They were an hour into their journey, following the river into the mountain valley as the morning sun rose above them and sparkled off the blue waters of the eastern ocean. They ate breakfast as they walked, a collection of cold boar meat from the previous night and the last slices of bread from Rain On My Parade. They had to pick away the bits of mold that had started to grow, but they savored every bite.

Xavier marched at the head of the line, adorned in leather armor that covered his chest and legs. He had been busy these past nine days in the wilderness. Milly watched him sprint ahead of the group every few minutes until he realized he had left them behind, circling back in an impatient huff. She laughed each time, used to Xavier’s independence and gruff attitude. She was simply happy to be around him for the day.

The feeling was not mutual. Calista scowled at him after the third time he returned.

“Why don’t you just slow down and remember that there are people here other than yourself?” Calista spat impatiently. “Go talk to Milly for a bit. You have barely seen her since we got here.”

“Why don’t you stop being such a nosy little b…” Xavier spat back, until Rain interrupted him.

“You know, these mountains are gorgeous,” she said chipperly, sipping on a new brew she called “The Latent Ghost”. Milly had not asked what was in it. “This world is designed really well.”

Milly shot Rain a glance, and Rain caught herself. The memory on the beach remained between the three of them. The knowledge that this world was designed by Oracle and Hephaestus and that they feared its flaws may make it another failure, was a guarded secret. It was dangerous knowledge. It is not that Milly did not trust Xavier. It’s just that…

Milly did not want to finish that thought.

Thankfully, Xavier and Calista were too busy staring daggers at each other to notice Rain’s slip of the tongue.

“How much further?” Xavier asked impatiently, slowing to move beside Milly.

“Another hour,” she replied. Leaning in, she whispered, “Can you just try to be nice to them? For my sake? Just…pretend they are your online gamer buddies or something.”

“If they were, they would know how to play the game,” he whispered back with an edge. “I don’t play with newbies.”

“We are all newbies,” Milly whispered harshly. “Even you, Xavier. Or do you not remember your first encounter with that goblin? Arrogance will get you killed faster than inexperience will.”

Xavier looked doubtful, but then he sighed and followed Milly’s lead. “So…um…Rain. What are your stats?”

Milly slapped her forehead and Calista gave a single “Ha!” but Rain answered him as if it were the most interesting question in the world.

“Oh, I had a hard time trying to figure out where to put everything,” Rain started, glancing at the sky as she thought, “You are probably better at this stuff than I am. I ended up keeping them all even at eight. Except for my toughness, which is fifteen.”

“The hell?” exclaimed Xavier, “Fifteen toughness? I thought they called you the Alchemist of Rain On My Parade. That is a magic and agility-based profession. Toughness is the last stat you should be increasing. You should…”

Xavier looked like he was about to launch into a lecture about the appropriate allocation of points to maximize her talents, but Rain simply said, “I test my potions on myself before I give them to others, just in case I get something wrong. I thought having a high toughness would help me with that.”

Xavier stopped what he was about to say. He blinked, looking stunned, and replied, “I…I guess that makes sense.” He did not like being outreasoned, but he slowed fell in beside Rain and they began bantering back and forth about Rain’s potions and the plants Xavier had seen out in the terrains.

Milly was grateful that Calista had brought Xavier along, yet she could not help but feel a distance between them. She thought back on that first day, about how much Xavier had taught her, and wondered what she had done so wrong that he decided it was better to leave her behind.

“I…I don’t know if I really thanked you for yesterday, Milly,” Calista said, interrupting Milly’s darkening thoughts. “You saved my life.”

“Yah, I guess you owe me one,” smiled Milly. “But it had its rewards.”

Calista put a gentle finger on Milly’s centipede collar. “It looks good on you, Milly.”

Milly reached over and touched Calista’s matching necklace, “So does yours.”

Milly held her hand there for another heartbeat, heat rising in her neck, before she quickly brought her hand back down to her side.

“Do you want to see what talent I took?” Milly asked, fumbling awkwardly in her pockets and trying to hide her face.

Calista silently nodded, and Milly pulled out a smooth stone. She focused, and the stone began to levitate above her palm, turning gently in the air.

“Isn’t it wicked?” Milly said excitedly, “The intermediate witchcraft magics are not available to me yet because my level is not high enough, but there was a psychic magic section on the other side of the talent map. I thought it might be a fun complement to my witchcraft skills. This one is telekinesis. It lets me move things with my mind.”

“That is wicked, Milly,” said Calista, impressed. “And very versatile. It seems like you are really growing into this whole witch persona.”

Milly let the stone drop down to her palm and she put it in her pocket, smiling. “It don’t know about that,” she said softly. “It still feels awkward sometimes.”

Calista smiled back, then suddenly stopped, turning left into the forest. “We’re here.” She pulled out her spear, her off hand feeling empty without her shield. The others drew their weapons, Milly’s eyes glancing at Xavier’s longsword made from sharpened bone. It looked far stronger than any of their rusty weapons.

“You get better equipment the further you get from the tower,” he explained as he strode to the front of their procession, “The enemies get harder too. This arena of yours is so close to the tower that it should be a breeze.”

The cave and the clearing came into view. Milly could see Xavier’s steps quickening. “This is big,” he whispered, seeing the statues and stepping into the clearing with drawn sword.

The moment Xavier crossed the threshold, Milly knew there was something wrong. The hair on her arms stood on end as she cast her eyes across the clearing. The body of The Crushing Wave was gone. The boulder was back on the cliff and the lip of stone repaired. There was not a trace of the fire-scorched flowers and grasses. And then she saw the statues move as they did before, raising spear and shield towards the sky.

“Look out!” Milly shouted, as the spear-on-shield clang rang out across the clearing. A freight-train rumble from within the cave began to move towards them.

“Shit! I thought it was dead!” Calista said, one foot into the clearing. She tried to pull back to the forest, but the wall of solid air only let her move forward. “I can’t move back Milly. I need to head in.”

Calista stepped forward, spear raised and staring at the cave. There was terror in her eyes, her knees shaking. But there was a hunger behind the terror. Deep inside, Calista knew she was stronger than she had been yesterday. And she wanted a rematch.

“Calista!” Milly shouted, her fear showing no such desire. She took a deep breath and stepped into the clearing. Rain joined her, dagger in hand and a bottle of anti-venom in her pocket, staying at the back until she was needed.

“Four versus one is better odds,” Calista said optimistically, a tiny squeak the only indication of her fear.

The Crushing Wave erupted from the cave, headed straight for them, neck forward and maw ready for a quick meal.

“Stay together,” commanded Calista. “It is fast, but it cannot turn with such momentum. Milly, use your fire on the ground to slow it down. Rain, you…Xavier! What the hell are you doing?”

Xavier had dashed forward the instant the creature came into view, bone sword held aloft. He moved even faster than it did, closing the distance in only a few short seconds.

“He’s fast,” thought Milly, as she moved sideways to get a better shot, powerful flames building in her palms. It built faster and felt hotter than it had yesterday, bolstered by the substantial increase to her magic. “How the hell is he so fast?”

The Crushing Wave struck, pincers trying to pierce Xavier and swallow him whole. Xavier ducked out of the way, bringing his sword down hard and severing one of the pincers with a sickening crack. His sword turned the instant the pincer had been severed, swinging horizontally and slicing through two of the creature’s legs before Xavier lost the momentum.

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The Crushing Wave roared in pain and outrage, its eyes fixating on Xavier, now vulnerable below its mass. It lifted its neck to strike.

Until Milly’s fireball caught it across the neck, billowing out in a great wave that covered half the creature’s outstretched flesh in boiling blisters and burns.

“Lure it to the cliff,” Milly shouted at Xavier, pointing to the boulder above.

Xavier did not respond. As the creature shook off the pain from the flames, Xavier continued to hack and slash at legs and segmented body, green fluid seeping from the wounds.

“Xavier!” Calista shouted with renewed anger, “You are in the way. Move, dammit!”

Xavier severed another three limbs, opening a section of the creature’s body. He planted his sword deep into its flesh and used his significant strength to haul himself up onto its back. He pulled his sword out and started stabbing down again and again.

The creature gave a monstrous howl of pain, but Xavier had forgotten about the forked appendage on its back. The next moment, Xavier was flying through the air, leaving his sword imbedded in the creature’s back from his last thrust. He landed hard against the ground thirty paces away, a deep slash cleaving his armor in two and leaving a painful slice across his back. The green poison was already seeping into his blood.

“Xavier!” cried Milly, watching Rain rushing over to Xavier with the vial of anti-venom.

Xavier grabbed a thick red paste from his pocket and spread it along the wound, gritting his teeth while he held back the spasms through force of will. He stood and grabbed the anti-venom roughly from Rain’s hands, downing the whole bottle.

Milly pressing her hands to the ground and calling forth her flames, encircling the Crushing Wave in a wall of fire to buy them time.

“Milly, I have an idea,” Calista said as she ran up beside her, “but you aren’t going to like it.”

The Crushing Wave crashed through the fire wall and headed straight for Xavier, ignoring the scorching of its feet. Xavier smashed Rain’s anti-venom bottle on the ground in anger and rushed towards the oncoming creature. He pulled a rusted sword from his inventory to replace the one embedded in the creature and shouted, “Will of the Blademaster!” The blade glowed red, light flickering along its edge. He picked up speed as the talent took effect, his pain pushed to the back of his mind.

Xavier and the monster collided in the middle of the clearing as he resumed hacking at the creature’s limbs, sending severed appendages flying into the grass. But for every limb he severed, another slashed across his arms, chest, and legs as Xavier abandoned all defense and sense of self-preservation.

“I trust you, Calista,” Milly said sincerely, scared for Xavier, “What do you need me to do?”

Blood and ichor pooled on the ground between the combatants, and Xavier’s strikes grew weaker with every blow. The creature screeched in triumph, forked tail ready for the killing blow.

“Just give me a boost when I jump,” Calista said, dashing towards The Crushing Wave as fast as she could. When she was a few paces away, she leapt skyward, her strength carrying her eight feet into the air, as if she were an Olympic high jumper. But it covered less than half the distance to the creature’s head.

“Now Milly!” shouted Calista as she reached her pinnacle.

Milly concentrated on Calista, her hands outstretched as she willed Calista higher. She felt the magic within her drain away quickly, but suddenly Calista was soaring higher into the air, pushed up by an invisible force. Milly gave a shout of success as Calista snagged the antennae above its eyes, hauling herself up the rest of the way until she was standing atop its skull.

Calista whispered something under her breath, and her spear began to glow purple. She stood upright on the creature’s head, and thrust the glowing spear deep into the creature’s black, featureless eye. It howled in absolute rage, but Calista kept her balance as it thrashed. She drew back her spear and struck it again, piercing through its other eye. Only this time, she kept pushing inward, feeling it carve through eye and bone and sinew, until it rested against the skull.

Calista leapt and stomped down on the shaft of her spear with both feet, driving it through the skull and piercing the creature’s brain. Milly could hear the crack of bone from where she stood, rumbling across the clearing. The creature flailed as milky white fluid poured from the wound, sending Calista crashing to the ground hard with bloodied hands.

Milly rushed over to Calista just as The Crushing Wave’s body collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

“That was amazing, Calista!” praised Rain, rushing over to Calista with her last dose of anti-venom.

“Amazingly stupid,” muttered Milly, clutching both of Calista’s hands in hers, shaking as she began to heal her.

Calista looked admonished. “Sorry Milly,” she said, wiggling her finger against Milly’s palms as she held them. “It was just…I don’t know…instinct. Oh, that feels so good, Milly. You have wonderful hands,” she said, cooing as the healing removed the sharp pain.

“Yah, well, your instincts scared me half to death,” Milly said, her heart still beating quickly. “Don’t do that again. This contest is scary enough without the thought of almost losing you again.”

Calista looked into Milly’s eyes. “What, and miss all this fun? I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

“I wish you would go, you fucking kill-stealer!” Xavier screamed as he approached the women huddled around the injured Calista. He was covered in bloody cuts and green fluid. Milly had never seen him so angry.

“A what?” asked Calista, eyes narrowed in defensive anger. “What the fuck is a kill-stealer?”

“I had the situation handled,” Xavier spat, “Another couple of strikes and it would have been dead. Then you swoop in to be the hero, getting in the last shot when I had done all the hard work. A real fucking dick move in these types of games.”

“This is not a fucking game!” shouted Calista, wrenching her hands from Milly’s and pushing herself awkwardly to her feet. “This is real life. There is no kill stealing. No top scores. No extra lives. God, Milly and I were almost killed yesterday. Do you know how many people at the tower have not been so lucky? Do you know how many have died so far? Fifty-two. People we worked with. People we knew. I always knew you cared about no one except yourself, but how can even you be this callous?”

“Shut the fuck up, you stupid bitch!” screamed Xavier through gritted teeth, “Why would I care about anyone at the tower? They ignored me, pitied me, or bullied me. Remember that? You were among them. What did you use to call me? The World’s Least Interesting Man? I know who you are. This nice girl routine is so see-through that it might as well be glass.”

“People change, Xavier. You should try it sometime. You could be helpful at the tower, but instead you choose to be the same selfish asshole you have always been. What, do you think because you have some, mostly useless, knowledge of video games that you will breeze through this? Be the lone hero, fighting through the danger without anyone by your side, like in your favorite characters? ‘Here comes Xavier, all powerful and wise. He will save us,’ they would shout? Grow up Xavier. That is not how the real world works.”

“Oh, you think this is a team game?” Xavier’s face was red, hands flailing as he spoke. “You are a fucking fool if you believe that.”

“It. Is. Not. A. Game,” Calista answered. “And, yes, you fucking child, we win or lose together. What, do you think you can survive for over four years without relying on anyone else?”

“What?” Xavier said with a hiss. “What do you mean, four years?”

Calista realized what she had said and covered her mouth.

“Rain and I found…some more information on the twelfth contest on the second night,” Milly whispered, trying to keep the details vague. “It said the twelfth contest lasted for just under four years before it ended in failure.”

Calista sat back down to the ground next to Milly, grasping her hand. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” she whispered. Milly tapped her hand comfortingly. The damage was done.

Xavier stared at Milly with glowing eyes, his fury now directed at her. “Four years? Four years! You couldn’t have told me, Milly? I would have planned my build, my whole approach, differently if I had known this was a long-haul game!”

“Xavier…” Milly whispered, trying to calm him down.

“I would have picked different talents. Different attributes. I would have been searching for different things, fighting in different ways. You robbed me of that Milly!”

“You were never around Xavier…” Milly started, but Xavier cut her off.

“Well, you could have left me a fucking note, Mildred!” Xavier screamed frantically. “I thought we were friends!”

In an instant, all of Milly’s reluctance faded away, all her self-doubt pushed to the side. And she saw Xavier through the eyes of someone who finally knew what healthy relationships looked like.

“And what have you given to that friendship, Xavier?” Milly asked, trying to sound calm but her anger building beneath the surface. “Friendship is about give and take. What have you given? We were each other’s only friends, and you left me behind after our first day. I was terrified, and you left me behind. I had to go it all alone because you left me behind!”

Milly had tears in her eyes now, the truth of her outburst only becoming obvious after she said it. Calista squeezed her shoulders in comfort and Rain knelt beside her, a comforting hand on her knee. Milly leaned into her two friends, staring up at Xavier.

“Well, it seems like you made out just fine without me. Do you know what? You win. Is that what you want to hear?” Xavier said, eerily calm. “Xavier is a bad friend? Xavier is an awful person? Tell me something I have not heard before. Just get on with abandoning me like everyone else in my life, and I can go back to winning this game.” He emphasized the last word with a piercing glare at Calista.

Xavier opened his talent window and made a quick selection. A moment later, his hands glowed blue with the aura of Healer’s Touch and he was sealing his own wounds. “See Milly? I can do it on my own now. I have no more need of you.”

Xavier turned his back on the women, striding towards the cave entrance between the two stone statues.

Milly felt her tears fall as Calista and Rain embraced her.

“Come on,” Milly said when the tears had stopped falling. She shook herself out of their embrace and stood. “We’ve got an arena to explore.”

Milly marched towards the cave entrance, Calista and Rain following close behind.

* * *

The AI Director watched the four players move towards the cave entrance. It was time.

“Tutoria?” they asked in a high-pitched voice.

Tutoria popped into being in the small control room.

“Hi, Director! How can I help, cutie pie?”

The Director rolled their eyes. “Are the four chosen Manifestations ready?”

“Yes, Director. Except…” Tutoria hesitated.

“Except what, Tutoria?”

Tutoria looked reluctant to answer. “There may be a tiny, probably insignificant error in one of the Manifestations.”

“How insignificant?”

“Well… you know how the Manifestations are guides placed throughout the game to test and reward players?”

“Yes, I am aware. This is part of every God Contest. Each God in Godhome can design one Manifestation, and they usually model it after their own appearance and personality. They like seeing themselves in the Contest. It gives them an added thrill.”

“Right. But they have no ability to control their Manifestations once the Contest is running.”

“What are you getting at, Tutoria?”

“This is an experimental game. You are experimental. So there are bound to be some errors, you see.” Tutoria said, stalling.

“Get on with it Tutoria! I have better things to do right now.”

“Well, it is possible, though unlikely, that one of the Gods used their Manifestation to create a back door into the Contest, allowing them to directly control their Manifestation.”

The Director stared at Tutoria. “Which one?”

“I don’t know,” admitted Tutoria, “It’s just a possibility.”

The Director turned toward the monitors, watching the four players enter the cave.

“We cannot delay this because of such a minuscule possibility, Tutoria. No god has ever been able to interfere in The God Contest once launched. The Nexus does not allow it. So we proceed as planned.”

Tutoria looked concerned but did not question the Director. After all, Tutoria was part of the Director’s artificial personality.

“Yes, Director Cutie Pie.”

The Director waved a dismissive hand and Tutoria vanished. They went back to staring at the monitors, Manifestations ready to deploy.

“Mother and Father would not have made a mistake,” they assured themselves. “It is nothing to worry about.”

And they launched the arena, beginning Phase Two of the God Contest.