Uman led me out of Lord Ignatius’s throne room, and we began a long walk through dimly lit cement corridors.

“There are a few things you should know,” Uman said. “We are both Chosen by Lord Ignatius. You should feel it, now, in your heart. All Chosen are loyal to Lord Ignatius and to each other by extension, but we also have the freedom to walk our own paths, with our own secondary priorities. It is because of this freedom that you’ll want to stay on Adia’s good side—she could make your life miserable in the next few days.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Adia doesn’t like being in second place.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I let us continue walking in silence. “Not everyone in the Crucible is Chosen by Lord Ignatius,” Uman continued. “So try not to act too suspicious around the others. Adia’s team members—who you will see soon—are all Chosen of course.”

We walked for a few more minutes, and we finally found our way to the gym.

I had been anticipating a weight room. Instead, Uman took me to a room that had a large, central section walled off by thick plexiglass with rune patterns carved on it. It reminded me of a hockey rink, except there was no ice anywhere.

There were about a dozen people on the outside of the plexiglass, and another five in the middle of the room.

Uman gave me a light shove, and I let myself be guided into the central part of the gym.

It was set up like an arena. The people watching us through the plexiglass made me feel like I was in a fish bowl.

The fish bowl arena formed a square that I estimated was about 50 feet by 50 feet.

“Well, if it isn’t the Crucible’s best fighter,” Adia said. She stood at the opposite end of the arena with four other people decked out in Schema gear.

The other four members looked decidedly uncomfortable. One of them—a muscular man over six feet tall and holding a giant shield—whispered, “Adia, is this really necessary?”

“Calm down, Hank. If he’s going to join the team, then we need to see how he fights. Any other objections?” Adia glared at her team and they quickly averted their eyes.

“So, hydra slayer,” Adia said, glancing back at me. “Who do you want to fight first? Or should I pick for you?”

I glanced around the room, through the plexiglass at the mixed expressions. Excitement, concern, curiosity.

What do you think? I asked Samantha.

“Let’s not waste our time,” I shot back to Adia. “I’ll fight your four friends, all at once.”

Adia smiled at that, and left the arena.

Hank—the massive man with the shield—cast an apologetic look my way. “Sorry kid. No hard—“ Hank glanced up and caught sight of Adia's glare and cut off.

I ignored Hank, glancing at the other three members of Crucible. There was an older swordsman who was probably around 40 or 50 years old, with a wiry frame, a sharp nose, and a slightly balding, pale head.

There was a magician in his teens who looked somewhat overweight. His chin was covered in patches of scruff that he was apparently trying to turn into a beard.

The fourth member was the second oldest in the group, probably around 30 or 40, and he also wore magician’s robes. Just where his sleeves cut off, I could see that most of his visible skin was covered in tattoos.

“Give him hell,” Adia said, stepping outside of the arena. Then she paused. “Just no dismembering limbs. Keep things healable.”

“No hard feelings,” the tattooed magician said to me with a smile. He spoke with a slight Russian accent that communicated confidence and authority. “We’re all part of the Crucible, anyway. My name is Petrov. I’m sure we’ll be on the same team soon. The swordsman is Amos,”

The swordsman nodded at me, and I nodded back.

Samantha said.

I glanced at the remaining man, the other man in magician robes. Sure enough, he was whispering spells under his breath, with his wand held lightly by his side.

“Rude,” I said. Then I rushed them.

I felt the air around me bear down on me, and suddenly I felt weaker and much slower.

I sunk a sizable chunk of my Mana Regeneration into Agility. I was trying to rush around Hank’s massive shield, but the swordsman—Amos—appeared in front of me.

Samantha’s outline guided me next. I split all of my available mana between Agility and Strength. Then, I was able to dodge around the swordsman and whack him in the back of his head, hard, with the pommel stone of my sword.

I had 29 seconds left before my increased stats would run out and I would be out of mana.

But that was more than enough time.

The healer was the most annoying, since he was slowing me down somehow, so I headed directly for him.

Hank tried to block my way, but he was far too slow.

The healer had some kind of protective shield around him. The first time I struck him, he stumbled backwards, but didn’t seem to take any damage due to the white sheen around him.

My second strike landed on the healer’s shoulder, forcing him to his knees, cracking the shield and enabling my sword to sink deeply into his shoulder.

I felt a moment of regret hearing the teen cry out in pain, but I was still on the clock.

With a quick rap of my sword's pommel, the boy collapsed. Two down.

Hank was already barreling towards me, hunkered behind his shield, but I dodged around the shield easily, towards Petrov.

Samantha shouted it in my head as the outline retreated behind me.

I dove away, just in time to avoid a massive icicle flying towards me.

My foot landed in a patch of ice, and it took all I could to remain on my feet.

Mist appeared all around me, and I knew that I needed to eliminate Petrov soon. It seemed he had realized he needed to stall for time.

Fortunately, I had high Perception. I pretended to stumble aimlessly in the icy mist, and then lunged, rapping Petrov on the head with my sword.

As I did, I felt a needle-thin icicle slide easily through the right side of my chest.

Petrov collapsed, and I slid the icicle-needle out of my chest gently. It was concerning how little I felt from the needle, considering how much my health had dropped. As I pulled out the needle, I coughed up some blood.

Samantha’s outline moved, and I realized that the sooner I ended this, the sooner I could get healing. The mist was slowly fading in the arena, but it was enough to hide my presence from Hank, and I was able to circle behind him and strike his head with my pommel stone with all my strength.

It took a few more seconds after everyone was down for the mist to go away. “It’s over,” I said, looking towards the spectators.

Several people rushed over, woke up the unconscious people, and healed anyone who needed it.

I didn’t really feel much, as a healer wove her wand at me, but I was glad to see that my HP was increasing gradually.

“What happened?” Adia asked, coming into the arena and facing her team.

“Sorry guys,” Hank said. His voice was incredibly low pitched, but somehow soothing to the ear. “I let him slip through the front line.”

“He’s way too fucking fast,” the healer said. His voice sounded a bit whiny and nasally, and he was the youngest of the group—probably just over 18. His uneven stubble hid some acne scars. He sniffed dramatically. “His Agility has to be over 50 because his attack rate was insane. And his Strength is just as crazy cuz he cracked my Mana Shield in so few strikes.”

The tattooed man, Petrov, scoffed at the healer. “Why did you not attack him, Parker?” Petrov’s voice wasn’t as deep as Hanks, but it certainly conveyed more authority. He continued, facing Adia, “Parker needs more training.”

“What?” The healer, Parker, asked. “Come on, there was nothing I could have done. You lost to him, too!"

Petrov shook his head slowly. “I did not lose. I could have killed the boy. My needle pierced his right lung. I chose to not pierce his heart.”

I nodded at Petrov’s words. “I would have lost.” I said it loud enough that everyone in the room could hear.

Adia glanced at me sharply. Of everyone in the room, she was the only one who had seen my Status Window—she knew that even if I reached 0 HP, I wouldn’t automatically die.

However, she didn’t say anything.

How did he hide his ice needle? I asked Samantha.

Samantha replied.

It was the first time I had heard Samantha call anyone impressive.

She had certainly never called me impressive.

“Well,” Adia said, sliding a particularly long knife in and out of its sheath faster than my eyes could follow. “Let me know when you’re healed enough to fight me.”

Name:

Jarek

Level:

19

HP:

29/29

Physical Defense:

18 (+2)

Strength:

20 (+5)

Mental Power:

11

Dexterity:

10 (+4)

Agility:

10 (+7)

Perception:

20

Mana Pool:

46

Mana Regeneration:

24 (+6)

Available Points:

0

Coins:

6,454,850

Class:

Mana Modulator (D-rank)

Profession:

Rune Master

(E-rank)

Titles:

Region Lord (E-rank)

Skills and Spells:

Identify (E-rank)

Mana Modulation (D-rank Core)

Death’s Defier (A-rank)

Mana Sensing (E-rank)

Healthy Magic (E-rank)

Affinities:

Internal Mana (D-rank Low), External Unattributed Mana (E-rank Low)

Equipment:

Vampiric Blade (D-rank): +5 Strength, +5 Agility.

Rune Master’s Knife (E-rank): +2 Dexterity; +2 Mana Regen.

Rune Master’s Ring (E-rank): +2 Dexterity; +2 Mana Regen.

Orc Helmet (F-rank): +2 Physical Defense

Magician’s Robes (F-rank): +2 Mana Regen.

Orc Boots (F-rank): +2 Agility

Interdimensional Pouch (E-rank):