Walking down into the concealed cave, Nate was incredibly grateful that they had crossed paths with the Starbreaking Guild outpost. He was absolutely certain that there was no way they would have found this System Challenge without the map provided by Dorin.

The two day flight had been relatively boring, though that didn’t mean they hadn’t come across anything as they flew over the mountainous terrain below. There had been plenty of beasts and monsters that called the crags their home. But none had been Lesser Divinities and, unlike the flock of Mythic birds that had chased them, none of the creatures below seemed interested in giving the team any grief.

Fortunately, that had left plenty of time for Nate to continue to work on his final two abilities. His planned replacements for his System-granted Skills were one of the last barriers to the removal of his Class Core. A task he intended to continue within the System Challenge, at least until Kiri needed him anyway.

Speaking of the System Challenge, it had been buried in a concealed cave. Not magically concealed. Physically concealed. Which meant Nate would’ve actually needed to get close to it to even notice the hole into the ground below. Something that would’ve required a lot of luck as the concealed cave looked like every other bit of mountainous terrain they had flown over.

Walking down into the cave, Kiri, Frick, and Wulfgar were in high spirits. As it was a team challenge, Jemima was bringing up the rear, though like Nate she was probably going to focus on crafting rather than throwing herself into the meat grinder with the other battle maniacs.

The cave itself was uninteresting and basically just a roughly cut slanted hole that dove down into the rock below. Clearly, it was not naturally formed. As they finally arrived at the bottom, with Nate’s Light Rune shining the way, they found themselves standing before what Nate could only call a portal. Unlike all the previous ones he had worked with, where the portal-plate was flat to the ground and projected the spherical portal above itself, this one was a perfect circular ring.

There were Sigils decorating its surface but they were blurred to Nate’s sight. Before his ascension to Divinity, he might have not been able to sense the subtle working coming from his Class Core. However, with that evolution, and further fueled by his Divine Vessel, he could tell that it was the source of the blurring. The System was preventing him from seeing the portal design, which told Nate two things. Firstly, that there were Sigils on its surface that he didn’t know and secondly, that this was very likely a creation of The System itself, or one of its minions.

He had some guesses as to why The System would need a portal. Guesses that he had no intention of directly asking The System as he wasn’t about to squander the debt he was accumulating with the Ascendant. Firstly was that in its inactive state the portal would be significantly harder to find. Even now he couldn’t sense any lingering energies for the Concept of Space or similar. The second was that this setup was likely reusable, and therefore could be added to any World Reaping that The System desired. It was pure efficiency and Nate couldn’t help but admire it.

“Alright! Let’s do this!” said Kiri excitedly before turning to Nate. “What do we do to get this thing going?”

Nate chuckled, “Just add mana.”

He put action to words, guiding mana out of his reserve and into an empty mana gem that he could sense embedded in the side of the ring. Immediately the portal ring began lighting up, Nate’s mana merely the ignition to kickstart the process as the ambient mana was sucked into a battery of the mana gems that were revealed one at a time. When all of the mana gems were lit the portal ignited A sphere of darkness sparkling with stars appeared within the stone ring.

Kiri was first through, followed by Frick, then Wulfgar. Nate paused to look at Jemima, hoping to see that she was hanging back and taking this as an opportunity to separate herself from them and flee. Instead, Jemima jumped in and Nate found himself alone in the cavernous grotto. With a sigh, he followed through. Space pressed in around him, but where once it had been a feeling of pressure, like it was squeezing him through a pipe that he was too small for, now it felt like a gentle caress.

He smiled at the feeling as tendrils of space seemed to brush against his skin like the ocean tides, washing over him and leaving him refreshed. It took only a moment's thought to recognise his Divine Vessel was the cause. His body was becoming more and more attuned to Creation, Destruction, and of course the place where the two met, Space.

He felt like he’d barely closed his eyes to enjoy the sensation when he was spat out the other side into what he could only call a wasteland. He wasn’t referring to the environment with that thought, though it would’ve fit as well. There was no mana in the air. Instead, what wafted across his senses was a desire for endless bloodshed.

The System notification flashing in his vision at least proved that his senses were as sharp as ever.

You have entered a System Challenge (Team)!

There is no Assessment Period for System Challenges.
System Challenge: Bloodthirsty Demons (Fifth Hell)
System Challenge Tier: Variable
System Challenge Rules: Defeat successive waves of Demons of the Fifth Hell. Each wave will grow harder than the previous. Processed Mana reward from Demons will be vastly reduced.
System Challenge Rewards: Points awarded to Team based on number of waves survived.
Exit Conditions: Crush your Challenge Stone and Retreat through the Portal.

Nate walked over to a stone podium next to the Portal Ring they had come through and picked up a small stone that fit in his palm. Activating his Conceptual Sight ability he confirmed what he had suspected. The stone was basically pure mana condensed into a solid form. Trying to see how it had been accomplished caused a second round of System interference. Nate frowned but accepted that he was unlikely to get anything from the thing till he no longer had a Class Core. Still, it was good information just to know it was possible.

Nate turned to Kiri as she grabbed her own stone, “No mana here. What’s the plan?”

“How big’s your stockpile?” she countered.

“Pretty big,” he admitted. “Still, it’ll run out if I am constantly fighting. The demons will have processed mana though which I can use, but The System seems to be taking most of it as part of the Challenge so it’s not like I can rely on it.”

“Rune Fort?” chimed in Frick.

Wulfgar and Jemima looked confused but Kiri’s face brightened and she glanced at Nate.

“Maybe. But first we should get an idea of what we’re dealing with. Besides, this should be a pretty suitable fight for you three,” commented Nate as he waved an arm at Kiri, Frick, and Wulfgar.

Kiri used almost no mana, and Demons still had Soul Energy. Coupled with the fact that Enduring their attacks would also fuel her Divine Energy, Nate felt that his sister would be fine to keep fighting for days.

Then there was Frick. The little, blue goblin used both mana and Demonic Energy. This place was absolutely chock full of Demonic Energy and even if its Conceptual meaning was slightly off, that just meant that Frick would actually need to spend some time filtering it to get the most out of it. Coupled with Nate’s stockpile of mana gems and the little processed mana they should get from the demons meant that Frick should be fine as well.

Finally, Wulfgar was almost purely physical in his approach. He needed a little mana to make use of some of his Skills, but with the Regalia Nate had created for him, the old Bloodborne Executioner should be able to substitute blood for a lot. So long as demonic blood counted, the ornery old bastard should be fine as far as Nate was concerned.

“Guess we’re about to find out,” called Kiri.

Nate turned to the horizon and sure enough an army was approaching. Rank upon rank of demons. The cloud of red dust they were kicking up was slowly blotting out the sky and Nate assumed their camp must’ve been over that way. A war camp that had no doubt been set up by The System for this very thing. He wondered just how much mana The System was giving to them to encourage the demons to take part in this Challenge. Then again, given the sense of anger and violence that seemed baked into the very stone of the desolate wastes they found themselves in, maybe the demons didn’t need much convincing.

He caught Kiri looking at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled.

“Worried about me?”

“Thought it might bring back bad memories,” she admitted.

“That’s fair. I’m fine though. It’s different this time. We have a way out of here that doesn’t involve me fighting for my life or begging higher powers. Also, this time I am not here alone.”

“Hey! I was there!” yelled Frick, faux anger coming through the Familiar Contract.

“You were, and it helped then too,” agreed Nate.

Frick’s grin turned vicious and he swiveled back to the demon army that continued to eat up the distance between them, “Lets fuck em up like last time then!”

Nate nodded his agreement and cast his eyes on their opponents, Conceptual Sight letting him see what they were about to face. As with the Third Hell, the demons came in an eclectic variety of horrors and colours. Hulking brutes with muscles on their muscles marched near slithering and skittering scaled and chitinous monstrosities. Above them flew demons with the wings of bats, dark feathers, or even scales. But the appearances weren’t what ultimately caught Nate’s attention.

“There are Divinities amongst them,” he noted.

“Lesser?” asked Wulfgar.

“And at least one Greater,” mused Nate. “The System said the waves will grow more difficult. I imagine if we last long enough, the Greater will be forced into the fray.”

“Sounds like a good time,” laughed Kiri, ignoring the look of horror on Jemima’s face and the uncertainty on Wulfgar’s. “How many Lesser?”

“At least twenty. Maybe more. I’m not using Divine Energy with my ab… Skill. So, if any of them are halfway decent at concealment they could easily blend into the mass. That army is huge!”

He’d lost count as he scanned them but he suspected it numbered in the thousands. Most were Legendaries and Mythics.

Just how big is the Fifth Hell? Nate wondered. And just how much time did The System spend preparing this?

Roars from the Demon Army distracted Nate from his line of thinking, and then a counter appeared in his vision.

Wave Number 1: Five Mythics.

Five demons broke free from the army and began charging their position. Nate watched as Kiri, Frick, and Wulfgar leapt down the small hill they found themselves on to meet the demons on the red, dust, plains below.

Nate quickly painted the image within his Regalia before using Life Imitates Art to transfer empty processed mana gems to the three of them since he’d forgotten to hand them over already. Then he settled in to watch the exchange. Reciprocity didn’t seem to be an issue as the demons threw themselves, their malformed faces contorted in rage, at the three Lesser Divinites. The exchange barely lasted three breaths. Frick had grown to a similar size as Wulfgar and, with claws and teeth, had eviscerated his opponent. Nate had expected Kiri to take three on her own but instead his sister aimed for two, letting Wulfgar handle the other two.

With a sweep of his red axe, a twist, and second sweep two bisected demons fell apart on the red ground. Their black blood being drunk up by the endless dust. As for Kiri, she simply grabbed the two demons by their throats, lifting them off the ground. They beat at her armour with their clawed hands but Nate could see the Spiritual Energy leaving their bodies and flowing into Kiri’s. They were dead before they even knew what was happening.

A new notification flashed in his vision.

Wave Number 2: Ten Mythics.

Nate sat down on the ground and opened up his Regalia. Paint flowed free and began circling him as he focused on fine-tuning his Runecrafting Ability. It was almost ready and, for now, Kiri didn’t need him. His time was better spent focused on preparing for their future. He ignored Jemima’s look of wonder and instead shot her a displeased look that, in no uncertain terms, told her to mind her own business. The alchemist got the hint and produced her own portable alchemy table, equipment, and got to work brewing. Nate even noted that she collected some of the red dust, likely to see what she could make with it.

That was enough for Nate and he settled in to work until his time to join the fray came. After all, this Challenge, along with the Individual one nearby, were his ticket to the top of the Individual Leaderboard and his chance to get a hold of one of the three items that Arikanvil needed. Doing so meant more debt from The System and more debt from The System meant freedom for his family and his friends. He didn’t need any more motivation than that.

*************

Perenthia glanced at the Individual Leaderboard and frowned, her pink eyebrows furrowing on her pale forehead.

“He dropped to tenth. His points went down. What is he doing?!?!”

She wasn’t angry at her beloved Nate. Never that. She was angry that someone would dare steal from him. Because that was what it must be, right? Theft! How dare they steal from her true love! Someone was going to die for this. Heads would roll. She would make sure of it!

“If I may, Mistress?” asked Murmur, her attendant quiet as ever.

“Yes?” she demanded.

“Perhaps he traded for information like you did with the Starbreaking Guild?” suggested Murmur.

That made some sense to her, but then, didn’t he bring in Artifacts to trade with them so that it wouldn’t impact his points for the Leaderboard. Didn’t everyone?

“Why wouldn’t he trade with Artifacts and Orbs from outside the Reaping?” she demanded of her attendant.

“He entered the Reaping through the Tournament, Mistress. Perhaps he did not have them to spare?”

Perenthia frowned. Was her beloved poor? That couldn’t be right. He was wearing a Peak-Divine Artifact. So was his hated sister. The one who refused to die no matter what Perenthia did! They weren’t poor. They were just hiding their backers. Or was it that they didn’t care about the rewards for the Reaping from The System? Were they truly here to assassinate someone? And if so, who? Would killing them for him endear her to him?

With a slash of her Severing Blade the Divine Hydra that had been approaching them was cut. Nine heads fell as one and the beast’s regeneration failed to create new heads from the stumps she had created. What she cut, stayed cut. Except for that impossibility. That one thing stopping Perenthia from being with her love eternal.

“Collect the Orb and the Artifacts from its nest. We’re returning to the Starbreaking Guild. I need more information.”

Because she did. Fated Confluence was either broken or lying to her. She’d have to do this the hard way.