Although he knew it might be a bad idea, Adam sold his Bone Armour to be able to afford the Fiendbarb Relic. He also purchased a Reroll, which he thought he might need for the Stage Three Relic reward since he’d gotten crap twice in a row during this loop.

  < < Relics Purchased > >

  < Fiendbarb (Epic) >

  < Reroll Die (Uncommon) >

  < 28 Points Remaining >

  28 Points… I guess I can’t spend that anywhere. Shame Luvicidix is only here during the day.

  Adam headed back to the Tavern. The leaf-shaped tip of his spear was now replaced with the bone-cactus-looking Fiendbarb. He wanted to try it out in the Player House before he went to sleep, but first he wanted to talk some more with his friends.

  When he entered the Tavern, he saw that Belamouranthe was still sleeping and now covered with a blanket. The red ant was sitting on a chair next to the girl, watching her sleep. He paused for a moment in the doorway to look at the strangely-human affection the giant ant displayed.

  Even though they are both fictional creatures created for the Trials, they just seem so real. I wonder if the vendors and Yenna the wasp all take a breather like this when I’m not looking.

  Charlie immediately stood up when she saw him.

  “Don’t worry about it, Charlie. You can sit back down again.”

  “Would you like me to bring you anything to eat or drink?” she asked, ever the attentive tavernkeeper.

  “Maybe later,” he replied.

  She remained standing.

  “Sit down,” he repeated. “I don’t need anything right now.”

  “I am not allowed to relax while you are present.”

  Adam frowned and looked to Shitbox.

  “Tell her to take a break.”

  [The Tavernkeeper will take a break when you are not present.]

  “Why the fuck are you torturing the insects too!?”

  [She is fulfilling the role granted to her by the All-Seeing System. To disobey would be to face its punishment.]

  He took a deep breath, trying not to get angry at something he couldn’t change.

  For a moment, Adam almost wanted to leave again, just so the ant could take a goddamn break. But he relented and sat down on a stool next to the Elphin girl.

  “Actually, could you bring me an espresso?”

  “Of course. Anything else?”

  He thought about it for a moment, as the seats all around him filled with holograms.

  “Two scoops of vanilla ice-cream and a warm lava cake. And I guess something that Belamouranthe might like, but I’ll leave that to your imagination.”

  Charlie giggled in that strange bubbly way of hers. It seemed she was happy to be allowed to serve the girl something too. The thought made him a bit sad, since she was clearly the motherly type who loved to take care of others.

  It must be hard to have such a personality and then not being allowed to follow her instincts unless I tell her to…

  Why the fuck is the System also this cruel against the NPCs of this world?

  Is suffering the only thing it seeks?

  Adam let out a sigh.

  I can’t worry about that right now. I have to stay focused for what comes next.

  “Show me Willow Martin and Lenard Schulz.”

  [Understood.]

  The tables cleared of holograms until just two remained further down the table in the middle of the room. They were already talking to each other and Adam felt a childish pang of envy for a microsecond, but shoved it away.

  “I’m back,” he said, drawing their attention.

  Their holograms flickered and reappeared opposite him.

  “You were gone quite a while,” Willow said.

  “I went back to the Market and then hit up Alivida, before returning to the Tavern to find someone to explain a Relic I wanted to buy.”

  He showed them how his spear had transformed.

  “You sold your armour to afford it?” she asked, looking worried.

  “The extra defence is nice, but if I can kill things quicker, I won’t need to take any hits.”

  “That sounds reckless,” Lenard remarked.

  Adam ignored the comment. “Did you end up getting a second weapon?”

  He nodded. “I had just enough Points left over from before Stage Two to afford it all. I bought my twelfth upgrade and got another Mastery Shard from the evolution. Then I bought the Second Sheath from the moth and purchased the Defender Weapon Type.”

  “Does it change your stats at all?” Adam asked.

  “I had to pick which of the two Weapon Types’ stats I wanted to use. I chose Defender because of its higher defence.”

  Interesting. Second Sheath suddenly seems way more useful. It would be possible to take the Defender sword and shield, and then use the Movement, Stamina, and Damage stats from Lancer instead.

  “That’s not a bad pick,” he said. “What did you evolve your bow into?”

  Lenard grinned and lifted his new weapon up onto the table. It was a large crossbow. “I evolved from Trickster into Bounty Hunter. Aside from the weapon change, all my headshots now deal double damage.”

  “Nice,” Adam muttered.

  It will undoubtedly kill anything he hits, but a crossbow like that is difficult to reload. If he didn’t have the other weapon thanks to Second Sheath, he’d be screwed in fights against more than one enemy…

  I wonder if there are Relics to offset such an obvious demerit. I thought for sure he’d get a repeating crossbow or something, given that his previous evolution was speed-based.

  “What was the other evolution choice?” Adam asked.

  “Quickshot. It was a differently-shaped shortbow that had the ability to ricochet arrows.”

  That was definitely the better pick of the two, Adam thought to himself.

  He looked at Willow and her thoughts were painted on her face, clear as day. She obviously thought he’d picked wrong as well.

  “What did you buy?” Adam asked her.

  “I bought something called an Echo Earring. It’ll make the Acid Burst explode twice. I also got the Yellow Trophy to give me a speed boost when I need it. And then I bought two Rerolls. I used the rest of my Points on just rerolling the Relics that Lucca sold…”

  Adam laughed. “That’s exactly what I did too. But I think this thing will help me a lot in the next Stage,” he said, tapping the Fiendbarb with a finger of his Slime Glove.

  He briefly explained how it worked, although he obviously hadn’t tested it himself yet.

  “What do you think we’ll fight next Stage?” Lenard asked.

  “Before that,” Adam interjected. “What about my prize? What do I get for being right about the Goblins!?”

  Willow laughed.

  “Technically, you said Orcs and I suggested Goblins,” Lenard said.

  “That’s besides the point!” he insisted, a smile on his face. “You picked Wolves!”

  Charlie arrived with Adam’s dessert, espresso, and what looked like a massive turkey drumstick for Bel. The Elphin girl immediately woke up and started devouring the meat.

  Willow eyed Adam’s plate. “Didn’t you just have a massive feast of food earlier?”

  “It’s weird, I don’t actually feel full after gorging myself in here,” he replied.

  “I noticed that too,” said Lenard.

  “You’ll develop bad habits for when we’re released from these Trials,” she cautioned.

  A pensive mood fell over them at that prospect and no one said anything for a while.

  “Do you really think there’s a way out?” Lenard eventually asked.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I’d like to think so,” she replied.

  They looked to Adam, but he just shrugged. “I hope so,” he said, though his real thoughts on the matter were more complex than that. “Anyway, I think the next Stage will be an escort to get Bel back to her mother.”

  The girl was still busy devouring her drumstick and, like the tesseract, it seemed that she couldn’t hear what Adam said when his words were directed at the holograms of his friends.

  “If it’s an escort, then it has to be an ambush,” Lenard said.

  Adam nodded.

  “How are you two so certain about these things?” Willow asked.

  “It’s because the Stages are like a videogame,” he replied.

  “So far it has been very cliché,” Lenard added.

  “So if it’s an ambush, what will we be fighting?” she wondered.

  “Probably whoever wanted to buy Belamouranthe in the first place,” Adam said.

  “Buy her?” Lenard and Willow both asked, horror on their faces.

  “You didn’t ask her why she was kept prisoner?”

  “I didn’t want to pry,” Lenard said.

  Willow nodded.

  “Bel told me that the Hobgoblin kept her fed because she was to be sold,” Adam explained.

  “Oh, I didn’t even think about that,” Lenard said, “but that explains why she wasn’t malnourished!”

  “Weren’t you a policeman?” Adam asked, making a light jab at his lack of observational skills.

  “I wasn’t a detective or anything, but you’re right, I should have noticed. It’s just…”

  “What?”

  “She reminded me a lot of my Sarah. She turned nine this year.” The German had a small wistful smile on his face.

  I hope he doesn’t find out that the people kept in ‘holding’ are all dead… It would break him.

  “Do you think the enemies will be human?” Willow asked, trying to return to the topic.

  “Bel told me that her people have ‘magic in their veins’, whatever that means,” Adam explained. “I’m guessing that whoever wanted to buy her has some evil purpose in mind, so humans are probably a safe bet.”

  “Or Demons,” Lenard said, clearly appalled by the concept Adam laid out.

  “It would be too early for Demons,” he replied. “They’re always kept for later.”

  Lenard grinned. “I knew you’d say that.”

  “Are we making another bet?” Willow asked. “If so, then I’m saying humans.”

  “Hey, not fair!” Adam complained.

  Lenard laughed. “I guess I’ll pick Demons then.”

  He frowned, not sure what else he could pick. “I’ll go for a twist and guess it’ll be Elphin. Like maybe some rogue faction from her Sanctuary.”

  When Charlie announced that the Tavern was closing, Adam headed back to his Player House with Belamouranthe. She was skipping along the cobblestones between the dumpy houses, clearly full of energy. He was starting to fear that she might not be able to sleep since she’d already rested for hours in the Tavern.

  Suddenly, the Elphin girl stopped in her tracks and looked up at the radiant silver moon.

  “I am glad we are beneath a familiar light,” she said poetically.

  I suppose that is a comfort. It would’ve been weird if this fake world had no moon.

  After returning to the Player House, Adam checked on the status of his Glass Acorn.

  < < Secret Relic > >

  < Glass Acorn (Rare) — Grows for 2 Stages >

  Just 2 more Stages and I’ll see what it does.

  In the garden next to the Secret Relic was a new creature. It was a tiny green goblin. It was sleeping next to the blue slime from Stage One.

  Such an odd detail.

  If there really are dozens of Stages, then this garden will eventually become quite busy with critters…

  He headed inside the house and found that there was a small new bed by the foot of his own giant one. Belamouranthe immediately beelined for it and laid down. Within seconds she was asleep.

  I hope I don’t wake her up while I practice with my new Relic.

  Adam went over to the practice dummy. It was the usual strawman version right now.

  He lunged forward with the spear, driving the new bone tip deep into the dummy. When he pulled it out, a gaping hole was left behind.

  Nothing happened after that.

  Is it not working?

  Then he realised his mistake.

  It’s called ‘Blood’ Burst for a reason…

  “Change the dummy into a goblin.”

  [There are 3 versions to pick between: Green, Blue, & Yellow.]

  “Can you turn it into the Hobgoblin boss?”

  [Of course.]

  The target dummy changed and became identical to the red Hobgoblin, even wearing the same bone armour.

  He nodded to himself. This was a good target to practice on.

  First he tried to see how bad the lack of armour penetration was. His thrust into the bone vest skidded off completely, pushing the dummy back a couple steps, but only leaving just a tiny gouge in the armour.

  Alright, that’s pretty bad. But that was to be expected.

  He circled around the Hobgoblin and jabbed his spear into its armpit just like he’d done during their fight.

  Before he could even retract his spear, a loud internal pop and crunch came from inside the wound.

  He pulled his spear free and fragments of crystallised blood were dislodged from the target’s body. The blood had taken on pointy gem-like shapes.

  Then the dummy flickered and reappeared back in its original spot.

  “That was enough to kill it?”

  [Yes.]

  Okay, that seems pretty strong.

  I’m not entirely sure what’s happening, but it seems like the Fiendbarb makes the blood solidify and take on strange crystalline shapes, which I bet does a lot of internal damage.

  Adam practised against the Hobgoblin dummy for a while, testing out the effects of glancing blows versus deep wounds. Even when his spear didn’t pierce the target, the Blood Burst was pretty devastating. Like Fah had told him, it basically poisoned the blood of his target, though the crystallisation was incredibly fast, so, depending on where he hit, the results varied a lot. If he struck the side of the target’s neck and introduced the poison to its carotid artery, the whole upper body became like a pin cushion as all the blood turned to crystals. If he struck somewhere without an artery and didn’t pierce into its organs, then the upper layer of skin and flesh became brittle like poor-quality glass. It was weakened to the point that a punch would completely destroy it.

  But there was an obvious downside, which he discovered as he changed his target into a slime.

  The Fiendbarb only worked if his target had blood.

  If I end up fighting insect creatures, I hope their haemolymph counts as blood.

  Any kind of elemental enemy, like slimes, will be a problem though.

  After spending about an hour training, Adam went over to his bed.

  He blinked in surprise at the things that lay atop it.

  It was the clothes that the Weaver had made for him and Belamouranthe.

  I completely forgot about this.

  The shirt, jeans, and socks were identical to what he was already wearing, but when he put them on, the feeling was completely different. It felt like he was wearing flexible clouds.

  He placed the green dress made for Bel in front of her bed, so she’d see it when she woke up.

  Then he went to sleep.

  In his dreams, he saw the giant eye in the cosmos. Two moths, black and white, circled each other like Yin and Yang.

  The moths converged at the centre of the iris, before taking on the silhouette of a man. The silhouette looked just like Adam.

  Then the eye blinked.

  < < Now Entering > >

  < Stage 3 >

  < Forest Escort >

  < 5 Waves >

  Adam awoke seated on a comfortable cushion. The world was rumbling and light flashed by outside through the window. Opposite him sat Belamouranthe, dangling her legs over the edge of the bench. She was wearing the green dress that Weaver had made for her.

  I was right about the escort, he realised.

  Adam looked around. The interior was made of lacquered wood, the cushions were green and silky-soft, and there were a door on either side. Set into the door was a narrow window, and beyond it was a forest landscape cast in an amber-orange afternoon glow. His spear leaned against the wall next to him.

  We’re in a carriage? That’s not what I expected…

  “Who is driving this?” he asked.

  There was no way to see to the front of the carriage, but he heard the sound of hooves.

  “Mine guardians. Mother sent them.”

  “Are they Elphin like you?”

  “Yes.”

  Adam clenched his jaw.

  This Stage has to revolve around an ambush then. There’s no other way I can picture it, unless I’m supposed to stand atop the carriage and fight off attackers, but that seems preposterous.

  Suddenly the carriage jerked to a halt. The shrieking sound of scared horses filled the air.

  “The road is blocked!” called a male voice from the front. “We have to find a way aro—!”

  Before the unseen speaker could finish, the crackle and snap of what sounded like lightning struck the carriage. The whole vehicle shook violently for a second.

  Shit! It’s starting right away!?

  Adam picked up his spear and hurried out the door.

  “Stay in here!” he told Belamouranthe.

  After closing the door behind him, he looked at the area.

  Yep… This is the area I’ll be fighting in.

  It was perfectly walled off. Ahead of him lay a gentle slope down into a sparsely-wooded area. There were some large rocks placed around at random, as though to provide cover from ranged attackers. The carriage was stopped in the middle of a dirt road, and in front of it was a collapsed tree, blocking the way. The way back was clear, but it would probably be foolish to try to escape on foot. Plus, he was pretty sure there’d be an impassable boundary. On the other side of the carriage was a dense wall of trees that was probably impassable as well.

  There weren’t any enemies in sight for now, but it seemed pretty obvious that they’d come up the slope to attack him. As he went around to look at the front of the carriage, he saw that there were two muscular Elphin men seated at the front. Both of them were dead. From the looks of them, it seemed they’d been struck with some kind of magic, since they had scorched holes through their heads. The two horses tied to the front of the carriage were unscathed, but they stomped nervously, clearly wanting to flee. Although they should’ve been able to simply take off, they didn’t go anywhere.

  Shitbox appeared from between the two dead drivers and floated over to Adam.

  [Stage Three will introduce objectives to the Trials. For the duration of the entire Stage, you must protect the carriage and its lone occupant. Should the Elphin child perish, you will be eliminated from the Trials.]

  < < Stage Objectives > >

  < Protect the carriage and the Elphin Child >

  < Complete all Waves >

  So, if Bel dies, I die… Crap.

  “Will she die if a timer runs out?”

  [No. If the Wave timer expires, the following Wave will still trigger, as per usual. However, it is possible for enemies to reach the carriage before the Wave timer expires, so please keep that in mind.]

  [Wave 1 will begin in 60 seconds.]

  Well, shit.

  Hold up. If their objective is to kill her, why do the ambush like this? That seems very contrived.

  I guess it doesn’t really matter.

  Adam hurried back to the carriage and opened the door.

  “Bel! If you see anyone that isn’t me come close, shout as loudly as you can, okay?”

  “Understood.”

  He shut the door again and then ran down the slope to look around the area. The whole area was dyed in the orange light of the setting sun, giving it a beautiful appearance.

  As he’d noted earlier, there weren’t a lot of trees in this particular area, but beyond a sort of rectangular field were densely-packed forest walls, similar to the clearing of the Magical Forest. The whole area he had to watch, counting the road with the carriage, was about 40 metres wide and 100 long. There were a total of three large rocks and only like thirteen trees, though they were thick enough to provide decent cover as well.

  [20 seconds remaining.]

  He had a decent enough feel for the area, so he ran back towards the carriage, while keeping an eye out for anywhere a Secret could be hidden away.

  Wait…

  He ran up to the front with the dead drivers and climbed up so he could look at them. Both men had stubby horns, grey silky hair, green eyes, and ashen skin. Appearance-wise, they didn’t have a lot in common with Belamouranthe, aside from the fact that they kind of looked like elves. They wore the same buttonless silken shirts and kilts that stopped just above the knees.

  Both had shortswords hanging from their hips, but when Adam tried to take one, it turned to dust in his hands.

  This shit again…

  Then he noticed that one of them had a silver necklace. It had a strangely-shaped pendant hanging from it. It was like a wireframed pyramid with a solid sphere inside it, and there were two ‘horns’ protruding from the front of the sphere.

  [5 seconds remaining.]

  Adam grabbed the necklace. It didn’t dissolve in his hands, so he quickly pulled it up over the head of the dead Elphin.

  < < Secret Relic Obtained > >

  < All-Mother’s Wrath (Rare) — When Player is damaged by an attack, curse attacker with Lethargy for 30 seconds. 1-minute cooldown >

  I can’t tell if that was poorly-hidden or if I’m an outlier for assuming they’d hide it on the drivers’ bodies…

  Still, this isn’t terrible, I guess. But I’m still better off not getting hit.

  I’m betting that Lethargy is like a kind of snare or slow effect. Or maybe it reduces Stamina and recovery perhaps.

  He slipped the necklace over his head.

  < < Wave One > >

  < 60-Second Timer >

  Down at the far end of the field came a rustling of the trees. From the sounds of it, it seemed to be a lone target. Adam tightened his grip on the spear and advanced.

  Here we go.