Nova looked at Nil as if she was witnessing a flying pig.

“What?” she said.

Ray seemed amused. “How can you be here without knowing what Asphodel is?”

Nil scratched their head. “Thing is… I don’t remember anything from before the start of the Tutorial.”

Max narrowed his eyes at Nil. “Do you really think we’ll buy that?”

Ray laughed. “I think they are actually serious. I have a lie detection skill, and it’s telling me they’re being honest.”

Max looked at Ray with suspicion. “That so?” He turned back to Nil. “Well, kid, Asphodel is where the scum of the earth comes to die.”

Nova stared daggers at him. “Who are you calling scum?”

Ray stepped between the two of them. “Let’s not get worked up. He’s kinda right, anyway—we’re the dregs of society.”

Nova looked away and scoffed, but didn’t retort. Nil raised an eyebrow.

“That’s all well and good, but where are we? What is with this skill system?”

Ray smiled nervously. “Wow, you really are clueless, huh?” He rubbed his chin for a moment. “Think of it like a different reality. We’ve all presumably come here willingly, but there’s no turning back. There isn’t a path back to Earth from Asphodel.”

Nil cocked their head. “So there’s a way to come here from Earth, but not the other way around?”

Ray nodded. “There are ways to communicate with Earth, but it’s difficult. Basically, one-way portals opened up all around the world—no one knows why it happened. Most people don’t want to give up their lives back on Earth, so the ones who come here are those who don’t have any reason to stay. That’s why we’re dregs.” His smile seemed a little sadder to Nil after the explanation.

“Let’s just go,” Nova said. “We can’t waste the whole day talking about this.”

Nil and Ray nodded, and started walking toward the forest. Max followed soon after, but he had a thoughtful expression. Maybe he was thinking about his reasons to be here. Nil wondered whether Insight would tell them what he was thinking about, but they shook their head. Prying into people’s heads for no good reason would be rude.

An awkward atmosphere set in as they trekked through the woods. Everyone was being wary of threats lurking among the trees, and the only one who tried to start a conversation was Ray, although the attempt was far from successful. After a few uneventful hours of walking, the sun began setting, and they decided making camp for the night was the only option they had.

They made a small campfire and huddled close to it, since they had no other way to ward off the cold. Nil watched the flames’ dance, deep in thought.

“So we’re dregs…” they whispered.

Ray, who was sitting next to them, patted them on the back.

“Hey now, don’t get all depressed on us. That was just a generalization. Who knows why you decided to come?”

Ray leaned back and looked up. The starry sky could be gleaned between the branches and leaves.

“This place is beautiful,” he said. “So much cleaner than the city, too…”

He was smiling, but Nil still got the feeling it wasn’t sincere.

Nil looked down at their hands. What did they even look like? They didn’t know anything about themself.

“Hey, Ray,” they said.

“Yes?”

“Why did you decide to come to Asphodel?”

Ray laughed.

“I didn’t like Earth very much.” He stared at the sky as he said it.

He disliked it enough to risk his life to get out of it?

Nil turned to look at his face. They decided not to prod further.

Suddenly, Ray got up and stretched his arms.

“I’m gonna go to bed,” he said.

Nil nodded. “Good night, Ray. I’ll keep watch for now.”

Ray smiled at them. “Thanks, Nil.”

Nova, who had been sitting on the other side of the fire, soon went to sleep as well, and Nil was left alone with Max, who didn’t seem to be in the mood for a chat. Nil couldn’t help but think about Asphodel, and about themself. Who were they? Why were they here?

Suddenly, Max looked up from the fire, alarmed.

“Something’s coming.”

Nil couldn’t hear it at first, but soon they were able to make out the sound of something rushing to them.

They got up and unsheathed their blade, facing the direction of the noise as they braced themselves. Whatever beast was heading toward them, it must have been the enemy they had to face for the third phase. It wouldn’t be easy.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Max woke Ray and Nova up with a shout, and the four of them positioned themselves for battle. It didn’t take long for a trio of oversized wolves to emerge from the shadows, growling.

Nil activated Insight and prepared to dodge, but one of the wolves took them by surprise as it lunged for Ray, who missed his swing and got bit in the arm.

Nil rushed to him and slashed the wolf in the back, forcing it to retreat for a moment. However, the other two started fighting Nova and Max. They felt panic beginning to fill them until—

[The effects of ‘Calm Mind’ are active.]

Right. They needed to keep their cool.

“Group together!” they shouted. “Form a triangle, make sure they can’t get any of you from behind!”

The words seemed to bring the others out of their stupor, as they quickly followed Nil’s advice, taking on a defensive formation. With that, they would be safe from surprise attacks.

Nil turned to the one that had attacked Ray earlier. It growled menacingly at them, but they saw through the ruse. It was injured.

Nil moved forward and sidestepped as the wolf tried to jump at them, leaving its side open. Taking the chance, they stabbed just the right spot, piercing the creature’s heart, causing it to slump lifelessly with a soft whine.

Fortunately, Peacemonger didn’t show any reaction, so killing the wolves was allowed. Still, it striked Nil as strange that the lives of animals weren’t counted. Or was there some other reason?

In any case, it was uncanny how precise the blow had been. Nil guessed Insight helped locate vital points somehow, even if they hadn’t done it consciously.

Nova cried out from behind, and Nil ran to help. One of the remaining beasts had managed to pin her to the ground, throwing off the entire plan. She had managed to avoid a lethal bite by pushing her bow into its mouth, and was now grappling the monster.

Luckily, the wolf was too distracted to notice Nil approaching, so it died to a single well-placed stab as well, and Nova pushed its body away with a low grunt.

Nil turned to chase after the last wolf, but it was already dead, pierced by Ray’s spear, so they looked back to Nova and helped her get onto her feet.

“Thanks,” she said hoarsely. As soon as she was up, she spat on the ground. "Goddamnit, that thing was heavy as hell."

Ray and Max seemed pretty exhausted as well, but now they knew it wasn’t safe to stay in the same place for long.

Nil cleaned their bloody blade on their shirt and sheathed it, walking closer to the others.

“We need to keep moving. If we’re lucky, the altar won’t be much further away.”

Ray was panting, but he nodded. He was wrapping a piece of his shirt around his open wound. They didn’t have any supplies to heal him, so it would be very dangerous if it got infected. Nil hoped the altar really was nearby.

Max didn’t even look at Nil, but he seemed to agree, as he immediately started putting out the fire.

“Wait, does anyone remember where the north is?” Nova asked.

Nil looked around, unsure. However, their eyes seemed to fix themselves to a certain position. Was it Insight at work again? It felt right.

“That way,” they said, pointing.

Max grunted in agreement. “I think so too.”

They all started running without further ado, but Ray was visibly struggling. After no more than a few minutes, he tripped and fell. When Nil looked to check on him, his expression was one of anguish.

Nil grabbed Ray and helped him up, putting his arm over their shoulder. They heard another wolf howling in the distance, and they started running after the others.

Nil’s eyes darted around from side to side, seeing eyes in every shadow and hearing footsteps at every turn. However, they managed to avoid running into any more wolves.

Eventually, the trees started becoming more sparse, and they finally broke through the mantle of the forest, reaching a big field. Some sort of structure could be seen in the distance, illuminated by a full moon and the starry sky.

“That must be the altar!” Nova said.

Nil thought so as well. They looked to Ray next to them. He was getting pale, and they had noticed his strength waning as time passed. Had the bite been deeper than they’d thought?

“We need to hurry,” Nil said. “Ray will likely be healed after we complete the phase.”

Nova nodded, while Max was already sprinting forward, almost too fast for a man his age.

Having to drag Ray along was awkward, but they managed to make a good pace, reaching the structure without any difficulties.

Something stood out to Nil as they got close enough to properly discern the altar. Was that a person sitting by the steps?

Indeed, the man who had run away as soon as the trial started was waiting for them there, unharmed. He got up as they arrived, blocking the stairs.

“Why are you still here?” Max said. “This is the altar, right?”

The man nodded. “Believe me, I’ve tried to leave,” he said. “But I can’t.”

Nova stepped forward. “What do you mean, you can’t?”

The man sighed. “It’ll be easier for you to see for yourselves.”

They all reluctantly climbed up the stairs, arriving at the top of the stone structure. In the center there was a circular platform seemingly made of glass, with a strange character etched on it. It almost looked like an alchemical symbol.

“You should all get on top of this,” the man said, getting up on it himself.

Seeing it was safe, they did as they were told. A few seconds after they did so, the symbol started glowing, but it died down without doing anything. Then, a message appeared.

[Present Participants: 5/4]

The ‘5’ was written in bold red.

“Only exactly four people can continue,” the man said. “I was worried only one of us would be able to go, which is why I ran for it, but this might be even more complicated. If only one of you had died…”

Nova glared at him. “What did you just say? Maybe we should just leave you behind, you cowardly rat!”

The man smiled and put a hand on the longsword that was strapped to his waist.

“I wouldn’t recommend trying that,” he said.

“Bullshit!” Nova shouted. “You’re just bluffing.”

Nil immediately used Insight.

[Name: Aldo, Age: 32, Background: Hitman. Level: 0 (Tutorial).]

[Exclusive Skill: ‘Blink’; Traits: ‘Cold-blooded’, ‘Swordmaster’; Skill: ‘Execution’]

Nil grabbed Nova’s arm.

“Don’t. This guy is dangerous.”

Nova frowned at them, while Aldo laughed.

“Be thankful you have at least one working brain among you,” he said. He pointed to Ray, who was now weakly holding onto Nil, barely conscious.. “I recommend you get rid of the dead weight. The rest of us can go through and we’ll amicably part ways afterward.”

After a few seconds passed with no answer, Aldo pointed to the woods behind them. “You’d better hurry and decide,” he said. “We’ve got company.”

Nil twisted their head and gasped as they saw a pack of wolves approaching at full speed. They would arrive in less than a minute.

Nil gritted their teeth and grasped the hilt of their sword. They weren't about to leave Ray behind. Aldo seemed incredibly strong, but with Insight, maybe there was a chance they could keep them off the platform long enough to—

Their mouth moved by itself.

“I’ll be staying behind.”

What?

[‘Peacemonger’ is active. You can’t take actions that would put others’ lives at risk.]

Nil stared at the message in disbelief.