Chapter 44

Tom spent a moment longer to study the distant object. Mentally, he ticked off the key points.

Suspended in the air?

Yep.

Magical Distortion?

Yep.

Everything non-sapient ignoring it like it didn’t exist?

Yep.

No shadow?

There was no doubt about it.

There was a trial.

Tom attempted to act normal as he went back to his permanent support group. Everlyn was the only one from his companions and the others must have been off getting food or in Michael’s case, probably chit chatting or networking, as he called it. Tom nodded a greeting to the group. It was the standard keep Tom alive if something goes wrong team. Two healers, Everlyn and Pena and then three of the agility based fighters in case they had to kill a bunch of soldier wasps or higher quickly. Flávio was the only name he knew from that grouping, and only because he was outspoken.

He went straight up to Everlyn. “Everlyn, do you think we can do what we did last night?”

“We don’t want to know.” Flávio quipped, which got him an elbow in his stomach.

Tom ignored them and focused on Everlyn.

She didn’t even look surprised, and he saw her dynamic vitality vanish from her still standing body.

Tom focused on entering his system room.

Everlyn Louis Campbell has invited you to her personal system room.

Do you wish to accept the invitation?

“Yes.” He confirmed immediately and appeared with Everlyn two metres away dressed in jeans and a jumper which seemed to be her preferred go to clothing option. When she wasn’t trying to tease him at any rate.

“What?” she asked.

“I spotted a GOD’s trial.”

Her eyes went wide.

“It’s a fair distance away, but I’m confident it’s one. For context, I can’t imagine how it could be a natural formation.”

“No, they’re pretty distinctive,” she agreed absently. “Why?” She waved at the system room.

“The secrecy?”

“Yeah that.” She held up a hand, her forehead wrinkled as she thought it through. “I assume you’re worried about the reaction. What do you want to do? Keep it for ourselves or play ball with the self-pompous idiots on the council.”

“They’re not all that bad.”

Everlyn laughed. “If you could be a fighter and chose instead to be a politician…”

“Tiny’s not doing that.”

“He is an exception to most classification.” She agreed. “And a lot smarter than the act he put on.”

“But way too emotional.” Tom observed.

“I think that’s more psychological damage from the trial than anything.” Everlyn told him. “Do you know he used to be restaurant manager and occasional waiter?”

Tom doubled up laughing. “That’s…”

“But he had a hard time in the trial.” Everlyn continued seriously. “It sounded almost like he set out to kill himself most days by fighting the biggest enemy out there, but kept beating them and growing stronger.”

“How did he last the third longest?”

Everlyn shrugged. “He got serious and is scarily competent, excluding those anger problems. Anyway, stop. We’re getting distracted. What do we do?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Tom admitted. “The problem is first clears. I’m worried about what they’ll do if we tell them of that or if we don’t.”

“That Jeffrey mentality that the strong should be prioritised is still embedded.” Everlyn agreed.

“It’s the entire cohort that put all their power into strength.”

“Nope. Only about half of that group,” Everlyn corrected. “But that still means that around thirty percent of people fervently believes that the right to attack the trial should go to whoever is best at arm wrestling.”

Tom laughed at that image.

“But after all you’ve done for us, you deserve the first crack at this opportunity. What are you going to do?”

Dozens of different options are presented to them.

People overreacted and came to blows.

People died. They were on his conscience, as it was his fault because it was his decision.

If he did the trial, then a lynch mob formed for him and his friends.

If he told the council, then teams fought for the right to be first. People died in the mock duels.

The problem was everyone was used to doing stuff, and they had been stuck sitting on their bums as they slowed extracted themselves from the weird place they had been dropped.

“It’s your choice to make.”

Tom looked at Everlyn’s serious face. Then shook his head in denial. “I can’t.. Its…”

It was too much.

With a thought, he left the system room almost hyperventilating. The slightly too cool air and its breeze washing over him. His feet curling into the thick grass.

Right next to him Everlyn’s face was doll like. A moment later, it became humanised. Pity was in her eyes and she stepped close to him. Her armour dug into his chest. She lifted her mouth close to his ear. “It’s okay? I’ll support you no matter what.” She whispered so softly no one could hear.

Tom smiled self-consciously and tried to step away, but she had hooked her arm around his back and it was unyielding. “I understand why you’re worried. Leave it with me. I’ll consult with Michael.” She took a big step back. “Did you buy what you needed?” she asked loudly.

Tom knew he could lie, equivocate, or just walk away. She wouldn’t care either way. He chose the easiest option. “I’m going to kill another hive.”

Everlyn’s chuckled at his response and her laughter chased him as he trudged over to the next mound. She would do what she promised and when this hive was destroyed, they would have a plan on how to approach the trial.

Twenty minutes later, with another mound reduced to rubble he discovered that only his core team was waiting to greet him. “And?”

Everlyn shook her head warningly, and Tom nodded.

Without breaking stride, he went straight to Everlyn, grabbed her hands and almost immediately they were in her system space.

“I’m not sure I agree with the decision, but we’re going to let the council decide.”

“Okay.”

“It’s not. Mostly it’s self-preservation. Michael is certain news of the trial is the same as kicking an anthill, and not an Earth one. Too many volatile personalities will demand to be involved and if a mob is formed he doesn’t want it focused on us.”

“Mob?”

“Don’t Pikachu face me. A mob’s why you were almost too scared to talk about this.”

There was nothing he could say to rebut that. After all, it was right.

“But yeah.,” Michael unfortunately agrees. “It’s a real risk. The camp has been ready to explode for days. He would like to know the type before spreading the word.”

“Need to get close to check that.”

“Yeah. Hopefully, it will be a crafters trial.” She poked her tongue out at that.

Tom knew what she was thinking. A crafters trial would be best for the community, but worse for them personally.

“Or a big one.” She speculated thoughtfully. “That sort of helps everyone.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Of course,” Tom slapped his forehead. If this was a raid dungeon that needed forty plus people, that would cause a quite a different response than if it was a one person still waiting for a first clear.

Tom turned towards where the GOD’s trial was physically located. Of course, because he was in the system room the movement was meaningless but the nature of the movement was clear to Everlyn.

“The trials four mounds away.” Tom told her, imagining what he was facing and conveying the key information. “What’s our recent experience again? Basically, there’s a material shifts in wasp types every fifth hive?”

Everlyn nodded. “Almost every fourth,” she corrected. “And it’s been getting worse and we’re due a shift. I suspect that it was only your fate bomb that created that initial stability.”

“That means the hives near the portal will probably have wasps that have venom that can affect me and different vulnerabilities as well.”

She nodded.

“I think it’s too dangerous for us to send a scouting mission till we’ve destroyed a few more hives between us and it and have data on the future wasps we’ll be facing.”

Everlyn shook her head. “I wouldn’t say dangerous. At worst if you can’t handle them you’ll be able to retreat. But I agree better not to take risks when there’s no downside to waiting.”

“Apart from a mob?”

She smiled at the dark joke. “That might never happen.” She didn’t sound at all convinced.

“I won’t scout the God’s trial until I have knocked out at least.” His hands moved in the air as he did the calculations, creating a spatial map of where the difference hives were. “Five more, which will give us a chance to identify and adjust for any wasps with switching characteristics. By that stage, you should be able to test to make sure that I’m not facing any dangerous mutations.”

“Agreed.” She hesitated. “I know you spotted it by standing on a broken mound, but how long do you think it will be till someone else notices?”

Tom shrugged. “You’re asking me people things. You know I’m shit at that. But I haven’t noticed anyone else using the broken hives as lookout points, so I’m hoping we’ll be safe till after we’ve finished scouting.”

They exited the system room and Tom got to work. The second of his five mounds crumbled, and the pre-programmed sounds announced his success.

Another hive neutralised.

He glanced back toward camp and froze. “Damn.”

A crowd had joined his usual support team.

He knew why they were here.

Even though they were fifty metres away, he could see that the higher rated fighters had joined. And while Tom would never consider himself to be an expert on body language, they were not a harmonious whole.

He stopped almost ten metres short of them, his eyes noting the incomplete wraps on some of them. The visible weapons and the tension between the different teams.

It was what he had feared from the start. They knew and were swarming.

Everlyn rushed up to him her eyes concerned. “It’s okay.” She assured him.

“They know?”

She nodded. “I don’t know if we were overheard, spied on or someone used a scouting skill, but yep everyone knows.”

“Fuck!”

“Useless. Why are you standing?” Tiny yelled. “I need you to open the route so I can get my first clear.”

“Give him a break.” he heard a tank snap in annoyance. “Didn’t you see him smacking that hive?”

Tom tuned them out. “Is there any reason I can’t run away and keep killing hives?”

Everlyn nodded with resignation.

“Not a venom?” Tom asked hopefully.

“No.”

“Thank DEUS. So they’re changing vulnerabilities again?”

She nodded. “Steam.”

Tom grimaced when he heard that. Steam was a pocket plane, which meant it would be harder to get a useful wisp.

“The closest ones have half a vulnerability but in that direction.” She pointed almost straight toward the GOD’s trail, “All the hives have full steam vulnerability.”

“And air?” he asked hopefully. His current elemental still had hours left on its summons.

“Next hive is down to half and after that full resistance.”

He cursed softly. “They’re not giving me a choice?”

“Nope.”

“Damn it.” He kicked the ground and noticed everyone was staring at him intently. At least some of the tension and impatience had been broken by his minor tantrum. That was definitely a technique he would put in his back pocket for later. They stared. A lot of strangers he wanted nothing to do with.

“What’s with the teenage angst?” Tiny rumbled with a genuine smile even if the tone was biting.

“He needs to change elementals.” Everlyn told him.

“We’ll protect him while he does.” Tiny proclaimed unnecessarily.

Tom walked straight to where Harry had clearly just finished establishing his circle.

“He needs mana.” Everlyn explained to everyone else.

“Useless.” Tiny whispered loud enough for the distant wasps to hear and then laughed at his own joke.

Tom noticed no one joined in.

“That’s not nice, Tiny.” Everlyn snapped.

Tiny shrugged. “It’s a joke.”

Harry grimaced in distaste in Tiny’s direction. Then his thin features and thick beard turned to Tom and gave him a wan smile. He would hate all the strangers being around almost as much as Tom. “The ritual’s primed. I’m...”

As if that was a sufficient explanation, Harry spun and wandered away. Not giving a shit about the gathered crowd, and Tom wished he could join him.

Everlyn sat down next to him. She didn’t need to, but she patted his leg and comforted him with her silent company.

“Guys,” Everlyn yelled suddenly. “Tom has to destroy at least three more mounds before we can even get close to the trial. There’s no point staying here.”

“I’m staying.” Tiny said tightly. “I’m on the council. I was first here. I’m the strongest. I will not leave and let some scab cut in front of me in line.”

“I don’t think it’s first come first served.” Michael said dryly.

“As far as I’m concerned it is.” Tiny said quietly. “I won’t be cheated out of this because people have issues with me doing what’s best for the community.” He shot a very pointed look over toward what was clearly the opposing group.

“You don’t even know what type of trial it is,” the same voice as earlier, a tank named Legan said in irritation. “It could be anything. It could already be cleared.”

“It won’t be.” Tiny said confidently. “And I’m going to be the first through.”

“Like talking to a child,” Legan sniffed.

They all saw Tiny tense, but he held his calm and didn’t react.

Legan huffed in annoyance at the lack of reaction and then entered a muffled conversation with those around him. Tom could no longer perceive the words being said. Definitely a Skill.

“He is playing with fire,” Everlyn said quietly shooting daggers at Legan. It was clear from how openly she declared it that her sound dampening skill protected them both.

“I don’t want anything to do with it.” Tom agreed before he checked his mana and his crystal. “I’m going to summon the wisp.”

As always, when he triggered the spell he punched through into the plane. This was different. Theoretically, the knowledge downloaded when he had purchased the spell should have prepared him. Logically, he knew what to expect, but the contrast between where he landed and all the planes he had experienced caught him off guard. In the other elemental planes, he had felt like he was one tiny person on the surface of the world. That the elemental energy extended for ever. Sure, the higher you went the more dense the energy got, but horizontal it was unchanging to infinity.

The steam pocket was different. It was tiny. He could sense the wall to his left a stone’s throw away. While he couldn’t feel the other walls, the place felt limited. It was something to do with how the energy flowed that gave the impression of barriers just beyond what he could see. It was far more chaotic than the other planes, with currents of energy cycling down from way up above him. An elemental rode down upon one such current and half the wisps that had been encroaching on his position scattered.

Tom cursed.

He couldn’t afford that and hurriedly activated search, as always for a wisp on the edge of evolution.

The first four he touched normal wisps, and he moved on in a blink. His assessment method had improved, so instead of him needing to take time to assess the wisp the contact was near instantaneous.

Tom kept moving. His mind touched upon the almost evolved wisps he was looking for. Rebellious, angry, excitable, that last trait was possibly the worst. The last time he had a wisp with that trait it had burnt through its time on Existentia literally ten times faster than normal wisps.

Admittedly, when it was being wasteful with its power it had appeared to be having a whale of a time. It had rushed from fight to fight and instead of efficiency it had unleashed the wrath of a minor wisp on the creatures that opposed it. The flame effects it had generated had been pretty till it had almost started a grass fire.

Time.

Tom reminded himself, and focused harder. There were always the normal wisps as a fallback option. He would, of course prefer a more powerful version but… his search continued vengeful, lazy and dull. Tom hesitated. There were no others left to assess. Angry, vengeful, lazy or dull or normal were the options that he was presented with.

Dull, he decided after a moment. It might be slow to learn, but at least it would not actively oppose him like all the other options.

The contact folded out.

WHAT! The impression was shouted back at him.

Stupid. Was Tom’s first thought, and he immediately adjusted the contract terms downwards in his favour and against the wisp. This contract would be decided more on relationship than by specifics. Channelling his best salesman, he sent positive thoughts across to the wisp.

This is a good contract. Sweet experience. You can’t lose.

GOOD?

So great, he assured it immediately and with a crack the contract was signed and the magic binding created. Tom’s mana rushed out to seal the contract.

A moment later he was back sitting on the grass with a steam wisp dancing in front of him.

Wasps stung him and the air elemental dutifully killed them. He saw one get battered from magic, but was not torn apart. Before he could react, Everlyn skewered it with her knife.

Tom crocked an eyebrow at her.

“Earth vulnerability.”

“That’s a long way from home.” Tom glanced backward closer to where the shelter was still set up, where they had last fought that type of elemental.

Everlyn was examining the corpse and shook her head. “Nope. I think it’s from the far side of the GOD trial.”

“That’s the wrong pattern?”

She shrugged. “I think I read in a manual that trials can mutate the surrounding stuff.”

“Any venom issues?”

Everlyn shook his head. “Luckily no. Just interesting. It has a numbing agent.”

“If you say so.”

“It’s perfectly okay for normal people to have habits that don’t involve them being stung repeatedly.”

“I’m living my dream.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “That’s not a very good dream.”

He laughed and pushed her playfully, and then focused on his new tool.

The very dull wisp.

For nearly every wisp, the best path to destroy the bugs was to attack the nutrient line linking the body to the brain.

Repeatedly, Tom pushed mental images reinforced how he wanted the wisp to kill the wasps.

Five painful minutes later, it was ready. He released the air wisp and pushed its replacement into his skin.

It knew how to kill wasps now and it was time to let it do its thing.

“That took a long time.”

“Yes it did,” Tom agreed very conscious that he had returned almost twenty mana into his crystal while he had been training the wisp. “But necessary.”

He looked around at the people gathered for the trial and frowned. If anything, the mood had shifted darker.

“Three camps,” Everlyn told him. “Tiny, Legan and the sensible middle. The first two have been deliberately needling each other.”

“Not just the leaders.”

“Nope, all of them.”

“Lets hope the trial is a forty person raid or something.” Tom checked his crystal and held it up for Everlyn to inspect.

“Go fight,” she said after a moment. “One hive. Then lunch and then the next. I think once you destroy two more they’re will be no more chance for a break. Everyone is too excited.”

“Idiots.”

Everlyn shrugged, but Tom followed her advice.

“About time.” Tiny called out good-naturedly.

“Yeah our giant toddler was getting antsy.” Legan sniped.

Everlyn who was walking behind him responded by putting a hand firmly on his back and kept pushing. “Now is not the time to get involved.” She told him firmly.

He approached the hive. Seven wasps dived.

They died.

It had taken a while, but at least the wisp was doing its job. He glanced back at the crowd waiting for him to open up a route to the trial.

Vultures. Angry, frustrated, Legan shoved one of Tiny’s lackeys and suddenly Tiny was squaring off against them.

A tremendous pain radiated down his side.

When he looked, a giant solider wasp was falling dead to the ground. Touch Heal fixed the damage almost instantly, and he cursed his inattention.

When he glanced back, the two groups were facing off against each other. Everlyn was with Thor and Sven and well clear of the action.

If they blew up. Then people would die, but it wasn’t Tom’s problem, and he didn’t want to afford the cost of inaction. He focused on the mound he had come to destroy.