“She was,” the presenter agreed. “I’m chatting with her at the moment. She’s going to regret her words for a while. She is upset, because she overplayed the support the Huddas can give them, and she did that because she thought that was what you needed to hear to come to her side. Their survival is a more precarious case than she implied. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“I did. The extinction chance you gave them was Highly Likely.”
“Exactly; so, to answer your question, will they live… Maybe, maybe not. But with a bias toward the latter. Having said that, humanity rated under the same metrics is in a worse spot than the Dusk. Swift Hope expressed more desperation than one in her place should have. Technically, I should have stopped her speaking sooner.”
“Why didn’t you?” He asked the obvious question.
“Because your choice was not simple, and you had to be the one to make it. If you made it, you would understand the desperation that comes with being a diminishing species. I want you to remember this, and, if humanity climbs on the ladder and survives, I need you to spread that truth, and make sure that, if humans run into a diminishing species, that they will help them.”
Tom thought about that for a moment. “I see, and I will.”
“As for the Dusk, whether they are successful or not is not your concern, and not something you’ll ever realistically be able to influence. Their homeland is a long way from here, so forget about them. Instead, I want to inform you about The Divine Champions’ trial. As you’ve probably guessed, its primary format is a one-versus-one battle against the participants of other gods. There are five categories: first, juvenile one and two - obviously, you’re in that first category. Then there are two adolescent classes, and an open characterisation. Then, once a year, there are also larger team contests. The time spent in each category depends on the species, but for humans it’s about two of your years, and if and every time you mature up to a higher category, you’ll get a debuff placed on you.”
“You get a what?”
“You get a debuff placed on you. It is a ten percent penalty on all attributes. It can compound three times if you’re strong enough to stay in until the end.”
“Do I need to worry about that? I mean, is it possible for that to even come into play?”
She rolled her eyes. “There’s no need to beat around the bush. Are you asking if you’re likely to keep your spot? Because I don’t think you need to. You should be able to answer that yourself.”
“You’re right. Yes,” Tom concluded after a moment’s thought. “There’s no reason I couldn’t stay in until adolescent two. Corrine told me that humans are most likely to gain entrance as an eleven-year-old. That means I’ll be growing relatively faster than all of them.”
“That’s a fair hypothesis,” the presenter agreed. “Your attributes will triple, and your abilities should be able to grow five or six times more powerful over that period, so, if you keep improving, then yes. It’s possible, but having your attributes reduced by a third is a material debuff, so your continuation in the competition is not guaranteed.”
Tom listened to that explanation and decided to move on to more grounded considerations. “So, how many people are there in each category?”
“There’s a maximum of thirty-two representatives of DEUS.”
“A maximum?” He asked sharply.
“People die, and others age out of the category. For most of the time, we’re below capacity.”
He wanted to ask about mortality rates, but something told him that now was not the right time to be doing so. Instead, he focused on the number of participants. “That’s an awful lot of opposing contestants. That’s, what, over two hundred? I assume that all eight GODs are in this?”
“Yes and yes, and individual fights can take place at a maximum of two per week. With the turnover, it’s mathematically impossible to fight everyone out there.”
Tom hesitated as he tried to wrap his head around those calculations before he worked it out. If he survived in the first category for the whole two years, he would only have two hundred fights, which wasn’t enough to challenge all of them. If they went in as a single class, where they all joined at the same time, then there would have been time to fight all of them. Instead, based on this contenders’ event, ten percent of the population would be turned over, presumably from both deaths and category retirement, probably monthly, or at best every three months. It meant that, over his ‘child one’ years, it was possible that there could be anywhere from three hundred and fifty participants to over eight hundred.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“I understand,” he told her, but he wanted more information, so needed to ask more questions and skirt the line of what was proper to talk about. “How often do you do recruitments?”
“A clever one, aren’t you?”
He didn’t answer her and let silence ask his question.
“They’re monthly.” She finally admitted.
Tom whistled. That was a massive turnover rate.
“Often, there are only two spots available. To answer what you really wanted to know but were too craven to ask, only fifty percent of people survive the full period. They get desperate and greedy and bite off more than they can chew. But you can talk strategy with the others once you’ve had your first fight.”
“What else do I need to know?”
“Your contender room has transformed into a champions’ foyer and is permanently available to you. When utilised, your body will be puppeteered to act as normal. From it, you have access to a communal area in which you can chat with all of DEUS’s current competitors.”
“All of them?” he asked.
“Yes, you’ll be able to chat with Corrine, and even with the people from the open category when you’re in there. Matches are to the death, or are ended when a surrender is offered and accepted. It’s important to note that GOD shields are available, with every win being awarded coins on the same multiplier as in the contender rounds.”
“How much is a coin worth?”
“Be patient. I was getting to that. Coins can be traded to other participants, or else used in the equivalent of an experience shop with two purchases being allowed every three months. There, you can make two purchases each quarter. As a rule of thumb, a tier-one ability costs a single coin. Six coins for a tier-three skill, and then three times that for every additional tier after. An average performance gets you two tier-three abilities each quarter, while winning half your battles without a GOD’s shield gets you a single tier-seven ability every three months.”
Tom whistled, both impressed and not. If he fought under a GOD’s shield, he was only going to walk out with a scattering of low-tiered abilities, or, if he saved up for years, a couple of more powerful ones. Of course, if he could fight without a GOD’s shield the entire time, the loot he would leave with would be unimaginable.
She sighed. “Don’t get greedy. You can die for real, and a partial GOD’s shield is not the protection you’re probably imagining it to be.”
“What do you mean?”
“Under a partial shield, you can be maimed in ways healing can’t fix.”
“Are you sure? Touch Heal might be tier-zero, but if I have time, I can regrow limbs.”
“Of course I’m certain. How well does Touch Heal work when your soul is damaged? There are things that can be done to you that are more permanent than the loss of a couple of limbs. Anything other than a full GOD’s shield is gambling.”
“I see.”
“And yet you’re planning on doing it anyway,” she said sharply. “What would April think of your recklessness?”
“Honestly, I think she’ll trust my judgment. I have some ideas to manage the risk.”
“Fate is not the panacea for everything.”
“Really? It seems pretty overwhelming.” Tom said quietly. “Especially against random opponents.”
“No. Forget everything you’re scheming and listen to my words carefully. You won’t be able to avoid the deadly antagonists, as the system won’t let you. Not even fate can keep them from you, as the order is not random. It has the GOD’s influence upon it.”
“Noted. As I said, I have a few ideas.”
“You’re stupid and reckless. I should have made you cede the spot to Swift Hope.”
“Maybe, but you didn’t. Now you’re just going to have to trust me.”
“You’re impossible. But moving on; in addition to the experience shop, there is a curated list that contains items that DEUS thinks you should prioritise. While it can contain items, yours currently only contains abilities. They’re all useful to you, and some are posted at a deep discount from normal prices. They are basically what you should be working towards.”
Something was bothering him. The GODs already had both an auction house and the experience shop. It didn’t make sense to Tom that they weren’t just recycling that infrastructure. “Why are the rewards called coins? Why are they using a new currency?”
“It’s not new.” She waved her hands in a series of coins cascaded out of her open palm to bounce on the ground before vanishing. “They’re tangible; it’s possible to trade them like you do with money, and they have real world value. All trials will accept them as a substitute for experience, and, in some, they can expand options, or even improve prize pools.”
“So, what should I do? Should I be hoarding them?”
The presenter shrugged. “Some competitors, once they’ve done enough to reverse the fortune of their species, do exactly that. You’ll need to decide once you can see what they can buy. For now, go to your champion’s room, check it out. While you do so, your body will get up and sneak back to bed, so you don’t have to worry about that. The only thing you have to remember is any injuries you have when you leave the champion’s foyer will be transferred into the real world. Given your healing gift, that shouldn’t be a problem. Just stay in there until you’re fully healed.”
“And if I die?”
“I don’t think it matters, does it.” She said severely. “But you know the answer, even if you’re not verbalizing it.”
Tom understood what she was implying. “The wounds will be brought into reality. If I’m decapitated and half my body eaten, then, whoosh, that’ll happen in the real world. That’ll be traumatising for any kids around me.”
“Yes, it will be. I’m sure you can work out how to manage that.” And then, having apparently given him enough information, she faded away to nothing.
“So, I’m still stuck only fighting at night,” he said quietly to the empty room. Of course, she didn’t answer. She was gone. While he didn’t want to think about dying, the cost of managing such an unimaginable event was low. “Damn it. I guess it’s night battles only,” he concluded.
Tom glanced around the empty isolation room. The presenter was right. There were more fun things to pursue than sneaking back to bed. With a cheeky grin, he stepped into the champion’s foyer. It was time to throw himself into the nitty-gritty details and discover exactly what was on offer.