still had a purpose.

But while the injury served a purpose, the excessive bleeding did not. And so he took a tourniquet out of his inventory before binding it around his arm. He couldn't help but note how the strip of monster leather, the toughest material they'd found so far, strained under his arm. If his stats were any higher it was possible the tourniquet wouldn't have held at all.

After waiting for close to half an hour, Trey finally felt that enough people had gathered. He donned clothes that were meant to appeal to the aesthetics of earth culture, loose and long-sleeved.

The meeting place was where the fights were held. A huge crowd, essentially every person who lived within Plainstown, was gathered there. Every eye turned to him as he entered. It took a measure of self-control to maintain his look of stoic dignity.

A month ago he would have folded under so many gazes looking to him with such expectation. But he'd had that same month to constantly practice looking like a leader.

He took to the center of the fight pit. There was no raised platform, they'd had no need of one. So the best he could do was position himself in a place where the most people possible could hear his words.

Trey took in a deep breath, then began.

"From the beginning, this place has divided us. It has drawn out our most primal urges for violence and power, but also the goodness within us. There have been those who have killed for mere sport, and those who have lost themselves in their desire for levels. But far more of us have stayed true to one another.

"I have hoped, as many of you have, that we would be able to find common ground with those that held opposing views. However, those hopes were shattered today."

Trey pulled back his sleeve to reveal the still-fresh wound on his arm and held it up for all to see.

"An assassin snuck into my tent a mere half an hour ago. Many of you would not have recognized this attacker, so it is no surprise that they entered the camp uncontested. However, I'm sure all of you would have recognized the name. Zane."

Murmurs spread throughout the crowd, but Trey silenced them, "I'm sure those of you who came from Arkania remember that man as not only the number two on the ladder, but also Nix's second in command. In essence, he is the enforcer of Nix's will."

"I know many of you do not wish for violence, but we have to ask ourselves how much is too much. How much abuse will we suffer before we lash out in retaliation? For a while now I have asked myself this question. But I realized today, when I was alone with an assassin, that I've been asking the wrong question all this time. This is not a matter so shallow as petty grudges.

"We know from the terminal's datalogs that when we return we will be the only ones who have had a chance to adapt to the system. When this tutorial ends we will return to earth, and when we do we will be the beacons the people look to for inspiration and guidance. This is not something we chose, but it has become our responsibility as those who were taken regardless.

"And so we must ask ourselves, what kind of world do we wish to create when we return? And what kind of world do we want to prevent?"

The murmuring around him turned to silence as people absorbed the meaning behind his words. After several seconds, Trey continued.

"The people of Arkania bear the same responsibility, but if they are allowed to return then the world they will seek to create will be one we wish to prevent. If we allow things to progress to that point then this conflict will not be limited to just us, but also encompass all the ones we love as well."

Trey stopped the pacing he'd been doing around the fight pit as he spoke and stood deathly still in the center. And all he asked was one question, "Are you willing to allow that to happen, or shall we end this before it has a chance to spiral out of our control?"

The pent-up anger and frustration that Devon had been building within the people of Plainstown for a while now exploded all at once as the crowd roared all around Trey.