Chapter 9: Dee - Meeting + Adam - Group Trial (Rank II)

“A-and it’s… really okay, for me to just… use your sword? I mean… you’re the one who earned it, I-I don’t want to-“

“Damn, girl, just take it already! Have you not seen how much he loves his brand-fucking-new one?”

Dee continued to stammer a bit. “B-but what if it, I don’t know, breaks or something? Shouldn’t he keep it as a… backup?”

Adam gave a friendly smile to the young woman who had shown up two days ago. “If something actually breaks a Rank II sword, I’ll have bigger problems than not having a backup sword. This beautiful thing can slice through Training Dummies like butter! I don’t even mind that I had to fight three of them at once just to get it...”

Carl laughed and slapped Dee on the back, then smiled sheepishly when he noticed how startled she was. “Sorry about that. But Adam is right. Unless he wants to go full war-god and wield two swords at once, there’s basically no reason for him not to give it to you. After all, he’s been wanting to practice sword-fighting with me for a while now, even though I’m not any good at it. If you’re at all willing, then take it!”

Dee slowly nodded, then looked over at Erving. “Er… what do you think?”

Erving thought for a while, as he usually did before speaking. “There’s an old saying I remember. ‘Don’t look a horse’s gift in the mouth’. It means you should accept kindness when it is offered.”

Dee didn’t know what horses had to do with it, but finally agreed. “Alright. I’ll… I’ll do my best with it.”

Adam presented his old sword with grace. He then spoke up. “Great, now on to our next order of business, hopefully before-“

“GAHHHH!”

“Be…fore… today’s arrival wakes up… I guess not, huh? Carl? You got her covered?”

Carl gave a simple salute to Adam, who he considered the de facto leader of their little group. He went to handle the newest person who had startled awake from the endless walk through the mist, just as he had done for Dee and Erving before.

Adam continued. “As I was saying… I think we’re basically ready to do a Group Trial. I got my Enhancements in speed and strength. Beth has 2 techniques and 2 pieces of equipment, meaning she’s almost ready for her Rank Up. The Trial System hasn’t said one way or the other about whether people with maxed-out rewards can still take a Group Trial, but we should probably assume the opposite.”

Beth nodded along. “Yeah, I get a fucking… notification, thing, when Adam tries to do a Group Trial with me. So, we know us poor sad Rank I folks can do ‘em. We just don’t know how prepared we should be. It says the difficulty is based on the ‘number and skills of the Trial-Takers’ but doesn’t say how.”

Adam grimaced. “Yeah… really wish I could get more information about it, but the System seems pretty tight-lipped. Not that it… has lips… you know what I mean. Dee and Erving, though? You two are invited to the Group Trial, too. Carl has already declined.”

Beth shook her head. “Hey, uh uh, Dee can *maybe* come, but we aren’t taking Erving. Do you really think his pacifist schtick is gonna help us, there?”

Adam raised an eyebrow. “Pacifist ‘schtick’? I hadn’t heard about this. Erving, have you done any trials, yet? I forgot to ask for an update.”

Erving nodded, slowly. “Other than the ‘Refreshments’, I have done two.”

After waiting for a while, Adam spoke up once more. “Aaand… what were they?”

Erving didn’t speak for a while, almost to the point that Adam thought he had fallen asleep. Erving was a bit older than the rest of them, but surely not *that* old, right?

Erving did speak up eventually. “Two Techniques. Meditation… and Calm.”

Beth shot a ‘see, I told you!’ look towards Adam. Adam pressed forward, though. “Would you mind explaining what these techniques do, then?”

“Meditation… allows me to clear my mind. And Calm… allows my emotions to remain calm.”

Beth shook her head. “I don’t think you *have* emotions, old man! Or a mind, for that matter! What made you decide to get two of the same fucking Technique? Especially when that second one is so-”

Adam tried to put his hand on her shoulder, which she dodged. Still, he rebuked her. “Beth, please don’t antagonize our fellow Trial-Takers. I know you mean well, but-“

Erving spoke up once more. “It’s fine, lad. There’s an old saying I remember. ‘A woman’s hell hath no scorn.’ It means you shouldn’t anger those of the fairer sex.”

Adam sighed, not sure where Erving got these ‘sayings’ from. Regardless, both he and Beth were essentially correct. “Let’s take a step back. Erving, would you mind explaining why you got two Techniques that are so… similar? Also, I am curious what these Trials were actually like…”

Erving nodded. “When I arrived here, I was afraid. Confused. Scared. You said I could ask these messages for anything I wanted. I wanted to stop feeling so anxious, so that’s what I asked for. What you call the ‘Trial System’ provided. At first, I was to neither stand up nor speak for an hour. When I was finished, it got me the book of Meditation. It aided me, but I still felt a bit worried about… well, all this. Meditation allowed me periods of time to reflect, but standing up or opening my eyes breaks the spell…”

Beth nodded. “Yeah, that part all makes kind of sense. Dude was kind of a wreck before… and who knows, maybe Meditation could lead to some sort of warrior-monk battle-trance deal. It’s what he did afterward that, if anything, kinda weirds me out.”

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Erving shook his head. “There is no need to feel ‘weirded’, young miss. I personally requested for the System to grant me a new Technique, one that would passively aid me in feeling better. And while the Trial was… difficult, I succeeded. And, as before, the System provided.”

Adam frowned. “I don’t get it. What’s the difference between the two skills, exactly?”

Beth spoke up. “The difference is that one is an okay way to relax, and the other is a fucking lobotomy! He told me that Calm is *always on*. It re-writes his fucking brain, and it’s ALWAYS ON!”

Adam looked back at Erving. “Erving, is that true? You can’t turn it off?”

Erving smiled and shook his head. “There’s an old saying I remember. ‘A man’s wise slave has no emotions’. It means you shouldn’t allow feelings to cloud your judgement. Calm is not as strong as active Meditation, so its true power comes from the way it is working at all times, yes. I could force it off, but why in the world would I do that? Why would I seek out fear and misery? With only 2 Trials, I have achieved enlightenment. I am at peace.”

Adam shook his head. “I don’t agree with your way of thinking… but if you’re happy, then I’ll try to be happy for you. It’s just a shame that we don’t have your help with the Trials. Dee, how about you? Beth said you got Dodge like she did, is there anything else you want before the Group Trial? A Technique for that sword, maybe?”

Dee gave a sheepish grin. “I-if it’s all the same to you, I’d r-rather you two… do the Group Trial first? I-I’ll do the next one, I swear! I just… I don’t like going into the unknown… Uh, what was the Trial for your Sword Technique like?”

Adam shrugged. “It was pretty simple, just defeat a training dummy. It probably would be easier for you than it would be for me, since you haven’t forced it to up the difficulty. You’ll do great, I’m sure. But if that’s all, then Beth and I will get going. Any final thoughts? Anyone?”

Dee shook her head ‘no’, and Erving was as silent as usual. Adam and Beth took that as a sign to go a bit off into the distance, not wanting anyone else to get caught up in the fight. Adam had experimented with getting close to other people’s Trials in the past, but he always got pushed back by some invisible force. But Group Trials seemed… different. It would be interesting to actually fight as a pair, rather than on his lonesome.

“Okay, uh… I would like to take a Group Trial!”

Group Trial: (Rank II)

Invite 1-4 other Trial-Takers to continue.

“Beth?”

“Can’t believe you fucking talked me into this, but… yeahhhh fine. Accept.”

Group Trial - 2 Person: (Rank II)

Calculating Trial Aspects…

-Aspect 1: Strength Enhancement (Rank I)

-Defeat 5 Training Dummies which each possess Rank I Strength Enhancements.

-Aspect 2: Dodge Technique

-Training Dummies are significantly more likely to evade attacks.

-Trial Constraints: No outside interference.

-Trial Penalty: +24hr delay for next Group Trial.

Continue?

Adam looked that over for a while. Beth spoke up: “So, it’s kinda like how you described that Rank Up Trial, but nothing about ‘failure means you fucking die’, so that’s nice.”

Adam nodded. “Yeah, I guess the Trials we take really do affect what kinds of Trials we get in the future. Makes me wonder what would happen if we could convince Erving to participate…”

Beth shook her head vehemently. “Bet it would tack on that we had to feel no emotions while fighting or some shit. You want to do it with him, leave me out of it!”

Adam gave a small smile. “That’s some interesting phrasing, there. But no, I agree that the Trials are pretty combat oriented, even if we had a pacifist in the group. But we’re getting side-tracked. Ready?”

Beth paused for a bit, thinking. Then, after some hesitation: “Ready”.

Trial Selected.

The first thing Adam noticed was that these were not ordinary training dummies. Three of them somewhat resembled the one he typically fought against, and the other two were the more feminine ones that Beth fought. But they all had far thicker arms, legs, and torsos.

‘That’s a lot more effect from a Strength Enhancement than I got…’, thought Adam. ‘Maybe because they don’t have much in the way of internal organs?’

Regardless of Adam’s musings, the duo was surrounded by the 5 dummies. Adam hadn’t experienced that before, even when he got his Rank II sword. There, the three dummies were all in a row, in front of him. And also, these dummies… weren’t… attacking?

“Uhh, did the Trial fucking… not start yet, or something?”, asked Beth. Adam was more realistic: “They’re waiting for us to make the first move. To leave an opening for them to exploit.”

Beth nodded, grimly. “Well, then. Let’s not give’m one. Back-to-back?” Adam nodded, impressed by her quick thinking. With the two facing in opposite directions, at least one of them could see any of the 5 dummies.

Beth brought up her bow and began to draw back an arrow, aiming at one of the feminine dummies. “Well, if they aren’t gonna start any fights, then might as well-“

At that point, the dummy she was aiming at sprung into action, cartwheeling forward in a manner unlike any dummies Adam had seen before. Beth, to her credit, was somewhat expecting this, and quickly decided to take her shot at the dummy to its right.

The arrow hit the thing’s center of mass, stabbing deep into it. Beth had mentioned previously that she was able to re-collect her arrows after the Trials were over, provided they hadn’t broken in the process of killing the dummies. From what Adam could tell, the large dummy’s Strength Enhancement tipped the scales towards the latter outcome. It was still now sprawled on the ground, though, mimicking the effect of a person being shot in the chest.

While watching the shot dummy, though, Adam missed one of the feminine dummies sneaking up on his side. It wielded a dagger, like Beth’s, and was rather quick to use it. Adam barely parried it, his Technique being more used to blocking swords of similar sizes to his own. The dummy then quickly followed up with an additional underhand stab, which got Adam in between his ribs. He grunted in pain, having not been hurt this badly in a while. A Rank II Refreshment Trial was in his future.

A well-timed left-handed Punch to the feminine dummy’s face was able to make it stumble, after which his Rank II Sword made short work of it. He was very happy with his first Rank II reward, and hoped his reward for this trial would be half as good.

He then did an exaggerated chop towards one of the larger dummies, which it started to avoid. Adam had hoped that the dummies’ stated tendency to evade would be their downfall. He kicked out his leg in the direction he figured the dummy would dodge and tripped it. It fell flat on its nonexistent face, which Adam quickly separated from the rest of its body.

Adam considered how his Enhancements were helping him. He definitely was able to sprint faster, as he proved by bursting forwards towards the next dummy. His Rank II sword was also probably better wielded by his somewhat better-muscled arms. The improvements were a bit minor overall, but they were also permanent and improved the effectiveness of any equipment he wielded by a noticeable amount. Overall? He was happy.

As Adam finished off the second masculine dummy, Beth completed the process of stabbing the third in the neck. She would later go on to state it took several more stabs than usual to get it down, as whatever passed for the thing’s skin was a lot tougher.

But at that moment, all Adam and Beth cared about was the rather fantastic *POP* sound that came with winning a Trial. Left behind were two objects, and it was obvious that the helmet was for Adam.

Picking it up, he noted that it was similar to a knight’s… not that he was sure how he knew what a ‘knight’ was. Still, it was fairly easy to put on, and didn’t block his vision *too* much. He then looked over at Beth.

“’Quick Draw’, huh? Guess ‘personalized’ is right… I coulda used that in the Trial itself. Annnnd yup, it’s saying I now need to do my Rank Up Trial, or else. Well, let’s go talk to Dee. Homegirl needs some encouragement that these Group Trials aren’t all bad… Oh, and I guess see how the new girl is handling things.”