Sitting on his butt and staring at the two large statues didn’t accomplish much, so Eli focused on his more immediate needs. With about three hours before the next stage, he figured there were plenty of things to do, such as healing himself after taking a literal beating in the last fight. The sharp pain in his side and his throbbing foot demanded a bit of attention, and there were undoubtedly other injuries. Once that was done, he’d try and prep for the next stage of this crazy trial.

A blue blanket materialized in his hands, and he folded it up before throwing it over the tiles. Another followed, adding some extra cushion for the hard surface. That done, he carefully moved onto the fabric, wincing at the stabbing agony that flared up his left side. The pain was enough that he changed from trying to sit and instead laid down, his teeth clenched tight to hold in the moan that almost escaped. He really needed to stop getting hurt and promised himself to try and do better in the next fight.

Using Lifesight and the little black mirror, he slowly scanned through his body, looking for injuries. The first priority was the ache in his side, which turned out to be some cracked ribs. He was no doctor, but the discoloration and jagged marks along the bones weren’t as bad as he’d feared. Then again, his body had probably already started healing with all the buffs still going. It took a few concerted waves of healing, white waves of energy that pulsed out from his core, but the pain eventually subsided until even deep breaths no longer made him think someone was stabbing him in the side.

With the most severe injury handled, he followed the aches and pains as he moved on to the rest of his body. Fixing his foot came next, followed by the torn skin from where he’d skidded along the hard ground. He was surprised to find none of the injuries from his clash with Boruta but could only guess that something had not only transported him to this strange trial but somehow fixed him along the way. The mystery was added to his list, joining so many others.

After a little over an hour of studying his body under Lifesight and repeatedly pushing waves of healing throughout his tissues, he finally felt essentially free of injuries. The weird thing was that his Manasight ability revealed the same white lines running throughout his bones and tissues that he’d seen before. He didn’t know what the white striations meant or why they only appeared under Manasight, but he was afraid they hinted at some damage that he didn’t yet understand. With the limited time and resources at his disposal, and because he actually felt fine, he finally decided to table the worry for now.

With the healing done, he moved on to the next task. A glance at the quest still floating in the air reminded him of something easy to tackle. “Guide, change the timer on the quest to hours, minutes, and seconds.” It wasn’t like he wanted to do division every time he checked the countdown.

Command Unknown

“Damn,” Eli grumbled, stymied again. He considered his wording but paused as the display blinked for a moment.

“What?” A crawling sense of unease climbed up his spine as he realized that something else must be listening to him, making edits to the display. “Hello? Is anyone out there?” he threw out into the silence. There was no answer, and he looked around for any threats, but the area around him remained unchained while the timer counted down toward the next challenge. Across the tiled area, the two statues continued to stand frozen as they had for the past couple of hours, waiting to come alive and beat on him.

Getting up from the blankets, he walked closer to the two white figures. Like the first four before their change, they were simple bipedal forms with no facial features, hair, or clothes. Already taller than him, he hoped they weren’t tougher than the last group, but he didn’t think he’d be so lucky as to face an easier challenge. Still, as he approached them, he considered how to even the odds. After all, the statues were standing there, ripe for some sabotage before the round even began.

Thump

Something smacked him, and he stumbled back in surprise. Barely catching himself from falling to the ground, he retreated a few steps to get his feet under him at the unexpected blow. As he looked for the threat, Bash appeared, and his hands tightened around the shaft, ready to strike as soon as he had a target. Turning around revealed nothing, but something had struck him with enough force to send a throbbing ache through the side of his face and arm where he’d taken the hit.

With the timer continuing to tick down and nothing threatening within sight, he carefully walked closer to the statues again, but with Bash out in front of him this time. He was about five meters away from the white forms when his iron-capped staff struck something invisible with a dull thud, rebounding slightly. Realizing that it might not be an attack after all, he lowered his weapon and slowly reached out a hand. Just where Bash had stopped, his hand ran up against a firm, smooth barrier in the air. Pressing forward with a bit of force while leaning into it, there was no give – he might as well be trying to push through a transparent metal wall.

“What the frick?” he muttered, stepping to the side while reaching out but feeling only more of the wall between him and the statues. He edged nearly all the way to the black curtains but stopped before he dared touch the utter blackness. Toggling through Manasight, Aurasight, and Lifesight didn’t show anything, but something was blocking him from moving any farther. Staring at the statues only meters away, he could only shake his head in frustration. “Well, crap, I guess that plan is a bust.”

Walled off from any kind of potential sabotage, he considered the situation. Clearly, something didn’t want him messing with the statues, which was unfortunate. Still, there were other ways he could prepare for the fight.

While idly rubbing the sore cheek while sending a healing wave of energy into the tissues, he thought back to the last fight and what he’d learned. One positive takeaway was that the four golems hadn’t shown any inclination towards magical weapons but had relied on their speed and physical prowess. He figured the fight would likely have gone a bit differently if he’d been better prepared and aware of their abilities, and he might have made it through without all the injuries. Then again, losing sight of that fourth golem was probably his biggest mistake. With only two golems for the next round, he would hopefully have an easier time keeping both within view.

One ability that had worked surprisingly well was his Flamethrower. He wasn’t sure what the golems were made of after they changed shape, but the flames had distracted and even damaged one of them. He hadn’t practiced too much with the power, but it wasn’t exactly challenging to use.

It took him only a few minutes, imagining a billowing flamethrower like the ones he’d seen in a few old movies, but he was soon producing a small stream of flames. The fire formed about ten centimeters in front of wherever he pointed, gushing forth with a dull roar of light and heat, changing shape with how he held his hands. Strangely, the warmth of the flames was muted, as if something was preserving his skin from the hot destruction only centimeters from his palms. Tilting the fire near his body seemed to confirm that the effect included the rest of him, though the smoking singe marks along his sleeves revealed that his clothes were not included in the protection. Rolling them up in response, he continued with his practice.

The big problem with the Flamethrower's ability was how taxing it was on his stamina, as he felt his energy dropping fast when using both hands. For experimentation, he switched on Manasight and continued with only one hand while watching how his power interacted and felt when using his flames. After a few minutes, he switched to both, changing the angle of his hands and shifting his fingers into different configurations, watching as the flames and his energy changed.

After more testing and practice, conscious of the time slipping away, he finally concluded that one-handed was likely better for distractions. Holding his two hands together was more powerful, but the concentrated flames also sucked his energy at an alarming rate. Still, he felt a good bit of satisfaction once he was done – while not yet up to tossing fireballs, he was getting closer.

He tried practicing with his aura next. Dara had shown him a technique for strengthening it, but he certainly didn’t understand how it worked. Aurasight had previously revealed a hazy blue cloud within Dara, a yellow one within Wolf, and an overpowering red field in the air inside and around Boruta. But for Eli himself, he couldn’t see anything different. He used his mirror again, shifting it around from various angles to see if it helped, but it revealed nothing new, and he could only assume that the ability didn’t allow him to view his own aura for some reason. He might have questioned whether the ability was working, but the changing shroud with each toggle only confirmed that he was using the power.

With about an hour left, he spent some time searching through his DS for anything worthwhile to help him. His first thought was to find another weapon beyond Bash. The metal-capped staff was good, but he would love to find a missile launcher or something else to blow up the two constructs. Unfortunately, the only weapon he encountered was the same creepy black dagger he’d seen Lugh store away when this adventure started. He considered pulling it out of the storage bracelet, but there was some gut feeling that stopped him. Maybe it was because Lugh had made a point of storing it away in the bracelet for Eli’s use, but he also didn’t trust the creepy guy who’d infected him with a few programs before tossing him bodily through the portal weeks ago. He finally decided against taking it out, trusting his instincts. Plus, he didn’t want to try and use a dagger when he already had a weapon with a much longer reach.

Change in modifier: +Mana Regen

Surprised by the notification in his chat window, he needed a moment to remember that he’d asked Guide to tell him when his buffs expired. A heartbeat later, similar notifications filled the chat as a string of lines reported on the magical rations running out. He worked backward from the clock in his HUD, and assuming they worked for about twelve hours as they had on Lurra, he’d lost some hours between the fight with Boruta and ending up here. Luckily, he still had enough of the food blocks to renew his buffs.

One by one, the six little snack blocks in wax wrappers materialized in his hands. Thinking about the brown one for a moment, he decided to skip it this time as a “well-fed” buff didn’t seem necessary when he was essentially eating five protein bars. With the brown-wrapped Lovely Feast disappearing into his DS, he didn’t bother wasting any more time as he opened the rest. He only grimaced slightly at the gross green block that tasted of grass and green tea. The blue one came next, still flavored like medicine spritzed with a floral scent. Then the chalky purple, followed by the fruity orange block. Unlike the last time, he finished with his favorite, Tasty Treat, even tipping up the yellow wrapper to catch the last few crumbs. The leftover wrappers vanished into this DS, and he brushed off his hands while pulling up his status window.

Name: Eli Tal

Species: Human

Race: Restricted (Anomaly)

Level: 12

Evolution: Peak Mundane

Abilities: Identify, Manasight, Healing, Flamethrower, Lifesight, Aurasight

Modifiers: +Health Regen, +Mana Regen, +Defense, +Agility, +Stamina Regen

Eli smiled at the results, having eaten the blocks in a specific order, from worst tasting to best, hoping that the status buffs would also follow in the same order. He was gratified that his guess was proven correct with Tasty Treat’s stamina buff last on the list. Of course, it could be a heck of a coincidence, but he felt comfortable with his assumption for now until proven otherwise.

Done eating, and with the timer ticking down to thirty minutes left, he stood and put away his blankets. Bash appeared in his hands while he stared at the two giant statues. Assuming they followed the same script as the last one, they’d probably change along with the room just before the fight began. Of course, that was a bit of an assumption, but it wasn’t like he had any choice.

Trying to shake off his fear of the unknown, he started to warm up with Bash. His body felt stiff after the last few hours of mostly sitting and healing himself, but it didn’t take long to feel a bit of the tension in his joints and muscles relax. He started with simple stretches, progressing quickly to more advanced forms as the staff soon whooshed through the air.

Thanks to his time in the war and a few friends over the years, especially Aarav, Eli had at least a decent understanding of fighting. He’d also had a little practice with the bandits a couple of weeks ago, though that had been more of him stomping through the bastards with his time-dilation ability than using any complicated techniques. There was also a bit of training with Tanca in the last few days, but they hadn’t had much time. Sadness and anger flared at remembering the man’s death, but Eli pushed the feelings down again since there would be time for grieving later if he survived the next hour.

Bash wasn’t quite like any staff that he’d used before. The shaft was large enough that his fingertips barely touched when gripped tight, yet not too wide to make it unwieldy. The weapon didn’t have the flexibility of a bo staff. Instead, it moved more like a metal bar that barely bent even during his quickest movements, the capped ends whistling in the air as he shifted and rotated around. A helicopter spin turned into a forward figure eight and right into a combination of simple strikes that Aarav had shown him years ago.

The feeling of the weapon, while he passed through the different techniques, reminded him of home. He’d spent hours messing around with his friends while they mock fought with blunted weapons. After all the death and carnage of the Fall, some thought that the anachronistic fights and medieval fairs would disappear, but they’d actually flourished. The fears of the modern world could be left outside for a few hours or days while people dressed up in period-specific garb and lived another kind of life.

Eli’s thoughts wandered to his closest friends back on Earth, wondering how they were doing. He hadn’t gotten together with Dennis or Jen in over a year, and he’d only seen Aarav more often because they worked for the same company. They’d kept up with each other’s lives through video chats, especially when there was something to celebrate. The last time had been for Jen’s birthday earlier in the year, but calls weren’t the same. Looking back, he regretted not making an effort to see them more often and hoped that they were okay after his sudden disappearance a couple of weeks ago.

Without any living family, his friends were the only kind of family he had left. Yet, he’d somehow let his relationships slide away over the years. Sure, there were plenty of excuses and reasons, but with the cold clarity of his new existence, he saw it for what it was: fear. He'd been a mess after surviving the Fall and his stint serving as a lowly grunt in the wars that followed. Then, he slowly picked up the pieces after enrolling in college and making some great friends along the way, even convincing a wonderful woman to marry his dumb ass. With a growing career at the world’s fastest-growing tech giant, he’d been sure that things were finally going in the right direction. Yet when his fiancé Esme died in that horrible car accident, the world around him seemed to collapse with a harsh reality he couldn’t face.

The years that followed were almost a blur, with much of his waking hours filled with whatever work or projects he could find – anything to drown out the shapeless nightmares that stalked his nights. He’d fooled himself into thinking things were fine, that he was content with his life, but now realized that he’d been more like an automaton – moving through the motions of life without really experiencing much. In the darkness of his mind, there were moments where he wondered how things could have been different. He saw his life as a series of branching paths, each tiny step along the journey of his existence. Every conscious moment was filled with choices, yet clarity rarely came until well past the ability to change things.

Fucking hindsight. Talay. The past is locked away. Live for the now and create a better future.

A thrumming sound pulled him away from his wandering thoughts as Bash cut through the air, his hands cold as if he’d just pulled the weapon from a freezer. Instead of stopping, he triggered Lifesight and looked at his hands while slowing the staff until it moved around in a simple two-handed spin. Not seeing anything wrong, he switched to Manasight and noticed a faint glow within the shaft, right about where his hands gripped the cherry-colored wood.

“Huh?” He stopped his movements and pulled Bash closer, noticing the white glow disappear a heartbeat later. “What the hell?”

He glanced up at the floating quest display but grimaced at seeing only a few minutes left, figuring the world would soon shift again. As if his thoughts were the trigger, there was a tiny thump like someone had tapped his breastbone from the inside. At the same time, a wave of energy and change pulsed out from where he was standing. Like before, the world transformed into the same arena, down to the matching dirt floor, tall walls, and empty stands. The dark curtain of shadows had retreated again, leaving him feeling strangely relieved.

The two tall statues shifted their shape. Like last time, they’d turned into giant orangutans with three circles in a triangle pattern where their eyes and mouth should be. Their color was a little darker, with more red mixed with brown. They’d kept their earlier size, standing half a meter taller than Eli and looking more than ready to pummel him into the hard-packed earth.

“Shit. Here we go again.”