Nate moved like a dancer learning a new routine as he stuttered his way through the Physical Test forty-six. The Stats were enough but Nate wasn’t used to actually controlling his body and, while the vast increase in Stats was making up for the shortfall, it was obvious to Nate the wide gap in experience. He could just imagine the fluidity as Kiri completed the same course. Then again, he could also imagine how clumsy she would’ve appeared in the Magical Tests.

As he landed with three seconds to spare, the course that had just stretched throughout the room vanished. Not that it mattered, as with Nate’s Intellect he could remember the exact shape and distances of each of the various apparatuses. Glancing up at the wall, he was already moving Stats from his Physical ones to his Magical ones in preparation for the next test. As the test’s threshold had increased, the requirements for more and more Stats from the same Stat block had become increasingly prevalent.

The course he had just completed had required a modicum of Strength and Endurance with a high focus on Agility and, for the climbing portion, a small amount of Dexterity. For the Mental tests, Nate had settled on a flat three-hundred Willpower and hadn’t moved the processed mana away from it yet, as that had been enough to cover any tests that required the ability to control Soul Energy.

Turning to the wall, Nate waited for the next test to appear, but instead found the clock counting down his time had frozen on just over ten hours remaining.

“How are you doing that?” asked the Custodian.

The Data Spirit, as Nate had dubbed the amalgamation of Information, Knowledge, Mana, and Existence, had been quiet up until now. As the question washed over the room, Nate felt the familiar tingle of Reciprocity rearing its ugly head.

“Your question needs to be clearer,” replied Nate to the empty air of the cuboid mana room.

“I am tracking your performance quite closely and now have enough data points to confidently state that something odd is going on. On Physical Test ten, you showed an Agility that I would’ve assigned a range of two-hundred to two-hundred-and-fifty. On Physical Test nineteen, that range increased to three-hundred to three-hundred-and-fifty. Then, on Physical Test twenty-eight, that range jumped again to seven-hundred to eight-hundred. In this test, it now appears closer to six-hundred or seven-hundred. I have measured your reaction speed, muscle tone, and reflexes repeatedly. The results are inconsistent. Utterly outside the model, even for an anomaly. What are you doing?”

Nate didn’t answer immediately. It was true that he was only moving Stats as he needed and using a lower grade Sigil for Information along with Conceptual Insight to determine roughly the Stats he needed to complete each task along with his own high Intellect Stat. Then, he was also using a specific Stat Empowerment Rune inside of his Regalia which meant that any positive shift in Stats was an exponential increase rather than a linear one. But that wasn’t why he paused. He could feel Reciprocity buzzing at him that this was information the Custodian really wanted. And for that, an exchange would be necessary.

“You know you have to pay me something in exchange for the answer.”

“Of course. The System binds us all. Reciprocity will be satisfied. What would you ask for?”

“Can you give me points?” asked Nate.

It wasn’t the ideal reward, but Nate thought that if he could get enough points out of this Challenge he might be able to lock in first place and guarantee the reward from Worldhammer’s vault. After all, the entire reason they were here in the first place and not back training with Ankh was to prevent Arikanvil from getting his hands on that short list of items while, at the same time, seeming to do Arikanvil’s bidding.

“No. The Challenge rules are bound by The System. I merely administrate and manage in return for being able to collect data on the participants.”

Nate grunted. It had been a worth a try but he had believed it a long shot from the start.

“What can you give me?”

There was a pause and Nate let it drag, giving the Custodian time to think.

“A Peak-Grade Divine Artifact suitable for your Path.”

Nate gave it some thought. Normally, he wasn’t greedy but, as far as he was concerned, he was fairly confident that the information he was about to provide the Custodian was the missing factor in the Spirit’s model. A Spirit he had begun to suspect was actually a True Divine.

“Agreed, on the condition that if Reciprocity does not believe you have satisfied your part in the exchange that you make it two Peak-Grade Divine Artifacts, both suitable for my Path and for different parts of my Path.”

The pause this time was small.

“Agreed.”

“Nothing I share will leave this room?” checked Nate.

“No. This space is sealed. Even that little Void critter that tried to sneak in was rebuffed.”

Nate frowned at that for a moment, filing away the information. What Void critter?

Nate spent the next twenty minutes explaining the nature of a Divine Vessel, its history that predated The System, how one could be achieved, and the benefits of having one, finishing with how he had been… not cheating but definitely gaming the Challenge of Balance. He had intentionally decided to overshare as he specifically wanted to stretch Reciprocity so that he got the two Peak-Grade Divine Artifacts instead of one, to form the start of his very own cultivation chamber.

As he finished, the Custodian appeared out of thin air, confounding even Nate’s heightened senses.

“This explains it! This explains every anomaly within the dataset! The model is not complete, still imperfect, but this is the greatest development in over a century!” exclaimed the Custodian, their insides of blue mana buzzing with something that looked akin to electricity.

Nate let the True Divine continue to vent for another ten minutes before he gave a slight cough.

“Ah. Yes. The exchange. Give me a moment to find some appropriate Divine Artifacts. While I do so, the test must continue. Are you ready?”

“How many points have I earned?” asked Nate.

“You are currently at three-hundred-and-fifty-three points,” replied the Custodian. “But, as I explained, the value for each successful test rises with the threshold. For example, if you pass the next test, it will be worth sixteen points.”

Nate smiled. He had ten hours left. He had no intention of holding back. He wasn’t just going to break the previous record, he was going to shatter it.

“I am ready.”

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

Kiri stepped out of the Challenge with a smirk on her face. Three-hundred-and-ninety-eight points. Perhaps not a record, but she couldn’t help being slow at moving her processed mana around. She even appreciated the fact that the Custodian had given her a moment to redistribute her processed mana before leaving. That had been a surprise, but then, the Custodian had also seemed far more friendly at the end of the Challenge compared with the start. Either way, Kiri was thankful, because she was not alone.

Across from her, on the other side of the cave, sat the pink-haired elf that Kiri had seen previously eyeing Nate. She wracked her brain for a moment for the elf's name. It took her a second to remember it was Perenthia. Kiri was forced to acknowledge that the elf was quite pretty. Despite the dank cavern that almost seemed to drip blood from the roots of the trees above, the white robe covered with blue and gold patterns looked like it was custom made for the elf. That and the thin sword at her hip whispered something like sharpness through the space. Nate would’ve been able to tell her exactly what Concept it was; Kiri, not so much. She was more than willing to admit she was really only good with two Concepts. However, when it came to those Concepts, she was a fucking genius.

Around Perenthia were three others: bodyguards, perhaps? Each one blended into the background but they couldn’t hide from Kiri, no matter how silent and still they were. Kiri could smell a fight when she saw one and was gearing up to throw herself at one of the bodyguards when the portal behind her opened up and Nate stepped out with a smile on his face.

Kiri matched his grin then raised an eyebrow to let him know they had company.

Nate glanced past her, clearly taking in their uninvited guests. Kiri didn’t miss how he marked all four of them despite the stealth skills of the bodyguards.

“I like your hair,” he said casually as he regarded Perenthia.

Kiri tried not to laugh at Nate’s idea of diffusing the situation when Perenthia responded.

“I like your everything!” gushed the elf, leaning forward with wide eyes.

Nate looked confused but Kiri started to get a concerned feeling in her gut. This was an ambush, but not the kind she had expected.

“How old are you?” inquired Kiri, trying to be casual as she conveyed her concern to Nate with her body language.

“I like nothing about you!” hissed Perenthia instead of answering.

Kiri saw that Nate had started frowning but not at anyone in the room. Instead, he was roving his eyes over the walls and air around them.

“That’s not good,” he muttered.

Then the portal opened for a third time and all hell broke loose.

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

Perenthia could feel the changes in the air before the portal activated. She wasn’t excited yet. It wasn’t her beloved coming out. Not yet. Soon, but not yet. No, the first would be the woman that she couldn’t read. Nascent Mind and Probability Assessment couldn’t track her directly, but they could read the waves she was making. The portal was about to open and someone was coming. Someone her Skills couldn’t detect. Which meant it would be her.

Perenthia considered attacking her immediately upon exit but Nascent Mind continued to warn her that the woman just would not die. It vexed Perenthia. Her hand strayed towards her hair and stopped halfway. She couldn’t relieve her stress like that. Not now. Not when she was less than a minute away from seeing him again. With a force of will, she pulled her hand back down.

The portal activated. Just as predicted, the woman, Kiri Beaufoy, stepped out, clad in that black wyvernscale armour that reeked of Destruction. Perenthia hated it. She loved it. The powerful benefactor behind the girl was behind her beloved as well. Though how someone who could reward their disciples with such gifts wouldn’t just shower them all upon her Nate she didn’t know. Still, it was better than nothing. Anger roiled in her stomach and she swallowed it as she watched the brown-haired human assess her. Nascent Mind warned her that the woman sensed her attendants. Not surprising.

Perenthia didn’t move. She waited, still as a statue. He was coming. The anger in her stomach transformed into butterflies and she felt that she might float away. Then, he was stepping out of the portal. His white and purple robe made him look regal even as she saw the symbols and geometric lines painted into it shift as he entered the room. She saw him share a glance with Kiri and hate bubbled inside of her. Then he looked at her and everything else in the room vanished.

“I like your hair.”

He liked it. She had spent an hour styling it, listening to the whispers of her second mind as she tried to get it just right. It had all been worth it. She had made her first impression a good one.

“I like your everything!” she gushed, unable to stop herself.

And she did. She liked everything about him.

“How old are you?” asked Kiri.

“I like nothing about you!” she hissed in anger, her emotions still running wild.

And she did. She hated everything about everyone else. Even her attendants.

She wondered if she had ruined the moment when she saw him look around the room. Looking at very particular locations. Areas that she had carefully crafted into the fabric of Reality so that no matter what, this meeting went the way she ultimately wanted it to. One way or another, her beloved was leaving with her. Nascent Mind was screaming in the background. Her Skill worked on the information it had available, and it seemed that something had interfered with it to an extent. Something had been missed in Probability Assessment’s careful calculations. It told her one thing. Her beloved shouldn’t be able to see the threads of Probability she had woven into the room.

The portal activated again and the bodyguard stepped out. Then everyone started moving. Everyone except for her and for him.

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

Nate burned one of the threads of mana and soul energy in the air with Destruction as he teleported Wulfgar out of the way of a beam of shadow that would have eaten away at the old man’s head.

Frick was fighting to escape and get Nate a way to the surface even as he kept somehow ending up back in the cave. Nate had prioritised saving Wulfgar because he was the least likely to survive as Kiri had already lost her head once. It had looked inexplicable. Kiri had dodged into rather than away from a sword swipe that took off the top half of her head. The blade had carried the Concept of Severing and, while it was unable to unmoor Kiri from her Soul Sanctuary, it was more than enough to carve through her body.

Kiri was already moving again but Nate was still trying to make sense of the thousands of threads woven throughout the room that seemed to be guiding everyone down predetermined paths. The problem was, he was in the room as well, and that same pull was being exerted on him.

His mind split as he hunted for a way out for all of them. But, while he had over twenty different split minds working on the problem, the threads on him alone numbered in the thousands. Destroying them didn’t seem like it was going to be enough. With a focused effort, trying to mostly ignore the chaos around him, he decided it was time to get a little creative.