Sui jolted awake, as a surge of energy exploded through her body. For a brief moment she felt like she could stay up for a week and sew nonstop. Sadly, the feeling soon past, and was replaced with fatigue once more and a killer headache.

Before Sui could start to weave any coherent thoughts, she heard Aife speaking from nearby. “Guess you’re awake Sui-ping beauty”

“Urgh” mumbled Sui as she turned to find her friend Aife splayed out next to her. “What happened? And where is Trina? Is she ok?” asked Sui

“I’m fine, just behind this big lug” was the response Sui heard from Trina.

“This ‘big lug’ just got us past wave 6 with flying colours thank you very much” said Aife.

After that there was silence for a few moments. Sui tried to get her thoughts back in order, but every time she did there was another spike of plain in her head, so she simply asked for the information. “So, what happened” she asked again.

“Well, I, being the awesome, and physically superior that I am, managed to beat the whole round. Once it ended, all our physical fatigue was restored, but honestly the grass is still quite comfortable, and I didn’t really feel like getting up.

“On top of that, because I’m just that good, I managed to walk away with not one, not two, but three achievements for my trouble, and all of them are really, really good” said Aife

“Stop talking yourself up and tell us what they do” said Trina. Sui couldn’t see her face, but her bet would be that Trina was pouting.

“Well, first, for my great selflessness, I got the achievement ‘the burdens we carry’. Apparently, I got it because I passed the round while carrying the entirety of another contestant’s weight. I was surprised it didn’t care I picked it up half way through. As to what it gave me… well, perhaps I should keep that as a little mystery?” said Aife

That seems reasonable I suppose it is a powerful thing by the sou-- “Just tell us you oaf, or I’ll tickle you” said Trina

“Oh no I’m so scared” said Aife, though her voice wavered.

A moment past, where Trina probably glared at Aife before, she sighed and started talking “So, for my great accomplishment, my inventory now has ten spaces instead of just five, and apparently I will get a secondary reward later on”

Once again silence reigned. The wave had been very explicit, they only had their physical fatigue removed. The mental fatigue had not been alleviated in the slightest and they were all still feeling it, yet somehow not tired, it was perhaps worse than simply being fatigued in multiple ways.

“Well, keep going” said Trina

“Oh? That wasn’t what you were saying when I lifted half those weights off you, it was something like ‘Oh god it hurts, I feel like it’s trying to tear my legs off, please just let it be over’ I think” said Aife

Trina didn’t reply, but Sui did hear a loud smack, but Aife didn’t even flinch so she wasn’t sure what to make of it. “Fine, so the second achievement I got is ‘I alone hold the weight of the world’ which as the name might suggest,

“Was given to me for being the final candidate in wave 6 to drop the weights, or collapse and-“

“What!” shouted Trina “How the hell did you manage that?”

“What do you mean?” asked Aife

“Well, I know I passed out some time around the one hour mark I think?” said Trina “But, you were already wearing the rest of our stuff, how did you keep going?”

“Hahaha” Aife let out a throaty chuckle “You don’t know the half of it Trina. Like the fabulous friend I am, I actually caught you when you fainted, and carried my weights, Sui’s weights, and your own”

“No” said Trina

“Yes” said Aife wiggling her eyebrows

“What the fuck! How did you even manage it?” asked Trina.

“She’s Aife” said Sui “It is simply how it is done”

“What the heck do you mean Sui! How is this even remotely believable?” asked Trina

“Oof, that hurts Trina. My best friend has more faith in me than my own girlfriend. How can I ever recover from the disappointment” asked Aife

Trina took a deep breath “No seriously. How the heck did you do it, and why is Sui so certain it’s real”

“It is like my sewing. I see the same drive in Aife. She was not ready to give up until the end. I doubt many could match her in a physical contest, and one with willpower included gives no one else a chance” said Sui

“Yeah” said Aife “What she said. Also, I’m pretty sure that after you passed out, the weight didn’t increase after that”

“Wait what?” asked Trina

“Yeah… you guys might not realise but it’s early tomorrow morning. I’ve been going at this a while ya see” said Aife

“No way” said Trina, finally looking at the sky properly and realising that Aife was telling the truth. “How!”

Aife shrugged “As I said, it was simple once the weight stopped increasing, just had to grin and bear it”

Sui heard Trina shaking her head and rubbing the dirt around. Once she realised how much dirt she was adding to her hair she would likely be unimpressed, but Sui did not consider this fact, and Aife was too tired to notice.

“Fine whatever, ignoring your ridiculousness, what did you get from your achievement” asked Trina

“Oh, I dunno, maybe I don’t believe I actually got it, and thus have no reason to share it with you” said Aife

Another thud rang out, and Aife sighed, before answering “Sadly, it wasn’t actually that impressive. I received ‘an additional ability when next you are provided the choice’ which does a whole nothing for me right now, and doesn’t even say when the next one is”

“Actually, the fact there is going to be another round to grab abilities is important information. I mean, we did have to assume, but perhaps there was some other way we were going to be forced to gain abilities, so to know we are going to be handed one for surviving a bit longer is nice” said Trina

“Huh, yeah alright I guess that isn’t so bad” said Aife

“So? What was the third one?” asked Trina

“Well, actually that one is a bit weird it’s called ‘What has never been done, Challenge of Weighted Endurance’ which I got for, being the first human to complete the Challenge of Weighted Endurance and achieve both, ‘I alone hold the weight of the world’ and ‘The burdens we carry’” said Aife

She was going to continue when she was interrupted by Trina “Wait, there is a lot to unpack there. Are you sure that is what it said?”

“Yeah” said Aife “I can bring it up again if you want”

“It’s fine” Trina dismissed “I’ll need to figure out what it means later on, but please continue, you’ve already given me some things I’ll need to think about. We can discuss the implications when I’m more well rested”

“Right” said Aife “So… the reward I got was rather strange as well. It ah… it just says ‘They are watching you’ instead of a reward”

There was dead silence. This time any fatigue they were feeling seemed secondary to that news that Aife had dropped. Even Sui was paying full attention to the implication. What does that mean really? Who is they? Why are they watching? Were they not watching before? And Aife said this was a reward? So, is this a good thing? What does this mean…

“Is… is that so” said Trina shaking voice

Aife pursed her lips “Not quite… there is a little more I suppose”

“What?” hissed Trina

“Well… I’m not quite sure how this works, or how it’s possible but… see where it says you, when I read it… I don’t get the sense that it means ME I get the sense that it instead means US”

If there was silence before, it seemed even now the world recognised this cry. Not a thing stirred, and the wind was oddly still. With the news that was just dropped on Sui and Trina, there was a decent chance that the reason nothing moved was supposed to be a bit of proof, that whoever they are was watching, and they had certainly taken notice.

The three sat in silence for a completely unknown amount of time. The world almost seemed to continue moving without their conscious input. Eventually, it was Trina who unthawed first, however, even then, she only said one single word. When she did it carried. Despite Trina barely whispering it, the all-encompassing silence that was broken made that single word sound like a gong was struck.

“Fuck”