Max woke up with a start, and found himself standing in the middle of an open field. Behind him was a massive wall made of steel and concrete. Overhead the sky was dark but flairs still burned brightly not far off.

No, that’s not a flair. That looks like the connection pillar was turned into a giant TV screen. What the hell? After a momentary flash where he saw himself, someone else, and a brief glimpse at what looked like a map at the bottom, the screen turned foggy. But the light from it lit the surroundings in an eerie blue hue that made his spine tinger slightly.

Congratulations Earthling! You have been selected to be the first human Champion from your world! If you win this duel your personal reward will be doubled, and you will earn the title “Champion of Terra!” Good luck human. You’re going to need it. Time until dual begins, 5 minutes.

Max had found that the ‘system’ had been getting stranger and stranger with him as time went on. Sometimes it seemed like an over eager puppy wanting nothing more than to please and put a positive spin on every terrible thing that happened in the world. Other times, it seemed like one of his old snarky gammer buddies was writing the messages.

He shook himself, and took stock of his situation. He found that a few feet out there was a soft green light that circled him. I don’t think I'm allowed to leave that circle until the timer goes out. Why is it giving me this time? Shrugging his shoulders, Max took a quick look at his personal character sheet.

Name: Maxwell Stone

Level: 25

Class: Marine Close Combat Specialist

Emotional Acuity: 18

Mental Acuity: 18

Physicality: 58

Titles

Marine CQB Specialist: You gain an additional +5 to any attack attempted using a close quarters weapon you have been trained in using, per skill score you have in that weapon. NOTE: Must have formal training, skill points earned through trial and error do not receive this bonus.

Devil Dog: You gain a +10 moral bonus to any aggressive action taken while in combat. Passive or defensive actions taken do not receive this bonus.

Bodyguard: You gain +2 to all skill checks or actions directly relating to the protection of your charge. Current charge: Lt. Jessica Brown.

So far, nothing jumped out at him. He seriously was worried he was missing something. Surely the System would not have given him these few minutes if there wasn’t something he was supposed to do, right? He calmed himself and forced his mind back on his character sheet.

Weapons

M4 Carbine

Combat Knife

M7 - Bayonet

Marine Entrenching Tool - CRKT Trencher

2 M-67 Granades

One Special Kit Loadout

Max had chosen his Special Kit Loadout already, he realized. When he first entered the battlefield. He hadn’t used the weapon in the fighting like he thought he was going to have to, but it didn’t come standard issue. So Max had assumed it would have been removed from him for the dual. But it seemed, the system had let him keep it.

Under the Ability section there was just one entry. He had been given the ability by the System, but he didn’t think it would come into play here. His skill sheet was too long, and he just skimmed it. Again, nothing out of the ordinary.

He looked at the clock, he had roughly three minutes left. Alright, well whatever the system is trying to do, it's not going to just come out and tell me. If I'm up against that spear wielding guy, I'm going to find somewhere that's tight in, with lots of turns so he can’t bring that thing to bear as easily as he can if he finds me out here.

Max had seen on the screen those first few seconds before it clouded over where his enemy was. He was in the mountainous area. The perfect place for Max to have the advantage. While Max was placed where the spear guy would have the best advantage against him.

The system is trying to encourage us to be aggressive. If I’m passive, he’ll come in straight at me and get the upper hand. If he stays put, I'll be able to either pick him off with my rifle from down here, or get in super close and take him out that way. The system really knows what it's doing, he realized as he watched the timer countdown.

If we both meet in the middle, we’ll be in that jungle area. The dunes shift, and leave us both at a disadvantage. Except, my rifle has range that I can use to take him out before he gets anywhere near me. He dismissed it. He had watched from up close as the spear dude shrugged off fully automatic bursts of heavy machine gun fire as if they were confetti.

Max looked down at his knife and entrenching tool. He had sharpened the sides of the shovel, against military regulations but it was something every Devil Dog did. Turned an entrenching tool into a mighty fine axe in his estimation. And the thing was made of heavy carbon fiber hand grips so it wasn’t too heavy, but at its core it was hardened steel.

A couple of wacks with this thing would decapitate a moose. And that was before I got so freakishly strong. No, I'm going to have to rely on CQB for this fight.

The timer hit zero, the green circle disappeared, and Max made a beeline for the jungle.