This was bad fucking news. You didn’t need extensive game knowledge to piece together that splitting the party seldom went well. Granted, this particular section of the Trial was designed for it, so the chances of us running into an encounter designed for four people was unlikely. Still, in my experience, the system didn’t really give a shit about fairness. Maybe it wouldn’t throw us into a situation with impossible odds, but I had a feeling it would happily destroy us if we split up improperly. 

And most importantly, this system scenario wasn’t adaptive, like my dungeon had been. If, for whatever reason, we couldn’t make the cut, that was it. 

My face must have given away my frustration because Jinny prompted me. “Matt, you wrote down the engraving, didn’t you? Can we get it again?” 

I flipped open my burner and pulled up the notepad app, then rattled off the text. 

Four arms to fight, feed, and rend.

Four legs to skitter.

A legion of eyes to guide.

An endless void once considered.

“Legion of eyes sounds a lot like the bullshit we just went through.” Sae rubbed her arm. Much of the armor on her foot had eroded, chewed through by a legion of teeth. The flesh beneath was somewhat healed and no longer bleeding, but there were still patches of scabbed skin dyed an angry red.

“Which, discounting the first few lines for simplicity, leaves us with ‘an endless void once considered,’” I said sourly. “Not much to go on, there.” 

“Could be a clue referencing unsteady ground, or might be about the… rather long drop below this platform.” Nick pointed out. 

“Maybe,” I hedged. It really was too vague to draw anything useful out of. 

“More importantly, what about our Spirit Guide?” Jinny was using a cloth moistened with a bit of water to clean Talia’s fur. Talia, for her part, seemed to be enjoying the attention entirely too much. 

“I’ll accompany the weaker group.” Talia eyed me. ”Whichever one you’re in, more likely than not.” 

The wolf summon was really making me wish I’d brought Audrey instead. 

Unsure of what to do, I looked to Nick. “My initial thought is that you and Jinny are the big hitters, so you should probably be in separate groups. This isn’t really something I can decide. You know your team better than I do, and you’re likely the hardiest person here with the highest chance of survival.” 

Nick ran a hand through his hair, a pensive look on his face. “Not a call I’m excited to make. It’s a lot easier when it’s just my ass on the line.” He looked to Jinny. “As much as I want you with me, I think Matt’s right.” 

“It’s fine,” Jinny said, looking slightly annoyed. Something unspoken passed between the two of them. “You don’t have to babysit me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Nick said, a bit too quickly. 

Sae cleared her throat. “If you two do want to stick together, I think Matt and I could scrap by if we had Talia.” 

I stared at her in surprise, and she barked a laugh. “Don’t think I wasn’t paying attention in the first half of that. I saw you shred that first swarm.” 

“Actually,” Jinny gave me a cheeky look, “Matt baited the other archer into shooting the one that downed you.” Thankfully, she made no mention of how I’d done it.

“Then you really saved my ass.” Sae glanced down. 

“It was nothing,” I mumbled, shooting Jinny a glare. She responded by sticking her tongue out. 

“Okay,” Nick interjected, “I’m glad we’re all bonding, but we have to make a decision here. My gut reaction is that you come with me, Sae. Jinny takes Matt.” 

“Why?” Sae asked, her expression rebellious. “Because I’m weak?”

“No. Because it’s smarter to parcel people out by role,” Nick said, “And you’re injured. If you went with Jinny, you’d basically have to tank. One mage, one melee. Not to mention, I could really use the buffs.” 

Sae backed down at that, and murmured acquiescence. 

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I looked at Jinny with a raised eyebrow. “Guess that leaves us as the leftovers.” 

“Guess it does,” Jinny nodded. Her expression was contemplative, but not at all uncertain. I guessed that she was likely thinking the same thing I was. We’d be having that conversation about her irregular character information far sooner than expected. 

Nick grabbed my shoulders, uncomfortably close. “Please take care of Jinny. She means a lot to me.” 

I didn’t know how to respond, and all that came to mind was how ridiculous it was that he’d formed this strong of an attachment this quickly, so I just nodded. 

Nick went to Jinny and took her by the shoulders, same as he’d done to me. “Take care of Matt?” 

Jinny smiled. “We’ll watch out for each other.” 

Not yet done, Nick approached Talia. “Keep my friends safe?” 

“It goes without saying.” Talia answered, tail swishing from side to side. 

Nick turned away, then immediately turned back and pointed at Talia’s head. “Can I, uh, scratch behind your ears?” 

“No.” 

“Had to ask. Okay.” Nick clapped his hands together. “Let's do this shit.” 

/////

Nick demanded I take the <Operator’s Belt> in addition to <Broken Legacy.> When I pushed back on it, he insisted, assuring me it was only a loan and I could give it back when the Trial was over. 

We said our goodbyes, inserted our arms in the receptacles, and got one last glance at each other as the opposite walls began to rotate. As soon as we were on the other side and there was no immediate threat, I took off my glove, checking my arm. The previous bite was still there, swollen and red, but there was no new addition. 

“I think we’re good,” I said, and pulled my gauntlet back on. 

“That’s a relief. Kinda hate having my emotions messed with,” Jinny said. The statement was innocent enough, but it served as a reminder that I needed to keep her at arm's length, and be exceptionally careful when it came to tipping my hand. Even if I didn’t have a personal quest to keep my role as an Ordinator hidden, my abilities came with too much baggage.<Suggestion> alone was enough to make me a prime target for enemies and allies alike, and I highly doubted it was going to be my last ability in that vein. 

“Seems like you shook it off quickly enough.” I smirked, alluding to how her inflated stats had reduced the effect on her to practically nothing.

“Seems that way,” Jinny replied, her eyes flitting away. 

I went first. It was darker in this chamber, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. The first thing that struck me was how much larger it was. There was no noise, save for a rhythmic whoosh that echoed through the chamber and sounded like a mix of running water and heavy machinery. Above, there was a large rectangular platform suspended around three stories in the air. The only way up was two spiraling staircases on either side, which, absent guard rails, looked particularly unsafe. 

Maybe it was paranoia, but considering how large it was, the apparent emptiness of the chamber made me uneasy. As did the idea of blindly climbing blatantly treacherous stairs without knowing if something waited at the top. 

“Any chance you can cast a light up there, without putting a spotlight on us?” I asked. 

“Good opportunity to try out the new acquisition.” Jinny stepped in front of me and held her wand aloft. She flicked her wrist, and a bright yellow orb emitted from the wand. Simultaneously, there was the sound of metal shredding flesh, the tip of her wand glowing red as scarlet slash marks cross-sectioned the empty air in front of us. 

Something screeched, immediately followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor. Talia responded more quickly than me, pouncing on what was seemingly open air and digging her teeth in. Blood welled from where her teeth had pierced nothing but air. 

It took a moment to realize what was happening. The room wasn’t empty.

They’re invisible.

There was distant clanging from both stairwells, as dozens of skittering footsteps hurtled our way.

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