Aaron looked around the dark stone room he had been teleported in, finding he was the first to arrive here. “If I remember correctly, I need to avoid those guys so that I don’t get captured. I can’t use a wish to join Henric’s party, so taking things into my own hands is more necessary here.”
“Taking things into your own hands? What are you talking about?” A man asked behind Aaron, turning behind him, Aaron had a vague memory of the man.
“Ah, I thought this would be like a game with all the screens so checked my status, I have a power that only works after this trial is over. What do you have?” Aaron tried to innocently ask. If he let off more than he knew, it would come to bite him later.
“Huh,” the man said absentmindedly before he recoiled as, likely, he saw his character screen for the first time. The thought-activated screens would catch people off guard since they didn’t know what information they had, so random thoughts could spawn a new screen for the first time.
“I have something called iron body as a gift. What are aspects and bloodlines?” The man asked, and as more people appeared in their little room, they seemed to gather around the two talking, galvanized by action Aaron supposed.
“I don’t know. All I have is a gift like yours called “wishes of the world” Aaron recoiled for a moment before seeming to focus. He hoped his acting was believable. “I’m still not used to that. My gift allows me to use one ‘minor wish’, whatever the minor wish means, every time I help complete a planet trial. Try to focus on your gift.”
The man in front of him, who still hadn’t given his name seemed to be surprised at the change in screen, but a lot less than the first time. “Heh, seems my gift makes it harder for me to get hurt.”
Giving even a cursory look around, Aaron could tell that people were taking the advice from his conversation, even if they didn’t actively participate. “that’s great! Usually, stuff like this has traps or fighting, so you can survive easier should this trial contain combat!”
Before any more conversations could begin, a prompt appeared before all of them
[Trial 1: Seekers Absolution
Walk the paths of your home planet in order to find its center and attune it to your species
Rewards: planet core tier 1, planet no longer has a lifespan and will persist until killed.
Note: you are not the only group to be thrown into the paths of the planet, be the one to attune your species to the planet and gain an aspect]
There it was. The trial where everything began. Aaron could only hope Henric hadn’t regressed too many times before the time Aaron was given the power, as the closer the world was to his life, the easier it would be to push people towards a better future
“Well, it seems that’s our goal.” Aaron said, raising his voice so that people would have an inkling he wanted everyone to hear. We need to find the center of this maze in order to prevent the apocalypse. Could you lead us forward?” he asked the man. Last time it took an hour for the chaos to calm down and an organized group to head out… with the iron body man at the head. “There may be monsters or traps, and while we can support you, you’re the most likely to survive surprise encounters.”
The man seemed to be put on the spot, but with the people now looking at him, and Aaron’s words, he would step up faster than before, which would help. Because every second wasted here may cause more of the world to turn into a barren wasteland.
“Is anyone against me leading the group?” He asked, looking around at the people. Aaron hoped that the references he made to the threats that they would encounter on their travels would prevent the others from fighting over who would be the leader, and to his relief no one spoke up, some even supported the decision.
“Well then,” the man said, placing a hand on Aaron's shoulder. “I want your help to get us to the center of the labyrinth.” Just looking at the man, he could tell that the man decided Aaron was manipulating him, and for not a good reason.
“Of course. I completely forgot though. What is your name?” Aaron asked sincerely. Aaron had to manipulate the situation, but he was fully content with the man in front of him taking the rewards for himself.
“Leon. my parents were a bit eccentric. Why don’t you share your name as well?”
“Aaron. Nice to meet you.” Aaron grinned, holding out a hand towards Leon to shake, and when the man shook it, Aaron could only wince at the strength put into the handshake.
The labyrinth they walked through truly lived up to the name. It had been 7 hours and they had been encountering and avoiding many traps. After a while, one of the group members figured out that the labyrinth was likely a circular pattern, and so they walked in the direction that would likely lead to the center of the circle.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“You. Stupid. Bitch!” called out from the left, causing Aaron’s blood to run cold. He couldn’t forget what he used the first of his five wishes on… their group had encountered-
“Hey, what is that? We should go help her!” Someone called out, And Leon, being the person at least trying to be a hero that he was, decided to head in that direction.
“Wait!” Aaron hissed out while holding the man’s arm. “Think, this is probably an apocalypse scenario. If everyone who accepted to join the trial was put into groups, then it’s not just one man over there. Can we really fight a group of people who took control of twenty people?” He pleaded, referencing the fact that there were twenty people here. Even with the fact they had to take breaks to keep their party cohesive.
“Are you just going to leave her to get raped?” one of the women called harshly, causing Aaron to wince, but he soon heard
“You’ll pay for not clearing the trap!”
Aaron looked at the woman with true fear in his eyes. “They’re using people as trap detectors, do you really think they don’t have the numbers and manpower to defeat us? What if they have gifts that are good at physical confrontation like Leon? We could end up like that girl.”
Aaron really hoped he didn’t run into this group, he could still remember his first life as a man caved Leon’s head in. and while most of the first trial was hazy, he would never forget the time he almost died.
“Do you think they will be able to get away with this?” Aaron cut the woman off before she could start again. “When we get back, we can likely find them and with others punish them for their actions. They’re only doing this because they think they’re alone.”
“I agree with Aaron. We don’t know the rules of this new world, and while some of us may have powerful skills.” Aaron could feel the glance in his direction, the eyes of Leon boring into his skin. “We don’t know what they have. We need to be careful until we know more.
Aaron was walking on ever-thinning ice as they continued, it seemed like every reasonable decision he pushed onto the party made them distrust him more and more. And if Leon ever turned on him, Aaron would likely be thrown out to fend for himself.
It was another half an hour before they heard the desperate scream of a woman, and even Aaron temporarily forgot his wariness to go help someone who likely fell into a trap. That lack of wisdom was his downfall, however, as they turned the corner and came across the group Aaron dreaded to find; and the woman who screamed was at the front; impaled by a number of horizontal spears; dead.
“Damnit, she couldn’t even get to the other side before she croaked. Hope the rest of you-”
“You bastard!” Leon yelled out, cutting off the leader of the gang. That yell snapped Aaron out of his fear and hesitation, so he stepped forward beside Leon.
“To think you’d take the first sign of things going wrong to abuse your peers like that!” It was better to display a united front instead of having them think Leon was the only fighter.
“Eh? We got some new recruits men! I wonder who of you will join the elites, and who will be the slaves?” Aaron tensed up as the man’s eyes rolled around his group, so he yelled out. “Really? You think after all this is over you won’t be punished for what you did here?”
“Heh. didn’t you read the screens? We have been chosen to join the great evolution, and like evolution, it will be survival of the fittest. You can take your old world morality and shove it where the sun don’t shine!” The men laughed as they advanced toward Aaron’s group.
”And why haven’t you attacked us yet?” another man cut in, fatter than the man who had been leading. “Are you scared that we are stronger than you? That you’ll end up like that girl over there if you don’t act all big?” he pointed to the deceased woman, her blood dripping down to the floor of the labyrinth.
“I could say the same thing to you?” Aaron needed to take control of this conversation, just so that someone doesn’t say something that will incite these bastards. “Shouldn’t you be afraid that we’re hiding our aces and that if we fight, you’ll be the ones defeated?”
“Hah, like you’re anything but the big guy’s hype man!” The man’s sneering insult caused the rest of the men to chuckle.
“What if I want you to think that?” Aaron grinned an evil smile. “What if I set myself up to look like the pathetic hype man? So that when you all start attacking, I can deal a heavy blow?” This caused the leader to frown.
“Seems you know about how the new world will work. Everything is about strength, so if you can leverage your strength against others, it doesn’t matter the methods.” He couldn’t say any more though, as a red blur shot straight through his chest, and he staggered backward.
Aaron turned around in shock, only to see the woman that had been most against leaving the victims to their fate have her hand out in the shape of a gun… That bitch had such a gift? Didn’t she realize she could be-?
“Get them!” one of the men called out, starting the pandemonium.