I walked into the arena, so to speak. It was another circular space, this time with a single path on the other side of the space.

  The serpent thing watched me come like it was mildly amused—like I was just one more thing to be coiled around and squeezed until I popped. For a monster that looked so bloodthirsty, it was kind enough to let me casually approach.

  I stopped a good couple dozen paces from it.

  “I’ve been thinking this for a while now… But these Trials or whatever, aren’t as merciless as the caverns…”

  It hissed, but didn’t move.

  “So weird… If there’s something that throws me off, it’s the difficulty.”

  I was done talking. I closed in, heartbeat controlled, my eyes bouncing between its posture, its weapon, and that twitchy, double-layered shimmer crawling around its outline.

  It didn’t move.

  I stepped inside striking distance. Still didn’t move.

  Alright, I thought. Let’s get to know each other.

  I flickered.

  It exploded into motion like my Levels were the danger. The shield jerked—not at me, but down into the dirt. A shockwave burst outward from the impact point, a ripple through the earth like someone had punched a drumskin beneath the grass.

  My boosted perception and agility gave me the boost I needed to bounce over the ripple. Perception catching something, I twisted my body and landed on a roll. A tail—its tail, long and muscular—whipped above me, just through where my back had been a split-second earlier. I activated my Levels and launched myself at him, my fist connecting with its spear arm.

  “Oh,” I said aloud. “No boom.”

  It hissed, tongue slitting the air.

  The fight was on now. I backed up, and was quickly shocked by how quick it was.

  “That speed’s more notable,” I said, jerking out of the way of a spear jab.

  I adjusted myself a bit, lining up my flickers with when my foot touched the ground. In order to stay ahead of it, I would boost my steps.

  The hisses came faster now. It didn’t like my speed boost. And with my perception being boosted on each flicker, I wouldn’t do something stupid like bump against a hedge.

  I also got to better appreciate the enemy. It didn’t move like a Shadow Beast or a Husk. No twitchy shadows, no chaotic bursts, no abnormal behavior. There was a tactical logic to it that I could follow and predict. The way it angled its shield, how it shifted its weight on the coil, how it didn’t overextend its spear arm—this thing fought the way I would expect a human to fight. If there was anything that was chaotic, it was the strange outline that stuck to it, but my boosted perception was invalidating whatever advantage it would have had.

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  I ducked under a sweeping stab and dashed wide. It tracked me with patience, the way a gladiator sizes up an opponent.

  “What Level are you supposed to be?” I asked.

  I wasn’t being cocky. I was genuinely confused. I was Level 9. I had faced a few other humans, but none were tougher than the husks, especially with those smites flying.

  This thing, though, looked like it should be a challenge. Its coordination, its gear, the weird reality distortion surrounding it… If this thing was meant to be a challenge for the majority of the participants, then I would know roughly where this Trial’s expectations were set.

  I charged again, throwing a feint and slipping low. This time, it tried to pin me between tail and shield. Maybe it was smart? I flickered again—this time escaping past the tail faster than it could move—and delivered a punch to its exposed side.

  Again, no Divine Smite. Just a Level-boosted punch with my right hand.

  Still, it staggered. The scales on the torso didn’t soak damage as hard as the arms did.

  “Noah!” I shouted. “Try one of the torches!”

  “On it!”

  Noah darted along the hedge, arms waving like a madman. The serpent’s head snapped toward him, but I stomped on its tail and flickered the moment it swung at me again, and got away.

  “Not very smart,” I said. “Why would you take your eyes off me?”

  A torch flared up as Noah twisted its base. A panel in the hedge retracted and a glowing sphere inside the torch bloomed.

  “Found something!” he called.

  “Stop yapping; start shooting!”

  I didn’t get the luxury of seeing what it was. The serpent was annoyed. It hopped forward in an attempt to surprise me. Its posture dropped low, lower body coiled, shield raised, spear angled perfectly for a thrust.

  Oh.

  This thing had some sort of form. It almost seemed intelligent.

  It lunged with its whole body. Not like a brute, but like a fencer with springs in his heel. All that muscle in its lower body finally being used for one super fast attack. Add the spear in and its range would be unpredictable.

  I flickered into a step and leaped to the side instead of back. A blob of ice struck its back at that moment, the ice hissing like steam as a mess of ice crystals formed at the point of contact.

  The attack through it off. It lost the opportunity to chase me, and instead struck the ground with its spear.

  It left a crater, but what did that matter? I flickered into a kick right into its jaw, and flickered again to get some extra muscle power and send its head into the air.

  New Arm manifested and I sent it straight down on the snake man’s neck, slamming it back into the ground.

  “I just realized…. I wasn’t really using my weapon.”

  I leaped away and dismissed New Arm right before Noah sent down a lightning storm with another torch.

  Thoroughly disappointed, I grabbed a nearby torch and leaped back into the fray. I brought the torch down like a sword about to pierce stone and activated, firing a beam of freezing magic and polar winds down onto the enemy.

  It didn’t even get a chance to let out one final hiss.

  “I don’t think this was a hard enemy… I decently forgot that I had New Arm for the majority of it. So… Maybe I am way stronger than everyone here…”