How the fuck am I going to explain to this group of people that I had a hand in killing their beloved overlord?

Trick question, I’m fucking not. I don’t want to be lynched. There was probably no one around to see what happened, Nate probably wanted no witnesses to my murder. And if someone happened to see it… I’ll figure that out when I get to it. He was fucking mind-controlling them! Though it might be hard to convince them of that…

Hopefully people will be too preoccupied with survival to investigate thoroughly, and as long as we figure out some kind of substitute leadership system, everything should be fine. The good news is that Lauren showing up anywhere covered in blood is actually the norm, so it won’t arouse anyone’s suspicions. I can’t be bothered to think anymore for now. It’s stupid and a waste of time to sleep more during the day, but I feel like I didn’t sleep at all last night, and freeing the group from the shackles of a mind-controller is more than enough work for one day.

Except… he was a huge boon to the group as well. Those mass buffs were really strong, and his mental influence kept the team orderly. Without that? We’ll have to keep people together the old fashioned way. Building bonds.

Problems for later.

I yawn and return to the coffin I rose from, falling asleep as soon as I hit the bedding.

---

*shhhhING* *SHING* *shhhhING*

My eyes snap open, and I frantically look around the room to assess the threat.

My eyes focus on the only other person in the room. Dean.

Sharpening his sword.

“What… the fuck, Dean?”

+”Oh sorry, were you sleeping? I couldn’t tell anyone was in here. Maybe you shouldn’t be resting in so much. I was just trying to sharpen my sword after it got chipped.” His tone is as nasty as his attitude.

“Yeah, I should have pushed you out as a distraction instead of doing it myself. My sincerest apologies for saving your life.”

*TANG* +”You HIT ME WITH YOUR SWORD.” He practically snarls the words.

“You were attacking me. With intent. I’m no fool, Dean.”

+”The hell you aren’t. You’re picking a fight with your betters, and you ought to know your place. What are you going to do to replace my sword?” Damn, that’s a familiar line of thinking. Such a shame what happened to the last guy, eh?

“Nothing.”

+”Oh? Well maybe I’ll just take yours then. It’s not like you can even use it anyway.” He stoops and picks up my sword where it lay by the wall, unsheathing it.

*CLANG* He drops it almost immediately, recoiling as though it bit him. +”What the hell? Ow! What, is this a cursed weapon? You fucking maniac!”

“It’s not cursed, it’s mine. Which means you shouldn’t touch it. Or did preschool teach you nothing? Go sharpen somewhere else, I have no interest in your boasting.”

+”Oh yeah? Or what? You gonna call your girlfriend on me? I’m not scared of her.”

“Good thing you lowered your voice. There are at least two parts of that little line of yours that’ll get you stabbed, poisoned, and maimed.”

+”Doesn’t change the fact that you’re a weak piece of shit. Why don’t you come at me with that stick of yours and we’ll see who’s worth more?”

I smile darkly. “You’re really not that clever about your attempts to kill me, are you? What, were you planning an ‘accident’ during our ‘spar’? ‘He was too weak, he dodged into it’ you’d say. Oh, don’t make that face. The worst part is that you came in here to pick that fight in the first place just because you don’t like me. That’s despite the fact that there aren’t many humans left, despite the fact that I’m one of the few remaining creatures on this planet that won’t stab you in the back. You really put rocks to shame with how fucking dumb you are. Or maybe you’re just a sociopath? No, stop, I don’t want to hear it. If you still want to fight, I’ll come out in a few hours. I’ll bring a mediator. Anyone dies, the other dies too. I know someone with no qualms about that. Yeah?”

He stares for a long while, breathing unevenly. He looks like he’s about to say something a few times, but ultimately throws the rock he was using to scratch his blade (he obviously had no idea how to sharpen) to the ground and leaves.

Good riddance.

---

The adrenaline coursing through my veins made it hard to go back to sleep. Exhaustions won out, and I got a bit more blissful unconsciousness in before I woke again. Not refreshed, but better. I immediately make my way to Zathis.

The doors to his chamber remain exactly as they were last night. I guess he never ended up closing them. He was either very serious about how much of a pushover those monsters were or he had a lot of faith in us…

Or maybe he was going to slam them shut if he heard us fall. Whichever his reasoning, it feels nice that he probably had some faith in us.

“Zathis, did you sleep well?” Only the top of the giant’s head is visible from the entrance, as he appears to be reclining in his gigantic sarcophagus. He stirs at my words.

“Anthony! I see you are well. This is most pleasing. Your companion was not much for conversation, but far more intelligent than any other of its kind. How did you manage such a thing?”

I like you, Zathis, but I’m not explaining my secret weapon to everyone. I’m still acutely aware that you can crush me in a moment.

“Kaythe is just the smartest monster I’ve come across. It’s probably why he was willing to join me instead of attacking off the bat like everything else.”

“True…” He trails off, stroking his chin with his massive hand. “Anthony, I have not been honest with you. Though I am not entirely to blame for this, I now believe it is important and prudent to tell you… more. Though I have not lied to you in our conversation, I have not mentioned some very important things. Allow me to explain.”

Zathis spoke, and the more he spoke, the more concerned I became… and the more I understood about what had gone wrong. Zathis had been chosen as a ‘Fixture’, or a persistent feature that occurred in every iteration of this ‘trial’. He had proven to be a monumental influence when the Dwarves were undertaking this world’s trial, and his mind and body had been preserved as a dungeon guardian. It was, apparently, very boring, and very painful… but he did it because the ‘administrators’ had promised to save the Dwarves as a species after they failed. According to Zathis, there is a tower on another continent that reaches up to the celestial rings that pass every night, and those creatures that can make it to the top, all the way from the starting area, are considered ‘worthy’. Creatures who fail this test are generally destroyed and consumed.

However, sometimes the administrators see potential in keeping certain creatures around, and allow them to remain on this world to enhance the testing of future species. Species like humans. It turns out that the species being tested, humans, are awarded a Tier 1 status. This means we can have skills and level them. Meanwhile, the Fixtures are reduced to Tier 0, meaning they cannot level skills, and only spawn with a random collection of possible skills determined by their species during their own trial. They are incapable of growth, in a meaningful sense.

The giant claimed that the quests that everyone received would eventually lead us to the tower, and we would climb. The dwarves failed in this because they wished not to fight, trying to resettle into peaceful cities. Apparently, the game takes measures to prevent that, but Zathis could not say what. He also could not say how many iterations of this he had gone through with countless other species. Some things do not survive in memory between iterations of the trial. Specifics tend not to make it through, just a general idea.

Which makes the fact that the monsters are most likely actively looking for this dungeon all the more unsettling. They shouldn’t remember its existence.