We’d paused at the elevator, leaving the disgusting and decidedly eerie boss chamber behind. No one wanted to wait to level up. Probably for the best, just in case anything happened on our way out.

Unable to help myself, I’d pulled up the boon’s description again.

I had to read it a few times to make sure I was understanding correctly. Some miniscule part of me couldn’t help but wonder what it would look like if I’d received four boons, rather than one.

It was a considerable step forward.

In a solo encounter, Talia would likely make up the majority of the damage. Audrey was fantastic for sneak attacks and distractions. Having them both out was incredibly taxing on my mana, to the point where doing so for the boss had given me a terrible headache in only a few minutes.

And it was the solution to a hypothetical I’d been puzzling over for a while: What would happen if a stealth situation with Audrey went sideways? It was likely impossible to summon Talia when my focus was split. Which left me at a massive disadvantage.

Or rather, it had.

I’d have to test it, but if the mana drain reduction from having them both summoned and stored was significant enough, it made me far more flexible in any given encounter.

Nick was sitting across from me, one leg propping up his arm. He blew a strand of hair out of his face a bit too emphatically. “Okay. Matt, help?”

“You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“There are too many perks, and I’m a kid in a candy shop over here.”

“What are perks?” I looked at him blankly.

Nick rolled his eyes. “Feats, you pedant.”

I ignored Sae’s, “Ooooh,” from where she sat next to Jinny. “Guessing I can’t talk you into taking Awareness?”

“Nope.”

“Considering how powerful it is, something specific to your class would probably be best. How many class-specific perks do you have to choose from?”

Matt scrolled through what had to be three or four pages of class-specific perks before he gave up. “A lot.”

It was hard not to be jealous. Most of the Ordinator perks I had available were either locked, or of the leach-off-a-friendly-party-like-a-rat variety. Then again, I had a whole other class to tap from now.

“Judging from this entire experience? Our biggest weakness is how small your shield is,” I said.

“It’s average!” Nick exclaimed.

I shook my head. “Not what I mean. Though a slightly bigger shield would be better, when Strength and availability allows. What I’m talking about is directionality. It’s unlikely I’m going the Strength route any time soon. Agility meshes much better with what I’m comfortable with, which unfortunately makes you our only defense.”

“You’re talking about flanks.” Nick realized.

“Flanks, bad fights, moments where one or more of us overextends. Sae, Jinny, and I are pretty mobile, but in their case I imagine it’s difficult to cast while running away.”

The two of them nodded from their corner of the elevator.

“This trial was… far more involved than anything we’ve dealt with so far.” Nick’s expression turned thoughtful.

“Before, the monsters mostly just ran straight at us. These bugs were a lot more coordinated.” Sae agreed.

“It was the boss, I think. She was coordinating them. Complex mobs are probably going to get more common as we level. We need a way to hunker down. If you have anything that can buy us time when we’re flanked, or time to regroup, it could thoroughly change the tide of a battle.”

“Got it.”

Nick scrolled through his screens, his expression intense. In all the time I’d known him, I’d never seen him look so serious about anything.

He was really taking his role as party leader in stride.

“Helpline?” Sae waved at me. “I was leaning more towards poison than frost before this. But now I’m not convinced. Without the frost buffs, I would have been mostly dead weight the entire trial.”

I sighed. “Are you really going to keep calling me Helpline?”

“Will it affect the quality of advice you give me?” Sae asked.

“No.”

“Then yes.” She grinned.

“Whatever. How does your casting level, exactly?”

Sae flipped through her screens. “I’m unlocking a new element every couple levels or so. What I can do with them is affected by perks. Feats.” She glared at Nick. “Now you’ve got me doing it.”

“So poison for damage over time, frost for slow and debuff?”

“Yup.”

“Hm.” I put a hand to my forehead. Even if I’d decided to try to make this work, there were still things I needed to hide from them. But going overboard in that regard was a moronic way to lose trust. “Focus on poison for now. It may have not been helpful here, but I can definitely see it being useful. Anything that increases lethality. If we run into anything we really need to slow down, I can sub in.” I pulled my hand crossbow from my inventory, showing it to the group and explaining what it did.

Sae looked at the weapon with interest. “The spider give you that?”

I hesitated. “Brought it into the trial, actually. I’m not all that accurate with it, but figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a ranged option.”

To my surprise, no one gave me the second degree or interrogated me on where I’d gotten the funds for it. Maybe it was because I hadn’t disclosed the rarity of the item, or maybe this was yet another case of the average person being nowhere near as suspicious as me. They were just happy to be alive.

Jinny asked if I had any feat or ability to use with it, and encouraged me to seek something along those lines. I agreed as lip-service at first, until I realized that she was right. Page might have something that would help me round out my repertoire.

Matt

Level 9 Ordinator

Identity: Matt, Level 5 Page

Strength: 6

Toughness: 6

Agility: 13

Intelligence: 15

Perception: 8

Will: 14

Companionship: 1

Active Title: Born Nihilist

Feats: Double-Blind, Ordinator’s Guile I, Ordinator’s Emulation, Stealth I, Awareness I, Harrowing Anticipation,

Skills: Probability Spiral, LVL 13. Suggestion, LVL 15. One-handed, LVL 9. Unsparing Fang (Emulated), Level 6.

Summons: Audrey — Flowerfang Hybrid, Bond LVL 3. Talia — Revenant Wolf, Bond LVL 1

Selve: 59,561 (-100 per week)

Skill Points Available: 3. Feat points available: 4.

<>

I sifted through the Page Class’s available feats. There were far fewer feats available than what Nick had claimed to have, but far more than what was available to me as an Ordinator at the moment. As luck would have it, there were some ranged options as well. One stood out more than the rest.

It was more utilitarian and less eclectic than most of my feats, but that did nothing to diminish how useful it sounded. I’d been long overdue for an ability that affected my crossbow, and this more than fit that bill. I wondered if there was a limit, or if I could also use the skill as a workaround for a faster reload, placing it into my inventory and then drawing it back out. If it didn’t automatically reload my crossbow, I could always buy a second. Or a third. Or a fourth.

With that in mind, I placed one point in Intelligence, two in Agility. I leveled first with Sae, both of us reduced to a groaning, sweating mess as Jinny and Nick stood guard. Then we traded places.

Everyone quickly stood to their feet.

“I thought more than one group could go through the Trial?” Jinny pointed out.

“Probably resets after a clear,” Nick said. He stepped forward onto the activation tile, and the elevator began to rise. Thankfully, it rose beyond its original stopping point, meaning we wouldn’t be forced to go back through the split-group gauntlet again.

I took up the back, my thoughts entirely taken up by group dynamics and tactics, when Jinny fell in step beside me.

“For someone who’s only planning to be around some of the time, you’re fitting in pretty well.” Jinny said. The comment was more than a little transparent.

“There are other things I need to do, but I want to at least make sure Nick lands okay.”

“And after? Do you see yourself staying with us long term?” Jinny prompted.

It was surprising to realize that I did. I’d looked down on them initially for being so naive and unprepared. Going through the trial had completely turned that impression around. They all had their quirks, yes, but they were all competent. I hadn’t been able to spot any fatal flaws in their dynamic. For a group that had come together almost entirely by chance, they were solid.

It was strange to feel that confident in anyone, let alone an entire group.

After the silence had gone on far too long to be comfortable, I finally spoke. “I’ll make you a deal.”

“Yes?” Jinny looked at me curiously.

“You want to make a difference, right?”

“More than anything,” She answered.

“I’ll do what I can to help you. Either we find you a heart, or a way to make that impact—as powerful as you’ll end up, I really don’t think the latter will be difficult. And I’ll seriously consider staying with the group long term.”

Jinny blinked. “Generous. But I’m still waiting to hear my end.”

It was hard to find the words. Why was I so bad at this? A small bit of detritus caught my eye, and I kicked at it as we passed. “Just… don’t throw your life away for something that doesn’t matter. You have—what—three, four months now? That’s more than some people. More than a lot of people, probably. Don’t waste it. Make it count.”

Her lips quirked in amusement. “Inspirational, for a cynic.”

“Okay.” I rolled my eyes.

“Thought you’d be one of those, everyone-is-shit and everything-we-do-is-meaningless types.”

“No. I have… trust issues.” I rubbed the back of my head. “And maybe I don’t like people, much. But anyone can be useful.”

And that’s the problem. You never know who will be.

“I think… I’m starting to understand you, Matt.” Jinny suddenly pivoted on her heel, facing me directly, and stuck out her hand. “Deal.”

I shook it, feeling more than a little sheepish.

A notification popped up.

Quest: Light in the Darkness

Primary Objective — Help Jinny accomplish her goal with the time she has left.

Secondary Objective — Find a solution to her physical malady.

Personal Objective — Remain unidentified by other Users.

Threat Level: ???

EXP GAIN ???

Time Limit: ???

Reward: ???

I immediately scanned to the time limit before reading the rest in detail, hoping it would give more insight to how much time she actually had. Unfortunately, it seemed even more vague than many of the previous, already obtuse objectives had been.

“I’m happy you’ll be around,” Jinny said. A blonde bang had fallen out of place, obscuring my view of her expression. “I feel like the four of us are going to do great things together.”

By the time we reached the front entrance, there was less than five minutes left. The door had been replaced with a permeable membrane. Talia went out first to scout ahead—only after did I realize how pointless that was. She probably couldn’t return now that the trial was over. Nick exited, Jinny trailing behind him, then Sae.

It’s okay to admit you like them.

Was that telling me to be more sentimental? Maybe it was just tired of me doing mental gymnastics to justify the choices I was making. Still, for the first time since this whole thing had started—possibly since my late childhood—it felt like everything was going to be okay.

I stepped through the divider, darkness overtaking my senses during the transition.

And that was when the screaming started.