Nathan dashed towards Zhang. The Chinese man laid on the bank, his navy and blue tracksuit stained red. Nathan slowed as both Maya and Emma reached him first. The French player knelt and ripped the man’s shirt to expose the wound.

Zhang appeared to be in critical condition. Emma immediately applied pressure to the wound with her hands, unflinching as blood flowed around them. Nathan could hear her softly repeating the Advanced Healing skill name in French like a mantra. He knew it wouldn’t work, she didn’t have enough maximum EP to activate it.

Nathan’s own EP counter hit 20. Luckily, he hadn’t needed to use up his energy on a second attack buff during the battle, leaving him enough to do a First Aid. He channeled the skill into Zhang, watching as various scrapes and cuts on the man’s face and hands reversed their damage and disappeared.

Emma shook her head after the healing finished. “His spear wound hasn’t changed.”

Nathan nodded grimly, expecting the result. The wound was obviously worse than the ‘minor’ injury classification. At least the skill would give Zhang 3x natural recovery rate for six hours, assuming he survived that long. For any other medical assistance, Emma would be far more qualified to help than Nathan. Becoming a pseudo-medic was the last thing he’d ever imagined happening to him. He hoped she would have the Advanced Healing skill working soon, or at least a few other players would learn medical skills, taking the rest of the responsibility away from him.

Asahi, grunting in pain as he favored his leg, lowered himself next to the unconscious Zhang. A green glow of energy surrounded his hands as he channeled the Injury Stabilize skill into the player.

The older man said, “My skill should buy him twenty minutes, enough time to find a better solution. I do not know if Zhang is aware of the skill upgrade trick for self-healing, but he must be conscious for that to work. If he wakes, I will make sure he is informed.”

“Where’s Maria, the hot Costa Rican sheila?” Harrison asked loudly for anyone to hear. “There were two other blokes too.”

Nathan looked around. His focus had been solely on Zhang so hadn’t kept track of anything else happening. Many of the players had gathered by the creek’s edge. Nathan was relieved he could see Johanna still sleeping undisturbed by her tree.

“Somebody help!” shouted a young voice, tinged by a strange accent. It was coming from up the trail. Nathan guessed it was the tall boy, the one whose name he never caught.

“Maria’s dying!” another voice boomed from the same direction. The second voice was unmistakably Angelo, the New York man.

Nathan glanced at Emma and Maya. They both already had their hands full with Zhang, and Nathan had already given his recovery skill so wouldn’t be of much help otherwise. He sighed. The sight of more injuries was going to make him sick again, but he found his feet already carrying him up the dark trail.

He found the boy leaning over the fallen woman. Angelo was standing to the side, a look of shock and helplessness on his face. Nathan crouched next to Maria. It was difficult to make out the extent of her injuries, given the shady forest blocking the moonlight. The visibility had been considerably better down by the creek. The fighting conditions on the trail must’ve been horrendous.

Blood covered the woman’s face and body, making Nathan’s stomach turn in revulsion. He pressed on, quickly determining her worst injury was her neck. One of the razor sharp beaver horns must’ve stabbed or sliced her. He honestly wasn’t sure how she was still alive. Maybe she had a passive skill he didn’t know about?

What could he do? His EPs were already expended, and First Aid wasn’t likely to help anyway. He figured Asahi’s Injury Stabilize plus the Physical stat gain combo was her best shot. It had worked for Johanna anyway.

He placed his hands on her neck, feeling the warm liquid gush between his fingers. His entire body shook involuntarily. This was the worst injury he’d touched so far.

Asahi hustled up the trail, limping on his injured leg.

“What’s your EP count?” Nathan asked him.

“14... ten minutes until my skill is ready again.”

Nathan shook his head. That was a scary long time.

A bright glow caught his attention and he turned back to the woman. The tall boy next to him cried out. The woman’s body began to shine, the tell-tale sign of her transformation to pixelated light. After a few moments... the light faded. Nothing remained where she had lain.

Nathan sat for several seconds staring at the empty spot, his hands trembling, still wet with blood. He hadn’t known the woman, but the knowledge that someone died right below him was beyond unreal.

The boy next to him rolled on the ground in agony, his body heaving with wracking sobs. Nathan grimaced as he reflected on how traumatized the kid likely would be for the rest of his life. He knew he should be too, but somehow he was detached, like a stranger watching events playing out on a show. Asahi stood stoically behind them while Angelo turned his back to the others to hide his face.

After a minute, Nathan wiped the blood off his hands onto the ground, then patted the young player’s back, unsure of what else to do. The tall boy reacted by turning and hugging him. Nathan flinched in surprise before returning the embrace. The boy cried into his shoulder, his body convulsing in his grief. But Nathan couldn’t feel it… he was only numb.

Most of the other players had made their way up the trail when word of the casualty was passed around. The tall boy quickly pulled away from Nathan, obviously self-conscious now that they were in front of a gathering crowd.

Perhaps in response to his own deadened emotions, Nathan felt compelled to do something to compensate. He grabbed a handful of dirt and stood. Not counting the streaks of blood remaining on his hands, only a little red on a nearby plant proved evidence Maria ever existed. Nathan slowly released the soil through his fingers, watching the particles fall to the ground where she’d passed away.

Lilly, who had participated in David’s ceremony, followed his example, spreading dirt over the spot as well. Soon everyone joined the ceremony without needing an explanation. Maya and Emma were presumably tending to Zhang so didn’t participate. Nathan wasn’t even sure if they’d been informed of the casualty yet.

After everyone had placed their dirt, Asahi was the first to speak. “Maria fought bravely and achieved great honor. As she died, she turned to glittering stars. Her passing was beautiful in its own way.”

Lilly, the imposing Kenyan woman, suddenly screamed out in rage causing the surrounding players to flinch. She slammed her spear against a tree with a loud thwap. “What cow dung. There’s nothing beautiful about being stabbed by a rat!”

The players were too stunned to reply, all except for Asahi. He was a soldier so perhaps had trained for crises unlike the rest of them. He bowed his head respectfully to the tall woman. She turned and wordlessly walked off, whacking her spear at various weeds in her way.

For the next several minutes, morale was low as each person coped in their own way from the post battle fatigue and loss. Whenever someone spoke, they did so in a whisper. Nathan for his part couldn’t catch his own breath, his heart beating so hard he thought it might explode.

He could have done better. He failed Maria... just like he’d failed Kean. The guilt gnawed at his gut, and his anger surged in response. He directed his hatred at the one’s responsible… Tygerion, the Immortal Collective… they were to blame.

He glanced again at Emma’s and Maya’s frantic efforts to save Zhang. He was powerless. What could he do for the man that they couldn’t do better?

He spied the remaining yellow flower roots by the creek’s edge. It likely wouldn’t help, but he could try anyway. He grabbed one of the roots and began mashing it under a rock. The paste would disinfect the wound and numb the pain. It wasn’t likely to save the man, but it might help his suffering.

Asahi soon joined Nathan by the creek’s edge. The older man sat down quietly while he worked, and Nathan gestured at the man’s glowing wristband. “Did you participate in the fight? If you got a Physical skill, it might finish healing your leg.”

“Hai, I participated, although I was not much help with my injury. I saw Emma throwing rocks at the beavers so did likewise. I have not checked my interface yet since Zhang required my stabilize skill first.”

Nathan nodded. “Well, I wish you luck with the rewards. By the way, even though Lilly screamed at you, I wanted to say I appreciated your words earlier. This hasn’t been easy on us and you didn’t deserve that.”

Asahi shook his head. “No, Lilly was right to be angry. Earlier, I was able to see some of her fight against the Tengu creatures and she impressed me.”

“Tengu? Those are like demons in Japanese folklore, right? I thought they looked like goblins myself.”

“Yes, those spear monsters. As I was saying, she is strong. I have practiced martial arts long enough to know a warrior when I see one. Her ferocity only needs tempering with discipline. I wish we had an army of her.” Asahi smiled warmly as he spoke, then his face illuminated with blue light as his interface screen popped into existence before him and he began reading. A moment later, he laid back on the bank as his body began the obvious signs of the skill learning process.

Nathan considered the older man’s words regarding the overly tall Kenyan woman. Asahi’s positive sentiments had somehow made Nathan more accepting of the woman’s outburst and anger. And she had helped Nathan in the fight. Who was he to say how someone should feel or act in this absurd world?

As he delivered the medicine to Emma, his stomach roiled at the sight of Zhang’s injury. He stepped away before being drafted to help directly again. He had done what he could.

“A person will die if they lose a little less than half their blood,” Maya was explaining to the French girl over Zhang’s prone form. Nathan walked far enough away before the subject matter of the conversation would push his stomach over the tipping point.

To distract himself, Nathan looked down at his own glowing wrist. It was a green shade ever since he used the Analyze Enemy skill on the goblin. He lifted his wrist and checked the pending messages. There were four of them.

[Your (10) participating group members have been awarded 2 NPs each for the defeat of six tier 0 and five tier 1 monsters.]

[Due to surviving the last roaming monster attack on the first day, you have been awarded a 5 NP survival bonus.]

Well, at least he was gaining more NPs to replenish what he’d spent. He had 7 points now. He was too weary to get too excited though. Unlike in a game where it was fun to level up and gain new skills, people didn’t usually die for real if they lost.

What really caught his attention was the phrase ‘last roaming monster attack on the first day.’

He spotted Harrison and the tall boy from earlier gathering the discarded spears from the battle. He read the message aloud to them. “Suppose this means we won’t be attacked during the night?”

“Trust those lying bastards?” Harrison said. “No way.”

Nathan was inclined to agree.

The boy shouted excitedly as he lifted a shard of gleaming metal out of the water. Nathan recognized it, it was the goblin’s knife used to attack Lilly.

“Good on ya, Jackson,” Harrison said.

So that was the boy’s name. Nathan needed to introduce himself so he stood and waved at the kid. “Hello there, I’m Nathan from the U.S.”

“Jackson,” the boy said. “I’m from Haiti.” Based on that, Nathan gathered that the boy’s strange accent must be French Creole. Jackson was as tall as Nathan but in an awkward spindly way, as if he hadn’t filled into his growth spurt yet. He was likely fifteen, the youngest possible age to be selected. Jackson was wearing a red striped shirt, blue shorts, and a blue bandana on his head. He was also barefoot. His collar’s stone revealed he was a Water Prime.

“Nice to meet you. Got the Language skill? Your English is great.”

“Yes, I learned the skill talking with…” He swallowed deeply and looked at his feet. “…with Maria.”

“That’s a shame about her,” Harrison said wistfully. “That girl was a good looker too. Amazing arse.”

Nathan blinked at Harrison in surprise. Then he frowned incredulously, his unstable opinion of the man plummeting. “Are you serious? She just freaking died man…”

“Settle pettle, I was just joking,” Harrison said with a laugh.

Aren’t jokes supposed to be funny? Nathan shook his head in bafflement. Was the man’s attitude a coping mechanism? Could the arena’s Mental enhancements change someone’s personality for the worse? Or had the man always been this way?

“She was nice to me,” Jackson said, tears welling in his eyes.

“Jackson here’s alright,” Harrison said, slapping the teenager on the back, seemingly forgetting Nathan’s earlier reproach. “He gave his sandals to Emma when he saw her bloody feet.”

“Ah, I see,” Nathan said, noticing the boy’s bare feet again. Jackson seemed earnest and Nathan liked that, though he hoped the boy didn’t pick Harrison as his role model.

The two players moved further away as they began searching for weapons downstream so Nathan sat back down and re-opened his interface. He had two more entries waiting in his log.

[Enemy Compendium tab unlocked.]

[Guthark Tribesman (Tier 1) added to Enemy Compendium.]

A spike of excitement shot through him at the new unlock. He quickly found the new tab at the top of the interface and selected it. The Enemy Compendium screen held only one entry.

[Guthark Tribesman (Tier 1):]

[Physical: 110.]

[Mental: 75.]

[Elemental Affinities: Wood 3 (Prime), Fire 2, Earth 0, Water 0, Metal -6.]

[Skills: Pole Weapons I.]

[Rewards: 3 NPs.]

[Possible Loot: crude wooden spear - guaranteed common; crude pelt armor - uncommon, guthark steel knife - rare, NP orb - epic.]

The information was mildly interesting, but not overly helpful. The elemental affinities were potentially useful since he could infer the monster’s resistances and weaknesses, but he didn’t have any elemental attacks to take advantage of them yet. Perhaps the players would get skills for that soon?

The knife was a rare item which likely meant it was higher quality than the crude spears. The spears were labeled as ‘guaranteed common,’ likely meaning they dropped every single time a goblin was killed. One glance at the collected pile of spears confirmed the theory. And what the heck was an NP Orb? Did it give points to the player? They had yet to see one drop.

“So the monsters are called Guthark Tribesmen,” Nathan said as Harrison dumped three spears on the bank.

“Guth-what-now?” Harrison said. “That ya skill talking?”

“Yeah, Analyze Enemy. Lets me see their basic stats.”

Harrison nodded. “Good on ya, was wondering what they were. I’ll call them guths now.”

“That works I guess. Asahi called them Tengu, and I’ve been calling them goblins. Anyway, their only skill is Pole Weapons, which explains why they’re good with spears. Looks like they’ve got 60% weakness to the Metal element. 30% from their -6 affinity, and 30% additional since they’re Wood Primes.”

Jackson listened intently, hanging on his every word.

Harrison yawned, “Good to know, but useless.”

“For now, sure. But it’s only the end of day one. By day five at the rate things are going, this bit of knowledge might save lives.”

Nathan’s stiff muscles protested as he stood up. He was hungry and he wished once again for a cooking fire. More importantly, they needed to build a fire for medical reasons. Stitches may or may not cut it for Zhang’s injury. Fire could cauterize wounds, giving them more options. Plus, fighting goblins and beavers in the dark was a sketchy plan at best. They’d need light to see.

Both Harrison and Jackson followed him as he headed back upstream. He used his staff to leap the creek, a feat made easier by his Physical stat improvements. He approached Zhang who appeared to be sleeping. Maya sat to his side while Emma washed a rag in the creek.

“We need to do more for Zhang than a bandage right now,” Maya said to him while pointing at the unconscious man.

“Can’t Emma stitch it close?”

“Maybe, but it won’t do much. He has internal bleeding so he’ll need a Physical stat gain for healing.”

Nathan scratched the back of his neck as he considered. “What about fire? To cauterize the wound.”

“Instead of stitches?” She looked skeptical. “How will that help an internal injury if stitches won’t?

Nathan’s body flushed from his lack of knowledge. “Um, I don’t really know. But we’ll still need a fire either way for night. Plus, it’s too dark to see for stitching I’d think.”

Maya glanced at Emma who nodded in confirmation. She looked back at Nathan, yawning before she spoke. “With Asahi’s stabilize skill being time limited, we’re on the clock so we need to do something. He just refreshed Zhang so he’s stable for another twenty minutes. Asahi will have another 20 EPs in 34 minutes. Anyone know how to make a fire?”

Everyone looked at Nathan. Well, he supposed he was the Wilderness Survival guy.

He thought about what he’d need to do. Earlier, his skill helped him find a suitable moss as a fire starter material and grass for tinder. But he still needed a way to create a spark or flame.

The level one version of his skill had wanted him to rub sticks together. He wasn’t thrilled with that prospect. On his camping trips, he never had any luck making fire manually even when he tried in earnest. He’d watched videos, doing exactly as instructed, but it’d never work. It no doubt required more persistence than he was willing to give while tired after a long hike.

Now that his skill was level two, he hoped it would offer a better suggestion. Especially a method more friendly to his exhausted state. One way to find out.

He concentrated on fire starting techniques. He imagined a fire pit with wood and creating a spark. He could sense something, like a thought on the tip of his tongue. He breathed deeply, focusing his mind further. Then he suddenly knew. “Flint. We need to find flint.”

“Where exactly do we find that?” asked Maya. “If you haven’t noticed, it’s night and we’re in a forest.”

Good question. He concentrated. The skill dredged up an image of a flint deposit in his mind. He definitely hadn’t seen any while hiking, even taking into account his improved observational ability from stat gains.

“The particular vein of flint my skill is showing is grayish color. It has a glassy texture since it’s a type of quartz. It should be in deposits within other types of rock.”

“I’ve seen it,” Harrison said. “In the creek while hunting the little lobsters. Upstream.”

“That makes sense,” Maya said, nodding to herself. “The creek is more likely to erode the rock thus revealing the flint deposits. Don’t you need steel to work with flint though?”

“We have the monster’s knife,” Nathan said.

“Doubtful that’s made of steel though,” Maya said. “Iron blades won’t work since they're too soft.”

“Look at you,” Nathan said, a smile forming on his lips. “I’d no idea you knew so much about it.”

She smiled sheepishly. “Iron versus steel is a plot point in more fantasy books than I can recall having read. But would these primitive monsters actually have steel? That style of metallurgy would be too advanced I would think.”

“Well, we are in luck. My Enemy Compendium calls it a Guthark Steel Knife.”

“What? You could have led with that, you know?” She slapped him on the arm, trying to look angry but failing. “So Analyze Enemy finally worked? What else did it say? Open your screen.”

Harrison hefted his club off his shoulder. “Ugh. Show her later. Ya just said we’re on the clock yet your both goofing around. I’ll guide ya to the flint.”

Nathan felt a blush rise up. It was embarrassing when the jerk was right.

Maya glared at the Australian man. She finally nodded, probably coming to the same conclusion. “We keep teams to a minimum of three or four players since we know monster attacks can be large groups. I don’t trust that message that attacks are done for the day. I’m going with you so that makes three of us. We should take one more.”

“Jackson’s our fourth,” Harrison said, volunteering for the youth. He looked to the Haitian boy who nodded in acceptance. “Everyone grab your weapons.”

Nathan was holding his staff but opted to switch it out for one of the newly acquired spears. The spears were crudely made, his skill even named them so, but the pointy tip gave him more options. After the battle, the players had eight spears, one staff, one knife, one club, and Mr. Rock in their combined arsenal. Harrison was carrying his club but he also tucked the knife into his shorts waistband.

The Aussie man led the way up the creek at a quick pace. Soaking his shoes again was annoying but Nathan kept them on lest he stepped on something sharp.

The dark night made navigating in the shallow water difficult. Nathan began doubting the wisdom of the expedition. How would they ever find it? He hoped Harrison correctly remembered it’s location.

The full moon overhead was similar in size to their own Earth moon but was instead a deep red color, like rust. The celestial body provided as much illumination as could be expected, but the reddish tint cast a foreboding alien sheen to their surroundings. He shivered involuntarily.

The creek bent back and forth, never flowing in a straight line for long. Nathan continuously scanned both banks for a hint of the glassy rock. He idly wondered if there might be snakes in the water. His heart rate sped up. He wasn’t a fan of that line of thinking so decided to start a conversation instead.

Curious about the geography of the creek, he asked, “Do any of you know how big this world is?”

“The Guide said it’s circular, the edges ending in steep drop offs,” Harrison said.

Nathan tried to envision it. “Yeah, she told me we were in a starter zone and we have to beat the tier 6 boss in the central zone.”

“Yep,” Harrison said. “I asked the Guide about the world because, ya know, how we going to win if we don’t know where to go?

“My thoughts exactly,” Nathan said. Whatever his feelings were about the man, at least the man wasn’t stupid.

“Sixteen starter zones in the outer ring border the edge of the world,” Harrison said. “We are in one of these. The second inner ring has four zones that are more dangerous. If we survive the first phase, we get to go to one of these. And if we make it to phase three, we go to the zone sitting in the middle where everyone left will duke it out.”

“I say we’re in a big fish bowl,” Jackson said from in front where he’d gotten ahead. It was the first time he’d volunteered saying anything. “I had one in my home. When my fish was dead one morning, I was very sad. But the next day, I no longer thought about him. If we turn up in the morning floating upside down at the top, Tygerion the Maker will only care for a moment and then forget.”

Harrison chuckled at the dark story. Nathan wasn’t exactly sure what point the kid was trying to make, although the story was spot on to their situation.

A few moments passed in silence as Nathan considered the scale of the arena world, picturing it in his head. Then he thought about the inhabitants. “There are ten thousand players of each species, so eighty thousand total.”

“Yep,” Maya said. “Six hundred twenty five players per species per zone. The Guide hinted that most didn’t make it past the prelims, so at best, three hundred twelve humans started in our zone. And we know some of them have already died.” She frowned as she considered what she just said.

“We need to find all the human players and work together,” Nathan said. “Do you think we’ll have to fight the alien players at some point?”

Harrison paused and gave Nathan a contemptuous look. “Obviously.”

Maya nodded in agreement. “Harrison has the right of it, though we could do without the extra sarcasm, thanks. If humans don’t win the trials, we are ‘terminated.’ Conflict is inevitable with the other species. They will want to win, same as us. To borrow from Jackson’s analogy, each species is a male betta fish in the same bowl. We’ll kill each other until there’s only one left or none at all. And we don’t know how aggressive or passive these other cultures are. Maybe some are truly goldfish. Others could be piranhas.”

They traveled another minute without conversation. Jackson spotted their target first. The glassy flint was embedded into the side of a rock shelf eroded by the creek. That got Nathan thinking... if the world was artificial, how did the creek have time to erode the rock? The aliens either made the world a long time ago or sped up the world’s passage of time considerably. Or else they designed it weathered from the beginning for aesthetics.

Harrison used a random rock to beat on the flint deposit but didn’t seem to be having much luck. “I thought we’d see sparks when I did that,” he said.

“Flint doesn’t make a spark when struck with just anything,” Maya said. “You need steel. Flint is a really hard substance which is why it's used with the metal. When striking, the iron in the steel heats up rapidly from oxidation forcing it to break off. Those super heated iron shavings create the sparks.”

Nathan smiled. He liked how she loved to explain any given subject matter. Rather than being annoyed at the know-it-all, he was thankful there was someone here who actually knew random stuff.

Since beating the flint deposit was getting nowhere, they searched around in the water for loose pieces. Jackson was the first to find a chunk of flint and soon they all found a few. When they finished gathering the pieces, the four players headed back downstream, Harrison and Nathan carrying most of the pieces. Nathan mused at how convenient the flint pieces lying around had been, almost as if they’d been designed for easy gathering. Not that the arena world was easy by any means, but it was nice whenever they received a small break.

Back at their impromptu camp, Iliana sat by the creek’s edge speaking earnestly with a gloomy looking Lilly. Nathan thought the Bulgarian player might be trying to cheer the taller Kenyan woman from her depressed mood. Seeing her engaging in conversation with the other woman was encouraging.

Nathan lifted his handful of flint rocks for all to see. “Look what we found. Can you believe someone threw these perfectly good rocks away?”

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” Iliana said with a playful smile.

“Doesn’t have to be a man’s,” Maya responded. “Why not a woman’s treasure?”

Harrison sat down on the bank. “I’m holding it so it’s a man’s treasure.”

Maya smirked. “Good, I guess the men can be the rock haulers from now on then.”

“He’s too pretty to be a rock hauler,” Iliana said, eyeing the Australian man. “How did you get your Physical stats so high?”

“By carrying rocks,” Harrison said, flashing Iliana a charming smile. Maya just groaned as she rolled her eyes.

“If I’d known that was the secret,” Iliana laughed, “I’d have strapped rocks to my boyfriend’s back and legs as he left for work every day.”

“That’s what I always did,” Maya grinned. She sat down next to Iliana and looked at Nathan expectantly. “Well don’t just stand there, start making us a fire with all these manly rocks of yours. The night is getting chilly.”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything,” he laughed. “Besides, don’t get too comfortable, everybody is going to help.”

As he began clearing a space for the fire pit, he did have to agree about the weather. He was wet and the temperature had dropped without the sun. He guessed it was low-sixties in Fahrenheit and the breeze traveling down the creek was giving him goosebumps with his wet clothes.

Thankfully, he was familiar with the task of building a fire given his previous camping experience, even if never performed in this archaic manner. His confidence rose as he gave instructions to the others.

“Okay everyone, we need firewood. Only grab dead wood, nothing green or alive.”

Harrison dropped his flint. “Here’s the knife.” He held it out hilt first.

“Thanks,” Nathan replied as he took it. The other players began collecting firewood and piling it up on the bank as he chose a place to start.

“Can you show me how to do it too?” Maya asked.

“Sure, I could use a helper anyway.”

Nathan didn’t need the alien skill in his head to explain how to do the layout. They cleared an area of vegetation about a yard wide and began setting rocks in a ring. The rocks weren’t strictly necessary, but it looked nice and offered a partial wind break. Since he was attempting a fire starting method he’d never tried before, taking shortcuts would end up wasting more time.

First, he needed to get the flint ready. He hit a flint piece repeatedly with Mr. Rock to crudely hammer an edge to its side. Mr. Rock unfortunately took a beating against the harder flint. Sorry buddy.

He then broke off small twigs and laid them beside the pit for later. He stripped dry bark off the collected wood and placed the bark in the center of the pit. He set the brown grass from his pocket on top of the bark in a small bundle. Lastly, he pulled out the dry moss which his skill had suggested for the ignition material. The other players finished gathering wood by the time he was ready, standing around to watch.

Maya assisted him as he instructed. He explained each step he was doing and why. The plan was to ignite the slow burning moss fungus which in turn would catch the grass kindling on fire. He’d then add larger fuel like twigs to feed the flames.

He took the flint and held it over the dry fungus resting on the bark. Using the steel knife, he struck the flint’s edge over and over again. He continued doing it until sparks finally appeared. Eventually, enough of the super heated iron shavings landed on the fungus until it began to burn.

“You did it!” Maya exclaimed.

“Hopefully. We still need to get it hot enough to catch the kindling on fire. This moss burns slowly which is why it’s a good ignitor.”

He transferred the burning fungus to beneath the grass kindling bundle and covered it loosely, careful not to smother it entirely. He began blowing hard to the side of the bundle until the grass flamed up. He quickly began adding small twigs for extra fuel.

He stoked the fire with his breath again. He set more twigs in a square around the flame, building a log cabin as he stacked the twigs higher. Once the flame caught on the twigs surrounding it, he placed increasingly bigger twigs across the flames. He followed by laying sticks across in a teepee pattern and then larger branches and logs once the flames were going strong. He took a moment to savor the feeling.

“I make fire,” Nathan grunted in a caveman voice.

“I already told you I wouldn’t go back to your cave with you,” Maya smirked. Her comment elicited a few laughs from the crowd.

“It nice cave.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it smells wonderful, what with all the manure you’re making in it.”

He chuckled, more from the comradery engendered than the actual wit of the joke. A little goofiness did more for his mood than he could put words to.

His attention was quickly stolen by his and Maya’s wristbands glowing blue. He held up his arm and opened up his system message log. The nanites must’ve been pleased because they gave him 2 NPs for building his first fire, bringing his total up to 9. Maya, on the other hand, began convulsing. Somehow, she’d been given a skill for her part. That didn’t seem fair.

Nathan continued to feed the fire. Once Maya finally awoke, she read her new skill to them.

[Ignite I: Requirements - Fire 2 (Prime). (Activated Skill - ignite material with a small flame – cost: 6 EPs.) (Gain +1 Mental.)]

She reached out to a lone twig and said, “Ignite.” The twig caught fire. The fire spread to the other side of twig until it was completely consumed, winking out. She activated it again on a larger stick. It caught fire where she touched, but the flame was small and spread slowly.

Nathan watched enviously. “Well, that should simplify building a fire.”

“Yes, it does,” she said. Her grin was gleeful. “It’s an unlockable skill, so all Fire Primes, like Asahi, should be able to learn it by building a fire manually. Hmm, so why do you suppose it’s restricted to only Fire Primes? Not like it’s super powerful, the effect is too small to be useful in combat.”

“Maybe creating the element, Fire, is only for Primes of that element. I can learn Fire skills that have other applications, like the physical damage boosting skill Attack Up. But as a Wood Prime, maybe summoning Fire from nowhere is forbidden.” He shrugged.

Maya nodded enthusiastically. “Good theory. Each element may be able to call forth their own elements in the physical sense. I would love to see you make Wood sometime.”

Nathan choked at her last statement. The other players displayed various levels of amusement ranging from small chuckles to full on belly laughs, the latter coming loudest from Iliana, the Bulgarian woman. The blush on Nathan’s face was palpable. Unfortunately, the Language skill gifted all players full understanding of double entendres which would normally be lost in translation. Why’d he have to choose the element that was so easy to innuendo?

Comprehension dawned on Maya’s face and she shifted uncomfortably. “That’s not what I meant at all. It was a serious question though, can you summon Wood?”

Iliana was dying at this point, clutching her side and unable to stand.

Nathan enjoyed the laughter, but he also made an honest effort to consider the question. He didn’t know if he could conjure his element, the thought hadn’t even occurred to him. He concentrated for a moment, trying to feel the Wood energy within him. He’d always noticed its presence when it responded to his skill activations, but not when it was dormant. He thought he could almost sense it. He focused harder, but the more he tried, the further it became.

He realized everyone was looking at him and immediately lost the sensation. A bead of sweat formed on the side of his face, more from embarrassment than actual exertion. He must look like an impressionable kid trying to use the Force. He sighed. “Maybe I can in the future. Not right now though.”

Maya nodded. Iliana still hadn’t fully recovered, giggling long after everyone else had lost interest.

Maya continued explaining her rewards to him. She’d also received NPs for helping with the fire, her boosted reward being 3.5 NPs thanks to her Quick Study bonus. She'd upgraded the skill to level two earlier, which now gave a 75% bonus to non-combat NP gains. None of the other players gathering firewood received any credit which meant a player had to directly interact with the fire starting process. Everyone would need to take a turn building a fire for the low hanging NP fruit, especially the Fire Primes.

“That puts me at 22.5 NPs,” Maya said, looking over her character sheet.

“How did you get so many?” Iliana asked.

“My NP bonus helps immensely. Plus I can’t upgrade anything else currently. Quick Reflexes II, Pole Weapons II, and Improved Heart II all require 125 Physical and I only have 121. Pole Weapons II also needs Wood 4 whereas I only have Wood 2.”

Nathan glanced over her shoulder at her screen. He couldn’t read the language, but could tell her stats were now 121 Physical and 140 Mental based on their line positions.

“You never did get the Language skill either, did you?” Nathan observed. “Maybe try talking with Emma in French while using hand signs to unlock it? That’ll bump your Mental to 142.”

“I already speak French,” Maya said.

“We can try in Bulgarian if you like,” Iliana said.

“Really?” Maya said.

“Sure, it’ll be fun.”

“Alright,” Maya said. “Although I’m not sure it will work for me since you already have the Language skill. But I would still like to try.”

The two ladies took a few moments communicating non-verbally, giggling at Iliana’s suggestive gestures directed towards Harrison who had taken off his shirt to wash in the creek. Nathan rolled his eyes. What was with these girls and that guy? At least Maya returned a fake puking action at the sight. Eventually, her wristband began to glow as she received the skill prompt.

“Got it! Thanks, Iliana.” She turned to face Nathan. “So Mr. Flintstone, how do we use the fire to cauterize Zhang’s wound? Only a couple more minutes before Asahi should be able to use his stabilize skill again.”

Nathan thought about it. He briefly imagined using a stick with fire burning on the tip, but that sounded medieval in a bad way. In the movies they always used metal. “Do you think we could use the knife?”

“I think so,” she said. “But the handle is made of wood so it might burn in the fire.”

“I’ll make sure the handle stays out of the flames.”

He laid two rocks inside the fire pit and then placed the knife handle between them with the blade pointed into the fire. He scooped dirt and covered the handle in hopes of keeping it insulated from the heat.

The warmth of the fire radiated comfort. The night air was cool and it warmed him up nicely. He laid his wet shoes and socks on the rocks that formed the fire pit ring to let them dry out.

After the blade had heated up, he cautiously touched the handle with a wet finger. The handle was warm, but not too hot. He was smart enough not to attempt to touch the hot blade.

Zhang was passed out several yards up the trail. Asahi was sitting next to him and nodded as Nathan approached with the blade. Emma had her head resting downward into her arms, presumably asleep. Maya gently shook her until she awoke.

“We have hot metal now,” Maya said.

“Good, good. I just need to get him ready,” Emma said as she rose to her feet. “Asahi, Injury Stabilize him s’il vous plait.”

Asahi, whose EPs had recovered to 24, channeled his skill into the man, preparing him for their amateur medical operation. Emma removed the sorry excuse for a bandage from the man’s side and applied more yellow flower root paste to numb the area.

Cauterizing his wound was mainly just to stop his bleeding and buy him more time until he could regain lucidity. Learning a Physical skill was the true linchpin to their plan. Zhang’s wristband was glowing, so he likely had a pending skill from the last fight. They knew Zhang had met the Pole Weapons unlock conditions by using a spear against a tier 1 monster. Being a Wood Prime like Nathan, the man should have the required elemental affinity to learn the weapon skill too. Once Zhang could wake up and maintain focus to start the learning, he could gain the +2 Physical stat gain for the healing side effect.

Nathan noticed Asahi was moving unusually well on his injured leg. “Did your leg heal up?”

“Hai, it healed considerably from a skill gain, albeit with a slight complication.”

“Complication?”

“We did not remove the stitches first, so the wound healed leaving them embedded in the skin. We learned a valuable lesson that will take some effort to correct, but is manageable for now. My new skill was quite worth it. Quick Step I. It is a Fire 2 skill that passively boosts my acceleration and movement speed by 8%.”

“Whoa, nice skill. I’m liking a lot of these Fire skills.”

“Indeed. It will improve my combat effectiveness tremendously. Not only for the increased mobility, speed is also a major factor in determining the force of an attack. Thank you again for your medical assistance earlier, Nathan-san. I am in your debt.”

“No problem. And no talk about debt, we’ve helped each other enough we’re past all that.”

“I’m ready,” Emma said.

Nathan carefully passed her the knife by the hilt. His hands trembled as she took it. He wasn’t sure why everyone had been keen on his idea to cauterize the wound... he had zero medical expertise. The fact he was responsible for what they were attempting caused sweat to form on his body despite the chill in the air. They honestly needed a real doctor, not amateurs willing to try any random idea to see what worked. He prayed Zhang fared well from their clinical trial. If not, Nathan wasn’t sure what the guilt would do to him.

Emma, after a brief hesitation, placed the blade against Zhang’s wound for a couple seconds. Zhang, who had been sleeping, immediately woke screaming in agony.

Nathan blanched. Why didn’t he hold him down?

Nathan moved to restrain the flailing man by his shoulders and Asahi held his legs. Emma continued her grisly work, and Nathan could hear a sizzling sound. The wind shifted and the smell of burnt flesh wafted his way, disgusting him. It also made him salivate. The mere fact his appetite was stoked deepened his sick feeling.

The rest of the players watched the medical procedure with various reactions and emotions.

Once they finished, Nathan ran to the side of the trail and lost some of the yams and crawfish he’d eaten. He went to the creek and washed his mouth out with water.

Maya joined him a moment later. “Nathan, you okay?”

“Yeah, I don’t do well around... medical stuff,” he admitted.

“Why are you always in the middle of it then?” she said with a laugh.

He shrugged. “Good question.” Why did he feel compelled to help? He could instead be sleeping on the trail, letting others bear the torture, responsibility, and guilt. The thought was appealing.

She smiled. “Don’t beat yourself up. I think you’re doing well considering.”

“Not really. But thanks for saying so.” He returned her smile. “So how’s Zhang doing? I kind of ran off after we finished burning him.”

“Well, Zhang is not lucid enough to check his interface yet. His wound has been successfully closed, at least externally, so his blood loss will be minimized between doses of Injury Stabilize. Maybe he can last long enough now. Asahi is going to keep refreshing his skill every time his EPs regain. Hopefully we can get him to read his messages when he’s stabilized again.”

Nathan nodded. He looked around the rest of the camp. Harrison and Iliana were by the fire having a superficial conversation about elements and their relation to skills. Their body language appeared to be having a different conversation concerning relations as Iliana began massaging Harrison’s shoulders.

He wondered how Emma would react. He’d thought Harrison and her had some kind of chemistry going. He glanced over to see the French woman had fallen asleep next to Zhang. Huh, she must’ve been exhausted. Then it dawned on him... she was learning a new skill. Her Physical stat was rather low so she was passing out from the process instead of bearing through it in pain like him.

He glanced once more at the two overly friendly players then didn’t spare them another thought. It was honestly none of his business and he was too tired to care.

“Do you really think we’ll get attacked tonight?” Maya asked Nathan softly, probably not wanting to interrupt the ‘conversation’ on the other side of the firepit.

“The system message made it sound like we wouldn’t, but it’d be a bad idea not to be prepared otherwise.”

She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment considering. “The message said it was the last attack of the day, and assuming that’s even true, as soon as it hits midnight that message will no longer be our shield. Not sure we could actually fight off another attack right now with how exhausted and hungry we all are.”

“I was thinking along the same lines,” Nathan said. “We’ll need guard shifts while some of us try to get some sleep.”

“I’m not even sure I’ll be able to sleep at all considering.” She yawned loudly and covered her mouth with her hand as she did so.

“At least you’re already wearing your pajamas,” Nathan said with a smile.

“Yes, I came prepared of course.” She smiled at him. “To be honest, I’m rather happy I’m wearing pajamas. I could’ve been wearing something skimpy like Lilly or Emma. That would’ve been horrifying.” She grinned then switched to a more serious expression. “I’m thinking food gathering is the top priority for tomorrow. Our calorie requirements from both our exertion levels and from the stat increases means we need a lot of food. Otherwise we won’t be fit enough to fight. Speaking of…” She reached next to the fire and retrieved a yam that had been baking beside it.

"Hey, where did that come from?"

“While we were playing doctor, Lilly had the foresight to bake the rest of the yams. She saved one for us.” She took a bite out of one end. “Oh my God, that’s so good. Did you want some?”

Nathan’s stomach grumbled in reply. Then the memory of his mouth salivating at the vivid smell of Zhang’s burning flesh made him nauseous. “No… no, I don’t think so. All yours.”

“Your loss.” She bit into the yam again and a low moan escaped from her mouth. He reflected regrettably on how they must have tasted far better cooked than raw. Around a full mouthful, she said, “This reminds me so much of Grandmother’s home.”

“Did you eat a lot of yams there?”

“Yes, though that’s been years ago. I’ve been enjoying where my life is leading in England but I’m afraid I’ll never see it again either. Any way I look at it, the chances of us surviving and then winning the trials are terrifyingly low. I miss my life. There I am independent, living on my own, got a great job that I enjoy, and able to date or be friends with whoever I want. Here is...”

“Terrible,” Nathan finished for her.

She smiled sadly. They sat in silence for a minute. Nathan considered her words, wondering about who the woman was. “You seem different from the other players, always smiling and joking. I’m kind of that way too, and I think I’m self-aware enough to know it's some strange coping mechanism. But you don’t seem fazed at all.“

“I have to be. Whenever I stop and consider what’s happening, I’m terrified I will give up. Denial is my best friend. In fact, talking about it is giving me anxiety and I would rather not think about it.” She gazed into the fire, her jaw tense.

He nodded, remaining silent. He reflected on how the players' reactions were quite varied. Lilly had violent outbursts, Johanna acted irrationally, Harrison was flippant, and Zhang’s extreme quietness stood out, not even mentioning the strange display currently happening on the other side of the fire. Each player exhibited their own reactions to events. Some reactions were more productive than others, but all were understandable.

The players quickly worked out a schedule for guard shifts through the night. Those not on the first shift slept as close to the fire where there was space to lay. Nathan found an open spot and studied his character sheet for several minutes. He discovered he could manipulate the layout of the skills when he concentrated on them. He arranged the information to show his current skills and the requirements to upgrade them to the next level.

[Player D-1423 Statistics]

[Physical: 133]

[Mental: 120]

[Elemental Affinities: Wood 4 (Prime), Fire 2, Water 2, Earth 0, Metal -1]

[Nanite Points: 9]

[Energy Points: 22 / 35]

[Current Skill List and Upgrade Requirements:]

*[Language I (no affinity): 40 NPs, Mental 120.]

*[General Fitness II (no affinity): 100 NPs, Physical 121.]

*[Wilderness Survival II (Wood): 250 NPs, Physical 128, Mental 128, Wood 6.]

*[Attack Up I (Fire): 15 NPs, Physical 120, Fire 4.]

*[First Aid I (no affinity): 50 NPs, Mental 125.]

*[Analyze Enemy I (Wood): 40 NPs, Mental 125, Wood 5.]

*[Pole Weapons I (Wood): 40 NPs, Physical 125, Wood 4.]

He closed his interface and shifted on the ground to find a position more comfortable.

Most of the player’s had already passed out, but he overheard Emma telling someone she’d learned the First Aid skill as a reward for cauterizing Zhang’s wound. The pale woman activated it on herself and the bright shifting energy glow enveloped her. After it finished, she checked her foot injury to find it healed. Nathan smiled appreciatively. The +2 Mental gain from the skill would've increased her EPs to 38, bringing her that much closer to the needed 40 for using Advanced Healing.

He closed his eyes. The last thing he remembered was the sound of the players selected for guard duty walking by on their patrol. One of them stopped by the fire for a moment, and he could hear Maya’s voice whisper to the sleeping players. “Sweet dreams.”

For some reason, Nathan doubted that would be the case for any of them.