“What do you mean?” Eloise demanded immediately. “To use fate like a sledgehammer... That makes no sense.”


    “He means,” Kang told her, “That we’re going to use our racial ability to help prepare us.”


    Suddenly, a feeling of dread shot through Tom as he considered the nature of the trial. It was designed to be a death trap.


    “Kang, shut up.” he snapped.


    “Why?”


    Tom helplessly pointed up at the ceiling. There were many ways through which what he had accidentally revealed could end badly for them. The stress and the presence of others had made him say things before finding out the ground rules.


    “Adam, do you have rules compelling you to kill as many people as possible?”


    It was beyond silly, but he crossed his fingers as he waited for the answer. Words formed immediately, and relief washed through him as his fears were found to be fictitious.


    No. My nature stacks the deck against those who challenge me, but there’s no requirement to oppose people actively. I have free will in my interactions.


    “Does that mean you can help us?” he asked hopefully.


    I wish I could. What I can do is limited in both directions. My influence only extends to this space.


    “That’s expected,” he scratched his head. “I was never going to ask you to cheat in the trial. But what does limited mean?”


    Adam didn’t volunteer anything.


    “I mean, can we get practice weapons? How about combat automations? Or dedicated training rooms?” He was thinking of what April had done to get him his skills, but he wasn’t about to admit to that level of help out loud, even if the privacy was supposed to be guaranteed.


    I have the flexibility to adjust the contents of rooms. I can do a lot within that mandate, but nothing as elaborate as what you’re used to.


    Tom did a double take at those words. Was it mind-reading? Then he calmed himself down.  Adam was clearly referencing April’s more advanced skill training. He knew that, at a minimum, his skills and titles would be visible, and it didn’t take a genius, let alone an administrator with the experience that Adam had, to have to realise that some of those abilities couldn’t be gained without a lot of specialised help. There was no evidence of snooping in his mind, and even if there had been any, that wouldn’t have been that much of a concern. Other administrators had mind-reading skills, and DEUS would intervene if anyone went too far. “Thank you,” he said formally and then turned to the others.


    “From now on, unless you’re actively pursuing a breakthrough,” he stopped talking because he could feel some tightness in his throat, presumably from a constricting geas. It was only a warning, a subtle touch to remind him not to say too much; that his words had pushed that limit, even if they hadn’t gone over it. Despite that, he hesitated. Nothing he said would be news to Briana or Kang, so Eloise had to be the issue. He thought about what he could say. The prayer concept was definitely not restricted, so he continued. “Unless you’re doing that, all of your fate needs to be dedicated into a specific prayer.”


    “What does that mean?” Eloise interrupted. “How do you direct fate?”


    Tom licked his lips and looked at the two girls. Eloise’s fate pool was full, and, while he had seen it vary in the past, it sounded like it had been a case of subconscious use rather than something specifically directed. He could work with that. Briana’s pool, on the other hand, was half empty, which was not at all surprising. However, he studied her more closely than usually. She was slouched over and was studying the ground.


    That might be an issue, he thought. He recognised those signs. At least, they had three months to get her used to them again and return her behaviour to the norm.


    “Do you know how to spend fate?” he asked Eloise, already knowing the answer.


    She shook her head.


    “Well, it’s easier than you think. Let me show you. Repeat after me. The three floors will contain monsters that are vulnerable to our abilities, and we will all survive. Say it.”


    She repeated him word for word, barely stumbling over the bigger ones.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    “Now, while saying it, I want you to wish it to be true with all your heart.”


    He watched as she said the words, and this time her face screwed up in concentration.


    It was cute, but her fate pool didn’t change.


    “That’s good. Releasing fate is like learning to ride a…” he stopped himself before he said bicycle, because she wouldn’t have understood that concept. “It’s like turning a tap.” he attempted to improvise. “Once you realise how to do it, then it becomes easy.” It was a terrible attempt, and he was sure Kang was struggling not to laugh at him. “If you keep striving and practicing hard, you’ll get it.” His face was very red.


    She kept going for over ten minutes, getting more and more flustered at her failures.


    “That’s a good first try. Let’s give it a break for now.”


    The two girls went off into a side room, and Kang, who had been practicing with the axe, stopped swinging it around.


    The boy was breathing heavily and waited deliberately until the bedroom door clicked shut. “Well, Mr Hero, be straight with me. How screwed are we?”


    Tom double-checked the door. It was shut, but he lowered his voice  anyway. “I’m guessing we have around a low twenties’ percent chance of all of us surviving. For Bri and me, it’s above twenty-five percent, but I can’t predict any further.”


    “Do you think those estimates are before or after fate? Now that we’re using fate, are we guaranteed victory?”


    Tom chuckled bitterly at that question. “Not the latter. We’re not that lucky. The chance given will be based on us using fate and the full amount of training time available. I don’t think we’re so unique that a trial administrator, one that has probably had billions of people going through it, would be unable to estimate our success chances.”


    “You’re guessing, though? Or do you know?”


    “Adam?”


    Tom is correct.


    “I was guessing, but apparently I was right.”


    Kang sighed heavily. “So, one of us is probably going to die? And that’s most likely me or Eloise.”


    “Or more.” They stood in awkward silence, contemplating what they were facing. They were both hardened fighters. Neither was going to flinch, but it still hurt to think about it, especially when the chances of all of them surviving were below significant. Even though it was already built-in, his mind searched for tricks they could use to improve their chances. “Hey, Adam, is my speedster title factored into this setup?”


    I’ve already incorporated it as best I could. It took you from sixty-four days to finish to ninety-five. Extending its effects over a group is problematic, so I couldn’t extract its face value.


    Kang was looking at him strangely.


    “It’s one of my titles. Gives me over a day each time I go into the weekly trial.”


    The other boy whistled. “No wonder you’ve had time to get multiple training skills. You’re getting an extra day’s training every week.”


    “Yes, it adds up, but it’s not important. While the girls are busy, let’s plan out how to survive this place.”


    Tom listed them and after some back and forth they came out with a list of activities to pursue.


    Crafting


    <ul>


    <li>Create multiple danger sense bracelets for everyone – Tom.</li>


    <li>Enhance wood items to be stronger – Tom.</li>


    <li>Strengthen metal items – Kang.</li>


    </ul>


    Training


    <ul>


    <li>Evasive abilities, battle positioning, and get them to listen to orders immediately.</li>


    <li>Lightning based long range shield breaking.</li>


    <li>Shadow attack spells both the range missiles and to infuse his weapons with it.</li>


    </ul>


    They looked at the list.


    It didn’t seem like much, but if they assumed enemies would be vulnerable to their strengths, the additions were important. Kang’s developments were going to basically allow enemies to spawn with an additional vulnerability. The magic shield breaking produced a similar benefit. Statistically, it was extraordinarily unlikely that their enemies were all going to spawn with lightning vulnerability. An outcome where some relied on magic shields, and others were vulnerable to shadow magic in addition to lightning, was far more likely to occur, because three floors of a deathtrap trial was supposed to show diversity when it came to the type of opponents one would be facing.


    “And when we fight, am I going to be purely a support?” Kang clarified.


    “Pretty much, unless they’re susceptible to shadow magic if they need to be chopped apart to be defeated.”


    “Are your advantages really that great?”


    “Yes,” Tom told him simply. “We can spar later, and I’ll show you, but against stronger enemies the difference will be even more stark. My trait speeds up my perception when fighting something stronger than me, and that is going to be critical for crossing the rank gap.”


    Kang didn’t argue - they’d already debated this in more detail. “I’m wondering if we should make our personal prayers more specific? Because rank seven is ridiculous, and we want them to have strong mind attacks, magic shields, and be susceptible to lightning to play into your strengths. Should we be actively forcing the last two floors to precise stereotypes?”


    Tom considered the proposal seriously. “Yeah, that sounds right. I should shape the third floor and you the second. What the girls are praying for will compliment whatever we specifically do.”


    “And floor one?”


    “I think we just slog our way through that and rely on overwhelming power.”


    “They’re still rank three. What overwhelming power do we have? Our Weapon skills? That’s nowhere near enough to bridge the gap.”


    “They’re monsters, and at that rank they have no skills and are weak. Potentially, even the girls will be able to help a bit. Give them a taste of what real combat feels like.”


    “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Kang said. “I think it might scar them. They’re just babies.”


    “Yeah, we’ll not plan on needing them, but if something goes wrong, they’ll be there, and rank three are weak enough that both girls will be able to contribute. Anyway, that’s not important. We’ve got a lot of detail to cover.”


    He knocked on the door and let himself into what was obviously the dedicated bedroom. There were four beds and the two furthest from the entrance had been claimed by the girls.


    Tom stopped in the doorway, and narrowed his eyes.


    Eloise’s fate pool was empty.