Clo watched as Juniper changed from what was essentially a bush with a beak into an actual bird. A baby owl of some kind, although one with leaves in the place of feathers. Its eyes were hollow voids, and its talons were like sharpened branches. Its beak had only grown a little, but it seemed far sharper, and the wood had darkened too. The familiar still didn’t make any noise, but it flew about in a quick circle before perching on his shoulder like a parrot. Its head spun around seemingly to be able to twist far beyond any normal creature. It’s head-turned in complete circles to take in its surroundings. Clo focused on the creature for another moment, before glancing at the blue window that appeared beside it.

Minor Plant Elemental (Rare): This elemental is bound to you and will follow any simple commands given. It will do its utmost to support and aid you.

Skills:

Thorn Projectile: Fires a sharp projectile from its mouth. Can be used Three Times.

Cooldown: 1 day

Leaf Guard: Attempts to block an attack with a shield made of leaves.

Cooldown: 2 minutes

Resurrection: If the elemental dies, it can be revived by giving your blood to a seed.

Cooldown: 1 hour

Parasitic Perch: Attaches to a living being. It can either drain or boost the attached creature.

Drain: Slowly depletes the life and speed of the target. Reduces healing effects.

Boost: Increases a random physical attribute by 1 and Improves regeneration. The random stat will change every night.

Current Stat: Speed

Clo read the new information and shook his head slightly. What was the point of such a good familiar, if he was just going to lose it? The question soured the evolution, twisting it a little. It was a cruel taste of something that he desperately wanted to keep. Swallowing the loss that flared at the thought of never finding such a useful familiar again, he turned to the others. They were watching Juniper with curious eyes.

“Juniper can attach to living things now, and drain its life and stop healing, or boost a stat and improve regeneration.”

Maya let out a low whistle, as she stared at the bird. She spoke while reaching out to pat the bird.

“Juniper huh….”

Her voice trailed off, but she was able to touch the odd bird. Juniper leaned into the touch, and Maya squealed in joy. Sabrina walked over and joined Maya in gushing over the familiar.

“You called it, an it? But isn’t Juniper a feminine name, and she does feel a bit feminine to me.”

Sabrina seemed to focus on that idea, and despite her glasses, Clo felt an intense gaze from behind those spectacles. He didn’t get why that mattered to her, but Maya was nodding in agreement. Clo decided to trust them on this point, rather than start an argument.

“Sure, she seems to agree anyways.”

He had some vague connection to the familiar and could kind of understand what it was thinking. Maya and Sabrina both seemed satisfied by his agreement.

There was one last thing to try before entering the next room. Clo sent a mental command to Juniper, asking her to boost his speed. He watched as Juniper’s feet grew into long roots that wrapped around his shoulders, neck, and arm. The roots were long, but he barely felt them. She hadn’t even grown heavier and still felt like a feather on his shoulder.

He felt it an instant later. A primal rush of power, that could scarcely be compared to anything. He shut his eyes, basking in the pleasure of it. Slowly, he opened his eyes and glanced at Juniper. Other than being attached to him, she seemed completely unchanged. He turned back to the others who were watching him carefully. Clo waved them away with a hand. His hand shot out impossibly fast, and he nearly smacked Sabrina in the process.

“Sorry, I need a second to adjust.”

Sabrina nodded and took a step back. The gesture was copied by the other two. They were clearly wary of him accidentally hitting one of them. Clo didn’t blame them. The additional speed was disorienting. Every subtle movement he made with his arm felt too quick. He took a tentative step forward. His foot rose awkwardly and jerked down with such speed that he nearly fell forward. He tried again and failed once more. Audibly sighing, he checked his status.

Name: Clo Vilnius

Home World: Atreus Academy World 3

Grade: E

Rank: 43

Physical Grade: 1.7

  Strength: 1.7

  Dexterity: 1.7

  Speed: 1.7 (2.7)

Mental Grade: 1.8

  Reflexes: 1.8

  Intuition: 1.5

  Fortitude: 2.1

Gift Grade: E

Gift (F): Emperor’s Personal Vault

Gift (F): The Brittle Blade

Gift (D): Command

Recognitions:

Emperor

Clo was a little surprised to see his mental grade had risen. Even his Fortitude, which had been impossible to raise for a while, had improved. He probably didn’t check his status as frequently as he should, but the trial had distracted him. The teacher had said that he was more likely to improve in tense situations, and he guessed that parts of this trial had been challenging. He took a deep breath and knew what the issue was. His speed was just too high now, and the loss of balance was making it hard to move. He could probably get used to it eventually, but for now, he would be better off without the boost.

A simple command was all it took to get Juniper to release him. He staggered a bit as he suddenly felt a lot slower. In reality, this was just his usual speed, but the rapid changes were making it hard to adjust. After a second to gather himself, he gestured toward the door.

“The boost won’t work without more practice unless any of you have experience with stat boosts?”

He phrased it as a question as he sent his gaze over everyone. Cain shrugged, Sabrina shook her head, and Maya just stared at him silently.

“Okay, anything else, or are you guys ready to go?”

“Finally!”

Maya eagerly strode toward the stone door and kicked it with an armored foot. The door didn’t budge, instead, it repelled her kick and launched her back a few feet. She landed on her ass, and her face reddened with immediate embarrassment. Clo raised an eyebrow at her, and she turned her head away rapidly. Although her blush reached her ears, Sabrina’s laughter made them even redder. Cain was snickering.

Clo ignored them and walked up to the door pressing his hand against it. He touched the teardrop and the door lit up and dissolved into small motes of light. Despite being as ready as he could for a monster, he wasn’t prepared for the sudden burst of water that rushed through the door. The water crashed into him and carried him off his feet, sending him tumbling to the ground. He tried to roll and get to his feet, but the water was endless. All he could hear and feel was the rush of water as it quickly filled the room.

After only a few seconds it felt like the floor had dropped from his feet. He found himself in the disturbingly clear water. It was cold on his skin. He forced his eyes open, though they stung from the water. His body spun, but he oriented himself and began swimming upward. He looked around for a monster and saw nothing. However, he did notice the fog had filled the exits to the room again. They locked him in with the water that kept rising.

He glanced down and saw the others were recovering. Sabrina was already making her way up. Cain was panicking but moving upward. Maya though was drowning. She floundered and it was obvious that she didn’t know how to swim. Clo spun, diving down. He wouldn’t fail now.

His hand moved quickly, digging in the water as he let his breath escape a little. He kept glancing around, looking for some monster that he still couldn’t see. It only took a few moments to get to Maya, and he was quick to grab her hand. He had to dodge as she tried to punch him. She stopped flailing and was now taking a fighting stance. He wanted to scream at her to stop, but then he would drown, and the stupid message item was out of use.

Give her a boost. He sent the command to Juniper, and he was pleased to see her move through the water without much issue. Just as he had hoped, the elemental could ignore the environment. It did as commanded, latching onto Maya’s shoulder and making her open her eyes. They were wide with surprise and terror, but she recognized him. That was enough for him. With his one arm, he grabbed her arm and wrapped it around his torso. She held on quickly, and he started swimming upward.

This wouldn’t work. He couldn’t carry two people and swim with a single arm. Not to mention that they were both running low on air. An idea popped into his head. He pulled Maya up so that her head was by his. Then he opened his vault right beneath their chins. The only thing inside rushed out, and he took a breath. His vault had been empty, but as he had hoped it contained air.

“Breathe!”

He shouted at Maya, using his command gift to force her to calm down. His head spun with the sudden pain that the command created, but he pushed through and took as large of a breath as he could manage. Maya, still frightened, did her best to copy him. As soon as the air had come, it vanished overtaken by a rush of water that pushed the bubble away from them. Rather than chase it, he swam up, pulling Maya with new vigor. The air had revitalized him. Even still, it was hard, and he didn’t know exactly how long it took to get to the surface. He was relieved when he felt other arms grab Maya and help him.

He tore through the surface of the water as if it were paper, gasping for breath and paddling with his feet. Maya still clung to him, though now she didn’t seem nearly as terrified. Sabrina was holding Maya’s back. Clo felt hands around his own back and nodded to Cain behind him. The water had risen to nearly the peaks of the archways, easily more than a dozen feet up the hedge.

“Get to the hedges!”

He shouted at the others, who were quick to listen. They treaded water as fast as they could, making their way to the nearest wall in a few seconds.

“T-thank you.”

Maya’s voice was strained as she grabbed onto the hedge. Clo let out a long breath, relieved to see that she was fine. The thought of her drowning had bothered him, though he brushed it aside in anger. She should really know how to swim. It was something that even he had managed to learn despite having never had access to a pool or beach.

“What do we do now? Where is the thing?”

Cain was frantically looking about. Worry laced his words as he tried desperately to find a monster. Sabrina was the first to see it.

“There! It’s entering the room now!”

Clo followed her gaze. The water was clear enough that he could see down. The creature that Sabrina had pointed out was long. It was black as night, and it swam out of the door. It had no limbs that he could make out. Nor could he see any eyes, although what he did see was disturbing enough. The creature’s head wasn’t pronounced, instead, it was as if someone had cut it off entirely, leaving only a maw of razor-sharp teeth in its place. As the head turned toward him, he got a good look at it, and was surprised to see that it seemed mostly hollow.

“It’s something called a Depth Lamprey.”

Somehow Sabrina seemed to know the name of the creature. Not that he would recognize it either way. He was not alone in that sentiment as Maya shouted back at Sabrina.

“What the hell is that?”

“No, idea, it’s just what the glasses say.”

They didn’t have time for a conversation. It was at least somewhat restrained by the door, and he didn’t want to let it go free without consequence.

“Attack it!”

Clo shouted at the others and opened his vault. As he expected, water poured out of his vault. As soon as the last drop vanished, he closed the vault and dove back into the water. Attach to it! Mentally commanding Juniper, he summoned a sword in his hand.

The creature wasn’t that far from them, maybe a dozen paces at best. Gaging the distance, he dropped his sword letting it fall into the water. He aimed at it as best as he could, though he didn’t expect it to actually cut the creature. Instead, the blade exploded into tiny shards as the monster’s enormous skull battered it away. As he hoped, the shards of his sword surrounded the monster like a small cloud that provided enough cover for Juniper to get in close.

The little bird seemed to fly through the water as it dodged around the flailing monster. It quickly landed on the creature’s back. Clo’s heart skipped a beat as Juniper slid for a moment, and he had thought that the monster would be too slimy for normal attacks. Thankfully, that didn’t seem to stop the elemental as roots crawled across the lamprey’s body. The monster thrashed about attempting to slam Juniper into the hedge wall, but the bird didn’t seem to take any damage as it was squeezed against the hedge.

Clo didn’t leave the hedge but swam alongside it. He grabbed fistfuls of the hedge and pushed off it to descend faster and faster. Practically throwing himself down at the lamprey. At the base of the wall, he could make out a doorway and the black body that was slowly wiggling its way through it.

He managed to get to the doorway without serious issue, though he wasn’t an expert in the water, and his lungs burned for air. He reached the ground and spun so that his feet would land on the ground. His feet touched the submerged grass as if he were in some zero-gravity zone. Letting go of the hedge, he quickly summoned a new blade to his hand. The stone door was nowhere near as big as the other archways.

The monster’s body spilled out of the doorway, like toothpaste out of its tube. It was so much bigger than it had seemed from a distance, its body was easily as big as a car if not a truck. Focusing on the monster in front of him, he opened his vault and brought his sword down. The sudden burst of air startled the monster, and Clo felt the water around his body swirl with the enormous creature’s motions. He ignored the sudden feeling of death at his back.

The air gave him the gap he needed to swing the sword properly. His sword cut through the small patch of air, slicing the monster’s thick body. The blade parted the monster’s hide as it did with everything. Red blood followed his cut and spread into the water quickly. He would’ve liked to split it in half, but his sword wasn’t long enough, so all he managed to do was cut it. He hoped it would be enough to stop the thing from fully squeezing through the door.

He didn’t have time for another strike. He felt someone push on his chest. It moved him enough to narrowly dodge the creature’s bite. He stared in morbid fascination as the monster’s cylindrical head as its head dug into the hedge. Clo was quick to switch his grip on his sword. He tried to bring the blade back up and cut through the monster, but his swing was slow in the water. The monster swung its body like a whip tearing through the hedge and hitting him in the chest.

Clo gasped and hurtled along the hedge. Water flooded his now open mouth and empty lungs. He shut his mouth swallowing what he could and fighting off the urge to cough and make things worse. A push on his back stopped him from going further. He reoriented himself slowly and saw red. A quick glance down showed him that he was bleeding, and he knew that it was his ribs. When he saw it, he felt it. Pain spread across his body like a sudden shock.

Not done.

His arm reached out, and he gripped the hedge at his side. He pulled and felt something push against his back at the same moment. He jumped impossibly high, the water providing him with just enough lift to nearly lift him to the surface. The pain that spread from his chest nearly made him pass out. An arm reached down, and he reached up for it. The hand was wrapped around his, and Clo felt the pain diminish in a burst of light. He was pulled part way out of the water, and he gasped, coughing, and spitting water to the side.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Cain’s healing probably saved him from dying. Although, he wasn’t good enough to fully heal him. He stared down at his side and unzipped his jacket. He saw a part of his rib sticking out of his side. Like some kind of twisted horror, the bone grew and melded with his skin. Clo’s eyes widened and he shouted.

“Stop, Cain!”

Abruptly the healing vanished, and Cain flung his hands away in a panic. This was the problem with healing. An untrained healer was more likely to do more damage rather than fix anything. Clo wasn’t sure this was that. It was probably some combination of the two, since the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as it should be, meaning Cain had saved him, at least a little for now. Cain had likely tried to fix his ribs and had fused the bones wrong, although that did manage to stop the bleeding. Now his skin was sticking to the protruding bone. Clo tentatively tried to move and winced as pain spread through his body. Beside him, Cain was stammering an apology.

“S-sorry, I was t-trying to help.”

“You did. I probably won’t die now. Focus on how to kill that thing.”

Clo gritted his teeth and responded as well as he could manage. He turned back toward the weird lamprey that was twisting its body oddly. Clo could see how close he had been to splitting the creature in two.

“What is it doing?”

Having climbed the hedge a little, Maya shouted the words from above. Clo didn’t have an answer and kept watching as the creature twisted its body like a screw. It’s tearing itself apart. The thought made him shout to the others.

“We need to kill it now.”

Cain let go of the hedge and fell back into the water. Pain erupted from his side as the water splashed against his bone. A blade formed in his emptied hand, and he tried to throw it at the creature’s head. It was impossible to throw with any real force in the water, but he hoped the blade’s sharpness would still cut through the thing.

He was too slow. The creature tore itself free, leaving behind half its body to block the door, and surged into the water. Its blood was quick to taint the clear water with a reddish hue. Clo kept his eyes on the creature, tracing its movements through the water beneath for a few seconds before it vanished. The enormous truck-sized sea monster just disappeared into the red water. He had been thinking that it was too easy for a real boss, but now he got it.

Clo managed to grab his sword and, oriented himself as best as he could. He had no doubts the monster would be coming for him. He just needed to make sure to hit it. His head twisted around as he tried to notice something, but this wasn’t just simple invisibility. The water itself appeared weirdly still.

A sound like the screech of some insane monster, made him drop deeper into the water. He raised his sword up and felt something collide with his blade. Blood spilled from where his blade was cut and for an instant, Clo saw the lamprey. It was barely a foot overhead. Its dark flesh was now split by a nasty cut along its side. His sword shattered as the creature twisted its body at an odd angle. An instant later, the creature vanished again, and Clo was left wondering what that sound had been. He heard it again and felt something, a connection. Juniper was somehow making her presence known.

Clo focused on that noise. Despite having the appearance of a baby owl, the sound she made was a high-pitched screech like a crow. Even if he could follow it, Clo couldn’t do much to stop it. He tried to twist out of the way of the creature but felt something hit his side. He was sent head over heels through the water. The impact wasn’t as hard as before, and he managed to keep his mouth shut. Almost drowning was not experienced to have twice. Clo swam upward, following the monster as best as he could.

It was definitely slowing. He wasn’t sure if it was his attacks or if Juniper’s drain was finally getting to it. It didn’t matter either way. His head burst from the water, and he yelled toward Cain and the others.

“Cain get in here! I know you can hurt it. Maya cling to the hedge if you want but get in the damn water.”

His voice was strained. They listened though. Maya reluctantly climbed down, while Cain just jumped in the water. The only person he hadn’t needed to command was Sabrina. She had been helping in subtle ways throughout the fight, pushing and pulling him when she could. He was more than a little impressed by how effective she was.

Cain landed a few feet to his side and swam over as quickly as he could. Clo felt a light touch on his shoulder and some of the pain he felt vanished. It wouldn’t go away, not without removing the bit of bone that protruded from his side.

“It’s coming back.”

Clo shouted the words, but the pain made the words come out fast and clipped. It was strange, but he could hear Juniper despite the water and somehow understood her too. Clo summoned another sword and turned to the left to face the creature.

He brought his blade down as he felt Juniper get close, but the Lamprey moved and twisted its enormous body to knock his sword away. Clo twisted his wrist, and his sword dug deep into the creature's hide, but as per usual the sword broke, shattered to pieces as the monster bit down on his legs and dragged him down.

Clo reached out instinctively and grabbed onto Cain. It was a dumb move. He ended up dragging Cain into the water too. Clo let go and bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from screaming as the monster’s teeth dug into his thigh. The water around his legs turned an even deeper shade of red. He summoned another sword and slammed it into the creature. The sword broke and only managed to cut a few inches into the thing.

Clo knew he was going to die and did whatever he could to counter it. Come back! Juniper reacted to the mental command detaching itself from the creature and latching on to him in the blink of an eye. The sudden boost of life and power kept him awake. He was able to see Cain finally reach the monster and lay his hands on its back. Cain’s hands shone. The monster reacted though and batted at him like a whip, with what remained of its tail. Cain was launched toward the hedge on the opposite side of the room, one of his arms was twisted at an odd angle.

The monster dove down, but now it was a lot slower. However, it was still too strong, and Clo couldn’t pull himself from its grip. He settled on attacking and summoned another sword. Driving the blade into the monster’s head again. It shattered like before when the creature twisted its body. He grimaced and tried something else. He opened his vault within the creature’s mouth, letting the water gush out and push at the creature’s mouth.

The creature’s jaw loosened, and Clo managed to get free. The monster continued to sink to the bottom, and he tried to swim up. The deep gash in his leg and the pain from his side made it hard. He was slow, and Even Juniper tried to help by flapping her wings. She couldn’t really help.

He felt something rush up his legs and turned down to see white fog. It billowed around him, lifting him slightly. The thing was dead. Clo almost couldn’t believe it. Then the fog in the archways vanished, and the water poured out of the room in a rush. Clo spun as the water tried to drag him into another room. He felt an arm grab him and glanced up to see Maya. She had dived into the water and was using her armor as makeshift goggles. She couldn’t swim, but she had climbed down the hedge and caught him before he was sucked into another room. Eventually, the water cleared, and he floundered on the ground taking in large gulps of air. He choked a little and coughed up blood and water. A blue window popped into the center of this vision.

Congratulations you have completed the Hedge Maze Trial #87.

Bonus: Granting additional points per living team member.

Bonus: Granting additional points per room completed.

Bonus: Granting additional points per enemy player eliminated.

Bonus: Granting additional points for completion time.

Bonus: Granting additional reward for completing the trial with all team members.

Exiting trial…

The world turned to a white fog that consumed everything in sight. It cleared in a few blinks, and he found himself standing in the same place he had been before leaving. The dim light of the classroom made him blink a few times, and the buzz of life around him made him look around. The classroom was filled with students, and he noticed that almost every person was staring at him. Across from him Maya, Sabrina, and Cain were staring back at him.

He felt it then, a tiny almost imperceptible connection at the edge of his mind. A slight shifting of his hair made him reach up with his left hand, only to pause a moment later. He expected the limb wouldn’t be there. Then he realized that it wasn’t missing anymore. Right, that was something he would need to adjust to again.

His hand brushed against a leafy bush, and he smiled. A creature he had come to know very well, pressed itself into his palm. It felt like he stuck his hand in a bush, but he couldn’t stop the wild grin that the touch made. Juniper, it seemed, had not vanished with the trial. In hindsight, he should’ve known that Sabrina still had her glasses.

“Well, it seems like going back was worth it after all.”

“That, and you needed us for the fish.”

Maya smiled as he glanced toward her, Clo did not return her smile, letting his own grin vanish.

“You need to learn how to swim.”

Maya’s eyes widened slightly, but she gave him a small nod. He saw the uncertainty in the gesture and could tell that something about the subject bothered her. He wasn’t going to press her, but he didn’t need to.

“Um, can you teach me?”

She glanced toward Sabrina after asking the question, and for a second, he thought she was asking her. That vanished when she turned back toward him with an intense gaze he had only ever seen when she fought. No, she wanted him to teach her. He thought about it for a moment but didn’t hesitate in his reply.

“Yeah. I can do that.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Abigail P.O.V

Abigail woke up slowly, her head resting on something soft. She blinked away bleary vision and turned her head on a thick white pillow. The room felt weirdly bright, and the lights stung her eyes as she woke up.

“How are you feeling?”

A familiar voice rang from her side, drawing her attention to Sarah. She was sitting in a simple chair, her legs crossed and back straight. It was that professionalism that her family chased after, but Sarah didn’t normally show it. She must have been seriously shaken for that to happen.

“Okay, I guess. What…”

Abigail’s voice teetered off as she remembered what had happened. The stupid shouting match she had gotten into and the punch. She felt her cheeks grow hot with a mix of rage and embarrassment during the whole situation.

Why had she gotten into a fight with Jake, of all people? Abigail had no misconceptions about her strength and knew that she wouldn’t even be able to beat Jake. Then she wondered why she was blaming herself instead of the guy who had literally put her in the hospital. The embarrassment washed away and left only a seething anger in its place. She wanted to find Jake, and, and do something. The memory of what had happened became clearer, and the knowledge that she had been the one to throw the first punch made her anger peter out a little. Only a little though. She still wanted to do something, but she wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do.

Abigail felt a hand on her leg, and she saw just how worried Sarah really looked. She hadn’t changed out of the clothes she had worn in the trial. Her normally pristine uniform was covered in small cuts and blood stains. That was one of the weirder aspects of trials. For all that the trials seemed to heal and reset the body, they did nothing to clean a person. Damage tops their clothes, and things like blood stains always followed someone as they left the trial.

Noting the damage to her clothes, Abigail decided to put away her roiling emotions for the moment. Sarah shouldn’t have to deal with her anger. Abigail sat up slightly, resting her back against the chill metal frame of the bed. A shiver ran up her neck as it touched the cold steel. She moved her pillow, to cover the metal a little.

“How did the trial go?”

Abigail choked on her words and couldn’t get her next question out without coughing. She looked around the room and found a bottle of water on a small metal stand next to the bed. Everything in the room seemed to be made of metal. She couldn’t really see much of the room though, as her bed was cordoned off with somewhat thick-looking white curtains. Was all of this really necessary? Just how hard had Jake hit her? Her train of thought, cut off as Sarah answered her.

“It went well, but you should’ve seen your results as soon as you exited it.”

Sarah was of course right, and Abigail could see a few new blue boxes at the edge of her vision. Abigail hadn’t even had the chance to check them. That just made her even angrier at Jake. The idiot hadn’t even let her see how she had done.

“Let me check.”

Grumbling the words out, she began looking through the boxes.

You have died and failed to complete the Hedge Maze Trial #87.

Bonus: Granting additional points per room completed.

Bonus: Granting additional reward for completing the trial without killing any lifeform.

Exiting trial…

That was a bit disappointing. She hadn’t known what to expect, but that felt like she was just earning consolation prizes. There was something odd about it though.

“Sarah, what does it mean by points? And what’s the difference between that and rewards?”

She glanced at her friend who finally seemed to be relaxing a little.

“You really should’ve studied more. The points are something that the school has used for a while now to both grade and reward students for their performance. You can trade points in for trial specialized gear. The kind of things your father typically has to commission.”

Woah, that was crazy valuable. She wasn’t tone deaf to money like most people expected of her, and she knew that trial items were expensive. More importantly, they were rare, because there just weren’t that many people that could make trial-specific gear.

“Wait, how does the school afford that?”

“Again, you really should study a bit more about the academies themselves. The foundation blacksmiths receive large tax cuts for providing gear to students. And for your other question, the rewards are items. Like the armor you got.”

Sarah pointed at a fairly non-descript brown satchel that was resting at the end of her bed. Its strap hung around a part of the bed stand.

“That has your clothes and gear in it.”

Sarah helpfully pulled out the armor in question. Abigail stared at the scaled armor that still felt too perfect for her. Her gift was strange by any standard, so an item that worked so well with it would’ve been hard to find.

“I’m surprised the school can make trial items in the simulations.”

Abigail was pretty sure that wasn’t supposed to be possible. Maybe they figured something out recently, but she still thought that she would’ve heard about something that insane.

Sarah shook her head faintly.

“No, they can’t. From what I understand, the items came from a member of the faculty. Apparently, they had brought some low-level items to spice things up.”

Abigail had the odd feeling that she knew which faculty member was responsible. Especially, if the had an item tailored to her specific gift.

“Was it our teacher?”

Sarah’s nod was all the confirmation she needed. She wondered what other items the teacher might have. That prompted her to try and find out how many points she had.

“How do I know my points.”

“This, more than even the simulated trials, surprised me the most. Check your status.”

Sarah’s genuine awe was all the motivation she needed. Abigail did as Sarah instructed and pulled up her status.

Name: Abigail Kaminari

Home World: Atreus Academy World 3

Grade: F

Rank: 5102

Points (Temporary): 212

Physical Grade: 1.50

  Strength: 1.1

  Dexterity: 1.6

  Speed: 1.8

Mental Grade: 1.23

  Reflexes: 1.6

  Intuition: 1.1

  Fortitude: 1.0

Gift Grade: F

Gift (F): Voice of Charge

Recognitions: None

Since when the academies could affect a person’s status? That was supposed to be impossible. Also, Abigail realized that she had no frame of reference for that amount. Was that a lot? How much did the other students get?

“I have a 212, what about you?”

Sarah’s smile grew a little strained, and she turned her head ever so slightly before responding.

“I have 1533 points now. For a better frame of reference, the highest number of points someone received was just under 3000.”

Abigail’s eyes bugged out as she realized just how poorly she had done. Or rather, how in the world had someone done over ten times better than her. And she had a feeling she knew who it was too.

“It was Clo, wasn’t it?”

Sarah nodded.

“Not just him, his whole team received a large amount of points. As a team, they earned around 7000 points.”

Abigail pushed aside her dislike of Clo. He was ultimately just another student, and she didn’t have to care about how he did. He had just rubbed her the wrong way.

“Wow, that’s something. But how much do things cost?”

As soon as she asked the question, Sarah readily lifted one of the school’s tablets. It was an old model, but it had access to some of the more exclusive school websites. The website Sarah had pulled up was an online store. The front page of which had a showcase of the most popular items, the cheapest of which was an elixir worth 100 points. Sarah held out the tablet for her to take. Abigail grabbed it, clicking on the elixir to see what made it so popular.

She clicked on it and held her finger there for a second, opening the page in a new tab. It was a temporary growth elixir that would boost someone’s attribute growth for a month. You could only use one a month, and it seemed like there was a special discount on the first one. The item, while good, wasn’t anything extraordinary. It wouldn’t do anything for attributes over 2, but she could see why it was so popular.

She placed an order for one too and moved back to look at the other items. There were a lot of really cool things here. Weapons, armor, and plenty of other useful battle items were the most popular things on the website, but she noticed some cheaper and more practical stuff too. Weird stuff, like cooking utensils and foods that would provide special benefits within a trial. There were really niche things, like a pen that would write in blue ink no matter what. Why was that even a thing?

“We can pool our points and buy whatever we wish. Also, Jake said that he would hand over all of his points as a way of apology, and asked to meet you when you woke up.”

Abigail twitched. She really didn’t want to see, let alone, speak with Jake anytime soon. She said as much.

“I don’t know if I should.”

“I guess I should tell him to leave then.”

Sarah’s response was swift and flat.

“Wait, leave?”

Abigail hung on to the words, wondering what exactly she meant.

“He is sitting on the floor outside; I will politely tell him to fuck off.”

Sarah said that with pure malice, clearly happy to dismiss Jake rudely.

“No, wait if he’s here, just let him in. I can’t just run away.”

Abigail rubbed one of her shoulders. She was worried about seeing Jake, and more than that, she didn’t know what to say. While Jake had been an asshole, and had hit her way too hard, she still deserved some of the blame. That knowledge grated on her.

Sarah only nodded. Sighing loudly, Sarah stood from the stool and pushed the white curtain back to reveal an empty medical room. There were some old-fashioned cabinets against one wall. She also noticed a bathroom door and a sink on the opposite side. The exit door, labeled so by a red sign at the top, was on the wall adjacent to the cabinets. She walked over to the door and swung it open quickly enough to make the curtains billow in a sudden gust.

“You may come in.”

Sarah’s tone had no hint of invitation in it. She sounded cold, ready to attack the man at the slightest provocation. Jake didn’t give her any reason to and walked in with head down and shoulders slumped. He moved meekly, the complete opposite of his usual appearance and behavior.

“What are you doing?”

Abigail couldn’t help herself. The hunched-over and somewhat pathetic guy in front of her now, wasn’t Jake. Worst of all, it made it hard to be angry. He looked so guilty, like a dog that had accidentally bitten its owner’s hand too hard.

“I’m apologizing. Look, I shouldn’t have hit you, and I’m sorry. I’ll give you all my points too.”

He said that as if it would magically solve things. As if all she wanted was some points. She might still accept the points, but first, she wanted to vent a little.

“That’s your apology, really? Come in here, head bowed, and offering points like some petulant kid.”

“I’m not good at this.”

Jake looked up as he retorted. His eyes were a little red like he had been crying. It was something she almost couldn’t believe from him. She tried to keep the banter going, though a part of her had already forgiven him. She could tell that he was genuinely sorry, and it wasn’t like she had been hurt all that badly. Also, there was a nasty bruise around a split lip like someone had punched him.

“Yeah, I can tell, and what’s wrong with your face?”

Jake spluttered, unable to come up with a response for a few seconds.

‘W-what you don’t…”

His voice trailed off, and he glanced toward Sarah, who was very patiently sitting on the stool and browsing something on the tablet. Abigail saw a faint smile on Sarah’s lips and couldn’t stop herself from smirking a little too.

“Um, right, I think I get the picture. Thanks for coming, your forgiven, and I’ll accept the points.”

Her words seemed to confuse Jake more than anything else. His mouth fell open for a second. He recovered quickly, and now some genuine annoyance seemed to enter his voice.

“That’s it? I could’ve killed you; how can you just forgive me like that? “

His eyes bore into her, and she could see the skepticism on his face. He was probably expecting something more. Honestly, she had planned to yell at him and maybe hit him, but that feeling dissolved when she realized that he had just been waiting around to apologize. Someone who did that was someone she could forgive.

She shrugged. There was more she could say, the more she could bring up. Although one look into his eyes told her that he had probably already said everything she could within his own head. More than anything else, she just wanted some time to herself. Her anger was gone, and now she had nothing stopping her failure in the trial from hitting her.

“I don’t know. I’m just not that angry anymore. Let’s just move on.”

Jake gave an awkward smile but seemed to understand what she wanted. He nodded, said his farewells, and left without anything else. She sagged back into the bed, letting her head fall back onto the pillow. Only then did it finally feel like the trial was over.