Chapter 79 – Closure

Tom re-opened his eyes and stared at the spot the turtle dog had previously occupied. Despite all of her strength and that dangerous-looking natural armour, she had somehow failed while fighting her six-point five target.

His rule of thumb during the tutorial and in his first life on Existentia had been that, when fighting monsters, he could cross a thirty percent rank difference. That freedom he gave himself was far less when fighting sapients. She had fought something with a rank fifty percent higher than hers, which mathematically gave her a five times raw attribute disadvantage. Without fate sizing up his opponent for him, Tom knew he would lose badly against those types of odds.

The five times estimate might have seemed like an exaggeration, but that’s what a bonus of fifty percent to all four metrics got you. Fifty percent more spells hit fifty percent harder, move fifty percent quicker and more accurately, and then, even if you could match all of that, the other person was also fifty percent harder to kill. All of those small advantages added up.

If she had run into someone even half as naturally talented as she was, the gap in attributes would have meant she would have been trounced. That was the fine line they were walking, and Tom felt terrible about her not making it. She had been nice to him and recognised that he was not callous, but just a victim of ignorance. In contrast to most of them, she had been a genuine rank four and half-way to rank five. Unlike Tom, she would have been fighting someone less than twice her rank, but abilities mattered when crossing attributes gaps like that. It was possible that she had lacked the tools to push even over that small gap. After all, she was a child, and how much could she have learnt? What Briana knew, for example, would be useless in this sort of battle. 

Then again, other civilisations were probably giving their children skill shards rather than following humanity’s approach of forcing them to learn everything from the first principles.

The pot plant at least was still here, and he could tell by how its vines spread out that it was shocked at the death of its neighbour. Quietly, and because it was going to happen no matter what he did, he checked out the rest of the room.

His eyes went straight across to the powerful combatant, the one who lived off algae. He stood there, uninjured. Then his eyes slid around the circle to the last of the final six. Collective Iron, that jumble of metal pieces, was missing.

Two dead. The realisation caused his brain to grind to a halt.

Two of them had died, one had abstained, which meant just the act of preserving his own life had… it felt surreal to even be considering the idea.

Somehow, he had got the spot. He kept expecting the rug to be pulled out and for someone to burst into the room, maybe teleport, laughing and crowing at how well their prank had done.

Nothing like that happened.

“Human?”

His head snapped up, and he looked at the presenter in shock.

She was staring straight at him.

Everyone, he realised, was staring at him, because his area was highlighted with light.

“You are currently in the third spot.” The presenter told him. “Will you claim one of the positions or will you abstain to allow another to take it?”

Tom was thrown by that question. If he had thought about it, he would have known it was coming, but, to be honest, he had assumed he wasn’t getting through, and so this wasn’t a question he had prepared for. His eyes unbidden switched to Swift Hope, who was the next in line if he chose to step away.

“Give it to me, please.” Swift hope blubbered instantly. “We have local support. We’ve sealed the entrance to the underground. And… um… The nearby nation of Huddas has declared they will protect us. They also worship Deus, and they are powerful.”

“So why can’t they raise your abilities back up?” the pot plant person asked. “Why is it on us to sacrifice rather than the Huddas?”

Swift Hope deflated slightly, but only a little. “They would if they could, but they specialise in body abilities, and, because they have a jellyfish form, they can’t pass their skills on to us. But from a military perspective, they are going to aid us. All we need is a single chance to get access to the skills. I’ll get them and become a teacher, and, in a generation we can be restored. I need this. I’ll be a hero. Please, be kind. This is our only opportunity.”

 Tom stood, almost paralysed with indecision.

His eyes flicked to the two who had also made it in. They, he guessed, were going to be his teammates going forward. What did they think?

“It’s your choice. Neither of us will judge you,” the pot plant told him. “Only you personally know how close to extinction your race is, and, to be honest, it sounds like Swift Hope’s people are not in dire straits.”

“Agreed,” the tall, strong other qualifier stated. “I agree a hundred percent. Swift Hope’s people have protection for now. I’m sure some time in the next ten generations another genius will emerge that can save them.”

“No, we don’t know that,” Swift Hope protested.

Tom met the presenter’s eyes. “What does Deus want me to do?”

“DEUS has set the rules. She has no incentive to interfere further. You must make this choice for yourself.”

“Please, please, this is all my species’ need. You will be forever honoured. I’ll get statues of you put up.”

Those words were the wrong ones to say to Tom. He could imagine a future where the only signs of humanity were those so-called statues. An honour given to a species so weak they didn’t seize the opportunity to save themselves.

“I’ll take the spot.” He told the room.

He heard a squeal of anguish, and, the next thing he knew, he was back in the isolation room.

Instinctively, he blinked in an out of the pseudo system room and confirmed that no time had passed, despite the hours he had spent healing himself and the more limited time spent fighting and talking. Time dilation had been in play, and reduced that all to zero.

Tom froze when he glanced around the physical space.  He understood how many defences and wards were in place to protect him in here, but, despite that, the presenter was sitting, unconcerned, in a chair that didn’t use to exist.

“Congratulations, Tom.”

“What’s this about?”

“I’m here to give you a brief overview of what The Divine Champions’ trial is.” She waved her hand, and the arm and spear that he’d gotten from down below vanished. “I’ve returned them to storage in their correct spots. No one will ever know they were taken.”

“Um…oh… that’s very thoughtful. But how?”

She laughed. “How what? How am I here? How did I teleport the items below despite all the restrictions?”

“I didn’t mean to ask. It just slipped out.” He backtracked hurriedly.

“Tom, I’m the most powerful being you’ve ever met face to face. I oversee the DEUS part of the champions’ trial. I’m gifted with her power, but constrained by rules. When I can bend them, I do. Like with returning your armour. That was something I can do within the rules, as it was out because of the contender challenge. Because I can act and it could help you, I did.”

“Thank you.” He remembered the full circumstances that brought her here, and the drama at the end. “Um… was I right to do as I did? Will the Dusk die because of it? That girl, Swift Hope, she seemed pretty upset.”

“She was,” the presenter agreed. “I’m chatting with her at the moment. She’s going to regret her words for a while. She is upset, because she overplayed the support the Huddas can give them, and she did that because she thought that was what you needed to hear to come to her side. Their survival is a more precarious case than she implied. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“I did. The extinction chance you gave them was Highly Likely.”

“Exactly; so, to answer your question, will they live… Maybe, maybe not. But with a bias toward the latter. Having said that, humanity rated under the same metrics is in a worse spot than the Dusk. Swift Hope expressed more desperation than one in her place should have. Technically, I should have stopped her speaking sooner.”

“Why didn’t you?” He asked the obvious question.

“Because your choice was not simple, and you had to be the one to make it. If you made it, you would understand the desperation that comes with being a diminishing species. I want you to remember this, and, if humanity climbs on the ladder and survives, I need you to spread that truth, and make sure that, if humans run into a diminishing species, that they will help them.”

Tom thought about that for a moment. “I see, and I will.”

“As for the Dusk, whether they are successful or not is not your concern, and not something you’ll ever realistically be able to influence. Their homeland is a long way from here, so forget about them. Instead, I want to inform you about The Divine Champions’ trial. As you’ve probably guessed, its primary format is a one-versus-one battle against the participants of other gods. There are five categories: first, juvenile one and two - obviously, you’re in that first category. Then there are two adolescent classes, and an open characterisation. Then, once a year, there are also larger team contests. The time spent in each category depends on the species, but for humans it’s about two of your years, and if and every time you mature up to a higher category, you’ll get a debuff placed on you.”

“You get a what?”

“You get a debuff placed on you. It is a ten percent penalty on all attributes. It can compound three times if you’re strong enough to stay in until the end.”

“Do I need to worry about that? I mean, is it possible for that to even come into play?”

She rolled her eyes. “There’s no need to beat around the bush. Are you asking if you’re likely to keep your spot? Because I don’t think you need to. You should be able to answer that yourself.”

“You’re right. Yes,” Tom concluded after a moment’s thought. “There’s no reason I couldn’t stay in until adolescent two. Corrine told me that humans are most likely to gain entrance as an eleven-year-old. That means I’ll be growing relatively faster than all of them.”

“That’s a fair hypothesis,” the presenter agreed. “Your attributes will triple, and your abilities should be able to grow five or six times more powerful over that period, so, if you keep improving, then yes. It’s possible, but having your attributes reduced by a third is a material debuff, so your continuation in the competition is not guaranteed.”

Tom listened to that explanation and decided to move on to more grounded considerations. “So, how many people are there in each category?”

“There’s a maximum of thirty-two representatives of DEUS.”

“A maximum?” He asked sharply.

“People die, and others age out of the category. For most of the time, we’re below capacity.”

He wanted to ask about mortality rates, but something told him that now was not the right time to be doing so. Instead, he focused on the number of participants. “That’s an awful lot of opposing contestants. That’s, what, over two hundred? I assume that all eight GODs are in this?”

“Yes and yes, and individual fights can take place at a maximum of two per week. With the turnover, it’s mathematically impossible to fight everyone out there.”

Tom hesitated as he tried to wrap his head around those calculations before he worked it out. If he survived in the first category for the whole two years, he would only have two hundred fights, which wasn’t enough to challenge all of them. If they went in as a single class, where they all joined at the same time, then there would have been time to fight all of them. Instead, based on this contenders’ event, ten percent of the population would be turned over, presumably from both deaths and category retirement, probably monthly, or at best every three months. It meant that, over his ‘child one’ years, it was possible that there could be anywhere from three hundred and fifty participants to over eight hundred.

“I understand,” he told her, but he wanted more information, so needed to ask more questions and skirt the line of what was proper to talk about. “How often do you do recruitments?”

“A clever one, aren’t you?”

He didn’t answer her and let silence ask his question.

“They’re monthly.” She finally admitted.

Tom whistled. That was a massive turnover rate.

“Often, there are only two spots available. To answer what you really wanted to know but were too craven to ask, only fifty percent of people survive the full period. They get desperate and greedy and bite off more than they can chew. But you can talk strategy with the others once you’ve had your first fight.”

“What else do I need to know?”

“Your contender room has transformed into a champions’ foyer and is permanently available to you. When utilised, your body will be puppeteered to act as normal. From it, you have access to a communal area in which you can chat with all of DEUS’s current competitors.”

“All of them?” he asked.

“Yes, you’ll be able to chat with Corrine, and even with the people from the open category when you’re in there. Matches are to the death, or are ended when a surrender is offered and accepted. It’s important to note that GOD shields are available, with every win being awarded coins on the same multiplier as in the contender rounds.”

“How much is a coin worth?”

“Be patient. I was getting to that. Coins can be traded to other participants, or else used in the equivalent of an experience shop with two purchases being allowed every three months. There, you can make two purchases each quarter. As a rule of thumb, a tier-one ability costs a single coin. Six coins for a tier-three skill, and then three times that for every additional tier after. An average performance gets you two tier-three abilities each quarter, while winning half your battles without a GOD’s shield gets you a single tier-seven ability every three months.”

Tom whistled, both impressed and not. If he fought under a GOD’s shield, he was only going to walk out with a scattering of low-tiered abilities, or, if he saved up for years, a couple of more powerful ones. Of course, if he could fight without a GOD’s shield the entire time, the loot he would leave with would be unimaginable.

She sighed. “Don’t get greedy. You can die for real, and a partial GOD’s shield is not the protection you’re probably imagining it to be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Under a partial shield, you can be maimed in ways healing can’t fix.”

“Are you sure? Touch Heal might be tier-zero, but if I have time, I can regrow limbs.”

“Of course I’m certain. How well does Touch Heal work when your soul is damaged? There are things that can be done to you that are more permanent than the loss of a couple of limbs. Anything other than a full GOD’s shield is gambling.”

“I see.”

“And yet you’re planning on doing it anyway,” she said sharply. “What would April think of your recklessness?”

“Honestly, I think she’ll trust my judgment. I have some ideas to manage the risk.”

“Fate is not the panacea for everything.”

“Really? It seems pretty overwhelming.” Tom said quietly. “Especially against random opponents.”

“No. Forget everything you’re scheming and listen to my words carefully. You won’t be able to avoid the deadly antagonists, as the system won’t let you. Not even fate can keep them from you, as the order is not random. It has the GOD’s influence upon it.”

“Noted. As I said, I have a few ideas.”

“You’re stupid and reckless. I should have made you cede the spot to Swift Hope.”

“Maybe, but you didn’t. Now you’re just going to have to trust me.”

“You’re impossible. But moving on; in addition to the experience shop, there is a curated list that contains items that DEUS thinks you should prioritise. While it can contain items, yours currently only contains abilities. They’re all useful to you, and some are posted at a deep discount from normal prices. They are basically what you should be working towards.”

Something was bothering him. The GODs already had both an auction house and the experience shop. It didn’t make sense to Tom that they weren’t just recycling that infrastructure. “Why are the rewards called coins? Why are they using a new currency?”

“It’s not new.” She waved her hands in a series of coins cascaded out of her open palm to bounce on the ground before vanishing. “They’re tangible; it’s possible to trade them like you do with money, and they have real world value. All trials will accept them as a substitute for experience, and, in some, they can expand options, or even improve prize pools.”

“So, what should I do? Should I be hoarding them?”

The presenter shrugged. “Some competitors, once they’ve done enough to reverse the fortune of their species, do exactly that. You’ll need to decide once you can see what they can buy. For now, go to your champion’s room, check it out. While you do so, your body will get up and sneak back to bed, so you don’t have to worry about that. The only thing you have to remember is any injuries you have when you leave the champion’s foyer will be transferred into the real world. Given your healing gift, that shouldn’t be a problem. Just stay in there until you’re fully healed.”

“And if I die?”

“I don’t think it matters, does it.” She said severely. “But you know the answer, even if you’re not verbalizing it.”

Tom understood what she was implying. “The wounds will be brought into reality. If I’m decapitated and half my body eaten, then, whoosh, that’ll happen in the real world. That’ll be traumatising for any kids around me.”

“Yes, it will be. I’m sure you can work out how to manage that.” And then, having apparently given him enough information, she faded away to nothing.

“So, I’m still stuck only fighting at night,” he said quietly to the empty room. Of course, she didn’t answer. She was gone. While he didn’t want to think about dying, the cost of managing such an unimaginable event was low. “Damn it. I guess it’s night battles only,” he concluded.

Tom glanced around the empty isolation room. The presenter was right. There were more fun things to pursue than sneaking back to bed. With a cheeky grin, he stepped into the champion’s foyer. It was time to throw himself into the nitty-gritty details and discover exactly what was on offer.

AG. Just on the cliff hangers. This section is hard as there's kind of a single 15k scene and breaking it in most places is splitting a scene mid way through and using natural breakpoints is creating cliffhangers...