Evolution of a Healer

No wonder Spam had wanted to stop, being that close to another trial. Could it detect Dana being close as well? Cyn wasn’t sure, but frankly she wasn’t sure of much of anything when it came to her familiar. For the most part, the frog didn’t do much of anything other than hitchhike in Cyn’s tabard and warble. Not that it hadn’t been useful, especially with directing around the labyrinth, but the concept of a familiar to her meant an animal that helped with casting spells. Spam had shown absolutely no inclination for that.

Before they entered the trial, they took the time to discuss possibilities. The theme of these trials was clearly their stats. Since Dana had completed the Trial of Strength, which had been a rather straightforward game of tug-of-war, and the trio had completed the trials of agility and vitality between them, that left mind, will, and luck as possibilities. Everyone had similar values for luck, and if it ended up being a chance-based trial there was no preparing for it. Hex had significantly more mind than anyone else, and the same was true for Cyn and the will stat.

After some discussion about how the improvement in stats felt when leveling up, the party developed a haphazard guess at the difference between mind and will. Mind seemed to improve memory, eyesight, and just overall mental acuity. A Trial of Mind would probably end up being some kind of puzzle, with the requisite threat of death for failure.

Will on the other hand was more nebulous, perhaps in part because Cyn hadn’t thought too much about it since they had entered the dungeon. She had noticed as she leveled up she had become more aware of herself, others, and her surrounding environment in general. A lot of it ended up being pushed to the back of her mind, unfocused, but she was aware of it nonetheless. Her mana control had also improved greatly, but Cyn wasn’t entirely sure if that was more about practice or the stat since it was related to her non-standard skill.

While they anticipated having to do all three trials at some point, the party was in agreement that right now the best they could hope for was the Trial of Mind. Steeling themselves to react to the expected changes within the arena, the party stepped over the threshold together.

***

“They don’t care, Samuel. They weren’t even concerned about their friends being missing somewhere in this maze, what makes you think they will care about helping you find your family?” The elder was practically pleading with Sam, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “Let me help you, child.”

Sam wasn’t sure he believed the elder’s words completely, but he also found it difficult to argue. Every time he tried to speak, Sam lost the words he was going to say and his thoughts became fuzzier. The worry he had been silently holding for those Sam loved most, and the uncertainty he had developed about his party, felt amplified with every word the elder spoke.

“They are in the way, Samuel. You cannot leave until they decide to, or they die. Your family needs you now. Let me help you.”

Sam nodded slowly in agreement, “Help me get to my family.” He did not notice his vision blurring, or the smirk the old woman wore.

***

“Get to the point.” Dana wasn’t sure what gave this man the idea they were friends, but his slimy smile and faux soothing voice was grating on her nerves after only a few minutes of talking. He knew far too much about her life, and she did not like it. She wasn’t stupid enough to fall into complacency just from listening to him list off her achievements and accolades. Dana had come far in her life from her roots, and she was proud of that, but no one was this flattering without wanting something from her.

For a fraction of a second he looked a bit taken aback by her dismissal of his praise, before smoothing the front of his crisp suit and continuing in a more serious voice, “The point, Dana, is that you are a very intelligent woman. Success after success, through your own hard work and dedication. I admire that.” The man leaned forward, purposefully entering Dana’s personal space, before continuing, “You know what it takes to climb to the top, how to make a ladder out of other people's broken dreams. So I must know, why are you allowing yourself to be just a rung on someone else’s ladder?”

If the man thought getting into her personal space would make Dana back down, he was sorely mistaken. It was an old, tiring intimidation tactic the lawyer had been on the receiving end of far too many times. “What are you talking about?”

Seeming to understand she would not be cowed, he stood straight again. “The people you are associating with. Why would you allow them to use you like this? ” Dana cocked her head to the question, causing the man to explain further, “You have already proven you do not need them with the Trial of Strength. The longer you allow them to leech off of you, the more needlessly difficult it will be when the time comes to seize the final reward.”

“This isn’t a competition. We need to work together, not step over each other.”

One perfectly manicured eyebrow on the man’s face raised slowly, “Are you sure about that?”

***

“Are you sure of your answer? This is your chance, Hex. With my help, you will become a king among men.” The man sounded genuine, as if he truly only wanted to help Hex achieve his goals. Henry Smith III, son of a prolific business mogul, knew a con man when he saw one. It didn’t help the man’s case that Hex was very aware that only a few minutes ago, he was stepping into a trial within the Hungering Labyrinth.

Abruptly finding himself instead inside of a neat, modern office and sitting across a desk from a nondescript human man in a suit had been quite the surprise. The promises the man tried to get him to agree to were pretty tempting, though, as if he could see Hex’s deepest desires and knew just what to say to get his attention. If Hex had been even a little less aware, or less sure of himself, he might have considered taking up an offer.

“Quite sure. Unfortunately, being given advantages like you are promising is entirely antithetical to my goals. If I cannot stand on my own merits, there is no point.” The man didn’t seem surprised by Hex’s response, just giving him a smile before leaning back in the office chair and letting out a sigh.

“Always annoying to get one like you. The do-it-myself kind. You make my job difficult. At least there’s only one of you this time.” That statement caught Hex’s attention more than any promises. He didn’t know any member of the party well enough to know what they could be promised, or if they could resist taking up a deal. What would that mean for him?

God help them all if this demon, which was what Hex had decided it actually was, could make a deal with the Mage’s familiar. He didn’t want to know what a creature like that, who could give Hex a damn mythical quality feat from a single lick, could possibly want. And he had no desire to find out.

The demon's smile turned into a full-on smirk when he noticed how closely Hex was listening to him. “Since I’ve already lost this trial to you, a word of advice? You should consider if these people are worth your time, or if you should cut loose the dead weight before it holds you back, Hex. If you are serious about wanting power, that is. Your party is crumbling like a house of cards from just a few empty promises and lies. Surely you could do better. ”

***

This is wrong. Cyn couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong about the situation, but she could feel it was. She knew she had entered the trial, and then found herself sitting in this office. Across from her was a professional-looking woman, sitting in a comfortable chair with her arms crossed. Neither the woman nor Cyn had said a word in the near minute she had been in this place.

It was very awkward. But Cyn also did not feel right about breaking the silence first, and instead continued her perusal of the room. It was very generic looking, and nothing specific stood out to her, except the lack of windows. Having had an interior office herself, she didn’t consider it that strange.

Some kind of escape room, maybe? That would make this likely the Trial of Mind. The woman didn’t make much sense in that context, but Cyn chose to ignore that. She was very much not thinking about why the idea of interacting with the only other person in this room bothered her so much. Deciding to run with that assumption Cyn hopped to her feet and went for the closed door, trying to open it.

Unsurprisingly, it was locked. Surprisingly, her attempt at opening it made the other woman break the silence with an annoyed sigh, “Could you not try and break my illusion please?”

The sudden appearance of the woman’s shrill voice made Cyn flinch. What is wrong with me? I don’t think I have ever been this on edge. Slowly turning back towards the still-seated woman, Cyn had to make a conscious effort to observe her. Instinctively, she just wanted to turn away or look elsewhere.

The other woman seemed to know Cyn was struggling and waved a hand dismissively, “Don’t bother making an effort to look at me. Your will is far too high, and if you keep pushing this whole thing will start to crack and break.”

Cyn didn’t turn away, feeling emboldened by the idea she had some power over this, and responded, “Does that mean I have won the trial then?” Presumably this was the Trial of Will. Hopefully her success would make this a quick trial for everyone.

“You have passed the first part automatically. There is no point in me even trying to convince you to let me have control, no promises I could make to entice you. Not when you were too skittish to even acknowledge my presence.”

“What is the second part?”

The woman’s expression changed, mild annoyance giving way to a grin that was more akin to a predator baring its teeth. “You try to survive your weak-willed ‘friends’ attempts at killing you, and each other.”

Mind control? Magically influenced suggestion? Cyn’s thoughts raced. This could be really bad, for all of them. Dana and Hex had a chance to resist, she reasoned, but Sam would be a lost cause. He had admitted during their discussion before the trial that his will stat was very, very low because he had been dumping his free points into vitality and strength. She didn’t think the Warrior could beat all three of them in a fight, or even two of them, but that was beside the point. Cyn didn’t want to fight her party, or witness them fight each other. “How do we win?”

The woman responded with a vicious laugh, “That’s the best part. Last man, or woman, standing wins. Of course, if more than one of you passed this first part you could win together. But anyone who fails here will either kill everyone else, or die. ”

As the meaning of those words sank in for Cyn, the space around her began to warp. The woman’s grin grew larger and larger, until sharp, white teeth filled her vision entirely. “Kill or be killed, little Mage...” Distorted laughter echoed in her ears for a few moments before Cyn felt like she snapped back into place, reminiscent of Soul Slip with a partial backfire, and she found herself once again in the arena with her party.

Before she even had time to orient herself, Sam began to glow red and launched himself full force at the Rogue.