Over the following two weeks, he made two more comments about his lack of spears, this time making sure to do that while Kang wasn’t around. The girls, unfortunately, failed to get the hint, and then, with five full weeks having passed, they couldn’t delay challenging the first floor any longer. Tom hadn’t achieved either of the upgrades he had been chasing, but Kang had gotten his shadow weapon ability working.


    For the first time, they approached the locked door, and, because of their clear intent, the thick chains that had been restricting entry fell away.


    There was no need to discuss anything further. Everyone knew the rules, and they entered together.


    No one was surprised to find themselves in a staging room, with the entrance to the main trial still firmly shut. Only once all four of them were present did the metal door behind them slam shut. After that condition was met, they were allowed to open the second door that led to the fighting floor proper. It was a restriction to ensure the entire team was present for the coming battles.


    “This is no longer a game.” Kang warned them, sternly. “We’ll go for no more than two hours today. Even if the end is in view, we’re not completing it. After two hours, we retreat and try again tomorrow. Do you all understand?”


    “Yes, boss,” Tom quipped.


    “Come on, let’s go already,” Eloise sniped. “We’ve discussed this plan lots of times.”


    Briana remained silent.


    “Good. Tom, lead away.”


    With a flick of his mind, a spear appeared in his hand.


    It was a shitty tier-nothing version, but it was going to be serviceable until he got something better. With the clues he had been placing for days, he figured ten or so broken spears and some more complaints would get the point across. He was determined to make the most of his new title. He was fully committed to obtaining a tier-three spear, as it could make all the difference between survival and death in the upcoming fights.


    His focus switched to the exit to the unknown, and any thoughts about social manipulation fled. This was life or death. He was going to be fighting something more than twice his rank. The very idea was chilling. The only reason success was even conceivable was because he was so physically weak that the majority of his combat prowess rested in his skills and spells. He was very aware that, for the bulk of his life in Existentia and the tutorial, what he was about to attempt was suicide, but all of his training with April prepared him for this moment.


    Carefully, he stepped across the threshold and found himself in a long, dungeon-like tunnel lined with irregularly cut bricks.


    Instinctively, he checked above and behind him, but there were no immediate threats, so he switched his attention back to examining the environment they were going to be fighting in. It was almost the same as what you would find in an Earth computer game, but subtly different. While it was a corridor with tunnels that branched off at irregular intervals, the type of setup that would remind you of a prison…


    It was also alien.


    The dimensions were wrong. Doors and walkways, rather than being rectangular, most resembled a scaled up old-fashioned keyhole. The bottom thick rectangle was about his height, and almost - if not quite - as wide, but it was dwarfed by the wider circular cross-section. That cross-section was over three metres wide. One could imagine that this was a passage made for something shaped in a similar way. A spherical torso on some number of legs, and everything had been designed to cope with that aesthetic.


    For him, it was awkward. If he went on tiptoes, he could peer over the edge of the rectangular section, but there was a lot of empty space above them and to the sides. His pseudo-Spark sensing domain could - and did - fill the volume, which reduced the risk of a surprise attack from above, but it was still unnerving.


    “Do we need someone up here?” Kang asked even as he scrambled up to the higher level.


    “No,” Tom told him. The lower level was three or four paces across, and they could both use their weapons mostly unimpeded. “Or, at least, not yet. It’ll depend on our opponent.”


    “We’re at a disadvantage if they’re dropping from above.”


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    “Agreed. As I said, it’ll depend on our opponent, but for now, get down here. We can’t afford to spread out that much.” The one thing Tom was certain of was that it would be too dangerous for them to be fighting on both levels. If they had to get out of the depression and fight on the curved surface, they would, but it was better if, for the first few encounters at least, their feet were on flat ground.


    Hopefully, the trial was programmed to do the usual thing and ease them into the fight. If they were lucky, the first few encounters would be against singular or weaker enemies.


    Kang shrugged and dropped down into his rear-guard spot.


    Carefully, Tom proceeded forward.


    Ten steps later, before they reached an offshoot corridor, the first enemy appeared. His Spark sensing domain had been extended to protect them against stealth opponents, but it proved unnecessary. The monster was what could be best described as a hairless honey badger, and it came hurtling around the corner. It had pink folded skin and ran on all four legs, with a feathered tail coming behind it; its head was at about Tom’s crotch area.


    It spotted them instantly and hissed. Tom felt the time dilation kick in as its focus latched onto him. Thankfully, it was only a two times multiplier, which meant a monster on the slower side. That weakness in speed was going to be offset with strength elsewhere, but for their team, this was the best case result.


    It charged him, and when it reached a distance of six metres, its nostrils dilated in a strange way that caused a sharp prick to his forehead. It was a mental attack, but his defences meant it was easy to ignore. Tom didn’t drop his level of wariness, but he had seen enough to know that this was likely to be a straightforward, simple fight. If part of its power was locked into a mind attack, it wouldn’t have a surprise elsewhere. April had forced him to battle numerous similar monsters. He knew that, while it was faster than him, it was far slower than the tip of his spear.


    Instantly, he rotated his weapon and positioned it to meet the charge; however, there was no need, as the creature tripped and slid on the ground, its momentum carrying it over the five metres separating them before it came to a halt within Tom’s strike range. It was a simple move to impale it, with Power Strike flaring to increase the piercing ability of his spear tip and to make sure of the attack.


    In moments, it was over.


    Briana started screaming in shock behind him, probably in response to the brutality of the encounter.


    “Quiet,” Kang hissed.


    “No need to yell,” Eloise agreed. “That fight wasn’t that hard.”


    “Tom made it seem easier than it was,” Kang warned her immediately. “I can’t imagine that it would have been that simple without Power Strike. Now, silence, both of you.”


    With a spear through the brain, the creature was lobotomised and dying, but the body still lived, and there was data they needed to collect. He quickly shocked it with lightning and then knelt and placed a hand on its disgusting chest area.


    He activated Touch Heal.


    Time slowed once more, but, because of the spell, he had cast instead of an enemy. Diagnostic information flooded into his mind. The Heal Brain component offered solutions to the damage, but it was not confident that, even if the physical weapon was removed, magic could save the creature’s life. Tom ignored the suggestions, and instead focused on a deep dive into the monster’s anatomical makeup.


    While he worked, Kang moved up beside him, with the thoroughly admonished girls facing back the other way. While they were stationary, they were on guard, and were there to provide early warning if any other monsters materialised behind them.


    “And?” Kang asked impatiently when Tom stirred from next to the body.


    “The head’s the only weakness. Biologically, they have triple hearts and a hardened circulatory system. You open an artery up, and a valve will automatically close to divert blood away from the injury. We’re not bleeding them to death easily.”


    “Joints?”


    “Their bones are tough to cut, and they’re thick. They don’t have anything like our elbows, knees, or ankles that can be targeted.”


    “Their tail?”


    “From the combat perspective, decorative.”


    “Damn,” Kang kicked the ground. “There’s no physical weaknesses to exploit apart from the head, and we all know how difficult something like that is to target in a melee. It’ll make it harder if we run into a continuous wave type scenario. How about your lightning?”


    “Resistant, but they have the same physiology as us in that they use electricity pulses to control themselves, so they’re susceptible to being stunned.”


    “Is that what caused the stumble?”


    Tom shook his head. “I’m pretty sure they have some sort of mind spike ability.”


    “Shit.” Kang cursed quietly. “This won’t be easy. Harder than we were forecasting, that’s for sure.”


    “They’re rank-four and slow for that rating. Of course they’re going to have strengths to offset their weaknesses and, if we’re being honest overall, the mind attack felt weak. I think it succumbed to the reflect because they must be innately vulnerable to psionic attacks.”


    “I guess we’ll go extra carefully until we know better.” He lowered his voice. “If they do real mental damage, we’re screwed. You’re the only one with any sort of resistance.”


    “There’s fate invested. At worst, it’ll be at a level I’ll be able to heal through.”


    “True. I suppose we’ll find out. Now, can you stand watch?”


    Tom nodded, and moved into a guard position in front of the downed body.


    Kang approached the corpse and brought the axe down onto its torso in what, delivered by a six-year-old, was a savage attack. The weapon bounced away and barely left a scratch.


    The other reincarnator appeared unbothered. “As expected.” He swung the weapon again, and this time, it glowed blue a moment before impact and looped off the head effortlessly. Then he swung a second time, and shadows covered the blade. It cut almost as effortlessly.


    “Susceptible to shadow.” Kang muttered in surprise. “Provided the mind spike’s not an issue. I can beat these easily enough.”