A huge wave of force went off just feet away from my position borrowed underground, clearing dirt, trees, and anything else around it in a massive shockwave of energy. I almost panicked thinking that Eric had found my position after getting that huge spike in power. Thankfully that didn’t seem to be the case, and if I thought about it logically, there was no way that the Aspirant could pierce through Noe’s defenses when not even literal gods could do so. Still… that was a pretty big glow-up for Eric, and whatever it was he did make him a bit off in the head as well.

I sighed. Yeah, I should have expected the Sponsors to act now that the human Aspirants were well on their way through the Ascension process, but was the effect of a Sponsorship supposed to be this drastic? Eric had been strong prior to this little stunt, at least compared to the other humans here, but that last display of power was ridiculous. That was the kind of crap I’d expect out of Jae-Hyun, not some no-name Aspirant, and worse yet, I wasn’t 100% sure what else he could do.

Ah, I should have asked more questions when I was with Bob about the stupid Sponsorship program! All I knew was that the Aspirants would make a horrible deal with their Patron god and use their abilities to a certain extent, but outside of that, I was completely clueless. Like, how much power could they borrow? Was it different depending on the person? Were there tiers of Patronage? Too many questions that I didn’t have answers to.

Well, the first thing I needed to do was to figure out what deity took an interest in Eric. With the only clue being the epithet, some Wisdom’s Scholar individual, I didn’t have a lot to go on. Maybe if I could find out who that god was, I could somehow contact Bob or Xalla and have them go and have a nice talk with that person, stressing the importance of finding a new, more suitable Aspirant to Sponsor…

I shook my head. Outside of the really popular ones like Zeus or Thor, I was about as clueless as I could be about ancient mythology, and I doubt Awake-Walter conveniently left me information about obscure Earth deities either. The clues about their identity could very well all but spell out who the god was, but without a name, I’d still be completely stumped. Plus, there must be hundreds of gods associated with knowledge and wisdom, so that one epithet wasn’t doing a whole lot of good.

Either way, I did take some time to contact Molly to pass a message along to Big Bob. Maybe my chubby friend, being one of the damned Elder Gods who created the human race, could help me figure things out with the limited clues I had. Molly told me she’d contact me again once Bob finds out more, and that he’d have a nice chat with the individual once he does, although he was busy with other affairs at the moment. I’d be on my own until then.

I sighed again. Yeah, as if I could afford to just wait for an answer that might not even come, all the while more of the villagers get slaughtered. I’d have to act, but all I had to work with was that Eric could now send out blasts of energy like some cheap comic book villain, and he could manipulate or control the bodies of other Apsirants through some unknown means. I wasn’t willing to bet that that was all Eric was now capable of.

Noe, help me analyze the juiced-up Aspirant and compile any information that you can about what he can do. Even hypotheticals are better than nothing.

“I will do my best, my Host.”

Thanks as always.

And so, for the next several hours, I silently stalked the surviving group of Aspirants, watching their every move while making very sure to stay out of sight. Yet even with my increased diligence, I would have still been caught had it not been for Noe’s Absolute Luck System. Several times I saw my Charges go down and encountered strangely hard patches of earth that forced me to divert my path even when I was following them at the edge of my perception. I wasn’t sure if I was just being careless or if Eric’s senses had also improved because he would randomly stop and blast patches of dirt - patches that I would have run into had I not changed course at the last minute.

Aside from the close run-ins with localized explosions, my stalking did unearth (no pun intended) some useful info about the enemy Aspirants, and more importantly, about Eric and his newfound strength. First of all, the atmosphere among the other Aspirants was rough. No one talked or joked like they used to, and everyone was giving their leader a wide breadth. Well, that wasn’t a surprising revelation since two more “teammates” met their unfortunate demise at the hands of their glorious leader. I’d like to believe that it was because they had broken some unspoken rule I didn’t know about, but chances were it was because of old grievances.

All of that was to say that unity between the Aspirants and Eric was nonexistent, and it wouldn’t take much to push them to mutiny. Well, that was assuming they could get away with it without dying in the process. Now I wouldn’t be able to manipulate them to turn on each other while Eric was high off his new powers, but I also knew that they wouldn’t lift a finger to save the man if something bad happened either. Hell, they’d probably join in the violence if they saw him wounded, and a slight push could even cause some of them to sabotage him during a fight. Maybe that’s something I could use later.

As for the Aspirant himself? Noe’s analysis did wonders, and I was once again reminded of how much she’s helped so far. Man, just thinking about how much extra work I’d have to do paying attention to all of the little details gave me a headache, not to mention the fact that I’d have to keep track of close to two dozen individuals all at the same time without losing track of my position… Yeah, Noe was a lifesaver.

“As much as I love hearing praise, you should concentrate, my Host.”

I shook my head and swerved to the left, narrowly avoiding a particularly large, buried rock. Er, right, it was best to pay attention to the situation at hand. Anyway, what Noe’s wonderful analysis told me, all told in moron-sized pieces so my tiny mind could understand-

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Excess praise will get you nowhere, dear Walter.”

-was that Eric was now able to make a reasonable impersonation of Jae-Hyun and kind of tell the future. Or more precisely, he was able to make very accurate predictions of my moves, and he had to have had some inside knowledge of the nature of this Trial. However, according to Noe, that information was flawed or at the very least not complete. How lacking that was, my system couldn’t be sure, but she assured me that I didn't have to worry about my trap with the treasure map failing. No Sponsor would be able to outmaneuver my precious Noe, but these new revelations were troubling. I’d have to be extra careful when trying to spring further traps now that I knew Eric wasn’t working blind.

That part of his newfound gifts was easy enough to see, what with Noe’s whole gimmick being manipulating casual events, but his other abilities were still questionable. We could tell that Eric could send beams of energy through his hands but Noe, who was using my mana-less body as her basis of observation, couldn’t tell me anything else about that ability other than it was magical. In other words, we had no idea what else he could do, or even if he could do anything other than send out energy blasts. I think it goes without saying that we were just as clueless as to how Eric was controlling the other Aspirant’s bodies, but it did seem he had a very limited ability to do so.

All of this was to say that I learned absolutely nothing of use in those hours I spent observing the group when it came to dealing with Eric myself, other than the fact that I’d probably get floored if I chose to fight him head-on. I mean, while I’m sure that I could deflect those force blasts with my Absolute Luck, I had a sneaking suspicion that it’d cost a lot to do so. The fight would grind down to a battle to see who ran out of resources first: my charges, or his mana reserves. Since the only thing I knew about a Sponsorship was that the Aspirant could borrow the literal powers of a god, I was willing to admit that Eric would most likely win that fight.

So once again it would be the sneaky, deceitful method of fighting for me. It plays to my strengths, I will readily admit, and it wasn’t like I didn’t like cheating my way to victory, but one of these days I’d like to know what it feels like to dominate a strong foe in single combat.

“No you would not, my Host,” Noe interrupted, “I have been with you for long enough to know your general thought patterns. Victory in single combat against a sufficiently strong foe will be filled with pain, anguish, and fatigue. Even if you end up victorious, I calculate a 96.42% likelihood that you will complain about the event.”

I sighed. Alright, Noe, you seem especially chatty today. What would you recommend we do?

“Easy,” she replied, “Our plans do not deviate too much from before. The biggest unknown is the Ascended Eric, but even his newfound abilities pale in comparison to Greta’s. Therefore, the solution is simple. He is still blinded by the prospect of hidden rewards and will pursue the clues we have left him, and all analysis shows that he will continue to pursue that. Given his distrust of his comrades, he will almost certainly go to the hut personally, but I doubt that he will bring the whole squad with him. Remember that you specified that only the first five individuals may retain the reward.”

Right, I did add that… So we hedge our bets on Greta taking care of him for us?

“That outcome is unlikely, my Host,” Noe answered, “Greta is constrained by too many shackles, and while I can manipulate the notifications sent out by the Trash Matrix, it would be wise to assume that Eric’s new precognitive abilities will prevail this situation.”

So you’re saying that he’d see through your rouse?

“No, only that he would have additional information to work with. Most likely he will not step into the trap himself and will instead use his followers as test subjects, but either way, he will be busy there. It is not a safe proposition to hedge our bets on such an unknown quantity. We are still in the dark as to what that Aspirant can do, so we should assume the worst.”

Alright, so we have Greta distract him for a while, then what?

“We go to the ritual site and ensure it completes without issue, of course. That was one of our primary goals, or have you forgotten, my Host?”

Right. I blushed. Okay, I’ll admit I almost forgot, what with all the crazy stuff happening. Maybe that’s why the Trash Matrix gives out instructions one at a time, with all of them so well defined. That’s one thing I miss about being in these Trials.

Luck System Notification:

Mission: Ensure the safe completion of the Village Ceremony

Reward: Noe’s eternal thanks.

Failure: Noe’s eternal nagging.

Ha ha, Noe. I rolled my eyes. But wait, you did assign me system missions before. How come there were never any others?

“Because Luck System Missions are exceedingly rare, dear Walter,” Noe explained, “And they were mainly assigned before I obtained most of my functions as a safeguard to ensure that I could assist my Host even in my most limited capacity.”

Does that mean I won’t get any more?

“You have been completing various missions already, my Host, it is just that I have not explicitly stated them via System Messages. I had thought it easier to simply tell you myself.”

But what were the rewards?

“All of the new System Abilities.”

Ah. That makes sense.

I could hear a slight, playful laugh. “Would the Host like to have me reinstate the System Missions?”

No, it’s fine. It feels more personal if you just spoke to me like normal, no need to regress to how you were before all this.

“Acknowledged," she said, mimicking that same androgynous tone she started out with. Seems she still had a good sense of humor. I rolled my eyes and allowed her to continue. “Now I think it is best that we head to the ritual site. The ceremony should start in a few hours, and the Aspirants will be informed of the location soon after. We have a slight headstart due to their failure of the first mission, but we should be there early to ensure it progresses smoothly in any case.”

I nodded. Let’s get going then. We’re almost at the home stretch.