With an echoing curse follow quickly by a rather loud thud, Myles Chase landed squarely on his ass on a decidedly hard, but pleasantly warm stone floor. Looking up to curse the smaller man, Myles quickly noticed that the opening he’d fallen through wasn’t there.

Instead, his eyes only found an infinite gray sky above him with lazily skating clouds that left a trail of more vivid white behind them. Looking back to what was around him, he found a sign in front of him with a message written in nondescript black ink on nondescript brown wood.

Welcome to the Trial of the Body.

Watch your step and mind the tall grass.

Well, that wasn’t ominous in the least, was it?

Looking past the sign perched in front of him, Myles saw a more literal explanation. Ahead, spaced out for what looked to be a good mile or so into the distance were a randomly spaced patches of tall greenish gray grass up to his waist in a variety of widths and lengths. The floor also changed colors as it went.

Where he was currently was a green patchwork of octangular tiles fit so tightly together there was no room for mortar. Beyond his little area, the tiles were mostly blue. Closer to the grass patches the tiles changed, becoming a vivid orange that faded to blue the further away it got before blending into green as it reached his area with the sign. Randomly spaced red tiles drew his attention as well, sticking out like blood against the sky.

That glaring design triggered something primal in Myles’s mind. It was so obviously a trap, so stupidly obviously out of place that he had to do something about it. He couldn’t just not touch it, not test it.

It was like telling someone not to think about a blue balloon.

Looking around for something to poke it with, he came up lacking. The area had precious little area beyond the straight path and grass. It was maybe fifteen or twenty feet at the widest points. The grass made it a bit hard to tell in places, and he doubted the grass would be heavy enough to trigger it alone, and whatever he could make from it wouldn’t be strong enough to set it off if he used it to poke the spots.

Then inspiration struck him and rang out like a hammer on steel.

There was something he had overlooked.

Myles turned back to the sign and eyed its nice, long wooden pole. Years of hauling flour day in and day out left him with a bit more strength than the average young adult, and it showed as he yanked the thin post out of the ground like a weed from the garden. It was heavier than it looked, and he balanced it on his shoulder like a battle axe. Measuring it out with a few test swings, the pole increased his reach by a good four feet, which he hoped would give him ample space to work in.

Swinging it a few more times to check his balance, he realized it would be good for more than just triggering a trap. The weight of it could do some serious damage. At least, if it survived the first encounter.

Holding the edge of the sign, he inched the tip towards the closest red space and dragged the wood across.

Nothing happened.

So, he tapped it.

Nothing happened.

Testing his luck, he flipped it around, held the shaft like a weapon and slammed the broad sign against the brick.

It broke with a resounding crack, clattered to either side of the tile, but nothing else of note happened. No fire, no explosions, no dropping into the endless void.

Nothing.

Myles wasn’t sure whether that was a blessing or a curse. Every bone in his body screamed the red was dangerous, and the lack of a reaction only made things worse. He was as satisfied as he could be with the lack of reaction before stepping off the green tiles and onto the blue.

A moment later, the green tiles fell away.

He looked back at the missing tiles. Then to the red tile that sat between the broken sign, then back to the missing tiles before taking another step forward.

He didn’t want to think too hard about that, but he gave the red tile a dirty look as he snuck past it.

Moving ahead, he avoided the red and orange tiles as well as the patches of grass. It was a pretty easy going along. No more tiles fell away, there were no monsters, and there were no other obvious traps, if that tile had triggered the fall. As long as he kept to the path, things were quiet.

That lasted until he reached the first hedge of grass that blocked the path. Myles was on the outside looking in, his feet still resting on the blue tiles rather than the orange as he examined his path. Still holding the shaft of the sign, he prodded the grass with his instrument.

Again, nothing happened.

What sort of trial was this?

Brushing the grass one way and another, Myles found nothing hidden within. It was almost disappointing.

Almost.

Still, it seemed too easy.

Stepping over the grass rather than into it, he felt the strangest sensation as it brushed his clothes. Not pain… more of a momentary spark of numbness maybe? It was hard to place as he’d never felt anything like it, but the absence of something was the best way to put words to the feeling. There was feeling, then there wasn’t. The void of feeling persisted no more than a moment, but something appeared in the corner of his vision as if acknowledging his actions.

Trial of Body - 1/3

8/10 Possible Traits Awarded Towards Class Selection

Strength: 1

Agility: 2

Endurance: 2

Other: 3

Trait Perk Unlocked: Resourceful

What?

Was this what the halfling meant when he said he’d be judged on his actions?

More importantly, what were the Other traits?

As he thought about the names, strength, agility, and endurance made sense for the Trial of Body. They were all things the body dealt with. You could be strong, you could be dexterous, and you had endurance, but what were the Other traits? The numbers slowly began to vanish despite trying to will them to stay before his attention was shocked back in front of him.

With a thunderous crash, a chest had catapulted itself into the ground in front of him.

It was about the size of a backpack, but even he had heard stories about this. He’d triggered a loot chest. Eagerly, he bent down and grabbed the latch.

It grabbed back.

Before Myles could react, the box was screaming a single word at him.

“Treasure!”

From then on, Myles would never trust a treasure chest again.

He squealed rather than screamed, pulling his hand back from the tentacled limb.

The beast let him go under protest, repeating its cry of, “Treasure!”

The creature clattered its boxy body back and forth, trying to wiggle closer as it continued to cry for treasure. Myles looked to his stick, then back to the cacophony of noise that was the mimic. The sign had broken off when he’d used it to check for traps, so he doubted it could be used for more than a tool.

Thankfully, the beast wasn’t getting any closer though the growing tongue was about as disturbing as the giant eye that formed between the boards on its lid. He expected teeth, but the metal rim was probably enough to crush most bones and rip flesh. The tongue, complete with a metallic sheen of copper and silver running along it, could probably do some damage too as it lashed about. It couldn’t reach him, but the pointed tip of it seemed like it was for more than just decoration.

“Treasure! Treasure!”

He knew a little about mimics. They were single minded ambush predators that took advantage of their prey’s awareness. With the element of surprise gone, it would only be a threat if he got too close. The tongue could reach him if he got any closer and going around it wasn’t wise if he didn’t have armor.

“Treasure!”

Maybe he could distract it?

“Treasure!”

If it wanted treasure, he could oblige.

Reaching into his pocket, Myles decided to test the creature’s desire and pulled out a copper coin. The tongue had copper, so maybe it liked copper treasure? Without a second thought, he tossed it to the mimic like he would a treat to a hound.

To his surprise, the mimic reared up on its back edge and caught the coin in its lid before slamming shut. All of its features vanished, but he could faintly feel the pleasure the creature had at it’s treat.

What would it have done for a silver?

Could he have bribed it to fight for him?

Either way with the threat removed, Myles moved carefully around the beast, not so much as disturbing a single tile that it rested on before high tailing it as far away as he could, only stopping as he hiked over the next line of grass and felt the same tingling nothingness as before.

Trial of Body - 2/3

15/20 Possible Traits Awarded Towards Class Selection

Strength: 1

Agility: 4

Endurance: 3

Other: 7

Trait Perk Unlocked: Deft Hands

He was really starting to get concerned for what the next trials had in store at this rate. So far, he’d taken a walk, outsmarted a mimic, and leapt over tall tufts of grass in a single bound. Not really the trials he’d expected when he’d heard about them, but he could definitely see how some people would die.

If he’d been a hair slower, he’d have been impaled by the mimic and probably be crunched to death while it dragged him into its maw. He did not want to end up like a piece of someone’s sandwich. He’d see too many people rip into a fresh load and chew with their mouths open to ever want to experience what his lovingly baked bread had.

As the information faded, another thought bubbled to the surface. What was a Trait Perk?

At the thought, nothing happened.

He’d half expected a similar response the trial had given him, but he guessed it was something he’d have to learn for himself. Probably when he entered the Grand Dungeon proper. Runners did have unique abilities like seeing their own progression after all. Trait Perks were probably just another one of those things.

Banishing the nagging thought for now, Myles looked over what he assumed was the final part of the first trial. The last area seemed wider than the rest, more open to him then the small path had been. There were no obstacles between him and the archway of stone at the end of the platform except for a few patches of grass.

It seemed so… simple.

“So… I just leave?” Myles asked himself as he took another step forward.

With a rumble, the world answered him.

The otherworldly cry of grinding stone from behind him made him step further forward as the path he’d arrived on collapsed into the void.

It couldn’t be that easy.

According to the information he had, he’d only completed two of the three phases of this trial. It couldn’t be this easy. It couldn’t just be another walk on the path. Then again, maybe he was over thinking it.

In the distance, the arch of stone began to fill with soft, blue light. Mist gently wafted from the entrance as if to show off the difference between it and the extradimensaional sky around it.

As tempting as it was to go through and check the grass, Myles did when he knew to be the safer option, avoided the red tiles, and moved toward the exit.

All around him, the grass rustled as he passed. The smell of some primal animals just out of sight was filling the air, but nothing so much as peaked out from behind the curtain of grass as he moved carefully through the open area.

Only a bit further.

Only a few more steps before he was home free.

His steps were surer, and the feeling of impending doom was just beginning to fade as he passed another patch.

Then, betrayal.

His pole brushed the grass to the side of one particularity close tuft, and a moment later, a creature burst from it like an arrow from a bow, slamming into Myles’s chest and nearly knocking him into another patch before he hit the ground.

He screamed as the viscous slime clung to his clothes and ate its way through, burning wherever its sludgy body touched. It burned like the oven on a summer afternoon as he tore his shirt off and flung it away from his body, but it wasn’t far enough for him to miss the way the shirt wiggled.

Even an inexperienced adventurer like him knew what kind of monster that had to be.

Almost on instinct, Myles sprung back to his feet and slammed the end of the pole down on his shirt like a mace. He grunted as it connected with a sickly wet noise before hitting the tiled floor, sending a shiver up his arms from the impact.

But, the shaft still held, and the shirt still wiggled and moved towards where the blow had come from. Myles couldn’t stop and raised the shaft again.

Again and again, he slammed the sign post into the slime. When it cracked in half on the fifth impact, he threw the useless part away and began stabbing at the shirt with the now sharp point, unwilling to give the wiggly monster a moment to recover.

With a resounding crack, a faint pop, and a sudden metallic smell joining the air, Myles was left panting. What was left of his shirt no longer wiggled, and a familiar message appeared and lingered at the edge of his vision.

Trial of Body - 3/3

22/30 Possible Traits Awarded Towards Class Selection

Strength: 3

Agility: 6

Endurance: 5

Other: 8

Trial Perk Unlocked: [Neophyte’s Item Lore]

Please proceed through the gate.

Looking at the half-melted shirt and the broken post, Myles considered himself lucky. Shirtless, but lucky all the same. Kicking the ruined shirt aside, he realized there was still something in there. Spreading the ruined shirt open, Myles found a small stone different from the tiles colored a teal not so different from the door.

Picking it up, new information appeared to hover above the stone.

—

Lesser Acidic Slime Core

Value: 5

Alchemical Reagent

Description: The stabilized magical core of a slime.

Detail: A slime core is used to create alchemical potions that mimic the properties of the slime it came from. Left alone, a core will eventually reconstitute into a full slime. In a sapient’s hands, the individual’s individual magical aura (IMA) will halt this process.

Do not eat a slime core.

—

That was new.

Usually, he only got that kind of information from his Taste Test skill. The new Perk must have been a skill that triggered when he put enough focus on an item. Slipping the core into his pocket and praying that the information was correct, he picked up the pace before something else disturbed the grass.

As his hand touched the gate, the world vanished.