Day 2

“The relay itself is a mystery. Its purpose is unknown, even its origins are unknown. If the companies know where it is. They’re not telling anyone.”

-Theories of the Relay Vol1.

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Ethan calmly waited for the laughter to stop. He wondered if that was the right answer, or if he was going to get shot by some golem somehow. This was the Mutant Multitudes afterall, no wonder Mogis didn’t seem to like them. Their companies were in direct competition! Julius stopped laughing slowly and looked over at Ethan sitting calmly on the other side of the room.

“You can’t lose organics that's right boy! So, what are you planning on doing for the rest of this first wave? You have already accomplished more than most of your fellow humans. You even have some titles! Let’s show them to our viewers why don’t we?” Julius smiled and swept his hand forwards as words appeared out of nowhere, springing up into his vision.

Slayer: Gain extra contribution points for killing enemies. Kill your enemies with ferocity and strength.

Talented: You have gained insight into mana! You may now passively draw in ambient flame attuned mana faster than before!

“Wow, that talented title is very impressive. You should have no problem getting a patron if you keep racking up titles like this. Simply the Slayer title alone is impressive.” Julius said and seemed to smile across the room at him. Opening his mandibles wide and showing off his massive fangs.

Ethan was a bit peeved that his titles had been shown to the greater galaxy. He didn’t know what the hell a patron was, but Julius made it sound like a pretty good thing. “I’m looking forward to gaining more.” Ethan said and grinned right back. He might have had several life or death fights, but the power and opportunity at his fingertips now was so much more than he could have ever imagined before the trials.

“And that’s why the Milky Way likes you so much. Granted those guys over in what you call the Andromeda galaxy really seem to like a different competitor but you’re the hometown favorite!” Julius waved his hand and the words of the relay disappeared.

“So, how does it feel to have your safe zone manned by a golem? I bet that's frustrating, especially when they’ve destroyed your civilization as you knew it.” Julius rumbled out the question. Hate dripping from his voice. Clearly the hatred ran deep between the golems and these mutants. Ethan shuddered in his seat.

Blue eyes no longer scared him, nor did his terrible appearance, but the pure hate that dripped from Julius’ voice did. He replied cautiously. “I can put up with him as long as I need to. He’s my best current option.” He nearly clasped his hands together as the fear coursed through his veins like liquid fire. The room never seemed so small.

“The golems do tend to grind on people. If I was allowed to tell you I’m sure I could find you a safe zone with one of our associates as its caretaker.” Julius said and tapped his fingers against his legs. “Speaking of destruction of civilization, where do you think your military is? Shouldn’t they have saved you by now?” His question ricocheted around inside of Ethan's head. Why didn’t they come save them? Were they all killed? No no no that would be taking out too many capable fighters. They had to be alive somewhere.

“I’m sure they’re fighting invaders or beasts as we speak. They probably can’t save the whole world by themselves, so I have to do my part.” Ethan said, confident that the military at least was fighting. Probably even winning against tougher invaders than he fought. What he wasn’t expecting was Julius’ next question.

“Alright final question. What are you going to do when the second wave drops?” When he said this, Ethans stomach dropped. There were more of these things coming? More waves, more beasts, more invaders. Maybe that was the joke, maybe it would never end.

“We’ll get there when we get there. It’s no use to worry about things you can’t control.” He joked as his mind raced. When would this second wave drop? What did the second wave entail? How much stronger did he need to get? All these questions raced through his mind as he tried his best to stay calm under pressure. If he cracked, these companies probably wouldn’t like him very much and the possible help he would receive would likely be impacted by his performance

Julius spread his arms wide, all four of them as if celebrating something. “There you have it folks, the hometown favorite, Ethan the Slayer!” When he put his arms down he stood up from the chair, walking over to Ethan. “You did good kid, now go ahead ask me whatever you want, we have five minutes until you get teleported back. There are som things I can’t answer but I will do what I can. The cameras are off, you have my word and a Xinathongar never goes back on his word.” Julius said seriously as he nearly towered over Ethan who was still sitting in his given chair.

“How the fuck am I supposed to survive this?” Ethan blurted out, he could be lying about the cameras being off but the temptation of having answers was too much. “How is the rest of humanity doing?” He asked two rapid fire questions. With limited time, those were the two of most important ones. “When will the second wave drop?” He asked the big one, the one he needed answers to. The one that ate him up inside when he thought about it.

Julius seemed to smile again. “Get stronger human, that's the only way to make it in this game. Use all of the companies to your advantage. Humanity on a whole has been pushed back, your armies are held up battling various invaders but there's no way to secure the planet before the next wave drops. You’ll be on your own until for while.” He answered the first two questions easily enough but paused at the second. “I can’t tell you that one directly, but I can give you an average based on the last two trials that Gordano ran. They like to drop them fast, somewhere between one to two of your months.” He nearly seemed to grimace at that last answer.

With scared eyes Ethan looked up at the bug/wolf monstrosity. “Thank you for helping me. If I survive and you need something from me, I will answer.” He said with complete and total seriousness. The information he gained here today would help propel him forwards. Now that he knew what he had to do...maybe he would make it out of this alive.

The chittering laughter boomed once again. “Human, do your best. Find a patron after the third wave. Then we can talk about the value of the information I just gave you. Good luck.” Julius finished and waved his hand.

All Ethan saw was a blinding white light. He shut his eyes quickly, after all he had no idea what was going on. Would he end up back on the floor of the safe zone? His bed? Maybe he would open his eyes in a completely unknown area. That sounded like something aliens treating his life like a game show would do.

When he did open his eyes he nearly laughed with joy. He was on the floor! Oh to be back in the safe zone and not in some terrifying black room with an alien that likely could have killed him at any point. He rolled over and kissed the ground. Completely oblivious to the people in the main room looking at him as if he were insane. Crazy or not, earth needed every defender it could get. Which most of them would come to realize in the coming days.