“Kill it!” a voice shouted.

Nathan opened his eyes. The first two words of the day should’ve surprised him a little... but it didn’t. Sun rays peeked over the hill’s crest indicating it was early dawn. The air was chill and his clothes were damp from the morning dew. Mist hugged the hills casting a spooky ambiance.

Nathan swiveled his head to find the source of the noise. Several players stood on the other side of the creek crowding the trail. Nathan reluctantly rose to his feet. Even with the commotion, he was dead tired and waking up slower than was prudent. His wristband was glowing, probably with a ‘day two’ message like he’d gotten a ‘day one’ message yesterday. Since checking messages could potentially knock him out for several minutes, he’d check it after he was sure any potential monsters were dealt with.

He glanced at the fire seeing it reduced to a few smoldering embers. Zhang and Johanna were the only players still on his side of the creek. Johanna was awake, some of the color having returned to her face. Her recovery brought a smile to Nathan’s lips despite her poor disposition towards him. He waved. She gave him a strained smile and returned his friendly gesture. With potential fighting happening up the hill, he didn’t have time to talk with her yet.

Nathan grabbed his spear, leaving behind his shoes and socks for now. His surroundings were making more sense to him as the fog of sleep evaporated. He crossed the creek by wading barefoot.

“What’s going on?” he called towards the backs of the nearest players.

“Some kind of wolf attacked,” Lilly said. The large woman was holding her spear upright, her once perfectly styled hair now a tangled mess. “Angelo and Maya fought it up the trail.”

“A wolf?” he asked. During guard duty last night, he’d worried himself to death that today would bring more difficult challenges.

“I didn’t see it,” she said. “Iliana was just telling me about it. I was on guard duty on the other hill.”

“Is everyone okay?”

“As far as I know, yes.”

Nathan breathed out a sigh of relief.

From the side of Lilly, Iliana turned to face him. She was above average height, but stood a full foot shorter than the Kenyan woman. “Good morning,” she chirped.

“Good morning, anything else happen during the night?”

“No, thank God,” Iliana said. “At least not until this morning with Maya yelling she saw a wolf thingy. Angelo helped her fight it.”

He wondered if Maya had woken up for the last guard shift as well. He didn’t know how she had the energy. He glanced back at Lilly and noticed she wasn’t favoring her leg anymore. “How’s the sprain?”

“It’s healed completely.” She cycled her leg forward and back, demonstrating her knee’s range of motion.

“That’s great, I used First Aid on you while you were sleeping during my guard shift. I hope you don’t mind.” He noticed the red cross symbol had already disappeared from her collar. The recovery boost only lasted for six hours and he’d done it at the beginning of the second shift.

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, I didn’t know. Although it wasn’t necessary, it already healed last night when I learned the Blunt Weapons skill.”

“Whoa, nice,” he said excitedly. “But how? You unlocked Blunt Weapons even with a spear? Didn't know that could happen," he mused out loud as he considered the implications. His own Earth affinity was zero so Blunt Weapons was off the table for him. "Your negative Wood affinity means you’d never learn Pole Weapons. I guess Blunt Weapons makes sense instead if you bashed an enemy with the pole. This must mean there’s some overlap with the various weapon skills which is interesting.”

“Yeah, that’s what I assumed too,” she said. “Sorry you wasted your First Aid skill though.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “No worries about that, gotta use my EPs anyway when they fill up. At least your cuts and bruises are gone now.”

She smiled, the pleasant expression a stark contrast to her usual scowl from the day before. “Anyway, I want to apologize,” she said, becoming serious. “I wasn’t very nice yesterday.”

“No problem, it was a crazy day for all of us.” She’d been angry, but not at him specifically. Tygerion and his alien buddies deserved the hatred sent their way.

The players began filing past him headed back to their campsite. Lilly left with them but Iliana stayed by Nathan’s side and greeted each person as they went by. Most players returned the greeting.

Maya stopped when she came by last. “Hello, sleepy head!”

“Hey, good morning,” Nathan said. “What’s this about a wolf thingy?”

“It was fluffy and kind of cute,” Maya said. “Also had big fangs and red eyes.” Her wristband wasn’t glowing so she must’ve already checked her rewards.

“Yikes! What tier was it?”

“Tier 1 like your ghouly goblins.” She grinned and wiggled her fingers in the air for emphasis.

Nathan winced but managed to laugh. He just knew he shouldn’t have let the ‘goblin’ word slip in front of her last night. From what little he knew of the woman, he doubted she’d let him live it down easily.

Maya plucked a large leaf from a nearby plant and began wiping her spear tip clean. “So the wolf growled announcing its presence or else things might have gone differently. Thankfully, the spears provide enough range making them excellent against straightforward beasts. The monster basically skewered itself. Although fighting more than one at a time might get tricky. They are a lot bigger and stronger than the beavers.”

Nathan considered the implications of only a single monster attacking. “At least it wasn’t a large attack like last night. Perhaps the worst raids only happen at the end of the day?”

“Good theory. You should check your system messages to get up to speed since it's answered there. Angelo, that other American guy, actually surprised me a bit. Yesterday I’d gotten the impression he was lazy since he complained about everything. But he’s faster than I would’ve thought for an old fat guy.”

Iliana burst out laughing. “Really? I wouldn’t have guessed. He is the only guy here not smoking hot.”

“What?” Maya asked incredulously. “You sure you want to stick to that blanket statement? There are some extreme age ranges here like Jackson and Asahi.”

“Jackson’s too young so doesn’t count,” Iliana said. “But Asahi....” She gave a sultry smile.

“Are you serious?” Maya asked. “Asahi is older than my papa.”

Nathan thought the Bulgarian woman was a tad overly interested in the opposite sex given their survival situation. Did she not realize they were in an arena death game? He supposed this must be her way of coping. When the whole world is turned upside down, it’s always easiest to look for things that are familiar.

While the two women talked, Iliana kept tugging uncomfortably at her shirt sleeves, which he found distracting. Her shirt was way too small for her, especially around her arms and shoulders. He vaguely recalled her shirt not being that tight yesterday. The definition of her toned arms was visible even through her green sleeves. Her shirt was shorter with her midriff showing, and the fly of her black skinny jeans was unbuttoned to make room for her changes. She looked like she’d been lifting weights for months, focusing on melting fat and condensing muscle on her lean frame. Nathan realized it must be the Physical stat changes. She’d learned or upgraded a skill. Maybe three.

He wanted to ask her about it but wasn’t sure how to phrase it properly. “Um, Iliana,” he started.

“Yes?” the Bulgarian woman replied.

“Did you learn some new skills last night? You look... different.”

She smiled suggestively as she gestured to her body. “Like what you see?”

“Um...” He glanced at Maya for help. Her expression was neutral, not giving anything away.

“I’m kidding you, you’re too easy,” Iliana said, laughing at his flustered response. “Yes, I upgraded both my General Fitness and Strong Body skills to level two. So I gained 4 Physical.”

“Let me see your interface,” Maya said, her curiosity shining through her attempts to maintain a stony expression. She always perked up at the mention of skills.

The woman opened her character sheet for Maya to read.

“Is Strong Body the Metal skill that increases strength?” Nathan asked. Maya had mentioned it last night when reciting all of the players’ known skills but his exhausted mind hadn’t absorbed it all.

“Yes,” Maya answered. “Strong Body at level one boosts the player’s strength by 15%. At level two, 35%.”

Iliana smiled. “Harrison said I should upgrade it.”

“Is it a passive or activated skill?” he asked.

Maya was busy reading and didn’t answer. Iliana shrugged and said, “Oh, I’m not sure. I hate these kinds of games.”

“It’s passive,” Maya said as she finished her analysis, stepping back so Nathan could take a look. Iliana turned her wrist for him to see her character sheet.

It was written entirely in a foreign language. “How are you reading that, Maya? Did you learn Bulgarian when I wasn’t looking?”

“Sure, I stayed up late studying last night…” She grinned as she dramatically rolled her eyes. “Of course not. I was just reading the numbers, their position is similar enough to my own character sheet.”

He laughed as he scanned enviously over Iliana’s numbers. Sure enough, the woman had permanently increased her strength by 35%. And that was on top of her other stat gains raising her Physical to 133, so it was no wonder her muscles were ripped. Her 118 Mental stat was slightly on the low side compared to the average player, so her build was leaning more towards combat. She only had five skills though, whereas Nathan had seven, but that only meant she had more potential.

Iliana’s fifth skill was interesting in its niche purpose, Maya having described it to him last night. It was a Metal skill called Hardened Mind which passively increased her resistance to mental damage by 15%. Whether ‘mental damage’ referred to natural psychological trauma, or if it was a specific mental skill based attack, he couldn’t say. Considering how the arena had screwed up all players’ minds already, it was certain to be useful.

But there was one thing that struck him as odd about her stats. “How is your Metal at 4 and Water at 3? I haven’t seen anyone else who’s increased two affinities.”

“Oh, really?” Iliana said. “Well, in the challenges they let me pick a couple rewards. I picked Metal for one of them and the other let me pick whatever element I wanted. Water sounded lovely.”

“That’s lucky… affinity rewards are hard to find,” he said. “You might consider upping Metal again, if you get the chance, since it's your Prime and three of your skills are Metal. Plus, that Thrust skill of yours ignoring 50% physical defense sounds powerful. You’ll want Metal 5 so you can upgrade it to level two.”

He glanced towards the camp, for the first time noticing a shoddy looking shelter to the side of the trail. It was basically several sticks stuck in the ground forming a frame with big leaves interwoven for a roof. It was only about a couple feet tall so a person would only be able to crawl under it. “Hey, who built that?”

“Harrison and me during guard duty,” Iliana stated proudly. “Harrison wanted to make a shelter so I helped by weaving those big palm leaves from that tree over there.” She tugged at her too small shirt again, obviously uncomfortable. “Emma helped too I guess, but she was so annoying. She insisted on being on our same guard shift. Anyway, we each got 2 NPs and Harrison got a skill.”

Maya’s eyes bulged. “A skill for building a rubbish shelter? Explain now.”

“Oh, I’m not really sure what he got,” Iliana said with a shrug like it was no big deal. “He was excited.”

Nathan would definitely have to check with Harrison later. His stomach growled loudly causing both Maya and Iliana to focus back on him. Iliana laughed.

He shrugged then let out a chuckle too. “Sorry, haven’t had breakfast yet. Though I’ll take some directions to the nearest coffee shop.”

Maya smirked, “While you’re going, I’ll take a chai please.”

“Oh my God, I need food,” Iliana pleaded. “I’ll eat anything… anything! I’m starving!”

“About that,” Maya said more seriously, “we should split up into teams to forage. Leave a guard detail here to watch the injured.”

“But I thought we should stay together,” Iliana frowned. “Isn’t wandering off dangerous?”

“Yep,” Nathan said honestly. “But there is one major advantage to splitting into teams, other than just covering more ground.”

“More NPs,” Maya answered.

He tipped his head in acknowledgement. “That’s right.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Iliana said, scrunching up her face in thought. “How are there more NPs by having teams?”

“I noticed it yesterday,” Nathan said. “Monsters attack the players by groups and the rewards are shared. So take the rats for example…”

“Beavers,” Maya corrected.

Nathan sighed. “Fine, beavers. So in the first scenario, three beavers attack the one big group of players at their scheduled time earning 3 NPs to be shared between the group. Not so good rewards when split a bazillion ways. In scenario two, the players separate into two locations, both teams get attacked by three beavers each. So six beavers are killed for 6 NPs. In scenario three, three teams would net 9 NPs. The more groups, the more NPs. More risk, but more reward.”

Maya said, “You’re making a few unverified assumptions, but nothing I’ve seen about their attack pattern contradicts the theory. Anyway, great minds think alike... I’ve already been promoting this exact idea with the other players. I want you to be one of the team leaders, Nathan.”

He was flattered by her suggestion, but was overcome with a nagging imposter syndrome. “I appreciate your confidence, but wouldn’t Asahi make a better leader? He is a military officer with actual leadership training.”

“Well, he was truthfully my first choice.”

Nathan deflated a little. “Ah, I see.”

“But he said you would be better suited.”

“He did?” Nathan perked up. Asahi was like his personal hero. Nathan had found himself more than once emulating the man’s bearing and attitude. But it made him consider why the man wouldn’t want to lead. The old soldier must be having self doubts after what happened to Kean. The injury to his leg probably hadn’t helped his disposition. “Alright, if Asahi thinks I should.”

“Who should lead the other foraging team, you think?” she asked.

“Asahi,” he replied immediately. “But if he doesn’t want to…” He considered the other players then sighed at his own conclusion. “Probably Harrison. He’s crude and gets on my nerves, but he seems competent and actually pretty good with that club.”

“You might be right. As much as I hate to admit it, he is one of our best fighters,” she agreed. “Plus a few of the players seem to like him for some unfathomable reason.” She glanced at Iliana and stumbled over her words. “Umm, yeah… anyway, how should we break up teams?”

That was a good question. Since the arena world was modeled after a role playing game, structuring the teams with that in mind made sense. Teams needed to be balanced to handle all threats, so there was usually a frontline fighter who was defense oriented to tank enemy hits, players who specialized in damage dealing while the enemy was distracted with the tank, and then support and healing classes to back them up.

But while the supernatural skills they had gained so far did lend themselves to specializing toward different roles, they were far too early into the game for those roles to be the defining characteristic of each player. Plus, combat in the arena world was way more realistic than in RPGs, and they couldn’t expect monsters to be easily gamed into attacking the player they wanted while everyone else bashed on it uncontested. His game knowledge was helpful, but he had to temper it for the real world.

“First, let’s split up the strongest, most physically fit, players. We don’t want any one team to be too weak.” He glanced around the camp to get ideas. The arrogant Aussie and the Japanese soldier were the two immediate standouts. His eyes then landed on the tall, powerful build of the Kenyan woman and he nodded to himself. “That would be Harrison, Asahi, and Lilly.” He hesitated for a moment before reluctantly pointing at himself, “and... I guess me.” He had no idea why that admission made him blush. He was one of the few players over six feet tall, in great shape with a higher Physical stat, and had some awesome combat skills. He could be such a dork sometimes.

Maya nodded, thankfully not laughing at Nathan’s self-inclusion on his list of best fighters. “I see the logic, what about the rest?”

“Support players are the next priority. Emma, Asahi, and myself are the only players with any form of healing so should probably also be split up. I would say everyone else could be evenly distributed after that.”

“Great ideas,” she smiled. “I will get everyone sorted. You should really check your messages in the meantime, we have a busy day today and no time to waste.” The Indian woman promptly turned around and walked towards the creek, vaulting over it using her spear.

“Harrison will be a good leader, I think,” Iliana said with a shrug. “He is strong and confident, he just looks like the kind of guy who can protect everyone.”

“I hope you’re right,” Nathan said, remembering some of the jarring comments that spewed out of the man’s mouth yesterday. Iliana might think differently after she gets to know him. But like it or not, in a death arena, the biggest fighter was usually the most important asset... regardless of personality. “Well, anyway, I guess I’ll read my messages, excuse me.”

He sat down and activated his glowing wristband. There was only one message waiting for him.

[Day Two Challenge – roaming monsters will attack players every thirty minutes. A roaming boss monster and entourage will attack at sundown. Prepare.]

No wonder Maya had wanted him to read this. The attacks were going to be twice as frequent. Even an hour between attacks yesterday seemed hectic and non-stop. How were they going to manage double the chaos? He shook his head at the hopelessness of the situation. He took a deep breath and tried to look at the bright side; at least they’d have the chance to gain more NPs. A roaming boss though? They were already suffering casualties on regular monsters, he couldn’t imagine what kind of crazy a boss monster would bring to the table.

He studied the players as they milled about. Johanna was speaking with Asahi so he decided to see how she was doing. He vaulted the creek and collected his shoes and socks, walking towards the sitting woman. She noticed him coming and nodded, breaking off her conversation with the soldier.

“Nathan, I’ve been told what you did to help me.”

Nathan sat down next to her, putting on his socks. They were still damp. It was always the little things that made life miserable.

“Yeah, I’m sorry you were hurt. Wish I could’ve gotten to that beaver quicker.”

“Nathan-san saved your life,” Asahi said.

“He helped I’m sure,” she said, addressing Asahi with a smile. “Although it was your Injury Stabilize skill and my own skill upgrade that actually did the healing. But I appreciate his assistance nonetheless.”

Her attitude pissed him off. She hadn’t even bothered to address him directly, speaking her backhanded thanks as if he wasn’t sitting beside her. Yesterday, he’d mostly ignored her rudeness to him. Given the circumstances, some irrational behavior was to be expected. But after going through medical hell for her, he was done taking her crap.

“You appreciate the assistance?” he spat. “You have a funny way of expressing it. I pushed your freaking intestines back inside you. I held them for twenty minutes, using my own shirt as a bandage. At any moment, if I let up on the pressure, you’d be dead. Yeah, you damn well better appreciate it.”

Her expression turned shocked as she registered his explosion. As he spoke, his anger only intensified with his wounded pride, like a dam finally releasing pressure. Even though the ungrateful woman had triggered his rage, every other wrong done by the arena fueled his fury. Being selected by the sociopathic Tygerion, the smug and useless Tutorial Guide, Kean’s untimely death... so many things contributed to the crushing weight of unfairness. He began speaking thoughts as soon as they popped in his mind, the more hurtful the better.

“By the way, thanks for running off and leaving us during the prelims. Kean’s dead now so... good job, he died because of you. I mean, what kind of stupid moron picks their element based on their favorite color? How did you even pass the second challenge? I have yet to see you make a single intelligent decision. Ugh, you’ve treated me like garbage from the start. Is it because I’m American? Or because I'm younger? Or something else? You can’t even thank me properly. If I knew you weren’t going to appreciate it, I should’ve just let you die!”

As soon as he said the last sentence, he immediately regretted it.

“Nathan-san!” Asahi rebuked.

He couldn’t help but know he went too far. He glanced around, seeing many of the other player’s bewildered expressions. He withered under their stares. He’d basically just told someone he wished they died, which to an outside observer would sound pretty rotten regardless of circumstances.

He stood up, kicked a small rock with his shoeless foot, and turned back to Johanna. Her jaw was set but she didn’t speak.

“I’m sorry for that last thing,” he said, his tone diminished. “I don’t want you dead. But you need to shape up. This is a death arena, not a school picnic. We have to work together, not against each other.”

He turned away, thoroughly embarrassed by his public outburst. He stormed down to the creek, just wanting to be away from her. He ignored the other players who hastily moved out of his way. He took a few steps upstream and stopped, staring into the water.

He hadn’t done anything to her but she'd looked down on him since their first conversation. He realized his face was flushed and his teeth were grinding. He took a deep breath, trying to relax. How could that awful woman belittle him after what he did for her? When she was being rude before he could ignore it. When she was irrational, he could just roll his eyes. But when she didn’t appreciate what he did for her... that was his breaking point. She was honestly the worst.

He continued to breathe in and out, trying to calm down. He had to keep a grip on himself. Flipping out on other players wasn’t exactly the best tactical move for their continued survival, even if it was deserved. Hard emotions could get someone killed here. He tried to put himself in her shoes. He’d called her stupid, but she couldn’t be that dumb if she passed the puzzle challenge. Irrational behavior didn’t equal lack of intelligence.

He took another calming breath. Some of his comments regarding her leaving Kean behind could be applied to Asahi as well, and Nathan hadn’t meant to dish out on his friend. Asahi had already apologized for his part so they were cool in his book.

Eventually, his thoughts were interrupted as Maya called for everyone's attention.

“Listen up everyone,” she shouted from the edge of the creek, facing the players on the trail. “We will split into three teams to hunt food. Two teams will forage and one will stay here and guard the injured. No one goes anywhere alone; always stay with your group.”

Nathan took another deep steadying breath and joined the rest of the players on the trail to listen. He tried to push the previous drama from his mind. Maya watched him join the others and gave him a smile. The expression was a small thing, but improved his mood considerably.

She continued her speech, “Harrison will lead a group with Emma and Jackson to collect the nuts and yams down the trail. Nathan will lead the second group with Lilly and Iliana to hunt for crawfish in the creek. Nathan has the second level of the Wilderness Survival skill so will scout for additional food sources and any other resources the creek may contain. Both foraging teams have a player with First Aid in case there is an issue. And lastly, the guard group will be led by me. We will stay here to guard Johanna and Zhang who are still recovering from their injuries. Asahi and Angelo are on my team.”

He could see Iliana’s disappointment written on her face at being teamed up with Nathan instead of Harrison. He pitied her romantic endeavors but agreed with Maya’s choice. The growing rivalry between Emma and Iliana wasn’t a big deal, but it was best to split the two women up. Emma and Nathan were the only two players with First Aid so had to be on different teams. With Harrison being the leader of the other foraging team, he was teamed with Emma by default. Iliana was then stuck with Nathan.

Maya looked around at the players, making sure everyone was still paying attention. “While foraging, you may eat some of the food, but bring most of it back to our camp. The injured and the players guarding here have to eat too. If anyone has any questions or concerns, let me know now.” She waited a few seconds while no one responded. “Good, gather with your group mates. Good hunting!”

“Oh, and one more thing,” Maya yelled out gaining everyone’s attention again. “I’m not going to name names but there was someone using the toilet upstream in the creek this morning. Seriously, don’t do that.” Most of the players laughed, especially when Maya stared meaningfully at Harrison to make sure everyone knew exactly who she was talking about. “We all have to drink this water. I shouldn’t even have to explain this but if you need to use the toilet go downstream.”

“Actually, you shouldn’t do it in the water at all,” Nathan amended. “Go up the trail to the other side of the hill off the path instead. If you need to do number two, dig a hole with a stick and then cover it up afterward for sanitation. You can then put the stick in the ground standing up to mark the spot so someone else doesn’t dig it up by accident.” It was a proven system they’d always used on his camping trips.

“No objections here,” Maya said. “Additionally, don’t go anywhere by yourself. No one likes having to relieve themselves with someone playing lookout. But if a monster attacks while your trousers are around your feet, you’ll be glad to have backup. Okay, that’s it.”

Conversations sprang up immediately as players gravitated towards their assigned teams. Nathan finished putting on his shoes, not wanting to cut his feet on sharp rocks in the creek water. He met up with Iliana and Lilly, pointedly never looking back towards the tree where Johanna rested.

He knew Lilly was a solid fighter, having fought beside her in the creek battle the night before. She was an inch taller than him and athletically built, and her running form he’d seen the day before was as good as any collegiate athlete he’d seen. Even though the Kenyan woman seemed constantly angry, he didn’t mind her as a teammate.

Iliana was a different story. While the shorter woman had acquired massive muscle growth overnight, she held her spear awkwardly and had an air of someone completely out of her element. This was most evidenced by her reluctance to get her tennis shoes wet in the creek. Lilly finally got tired of her waffling on the creek’s bank and shoved her into the water.

“Hey!” Iliana shouted indignantly at the larger woman.

“Be grateful you have shoes,” Lilly replied.

The tanned Bulgarian woman looked annoyed until she glanced down at Lilly’s bare feet. Then her face became mortified. “Oh, I wasn’t thinking. I’m so sorry.”

Lilly’s face softened and she shrugged. “Just forget about it, let’s get started.”

As they waded they began picking up every rock looking for the miniature pseudo-lobsters. One advantage to being the creek group meant they could start hunting immediately by the camp while the other group had to hike at least fifteen to twenty minutes to find the nut vines or yams.

Nathan flipped over a small rock and spotted a crawfish immediately. He snatched it up before it could run to a new hiding place. He was hungry but it would be dumb to eat them raw now that he had access to fire. His stomach growled in protest to that type of logical thinking, but he persevered.

After three more displaced rocks, he captured another. He checked his teammates, seeing Lilly cracking her own crawfish open. She stared at the creature with consternation, seemingly unsure what to do with it now that she’d removed its shell. From what he’d seen, she’d been mostly fearless with everything the arena had thrown at her. That was until now. With great reluctance, she popped the meat into her mouth. She chewed once then gagged, immediately spitting it out.

“Hey, don’t waste them!” Iliana cried, looking shocked.

“I can’t do it,” the taller woman admitted. “I don’t care how hungry I am. I will just collect them for cooking later.”

Iliana made undignified slurping noises as she sucked on her own crawfish. “I’m too hungry or else I’d wait too. I have to eat something right now or I might die.” Once finished with her disgusting snack, she went to work flipping more rocks. The newly muscular woman was particularly aggressive, tossing rocks haphazardly and consuming her prizes like a ravenous predator.

Nathan regarded his own crawfish. They’d need some way to carry the catch. He unbuttoned his shirt and put his spear through the two sleeveless shoulder openings. He buttoned the shirt back up, and then twisted the bottom and tied it close with a knot. He now had a bag… well, sort of. It hung on the spear loosely and he’d have to keep the spear horizontal to prevent it from sliding off. But at least he could dump the shirt bag quickly if he needed the spear free for a fight.

A screech came from the vegetation and the three of them froze in place. They spun to the left where the source of the sound originated further downstream. Nathan tested his idea out by tossing his shirt bag off his spear with a flicking motion. He then twirled the spear into a fighting position. His Pole Weapons skill let him know what he was doing wrong and helped correct his stance. He was pleased to find the adjustments to his incorrect form were less drastic than yesterday. He hoped that meant he was internalizing the skill.

A beaver jumped out of the vegetation, splashing into the creek water six yards further downstream from them. As it started its running charge at the players, another screech sounded and a second beaver landed near where the first had. Lilly, clenching her spear, was on Nathan’s right, standing barefoot in the water, and Iliana with a matching spear was on his left holding her weapon awkwardly. Her entire body shook and her eyes were wide in terror.

Only then did he realize Iliana had no weapon skill like Lilly and him. The tanned Bulgarian woman was a Metal Prime, meaning her Wood affinity was too low to learn the Pole Weapons skill. Lilly didn’t have Pole Weapons either, but she did have the Earth aligned Blunt Weapons skill. According to the woman, the skill assisted marginally when she used a spear, specifically when she bludgeoned things.

The charging beaver leapt towards Nathan. He swung his spear down and nailed it right in the middle of its head between the horns. Red energy dispersed as his already active attack buff triggered. The force of the blow plowed the creature straight down into the water where it promptly turned to pixels and disappeared. He gasped in shock from the surprising power of the swing. His accuracy was spot on too, a feat not possible the day before.

He heard Iliana next to him slowly enunciate, “My God.”

The second beaver had begun charging while a third screech heralded the arrival of a third monster splashing down where the second just vacated. The second beaver was racing towards Iliana and she crouched down with her spear ready in anticipation. She repeated Nathan’s actions by swinging her spear downwards towards its head. She wasn’t as accurate, hitting one of its horns. The blow caused the monster to spin in the air and splash down in the water next to their feet. Lilly was closest so she stomped down hard on it, splashing water that doused all three of them. The overgrown rodent screeched in pain.

The third beaver was already sprinting towards Lilly and she pivoted, raising her spear firmly forward. As the beaver leapt towards her, she thrust with the intention of spearing it. She only grazed it with the spear head, deflecting it slightly, and the creature sailed into the bank. She splashed over to its crash landing spot and stabbed it, causing it to glow and pixelate. Nathan turned back and stomped the second beaver again and it likewise disappeared. The brief battle was over.

After it was clear there were no more enemies, all three players checked their glowing wristbands. They each received 1 NP for their share of the rewards.

“Anyone else notice how dumb that fight was?” Lilly asked, rolling her shoulders.

“What?” asked Iliana, somehow already slurping down another crawfish she’d found.

Lilly’s face twisted in disgust at the sight of the shorter woman’s eating habits. “Just look at all the plant cover on both sides of us… perfect ambush situation. Instead, each rat jumped downstream into plain sight. And that stupid screech, don’t get me started. And then they attacked one at a time... so dumb.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that some,” replied Nathan. “I think these rats are supposed to be easy by design. They’re highly dangerous to those without combat skills or weapons, like all of us yesterday, but they’re a threat we are meant to outgrow. Although their numbers keep increasing, which scales the difficulty up some, they are now our easiest source of NPs. But we should expect the attacks to get harder throughout the day again.”

“New and bigger challenges that force us to grow stronger,” Lilly nodded. “Though I dread this evening’s boss attack.”

So did he. He gathered his shirt bag and they started flipping rocks again. The three worked for another thirty minutes until another similar attack assaulted them. Only it was four beavers this time. They killed them easily enough, collecting an additional 1.5 NPs each.

After the fight, Iliana begged them to go to the fire to cook their haul for breakfast. Nathan and Lilly readily agreed and they headed back.

They didn’t really have great options for cooking so they tried a few different ways. Nathan set a couple flat rocks by the edge of the fire as he’d seen Harrison do. He placed most of the crawfish on top of the rocks, twenty-five in total, to cook in their shells from the heat. Maya on the other hand, collected a thin stick and skewered two of the crawfish, holding it above the fire.

“This is the best way since they can be rotated,” the Indian woman said in her near perfect British accent. “That way they become cooked on all sides.”

“Sounds like a lot of work,” Nathan said. “We’ll see whose method is best.”

She laughed, “Challenge accepted.”

Shortly after, one of her crawfish fell off the stick, disappearing into the midst of the flames. The gathered players couldn’t help but laugh. Maya’s exaggerated outrage at the tragedy made it even funnier.

“Well, the stick method is still superior,” Maya insisted. “My execution was just a bit off.”

When her stick caught fire, the players’ laughter grew louder as she blew it out. Eventually, she succeeded in cooking one with the stick method. She cracked it open, excitement on her face, and popped it in her mouth.

“Hot, hot, hot!” She frantically waved her hands while spitting out the meat. Nathan and Iliana were rolling on the ground by this point. The comic display had lightened the mood so much that when they heard another screech it didn’t cause much alarm. The players all stood with their weapons and faced the creek as a beaver ran down the opposite hill. Similar to their fights earlier, five different beavers attacked one by one and they slaughtered them like pigs in a pen. It netted the players 1 NP each bringing Nathan’s total up to 12.5.

Nathan checked on his crawfish. With a stick he knocked each of them away from the fire onto a cool rock. After laughing at Maya, he was especially careful not to dump them on the ground.

Once the crawfish were ready, he divided them up among the players. He even delivered Johanna her share, reluctant to make eye contact with the woman after their incident. He sensed she wanted to say something to him, but they both remained quiet. For his part, it was too soon.

Asahi finished his crawfish and began doing a series of stretching exercises. The maneuvers looked well practiced. The soldier returned to the fire after he finished, taking a seat beside Nathan.

“How’s the leg?” Nathan asked the man. He hoped his tongue-lashing of Johanna hadn’t tarnished their friendship.

“Astonishingly well. This morning Emma removed the stitches embedded in my skin, and then healed the new wound with First Aid. It was as good as any surgeon’s work.”

“That’s great, glad you’re one hundred percent again.” They were going to need his fighting skills. Nathan thought it might be a good opportunity to ask about the man. “Asahi-san, do you have any family?”

“Hai, I have a son. My wife died about ten years ago. My son is a manga artist and is quite talented. Hmm, that is interesting, the Language skill did not translate the word manga.”

Nathan smiled. “I think that’s because in English we also use the word manga for Japanese comic books. Speaking of language, I noticed your English translation is a bit more… stiff… than others who use the skill. Is that just the way you talk?”

“Is it? Hmm, I suspect it is a quirk of the Language skill translating my formal Japanese. English does not have comparable formal and informal versions. Though some of it may just be me.”

“Huh, I see.” The Language skill was beyond complex, as soon as he thought he’d figured something out, there was an exception that broke the rule.

Asahi sighed, his face grimmer than usual. “I was so hard on my son for his career choice. I hated he was wasting his potential. Now he makes more than my salary, so I have to admit it is acceptable. But I chose not to acknowledge him. We have not spoken in ten years.” The man had a faraway look. “I am a prideful man. I believe my sins are why I was chosen for this trial.” He looked back to Nathan. “Have you started a family, Nathan-san?”

The question caught him off guard. “Um, no. I’m not married or have any children. I just haven’t met the one for me.”

Truth be told, he’d been quite lonely on that frontier. He had quirks and flaws which had messed up more than one relationship in his past. He hadn’t been very mature most of his life so it was probably a good thing he hadn’t met the right person. If he had, he’d have already screwed it up. With some of his recent Mental enhancements, he’d become increasingly self-aware of some of his more annoying tendencies, so hopefully he’d be better at restraining them. Being teleported to a survival arena had to be good for something, right?

Asahi nodded sagely. “Well, when you do meet that person, let her know how much you appreciate her. I missed my chance with my wife. I also do not think I will ever see my son again to say I am proud of him.” His stoic façade faltered and he turned his head.

“We’ll win this thing and go home,” Nathan said. As he spoke it, it sounded like an empty platitude even to him.

Asahi seemed to be encouraged by the boast though. “Hai. We will win or die trying. It will be my singular focus and dedication until I draw my last breath.”

Asahi spoke the dramatic line so straight that Nathan somehow actually became inspired. It made him wonder why Asahi had turned down a leadership role in the group.

“If you don’t mind my asking, why aren’t you one of the team leaders? You’re an officer in the military, I would’ve thought you’d seize the role without even being asked.”

Asahi's expression turned grim again, but he nodded. “That is a fair question. I have spent my whole life commanding men... training, teaching, leading. But I have never been in combat. Kean was the first death under my command, and he was a civilian child. But was it even death? I think we are no longer alive, we have been banished to Hell and must fight as punishment.” He shook his head. “I have led enough in life, I do not wish to lead in death too. I will still fight, but I must face my own failings as well.”

Nathan nodded along, though he didn’t really understand or agree with the man’s words. But he’d been a reliable companion, so Nathan could overlook his strange philosophy and musings. It was impossible for anyone not to feel bleak given where they were.

Nathan gathered his team of three and they headed back into the creek. They traveled the other direction this time going upstream. They were faster, efficiently chucking rocks to the side to flush the scuttling crawfish out into the open. Once revealed, they were promptly caught, killed, and added to the shirt bag. There were hundreds of crawfish in close proximity to their camp and he pondered about their abundance. The absence of natural predators must’ve allowed their population to expand rapidly. Or maybe it was an intentional design choice by the Tygerion guy? Nathan hated the taste of crawfish, so it would figure.

They worked hard, making their way upstream. About the time he began thinking they were due for an attack, a deep growl caused Nathan to snap his eyes back up. The color drained from his face. A massive black bear was wading in the creek, facing the three players.

He chided himself. After a few fights with only beavers, he’d gotten complacent, not even accurately tracking time with his EP counter. They weren’t even in a proper formation for a serious fight.

The bear was standing on four legs. No, not a bear. Bears didn’t usually have antlers. It growled again and its wide mouth opened revealing two rows of sharp teeth. Its toothy maw resembled a shark instead of a typical mammal. That was creepy. It was a disconcerting mash up of various animals he knew.

It reared up on its hind legs and roared at the sky. The bestial sound sent shivers up his spine. The mutant bear was stupidly big. Ten feet tall on its hind legs, it towered over Nathan and the two women. It slammed back down onto all fours creating a tidal wave of splashes in the shallow water.

Nathan tossed his shirt bag to the bank and readied his spear. He glanced at his wristband to confirm he already had his Attack Up buff active. He was relieved to see his EP pool was maxed out at 35 too. If ever he needed it full, it was now.

Iliana uttered what he assumed was a Bulgarian curse and stepped up beside Nathan. She was breathing hard with an audible whimper. It was moving that she would face the danger despite her horror, and it helped him maintain his own resolve.

Instead of joining them, Lilly stepped up onto the right bank as she moved forward, keeping her spear aimed towards the bear. Nathan assumed it was a strategic move of some sort by the larger woman. She wore a face flush with anger towards the large beast, her general attitude to all monsters from what he’d seen.

Keeping his voice low, Nathan spoke, “Good plan Lilly. I’ll grab its attention towards me while you flank it. Iliana, get up on the opposite bank and do the same as Lilly.” The formerly petite woman complied, stepping slowly through the water and up the bank. He could see her entire body trembling as she moved.

Now he just needed the monster’s attention on him. “Hey! Winnie the Pooh!” Nathan shouted in challenge. “I stole your honey and it tastes really good. Come and get it!” He heard Iliana stifle a laugh, the silliness of his words enough to break through her terror.

The bear bellowed out another roar. Nathan didn’t think it could understand him, but he was confident it was pissed off. It charged. Its bulky form splashed forward, travelling far faster than its mass would have suggested. Nathan regretted his plan already.

As it neared, he prepared to move. Mimicking the bull fighters from his world, he sidestepped the monster, letting its massive momentum pass him by. It would’ve looked great, except Nathan’s foot caught on a rock and he tripped, falling on his side with a splash. Lilly stabbed the bear as it ran past but the crude spear bounced off its thick hide ineffectually.

Nathan scrambled back to his feet, grateful the bear wasn’t agile enough to take advantage of his fall. Iliana was still standing on the bank, frozen in place. The bear ignored the trembling woman, instead turning around and locking eyes on the biggest target, Lilly, the pitiful human who dared poke it with a stick.

Nathan was already moving. He lowered his spear to an angle his Pole Weapons skill suggested and rammed it hard towards its face. Energy flowed through Nathan’s muscles, informing him Attack Up triggered, potentially inflicting an additional 20% damage with the strike. The bear moved its head out of the way and the spear pierced its shoulder instead. Unlike Lilly’s vanilla attack without a skill, blood squirted from the beast as he yanked his spear free. The bear roared, flinching away from the weapon.

Quicker than Nathan thought possible, the bear swiped at his spear, knocking it to the side. Nathan winced as he felt one of the claws slice the back of his hand. He barely managed to keep a grip on his spear. Luckily, his leather bracer protected his forearm from a more disabling injury.

Not giving him a chance to regroup, the bear lunged at him with its shark teeth opened wide. Lilly suddenly joined his side, with a shout of defiance she stabbed the bear right in its big toothy mouth, penetrating tender flesh. The bear produced a strangled whine at the unexpected pain. It shook its head and bit down, snapping the head of Lilly’s spear clean off. She stumbled back with a yelp.

Nathan didn’t wait and yelled out “Attack Up!” dropping his EP pool to 19. The energy in his core gathered in his muscles and hands. The red energy rushed from his body as he stepped forward thrusting, catching the bear in its other shoulder. He pulled the spear back in another shower of blood.

Iliana, finally joining the battle, shouted a word in Bulgarian and drove her spear into the monster’s side. A silvery glow surrounded her spear tip in the form of a blade as she activated a Metal skill. Unlike Lilly’s earlier attack that bounced off the thick hide, Iliana’s spear pierced directly into its rib cage, plunging two feet deep. The bear bellowed in rage. Iliana looked more shocked than anyone by her successful blow.

“Attack Up!” Nathan cried, activating the skill a final time, depleting his EPs to 3. He lunged with the spear again at the enraged monster, catching it under the throat. His spear pierced through the vulnerable location, causing blood to pour out of the wound in buckets. The bear made a few gurgling noises through its throat wounds and then collapsed where it was standing.

Lilly, snarling, scrambled back to her feet and began battering its head with her broken spear shaft. She vented her anger, wailing on the bear over and over again. The monster made a few more moans before it laid still. Nathan had to shield his eyes from the brightness radiated as it turned to glittering pixels. Then the monster disappeared. Water rushed to fill the space vacated by the large body. The two undamaged spears piercing it’s body fell to the water with a plunk. Lilly kicked uselessly with her bare foot at the vanished creature, grunting in frustration at the lack of a target.

Nathan breathed hard, trying to compose himself. Unlike the weak beavers, the antlered bear was a true monstrosity. He shook his head, astounded the three of them survived that massive abomination. It was a wake up call that they needed to be a lot stronger.

Lilly finally ceased her futile fight and stared at the broken spear in her hand. Iliana sat on the bank, face drained of blood. He studied his teammates with a frown. He was their team leader, he should say something encouraging. “Um, good job everyone, that was a tougher fight than I expected. Anyone hurt?”

“No,” Lilly said angrily. She sat down on the bank beside Iliana. Her teeth gritted.

“I don’t think so,” Iliana said, wiping tears from her eyes.

Sensing that the two women were stressed, albeit in different ways, he said, “Let’s take a break, we earned it.”

He sat down on the opposite bank and thought over the fight in his mind. The bear’s defenses were tough. Nathan had to use three triggers of his Attack Up skill and Iliana even used her crazy stabbing skill. If their strikes hadn’t luckily hit vital areas, they would have been out of options to deal with it when their EPs ran out. Even still, Lilly’s spear was destroyed in the fight. They’d only survived without a major injury by a healthy dash of luck. What would’ve happened if they fought one of those beasts without full EPs? He shuddered at the thought.

“I couldn’t move,” Iliana finally said, looking up as she broke the silence. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Nathan said. “You moved when you needed to. Use it as an opportunity to learn for next time.”

“Okay, I’ll try.” The olive skinned woman shivered as she looked back down into the creek. The silver stone in her collar caught the light, reminding him she was a Metal Prime.

“Was that a skill you activated in the fight?” he asked, trying to create a segway for a conversation. “I saw your spear temporarily gain a sharp blade head.”

“Yes... it was my Thrust skill.”

“Oh yeah, it lets you ignore 50% of physical defenses while thrusting with a weapon, right? Pretty awesome.”

“Yeah,” she said. She didn’t seem as enthused by the skill as Nathan.

“Well, it’s the perfect counter to that bear monster. Its hide was tough. With your Strong Body enhancement, you may be the best offensive player we have.”

“Huh?”

Lilly sighed impatiently from the side. “It means you have the strongest attack.”

Iliana glanced at her and nodded in understanding. She wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve.

All three player’s wristbands were glowing. Nathan decided to go ahead and check his log since they had thirty minutes until the next attack. He had several messages waiting for him.

[Your (3) participating group members have been awarded 2.5 NPs each for the defeat of one tier 2 monster.]

That bear was tier 2? He could believe it, it was a true monster. Doing a quick calculation in his head, he figured a tier 2 monster must be worth 7.5 NPs or possibly even 8 depending if there was rounding involved in the calculation. That was a big NP jump from the lower tiers. He regretted that he hadn’t used Analyze Enemy on the bear, but he just didn’t have the EPs to spare against the dangerous opponent. He continued reading the rest of his log.

[Due to your first victory against a tier 2 monster you may learn your choice of a new skill.]

[Please choose one of the following two randomly selected Wood skills:]

*[Snare I: Requirements - Wood 3 (Prime). (Activated Skill – when striking, bind the struck target with weak vines for 10 seconds - cost: 16 EPs.) (Gain +1 Physical.)]

Finally, a crowd control ability. In game lingo, crowd control was any skill that let you hamper the effectiveness of the enemy. Hence, controlling the crowd of enemies. Being able to immobilize an enemy with vines, especially when they outnumbered him, could be crucial in defeating a superior force. It was also a Prime skill, meaning only Wood Primes could learn it, likely since it created vines. Maya’s Ignite skill had been similarly restricted since it produced a flame. He read his other option.

*[Expansive Mind I: Requirements - Wood 2. (Boosts memory by 15%.) (Gain +1 Mental.)]

The second skill didn’t have direct combat application but was incredible in the abstract. He’d have loved to have a memory boost back when he was taking college classes. The Mental stat boost would be helpful too since he was a bit lacking in that department. He didn’t want to end up in a situation where he only had a high Physical stat and couldn’t upgrade any skills since his Mental was too low. Wilderness Survival required both stats and he assumed others did as well so pigeonholing his build with Physical stats might hamper him later. Plus, improving one’s mind was freaking awesome and would apply to everything he did, even indirectly in combat. The fact it was percentage based means it would scale with his Mental stat increases, which for the long term might be the stronger choice. On the other hand, if he didn’t live that long, or couldn’t keep his allies alive, it wasn’t likely to matter.

This was one of those situations where if he was sitting in his comfy chair in his living room, he'd always pick the long term option. But being on the ground level of the arena game heavily changed his perspective. The stakes were higher when they were playing for their lives. Regardless of the advantages of Expansive Mind, he couldn’t pass up the combat utility that the Snare skill provided. The tier 2 bear had shown him he needed more ways to deal with enemies.

He selected Snare and was rewarded with the expected pain and accompanying spasms that washed over him. The pain was more tolerable than before and he laid back to grit his teeth and bear it. Once it passed, he sat up and checked his character sheet. His Physical increased to 134 while his Mental still sat at 120. His bleeding hand was healed too, a fringe benefit that would save him a few EPs from having to First Aid himself.

He checked to see the upgrade requirements for level two Snare; 20 NPs, Wood 5 Prime, and 120 Physical. He only had a 4 affinity in Wood so he needed to find some way to increase it before he could upgrade his new skill.

He looked towards the other players on his team. They were both lying down, contorting their bodies in pain. They must’ve learned new skills as well. He found himself excited to see what they’d learn. It was only day two and their power levels were ramping up fast.

Wait, could he actually be enjoying the arena death game? He shuddered at the thought and then felt guilty. People had died. More people would die. He laid his spear in his lap and kept watch, angry at himself. Enjoying the game felt like a betrayal. He should hate it.

But here, he had measurable improvements to his body and mind by the hour. It was unbelievable. Even wearing his miserable office clothes and sleeping on the hard ground, it was addicting to watch the numbers go up. It brought a measure of satisfaction that was difficult to compare to anything in his life on Earth.

By playing the game, he was becoming something new. The stat gains would eventually lead him to becoming more than human. It excited him, terrified him, and pissed him off all at the same time. He knew the stat gains were essentially bribes, reinforcement to reward the hamster running in its wheel. But did that change the fact the rewards were awesome?

He shook his head. He was being unusually introspective again. Extremely introspective to the point he didn’t feel like himself. It was strange. His mind had to be evolving from these changes. Was he even the same person? He loved what the Physical stats did to his body, but he couldn't look past his trepidation at the Mental changes. He'd gained 6 to his Mental so far. What would he be like after he gained 60? A super genius monster who’d lost its humanity?

Ultimately, he came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter if he actually enjoyed playing the game or not. He had to play the stupid game to win, so play the game he would. He owed it to Kean, David, Maria, and all the other unknown players who had already died. To lose the game would be to let their deaths be in vain. He needed to quit being weak-willed, letting the horrors around him control his decisions. He had to ignore the mental trauma, begin focusing on finding advantages in the system, and making himself and his allies stronger.

Asahi was right, he would win by doing whatever was required. Regardless of what it cost him.