We were learning things at a rapid rate, but we had to keep an eye on the prize.

  The goal was to capture this place’s version of a Chomper.

  If it took four cards to unlock the tracking ability that I now had, then that meant there could be five others who held all four cards, assuming they didn’t get a card from a monster like I did.

  I already threw things off by having Noah with me. Keeping him in the game prevented someone else from gaining the cards they needed.

  On that note, just taking out other competitors when one could, would naturally also make the final chase easier.

  Noah and I continued following the trail, and eventually, we got to a portion of the stage that was clearly the place the Chomper was running around in. And when we got there?

  The Trial really ramped up.

  ***

  [Fated Guard!]

  The man who struck me went flying backward a moment after striking my arm, the Guard booming through the mist-blanketed arena of hedge pillars.

  Noah, with a torch in his hand, snuck in beside me and fired the magic, sending a vortex of ice at the enemy.

  Something prickled at the edge of my perception. I whipped around and slammed the trap panel beside me. Magic surged from the panel, snapping up the pillar, then veering toward the fog like a living arrow. It cut through the air as one of the monsters that haunted this space broke through the mist–warped giant spiders.

  The magic erupted from the hedge pillar the spider was latched to, solidifying into thorned vines. They twisted upward, guided by angry light, and impaled the spider’s underbelly mid-turn. It shrieked—a warbled, wet screech—then convulsed as the thorns punched deeper, and propagated further, ripping the spider from the inside out.

  Black ichor sprayed from the punctures, dispelling the mist with the sheer force of the outpour.

  “That’s another one for you, Set!” Noah cheered.

  “Best to keep moving, man!” I said, already running, following the trail in my vision.

  Mist drowned everything. The hedges weren’t walls anymore. They were a legion of monoliths. Towering, rectangular pillars decorated with many torches, stretching so high they vanished into the fog above.

  For the participants, you would be speeding through, weaving past whatever pillar you noticed through the mist, stopping short and adjusting your direction every dozen seconds.

  The spider-like monsters were the only things that moved with certainty here, totally aided by the pillars.

  What we had thought would be tiny monsters turned out to be towering abominations—swollen orbs of wet black skin, scuttling from pillar to pillar on eight needle-sharp legs. Each joint snapped unnaturally as they moved. At times, each leg looked like it had a dozen joints. Their centers were dominated by single enormous eyes that seemed to pierce through the mist.

  We had yet to encounter ones that walked along the ground. These things loved looming over us, latched to their pillars and jumping across when necessary.

  As if summoned by our shouting, the fog lit up behind us with another glowing eye, blinking once. When it blinked again, it was closer.

  Noah snatched another torch and hurled a burst of freezing mist at the new one. The ice crashed and expanded behind us, piercing the mists with incredible force.

  I quickly slammed into Noah behind a pillar and leaped backward. Green flames tore through the space, launched by a torch, most likely.

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  “Noah! Right beside the edge of the pillar!” I took a normal torch and threw it at the spot. “Slam it and aim!”

  Noah did as I said, slamming the panel. Geometric lines of magic wrapped around the pillar and shot off, following Noah’s eyes. Reaching the limit of their range, they exploded into a mess of thorns.

  The trail we were following shifted. “Noah!” I yelled. “Keep going down that path! The Chomper’s moved past us just now!”

  Noah turned on his heels. “Got it!”

  I shot out from behind my pillar, intent on going after the one who fired at us. I saw their figure within moments and utilized my Level Flicker for the boost. This method of lining up the flicker with my step–I was calling it ‘Flicker Step.’

  It required focus and mental dexterity, but it was letting me move faster without killing my SP as quickly. At the moment, I had reduced the flickers to every third or fourth step.

  Point was, I was fast. No way the prick that fired at us would have time to get his bearings and run. I got close enough to see him in the next step–a stone-faced pretty boy with eyes that’d make you think he was damning you to a painful life.

  The second I was within striking range, I threw a hard, snapping kick at his midsection—left leg, full pivot from the hip. He slid back a step, not from the force, but because he read it–an experienced one. His boot sliced the ground like a knife’s edge, and he pivoted off it with a half-spin that barely wasted motion.

  Up close, I saw that he wore a black, slim-fit coat that looked reinforced with bits of metal. His gloves were black and studded with metal, too.

  I chased him through his step, his eyes locked on me, a single strand of dark hair falling over his face, and then Flicker Stepped to throw him off.

  His eyes widened. I had the momentum. I swung my arm and cut his cheek with my elbow.

  He didn’t take kindly to me messing up his pretty face and slicked-back hair. He threw a fast punch, and I pulled back. Then, I lunged forward, knee flying for his chest.

  He put up his arms and prepared to receive it.

  And then I felt the air around him change. Good god, the moment that happened, I grinned like a madman.

  My knee connected, and I let it boom; the almighty–

  [Divine Smite!]

  The announcement was like a thunderclap. The air split open. The world shook. Golden winds erupted. Mist evacuated the space. My knee was singing. The pretty boy went flying, black hair fluttering like a flag.

  His coat flared, arms flailing once before his body crashed against a hedge pillar with a dull, metallic clang that made the whole pillar rustle.

  I took one step forward before stopping and hopping back. A black leg suddenly pierced the ground. Above me, a giant eye turned red. The spider on the pillar above me attacked like a fencer, its one-leg-turned-rapier raining down on me.

  I turned and ran, staying ahead of the attack. Was it pissed that I made the mist disperse? I leaped into the mist cover ahead of me, and as soon as I did, I registered a flicker of light and rolled to my right.

  Some sort of fiery bird flew overhead as it screeched–I had dodged the next attack from someone with a torch.

  I sprinted toward this new person. I was too fast, and they were too shocked.

  I swung a fist, and they materialized a weapon.

  The blow connected, and a flash of red hair caught my eye.

  “Shit!” I yelled, grinning. “It’s you!”

  “Newbie!?” the red-haired woman I spoke to in the lobby yelled back. “Are you for real?!”

  I dropped to my ankles and tried to sweep her feet out from underneath her.

  She hopped and aimed her weapon down at me–a lance with a large shield-like attachment on its bottom half that could protect the lance-arm.

  I rolled away like a madman, not all too confident about deflecting the attack.

  The moment her lance hit the ground, the tip sparked—then erupted.

  A spiraling surge of compressed air blasted out from the weapon’s head, sharp and howling like a beast. The dirt exploded beneath it. The shockwave hit me like a sideways tackle from a two-ton monster turning me into a tumbleweed fated to roll across the wastes.

  My senses kicked back in and I skidded into a crouch and snapped my head back up. “Okay,” I muttered, panting a little. “That thing is stupid!”

  A direct hit from that thing would have gotten me out of the round. Even just the shockwave lopped six points off my HP. I was hanging on at 7HP now.

  Mists surged in to obscure the paths once more, but I also heard someone approaching. I turned toward the mist, God Arm manifested and ready to shoot. The person emerged and slid to a stop.

  “Naked Man!?”

  My brain kicked in. I recognized her!

  “Scary Lady?!”

  We both stared at each other for a beat as explosions echoed through the arena.

  She pointed at me. “You keep grudges?”

  “I do! You?”

  “Absolutely!”

  “Truce?”

  “Yes!”

  We both turned away from each other and sprinted. Her voice reached me a moment later.

  “Focus on catching the target! There’s some maniac Smiting everyone here!”

  “Got it!” I yelled back, before realizing she was talking about me.